Let's think for a moment that the Spring Ridge Club continues their practice of buying or leasing grounds surrounding class A trout waters in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania unchallenged indefinitely.  The commonwealth holds over 83,000 miles of streams.  Of that, some is divided up as special regulation area, approved trout waters, public and private land.  This results in a small amount of public water that is open for public access.  As the declining mileage of public waters increases, the pressure on the remaining public waters will also increase.  This pressure may result in the decline of natural reproduction and will cause a need for the PFBC to stock more trout in these waters to supply the demand of public fishing.  The impacts of reducing public access to fisheries could have an impact on the entire ecosystem at large, and could have adverse effects that we cannot foresee.

On the other hand, opening all of the waters in Pennsylvania to public access will spread out the fishermen, and ultimately result in a less pressured fishery for all to enjoy.  Along with this would come great responsibility on the part of the anglers.  This means that when  you see someone littering, tell them to clean it up.  The responsible anglers should carry plastic bags in their vests and gather garbage when you encounter it.  Respect the waterways and their banks by impacting them as minimally as possible.  Posting property will not result in preservation, it will result in over pressuring.

We want these waters to be there for future generations, and not just the wealthy generations.  We want our children's children to experience the same waters we experience today, in the same way we experience them.  Not on a pay to play basis, and not on such a limiited amount of stream that fishing resembles fishing in a barrel. 

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