One need not trespass to catch fish in Colorado — an inland angler’s paradise. That’s a lesson Roger Hill and other such scofflaws need to learn.

The state is home to 158 charted rivers, more than 90,000 miles of running water and more than 2,000 lakes and reservoirs. Most are on properties open to the public.

Only three other states have a higher concentration of public land than Colorado has. Nearly half of Colorado — the eighth-largest state by land mass — is owned by federal, state and local governments. Without stepping foot outside Colorado, one can visit 43 state parks, 13 national parks, 11 national forests and millions of acres of parks, trails and open spaces owned by cities and counties.

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Apparently, that’s not enough for Mr. Hill. Instead of peacefully fishing where appropriate, he makes a public spectacle of trespassing on private property. Hill recently went public to announce his infraction as he fished on private land in Fremont County, practically begging authorities to arrest him.

No one took the bait — not even the fish, as Hill reported. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Department deferred enforcement to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, where an official said the agency lacked jurisdiction to write a citation on private land.

Hill began his activism in 2012, saying he would trespass to assert a public “right” to fish, wade and float on private property — a right that exists only in his imagination. He filed a lawsuit, claiming a public “right” to use water running through private property.

The Colorado Supreme Court dismissed his case last year for lack of legal standing. He didn’t have standing for the same reason he can’t legally stand in private water — the properties in question are not his.

Lacking standing to stand in another person’s space, Hill assumes he might gain standing if someone arrests him for doing so. Let’s hope he’s better at luring fish than law officers, who have little time or patience for publicity stunts.

In a recent news report, Hill urged other outdoor hobbyists to likewise trespass and assert a right they don’t have.

This country — the most prosperous in the world — was founded on property rights. Our country’s founders came from countries in which governments owned and controlled most property.

In those environments, people lacked the ability to invest in productive ideas. They lacked the ability to control their governments, as their governments owned people’s homes, gardens and farms.

Most property owners are likely to roll their eyes and allow Hill to fish. Though he’s personally harmless, he spreads a toxic ideology that says “this land is my land, and your land is my land.”

Colorado faces no future shortage of public land accessible to all. What’s endangered are Colorado’s private rural parcels, including ranches, farms and mining claims. Keeping land in private hands means protecting an owner’s right to exclusively control access and the allocation of resources belonging to the property.

If the state takes control of private property — by establishing a right to fish, wade, swim, boat, etc. — it greatly reduces the ability of owners to manage what is theirs. To fairly create this fictional “right,” the state would need to spend billions compensating property owners for losing control of what was theirs.

The public cannot own all of Colorado, especially considering the limited ability of governments to afford and control the lands they have. Property rights are protected by the Constitution. Trespassing is not — even when the fish are biting.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board