An out-of-state angler involved in a 2011 Vermont Supreme Court decision that opened Berlin Pond to boating, fishing, and swimming is betting that history will repeat itself in Barre. On Oct. 27, 2025, Richard Barnett, 56, of Winchester, New Hampshire, received a permit from the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to hold a fishing derby on Thurman W. Dix Reservoir in February, despite opposition from the city of Barre. The city owns all the land around the reservoir, which supplies Barre with drinking water. It ticketed Barnett for trespass early last October after he was found kayaking on it.
”We take great pride in the quality of the water,” City Manager Nicolas Storellicastro told The Bridge. “We obviously strongly, strongly disagree with the state’s decision to allow Mr. Barnett’s circus to go on.”
The Agency of Natural Resources (of which DFW is a division) is “very rigorous on us with respect to the quality of water we put back into the rivers from our wastewater plant,” Storellicastro said. “On the other hand, they allow these recreational activities on our drinking water, [which] we don’t think is appropriate, especially when there are so many places to recreate on the water in Vermont.”
Furthermore, Storellicastro said, the situation will “put police officers and water treatment operators at risk of being between angry anglers and our reservoir” on the day of the derby.
Barnett told The Bridge he has notified tournament registrants that there is “friction” between him and the city. If law enforcement shows up, he said, he plans to go without giving them a hard time and has instructed the other registrants to do the same.
“And then there will be legal repercussions,” he added.
A Nearby Precedent?
Barnett is no stranger to such disputes. In 2010, he obtained a permit from DFW to hold an ice-fishing derby on Berlin Pond, which provides Montpelier with drinking water. The city, which owned most of the land around the pond, took legal action, citing concerns about human activity resulting in trash, petroleum products, invasive species, and stirred-up sediment in the pond.
The case went to the Vermont Supreme Court in 2011, which reversed a lower court judgment in finding that the city did not have the right to restrict boating, swimming, or fishing on Berlin Pond. The ruling cited Roman law and the Magna Carta as well as Dillon’s Rule, which holds that a municipality’s powers are limited to what the state legislature authorizes.
The Dix Reservoir situation is the “exact same scenario” as the Berlin Pond case, Barnett told The Bridge.
In Vermont, the state constitution allows people “to fish in all boatable and other waters (not private property) under proper regulations” from the Legislature.
Last year, DFW Commissioner Jason Batchelder emailed Storellicastro that “the Vermont Use of Public Waters Rules … do not prohibit the use of vessels or ice fishing on the waterbody. Further, there is no legal basis for the Department of Fish and Wildlife to deny the Fishing Tournament applications.”
The derby application does not currently require applicants to state how they intend to get to the water unless they use a DFW access facility or boat launch, Batchelder wrote. He added that the permit “does not relieve the permittee of the responsibility to comply with other applicable federal, state, or local laws or regulations, including laws against trespass.”
City Limits
The city of Barre generally allows people to fish Dix Reservoir from the shoreline and in designated locations. But its policy prohibits watercraft and gives the city manager sole discretion to revoke fishing permissions entirely. Storellicastro said he invoked that clause in response to Barnett’s kayaking excursions there.
“We think municipalities ought to have a little bit more say in the water supply that they use to bring to the homes of the residents within their boundary,” Storellicastro said, adding that Barnett recreates on the water with a kayak and “is not a responsible user of these natural assets.”
When the state notified the city of Barre that Barnett’s application had been submitted, Storellicastro said he replied that the city was not granting authorization for the derby.
“They notified me that it wasn’t up to me,” he said.
On Oct. 17, he contacted state lawmakers and the Barre City Council requesting their advocacy for a change in state law regarding bodies of water that serve as sources of drinking water, writing, “Even though we own the reservoir and all the land around it, we have been usurped by application of State laws that allow Mr. Barnett to go over our heads to Fish and Wildlife.”
Barnett, for his part, said the city of Barre is ignoring public right of way. And, he added, “I’m not interested in injuring or damaging the waters in any way.”
Roadways near the reservoir pose a larger threat than his fishing activities, he argued.
“I’m not afraid of the city of Barre, and we’re doing this,” Barnett said. “This is about the rights of the people.”
“He is just interested in making points, and we’re not interested in that,” Storellicastro said of Barnett. “We’re interested in good water delivered to the residents of Barre.”
State Sen. Anne Watson (D/P-Washington) has introduced Senate bill S.224 with an eye to such disputes; the bill is co-sponsored by Sen. Seth Bongartz (D-Bennington). It would give municipalities new powers to regulate the use of bodies of water used for drinking water if those municipalities own the surrounding land. On Jan. 8 it was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources and Energy.
The Steven Tucker Memorial Derby is scheduled to take place Feb. 8 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thurman W. Dix Reservoir.
