CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) _ The Wyoming Supreme Court says the public has a right to access Hawk Springs Recreational Area in southern Goshen County for hunting, fishing and general recreation.

The court issued a ruling on Monday in a legal dispute that's been simmering between the state and the Horse Creek Conservation District for a few years.

The recreation area includes a reservoir, boat ramps and camping sites. The district in 2006 sold land around the site to a company that fenced it off. A Goshen County judge reopened the area that year.

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled the conservation district had agreed to provide public access when it accepted millions of dollars from the state in the 1980s to improve the dam and other structures.