Private Waters The latest copy of Fly Fisherman February, 2007 has an article about private ownership and public access and the battle going on between the two. I wrote about it some time ago in one of the issues-my focus was the Jackson. But water all over is subject to the changes that are coming out and more and more pressure is being applied to the government to disallow any sort of fishing or transportation across navigable waters when that water flows through private lands. The Jackson is a King's Grant river. I fish there with a guide who knows where to fish and where not to fish. Just a year ago we fished an area that ran through King's Grant property. He knew the landowner and had permission to fish the river there. The next plot over was open to float fishers and wading fishermen and women who could get to the river without going over private land. Nevertheless, an angry lot owner stood at the bank and with a high-pitched voice and told us that we were trespassing. We waved an OK, lifted our rods and lines out of the water and floated through-the best way to handle the situation, even though my guide knew for certain that the area was not restricted. None of us should begrudge landowners their rights. I am a landowner and having had several face-to-face confrontations with trespassers, I understand fully the frustration a landowner has to deal with. Once upon a time, we owned a piece of land in Michigan that had a canal running through it to a small glacial lake. The canal was full of smallmouth bass and youngsters from a park nearby would come and knock on my door and ask to fish in the back yard. We allowed it until one year, two fathers with their two sons decided to take over the canal and left behind a pile of trash (actually, many piles of trash and on many occasions). I spent the better part of that summer picking tin cans out of the canal along with foil chip bags, cookie and cracker wrappers and wax worm containers. It took the State Police to help me escort the intruders off my land after having been told by these fellows and their unruly kids that they had rights under the law to fish water wherever-if it was open and shoreline. Landowners are frustrated by intruders who have no respect for their rights. But this article is not about losing respect for a landowner. The article points out that it is not the ranchers or farmers who have problems with access rights. Ranchers are selling land to new owners who have the money to buy it. Buyers want private access for their use alone and are pushing to have local and state governments stop outside fishing rights on rivers that cross their land regardless how the law may have read in the past. The article cites an example of a female landowner who didn't even have exclusive rights to the river, who while brandishing a firearm, convinced a guide and his clients to move on. It is hard to imagine that it is worth a human life to keep a person from fishing. There is no justifying the behavior brought on by rage and greed. Large sums of money are being paid to willing sellers of large parcels of land that have been farmed by folks who, after years of toil and sweat working for nickels and dimes, are now trading up. The victims of all of this are the folks who just want to fish-who for the most part are good stewards of the water and land and who respect landowners and their rights and who are probably more than willing to cooperate and share the river with neighbors who may or may not be landowners with rights. There is no one answer to all of this. We fall victim to the system and interpretations in law all brought about by misbehavior, greed and whatever. In New York, it has always been the rule, if both sides of the river are owned by a landowner, then the river-to the bottom-between those parcels is also owned by that landowner. The state buys rights from those owners and pays the landowner in the form of tax breaks to make the rivers accessible to those who want to fish there. Then they set up public access points that are, to be quite frank, not too bad to look at, where folks can park, get to the river, with facilities to keep the area clean. New York has lots of access on good fishing rivers for those who enjoy the sport and they cooperate with landowners to make sure the river systems are open and available to fish. Maybe we need to take a look at what New Yorkers are doing to insure the fishing rights of those who want to fish. It is a sizable revenue item for that state and they do what they can to protect it. Our fishing access is becoming a scarce commodity these days and we need to do what we can to preserve what is left for us. I have written a number of letters to folks in government jobs to let them know my feelings on the subject. Write your congressman and try talking to landowners where you fish. Partnerships are necessary if we all intend to continue to enjoy our fishing rights wherever we decide to fish. Pete K |