I'm a layperson when it comes to paddling/use laws, but have read a bit on GA and FL's laws: FL law says if it was considered navigable at x point in time (sometime during the mid 1800s), it's now legal to navigate and use the banks up to the highest water line. GA law has two conflicting rulings. One matches FL's pretty closely, the other has some definition in navigability from the sea, which no major river or small creek in GA has with the exception of the Savannah below Clark's Hill Lake, and Oconee/Ocmulgee/Altamaha below Lake Oconee. Even the Chattahoochee and Flint river drainage, one of the larges in the southeast, isn't legally "navigable" because of the dams along it. I had this interpretation given to me by our local DNR officer in regards to camping on a sandbar outside a Wildlife Mangement Area. He stated it's not legal, even on the sandbars, because the sandbar is on the WMA side of the center point of the river, and the property line extends to that point on _non-navigable_ waters. Good explanations (from what I understand) of river navigation/rights is in the Florida and Georgia River/Stream Paddle Guides A Canoeing & Kayaking Guide to Georgia (Canoeing & Kayaking Guides - Menasha) by Suzanne Welander, Bob Sehlinger, and Don Otey A Canoeing & Kayaking Guide to Florida (Canoeing & Kayaking Guides - Menasha) by Johnny Molloy, Elizabeth F. Carter, John Pearce, and Lou Glaros Wynne Eden Americus, GA *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sat Sep 23 2006 - 06:47:41 PDT
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