................Public access and property laws vary across the united states. In Massachusetts the property owners own to the LOW tide line. You can only legally walk the beach if you have a fishing rod - a fine antiquated law. From what I've heard Colorado has the worst access laws in the US. The property owner owns the stream beds and the air above the water - this is my recollection and far from definitive.......................... FWIW, in South Africa the law states quite clearly that landowners' rights extend to the flood mark on riverside properties except in on isolated case where land rights once extended to the middle of the river. Unfortunately, said river happens to be the one I paddle on 90% of the time, and there are more than a few nasty landowners along its banks. These people think nothing of dropping a concrete block into the watercourse as a housing for various pumps etc, along with attendant cables, wires, pipes etc, but will go into a apoplectic rage should you paddle on "their" side of the river. Some years ago, one of these fine people shot a kayaker with a hunting rifle for tresspassing. The fact that these "rights" have since been superseded by an all-new, all-encompassing Water Act means nothing to the landowners who continue as before. So, we know where the trouble spots are and practice defensive paddling. Paul, Johannesburg Click here to have the Sunday Times delivered to your home for only R8.50 a week. This message (and any associated files) is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is confidential, subject to copyright or constitutes a trade secret. If you are not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that any dissemination, copying or distribution of this message, or files associated with this message, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer. Messages sent to and from us may be monitored. Internet communications cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. Therefore, we do not accept responsibility for any errors or omissions that are present in this message, or any attachment, that have arisen as a result of e-mail transmission. If verification is required, please request a hard-copy version. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the company. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
At 5:16 PM +0200 6/8/07, Paul Ash wrote: >......From what I've heard Colorado has the worst access laws >in the US. The property owner owns the stream beds and the air above >the water... Close. They do own the stream bed, but not the air (same as in Wyoming). Thus, you can paddle any navigable water as long as you stay in your boat and the boat doesn't scrape bottom. Brian *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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