Here is an important New York court decision that was issued yesterday, affirming that recreational use of a waterway by canoeing can render a river or stream legally navigable and therefore open to the public for paddling. Important in this decision also is the discussion of the right to portage, which has been less clearly established.
The work by the NY Attorney General's office in this case was done by a colleague of mine in our Albany office. I'll be checking to see if a trip on this stream is something that some of us might do during Assembly.
I have been watching and waiting for the decision in this case to come out. Personally I think the court made a mistake in finding for the defense. Phil Brown trespassed on the club’s property and then used his magazine and website as a bully pulpit to goad the club to “call him out.” I was offended when the NYSDEC and the NY Attorney Generals office entered the case on behalf of the defendant, Brown. My tax dollars should not have been used to adjudicate a private matter between two parties. I have to think that the combined weight of the DEC and the Attorney General was too much for the club to overcome. What should have been viewed as a simple trespass case turned into a case of stream navigability and public access. As a Licensed Land Surveyor in New York I am involved in property ownership issues every day. I have testified in numerous times as an expert witness for access, trespass and adverse possession cases. As a landowner whose family has owned a farm in the Hudson Valley for 100 years I know first hand the problems trespassers can cause. People look at open space as “free for the taking and free to use” regardless of private owership and the “No Trespassing” signs. I pay the taxes, maintain the property, pay the insurance and have every right to enjoy the place exclusive of others. I enjoy paddling as much as the next guy but this decision was wrong and strikes a heavy blow on what has always been part of the bedrock of American life – private land ownership.
I’m sure that this will be argued, both pro and con and discussed at length on Phil Brown’s website. Starting and continuing a thread here is probably redundant so I will not reply further. His website: http://adkforum.com
