04-12-2015, 12:59 PM
If the river or stream is in fact navigable, then the land beneath the water has never been "Private Property", ever, it has always been public property. That is long established law. This ruling forces that law to be enforced. Owners who bought land on those rivers and streams thinking they owned the land beneath the water were duped when they bought the land and have been living the lie ever since.
Not one trespassing law has changed and landowners still have the option to post their land, just not the publics land beneath the water of navigable rivers and streams. If you walk across an irrigated field to get to a river or stream with out written land owner permission, you are breaking the law. That is trespassing.
If you walk into the stream at a public bridge and stay in the water, you are on public land and not trespassing.
Remember, as of now, this ruling only applies to a 1 mile stretch of the Weber River above Rockport Reservoir, no where else, so don't get carried away.
[signature]
Not one trespassing law has changed and landowners still have the option to post their land, just not the publics land beneath the water of navigable rivers and streams. If you walk across an irrigated field to get to a river or stream with out written land owner permission, you are breaking the law. That is trespassing.
If you walk into the stream at a public bridge and stay in the water, you are on public land and not trespassing.
Remember, as of now, this ruling only applies to a 1 mile stretch of the Weber River above Rockport Reservoir, no where else, so don't get carried away.
[signature]