A Usenet persona calling itself BCITORGB wrote:

Melissa:
===============
I think most people, myself included, hold more nuanced views of
"private, personal property", especially when it comes to "owning" a
piece of the earth itself; which is a concept worthy of nuanced
consideration and discussion, but Scott's views on this are anything
but nuanced.
=================

Is the concept of "public property up to the 'high water mark'", which
is true in BC, also prevalent in the USA?

As applied to "navigable waters of the United States," yes, the public has
access rights up to the "ordinary high water mark." But the catch is that
for the access rights to apply AT ALL, the waterway must be, in fact AND in
law, "navigable." The test for bed-title navigability is not a state one, it
is a federal one, and it has NEVER been ratified by the Supreme Court as
being the "pleasure boat test" that kayakers like to tout as the be-all and
end-all of navigability tests. It's rather more complex than that.


--
Regards,
Scott Weiser

"I love the Internet, I no longer have to depend on
friends, family and co-workers, I can annoy people WORLDWIDE!" TM

© 2005 Scott Weiser