Judge Robert G. James of the United States District Court, Western Division of Louisiana, has said that it is criminal trespass for the American boating public to boat, fish, or hunt on the Mississippi River and other navigable waters in the US.
In the case of Normal Parm v. Sheriff Mark Shumate, James ruled that federal law grants exclusive and private control over the waters of the river, outside the main shipping channel, to riparian landowners. The shallows of the navigable waters are no longer open to the public. That, in effect, makes boating illegal across most of the country.
Not to mention wading.
"Even though this action seems like a horrible pre-April fools joke, it is very serious," said Phil Keeter, MRAA president, in a statement. "Because essentially all the waters and waterways of our country are considered navigable in the US law, this ruling declares recreational boating, water skiing, fishing, waterfowl hunting, and fishing tournaments to be illegal and the public subject to jail sentences for recreating with their families."
Cyber acquaintences of mine from Tenessee have informed me that landowners there have recently had people who simply boated in front of their homes arrested for tresspassing--and this after launching from public ramps.
This is one to watch. If this ruling holds, it will mark yet another extension of private control over resources traditionally managed for the public good. It would be a case of the rich getting incrementally richer though a profound impoverishment of almost everyone else.
Yesterday brought new developments in the case of the proposed sulfide mining operation along Upper Michigan's Salmon Trout river.
MARQUETTE — The Michigan Court of Appeals on Friday overturned a lower court ruling that had blocked the state Department of Environmental Quality from deciding whether to issue a permit for a nickel and copper mine in the Upper Peninsula.
The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve and the Huron Mountain Club challenged the DEQ when it declared the company’s mining application complete, which meant the agency was ready to begin considering whether to approve it.
An administrative law judge sided with the DEQ. But Ingham County Circuit Judge Paula J. M. Manderfield disagreed June 22, ordering the agency to conduct a hearing on whether the Kennecott application was complete. She barred the DEQ from processing the applications until after the hearing.
The DEQ went to the Court of Appeals, which overruled Manderfield. In a brief order Friday, appeals Judge Patrick M. Meter said the tribe and other plaintiffs had failed to show they’d been harmed by the DEQ’s finding that the application was complete.
Unless the state Supreme Court intervenes, the DEQ will be free to resume analyzing the Kennecott application.
The full story
An attorney for the Keweenaw Bay community intends to file an appeal with the Michigan supreme court next week.
Speaking of old business...
The animal killings that shocked my neighborhood last spring ended around the time they began receiving notice in the press. Apparently someone didn't like the publicity. Perhaps whoever was responsible has rethought his grisly hobby. If not, perhaps someone out there is bursting at the seams with pent up psychopathic rage.
Tags: Fishing; Fly Fishing; Conservation;Law
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