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57 °F Forecast | Road Cams Wednesday, January 26, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend October 10, 2004 Some oppose state proposal to study river navigability Though it’s only a study, its results could change how banks are used By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Some owners of homes fronting the Rogue River are trying to scuttle a state proposal to study whether the public is the rightful owner of the river’s bed and banks along a 90-mile stretch in Jackson and Josephine counties. Calling it an unnecessary government land grab, the residents want Oregon’s State Land Board to back off a proposed navigability study on the middle and upper Rogue to settle disputes over public or private ownership. Oregon’s Department of State Lands has recommended that it conduct the study, which determines navigability on whether enough commerce existed on the river — or if it was susceptible to commercial uses like log-floating and commercial fishing guides — when Oregon became a state in 1859. The study would cover the river from Grave Creek near Galice upstream to Lost Creek dam. The 68-mile stretch from Grave Creek to the sea is identified as navigable. If the 90-mile stretch were deemed navigable, the state could go to federal court to get ownership of the bed and banks up to the ordinary high-water mark — normally the vegetation line. Navigability rulings trump property deeds, so the bed and banks could be declared public property. Advertisement That would mean the public could recreate along previously private riverbanks, and property owners would need DSL permits to float a dock or remove gravel. The land board — which comprises Gov. Ted Kulongoski, Secretary of State Bill Bradbury and Treasurer Randall Edwards — will decide Tuesday in Salem whether to make the Rogue the next stop in its string of navigability studies across the state. "I don’t want it," said Roger King, a Shady Cove activist with 100 yards of riverfront property. "They’re taking my land and they’re not paying for it. My goal is to have that not happen." King sent letters to 1,725 riverside property owners this summer, arguing that the study would lead to loss of private lands and likely would increase conflicts between property owners and river users such as anglers and boaters. King said he believes conflicts now are light, with what he called few problems since two court cases in the mid-1980s involving angling at one privately owned piece of riverbank upstream of Shady Cove. "If there was a valid reason for it because of major trouble, I’d say do it," King said. "But some court case over trespassing and fishing? That’s nothing." King said he plans to testify at the board’s 10 a.m. Tuesday hearing at the Department of State Lands Building, 775 Summer St. S.E., Salem. John Lilly, the agency’s assistant director, anticipates testimony from riverside landowners, as has happened in similar navigability studies on rivers such as the Chetco and Sandy. "As the issue rises up around the state, more and more river users and property owners become aware of the legal definition of navigability and the implications," Lilly said. If ordered, the study would take 12 to 18 months and would include an 18-step process established by the Oregon Legislature to determine whether the river was navigable at the time of statehood. The study would look at historic and current uses of the river to determine if commerce existed, or could have existed, on this particular stretch of Rogue when Oregon earned statehood in 1859 — when it took possession of navigable waterways from the federal government. The study would then be submitted to the land board, which would render a decision. Mike Carrier, Kulongoski’s natural resources policy director, said Thursday he did not know what direction the governor intended to take heading into Tuesday’s meeting. "Historically, he’s been on the record supporting navigability studies to resolve these issues," Carrier said. With a long history of commercial guiding of sport-fishermen on the Rogue, the river stretch "absolutely" would be declared navigable because "it’s had commerce forever," King said. However, King said he believes the issues and clashes on the Rogue can best be settled by improving enforcement of littering laws and helping inform landowners and river users of better etiquette. "I don’t think there’s a need for it," King said. "I think there’s a need for better law enforcement and a need for better education of the landowners and the public." The study was requested in 1997 by then Josephine County District Attorney Tim Thompson. His successor, Clay Johnson, recently reaffirmed the request. Lilly said the reported conflicts and requests for the study meet standards set by the Legislature. "We think it meets the legal requirements of broad and substantial interest," Lilly said. Debate over the Rogue’s navigability has ebbed and flowed here since 1919, with varying declarations by judges, county commissions and even the DSL’s predecessor, the Division of State Lands. Yet many landowners can live decades on rivers without knowing riverbed ownership issues remain unsettled. Carrier said many of King’s arguments represent "recurring themes" seen in river basins such as the Chetco and Sandy rivers, where navigability studies have been completed. "I think most property owners really don’t think about what the public’s rights are to use the shore in front of their house until they’re confronted by someone stepping on their property and doing something they don’t want them to do," Lilly said. "Unless they have an encounter like that, they probably don’t give much thought to the concept of the public’s right to use the bed and banks." The issue was set for a vote in June, but the land board delayed its decision until October so DSL officials could provide more information about navigability to the public here. The agency in August sent a letter about the issue and Tuesday’s meeting to more than 1,700 riverfront property owners whose land is within the study area. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Public meeting Who: State Land Board What: Meeting on whether to conduct a navigability study on the middle and upper Rogue to settle disputes over public or private ownership When: 10 a.m. Tuesday Where: Department of State Lands Building, 775 Summer St. S.E., Salem Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers