Document text
62 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, September 12, 2004 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 Prime Times Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People 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 June 9, 2004 River ownership study won’t be decided until fall By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune A decision on whether to study just who owns the bed and banks along a 90-mile stretch of the Rogue River will be put on hold until October to give riverside residents a chance to learn more about the process. During a Tuesday meeting of the Oregon State Land Board, Gov. Ted Kulongoski postponed whether Oregon should launch a navigability study for the middle and upper Rogue, putting on hold the debate over public- versus private-property rights between river users and landowners. 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. If 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. There is no formal navigability determination on the stretch of the Rogue from Grave Creek near Galice to Lost Creek dam near Trail. The Rogue from Grave Creek 68 miles downstream to the ocean was declared navigable in 1975. Advertisement Ownership issues occasionally flare up in conflicts between river users and landowners over public access, private property rights and trespass cases. State lands managers will take the extra time to give riverside landowners more time to digest the intricacies of navigability, which has been idle on the Rogue since the late 1990s. "Because it had been so long on the Rogue, a lot of people have felt the issue has been resolved, and it hasn’t," said Jim Myron, a natural-resources policy adviser to Kulongoski. The delays were triggered by a court challenge to a navigability study on the John Day River as well as legislative orders that put navigability studies on hold, Myron said. With those settled, it’s time to move forward or possibly face a lawsuit demanding a study, Myron said. "We just can’t ignore it," he said. Roger King, a Shady Cove river activist, said he believes the DSL should take the extra time to come to the Rogue Valley and hold public hearings over whether to even embark on the study. "I could have a lot of people show up at that meeting who are very angry about it," King said. King said he opposes the study because "it’s leaning toward the government owning more land" and likely won’t solve conflicts between river users and riverside landowners. "I can’t see (conflicts) going away if this river is deemed navigable," King said. No such community meetings are planned because the land board did not direct the DSL to do so, said John Lilly, the agency’s assistant director. Instead, a letter explaining the issues and the long timeline will be explained, Lilly said. "The issue’s been hanging around for more than 100 years," Lilly said. "Another four months isn’t going to hurt anything and it might help inform the public what the implications of a study are." The navigability study, which includes opportunities for public comments, is a report to the land board, which would then determine navigability status. The process takes about a year, but the results are subject to state and federal court challenges. 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 and took possession of navigable waterways from the federal government. If declared navigable, the public would own the bed and banks up to the ordinary high-water mark under federal laws that give states ownership of navigable streams when statehood is declared. Such a designation would trump private-property deeds that declare the beds and banks as private property on parts of the Rogue. However, only the federal courts can make ownership rulings. If declared non-navigable, property owners could exercise their rights to bar wading or even boat anchoring on their property. Regardless, boating the Rogue would remain open to the public under separate floatage easement rules. The formal request for a navigability study came in 1997 when Tim Thompson, then district attorney of Josephine County, asked for the study as a way of resolving conflicts over riverbank ownership. The land board is comprised of Kulongoski, state Treasurer Randall Edwards and Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 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