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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 3, 2004 Stribling to fight navigability declaration By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune SHADY COVE — It’s a small patch of grass and rocks with several picnic tables, a working refrigerator under a tree, "Posted" signs and a portable toilet. But to John Stribling, this is heaven. This chunk of real estate is Stribling’s front yard. But it’s known more for where it is — the upland property immediately above the Highway Hole, one of the better upper Rogue spots for salmon and steelhead fishing. And Stribling has defended it since he bought it 17 years ago. Many times. Mainly from spring chinook salmon anglers who illegally stroll across his property to fish, or trespass and litter on his land. He’s even fought for it in court, too. Twice. "I’m not protecting the hole, per se," says Stribling, a retired car dealer. "I’m protecting my property. I paid for it. I own it. I’m entitled to decide who can be here." But the Highway Hole could be deemed a public fishing spot if a proposed state Department of State Lands study concludes the upper 90 miles of the Rogue from Grave Creek to Lost Creek dam is a navigable stream. Advertisement The Oregon State Land Board is set to decide Tuesday whether to direct the study, which will determine whether deeded landowners or the public owns the bed and banks of the Rogue. Stribling worries that a navigability declaration — and the ensuing public ownership up to the ordinary high-water mark — is an invitation to a not-so-courteous public to abuse the streambanks for which others pay taxes. And Stribling wants nothing of it. "I’m like the guard dog," he says. "I just can’t let this thing pass." If navigability does pass DSL muster, such a declaration has immense impact on floaters and anglers and what their legal use of the streambed and banks becomes. If deemed navigable, the public can wade or stand below the vegetation line river-wide, but they cannot venture above the mean high-water mark. Other rules govern campfires, littering and any of the behaviors of the public on the public land. "A lot of people will think this gives them an open door, which isn’t the case," says Oregon State Police Lt. Steve Ross, who has handled navigability conflicts on the river since the 1980s. The public still could not cross private property without permission when going to and from the public banks, Ross says. Stribling believes some of the public clearly will abuse any privileges under navigability, creating increased conflicts between anglers and property owners. "They’ll be people killed over it," Stribling says. People certainly have argued about it, and Stribling has played conflicting roles in the two legal opinions involving the Highway Hole. In the first case, Stribling was a defendant fighting a criminal trespass citation for walking from his property immediately downstream of the Highway Hole to the property of the former owner, who posted it with "No Trespassing" signs. Stribling was acquitted after his attorney convinced the judge that the upper Rogue there was actually navigable. "I didn’t even know what navigability meant," Stribling says. After the case, Stribling bought the Highway Hole property and kept it posted. In 1988, Stribling’s complaints led to the trespass citations for four men there. That case led to a landmark Jackson County Circuit Court ruling declaring the upper Rogue "navigable in fact," and the ensuing 21-page opinion could be critical in a navigability study here. The judge acquitted three of the four men after believing their claims that they reached the hole by walking in the stream and not across Stribling’s property. Stribling believes the Rogue is not navigable. He still steams about the ruling, saying the water is too deep and the brush too thick to support the judge’s ruling. "The only way you could do that is with Jesus shoes," Stribling says. The opinion now is used to settle disputes around Shady Cove, but a navigability ruling would settle future disputes river-wide. If deemed non-navigable, then property owners could control who wades the river — or even anchors — on streambed they own. "The potential is there for conflicts, no matter what they do," Ross says. Stribling doesn’t want navigability settled over legal technicalities. Rather, he insists that the social impacts of the navigability ruling be included in any decision. "I think they need to take into account property owners who pay big bucks for their property," Stribling says. He expects the case, one way or another, to be dragged through the court system for years. Stribling says most riverside landowners likely won’t see any impacts from a designation one way or the other because no one wants to fish in front of their homes regardless of the designation. "A lot of people have riverside property," he says. "But most people don’t have a fishing hole of this magnitude." In the meantime, he’ll continue to allow only a half-dozen "blood relatives and close friends" access the Highway Hole from his property. "I understand people’s frustrations," Stribling says. "But if you don’t own it and someone else owns it, that’s tough." 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 © 1997-2005 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