Private property rights - Part 2

After my heightened level of concern had dissipated some, staring at my trees swaying in the breeze - since they are 100's of feet high this is a magical thing.. My neighbor Bob came by in his truck. He was not yelling this time so I found out his story of building a house, having to purchase a third lot to allow for water/septic separation, cost of electrical lines, building permits etc. He assured me he did not take out any of my trees, and the trees on his land he took out were carefully done so as not to topple on my trees.

OK I will have to take his word for it. I am ok with this.

Now there are other reasons to look into Washington State law, or RCW (Revised Code of Washington) as they affectionately call it.

My real purpose for going up there had been to clear some brush - well lacking either tools, not liking the prime time mosquitoes and being unprepared for them, and being a bit frazzled over the whole neighbor-clearcutting deal, I ran out of time. My 2:00 deadline of going to the group picnic had approached!

The property owners of this little set of lots (as many as 765 landowners apparently, so not so terribly little) have an annual summer picnic at the River Kitchen along the Duckabush River. So I trekked over with my organic Eugene strawberries. Along with yummy grilled hot dogs, multiple varieties of macaroni salad, bean salad and even chocolate cheesecake (with chocolate chips), I met a few people.

Mostly Glenn who is one of these rennasaince people who has been around, and around, and around, and has an opinion on everything but despite that is still searching for answers (I love it!). Of all the 765 landowners I should run into, some with houses and triple lots, some with canal frontage and nice boats, I would run into another simple lot owner, on my street at that.

After I assured him I was not the one who "bulldozed" his lot, his concern was mainly about public access to the river for fishing. For many years he thought there was a public access lot to the river over near the kitchen. However someone chewed his son out once attempting to gain access there, saying it was private property.

So how does one attempt access to the waters of the state. For some issues studying federal policy from cspan on down does not prove helpful. He was telling me that lot owners along the river own to the middle of the river. I thought perhaps the state owned the water, but his reply was yes maybe but not the land underneath - so unless you can throw yourself in and float..

I have not thought much about river access. In Oregon (California too?) ocean beach access is public, though people may own beachfront lots they cannot own the actual beach, which has to be available to the public.

So what about these rivers? What about the steelhead, cutthroat, trout, that, even though numbers are way down apparently, are looking for fishers to get them? A question for RCW to be sure.

One more person I ran into up there was Brett, who was one of the first people I met up there back in the days when stock options could buy land. Not like today where stock options are but a legend and land is not something normal working bureaucrats can afford.

He told me he "lived off the land". Nice to be near a national park I guess, where you can harvest holly in the winter (and sell it), and whatever else I forget. The nicest person you could meet. Didn't laugh at me and my daughter when we were in danger of being sucked into the mud on our oyster quest (someone told me there are even mud snakes, good thing we steered clear of them!). And still helping out at picnics and such, a little more bedraggled with fewer teeth than before.