02-20-2013, 11:11 AM
I hate to say it but it sounds like the land owners in Utah are incorrect in thinking they own the riverbed (for waters that meet the federal navigation standards). Your right to the land ends at the normal high water mark. It isn't yours to do with as you please. For instance, there have been cases where the river starts eroding away the bank causing the land owner to lose acreage. The owner's only option is to plant vegetation, or place boulders on the bank and wait for the water to drop them naturally.
From reading the Utah thread I would say the farmer who threatened you all those years ago was only partially correct. You can't trespass on his land, and I don't know what the circumstance was, but you had every right to stand at the very edge of the high water line, in the water or on the gravel, whatever the case may be. If the water was too deep then I suppose you could have floated down or made your case to the Sherriff that you were willing to leave as quickly as humanly possible and hoped for leniency.
If people are littering or trespassing above the high water mark, get some video of it and prosecute. That is perfectly within your rights, but understand that most people have respect for land owners if they have respect for us (which I hope is still true).
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From reading the Utah thread I would say the farmer who threatened you all those years ago was only partially correct. You can't trespass on his land, and I don't know what the circumstance was, but you had every right to stand at the very edge of the high water line, in the water or on the gravel, whatever the case may be. If the water was too deep then I suppose you could have floated down or made your case to the Sherriff that you were willing to leave as quickly as humanly possible and hoped for leniency.
If people are littering or trespassing above the high water mark, get some video of it and prosecute. That is perfectly within your rights, but understand that most people have respect for land owners if they have respect for us (which I hope is still true).
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