Here is the bottom line on the quil: The river has been deemed non-navagatible at this point. The piece of land and the river in question in not navagatible (sp). 13th Dist Coast guard is the proponent that governs navagatability for the state. I have talked to the director personally. Believe me when I say that this river has been deemed non-navagatilbe as far as the state is concerend. Easy fix; fish up above.

Dustoff,
Do you know if there a list of what rivers are and are not navigable, or is this a call the local authority everytime you want bank it...

Just curious

Dustoff,
Do you know if there a list of what rivers are and are not navigable, or is this a call the local authority everytime you want bank it...

Just curious

For what it's worth Doug Kelly has it right for many of the rivers, the owner just does not feel like enforcing the law for his land,

We ran into the very same thing on the Yakima River, we used to hunt a spot for years and this guy finally was fed up and posted the land and ran us off one morning,

the short is, just like Doug says, float on by but dont touch bottom or the bank Period!! and no it is not on Tribal Land, Dad says he has run into other areas just like this all over the state over the years, old rights that have been grandfathered in.

Bud.

So the government runs the hatchery to plant fish. Now this guy profits off of selling the right to walk across the river to fish. I'm glad I haven't fished the Quilcene this year. They can close the hatchery for all I care. Hope this jerk gets audited by the IRS.

Piper the Washington Dept of Natural Resources has a map on their website that shows what rivers or portions of them are considered navigable. Go to their site and use their search to look for navigable waters....it'll take you right to it. You'll find that very few waters are shown as not navigable but on the other hand you'll also find many rivers are not shown as their navigability is undetermined....such as the Quilcene.

If anyone is really interested in what state laws say about this issue alls you have to do is go to the the state legislatures website. There you will find the current RCW's, WAC's and even the state attorney generals written opinions. Simple search of all 3 on that page will provide you with a lot of info. Be sure to read the definitions of what "navigable waters" are under Titles 79, 88, and 90 of the RCW's. THe attorney generals opinions will also speak to the jurisdiction of the Federal government. You'll also see an AG opinion on the the issue of undetermined navigability...specifically North River....very interesting opinion.

Sorry I meant the Carbon ...not the Cascade.

Where's TODD????
He need's to answer this one

Up here in Whatcom county we have Green Lake, it's surrounded by private property, but it does have a creek flowing from it. The property owner under no terms will let anyone fish it!!
So I called the Sherriff's office and the Game Dept and both told be If I want to wade up the creek pulling my boat to access the lake there is not a thing he can do about it. He owns the land around the lake, not the water.

You should call both dept's down there and ask???

Nothen more from me til I lawyer up! Todd?

Piper, if you read goose's feeds he is correct concerning the natural resources page. Most small river's have not been designated one way or the other. I just happened to call to get some info on the Quil and was told by the 13th Dist. that it is not navagatible. In my opinion no one should own the water navagatible or not. We did fish that place on the Quil this year. We payed the money due to the fact that we had 4 little ones with us that did not have waders and were not into walking a long ways. It was ok for that purpose. I actually gave away a couple of fish and talked, for quite a while, to the guy who owns the land on the north side of that roped off area. Everyone here should know that this guy is all for people catching fish and told me he doesn't mind anyone fishing his land. The only problem is that I don't exactly know how to get to his land without crossing the pay area. But he did tell me that we were welcome to fish his property (about 2 miles worth or good water) any time. We always ended up fishing his land anyway. In my opinion, he has the better holes on his property. The guy actually lives up around Port Angeles somewhere. He says that he doesn't do much with the land other than take some logs every now and then. Its a great place to fish if I could only figure out how to get down to it without crossing the pay area. Hope that helps.

Hmmmm, how about floating through with a big ass knife under your drift boat.

at high water it might be possible.

This topic has been covered in the past on this board and others. I remember posts by knowledgable people,dan s, todd,cowlitzfisherman and others.

Here's my information.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that rivers that are navigable ,for title purposes, are owned by the states,"held in trust" for the public. This applies in all fifty states.

The federal test of navigability is not a technical test but simply whether the river is usable as a route by the public.

The states own these rivers up to the "ordinary high water mark." This is the mark that people can actually see on the ground where the high water has left debris, sand,and gravel during its ordinary annual cycle.

State governments cannot reduce public rights to navigate and visit navigable rivers within their borders,but they can expand those rights. They can create a floatage easement, a public right to navigate even on rivers that are non-navigable, when the water is there, people have a right to be there on it , when it dries up people have no right to be there. But rivers that are navigable for title purposes are public land up to the high water mark,so even when the river runs dry, people still have the right to walk along the bed of the river.

Only federal courts can designate a river or section of a river navigable, the situation gets confusing when a state agency or commission holds hearings about public use of rivers.

It's been my experience that law enforcement officers have no clue on laws concerning rivers and usually side with property owners when a conflict occurs.

A good rule is that when fishing a non-navigable river is do not cross private property[ this applies to all fishing] or step out of a boat,anchoring can be a problem but I only know of one serious problem, it took place on the Trask in Or.

There's lot of info on various sites, makes for interesting reading.

I kinda of get a kick out of this thread..... No such anger though at the ridiculous $10.00 mukiliteo fee, but people angry at this guys trespass fee (to fish in peaceful area)?
I would happily pay a guy $10.00 if it meant having a positive experience. Even after paying the $10 mukilteo fee, it still sucks (the launch that is)....

MC