# River rights soon to be free



## Jfish (Sep 22, 2010)

I thought that it was interesting that someone posted information about a book that explains our river rights. Basically explaining how rivers are actually public and not private.

I went to purchase the book but I had a question about which book to purchase so I called them up. They said that the books will be published online in about a month for free.

http://www.nationalrivers.org/products-and-resources/

Has anyone bought these and read them?


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## Luv2hunteup (Mar 22, 2003)

Free book but does it come with free legal representation when you violate state law?


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## Jfish (Sep 22, 2010)

I'm going to read it before I come to any conclusions.


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## toto (Feb 16, 2000)

Read it, and have tt these guys a bit. They know what they are talking about, but apparently you can't convince everyone, some still think it's a big mystery.


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## Jfish (Sep 22, 2010)

toto said:


> Read it, and have tt these guys a bit. They know what they are talking about, but apparently you can't convince everyone, some still think it's a big mystery.


Please elaborate.


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## toto (Feb 16, 2000)

This booklet will explain the concept of public trust rights, I think you'll find one has more rights than you may think. Once you've read it, we can have a discussion. What I do know is the law of water rights is very complicated and I don't profess to be an expert, but what I did discover over time was surprising, to say the least.


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## Davelobi (Feb 14, 2012)

I'm no expert either, in fact, I'm not sure of anything. Maybe I can shed a little light that would help whomever find the way towards searching for the information in which they seek. Digging deep in my old brain here..
There was (and still is to my knowledge) the wading/fishing/etc laws in effect that described a "navigable river". This was based on old school measurement in which a stream was deemed navigable if it could float a certain sized log down it. In this sized, and larger, river you can wade (in the water) through private property to fish. There were additional things mentioned like being able to walk up on dry ground to go around an obstruction such as a downed tree, etc. If the river is "not navigable" (or too small) then you do not have the right to wade through private property. Who actually determines what bodies of water are, or are not, navigable I don't know. I think it's another example of vague old laws, common sense, courtesy, and general good sportsmanship.


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## toto (Feb 16, 2000)

What you are referring to is the floating log test. In other words, if in the old days, it can be proven that logs were floated down a particular body of water, then it is deemed navigable. There are a few terms for navigation such as navigable in fact, navigable in law are two that come to mind. Nav in fact means it's pretty obvious you can float a boat or whatever down said stream/river, example, Manistee river. Navigable in law means, basically, refer back to the floating log test. The U.S. Federal Courts are the only ones with the authority to declare a river non navigable and as far as I know there are only 3 streams in Michigan noted as such. Not sure which one's off the top of my head, but I think you can find them in the sticky at the top of this page. As for crossing someones land to get to a navigable river, you can only do so in 2, well maybe 3 ways: 1) Permission from land owner, 2) stay below the high water mark, 3) can only step on private property to avoid a hazard, even then you are to be on the land as little as possible and only for the time it takes to get around said obstacle. The only other scenario you may cross private property is for an emergency only, for example, if you actually cast until your arm falls off, if that happens I doubt anyone would have a problem.


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## Big Frank 25 (Feb 21, 2002)

Michigan Rivers


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## Robert Holmes (Oct 13, 2008)

You missed one Toto and that would be a sudden or unexpected change of weather that would force a person to get off from the water as soon as possible. More often than not this involves boaters who may have to beach small watercraft on private property.


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## scooter_trasher (Sep 19, 2005)

another scenario
*prescriptive easement*
n. an easement upon another's real property acquired by continued use without permission of the owner for a period provided by state law to establish the easement. The problems with prescriptive easements are that they do not show up on title reports, and the exact location and/or use of the easement is not always clear and occasionally moves by practice or erosion.
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/prescriptive+easement


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## UplandnWaterfowl (Jan 3, 2010)

The rules have always been available and free, here they are https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...Vl-_gd1Sts8JDxhRA&sig2=hCWZ_4H2typdYd9tCakUYA


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