Date:         Sat, 24 May 2003 09:09:42 -0400
Reply-To:     Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
Sender:       Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
From:         Gail Mackiernan <gail@MDSG.UMD.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Shore Wars / No Trespassing Question
In-Reply-To:  <7b.11b230ca.2c004619@aol.com>
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Hi --

They may well not be legitimate -- but it would have to go to court --
again! About 10 years ago (or perhaps more) the state of Delaware challenged
land-owners in court about preventing access to state trust lands (i.e., all
lands below mean high water) and the landowners lost. (I knew one of the
lawyers involved, who worked with Sea Grant) At this time, shore access was
opened at Pickering Beach and Kitt's Hummock. As far as I know, there have
been no court cases overturning this, so I assume the relatively recent
actions at Kitt's Hummock -- especially he no trespassing through the dunes
to the beach at the end of the road -- may not be legal. I do not think this
section of dunes is privately owned.  The road is also not privately owned
but the landowners may have asked for and gotten (legal) no-parking in the
area. Obviously going through people's back yards to reach the beach IS
trespassing!

It might be worth a call to the State Attorney's office to assess the
current legal rulings in Delaware on beach/shore access. And if the
landowner actions are not legal, that is also the office that needs to deal
with it -- not through individual confrontations with landowners!

I should reiterate, however, that the public has a legal right to walk along
the shoreline below mean high water "for the purposes of fishing, fowling
etc." in most of the original 13 states (and many others). This was part of
English Common Law when the colonies were first founded, and is part of the
state's charters. This is public land or state trust land. This has been the
basis of a lot of court cases which have gotten public access to shorelines
that private owners tried to make off-limits. (I believe Louisiana is one of
the few exceptions (in the east), because its original law was French.)
Ironically, this legal standing is also what allows fishermen to use the
beach to collect crabs!

Gail Mackiernan
(formerly Asst. Sea Grant director)
Silver Spring, MD


on 05/23/2003 11:50 PM, Steve Huy at Gabboon@AOL.COM wrote:

> In a message dated 5/23/03 9:53:58 PM Eastern Daylight Time, THBeal@AOL.COM
> writes:
>
>> It
>> is plastered with no trespassing / no parking signs.  Anybody know if those
>> are
>> legitimate?
>>
>>
>
> If you do not have permission to enter the land from the land owner and it is
> not a public access point they are legitimate.
>
>
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