Freedom to Roam

[Thestripper]

This is from the wipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam

"The freedom to roam, or "everyman's right", is the general public's right to access certain public or privately owned land, lakes, and rivers for recreation and exercise. The right is sometimes called the right of public access to the wilderness or the "right to roam".

In Scotland, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Austria, Czech Republic and Switzerland, the freedom to roam takes the form of general public rights which are sometimes codified in law. The access is ancient in parts of Northern Europe and has been regarded as sufficiently basic that it was not formalised in law until modern times. However, the right usually does not include any substantial economic exploitation, such as hunting or logging, or disruptive activities, such as making fires and driving offroad vehicles."

For me in northern Scandinavia this basically means that if I want to go camping or paddling down a river with my canoe I don't need to ask any ones permission to do so. When I get tired I go on land and pitch my tent and sleep wherever I feel like. There are some exceptions but in reality those exceptions generally only apply to places where you don't wish to go or to camp anyways. Such as close to a private home, in farmed land, a few protected areas that are fragile, military or industrial areas asf.

When I look at a map over the United State or Canada I am amazed of how much land and rivers there are. Some rivers, even small ones are long enough to travel on for weeks or even longer in some cases. It's also quite clear that these run through many different properties. If it's a river well visited then I'm sure there are designated camp sites and all that but how do you go explore rivers less travelled? Can you? Do you need permission from every landowner along the stretch you are going to paddle? Or only where you want to camp?

This probably varies some from state to state but I would like to hear from you and how you do this. Thanks.

 

[clemency]

Technically, in the US you can paddle any "navigable waterway", which is loosely defined as a waterway suitable for commerce (think mountain men hauling pelts, or riverboats). But if the property on shore is privately owned you can't set foot on it for camping (or fishing) without permission of the landowner. And there are lawsuits afoot where a landowner who owns both shores of a navigable waterway has tried to prohibit travel on the waterway itself. I'm sure someone will post a link.

 

[recped]

Over 90% of Canada's land mass is publicly owned. Of course a huge portion of that is in the far north and VERY far north.

One issue with the images you posted, tiny creeks like that are often highly seasonal, many would only be navigable for brief periods in the Spring and in farmland they are often just cesspools of e coli.

 

[Sweetfancymoses]

The "navigable waterway" definition varies by state. For example, in Michigan a creek has to be able to float an eight foot long once during the year to be considered navigable. In Indiana the stream has to be declared navigable by the legislature. In some instances, a stream is navigable in one county but not the next. You have the right to camp within the normal high water mark which, of course, is debatable. I'd rather not discuss the intricacies of the public access statute with a landowner who brings his 12 gauge to the meeting.

 

[Thestripper]

Over 90% of Canada's land mass is publicly owned. Of course a huge portion of that is in the far north and VERY far north.

One issue with the images you posted, tiny creeks like that are often highly seasonal, many would only be navigable for brief periods in the Spring and in farmland they are often just cesspools of e coli.

So in Canada you pretty much have the same "right to roam"? Or is it just that there's so much wilderness than once you're out there you never run into anyone else?

Yes those are probably seasonal. Those are the ones that I like best, when they are in season that is. Not that hip on e-coli though.

 

[recped]

In Canada we have the Navigable Waters Act

About the Canadian Navigable Waters Act

About the Canadian Navigable Waters Act, which replaces the Navigation Protection Act.

tc.canada.ca

There is also Provincial legislation related to ownership of river beds (I'm only familiar with the Ontario version).

Ownership Determination – Beds of Navigable Waters Act - policy

This policy outlines the ministry’s administrative responsibilities and considerations in determining navigability of waterbodies. It also outlines the effect this determination can have on the ownership of the bed of the waterbody.

www.ontario.ca

The only places these issues come up are in the urban and semi-urban areas of southern Canada where 90% of the population lives.

 

[Rubbaboo]

As Recped said in Canada we can pretty much paddle wherever we want until the water dries up. The land areas that are not owned by the Crown is where Trespass Acts come into effect. Each province has their own unique acts that are enforced by the police and conservation officers and are in place to protect landowner rights and limit public access.
Saskatchewan was the last province to implement a trespass act that limited access to private lands, which just took effect this past year and really only effects the bottom half of the province. Luckily all the good paddling and camping takes place in the northern half! It has however created major issues for the provinces hunters and other recreational users, and it is a real sore spot within the hunting community as much of the land is owned by sizeable corporations and foreign investors who are nearly impossible to track down for permission to access.
In Canada almost all the canoe tripping is on public land, and if you are not in a Provincial or Federally operated park, you can go wherever the heck you want, and camp wherever you want. We are very fortunate here to have such a massive playground!

 

[ppine]

The canoe was invented in North America. There is plenty of public land most places along remote rivers. States have somewhat different interpretations of private property and navigable waterways. In the US it is almost always possible to paddle rivers. Sometimes you have to pay attention to land ownership to know where you can pull over and camp legally. Some rivers are famous for it.

I mostly paddle rivers on Forest Service or BLM land in the West and we can pull over any where. Once in a while there might be some private land that is posted with signs. We avoid those areas. Sometimes there are Wildlife Refuges that do not allow over night camping. You may have to plan your day so you are off the Refuges by dark.

In the West, dams and water diversions structures are a much greater problem to river access than land ownership.

 

[Thestripper]

The canoe was invented in North America. There is plenty of public land most places along remote rivers. States have somewhat different interpretations of private property and navigable waterways. In the US it is almost always possible to paddle rivers. Sometimes you have to pay attention to land ownership to know where you can pull over and camp legally. Some rivers are famous for it.

I mostly paddle rivers on Forest Service or BLM land in the West and we can pull over any where. Once in a while there might be some private land that is posted with signs. We avoid those areas. Sometimes there are Wildlife Refuges that do not allow over night camping. You may have to plan your day so you are off the Refuges by dark.

In the West, dams and water diversions structures are a much greater problem to river access than land ownership.

That doesn't sound bad at all. So the small twisty creeks would be more difficult to paddle without fear for the 12 guage I take it. Since they run through so many properties, sometimes close to private residences. Even without camping in question, just paddling through sounds like it could be difficult, or hazardous.

 

[Gamma1214]

...just paddling through sounds like it could be difficult, or hazardous.

In my experience it is not. Granted, there might be the occasional trout fisherman who gets upset by a paddler (more likely if there is a large group of them) but that would likely be limited to yelling profanities and disrespecting various members of your family (even though he/she has, most likely, never met them).

Most of the rivers/streams around here that are deep enough to paddle would not be a problem for someone to go down (or up if you care to) although leaving the streambed to camp might be an entirely different issue.

One of the trips I'm planning for 2023 is an overnight on such a river. I have found a landowner who allows camping (not very hard if you ask enough people) and there is also a possibility of pitching a tent on some of the islands (as long as you're absolutely sure of the weather!). I'm working on verifying state regulations concerning islands but, I believe, anything below the high water mark is considered part of the stream bed in PA and is, therefore, fair game.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

If you would like the history of public rights in rivers and the foreshore in primitive societies, Rome, Spain, France, England and America, I researched and published it 47 years ago in 104 pages and 553 footnotes in the following law review article, which has since been cited by many courts and scholars: PDF

 

[Sweetfancymoses]

Oyez oyez oyez! In the words of Jackie Chiles, "It's broad, complete, extensive." Nice work, Glenn.

 

[ppine]

In the West, a lot of the small creeks are not navigable. Some are ephemeral or intermittent. Mostly we stay on the major rivers. In places like Oregon, the density of rivers is much higher and there are more choices. I like paddling there a lot.

The really big rivers like the Sacramento and the Willamette have established put ins and launch ramps. A lot of rivers have no facilities at all and we launch from the bank or carry our boats to the water. Sometimes you need an ownership map to find a place to launch on public land and where to leave vehicles overnight.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Oyez oyez oyez! In the words of Jackie Chiles, "It's broad, complete, extensive." Nice work, Glenn.

I don't expect anyone will actually read my ancient but still accurate treatise.

Clemency and Sweetfancymoses have summarized the general situation in the USA. The public can boat on "navigable" waters, but the definition of navigability can vary somewhat as between the federal government and each of the 50 states. Moreover, private landowners can own the banks of navigable rivers and other waterbodies. Therefore, paddlers may not be allowed to trespass above the mean high water line of navigable waterbodies except, perhaps, for emergencies or to portage around dangerous obstructions.

Because of the ambiguity of the "navigability" criterion and the private ownership of banks, there are often disputes, lawsuits, and landowner-paddler confrontations as to whether given rivers, streams or other waterbodies can be paddled by the public. The only certain way to know is if the waterbody has been declared navigable or boatable by the state or by a court.

Fortunately, many of the USA's paddling waters are within federally or state owned lands, or have public access points, or are within large corporate-owned tracts that allow boat access for a fee, so paddlers can get access to most of the USA's most interesting waters.

 

[clemency]

Don't sell yourself short. I'm gonna read it. Or at least give it a good skim and pick out the good parts.

 

[Thestripper]

If you would like the history of public rights in rivers...

That is pretty amazing Glenn! At 106 pages it's a bit intimidating but it probably straightens out a lot of questions regarding where you can paddle and where you might get in trouble for doing so. I'll throw myself at it but hopefully Clemency reports back with the greatest hits.


I love to go on small winding creeks and streams, especially in spring when the water level not only allows it but might even offer up some fun class 2 white water where there's only rocks with water trickling around them in summer. There is something about fitting your little canoe between the banks of those small creeks and go explore. It provides an angle that is much different than walking along the shore or anything else for that matter. Some can be not much bigger than a ditch (though a ditch is something else entirely with it's dirty water, it's man made, straight and usually they are just a means to get filth to flow out of sight and mind. Someone mentioned e-coli earlier..) I guess these little creeks are exactly the type of waterways where "navigability" is highly questionable and thus makes it more difficult to access without the risk of some of the troubles mentioned earlier -disputes, lawsuits, using profanity to disrespect various members of your family, intimidation or worse using 12 gauge.

Iv'e never paddled in America, though I sure would love to some day. I'm glad I asked here. The posted answers paint a broad and graspable picture.

Kevlar should be better than Royalex against 12 gauge.

 

[Odyssey]

The federal government previous to our current one, did some major tweaking to our laws governing navigable waters, in order to make them more "streamlined" for easier infrastructure improvements. Think dams, bridges, roads, etc. Also think drainage systems, not just individual rivers. There was a hullabaloo from both sides of the house, and as too often the two sides leaned environment vs economy. At times that's a false standoff, but not always. In any case the 2019 CNWA came into being. All this serves to remind us that we can take nothing for granted, and there are no easy solutions for a complicated world we seek to thrive in and protect.
In the 1860s The Crown granted land patents to some colonial settlers along Georgian Bay. The shoreline tracts were deeded to the waterline. These patents followed the landowners down through the generations until when in the 1990s there arose some disputes regarding changing water levels, shorelines, and public access to beaches. Some cottage owners built walls and erected fencing to keep out the trespassing public, while developers sought clarity in the local governances trying to make sense and keep peace. Eventually, it was ascertained that these land patents were indeed to the waters edge, and as these waters are not tidal, the original deeds held merit. Apparently, some land owners, both individual and developers, have donated their sections of shoreline to the township, thereby returning them to public lands. So there are some happy endings sometimes. And the public vs private issue is a tricky one, prone to NIMBYism and self-interests.