Supreme Court to Hear Beach Walking Case?

Shoreline property owners are asking the nation’s highest court to reverse a ruling that says the public has the right to walk along the beaches of the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Rick Pluta reports:

Transcript

Shoreline property owners are asking the nation’s highest court to
reverse a ruling that says the public has the right to walk along the
beaches of the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Rick
Pluta reports:


The property owners are challenging a Michigan Supreme Court
decision. The state court held that the public owns the Great Lakes
beaches from the water to the high water mark. The case was filed by a
woman who was seeking the right to walk along the shoreline of Lake
Huron.


David Powers is an attorney with the property owners group Save Our
Shoreline. He says the Michigan decision rolled back property owners’
rights…


“And so, if the state has taken private property in violation of the
Constitution, the U.S. Supreme Court should be very concerned about
that.”


The other side in the case says the Great Lakes shoreline is such a unique
resource that no one person should be allowed to claim exclusive rights
to it.


There’s no word on when the Supreme Court might make a decision on
taking the case. Lakeshore property rights are being litigated in other
Great Lakes states and whatever the Supreme Court decides to do could
have an effect on those cases.


For the GLRC, this is Rick Pluta.

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Landowners and State Argue Over Lake Boundaries

A land war is brewing between environmentalists and landowners along Lake Erie… and the latest battleground is the Ohio Legislature. Environmental activists are warning – if lawmakers side with the landowners, it could cause a domino effect, prompting other Great Lakes states to pass laws keeping nature-lovers off the shore. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Cohen reports:

Transcript

A land war is brewing between environmentalists and landowners along Lake Erie… and the
latest battleground is the Ohio Legislature. Environmental activists are warning – if lawmakers
side with the landowners, it could cause a domino effect, prompting other Great Lakes states to pass laws keeping nature-lovers off the shore. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Cohen
reports:


Ohioans who own land along the 260-mile Erie shore are angry because the state has been charging them lease payments for land their deeds show they already own and pay taxes on. That’s the strip between the lake’s high water mark and low water mark. The Ohio House of Representatives has okayed a ban on the lease payments to make it clear the residents’ deeds prevail.


But environmental activists such as Jack Shaner say that would rob beachcombers and birdwatchers of a 200-year-old right to walk the shoreline.


“This sets a bad precedent for the Great Lakes states. It also could cause a nationwide ripple effect.
We’re talking about public trust lands which are not only along Lake Erie but along any common waterway or public land. If this gets a toe hold in Ohio, this could sweep the nation. We’ve got to nip it in the bud right here in Ohio.”


It’s not law yet in Ohio. State Senators are now looking at this bill.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bill Cohen in Columbus.

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