NavList:

Not sure about rules regarding copying articles so have selected relevant text.
Living on the coastline of California -- access to the beach is granted to the
public by state law but I have to wonder if this ruling can be upheld?

In a rather bizarre ruling that has marine industry officials worried, Judge Robert G. James of the United States District Court, Western Division of Louisiana, has said that it is criminal trespass for the American boating public to boat, fish, or hunt on the Mississippi River and other navigable waters in the US.

In the case of Normal Parm v. Sheriff Mark Shumate, James ruled that federal law grants exclusive and private control over the waters of the river, outside the main shipping channel, to riparian landowners. The shallows of the navigable waters are no longer open to the public. That, in effect, makes boating illegal across most of the country.

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Here is the url with slightly more detail

http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20060814154923ibinews.html

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