THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 5, 1996 TAG: 9606050382
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 40 lines
Centuries-old grants from the King of England give landowners control of river banks and beds but do not bar sportsmen from fishing from boats, a lawyer told the Virginia Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Terry Grimes urged the court to overturn a judge's ruling that barred fishing guide Chuck Kraft from a 3-mile stretch of the Jackson River. A ruling is expected in a few weeks.
Four property owners claim that crown grants issued to previous landowners by King George II in 1750 and King George III in 1769 gave them full control of the land and everything on it, including the river. Many such grants were given after the French and Indian War as a reward for service.
Last fall, Alleghany County Circuit Judge Duncan M. Byrd Jr. agreed that the landowners had title and ordered Kraft not to trespass on their portion of the river. The ruling prompted concern among fishermen that other landowners elsewhere in the state would close their streams.
Grimes argued that people have a common-law right to fish, as long as they don't wade in a private stream or walk along the banks.
``When did this trespass occur? Mr. Kraft never set foot on the beds or banks of the Jackson River,'' he said.
But Thomas Lawson, attorney for the property owners, argued that the public only has a right to navigate the river. ``Navigation and fishing are not the same thing,'' he said.
``These landowners wish only to exercise the rights to control the property
The property owners are Thomas Botkins, Pete Loving, Etheridge Burr and E. Witt.
A 19-mile stretch of the Jackson River, from Gathright Dam on Lake Moomaw to Covington, is considered one of the best trout fisheries on the East Coast because it is consistently cold and clear and is stocked regularly by the state. The area at issue is just below the dam.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA SUPREME COURT by CNB