Linden Lately?

[RSBreth]

I'll have to go look at the situation this weekend. It's not legal to block river access - but that doesn't mean they won't try too.

[Boat Newb]

I guess the purple paint on the large boulders means no trespassing. Found this article:

http://farmtalknewspaper.com/areafarmnews/x1418601715/Purple-paint-means-Keep-Out-in-Mo

So there's no access, even river access to Linden lake if you can't go past the purple boulders.

That doesn't seem legal, I thought a navigatable river was public property!

You are correct. Here's what I copied off of topix.com:

We just wanted to make everyone aware of a situation that is occurring on the Finley River at Linden in Christian County.

Recently Christian County redid the bridge at Linden and temporarily blocked people from traveling from the upper section of the Finley River to the lower section on the other side of the bridge. This was not technically legal for them to do, but it's at least somewhat understandable considering the liabilities of people crossing a construction zone.

However, the bridge is completed, and Christian County has now installed "No Trespassing" signs on the banks north of the bridge below the high water mark AND placed large boulders in the waterway itself and sprayed them with the purple spray paint mark that denotes "no trespassing" in Missouri. Both of these things are permanently impeding the navigability of the Finley River and both of these actions are in direct violation of federal law and rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Who owns the Finley River north of Linden Bridge? The Christian County Sheriff's Department appears to be under the mistaken impression that the property owners north of the bridge that are adjacent to the river OWN that stretch of the river and the dry banks around them. This is a common misconception and, unfortunately, because this information is not readily available, many property owners and small governments are not aware that this is incorrect.

The Finley River is actualy owned, in its entirety, by the stae of Missouri. The U.S. Supreme Court and other high courts have established over the decades that ALL navigable rivers, including the banks under the river and the dry banks up to the high water mark, are owned by the state, to be held in trust permanently for use by the public. NO ONE can own the river itself or the dry banks below the high water mark, as long as the river is navigable, even if the legal description of their property extends across the river itself on a map. A river is considered navigable if it can be travelled by boat, kayak, or even a simple raft. The Finley River more than meets this simple criteria, and is therefore public property owned by the state of Missouri.

Why does the law designate navigable rivers as state public property? It's simple, really. In the time before interstate highways and even railroads, rivers were the most efficient means of transporting goods and people and they had to be publicly accessible to make this possible. And the law remains that way to this day.

So why did the Christian County Sheriff's department block access to the river north of the Linden bridge? Well, as anyone in the area knows, there is an extremely popular swimming hole north of the bridge, probably the busiest in the entire Springfield area in the summer. And like any swimming hole, rowdy people sometimes go there, creating a headache for the nearby property owners and local law enforcement. While we're not unsympathetic to all of this, the law is the law and the Christian County Sheriff's department cannot simply create laws out of thin air. Closing Linden is beyond the scope of their authority and is simply not legal.

To make this long story short, you are NOT trespassing if you venture north of the Linden Bridge on the Finley River, as long as you stick to the waterway itself or the banks below the high water line. Does this guarantee that the Christian County Sheriff's office won't try to make you leave or even arrest you for trespassing? No, and that's a risk you'll have to weigh while we work to educate the Sheriff's department and local property owners. But you have the law on your side, and you are NOT breaking it by venturing north of the Linden bridge.

[OzarkFishman]

So ... where do you legally park???

Should it be a drop-off only spot???

Thanks in advance.

[Daveinozark]

You are correct. Here's what I copied off of topix.com:

We just wanted to make everyone aware of a situation that is occurring on the Finley River at Linden in Christian County.

Recently Christian County redid the bridge at Linden and temporarily blocked people from traveling from the upper section of the Finley River to the lower section on the other side of the bridge. This was not technically legal for them to do, but it's at least somewhat understandable considering the liabilities of people crossing a construction zone.

However, the bridge is completed, and Christian County has now installed "No Trespassing" signs on the banks north of the bridge below the high water mark AND placed large boulders in the waterway itself and sprayed them with the purple spray paint mark that denotes "no trespassing" in Missouri. Both of these things are permanently impeding the navigability of the Finley River and both of these actions are in direct violation of federal law and rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Who owns the Finley River north of Linden Bridge? The Christian County Sheriff's Department appears to be under the mistaken impression that the property owners north of the bridge that are adjacent to the river OWN that stretch of the river and the dry banks around them. This is a common misconception and, unfortunately, because this information is not readily available, many property owners and small governments are not aware that this is incorrect.

The Finley River is actualy owned, in its entirety, by the stae of Missouri. The U.S. Supreme Court and other high courts have established over the decades that ALL navigable rivers, including the banks under the river and the dry banks up to the high water mark, are owned by the state, to be held in trust permanently for use by the public. NO ONE can own the river itself or the dry banks below the high water mark, as long as the river is navigable, even if the legal description of their property extends across the river itself on a map. A river is considered navigable if it can be travelled by boat, kayak, or even a simple raft. The Finley River more than meets this simple criteria, and is therefore public property owned by the state of Missouri.

Why does the law designate navigable rivers as state public property? It's simple, really. In the time before interstate highways and even railroads, rivers were the most efficient means of transporting goods and people and they had to be publicly accessible to make this possible. And the law remains that way to this day.

So why did the Christian County Sheriff's department block access to the river north of the Linden bridge? Well, as anyone in the area knows, there is an extremely popular swimming hole north of the bridge, probably the busiest in the entire Springfield area in the summer. And like any swimming hole, rowdy people sometimes go there, creating a headache for the nearby property owners and local law enforcement. While we're not unsympathetic to all of this, the law is the law and the Christian County Sheriff's department cannot simply create laws out of thin air. Closing Linden is beyond the scope of their authority and is simply not legal.

To make this long story short, you are NOT trespassing if you venture north of the Linden Bridge on the Finley River, as long as you stick to the waterway itself or the banks below the high water line. Does this guarantee that the Christian County Sheriff's office won't try to make you leave or even arrest you for trespassing? No, and that's a risk you'll have to weigh while we work to educate the Sheriff's department and local property owners. But you have the law on your side, and you are NOT breaking it by venturing north of the Linden bridge.

sorry, who was it that wrote that article and how do we go about "educating" the Sheriff's office?

It doesn't make sense to me that it is now trespassing, after the bridge reconstruction. There was just an article last year about this being a "hot spot" that was going to see more police presence. It went into detail about how it was not trespassing as long as you didn't leave the banks of the river. Funny thing, I can't find that article on local news sites.

Now this year we are trespassing? Makes no sense

[Boat Newb]

sorry, who was it that wrote that article and how do we go about "educating" the Sheriff's office?

It doesn't make sense to me that it is now trespassing, after the bridge reconstruction. There was just an article last year about this being a "hot spot" that was going to see more police presence. It went into detail about how it was not trespassing as long as you didn't leave the banks of the river. Funny thing, I can't find that article on local news sites.

Now this year we are trespassing? Makes no sense

I don't know who wrote the article. It is well written, but doesn't make sense that the sheriffs dept did it. The law specifically states that it's a public waterway and that from high water mark to high water mark, there's nothing they can do to you. It's a navigable waterway.

[Boat Newb]

This is an interesting read on a similar topic:

http://www.lebanondailyrecord.com/online_features/article_a1f75fba-9ddb-11e0-a89e-001a4bcf6878.html

[Boat Newb]

Jeff Harris is our conservation agent for Christian County. I haven't had time to call him today.

417-880-4952

[Daveinozark]

This is an interesting read on a similar topic:

http://www.lebanonda...1a4bcf6878.html

very similar, except now they posted no trespassing signs on the sides of the banks. I can't imagine they can enforce trespassing when someone with a boat is climbing the spillway. Painting the boulders purple doesn't make sense when they are in the middle of the river like that.

found last year's article about Linden: http://ccheadliner.com/news/article_7dcd2dc7-c017-522d-b7cd-27dcec06b1ed.html

[Boat Newb]

very similar, except now they posted no trespassing signs on the sides of the banks. I can't imagine they can enforce trespassing when someone with a boat is climbing the spillway. Painting the boulders purple doesn't make sense when they are in the middle of the river like that.

found last year's article about Linden: http://ccheadliner.com/news/article_7dcd2dc7-c017-522d-b7cd-27dcec06b1ed.html

Oh I can tell you all about the troubles of Linden from the law side. I'm not sure how far down the road goes on the west side before it's not a public road anymore.

[Boat Newb]

So I've been talking to a couple of my Christian County deputy friends and they said it's not legally enforceable, they aren't looking forward to getting calls from the residents about it, and they don't know how they got the no trespassing signs that say Christian County Sheriff on them, but they didn't come from the sheriffs dept. Fish all you want.