Steve W
03-22-2005, 10:33 PM
One of the more serious issues out of the Northern RAC meeting was information given regarding legislation attempting to change the legal definition of “navigable waters”. The change would be to either allow it to end where no aquatic plants grow or where agricultural activity can be performed.
Here is a link to some info on navigable waters as defined by federal laws.
http://www.nationalrivers.org/us-law-menu.htm
This is a very serious issue for duck and snipe hunters. If you hunt an area that may have low water part of the year you could be considered trespassing and with a firearm it is a felony. Which could result in loss of being allowed to own firearms. As an example, in the Seminole area, the water area can fluctuate from 30 feet wide to hundreds of feet. Currently you could hunt the mud flats with no repercussions as it is considered navigable. The new definition would have you trespassing.
Here is what I have been able to find out about the bills.
House Bill – http://www.flsenate.gov/data/session/2005/House/bills/billtext/pdf/h136900.pdf
“The ordinary high-water mark on a freshwater river is not the highest point to which the water rises in times of freshets, but is the line that the river impresses upon the soil by covering it for sufficient periods to deprive it of vegetation and to destroy its value for agriculture.”
Bill Status:
03/04/05 HOUSE Filed
03/08/05 HOUSE Introduced -HJ 00118
03/14/05 HOUSE Referred to Environmental Regulation (SRC); Agriculture &
Environment Appropriations (FC); State Resources Council
Senate Bill –
http://www.flsenate.gov/data/session/2005/Senate/bills/billtext/pdf/s2104.pdf
“The ordinary high-water line is a water mark that is coordinate with the limit of the bed of a freshwater body; and that only is to be considered the bed that the water occupies sufficiently long and continuously to wrest it from vegetation and destroy its value for agricultural purposes.”
Bill Status:
03/07/05 SENATE Filed
03/16/05 SENATE Introduced, referred to Judiciary; Environmental
Preservation; Community Affairs; General Government
Appropriations
There is another bill that has to do with this, but I could not find the affect on this in the bill.
http://www.flsenate.gov/data/session/2005/Senate/bills/billtext/pdf/s1954.pdf
Here is a link to some info on navigable waters as defined by federal laws.
http://www.nationalrivers.org/us-law-menu.htm
This is a very serious issue for duck and snipe hunters. If you hunt an area that may have low water part of the year you could be considered trespassing and with a firearm it is a felony. Which could result in loss of being allowed to own firearms. As an example, in the Seminole area, the water area can fluctuate from 30 feet wide to hundreds of feet. Currently you could hunt the mud flats with no repercussions as it is considered navigable. The new definition would have you trespassing.
Here is what I have been able to find out about the bills.
House Bill – http://www.flsenate.gov/data/session/2005/House/bills/billtext/pdf/h136900.pdf
“The ordinary high-water mark on a freshwater river is not the highest point to which the water rises in times of freshets, but is the line that the river impresses upon the soil by covering it for sufficient periods to deprive it of vegetation and to destroy its value for agriculture.”
Bill Status:
03/04/05 HOUSE Filed
03/08/05 HOUSE Introduced -HJ 00118
03/14/05 HOUSE Referred to Environmental Regulation (SRC); Agriculture &
Environment Appropriations (FC); State Resources Council
Senate Bill –
http://www.flsenate.gov/data/session/2005/Senate/bills/billtext/pdf/s2104.pdf
“The ordinary high-water line is a water mark that is coordinate with the limit of the bed of a freshwater body; and that only is to be considered the bed that the water occupies sufficiently long and continuously to wrest it from vegetation and destroy its value for agricultural purposes.”
Bill Status:
03/07/05 SENATE Filed
03/16/05 SENATE Introduced, referred to Judiciary; Environmental
Preservation; Community Affairs; General Government
Appropriations
There is another bill that has to do with this, but I could not find the affect on this in the bill.
http://www.flsenate.gov/data/session/2005/Senate/bills/billtext/pdf/s1954.pdf