08/13/2008

Associated Press

State officials say they won't act on their claim to public ownership of the banks of the Rogue River until landowners have had their day in court.

A lawyer for landowners said the expected appeal would be filed Thursday in Jackson County.

In June, the State Land Board asserted state ownership of an 89-mile stretch of the Rogue on the grounds that it is navigable.

The state says the congressional act that brought Oregon into the union in 1859 declares the state's navigable waterways free to all inhabitants of the country. A river could be declared navigable if it was used for commercial purposes, such as hauling freight.

The Land Board ruling would eventually allow boaters and anglers to use the banks. Landowners have been able to bar them, claiming ownership to the middle of the river or the bank opposite.

"If the lawsuit is filed, we're not rushing out to act as owner," said Louise Solliday, director of the Department of State Lands.

In June, Solliday sent 3,000 letters to owners of properties within 200 yards of the Rogue, notifying them of the state's claim.

If no legal action were filed, state officials would prepare a study of the waterway, looking for boat docks, marinas and irrigation equipment on land that the state claims.

Solliday said property owners could rent the space from the state for $25 a year for a boat dock or $275 for a marina. Higher lease rates would apply to commercial properties.

Portland lawyer Jennie Bricker said she would file a request for a court review of the state's claim on behalf of six property owners, most of them in the upper reaches of the 89-mile stretch.

Bricker said the state didn't provide enough evidence to support the conclusion that the river is navigable, particularly on the upper reach.

Previously, the state has asserted ownership of stretches along the Sandy and John Day rivers, and several more stretches await similar action.

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Information from: Mail Tribune, http://www.mailtribune.com/