Who owns the river?

[Castaway]

I've noticed quite a few no trespassing signs along a river that's stocked by the state. Do people actually own part of the river?

[acabtp]

Yes, quite possibly. When in doubt, check the tax map... better than a wilful trespassing ticket. The landowners who post river property usually enforce it pretty vigorously. It can be pretty lame, but the law says that's their right in NJ.

There are many trout stocked rivers that have private stretches. IIRC, the private stretches don't get NJDFW stockings, just places with public access.

[catfishonthelake]

I got married at the Raritan Inn on the South Branch, which doubles as a private trout club. The way the owner explained it to me was that the river itself (water, fish, etc) cannot be owned, but the property (the riverbank and river bed) is privately owned by whoever owns the land parcel. If you could somehow float down a private stretch of river without you boat/kayak/canoe touching the riverbottom or having to get out of the canoe and put your foot down on the ground, technically you would be ok. Only problem that most clubs are on non-navigable streams, so at some point you're gonna get stuck or need to get out of your vessel, at which point you are tresspassing.

[thmyorke1]

http://njgin.state.nj.us/oit/gis/NJ_TaxListSearch/

Click on an area and see who owns it. Im not sure what it means when an area has null fields, either no one owns it or maybe it is owned and the website made a mistake.

Im trying to scout out some wild trout streams but a lot of them are pretty much all private land. I guess it's a good thing the wild trout have some protection against googans like me.

[briansnat]

As I understand it, if the river is navagible, the public has the right to use it via boat even were it crosses private property. The property owner owns the banks and in many cases also owns the river bottom. So essentially you can boat on the river, but you would be trespassing if you got out of your boat, whether to step on the shore or to stand in the river.

In NJ the state doesn't stock rivers that don't have public access. There maybe parcels of posted private property adjacent to the river, sometimes fairly large ones, but there needs to be public access somewhere. It could be that one side is privately owned and the other bank is public access. It could be that both banks are privately owned and public access is some distance up or down stream.

There are some instances where nearby landowners/residents post public land just to keep people out. They have no right to do so, but because most people who see the signs are none the wiser, it often works. It's not common, but it's far from unheard of. A look at the tax maps should be able to tell you where this is the case.

If you are having trouble finding legal access to streams, this might help http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/accesscnty.htm

[NJSquatch]

http://njgin.state.nj.us/oit/gis/NJ_TaxListSearch/

Click on an area and see who owns it. Im not sure what it means when an area has null fields, either no one owns it or maybe it is owned and the website made a mistake.

Null means that a link couldn't be made from the geometry parcel block lot number to the tax assessor database. Could be a number of reasons for that but someone definitely owns the land.

[Castaway]

Excellent info. Thanks guys.

[acabtp]

If you could somehow float down a private stretch of river without you boat/kayak/canoe touching the riverbottom or having to get out of the canoe and put your foot down on the ground, technically you would be ok.

keep in mind that on streams that are navigable-in-fact but run through private property, you still only have the right to navigate. without the landowner's permission, the public does not have the right to fish, hunt, swim, etc on these waters even if they do not touch the bottom.

The public does not have any right to use non-navigable, non-tidal waters absent consent by the owners.12) With respect to navigable non-tidal waters, the public may use them only for the purpose of navigation.13) However, the public may not use them for other purposes such as fishing.14)
good summary of NJ water access laws with case law references
https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Wiki/access:nj?#fnt__13

[AndyS]

State is not allowed to stock private property. See a stocking sign, GO FOR IT !!