What does an assertion of public ownership by the Land Board do?
An assertion of navigability/public ownership by the Land Board establishes that the bed and banks of the Sandy River are publicly-owned to the line of ordinary high water. With this assertion, the public’s rights to use the river below the line of ordinary high water will be assured. Conversely, private landowners will know with certainty the limits of the state’s ownership claim, and that persons who go above the line of ordinary high water are committing a trespass. The state’s claim is always subject to dispute in the courts.
