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3. Allan Bright,--Won --Beaver Lost

For those of you who have been following the case of Pennsylvania's suit against parties who were claiming ownership of what the Commonwealth has established is a navigable river:

As you may recall, last year around this time the Huntingdon County Court decided strongly in favor of the Commonwealth plaintiffs. Judge Kurtz ruled that the Little Juniata River is navigable-in-fact, and therefore the Commonwealth is the owner of the river bed in trust for the benefit of the public. Consequently, the defendants Donny Beaver, Connie Espy, Spring Ridge Club, Paradise Outfitters, et al., lacked any basis for excluding the public from fishing in these waters, and the Court issued an injunction to that effect.

Since that time, Mr. Beaver and his co-defendants appealed the matter to the PA Commonwealth Court. They filed their brief in November 2007. In January, the Commonwealth filed its comprehensive brief in response. On the day this week that Beaver et al. were to file their reply brief, they informed the other parties that they were instead withdrawing their appeal. Thus ends this saga, and the Commonwealth remains victorious.

As also previously reported, this was a cooperative effort among the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection, the Fish & Boat Commission, and the Dept. of Conservation & Natural Resources. Also significantly involved for many years has been Allan Bright, owner of Spruce Creek Outfitters, as well as some stellar witnesses on behalf of the Commonwealth, most notably a professional historian who provided remarkable insight to a fascinating time in our nation's history.

JAD

Yahoo!

Very good to hear. High water mark law is a fishermans best friend.

Excellent news. I want to thank all the people who put a great deal of time and money into this case - it truly is a landmark decision. Anglers for possibly many generations will be in your debt.

-Shawn

"Discontinuing the appeal keeps Judge Kurtz's decision legally binding only on the Little Juniata, according to John D. Echeverria, executive director of the Georgetown Environmental Law and Policy Institute at Georgetown University.

"Beaver has prevented the case from turning into legal precedent that would have binding effect across the state," he said, "although it nonetheless represents a persuasive authority with regard to other cases."

JAD

Even though this doesn't constitute legal precedence, hopefully it will make Beaver's method of "conservation" more transparent to everyone and will make it more difficult for him the next time he tries to steal public water. And there will be many next times, I'm afraid.

-Shawn

As they say in Texas (Tejas), YEE-HAW!!!

Jonathon

P.S. Are these the same guys who were trying to establish precedence under claims granted by King George the 3rd?? I wish to ask them this: do you see the fu**ing Queen of England on our fu**ing MONEY??? When you have a Revolution, baby, all claims are OFF...