I need to get a refresher on this but I'm sitting at my computer late at night looking at some arguments online on who owns (non-private) land along a river corridor.
If, and only if the land HAS NOT gone to patent, who owns it? Is it still in trust to the Dept. of interior?
BLM?
BOR?
Portions of it are in a Nat'l Forrest.
Does it have title since title hasn't "technically" been issued yet?
I know what my answer is but I wanted more opinions. Being licensed for a little less than 2 years, I now feel more dumb than ever and If I'm wrong....Well I've learned something new and it gives me a place to start research that question of which I first asked.
Rob
Check Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 43 - Public Lands: Interior.
I now feel more dumb than ever
The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know! It takes brave men to ask the questions. And we all benefit from it.
:coffee:
Da Gubmint.
We have an example of that in our county. A river sliced through a section such that a tiny bit of the section is on the other side of the river. Lot 1 is its title. It was too small to be of any agricultural value by itself. It is also subject to routine flooding. Nevertheless, the river is slowly moving away, thereby enlarging Lot 1. Someday it may be large enough to possess enough value as to make it attractive to some adventurer. The owner of the adjoining tract treats it as if it was his property. No adverse possession against the Crown allowed. The index books in the courthouse have blank pages where entries for Lot 1 are to be made. There is no public access route.
You need to look at the Master Title Plat. The BLM may have them on line for your area.
If the river is navigable, the state owns the bed under the Equal Footing Doctrine. No federal patent to state necessary.
The upland would still be federal if the upland parcel had never been patented or otherwise transferred to another private or governmental entity.
Riparian boundary rules apply regarless of who owns the upland. If the river movement was gradual, the upland parcel expands or erodes as its water boundary moves. If the river movement was a result of an avulsive event (rapid change of river course such as cutting a new channel as a result of a flood), then the bounday of the upland remains where it was prior to the avulsive event.
I own it. You own it. It belongs to US.
N
