Dear Bamboozle,
This part to me is the most important part. While I respect the rights of landowners and always have there are more instances of new landowners changing the game every day.
I lived in upstate NY and owned 6 acres along the Susquehanna River. I'll never forget the first Spring in my house when a couple of young guys stopped in my driveaway one Saturday afternoon and asked if they could access the river from my property because the previous owners had allowed them to do that. I was literally stunned that they even bothered to ask. I simply told them "Thanks for asking and sure, you can even park in my driveway, just please leave a clear lane in and out for me."
I did see them come and go over the next couple of years a few times. I never had any issues with them and I'm pretty sure they stopped coming because the fishing wasn't particularly good.
I was a newbie rural landowner, and I never once had an issue with anyone. Until I got a big snowblower for my garden tractor to handle my 120-foot 3 lane driveway my farmer neighbor next door would stop after every big snow and relocate the piles I had built up because the tractor would only push the snow so far. I'd hand him a couple Gennies and it was all good.
Likewise, one Spring a huge oak tree on my property fell over his fence onto his land. By huge, the root ball that came out was at least 12' maybe 15' feet in diameter. He came the next morning and asked me if I wanted any of the tree for firewood. I said "No Brian, I have no fireplace or wood stove." He said "Great, that will heat the old farmhouse next Winter." The next day he and his son cut it all up and hauled it all away. They rebuilt their fence and even backfilled the hole made by the uprooted tree as best they could.
Today, both anglers and landowners seem to have adopted opposing viewpoints in many cases. I don't know where it will end up.
Regards,
Tim Murphy 🙂
