PORTION THAT FLOWS THROUGH POSTED PRIVATE LAND. PHOTO: SUSAN BIBEAU
PHIL BROWN PADDLING ON SHINGLE SHANTY BROOK ON A
HEART OF CONFLICT Amidst these muddied waters, two things are clear. First, the legal aspects can be befuddling to everyday river users, with few avenues for resolution. “It’s difficult to get [these disputes] settled out of court by normal people. But nor-
mal people paddle rivers and normal people own land,” says Colburn. Even the most basic rule of thumb—don’t trespass where posted—can create problems, since land- owners may assert rights they don’t actually have. “The no trespassing guideline is useful if you want to avoid conflicts, but it’s not
useful if you are within your rights and want to assert them,” says Colburn. Like Brown, paddlers can be forced to make individual choices about when to assert
what they believe are their rights or when to turn the other cheek. When paddlers avoid conflict, they may leave property owners with mistaken belief that they have the right to restrict access to rivers or gravel bars. Second, river conflicts often mirror larger fault lines that divide North American
society: rural and urban, progressive and conservative, rich and poor, and divisions between environmental advocates and land-based industries. “Urban paddlers in modern boats can seem like an invasion to a rural landowner,”
says Leaper, adding that this is especially true where past conflicts have put urban and rural concerns at odds. The simultaneous rise in outdoor recreation and proper- ty-rights rhetoric has only intensified the fervor. Paddlers’ behavior can also make relations worse. Rivers that fill with drunken rev-
elers in summer, like Oregon’s Clackamas and to a lesser extent, the Meramec, tend to have more conflict. And what may seem like normal river behavior to some pad- dlers—discretely changing clothes at the put-in or a pee break on a gravel bar—can irk locals.
THE COMMUNICATION GAP When taken as individual issues, fences, noise, scouting rapids, and a lack of decorum sound like minor disagreements that can be resolved in conversation without law- suits, let alone guns. So why does it get out of hand? One factor is the decentralized cultures of both sides. Most disputes originate with
individual landowners, of whom there are millions. Paddling clubs and fishing organi- zations, the strongest partners in communicating with landowners, represent a small fraction of river users. Few mechanisms exist to communicate when problems arise. Subtle behavior changes that could reduce tension—changing parking locations, add- ing a garbage bin at the take-out, or scouting from river left—often aren’t communi- cated to the masses. This lack of communication means a lot of missed opportunities. Colburn cites an
instance where a landowner blocked a river with a fence to keep livestock on his land. “There are ways to keep cattle from moving that leave the river open and are no
inconvenience to paddlers,” Colburn says. As an example on the other side of the debate, “if paddlers changing clothes is an issue, let’s build a changing house.” Poor communication leaves both sides frustrated and entrenched. When communication happens early, tensions often ease. Advocacy group White- water Ontario works to resolve access concerns before they can snowball.
48 | Canoeroots
“We encourage paddlers to not turn a blind eye to others who are setting a bad example.”
“We’ve been reaching out to landowners to increase their
awareness of whitewater paddlers, and in most cases we get a very supportive response,” says Laura Duncan of Whitewater Ontario. “On the Salmon, Crowe, Ottawa, Black and Irvine riv- ers, we’ve issued postings indicating where unapproved access by paddlers is damaging relations, installed signs to tell paddlers to use alternate access points and moved parking to limit conflicts.”
THE WAY FORWARD Successful negotiations between paddling clubs, landowners and townships are one reason for hope. Standards among river users, while hard to enforce, may also go a long way toward reducing conflicts. Policing garbage, noise and decorum on the river with- out surrendering the right to use the water and its banks may help resolve issues more quickly than the courts. “We encourage paddlers to not turn a blind eye to others who
are setting a bad example,” says Duncan. “Having the chance to meet and talk with paddlers helps landowners understand the community better.” For paddlers struggling with their own access issues, Duncan
recommends reaching out to local paddling clubs and seeing if they can be a focal point for communication for advocacy, access and connecting with landowners. The hundreds of river access cases creeping through the legal
system across the nation indicates it’s clearly not a debate that will be resolved anytime soon. However, American Whitewater’s Colburn remains optimistic: “When you look across the conti- nent, the right to paddle is a victory for the public more than not. I hope it stays that way.”
Neil Schulman is a paddler and conservationist living in Portland, Oregon.
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