Posted by Jonathan Labaree on August 27, 2002 at 17:34:17 from 207.5.198.231 user JLabaree.
In Reply to: Re: question about a map in CC posted by Robert Dilley on August 27, 2002 at 15:09:09:
Here in New England (and probably in other parts of the US, but I am not familiar enough with other states’ laws to know), the intertidal zone is in the public domain, with public rights of access for “fishing, fowling, and navigation” (our colonist forebearers’ idea of what was important). Not sure if clambakes fit in one of those categories, but people have traditionally felt they have the right to that stretch of the shore for recreation as well. Gaining access to that thin strip from the shore is problematic for, unlike Australia (as Bruce Clarke tells us), we do not have access over land. We also do not have access to the cable length of upland.
Inland waters are governed by similar rules. Any navigable body of water is public and, here in Maine anyway, any pond that is ten acres or larger is as well. Again, however, that does not necessarily mean you can get to it. Many ponds here are surrounded by private land with no public access to them.
I just checked our state’s web site and apparently water behind a dam is not necessarily public, which may reflect the history of the broads as man-made landscape elements. I suppose if you owned the land first, then flooded it, you would feel entitled to continue to own that bit of land even though it is now covered by water. Having spent many hours canoeing on dam-created lakes, I don’t think dam owners (mostly timber companies in Maine) try to keep people off of their water. Similarly, even though many rivers are not navigable in the traditional sense, there seems to be a tradition of access to rivers for whitewater rafting, canoeing, and kayaking.
This may all seem a bit off topic, but so much of S&A’s adventures happen on other people’s land, that the tradition of public access to private land feels central to the books. That’s especially true if you are trying to give your children similar experiences today and want to find places where that’s somewhat possible. I am now re-reading Secret Water (after 25 years) and struck by how welcome the explorers are to use Swallow Island.