Contacting your legislator

One of the most important things you can do to further this cause is to contact your legislator.

DON’T KNOW YOUR LEGISLATOR?

That’s alright. Virginia’s General Assembly provides a helpful online service called Who’s My Legislator?.

1. Click this link: http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/VGAMain?openform.
2. Fill out the form. The required information includes street address, city, and zip code.
3. Click the “Lookup” button.
4. There are your legislators!

I KNOW HIS/HER NAME AND CONTACT INFORMATION. NOW WHAT?

Calling is best, but email works well too. Odds are you will not talk directly with the Senator/Delegate, instead you will talk to one of their aides. These aides are fielding dozens of calls from constituents on dozens of different bills. They keep a spreadsheet for each bill and will make a note that you called, whether you are a constituent or not, and they will mark whether you are in favor, or opposed, to a specific bill.

So, just call (or email) and tell them you wan the Senator/Delegate to vote in support of SB 737. It’s as simple as that…but if you can throw in an intelligent reason why, all the better.

Virginia’s Constitution

ARTICLE XI

Conservation

Section 1. Natural resources and historical sites of the Commonwealth.

To the end that the people have clean air, pure water, and the use and enjoyment for recreation of adequate public lands, waters, and other natural resources, it shall be the policy of the Commonwealth to conserve, develop, and utilize its natural resources, its public lands, and its historical sites and buildings. Further, it shall be the Commonwealth’s policy to protect its atmosphere, lands, and waters from pollution, impairment, or destruction, for the benefit, enjoyment, and general welfare of the people of the Commonwealth.

Virginia Code

THE LAW AT ISSUE

Section 28.2-1200 of the Virginia Code grants common, public use to all ungranted beds of bays, rivers, creeks, and shores. It reads as follows:

All the beds of the bays, rivers, creeks and the shores of the sea within the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth, not conveyed by special grant or compact according to law, shall remain the property of the Commonwealth and may be used as a common by all the people of the Commonwealth for the purpose of fishing, fowling, hunting, and taking and catching oysters and other shellfish. No grant shall be issued by the Librarian of Virginia to pass any estate or interest of the Commonwealth in any natural oyster bed, rock, or shoal, whether or not it ebbs bare.

Thus, all inland bodies of freshwater as well as their shores, banks, and beds, are open for public fishing and trapping except in cases where a landowner holds a special, legally recognized grant or compact.

Issues with Clauses and Wording: Sunrise-Sunset and Safety

 – A discussion and clarification of language included in the Bill –

SUNRISE TO SUNSET?

The bays, rivers, streams and creeks within the Commonwealth, excluding legal and permanent impoundments and tidal waters, shall be open to navigation for purposes of recreation in non-motorized vessels between sunrise and sunset.

The bill specifies the hours of legally protected access to eliminate the worries of private landowners who may fear nighttime intrusion of a paddler. For paddlers who may fear the overreach of a landowner, the bill does not outlaw all other times by specifying one period: the positive designation of hours does not imply prohibition of the unmentioned hours. As one paddler explains (not verbatim, but the gist):

Suppose the General Assembly were to pass a bill that says “The Shenandoah Park shall be open on Christmas Day.” That bill would not close the Park for the other 364 days, and it would not restrict the open hours of all other state departments and facilities.

Thus, the bill is a positive guarantee, not a cancellation.

For Your Consideration: Clarifications and Arguments

SOME CLARIFICATIONS REGARDING THE BILL

1. The bill requires no state spending. It does not ask or mandate the state to provide access to the waterways.
2. The bill clarifies that waters under state jurisdiction are legally navigable.
3. The bill does not grant any boater the right to trespass on privately owned land.
4. This bill does not seek the property rights of any private landowner.