To the editor:
I came across the letter you published on adverse possession [WWF Feb. 05], and decided to tell my own story.
Last summer my son and I wanted to go striper fishing on the Kennebec River. I checked my gazetteer and found a public road leading to an old ferry terminal, to be a logical spot.
We found the old ferry dock and began setting the hooks. A few people showed up to launch dinghies to their boats docked in the water. They were very pleasant to us, politely asking how the fishing was. Then one man showed up and right away he had something on his mind. He gave us that look.
He went out to his boat, obviously aggravated, and when he came back he proceeded to tell me that this was a private dock and that we can’t fish here.
I replied, “Well, I know a little about the rights of the public, I am a Professional Land Surveyor, licensed in the State of Maine,” and asked if this was a public road that leads to this dock. He replied, “Yes.” I told him I thought it unreasonable to think that a private dock can be built at the end of a public road, and asked why it wasn’t posted as private property. No response. I then replied that if he showed me a deed saying that he owned the waters of the Kennebec River, or legal papers showing that the public had no rights to this dock then I would leave. He left, we continued fishing, and never saw him again.
The letter I read in your paper brought back this memory and how aggravating it was, to attempt to find a logical, harmless place to fish with my son.
There are public rights to the area between high water and low water in all waters of the State of Maine.
These cases are coming up more often now. In law there are many cases concerning discontinued or abandoned portions of roads and public rights of access in the State.
It appears that in this case there is an existing public right of way leading up to a point where a fence has been put up by a private owner. I understand the private owner’s rights of privacy, but the Town should ensure that the rights of the public have not been conflicted with, so some day a man and his son may go fishing if they want to.
Hugh Gilman
China Village, ME