millionare's "private" bc lakes not private afterall

[Rexplorer]

Some rich american was blocking access to lakes he claimed as his. Turns out they're not. News at 11. Hope this happens a lot more. Right to roam is a thing here after-all.

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/b-c-angler-overwhelmed-at-winning-lake-access-case-against-billionaire-ranch-owners

 

[FlyingFischer5]

Kind of had something like this happen by me about 15 years ago. Some guy bought all the land around a small but still popular fishing lake. He tried blocking the public road to it with trees but that didn't last long with guys that had chainsaws and chains to pull them off the road. Then a few months after the road was cleared he would approach people shore fishing with a shotgun yelling to get off his property and private lake. This landed in court and eventually he got put in his place by the court/government because in the land papers it said that the lake had to remain open to the public.

Long story short, it is open to the public but now only has about 10' of water frontage for a boat ramp and you are only allowed to shore fish if the water is below the high water line as you cannot own anything below the high water line around here. He is still bitter to this day and patrols the road watching for people to step off the public shore onto his and he calls fish and game about trespassing. You can guess there has been many fights/arguments with this guy and fellow fisherman.

But just because you own the land around a lake doesn't always make it your own private lake.

 

[Jedi]

Self absorbed people like this always remind me of Alfred's observation form The Dark Knight...
"Some men aren't looking for something logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn." - Alfred

 

[rhinodave]

My parents bought land in Cape Breton Nova Scotia in the 70's, my mom was from there. The land included a lake, all the locals and travelers would park along the road and go in swimming. One summer my dad noticed the trail to get in was getting overgrown so he had us clean it out so folks could get in. The province eventually bought the lake and land around it from my dad (he didn't really have a choice) for not a lot of money. Long story short, the province did a great job with it. It now has places to park and a nice little beach and is enjoyed by both locals and RV community traveling through to Newfoundland. The name is Dalem Lake if you are ever passing through. Nice job Dad RIP

 

[Will I Am]

We have that same issue here in Utah there is a beautiful Reservoir that a big Ranch land owner has blocked access to 3/4 of it. You can still get out on the Reservoir however you need a boat to access the good area of it and near impossible to get to the river that feeds it because of them it use to be and still is listed as "State Park land" just gated and locked so you have no access....