Use of Virginia Public Rivers Under Threat

I am one of the defendants at the center of the Jackson River trespassing case. You may have seen all the publicity surrounding the case recently. My brother and I regularly fish Virginia public rivers using our Tarpon 120's for smallmouth, trout, shad and stripers. Now we find ourselves being sued for touching the bottom of a navigable river which is marketed by the state as a public watercourse which we accessed and departed from via public put-ins. I can’t emphasize enough the implications this case will have on the anglers, paddlers and hunters who like to use public rivers in Virginia.

I hope Wilderness Systems and all of those in this community who believe our rivers should be held in trust for use by the citizenry, will assist us in our campaign. We have run up significant legal expenses preparing the defense and are sure to have more. I'm just an average fishing Joe, who couldn't bear the thought of his children having fewer rivers to fish than I did, so I had to fight this land grab (without knowing how I'd fund the fight).

You can find our website devoted to the issue at http://www.virginiariversdefensefund.org.

We would love to hear from anyone who might be able to help us with the call for donations from the angling, hunting and paddling community. If this tactic of pursuing a civil case to “steal” public rivers succeeds, we will see a domino effect as more river’s edge property owners try to privitize their stretches of colonial-era rivers. Then we can all use our Tarpon's for flower pots.