01-17-2011, 05:16 AM
Deborah, Old Government Road, despite some dispute, has generally been recognized as a public byway since the days of the Kingdom. It is blocked to vehicular traffic, but foot traffic is allowed through the Shipman lands to Haena. As for the side trails leading to the shoreline, I would guess they are NOT public byways, but I have seen them used plenty of times.
There was something of a hu-hu a couple of years ago when Shipman tried to curtail some access through their land to the shore in the parts nearest HPP. There was a real problem with people having parties in that area that left a lot of trash and were so loud that the HPP residents nearby were complaining. Shipman responded by putting some big rocks in place to block ATV and four-wheel drive access at the end of Old Gov't, which had been possible previously. Unfortunately, the rocks were on HPP land and had to be quickly relocated onto the Shipman side of the line. Also, a lot of people expressed anger at Shipman for trying to limit all such access instead of just cracking down on the partiers. Frankly, IMHO, Shipman was well within their legal rights. (Other than putting rocks on somebody else's land, of course.) The traditional byway remained open to foot traffic before, during, and after the hu-hu episode, which partly played out at a public HPP meeting I attended.
There was something of a hu-hu a couple of years ago when Shipman tried to curtail some access through their land to the shore in the parts nearest HPP. There was a real problem with people having parties in that area that left a lot of trash and were so loud that the HPP residents nearby were complaining. Shipman responded by putting some big rocks in place to block ATV and four-wheel drive access at the end of Old Gov't, which had been possible previously. Unfortunately, the rocks were on HPP land and had to be quickly relocated onto the Shipman side of the line. Also, a lot of people expressed anger at Shipman for trying to limit all such access instead of just cracking down on the partiers. Frankly, IMHO, Shipman was well within their legal rights. (Other than putting rocks on somebody else's land, of course.) The traditional byway remained open to foot traffic before, during, and after the hu-hu episode, which partly played out at a public HPP meeting I attended.