06-21-2006, 05:46 AM
Mella
I cannot speak for Hawaii or California, but here in Wisconsin, the water is public but the land is not. My waterfront property here is owned by me. People may walk in the water in front of my property but they may NOT touch the dry land and they certainly do not have access over my land. They may fish by my dock from a boat but they may not trepass on my dock. There are also privately owned lakes, which tend to be small which have no public access. I used to own one of these and I legally owned the land under the lake as well as all the water. This situation is nice for a few.
I cannot speak for Hawaii or California, but here in Wisconsin, the water is public but the land is not. My waterfront property here is owned by me. People may walk in the water in front of my property but they may NOT touch the dry land and they certainly do not have access over my land. They may fish by my dock from a boat but they may not trepass on my dock. There are also privately owned lakes, which tend to be small which have no public access. I used to own one of these and I legally owned the land under the lake as well as all the water. This situation is nice for a few.