Another WMA access rant- access blocked to thousands of acres of Chestatee

[jbogg]

I'm no attorney, but I did deal with a lot of ingress/egress issues while building homes around lake Lanier. Adverse possession is probably not appropriate in this case since the only use of the private property was for ingress/egress. If private property is used for a long enough period of time without permission from or objection by the owner then the user may have prescriptive rights, or in this case a prescriptive easement. When this access is enjoyed for a certain period of time by the general public as seems to be the case in this scenario then there is likely to be "implied dedication". This would need to be ruled on by a judge, but based on the description of the use it sure seems to fit the bill.

 

[NE GA Pappy]

This^^^^ that road has been used for well over 60yrs by the public. Also people speaking about well just use the other side have no clue as to what kind of land this is. Your not just gonna pull around the other road and ease in, this is a couple of miles around and it is straight up and down. The Feds should have set up a easement into the property years ago.

All my family is from that area, and I have walked up and down more hills there than many can even imagine. I know what the land is like, and I know that in some places you might drive 20 miles to circle back within 800 yards of where you are now.

None of that changes the fact that the man owns the property, and if he doesn't want the crossing it, they have no right to cross. If there had been an easement, then the feds would not have allowed him to close the road. I imagine also, if it were county maintained, the comissioners know about and approved the closing.

Easy solution. Lease the property, or buy the property, or go find another spot to hunt.

 

[NE GA Pappy]

M Also, ga law releases landowners of liability when someone is on their property and is injured hunting or fishing.

If he is hunting or fishing on this man's property, then that is a totally different issue. That would be poaching, or trespassing, or possibly both.

At the very least, hunting without permission.

The man is wanting to cross the property to hunt, not hunt the property, at least that is what I read. And I also read that his main beef is that if he has to go in another way, it is harder to get a deer out. My Pappy always told me the best place to deer hunt up there was uphill. That way you could drag them downhill to the truck.

 

[livinoutdoors]

Just imagine you let kids in your neighbor cut through your yard to get to the park behind your house. Then one day you decide you dont want that to happen for what ever reason. Then instead of thankin you for the free use of your property for all those years the parents decide to use the power of goverment to force you to keep the path open. Hmmmmm. I hunt public land 99% of the time and wish there was easier places to access things sometimes, but not at the expense of property rights.

 

[NE GA Pappy]

Just imagine you let kids in your neighbor cut through your yard to get to the park behind your house. Then one day you decide you dont want that to happen for what ever reason. Then instead of thankin you for the free use of your property for all those years the parents decide to use the power of goverment to force you to keep the path open. Hmmmmm. I hunt public land 99% of the time and wish there was easier places to access things sometimes, but not at the expense of property rights.

whoop, there it is

 

[Timberman]

There is a thing called historical access. Traditional and historical access to landlocked land will uphold in a court of law. I have exercised that option to access timber in the past. Unfortunately in this case the state would have to bring the threat.

 

[Buckman18]

I'm gonna shoot from the hip and guess this clown recently acquired this property and is either from Florida or Metro Atlanta?

Does anyone know?

 

[NE GA Pappy]

There is a thing called historical access. Traditional and historical access to landlocked land will uphold in a court of law. I have exercised that option to access timber in the past. Unfortunately in this case the state would have to bring the threat.

I googled both terms and came up with nothing. Can you supply a link showing traditional and historical access rights?

 

[Panther25]

There is a thing called historical access. Traditional and historical access to landlocked land will uphold in a court of law. I have exercised that option to access timber in the past. Unfortunately in this case the state would have to bring the threat.

I think this is referring to a prescriptive easement.

http://realestate.findlaw.com/land-use-laws/prescriptive-easements.html

 

[jbogg]

whoop, there it is

Hardly the same. This landowner purchased a piece of property with a road going through it that the public had enjoyed the use of for over half a century. The purchaser could safely assume that the public might wish to continue this prescriptive right of access.

 

[NE GA Pappy]

I think this is referring to a prescriptive easement.

http://realestate.findlaw.com/land-use-laws/prescriptive-easements.html

There must be a demonstration of continuous and uninterrupted use throughout the statute of limitations period prescribed by state law. If the use is too infrequent for a reasonable landowner to bother protesting, the continuity requirement will probably not be satisfied.



Probably be hard to prove continuous use of a place that wasn't used except during deer season, I would think. Also, it said it must be used against the owners wishes. I would think that would be hard to prove also.

 

[NE GA Pappy]

The purchaser could safely assume that the public might wish to continue this prescriptive right of access.

Who says there was ever a prescriptive right? Where the requirements met? Was it a continuous and uninterrupted use of the property?

The thing I see is that, just like another poster in here that was p o'd because a warden wouldn't open a gate to allow him to drive in to collect his deer, somebody has a wrinkle in his shorts because hunting a spot isn't as easy as he wants it to be.

Just because he enjoyed the access in the past, doesn't mean he can access it now.

 

[JustUs4All]

Hardly the same. This landowner purchased a piece of property with a road going through it that the public had enjoyed the use of for over half a century. The purchaser could safely assume that the public might wish to continue this prescriptive right of access.

If your statement of a recent purchase is correct, the prescriptive right would hinge on whether the prior owner had given permission for the prior use. If he did there is no adverse possession and therefore no prescriptive easement. If he did not then the new owner would need to ditch across the road he purchased and get ready to fight for the property rights he should have acquired. With enough time he might get prescriptive rights to his own land.

 

[ripplerider]

There must be a demonstration of continuous and uninterrupted use throughout the statute of limitations period prescribed by state law. If the use is too infrequent for a reasonable landowner to bother protesting, the continuity requirement will probably not be satisfied.



Probably be hard to prove continuous use of a place that wasn't used except during deer season, I would think. Also, it said it must be used against the owners wishes. I would think that would be hard to prove also.

There is a native trout stream running through the valley and a Forest Service maintained trail. Back when the tornadoes came through the F.S. hired crews to cut the trees out of the trail with cross-cut saws and axes since its in a Wilderness area. Its not just deer hunters who will suffer for this. Anglers and hikers use the area. I used to take my kids hiking in there all year round.

And by the way, my names not Billy.

 

[Fire Eater]

Does the U.S. Forest Service have an "easement" to this road? Those of you concerned could inquire. Block of NF land over here is accesible only from a private road but my call to USFS revealed an easement over it for me to access it.

 

[NE GA Pappy]

There is a native trout stream running through the valley and a Forest Service maintained trail. Back when the tornadoes came through the F.S. hired crews to cut the trees out of the trail with cross-cut saws and axes since its in a Wilderness area. Its not just deer hunters who will suffer for this. Anglers and hikers use the area. I used to take my kids hiking in there all year round.

And by the way, my names not Billy.

If there is a FS trial, then you have access. If there isn't, maybe you don't. The only reason you have your shorts in a knot is because you can't get to a spot to hunt as easily as you want to. Now you want to punish a landowner because he bought a piece of property and won't let you cross it.

As before, either lease access across it from the owner, or buy the owner out and let all of the US cross your land.

Oh, and BTW, you might want to hire Basham. Being a Billy, you will know him personally.

 

[ripplerider]

For those of you who dont know, NE GA Pappy calling me Billy is a reference to a series of threads on the Around the campfire section of this forum. Recent thread titles have included "Useless Billy said there were only 14 shoplifting days till Christmas", "Useless Billy taught that armadiller a lesson", "Useless Billy went drankin at the neighbors house and left nekkid" etc. etc. I looked at his post history awhile back and found that he had been laughing about this situation on one of these threads. Hence my telling him my names not Billy. This meets my definition of backstabbing. He also called me a "moocher"for wanting to use a Forest Service maintained road to access Forest Service owned land.

I doubt very seriously that this man has ever laid eyes on this beautiful, very steep, extremely rugged area of Chestatee. Look it up on one of the on-line topo map sites. I use Mytopo. Imagine trying to bring a deer, bear, or hog out of there uphill. You know, I'm just going to cut this off right here. If I wanted to have conversations like this I'd still be married.

 

[NE GA Pappy]

For those of you who dont know, NE GA Pappy calling me Billy is a reference to a series of threads on the Around the campfire section of this forum. Recent thread titles have included "Useless Billy said there were only 14 shoplifting days till Christmas", "Useless Billy taught that armadiller a lesson", "Useless Billy went drankin at the neighbors house and left nekkid" etc. etc. I looked at his post history awhile back and found that he had been laughing about this situation on one of these threads. Hence my telling him my names not Billy. This meets my definition of backstabbing. He also called me a "moocher"for wanting to use a Forest Service maintained road to access Forest Service owned land.

I doubt very seriously that this man has ever laid eyes on this beautiful, very steep, extremely rugged area of Chestatee. Look it up on one of the on-line topo map sites. I use Mytopo. Imagine trying to bring a deer, bear, or hog out of there uphill. You know, I'm just going to cut this off right here. If I wanted to have conversations like this I'd still be married.

Well, you would be wrong. I have been all over that area. I know what that terrain is like. I also know if it were a FS road, he couldn't block it. So quit telling half truths and be honest. Yes, I told those others I was posting in this thread, but the fact remain. Your main beef is that you can't easily access property that I help pay for also.

Your title implies that no one can access THOUSANDS of acres of land because one small land owner bought a piece of property and won't let you cross it. That just isn't true. Just as it isn't true that the FS road is blocked by him.

You seem to have trouble telling the truth.

 

[NE GA Pappy]

It's real easy on the internet isnt it? Not so easy in real life.

What? getting your panties in a wad because someone is tired of people abusing his property rights, or pointing it out to someone?

The facts are.

1. You still have access to anywhere you want to go on that property.

2. The man owns the land and can let anyone cross it, or not.

3. You are butt hurt that you have to go another way in, and hunting ain't as easy as you want it to be.

4. Now you are ticked at me for pointing out the facts.

5. The simple solution to the issue is for you to talk to the property owner, pay for access or buy the land and let the entire population of Atlanta cross it free of charge.

 

[ripplerider]

The facts are: you called me a moocher, laughed at the situation and called me Billy on another part of this forum, basically called me a liar then said some of the members here needed crayons, coloring books, play doh and a safe place to play after which you deleted that post while still bragging about it on the Billy thread. Post #844 on the "Useless Billy got Hipnitized by a Rogue Santa" (sic) on the Around the Campfire forum. Thats getting pretty personal. Have a good day.