Phil Wagner of Greenwood and Bob Sawtelle from Harrison County
wade and fish the Blue River near White Cloud. Public access to a river
depends on a river's navigability classification.
What does the law say about the new DNR Lake Permits? On what bodies of water do I need one of these? Where can I get one and who will be enforcing this law?
There is no longer a daily or annual boat launch fee for lakes at state parks, reservoirs and forests. These launch fees have been replaced by a DNR lake permit, which costs $20 per year for each motorized watercraft lake permit and $5 per year for each non-motorized watercraft lake permit.
All private watercraft using state park, reservoir or forestry lakes must have this permit. This includes personal watercraft, motorboats, canoes, paddleboats, rowboats and all watercraft moored at marinas, private docks, group docks or bank ties. State-owned watercraft and state-managed boat rental concessions are exempt.
This permit should be placed on any boat that will be on the water at Indiana state parks, state-managed reservoirs or state forests. This includes the main bodies of water and all fishing ponds and lakes at Patoka Lake, Brookville Lake, Hardy Lake, Monroe Lake, Salamonie Lake, Mississinewa Lake, Roush (Huntington) Lake, Cagles Mill (Lieber) Lake and Cecil M. Harden (Raccoon) Lake. It also includes Worster Lake at Potato Creek State Park, Kunkel Lake at Ouabache State Park, Summit Lake at Summit Lake State Park, Versailles Lake at Versailles State Park, Ogle and Strahl Lakes at Brown County State Park, Lakes Shakamak, Lenape and Kickapoo at Shakamak State Park, all lakes at Chain O’Lakes State Park, Spring Mill Lake at Spring Mill State Park, Whitewater Lake at Whitewater State Park and Lake Lincoln and Weber Lake at Lincoln State Park.
Also included are all lakes at state forest properties, including Deam Lake SRA, Ferdinand State Forest, Starve Hollow SRA, Harrison-Crawford State Forest, Clark State Forest, Greene-Sullivan State Forest, Jackson-Washington State Forest, Martin State Forest, Morgan-Monroe State Forest, Owen-Putnam State Forest, Pike State Forest and Yellowwood State Forest.
The permit is not required for boating on Indiana streams and rivers.
This annual DNR lake permit will be available for purchase at state park, reservoir and forest property offices and entrance gates when staffed. It is also available at the Customer Service Center in the Indiana Government Center and online through the e-store at estore.dnr.state.IN.us.
Conservation officers will be enforcing the lake permit law. If an officer stops your boat, he or she will be looking to see if your lake permit is properly mounted on the boat’s left (port) front side.
The Division of State Parks and Reservoirs Web site has more information about the DNR lake permit. Access it at www.IN.gov/dnr/parklake/index.html.
What is the law with regard to fishing along the banks of a river? Is it trespassing to walk along the banks of a river through private property?
Public access to a river is dependent on if the waterway is classified as a navigable or non-navigable waterway. On a navigable waterway a person has access to the water’s surface, bed and bank up to the ordinary high water mark. The ordinary high water mark is an area of transition where the bank’s soil composition changes, usually defined by a distinct vegetation line.
Non-navigable waterways are only accessible by permission of the property owner. To access the water’s surface, bed or bank you must obtain permission from the property owner. At times this can be multiple parties, however, you are responsible for gaining permission prior to accessing these types of waterways.
A listing of the state’s navigable waterways can be found online at http://www.in.gov/nrc/policy/navigati.html. They can be searched by individual waterway or by specific county.
To submit a question to Ask a CO, email OI@dnr.IN.gov or write to Outdoor Indiana, Ask a Conservation Officer, 402 W. Washington Street, Suite W255B, Indianapolis, IN 46204.
