regarding hunting national lakeshores

[jersey devl]

All the maps I see show the boundary lines of the authorities jurisdiction stopping at the shoreline itself...does this mean that water hunting is permitted because the waterway is out of thier legal jurisdiction? (Im particullarly interested in the Great Lakes...MI)
In short ,the guidelines state that no metal detector is allowed on Lake Michigan national lakeshore property.HH

 

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[Sandman]

Re: regarding hunting national lake shores

Gees, I live in Michigan now and I don't hunt near National Shorelines. I am not sure about the water and would check with the authorities there to make sure before they confiscate your detector and car.

 

[jersey devl]

I always knew the beach was a no-no, I asked them when I had my first detector and have never went back, but a light went off in my head about the technicalities regarding the water yesterday after researching some maps.

 

[jersey devl]

Physical Boundaries of Navigable Waterways: Ordinary High Watermark

Another area of confusion is what are the physical boundaries of a navigable waterway. The navigable character of a river or lake is not restricted to its channel, but some conflict has existed in Indiana as to what is the boundary of jurisdiction. A decision prior to The Daniel Ball and Kivett suggested state ownership extended only to the low water mark of the Ohio River.18 The persuasive authority is seemingly that the boundary of jurisdiction for a navigable waterway is its "ordinary high water mark." A commentator for the Governor's Water Resource Study Commission noted in 1980 that "federal cases have consistently held that the appropriate line of demarcation (in the absence of a contrary state boundary) is the high water mark, and Kivett declared that federal law must be applied to such issues." 19 The Indiana General Assembly used "ordinary high watermark" as the delineation of navigable waterways in a temporary statute governing utility line crossings.20 The statute also defined the term "ordinary high watermark" to be "the line on the shore of a waterway that is: (1) established by the fluctuations of water; and (2) indicated by physical characteristics such as the following: (A) A clear and natural line impressed on the bank. (B) Shelving. (C) Changes in the character of the soil. (D) The destruction of terrestrial vegetation. (E) The presence of litter or debris." 21

A very similar definition for the ordinary high watermark of a navigable waterway is used by the U.S. Army Corps and has been adopted by rule by the Indiana Natural Resources Commission. The latter definition also sets the ordinary high watermark for Lake Michigan at 581.5 feet I.G.L.D., 1985 (582.252 feet N.G.V.D., 1929). The same elevation is used for the southern shore of Lake Michigan by the Army Corps.22

Reduced to the most basic terms, the physical area of a navigable river or lake is what is included within its ordinary high watermark. Because water levels raise and lower periodically, the actual water's edge at any particular time is likely to be inside or outside the legal boundaries of navigability. The practical result is that sandbars or portions of the banks of a river during a low-water period are likely to be within the ordinary high watermark and public domain. Similarly, beaches along Lake Michigan which emerge during low-water periods are also public domain. Conversely, a person who boats outside the banks of a flooding river or stream is likely to commit a trespass, and beach areas above elevation 581.5 feet, I.G.L.D. (1985) along Lake Michigan are the property of the riparian owner.

http://www.in.gov/nrc_dnr/lakemichigan/navtrib/navtribb.html