Opinion ID: 1190882
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Parties and Issues

Text: Plaintiffs McDonald and Lynch (plaintiffs) are the owners of property on the Oregon coast adjacent to a bay of the Pacific Ocean known as Big Whale Cove. Defendants Halvorson and others (defendants) are the owners of the adjacent property to the north, Little Whale Cove, which is the subject of this dispute. Plaintiffs initiated this action seeking to quiet title against defendants' claim of a prescriptive easement over a trail on plaintiffs' land that connects the two coves. Plaintiffs also asked for a declaration that their property includes a portion of the dry-sand area of Little Whale Cove, thereby giving them (and their licensees) access to the entire dry-sand area of Little Whale Cove under State ex rel. Thornton v. Hay, supra . Defendants counterclaimed for a declaration that they had a prescriptive easement giving them (and their licensees) access to Big Whale Cove. The State of Oregon intervened to assert a public right to use the dry-sand area of Little Whale Cove and to enjoin defendants from interfering with that public right. [3]