Court Opinion

ID: 9607542
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 02:59:30.64481+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:28:18.782554
License: Public Domain

Ott, J.
(concurring in part and dissenting in part) — The trial court permanently enjoined the state of Washington “from maintaining its public access area on Phantom Lake as a public access area and from admitting the public to Phantom Lake and across the access area until such time as it condemns the plaintiffs’ property and propeHy rights in the manner provided by law.” (Italics mine.)
The majority reject the trial court’s conclusion in this regard and hold: “The state, as a riparian owner, does not have to acquire by condemnation the rights of the other riparian owners before it permits -fishermen in reasonable numbers access to the waters of Phantom Lake.” (Italics mine.)
I concur in this part of the majority opinion.
I dissent to that portion of the opinion which states: “The injunction should be continued only until the state, through its Department of Game, presents a plan for the controlled operation of its property that satisfies the trial court that the rights of other riparian owners will be adequately safeguarded.”
The trial court found that, after the access was opened, thievery increased, persons relieved themselves in the lake and on the premises of the plaintiffs, and debris was thrown in the lake and on the beaches. These acts are not violative of the game laws, but do violate the general misdemeanor statutes which are enforceable by proper complaint to and arrest by the county officials who are charged with general law enforcement.
In the instant case, the public was invited to use the public access at Phantom Lake in a lawful manner. Only a negligible number used the public access and the lake in an •unlawful manner. Those who used the premises legally should not be punished by permanently enjoining them from their proper use thereof because of the misconduct of the few. To so construe the law is to hold that, for *766example, the public will be enjoined from the use of public highways because some members of the public openly violate the motor laws of the state. I know of no statute or previous decision of this court that bans the use of a public area by the public because some members of the public have violated positive statutes. The remedy is and always has been that those who violate the law are punished accordingly.
The Department of Game does have the power to regulate speedboating on the lake and to regulate the use of motors, but, as to these items, the riparian owners made no complaint to the department prior to trial, nor did they previously request that such use be limited in any manner.
In my opinion, the department lawfully acquired access for the public on Phantom Lake. The members of the public who use the lake unlawfully should be punished therefor as the law provides. The remedy of injunction should apply only to those who have violated the law. There is no authority in law or in equity to enjoin all members of the public for the misconduct of a few.
Finally, the real purpose of this action is to establish a private fishing lake for the use and benefit of the abutting owners, to the exclusion of all others. The plaintiffs contend: “The public use of the lake has interfered with the plaintiffs’ use of the lake for boating, swimming, fishing and recreational purposes.”
The legislature, in the proper exercise of the state’s police power, has created a Department of Game and of Fisheries to provide facilities and a means of access to various lakes in this state so that persons duly licensed to fish may do so. Phantom Lake has been selected by the department for public fishing, and access thereto has been acquired for this purpose. Every licensed fisherman has a legal right to use these facilities because the legislature has ordained that all surface waters of nonnavigable lakes belong to the public (RCW 90.03.010), and that “the game fish in the waters thereof [the state] are the property of the state.” RCW 77.12.010.
Riparian or abutting property owners residing upon *767nonnavigable lakes must likewise obtain a license to fish in these state waters. A riparian owner’s right to fish is predicated upon his having a license so to do, and, when the license is obtained, it carries with it no greater right or fishing privilege than a license issued to a nonriparian licensee.
Phantom Lake has been open for public fishing continuously since 1926. It is not a popular fishermen’s lake because it is stocked only with spiny ray fish. On opening day in 1963, only 50 fishermen appeared, who caught a total of 9 fish. The evidence was undisputed that seldom were more than 6 boats on the lake at any one time. It is this limited use by the public that the riparian owners wish to exclude entirely.
The majority sustain the injunction until such time as the Department of Game “presents a plan for the controlled operation of its property that satisfies the trial court that the rights of other riparian owners will be adequately safeguarded.”
With this holding, I do not agree for the following reasons:
(1) One who builds his home on the shore of public waters of this state is aware that the public will use those waters for recreational purposes, and that such use may be abused by relatively few members of the public and by other riparian owners. The debits of such living must be measured against the credits of the scenic beauty and the many recreational pleasures enjoyed by those who are the owners of waterfront property.
(2) The majority do not suggest what type of “plan” will be acceptable to this court. Are 50 boats on opening day and less than 6 boats a day thereafter too many on this 63-acre lake? I do not believe that this use is excessive or that regulations limiting the number of boats on Phantom Lake have been shown to be necessary.
Should the “plan” of the game department require that the Sheriff of King County station a deputy on Phantom Lake from daylight until dark to keep under surveillance the operators of the 6 boats in order to arrest the offenders if the general misdemeanors complained of are committed? *768I doubt whether the sheriff could find, much less afford, sufficient officers to police so intensively the myriad lakes in King County.
Should the “plan” require that the game department be authorized to police all of the lakes of this state, including Phantom Lake, to prevent violation of the general misdemeanor laws? Such a plan must be submitted to the legislature, not to the courts. The legislature has vested in the game protectors of this state limited authority to enforce only the game laws. RCW 77.12.070. A game protector has no more authority to arrest a person for general misdemeanors than has a riparian owner.
The legislature, in the exercise of its discretion, has vested solely in the local authorities power to enforce the general misdemeanor laws. The record before us establishes that the riparian owners on Phantom Lake never sought the aid of such officers when they observed these laws being violated.
Any “plan” which the game department might suggest would be advisory only to those authorities whose duty it is to enforce the general misdemeanor laws of this state.
For the reasons stated, the injunction should be dissolved and the action dismissed.
Rosellini, C. J., Hunter and Hale, JJ., concur with Ott, J.
March 2,1967. Petition for rehearing denied.