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Sunday, June 22, 2003

By Deborah Weisberg

Whether the public gets to fish one of the state's most coveted streams will now be decided in court. The situation involves Huntingdon County businessman Donny Beaver.

"Mr. Beaver left us no choice," said Kurt Knaus, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed June 11, in Huntingdon County court.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the DEP are asking Huntingdon County court to declare the 32-mile Little Juniata navigable and open to public recreation. It seeks to enjoin Beaver from obstructing access to a 1.3-mile section of the stream, at the confluence with Spruce Creek, where he operates an exclusive fly fishing service.

Beaver considers that stretch of water a members-only area.

He and a partner Stanley Hostler, a West Virginia-based attorney, lease land along the Little Juniata for their Spring Ridge fly-fishing club. It costs $57,500 to join and the dues are $4,000 a year. Members fish the Little Juniata at Spruce Creek and other streams the club leases.

Last year the state,under pressure from outdoors groups such as Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future and Trout Unlimited,advised Beaver that it owns the stream, unless he could prove otherwise. He could not produce a deed, said Knaus, and access problems persisted.

While the state claims anglers have been harassed, followed, videotaped and verbally threatened when supposedly on club property, Beaver said he has photographed fishermen only to document trespassing, and has suffered more than his share of obscene gestures and verbal assaults.

"This spring, Mr. Beaver's behavior became more hostile," Knaus said. "He ran cables with 'No Trespassing' signs at each end [of the stream], never informed us, never sought a permit. This is navigable water."

Navigable refers to a 200-year old statute that says water large and deep enough to transport goods should be held in public trust for all to enjoy. While anglers may be denied access through posted property, they are free to fish the stream if they wade or float down from a public entry point.

The low water mark of the stream determines where anglers can lawfully wade. From the low water mark to the high water mark is public easement.

"I live on the river, too," said Allan Bright of neighboring Spruce Creek Outfitters, a fly fishing shop. "But my deed doesn't say I own the river bottom.

"And I don't agree with the privatization of public water," added Bright, a riparian landowner who allows access through his property. "When Herman Espy started up his club 11 years ago, I was asked to get involved, but didn't do it. I was against a fishery being taken away from the people."

It is Espy's property that Beaver and his Spring Ridge Club began leasing from Espy's widow, Connie, three years ago, although Herman Espy started charging for access in 1992. Fishermen in the area protested by staging a fish in, and there has been tension ever since. Connie Espy is named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

"The state's claims are baseless," Beaver said. "The river was passed as clear title from William Penn's descendants to Connie's predecessors."

Beaver's roots go back 200 years in bucolic central Pennsylvania known as much for its limestone streams as its dairy farms and rolling hills. Although he describes himself as an "Aw, shucks!" kind of guy, Beaver has founded at least half a dozen successful enterprises, including New Pig Corporation, an international company that cleans up chemical and oil spills.

Until last year, he also managed a nearby hunting preserve with an eight bedroom lodge and sporting clays course. After failed attempts to sell the property for $7.5 million, he has decided to turn it into retreat and is seeking partners.

He is an ardent supporter of the Pennsylvania Landowners Association, a group started 25 years ago to advocate against government regulations and promote posting of private property.

"My forefathers came here without a snowball's chance in you know where to own land until some crazy Quaker, William Penn, came along," he said. "What's happening to me on the Little J is about every stream in America, though other landowners may not know there's a shadow over their property.

"This is a landmark case. The Constitution, case law, and history support our position."

Beaver started the Spring Ridge Club, located approximately 40 minutes southeast of State College, two years ago and it has 40 members. "For everyone who wants to join," said Beaver, "there are 90 who think we're snobs."

And as much as the suit is about private property rights, it is also about free enterprise.

"Economic survival," Beaver said. "We're just doing it on a resource the state claims it owns. Our payroll -- $750,000 -- is one-twelfth the payroll of the entire Pa. Fish and Boat Commission, and look at the pickle they're in. One stream mile we manage generates a $150,000 payroll. We bring in tourists, we bring worldwide publicity to fishing in Pennsylvania."

In the past year, the Spring Ridge Club has expanded to 18 leases on six miles of Spruce Creek, Spring Creek, Penn's Creek and Warriors Mark Run, as well as the Little Juniata.

"It's more prudent for the club to lease," Beaver said. "We're not a development company. If a property is for sale, we get people to buy, then we lease from them, and make any enhancements we need to."

The $57,500 that Spring Ridge Club members pay to join is used as a kind of loan to gain additional land. At the end of seven years, the money is either rolled over or, if a member opts out, refunded. There are no dues until the fourth year, when the annual $4,000 fee begins. Members must schedule time on the stream, so it is never over-fished. Last year, they averaged 38 days each. Fishing is year-round, with the busiest time March through November.

Only 400 fish were planted last year, said Beaver. "Our formula works. We're blessed with naturally fertile water, good natural reproduction. There's low pressure, so the fish aren't beat up. And we're catch and release, something we'd like to see on the entire Little J."

Preserving his club's right to exclusive use of one small piece of that pristine river is a fight he vows to see to the end.

"It's Goliath vs. David," Beaver said. "This is about more than fishing. It's about the rights of every property owner."