I primarily fish for reds on the Kenai from Eagle Rock to Beaver Creek. After reading an article about CIRI property, do I need to get a permit to fish this area? As far as I can tell about the CIRI land map, it looks they have the subsurface rights to this area. Not sure how that works as far as access goes.
Lower Kenai Bank Access For Reds Question
- Thread starter penguin
- Start date
JOAT
Well-known member
http://www.ciri.com/our-lands/
Only if you are going on land with "surface" rights, I think. Best to contact CIRI directly and ask.
Only if you are going on land with "surface" rights, I think. Best to contact CIRI directly and ask.
fishNphysician
New member
Virtually all my favorite red bars are on CIRI lands. Picking up my permit at KRSA.
fishNphysician
New member
fishNphysician
New member
Does "subsurface" (all the stuff in pink) mean they own the land that's underwater?
iofthetaiga
Well-known member
Generally, subsurface refers to mineral rights. It means tho they may not own the surface, they own the subsurface mineral rights. Mineral rights may or may not be applicable under water bodies, and I don't know offhand what the AK laws are regarding that. I would guess not. One face value clue: Looks like the pink polygons do not extend under the waterway in the depicted GIS image (and if the subsurface mineral rights did extended beneath the river, I'm guessing the GIS technician would not have taken the time to bound the polygons at that juncture. It's a lot more work (read: PITA) to snap curves along water course boundaries, and wouldn't have been done unless required). Subsurface rights wouldn't really matter regarding access to the river bed anyway; that's surface. Generally, subsurface rights do not allow the holder to restrict surface access, unless for safety/security reasons once an active extraction operation is in progress. The owner of the surface rights is the primary controller of access. The river bed below mean high water line is likely State of Alaska, regardless of who owns the surrounding surface and/or subsurface rights. If CIRI, or anyone else owns the surface, and you have to cross that land to access the river, that's the landowner you have to deal with, regardless of who owns the subsurface mineral rights.
4merguide
Well-known member
What do the smaller white areas mean on the map?
iofthetaiga
Well-known member
Along the river? Those are just spots where the various GIS layers don't line up exactly right. The result is small polygon creations between lines where there actually isn't supposed to be any "there" there. It should be either pink or blue.
So I’m still confused. I looked on the map before I started this thread that CIRI has the subsurface rights from Eagle Rock to Beaver Creek. Since I use my boat to get to these areas (and tie my boat to the bank) do I need a permit from CIRI to fish there?
iofthetaiga
Well-known member
Nah. If you're not stepping foot on dry ground above the mean high water mark, or tying your boat to any vegetation above the mean high water mark, you're not on private/Corporation land. Same as you can shoot a bison on a dry Copper River sand bar which is below the mean high water line, and have no Ahtna involvement whatsoever. (They would like you to think otherwise, but it's not the case. The river channel below mean high water line is state land). But if you climb up to the top of the bank and tie your boat off to a tree atop the bank, above the mean high water line, you could be trespassing.
