Action Alert-Truckee River Public Access

My name is Matt ”Gilligan” Koles. I am a fly fishing guide and local resident on the Truckee River in Hirschdale CA.

I have started, with the help of four others, www.truckeeriverpublicwaters.org to combat the public access issue in Hirschdale on the Truckee River, an access issue that is now going on five years. 

Since 2019, public access in and around Hirschdale CA on the Truckee River has been significantly affected by a handful of new residents claiming public access below the high water mark adjacent to their properties is illegal. Threats, legal, verbal and physical, have all been used to shut down legal river usage in one of the most heavily used and iconic portions of the river downstream from the town of Truckee. 

Confusing the issue is the fact that the previous landowners allowed public access for as long as anyone can remember. New ownership has changed this, and many local residents are confused as to what the issue actually is. Past landowners did not restrict access, but new owners have. They have all adopted an attitude to take advantage of people’s ignorance to the California state constitution as it pertains to stream access and navigability, not only closing their land to use, which is their right, but attempting to discourage the public’s legal use through cease and desist letters from a local law firm, verbal threats, and even physical and firearm altercations. Local river runners, anglers, and long time local guides have all been repeatedly harassed and intimidate.

It is legal to access the Truckee River in Hirschdale from all 4 corners of the bridge. Since the bridge is public, there is a 40 foot public easement from all 4 corners of the bridge. As long as you get in from the bridge and stay below the ordinary high water mark you are legal to fish or recreate on the river. The landowners do not own the streambed. 

Since 2020, the aforementioned landowners have not only attempted to enforce these false rules, but have expanded to include blocking access to the river from the Hirschdale neighborhood, to their own neighbors from their property bordering the river. We now see “No Trespassing” signs right down to current summer water levels, blocking access for the public to use land below the rivers high water mark to travel safely and legally along the river. 

Multiple public Fish and Wildlife parcels exist downstream of the bridge, on both sides of the river. In 2013 a Hirschdale resident and property owner  took it upon himself to block CA Fish and Wildlife land at the end of Iceland Rd, a county road that has been utilized by the logging industry, an ice company, and the public for 150 years. In 2022 a gate was installed and locked by the new landowners halfway up Iceland Rd. past Hirschdale which is a county road. These landowners will harass anyone they see on Iceland Rd. effectively shutting down public access on both sides of the river for more than a mile. This has worked for them, people are scared, especially if they’ve heard stories of people having a firearm pulled on them, shown to them, and maybe more allegations that shots have been fired. 

Recently landowners have put up no trespassing signage interpreting their own high water marks very close to the river north of the Hirschdale bridge. On the West side of the river there is signage very close to the river stating the same. We believe the high water mark is best determined by a professional, not a local landowner. 

 These landowners call the Sheriff anytime they feel someone is encroaching on their property, legally, or illegally. The department has been used as a weapon by the landowners, who seem to feel helpless to enforce the public’s right to access, and in some alleged cases, have suggested to the public that we just stay away from the area to avoid conflict. This is completely unacceptable.

The County of Nevada is not keeping their citizens safe and effectively fallen on deaf ears about the situation in Hirschdale. On the Nevada County website, District 5 supervisor Hardy Bullock claims he’s rectified the public access situation in Hirschdale, but sadly that is not the case, https://www.nevadacountyca.gov/3342/Responsible-Hirschdale-Recreation-Access

Hischdale has long been a heavily utilized public access spot for recreation due to the fact the river is not too fast here, has nice banks for swimming, fishing, walking the dogs, etc. The fact there is a county bridge allowing access has kept Hirschdale heavily utilized by the public for river access for many years. 

We feel the best course of action is to establish high water elevations, and enforcement of the public’s right to access the river below them safely, and stop the harassment of the public while accessing the river legally. 

Update: Thanks to pressure from Truckee River Public Waters, on September 30th, a meeting with the landowners, their lawyer, the CA State Land Commision, and county officials including local law enforcement happened. The goal of this meeting was to delineate the ordinary high water mark. While this did happen, stakeholders such as Backcounty Hunters and Anglers, TU, and Truckee River Public Waters, and the public, were not invited. While we did attend, we were not invited to walk the riverbank with the above said officials. There was a gentlemens agreement on where this OHM will be set. No GPS coordinates were taken by the State Lands Commision, their hydrologist eyeballed the OHM. This is something that ordinarily takes months. Private landowners will be posting stakes at that location all up and down the riverbank. We hope that these stakes are not misrepresented by the private landowners and are encouraging other stakeholders to be present. 

We would love to have your support at www.truckeeriverpublicwaters.org. It’s free to be a member. Access issues can happen anywhere anytime, and the governing agencies are not going to do a damn thing unless you call them out on it. 

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *