BoatUS has taken up the cause of boaters urging the repeal of an extremely restrictive anchoring law recently enacted by the Georgia legislature. See Save Georgia’s Anchorages.

BoatUS Calls On Georgia Governor to Fix

Draconian Anchoring Law: Asks Boaters to Speak Up Now

Legislation greatly restricts the right to anchor

ATLANTA, Feb. 6, 2020 – In a letter sent recently to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) urges the governor to reconsider regulations recently put in place restricting overnight anchoring within 1,000 feet of any structure, such as public and private docks, wharves, bridges, piers and pilings, except in areas near marinas. The national advocacy, services and safety group also asks recreational boaters to send a message now to the state of Georgia regarding the new prohibitive anchoring law.

With 16,000 BoatUS members in the state, BoatUS Vice President of Government Affairs Chris Edmonston says in the letter that the new rule effectively removes from public use a significant portion of the state’s waters, representing a departure from the long-held public trust doctrine.

With little notice or engagement with boating stakeholder groups, the Georgia Legislature approved, and the governor signed, House Bill 201 in the 2019 session. This legislation directs the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to develop rules regarding the anchoring of vessels in estuarine areas of the state. Georgia DNR then proposed a rule that raised significant concerns with the boating community, including BoatUS and the grassroots group Save Georgia’s Anchorages, which was created in response to the draconian law.

Said Edmonston, “This 1,000-foot offset needlessly eliminates anchorages all over the state. It will affect numerous boaters, many of whom transit Georgia waters as part of the annual migration along the Intracoastal Waterway. There is no reasonable safety or waterway-management reason for taking such a significant swath of state waters from the boating public. Boating and fishing are the second largest outdoor recreational activity in Georgia, bringing in well over $500 million a year in economic activity. Eliminating scores of anchorages will put a severe damper on this very important economic driver to many coastal areas that gain from boater spending.”

Edmonston notes DNR did create so-called “Marina Zones” that allow boaters to anchor as close as 300 feet to marinas or facilities that provide fuel, dinghy access, provisions, vessel maintenance or other services, regardless of whether other structures exist nearby. “This can only lead to the conclusion that the reason for the greater offset from privately owned structures outside these zones was to provide waterfront landowners with near exclusive use and enjoyment of our shared waterways,” said Edmonston.

BoatUS believes the final rule runs counter to the public trust doctrine as codified in Georgia Code § 52-1-2 (2015) which states: “The State of Georgia, as sovereign, is trustee of the rights of the people of the state to use and enjoy all tidewaters which are capable of use for fishing, passage, navigation, commerce, and transportation, pursuant to the common law public trust doctrine.” BoatUS notes the anchoring of vessels is an integral part of navigation.

2/12/20 Boating groups blast new anchoring rules as too restrictive
Savannah Morning News

Thank you, Roger, for this excellent letter and for your decision to address each legislator – a very good idea. Cruisers Net joins Roger and others in encouraging you to write to the Georgia legislature protesting HB 201 and urging the passage of HB 833. Roger Long is a lifelong cruiser and frequent contributor to Cruisers Net.

Larry,

It was a lot of cut and pasting work but I addressed each GA house member individually.  I think having just one name in the “To” line instead of a hidden list or long string of email addresses gets more attention.  I already received a reply, on the same day, from one legislator who said he would go and talk to the sponsors of HB 833.

Roger

Subject: Protect Georgia Water Quality – Support HB 833

I am a former Harbormaster in Maine, responsible for managing anchoring and mooring as a member of the police department in my home town. I am a twice yearly visitor to Georgia as we cruise through on our boat and have observed boating practices and harbor management in the majority of ports between Halifax, NS and southern Florida. I have also served on the boards of two water quality environmental organizations of which I was a founding member.

I have followed with horror the anchoring imbroglio your state has created not only as unnecessary infringement of boater’s rights but as being counterproductive to both resource protection and navigation issues I used to deal with professionally. The only positive effect of the current law will be to please waterfront property owners. This will come at the cost of economic damage to Georgia marine business. The effects on water quality in the state will actually be detrimental for reasons too long to go into here. I would be glad to explain my reasoning on this if contacted.

HB 833 will correct this situation and help alleviate the economic and environmental damage that last year’s bill will create. urge you to support and vote for HB 833.

Roger Long

M/V “Gypsy Star”

Once again by sharing his research, Ted Arisaka continues to be very active through FB Save Georgia’s Anchorages in seeking to repeal Georgia HB 201 which restricts anchoring in Georgia’s coastal waters. See Open Letter.

Federal vs State Anchoring Zones in Georgia

I had seen some posts, most notably by FB “Save Georgia’s Anchorages” group member Bill Ballard (thank you Bill), questioning the seeming conflict between Federal and State designations for the area on Skidaway River around the Isle of Hope as well as on the Frederica River just south of Morningstar Marina Golden Isles.

I was able to load the GA DNR KMZ Files (w/their opacity down to 50%) on top of NOAA RNC maps onto Google Earth Pro (further information in the Addendum).

Skidaway River, Isle of Hope

The anchorage ground known as “110.179 Skidaway River, Isle of Hope, Ga.” can be found in the CFR Title 33 – Navigation and Navigable Waters, Chapter 1 – Coast Guard, Dept of Homeland Security, Subchapter I – Anchorages, Part 110 – Anchorage Regulations, Subpart B – Anchorage Grounds, Section 110.179 – Skidaway River, Isle of Hope Ga.

(Ref: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2012-title33-vol1/pdf/CFR-2012-title33-vol1-sec110-179.pdf)

In layman’s terms, it defines the anchorage area, sets a 50ft setback off wharves and MLW Line, cannot impede navigation, limits LOA to 65’ and sets a speed limit of 5 mph. It is designated as a “Special Anchorage Area” and in Part 109 – Special Anchorage Areas, stipulates vessels < 65ft do not need to display an anchor light.

You can see how the red GA DNR “300ft Marina Buffer” no anchoring zones overlap with the federally designated anchorage 110.179 as indicated on the NOAA RNC Chart.

Figure 1 Google Earth with NOAA and GA DNR Zones Isle of Hope

Frederica River, St Simons

The anchorage known as “St. Simons Island, Georgia” can be found in the CFR Title 33 – Navigation and Navigable Waters, Chapter 1 – Coast Guard, Dept of Homeland Security, Subchapter I – Anchorages, Part 110 – Anchorage Regulations, Subpart B – Anchorage Grounds, Section 110.72b – St. Simons Island, Georgia.

(Ref: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2012-title33-vol1/pdf/CFR-2012-title33-vol1-sec110-72b.pdf)

Again in this case you can see how the red GA DNR “300ft Marina Buffer” no anchoring zones overlap with the federally designated anchorage 110.72b as indicated on the NOAA RNC Chart.

Both red zones currently encroach upon the federal anchorages and cause confusion for the vessel operator and law enforcement as to which laws prevail.

I corresponded jointly with Georgia DNR Coastal Resource Division and NOAA Office of Coast Survey and I am happy to report that I received clarification yesterday (2/7/20) on this matter with the following statement from GA DNR CRD:

“Hello Mr. Arisaka,

The USCG designated Special Anchorage Areas (as you’ve identified adjacent to Isle of Hope Marina in Chatham County and Morningstar Golden Isles Marina in Glyn County) prevail over state designated anchorage areas. 

Thank You,

(name redacted)”

I made a followup inquiry as to how this would be updated on the GA DNR Website depicting these zones (especially now that they have switched the base map to the NOAA RNC charts) and await their response.

I’d like to thank our state and federal agencies for working together to bring clarity to this one aspect of the new Georgia anchoring regulations.

Addendum:

To access NOAA resources to overlay RNC charts onto Google Earth visit this site:

https://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/data/gis-data-and-services.html#seamless-raster-nautical-chart-services

For a great tutorial on how to do this on YouTube by David Burch of Starpath Navigation visit:

https://youtu.be/QtD7rMLcAUI

To download the Georgia DNR Zones in KMZ Format:

https://coastalgadnr.org/Liveaboards

Cruisers Net joins Kim Russo and AGLCA in urging you to contact legislators asking for a repeal of HB 201 and for their support of HB 833.

It’s time to send more emails, please!

As we’ve reported Gold Looper and Georgia State Representative, Ron Stephens, has filed a bill (HB 833) to eliminate the problems with the state’s new anchoring regulations.  HB 833 (attached) would, among other things, take away power afforded to DNR during the 2019 legislative session to determine where boaters can anchor. On January 1^st, rules took effect that prohibit anchoring within 1,000-feet of structures such as public and private docks, wharves, bridges, piers and pilings.  HB 833, if it becomes law, lowers that distance to 150-feet.

(See this BoatU.S. press release for a good summary of the issue.)

HB 833 will be heard soon before the Georgia House of Representatives Natural Resources and Environment Committee.  We need as many boaters as possible to email the members of this committee.  Following is a list of those committee members and their email addresses, as well as a sample email you may customize for your use:

House Natural Resources and Environment Committee

Lynn Smith, Chairman- Lynn.Smith@house.ga.gov

Vance Smith, Vice Chairman- Vance.Smith@house.ga.gov

Don Hogan, Secretary- Don.Hogan@house.ga.gov

Timothy Barr, Member- Timothy.Barr@house.ga.gov

Debra Bazemore, Member- Debra.Bazemore@house.ga.gov

Debbie Buckner, Member- Debbie.Buckner@house.ga.gov

Joe Campbell, Member- Joe.Campbell@house.ga.gov

John Corbett, Member- John.Corbett@house.ga.gov

Robert Dickey, Member- Robert.Dickey@house.ga.gov

Karla Drenner, Member- Karla.Drenner@house.ga.gov

Terry England, Member- Terry.England@house.ga.gov

Pat Gardner, Member- Pat.Gardner@house.ga.gov

Sheri Gilligan, Member- Sheri.Gilligan@house.ga.gov

Angelika Kausche, Member- Angelika.Kausche@house.ga.gov

Tom McCall, Member- Tom.McCall@house.ga.gov

Greg Morris, Member- Greg.Morris@house.ga.gov

Randy Nix, Member- Randy.Nix@house.ga.gov

Richard H. Smith, Member- Richard.Smith@house.ga.gov

Jan Tankersley, Member- Jan.Tankersley@house.ga.gov

Kevin Tanner, Member- Kevin.Tanner@house.ga.gov

“Able” Mable Thomas, Member- Mable.Thomas@house.ga.gov

Sam Watson, Member- Sam.Watson@house.ga.gov

Mary Frances Williams, Member- MaryFrances.Williams@house.ga.gov

Noel Williams, Jr., Member- Noel.Williams@house.ga.gov

Sample Email for you to customize:

I urge you to support Georgia House Bill 833, which corrects the unintended consequences of Georgia House Bill 201 passed in 2019.  HB 201’s implementation rules issued by the Department of Natural Resources restrict overnight anchoring within 1,000 feet of any structure, such as public and private docks, wharves, bridges, piers and pilings, except in areas near marinas.  This is an egregious infringement on my ability to enjoy Georgia’s waterways and a failure to honor the public trust doctrine. Further, there is no reasonable safety or waterway-management reason for taking such a significant swath of state waters from the boating public.

Please support HB 833 and work with all stakeholders to protect the public’s right to free navigation.

In addition, HB 833 needs a companion bill in the Senate.  Please email the Georgia Senators that represent the coastal districts and urge them to file a companion bill.  Following is a list those Senators and their email addresses, as well as a sample email you may customize for your use:

Senator Ben Watson, District 1, ben.watson@senate.ga.gov

Senator William T. Ligon, Jr., District 3, william.ligon@senate.ga.gov

Sample Email for you to Customize:

I urge you to file a Senate companion bill to Georgia House Bill 833, which corrects the unintended consequences of Georgia House Bill 201 passed in 2019.  HB 201’s implementation rules issued by the Department of Natural Resources restrict overnight anchoring within 1,000-feet of any structure, such as public and private docks, wharves, bridges, piers and pilings, except in areas near marinas.  This is an egregious infringement on my ability to enjoy Georgia’s waterways and a failure to honor the public trust doctrine. Further, there is no reasonable safety or waterway-management reason for taking such a significant swath of state waters from the boating public.

Please support HB 833 by filing a companion bill in the Senate, and work with all stakeholders to protect the public’s right to free navigation.

Thank you all for your help.  If you’re near Atlanta, or can get there for a hearing, please watch this forum thread.  We’ll be posting soon about when the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee with hear this bill!

-Kim

Kim Russo
Director
America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association

House Bill 833

Ted Arisaka has been very active through Save Georgia’s Anchorages in seeking to repeal Georgia HB 201 which restricts anchoring in Georgia’s coastal waters. See Commentary on GA HB201.

Pre-judged?

So when GA DNR states:

“The intent of the change and enforcement will be to prohibit overnight anchoring in locations that could degrade shellfish production, cause navigation hazards, or create conflicts between waterfront homeowners and the boating public.”

(Ref: https://coastalgadnr.org/new-coastal-boating-laws-take-effect-georgia )

I ask myself, what new education campaigns have been implemented to inform waterfront homeowners of their riparian rights, as well as those of the boaters? What new legislation was introduced to protect boaters from conflicts with waterfront landowners? It seems there is an assumption that the boat owner is always to blame.

Conflicts sometimes arise due to a fundamental misunderstanding on the part of one party or the other, often with an unfortunate injection of poor manners. Here is an example of a 2019 incident between a recreational fisherman and a homeowner which occurred in Florida. WPEC covered this news story:
(Ref: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIn8oln3PeQ )

(Here is the entire footage taken by the fisherman above. Warning: some of the language is R rated)

(Ref: https://youtu.be/ArWqVbu9bNA )

Ironically, the GA DNR AO specifically excludes recreational fisherman in this ban. I say this because if GA DNR believes “distance” is the solution to “conflicts”, why exclude those who are typically going to be close to these “structures”?

“This law change, and the associated administrative order, is not intended to restrict or impact boaters engaged in fishing and other recreational activities in Coastal Georgia.”

(Ref: https://coastalgadnr.org/new-coastal-boating-laws-take-effect-georgia )

 

Some of you reading this may think I am unfairly taking one kid’s side as a cruising boat owner.

I am also a fisherman and enjoy coastal fishing in the lowcountry and do so respectfully of homeowners.

I am also a waterfront property owner. I enjoy seeing the boats passing or anchoring where we can admire them from our home. I expect that they do so respectfully and if there were to be a problem boater I think it would be sensible to deal with that on a case by case basis with laws that already exist.

I don’t think the teacher did a good job this time in deciding which kid to punish. Maybe the teacher already knew which kid was going to be punished before this all started?

Image Source: “Scales of Justice” by Government of Prince Edward Island is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

 

This is a copy of the letter Jim Healy sent to Georgia legislators concerning the very restrictive anchoring regulations recently passed and enacted. See Call to Action.

Dear Georgia Legislators:

My wife and I have lived full time on our boat for 16 years. We winter in the US Southeast (Georgia, Florida) and summer in the Northeast (Chesapeake Bay, Long Island Sound, New York Canal System, New England). Twice annually we transit Georgia’s magnificent coastal estuarine waters. We thoroughly enjoy anchoring in the peace and quiet of remote Georgia coastal venues. We also stop at many Georgia marinas (Savannah, Thunderbolt, Isle-of-Hope, Skidaway Island, Richmond Hill, Darien, Brunswick) to wait out weather and take advantage of local restaurant and provisioning services. We work hard to comply with all US and Georgia navigation and maritime laws, and we comply with the provisions of the US Clean Waters Act of 1972. We do NOT discharge waste in any waters, at any time, anywhere.

I am writing to request that you support Georgia HB833 on behalf of all Georgians and all Americans. We believe HB833 corrects several serious flaws with its predecessor legislation, HB201, as adopted by the legislature in 2019. If HB201 is not corrected, we will simply not be able to enjoy the beauty of Georgia’s coastal waters as we have previously. Following are the flaws we find with HB201:

1. Georgia estuarine waters overlie Public Trust lands. HB201 has the effect of an “administrative taking” of Public Trust lands; in as much, it disregards and disrespects the Public Trust Doctrine that the Georgia legislature is responsible to protect in the interest of all Georgians and all Americans. This effectively denies the right of navigation and anchorage to all boaters who make every effort to comply with maritime law and regulation.
2. The regulations adopted by Georgia DNR establish a 1000 foot setback from public and private shore-side structures. That setback is grossly excessive and unnecessary. A 1000 foot setback effectively closes many weather-safe anchorages, many located in creeks that are only 500 feet wide from shore to shore. That excessive setback has the effect of transferring control and ownership rights of littoral, submerged, Public Trust lands to wealthy waterfront landowners who have no such rights in law over Public Trust lands. The way the Georgia DNR regulations are written, proliferation of shore-side structures would have the effect of taking proportionally more and more Public Trust lands out of public access and use.
3. There is no demonstrable EVIDENCE of actual violations of the US Clean Waters Act by cruising boats anchored in Georgia’s estuarine waters. Unproved accusation, speculation and innuendo to the contrary by those with personal-interest motives does not justify the taking of these Public Trust lands from public access and use. Publicly available evidence is that under-designed municipal water treatment facilities, poor agricultural practice and failed private septic systems create vastly more fecal coliform pollution than cruising boats could produce even if they all violated existing US law.
4. It is not reasonable to deny anchoring rights to many hundreds of users that are entirely in compliance with US and Georgia navigation and sanitation laws simply because there might be an occasional violator.
5. Enforcement of these excessive DNR regulations is a significant law enforcement staffing and budgetary burden which will lead to spotty, unequal and discriminatory enforcement .

In all of the above areas, legislative controls and agency regulations must target actual violators. I strongly urge that you support the proposed HB833.

Very respectfully,

James B. Healy

Peg and Jim Healy, living aboard Sanctuary
Monk 36 Hull #132

With this Call to Action, BoatUS has taken up the cause of boaters urging the repeal of an extremely restrictive anchoring law recently enacted by the Georgia legislature. See Save Georgia’s Anchorages.

February 6, 2020

Take Action 

Dear BoatU.S. Members:

We need your help to send a message to the state of Georgia regarding a new anchoring regulation that places a significant restriction on your freedom to enjoy the state’s waters. Under a new rule, boats cannot anchor overnight within 1,000 feet of any shore side structure. This rule eliminates a vast portion of Georgia’s coastal waters from a traditional use, effectively taking this shared resource away from many boaters. Please email the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) requesting they repeal this onerous rule and work with the boating community to come up with commonsense anchoring regulations. Click here to send your message: Take Action 

This new rule was created in response to legislation, Georgia House Bill 201, passed early last year with little notice or engagement of the boating community. This legislation directed DNR to establish anchoring regulations, establish anchorage areas and prohibited overnight anchoring of boats outside of these designated anchorages. DNR did engage in a public process to develop these rules  and then finalized them on December 30th of 2019. (You can see BoatU.S. comments here.)

Specifically, the rule restricts overnight anchoring within 1,000 feet of any structure, such as public and private docks, wharves, bridges, piers and pilings, except in areas near marinas. This 1,000-foot offset needlessly eliminates anchorages all over the state. It will affect numerous boaters, many of whom transit Georgia waters as part of the annual migration along the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) that brings in millions of dollars to Georgia businesses. There is no reasonable safety or waterway-management reason for taking such a significant swath of state waters from the boating public.

Curiously, DNR did create so-called “Marina Zones” that allow boaters to anchor as close as 300 feet to marinas or facilities that provide fuel, dinghy access, provisions, vessel maintenance or other services, regardless of whether other structures exist nearby. This can only lead to the conclusion that the reason for the greater offset from private structures outside these zones was to provide waterfront landowners with near exclusive use and enjoyment of our shared waterways

BoatU.S. recognizes the need for states to manage their waterways and supports reasonable regulations that protect the public’s access. We also firmly believe the ability to anchor overnight is an important part of how many boater choose to enjoy the water. Please send a message today asking to repeal this rule. Take Action 

Contact BoatU.S. Government Affairs at GovtAffairs@BoatUS.com if you have additional questions.

Thank you for being a BoatU.S. Member!

David B. Kennedy
BoatU.S. Government Affairs
GovtAffairs@BoatUS.com
703-461-2878 x8363
Advocacy.BoatUS.com

Our thanks to Wally Moran for sharing this article from Save Georgia’s Anchorages and to James H. Newsome, Ted Arisaka and others who are working diligently to correct a bad piece of legislation. See Anchoring Restrictions.

Hello Larry – hope all is well out your way. Some news for you – a Georgia rep has brought up a new bill on anchoring, as he had promised us he would do.
It’s not everything, but it’s a big step in the right direction and most importantly, it takes the setback and codifies it, meaning the DNR can’t just change it. Still, there’s lots to do to make this happen, such as co-sponsors and a companion bill in the Senate. We’ll be looking for a big push from everyone soon to encourage letter writing and phone calls in support of these goals.
Boat US will be weighing in next week btw. Stay tuned, one of us from SGA will be sure you get the message as soon as we can.

Here’s a press release for your readers –
Some great news about Georgia’s anchoring situation – which is posted on Save Georgia’s Anchorages by James H. Newsome, who along with Jack White have done some amazing work to protect our rights to anchor. This bill will need a lot of support to get it through – we’ll be counting on our fellow boaters to make this happen.

Rep. Ron Stephens has submitted HB833 in the GA General Assembly. Rep Ron Stephens has been working with SGA and other boating stakeholders and groups to negotiate with DNR about the rules and regulations of HB201 which passed during the last session of the General Assembly.

It appears that HB833 will fix the primary issues with the previous law. In particular, setback distances will be written into law and the power to set them taken away from DNR. The definition of ‘anchoring area’ has been corrected. Also, the entire state’s waters will no longer be declared illegal to anchor in unless DNR gives permission. This is a major achievement.

It’s early in this game, but HB833 appears to have a great deal of promise. But we will need the help of every concerned boater to make it a reality, with emails and phone support. Here’s the link: http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20192020/HB/833?fbclid=IwAR1nPksFnSLTOHJBTB9R0eUWpJ6RV2DQNLx6-fzxM4EWKzO7Cxua4faBMrs

Join us at Save Georgia’s Anchorages and learn what you can do to help protect Georgia’s anchorages for boaters, at https://www.facebook.com/groups/SaveGeorgiasAnchorages/

Ted Arisaka and members of Save Georgia’s Anchorages continue their campaign to remove the restrictive measures included in House Bill 201. Type HB 201 or Save Georgia’s Anchorages in our Homepage Search window for more background on this restrictive legislation.

Larry:
FYI here is my letter to Gov Kemp, DNR, and Rep Don Hogan (bill sponsor) on HB 201.
I commented on 4 aspects of these regs.
Regards,
Ted

Click here for GA HB201 Commentary 2020 01 27