Whose Tidelands Are They?

Why does the question of "whose tidelands are they" matter?

Whether the public using them for recreational use; waterfront homeowners wishing to keep people off of their property; or, others interested in commercializing them, the answer to "whose tidelands are they" is important and not always clear.  How they were sold by Washington State and others through time has created challenges, some minor, some more significant. 

This picture of Harstine Island helps to show what some of the challenges are.

Harstine Island

(click to enlarge)

Tidelands in the lower portion of the picture, roughly below the line drawn in, include the area from the high tide line down to the extreme low tide line, close to what is exposed in the picture.  Tidelands in the upper area of the picture, above the line, are within a specific surveyed area (an "oyster tract") which, in this case, extends into the subtidal area but in many, if not all areas, not to the high tide line.

One of the challenges in how these tidelands were sold is there is a strip of tidelands which is still owned by the public between the high tide line and out perhaps 20' wide.  In essence, a "sidewalk" is available to anyone for walking on in the area above the line.  

A second challenge is the lagoon's tidelands (on the left side of the picture) are also owned by the public, whether for walking or digging for clams.  However, due to an assumption they are privately owned, shellfish have been grown commercially for years and, it has been used for loading and unloading barges.

The increasing value of tidelands, whether from recreational use by the public; for privacy; or, for their ability to commercially grow shellfish makes the question of "whose tidelands are they" important.  The answer is not as clear as it appears.