Riparian rights vs. river islands

[flcracker]

I understand that in Florida a landowner along a navigable river has riparian rights down to the normal high water mark.

I've found a few spots on a couple of different rivers where the property appraiser's GIS map clearly shows both real islands and "islands" that are either partially or completely cut off from the mapped property boundaries along the riverbank by fully or partially abandoned oxbows/meanders or high water cutoffs. At low water levels you can walk from the "islands" to the adjacent private property without getting your feet wet. Some of the adjacent property owners are private individuals/entities while in other places a .gov agency other than the State owns the land on both sides of the river.

Does anyone here have actual legal knowledge of my rights to camp &/or hunt on such "islands" within the boundaries of a navigable waterway? I'd like to have a solid argument in hand if challenged by a landowner, Sheriff's deputy, or fish cop.

Thanks in advance for your insight!

[Outgunu]

Kind of strange... One of my neighbors live on the water here in Jacksonville and wanted to build a dock. When requesting the permit, he found out that some LLC owns what's called wastelands under the water and if he is to build the dock, the LLC expects to be paid many thousand of dollars for him to place the dock over the wasteland they own even though it's under water. He cant get the permit until the waste land LLC signs off on it. Once again this is totally submerged property. I looked at the mapping in the area and this LLC owns most of the submerged land in the areas behind the waterfront property for miles. Hard to believe that many submerged areas are privately VS state or federally owned. I would be very cautious and respectful if confronted by a property owner if you decide to camp on on one of the islands. The laws are hard to believe.

[Chigger]

Are they actual Islands or sand or sediment bars and are they surveyed or unsurveyed lands, makes a difference.
Try this site,
https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida- ... ty-part-i/