Nature of the Case
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Facts
P's favorite fishing hole is on a riverbed along the Arkansas River. The record owners of the land abutting the river are Mark Warsewa and Linda Joseph, who have a home overlooking the fishing hole. P alleges that for several years, he has repeatedly attempted to fish there and Warsewa and Joseph have chased him off the property, sometimes with force. P alleges that they threatened to have him arrested for trespass, threw baseball-sized rocks at him, and shot a gun at his fishing buddy. P claims the riverbed is public land owned by the State of Colorado and held in trust for the people and he therefore has a legal right to fish there. P brought claims for a declaratory judgment and to quiet title. This case was removed to federal court, where the State of Colorado intervened. The case was remanded back to state court. The State argued that it alone may decide whether and when to pursue its property rights and that P does not have standing to bring these claims. The district court agreed with the State and dismissed the case for lack of standing. P appealed this determination, arguing that the riverbed is public land as a matter of federal law under the equal footing doctrine. One of the rights included in this status is that, upon attaining statehood, a state 'gains title within its borders to the beds of waters then navigable.' The federal government, though, retains title to non-navigable riverbeds and can grant such title to private landowners. Title to the Warsewa and Joseph property can be traced back to a federal land grant. P argues that the subject property was navigable at statehood, and therefore title to the riverbed transferred to the State by operation of law when Colorado achieved statehood in 1876. Because the federal government did not own the riverbed, it could not have transferred its title to Warsewa and Joseph's predecessors in interest. P argues the riverbed belongs to the State, not Warsewa and Joseph, and P cannot be trespassing on their property. A division of the court of appeals upheld the court's dismissal of the quiet title claim, concluding that P cannot pursue the property rights of the State because he does not himself have any claim to title. As for the declaratory judgment claim, because the river was navigable at statehood, the riverbed is public land owned by the State of Colorado. Thus, he, as a member of the public, is not trespassing by wading on the riverbed. P is alleging an interest that is his own-the right to wade and fish in the river at the location in question. The appeals court remanded for trial on the declaratory judgment action. The State’s petition for certiorari was approved.
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