Current:Home > Contact-usBill to make proving ownership of Georgia marshland less burdensome advanced by state House panel-LoTradeCoin
Bill to make proving ownership of Georgia marshland less burdensome advanced by state House panel
View Date:2024-12-24 00:39:07
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A proposal to reduce the legal burden for proving private ownership of coastal marshlands first granted to Georgia settlers centuries ago was advanced Tuesday by a state House committee.
The House Judiciary Committee voted 6-5 to approve House Bill 370 during a meeting streamed online from the state Capitol in Atlanta, sending it to the full House. Prior versions of the proposal in 2022 and last year failed to get a vote on the House floor.
Conservation groups are opposing the measure, saying it would put thousands of acres of salt marsh currently considered public land at risk of being seized by people who don’t rightly own it.
Rep. Matt Reeves, R-Duluth, and several coastal lawmakers sponsoring the bill say it will encourage restoration of salt marsh that was long ago drained or damaged by farming and other uses.
“For 200 years, these rice farms and other manmade alterations in Georgia’s marshlands have not repaired themselves,” said Reeves, the Judiciary Committee’s vice chair. “Mother nature needs help to restore those marshlands. And this is the vehicle to do it.”
The vast majority of Georgia’s 400,000 acres (161,874 hectares) of coastal marshland is owned by the state and protected from development. State officials estimate about 36,000 acres (14,568 hectares) are privately owned through titles granted by England’s king or Georgia’s post-American Revolution governors during the 1700s and early 1800s.
Critics say the legal process for a landholder to trace ownership to one of these so-called “crown grants” is too cumbersome and can take a decade or longer. The state attorney general’s office handles those cases now and requires evidence of continuous ownership from the original centuries-old grant to the present.
The measure before House lawmakers would establish a streamlined alternative for those who, if granted their claim of ownership, agree to keep their marsh in conservation. Owners would be allowed to sell mitigation credits to private developers looking to offset damage to wetlands elsewhere.
“We’re taking something the state has protected for centuries, and we’re putting it into private hands,” said Megan Desrosiers, president and CEO of the coastal Georgia conservation group One Hundred Miles. “And then that person gets paid to protect something that the state has been protecting for centuries.”
Desrosiers and other opponents say the proposed changes also place an unfair burden on the state to disprove claims of private marsh ownership.
Cases taking the streamlined path would go to the State Properties Commission rather than the attorney general’s office. The commission would have a deadline of nine months to resolve the case. If it takes longer, the person making the claim gets ownership of the marsh.
“The state has an obligation not to give away resources to private citizens,” Kevin Lang, an Athens attorney and opponent of the marshlands bill, told the committee at a Jan. 11 hearing. He said the proposal would “result in people getting title to saltmarsh who never had a valid claim.”
Jerry Williams, whose family was granted marshland along the Ogeechee River in Savannah in the 1800s, told committee members at the prior hearing that state officials have abused the existing process for proving ownership.
“They throw everything at the wall that they can to try to delay, to muddy the waters and make it cost prohibitive for the private landowners to defend their title,” Williams said.
veryGood! (84)
Related
- Brush fire erupts in Brooklyn's iconic Prospect Park amid prolonged drought
- Ryan Reynolds honors late 'Roseanne' producer Eric Gilliland: 'It's a tragedy he's gone'
- Tori Spelling, Olympic rugby star Ilona Maher, Anna Delvey on 'Dancing With the Stars'
- 1,000-Lb. Sisters' Amy Slaton Allegedly Had Mushrooms and Cannabis on Her When Arrested After Camel Bite
- Gossip Girl Actress Chanel Banks Reported Missing After Vanishing in California
- Man plows into outside patio of Minnesota restaurant, killing 2 and injuring 4 others
- Man sentenced to over 1 year in prison for thousands of harassing calls to congressional offices
- World pumps out 57 million tons of plastic pollution yearly and most comes in Global South
- GM recalling big pickups and SUVs because the rear wheels can lock up, increasing risk of a crash
- As Tornado Alley Shifts East, Bracing for Impact in Unexpected Places
Ranking
- Roy Haynes, Grammy-winning jazz drummer, dies at 99: Reports
- Inside Leah Remini and Angelo Pagán's Unusual Love Story
- Atlanta mayor proposes $60M to house the homeless
- USC surges, Oregon falls out of top five in first US LBM Coaches Poll of regular season
- 'I was in total shock': Woman wins $1 million after forgetting lotto ticket in her purse
- Katy Perry Rewards Orlando Bloom With This Sex Act After He Does the Dishes
- Kate Spade Outlet’s Rare Sale—Snag a $299 Sling Bag for $99 & More Under $100 Styles You Won’t Resist
- Donald Trump biopic releases first clip from controversial 'The Apprentice' film
Recommendation
-
Lunchables get early dismissal: Kraft Heinz pulls the iconic snack from school lunches
-
Workers at General Motors joint venture battery plant in Tennessee unionize and will get pay raise
-
Nevada grandmother faces fines for giving rides to Burning Man attendees
-
Amazon expands AI-powered Just Walk Out to more NFL football stadiums, college campuses
-
The Daily Money: All about 'Doge.'
-
How does the birth control pill work? What you need to know about going on the pill.
-
The Bachelorette Finale: Jenn Tran and Devin Strader Break Up, End Engagement in Shocking Twist
-
Tori Spelling, Olympic rugby star Ilona Maher, Anna Delvey on 'Dancing With the Stars'