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| Preserving Public Access |
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| Pennsylvania provides
nearly unlimited potential for recreational fishing and
boating. The Commonwealth has 83,000 miles of rivers
and streams ranging from headwaters to major river systems.
More than 200,000 acres of lakes are within our borders.
Lake Erie offers 735 square miles of water within
Pennsylvania boundaries. However, to take advantage of these
recreational fishing and boating opportunities that this
vast aquatic resource offers, users must be able to access
the water. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
recognizes the important role access plays in your ability
to pursue fishing and boating. To address threats to
continued public access to fishable water, the Commission
works in a variety of ways to ensure you and future
generations will always have plenty of places to fish and
boat. |
| Building & Improving Formal Access Sites |
| The Commission controls through state
ownership, lease, or easements
approximately 33,500 acres of land
containing some four dozen public lakes
and nearly 250 boating access/shoreline
fishing areas. In addition, other state
agencies, counties and local
municipalities hold lands and facilities
open for public fishing and boating. To find fishing and boating near
year, visit our County Guides index.
In recent years, the Commission has made preserving
and improving these public access points
a strategic priority. The
Commission has dedicated increased
resources to boating facilities it owns,
as described in our annual reports. We've also
created a Boating Facilities Grant Program to help county and local governments
improve their boating access sites. The Commission also provides a Technical Guidance Program to
help local governments design boating
access ramps, docks and fishing piers
and administers. There are Boating Infrastructure Grants available for transient moorage
(tie-ups) serving recreational
motorboats 26 feet and longer.
Yet another program, the Erie Access
Improvement Grant Program is securing access along Lake
Erie and its tributaries.
Interested in helping the Commission ensure public
access? You can donate to to the Conservation Acquisition Partnership, created by the Pennsylvania Fish and
Boat Commission to solicit and accept
donations to be used solely to obtain
additional access to Pennsylvania's
water.
Related Links
 Funding for Lakes, Access and Related
Facilities Managed by the PFBC |
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| Riparian Rights & Public Waters and Public Access |
Public rights to and on the water is a very complex area of Pennsylvania law. In Pennsylvania, the public's rights to fish in a particular stream depends in large part on whether the stream is "navigable." In general, the public has the right to fish in a navigable waterway. The accepted test of navigability is whether the waters are used, or are susceptible to being used, in their ordinary condition, as highways for commerce. If the water met the navigability test at any point in its history, it remains a legally navigable waterway. There is no single published listing of all the navigable waters in Pennsylvania.
Although the public has the right to fish in a navigable stream flowing through private lands, this does not mean that the public has the right to cross posted private lands to get to the stream.
Frequently Asked Questions about Public Waters
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| Landowner Relations |
| Pennsylvania has a long and rich history of private landowners allowing the public access to on stream-side lands for fishing. While this practice has benefited generations of anglers, it also means that fishing as we know it in Pennsylvania is also very susceptible to privatization. Of our stocked trout waters, 83% are on private lands. About 70% of our wild trout waters are on private lands and 59% of our Class A trout waters are also on private lands.
The number one reason waters are removed from active management programs (like stocking) by the Commission is because of increased landowner posting in response to poor behavior such as littering, building open fires, trampling farm fields and blocking driveways and access roads. Preserving public access to private lands is a simple matter, but one that requires us all to take action to police ourselves. Recognize that the land you are on may very well be private property and act like a guest. Respect all postings, such as prohibitions against Sunday fishing.
Landowners: Did you know that Pennsylvania has legislation protecting landowners who hold their lands and waters open for free public recreational use? Read more about the Recreation Use of Land and Water Act. |
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