Lake Monona 07/31/10

[rk_diver]

Was out on Monona this morning and again tonight. Found a boat (1978 registration) in 35 FOW. Dove on it tonight, old runabout with an Evenrude. Water clarity bad, though at least you could see SOMETHING below the thermocline, which was at 30' (typical for this time of year). This morning saw numerous schools of suspended bluegills, and once decent perch sitting on the bottom. Rick

[Vince B]

Thats interesting on the find of the boat. I would think that someone would have reported their boat if it sunk and had it removed. What normally happens in a situation like this?

[rk_diver]

The DNR has the authority to force removal of anything from the bed of the lake. This includes boats, cars, ATV's, ice shanties, pretty much anything that there wasn't a permit issued for. You have 30 days to remove something that doesn't cause any harm to the environment; ie an ice shanty. Something leaking a lot of gas or oil could be forced to be removed immediately. According to the law anything that's found belongs to someone. In the case of this boat, it belongs to the original owner unless an insurance company paid a claim for it, then it belongs to them. If the boat cannot be traced back to someone it belongs to the state under abandonment laws. Even if the last owner could be traced, the state has the authority to assume ownership of the property. In other words, there's no "finders keepers, loosers weepers" laws in WI inland waters. Another boat I found in Waubesa sank in 1969 (at least that's when the registration expired) was no longer in the DNR database (before they went computerized), therefore the last owner could not be notified. The DNR authorized us to remove the boat from the lake, which I gave to a buddy of mine who scrapped it out. In this case I was able to track down the original owner. I could contact him and tell him I found his boat, in which case he'd (or the insurance company) be liable to remove the boat within 30 days or be fined. Keep in mind this boats been sitting on the bottom for 32 years minimum. With that said, in the end it boils down to the warden as to what will be done, it's his/her discretion. In my last correspondence with a couple area wardens I asked if they wanted to be notified when I find cars, boats, snowmobiles, ATV's, etc. Their unofficial feeling was if the object has been down there for a length of time it can stay there and be an artificial "reef". Again, it's at the wardens discretion, another county warden may (legally) demand it be removed. Again, by law if you sink your boat today for example you have to make a good faith effort (in some cases that means hiring someone to try and locate it for you. If the object is of little value to you they think you'll just say you don't know where it sank so you wouldn't have to pay to have it removed) to locate and remove it, or face daily fines until you do. A new sinking like this would probably require removal, how quickly depends on how much it's threatening the environment. That's why it's important to have insurance, because it can be very expensive to recover something (I heard of one guy being charged $10,000 to remove a big sailboat). Also note that anything that's been sitting on the bottom for more then 50 years automatically belongs to the state. Likewise, anyone taking any property off any sunken object can be fined (or in extreme cases arrested), since it's theft.

A long answer to a complicated question! If ever in doubt contact the local law enforcement agency or warden. If you lose something you're also required to notify one of them (in our case either the Dane County Sheriff's Office or DNR). If you don't, and 32 years later I find it sitting on the bottom you could be fined accordingly. By law I have to notify some law enforcement agency, since the property could be a crime scene, or a body could be laying there. I usually send the coordinates and report to the Sheriff's Office. They may decide to do a dive on it to determine it's status (sunk by accident, insurance scam, used in a crime, etc). They typically won't force it's removal since it's a state law, not a county ordinance, but they do have the authority to do so and would work with the state accordingly.

This is my understanding of the laws, again, if you have a question contact the wardens so you don't get a nasty fine and a lot of headaches!

Rick