Lost River Camps

Where does the property line fall when living on a river?

I'm going canoeing down a river in Wisconsin. Its going to be like a 12 hour trip w/o any breaks, so I was going to setup camp somwhere along the river. I was wondering if sandbanks actually belong to the nearest land owner or if it belongs to the state. The reason why I'm wondering is because sandbars commonly change positions along the river when theres high tide at the begging of Spring and then it deposits the sand in a different spot. Also sometimes the sandbars pop up in the middle of the river so who owns that? If you can give me a website link also that would be great. Thanks!

Public Comments

1. Mostly, rivers (including temporary sandbars) don't belong to any person or state. They are a "public trust", and are governed by federal law. As a general rule, you have the right to canoe on rivers in the USA. Rivers are a "common highway", and landowners / states can't interfere with navigation and commerce on the river. In many places, this extents to 3 feet above the mean low-water mark; or more often the ordinary high-water mark. You might also have portage rights, to get around rapids. But ... there are state and federal regulations. For example, you may be required to take out all your trash, or not move or take any rocks, etc. This doesn't give you the right to mess with the land, soil, trees, crops, structures etc. next to or on the river (other than what is necessary for ordinary enjoyment of the river). The river bottom itself may be privately owned.
2. bottom