Lake Norman Users Beware

I live in the area and went to the ramp there yesterday with 2 friends.

We were standing near my truck charging some batterys and Fish and Game came by and told use we must leave, it is illegal to be there if you are not a rergistered boat owner and using the ramp.

I am trying to work a way around this.

i think that is a state owned boat ramp and if we cant be there why is it a public boat ramp are we not part of the public ?

state owned eh? is it part of a state park system? if so

North Carolina General Statute

§ 113A‑151

(b).......

(3) Establish a State land‑use policy which seeks to provide essential public services equitably to all persons within the State and to assure that citizens shall have, consistent with sound principles of land resource use, maximum freedom and opportunity to live and conduct their activities in locations of their personal choice;

the Fish and Game guy said that it is supported by boat registration, he pointed to the sign that said "boat launching olny"

I plan on calling Fish and Game monday and offering the registration fee amount as a donation if i would be allowed to use the area.

I dont know if it will work but it is worth a try.

i dont think it would be worth it the rocks will be close to covered soon all that will be above the water is the tops

Were they threatening to ticket you, and for what.

There are new laws past within the last year that make it illegal to prevent someone from making use of public land. This issue comes up with mountain biking all the time.

and people swim there all the time so whats the difrence ?

He said it was trespassing if you werent launching or recovering a boat.

Swimming is out also

i see people do it every summer

Doug the difference might be that there is no swiming near the boat launch. And I would agree with that kids and proppellers do not mix.

they are on the same rocks we crawl on

Rene is right, if its state property designated for public use they it is my understanding that they cannont tell you what you can or cannot do as long as it does not cause harm to yourself, other people or the environment.

I agree that it should be allowed but that guy wanted us gone and didnt want anypart of us questioning him.

Thhis is why i signed up here, maybe enough of us could get together and make some change.

Have there not been any problems in the past?

hey there

The next time I go to Lake Norman State park, I will take a crawler with me. Hopefully this guy finds me. I would love for him to explain to me why we can not be there.

As much as I would love to agree with you guys fighting to do what you wish with state land, remember its not for all to use how they see fit.

If that where the case, I would be able to take my 1:1 anywhere I would like at URE, as long as its on State Land... But we all know tihs isn't true.

One thing to do is step back and look at this. Do we want to create a bad name for the sport. I have already seen in the last few years where things get shut down when folks feel they are doing what they think is right. I pay taxes, so I should be able to go out and wheel where I want on state land. When doing so I am endangering a lot of things, and giving "wheeling" a bad name. I don't think any of us want to see the same happen to RC Wheeling as well.

I think we need to work hand in hand with Wildlife Officers, and follow guidelines that will make it worth wild for both the land and our hobby.

We are talking about running toy cars over rocks;

- No safety issues
- No environmental impact
- No noise

Comparing the use of a motor vehicle (1:1 crawler) is not a valid comparision. You also do not have to plate, insure etc.. the toy cars.

I agree that we need to work with people, but come on.

renoirbud wrote:

We are talking about running toy cars over rocks;

- No safety issues
- No environmental impact
- No noise

Comparing the use of a motor vehicle (1:1 crawler) is not a valid comparision. You also do not have to plate, insure etc.. the toy cars.

I agree that we need to work with people, but come on.

I think its more of a liablity issue. You associate kids following the RC movement. Just today I was at a park and a small kid wanted to get down in the rocks with the rig. If that kid was to slip and fall.. the park would get sue'd and maybe even me. Thus a bad name. Also what about trash that a spectator would leave behind? We would get blamed for it, even if we didn't leave it.

I am just looking at it from their end. Just be cause "we" are the ones running the "RC Toy" doesn't mean "we" will be the only ones around.

I think the better approach is communicating with the park cordinators and setting up something they are both prepared for, and we can benifit from. Just going out and "doing it" isn't always the best approach.

I enjoy doing this just as much as the next person, and I have been into this hobby for over 20 years... I have been ran out of my share of parking lots and parks.

Uroplatus, i see your point. However "what ifs" are not supported by state legistation. The point is that ranger had no right to deny use of the public boat access and there is in fact a legistlation making it illegal for him to do so!

Should we pick and choose our battles, yes. Should we lay down when facing an obsticle and the law is on OUR side, NO!.

You are right. Just as we did with pilot mtn, the park service or ranger in charge should be approached by someone who carries full representation of the club. Hopefully it wont turn out like pilot Mtn (we can crawl there, but if we do it as a club we gotta rent the whole dang mtn!!!)

I'm curious which boat ramp this is? If it's a small launch area with room only for getting in and out, they could argue that parking there would block others from using the ramp. But I've launched from almost every ramp on Norman and haven't seen any that small.

Also with the water levels so low, there is a small number of ramps that are even usable now. Those that are usable have a rediculous amount of traffic right now, maybe that's the case?

To be honest though, it sounds like either you got an office that was having a bad day or there was some other reason that he wanted you gone, because it's uncommon to see them run someone off from a launch area unless they are creating issues.

Frome the photos that I saw from their RC Wheeling trip, they had to climb and scale the rocks to find a place to steady themselves and sit to do this. To me climbing on rocks, as sure footed as well thing we are, to others isn't safe.


All I am saying whether we are right or wrong, we need to be cautious of how we approach people who could become some one on our side for this Hobby... that is all I am trying to say. If we piss everyone off, we have no where we can go have fun leagally.

You can walk on sand right up to the rocks, its the ramp on Hwy 150 closest to the bridge

Talked to Fish and Game, under no circumstance is anyone allowed to use that area, you cant donate to use it you cant use it even if you have a boat and use the ramp. They are authorized to arrest for tresspassing.

That is pretty bad news, if you do go be careful.

they seem pretty adamant about denying use of a public facility. most likely we wont crawl there again, but you can call your senator or state representative and complain. I highly doubt theres a written policy ANYWHERE forbidding use of that area so given the state laws requiring them to allow you fair use of state owned public areas your Rep will not be happy his constituents are being turned away.

Oh well...where too next?

Isn't that next to the power plant? A lot of that area up there that was open to the public for shore fishing was locked down post 9/11.. maybe that's it?

the power plant is a mile or two down the road "the steam station" and its not on the lake but it dont matter about that place the water will cove all but the tops of the rocks soon its up a good bit from what it was at our comp