>Caroline Feiss offered...
>>In regards to the question about driving on Washington State beaches. We
>>have an odd old law on the books that declares the ocean beaches to be
>>highways.
>
>>but the law is still on the books.
>
>I'd love to have a reference to which WAC or RCW this is.
>
>I have discussed beach driving with a representative of the Department of
>Transportation, who said the "highway" law is a myth that they continually
>try to dispel. What's certain is that the Washington State Parks and
>Recreation Commission, not the DOT, manages beach driving. The Shoreline
>Management Act (1983?) required (right?) local jurisdictions to prepare
>beach management plans. At least 40% of each beach (Long Beach, South
Beach,
>and North Beach) had to be closed to driving, although there are exceptions
>even to this rule. Of course, "at least" meant "bare minimum" to the
>agencies preparing the plans.
>


In regards to the old "beach driving" law (which has been repealed)

The original statutes were passed in 1901, and eventually codified under RCW
79.16.160, 161, 170, and 171. They declared the tidelands from "Damon's
Point to Queets" and from "Columbia River to Peterson's Point" to be public
highways. Then in 1935 the legislature passed a statute that became RCW
79.16.130, 140, and150 which declared tidelands from "Queets to Flattery" to
be public highways.

They covered the area between ordinary high tide and extreme low tide.
Later, RCW 79.16.172 declared the portion between the vegetation line and
the mean high tide line to be "public recreation areas". The few court
decisions that addressed these laws generally held them to be inapplicable.
An Attorney General's Opinion in 1970 stated that they did not apply to the
beach in front of the Quinalt Reservation.

They were repealed, and then recodified, in 1982, when the became RCW
79.94.340-360. They were finally repealed for good in 1988 (effective Jan.
1, 1989).

I believe you are correct that such driving is now under the jurisdiction of
the Parks department. It is my understanding that their authority derives
from the "Seashore Conservation Act" which is codified in RCW 43.51.650-685,
and was passed in 1969. The Shoreline Management Act (which dates to 1971)
might also cover this but if so I am not familiar with it.

Jerry Broadus
Geometrix Surveying
Puyallup