Earlier this month, a landowner in the Adirondack Park decided to appeal a court’s decision that could set important precedents for paddling and property rights in New York's North Country.

In January, a panel of judges ruled canoers have the right to paddle a waterway near Long Lake known as Shingle Shanty Brook. The judges' decision was divided however, and that gave new hope to the Brandreth Park Association, which hopes to close access to Shingle Shanty.

This case has been simmering for more than five years and now goes to New York’s highest court.

A six-year history of litigation

The legal feud began in 2009 when Phil Brown, editor of the Adirondack Explorer magazine, paddled a stretch of waterway the Brandreth Park Association claimed crosses private property.

If we got another split decision, that means we're still in that gray area, that might get it to the Supreme Court of the United States

"I mean it's just a beautiful winding stream, marshy grasses, the day we did it there were puffy clouds, sun was shining, big sky — it was just gorgeous. Any paddler would rather do that than lug his canoe through the woods," Brown said.

Brown and his magazine were sued by the Brandreth Park Association for trespassing in the years following that trip. Brown won a ruling in 2013 and he won again last January. The courts determined that state navigation laws allow paddlers to make a short portage over private land when necessary.

A divided ruling gives hope to landowner

The January 2015 ruling was divided however. The five-judge panel disagreed over the balance between navigation rights and the rights of property owners. "Are we worried? Whenever two judges rule against you it gives you pause," Brown acknowledged this week. "That said, our lawyer thinks we can address their concerns."

The January ruling broke with past legal decisions, which have generally favored paddlers and navigation rights in solid terms. The judges were more ambivalent this time. Even the three who sided with Phil Brown raised questions about the implications. "The majority judges conceded that they had concerns as well. They basically acknowledged that nobody ever thought that this was anything but private property. Nobody thought there was any kind of public easement or highway that went across this private property," said Dennis Phillips, a Glens Falls attorney who represents the landowners, the Brandreth Park Association.

A precedent that could extend well beyond the Park's wild backcountry

Phil Brown at the Explorer still has heft and precedent on his side. Paddlers have won every round in court so far. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Attorney General have sided with Brown. Attorney Dennis Phillips said there is a lot at stake in terms of a legal precedent that could extend well beyond the Adirondack Park’s blue line. "There are many brooks of that small size that flow across all the lands of the state," he noted.

This appeal to the state’s highest court could settle this question of paddling access by next spring once and for all. But Phillips said there is a possibility this case that involves a small stream in the Adirondacks and a journalist with a small, New York North Country magazine could go to the United States Supreme Court. "If we got another split decision, that means we're still in that gray area, that might get it to the Supreme Court of the United States," Phillips said.