Traditionally it's been the historic high water mark that's divided private shoreline property from public property, but a Lake County judge changed that in his ruling last month.
Judge Eugene Lucci says private property extends all the way to where land and water meet. That means that beach areas once considered public can now be cordoned off by lakefront owners.
Conservation groups such as the Ohio Environmental Council and the League of Ohio Sportsmen say this virtually cuts the public off from the lake, and allows property owners to build docks or sea walls without paying the state.
Larry Mitchell is the president of the League of Ohio Sportsmen. Mitchell says the decision not only hurts anglers and beachgoers, but also has an environmental downside.
Larry Mitchell: It has a lot to do with being able to take care, to maintain the habitat that's there and to protect it. I mean if they're allowed to take and build below the ordinary high water mark it could devastate the habitat and the ecosystem of Lake Erie.
The two groups, along with the National Wildlife Federation are appealing Lucci's decision, and Attorney General Marc Dann has filed a separate appeal. Gov. Ted Strickland has previously sided with private property owners and asked state officials to stop charging property owners for dock leases out in Lake Erie. Conservation group attorney don't see Strickland's stance as an obstacle.
Tasha Flournoy, 90.3.