COURT REPORT: FEDERAL COURTS UNITED STATES CIRCUIT COURTS

FIFTH CIRCUIT Parm v. Shumate, 513 F.3d 135 (5th Cir. 2007) (holding that neither the federal navigation servitude nor Louisiana law grant citizens the right to fish on privately owned riparian lands when a navigable body's seasonal floodwaters cover the land). Every spring, the Mississippi River floods and covers ordinarily dry private riparian property in East Carroll Parish, Louisiana for at least two months. Small lakes and trapped water remain on the ordinarily dry land when the seasonal floodwaters recede. Walker Cottonwood Farms ("Walker") owns land on which one of the trapped water bodies, Gassoway Lake, is located. Members of the public frequently fished in this lake during the spring flood cycle despite the objections of Walker, who filed numerous complaints with the sheriff against the fishermen. The Sheriff responded by arresting the fishermen for trespass. In 1996, Walker filed suit in Louisiana state court seeking a declaration that it owned the property and an injunction to prevent the public from fishing in Gassoway Lake without permission. The trial court granted Walker's summary judgment motion and issued a permanent injunction. The Second Circuit Court of Appeal of Louisiana reversed the state court's ruling in favor of Walker because the issues could not be decided on summary judgment and remanded the case. In 2001, before the state trial court issued a final decision, the fishermen filed a U.S.C. $ S 1983 complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, claiming that the Sheriff did ...