Department of Natural Resources v. Adams

377 A.2d 500, 37 Md. App. 165, 1977 Md. App. LEXIS 295
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedSeptember 8, 1977
Docket858, September Term, 1976
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 377 A.2d 500 (Department of Natural Resources v. Adams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Special Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Department of Natural Resources v. Adams, 377 A.2d 500, 37 Md. App. 165, 1977 Md. App. LEXIS 295 (Md. Ct. App. 1977).

Opinion

Powers, J.,

delivered the opinion of the Court.

It is inherent in our judicial system that review by an appellate court usually starts, not at the beginning of a case, but at the end, and, going backward from there, may result in the same ending, a new ending, or a new beginning.

One of the many unusual aspects of this duck blind controversy now under review is that we start in the middle and go in both directions. This wide ranging process leads us to conclude that the order appealed from, entered by Judge Daniel T. Prettyman in the Circuit Court for Dorchester County, was correct, and should be affirmed.

The Dispute

The dispute arose over the right to locate a stationary blind for hunting wild waterfowl in the waters of Dorchester County. The judicial phase of this case was initiated in the circuit court when Roger Adams, who is the appellee here, filed, on 10 January 1975, an Order for Appeal from an Opinion and Order of the Board of Review of the Department of Natural Resources. The Board of Review had, on 17 December 1974, upheld a determination made on 19 August 1974 by James B. Coulter, the Secretary of the Department. The Secretary’s determination had approved and reconfirmed an allocation among four applicants, made by a predecessor agency in 1967, of five locations for stationary duck blinds along the statutory Mills Point-Weir Point line, then defined in Code, Art. 66C, § 157 (c).

Roger Adams is the son and successor to the riparian interests of Claude Adams, one of the original applicants to whom a location for a stationary blind had been assigned in 1967. In May 1974, Adams asked the Department to review the assignment of the blind location to Thomas *167 Merryweather and Carroll Thomas, 1 contending that it was illegal, that it deprived Adams of his rights as a riparian owner, and that Thomas was not entitled to a blind in that area. In a letter responding to the request, the Secretary advised the attorney for Adams that the Department would undertake a complete review of the location of duck blinds in the area. The departmental review was undertaken. Upon the report submitted to him, the Secretary made his determination of 19 August 1974, which was appealed by Adams to the Board of Review, and then to the circuit court.

Various papers, documents, exhibits, opinions, and other material constituting the record of the administrative proceedings within the Department were ultimately filed in the circuit court. Counsel for each side filed a written memorandum, and the case was set for hearing. At the hearing, held on 17 June 1976, the issues were submitted on oral argument. The Opinion and Order of Court, filed on 23 July 1976, reversed the order of the Board of Review of the Department of Natural Resources, and remanded the proceedings to the Board for an order consistent with the Opinion. The Department of Natural Resources appealed.

The Issue

The Department, possibly oversimplifying, states in its brief that the appeal presents one issue, which is:

“Whether the provisions of Title 10, Subtitle 6 of the Natural Resources Article authorize the Secretary to assign an owner of shoreline along Covey Creek a stationary blind site along the Mills Point-Weir Point line.”

Adams, on the other hand, suggests in his brief that he may be oversimplifying by listing only 10 questions presented in *168 this appeal. Our ultimate answer of “No” to the Department’s single question will suffice for all.

The Locale

To understand the factual review we now undertake, one must understand the locale and the law. The locale is in the northwesterly part of Dorchester County. We shall speak of three bodies of water, Trippe’s Bay, 2 and two smaller bodies, Brannock’s Bay 3 and Covey Creek, which border Trippe’s Bay on the east. Brannock’s Bay, to the south, and Covey Creek, to the north, are separated from each other by a peninsula or neck of land. All three have been separately recognized on maps for more than 100 years. 4

For a graphic description of the locale, we attach as Appendix “A” to this opinion a copy of one of the exhibits in the record, with the names of certain identified owners added. It shows the shoreline of the three bodies of water, and shows also a delineation of the statutory Mills Point-Weir Point line, the line which generated this dispute.

*169 The Statutes

The law at the time of the 1967 allocation was found in Code, Art. 66C, § 149-165. The law now appears in the Natural Resources Art., Title 10, Subtitle 6, §§ 10-601 to 10-623. The only difference significant to this case was the treatment of the subsection which established the Mills Point-Weir Point line. That difference does not affect our holding.

Subtitle 6, dealing with the hunting of wild waterfowl, contains many provisions of local application only, and many general provisions not relevant to the issues in this case. We have excerpted and paraphrased certain provisions found in the subtitle. Not all are relevant to our decision in this case. Some are included only to provide a brief explanation of the blind licensing process. With each statement of the law is a reference to the section in the present Natural Resources Article where the full statutory language may be found.

A “blind site” is a specific location in the water where a person may hunt wild waterfowl from a boat or raft tied to or anchored at a stake and is not a permanent structure. § 10-601 (b).

A “stationary blind” is a permanent offshore structure built on piling or stakes and used for hunting wild waterfowl. § 10-601 (f). The word “site” is often used to refer to the authorized location for a stationary blind.

A license is required for a blind site, and a license is required for a stationary blind. Either license is obtained, upon proper application, from the clerk of the circuit court of the county. § 10-612 (b), (d), (e).

A blind license is separate from and has no relation to a hunter’s license, which must be possessed by any person hunting wild waterfowl from a stationary blind or blind site. § 10-613, § 10-301.

A license for a stationary blind or for a blind site, in the water in front of riparian property shall be issued to the owner (or to his lessee, licensee, or assignee) of riparian property of not less than 500 yards of shoreline (or, for a *170 stationary blind, but not for a blind site, less than 500 yards, with written permission of other shoreowners, so as to make a continuous shoreline of not less than 500 yards), if application for the license is made before October 11 of each year. § 10-612 (a) (1) (2), (d) (2). Certifications of ownership and of the amount of shoreline must be submitted with the application. § 10-612 (d) (1).

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Bluebook (online)
377 A.2d 500, 37 Md. App. 165, 1977 Md. App. LEXIS 295, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/department-of-natural-resources-v-adams-mdctspecapp-1977.