Title 79 — Title 79 PUBLIC LANDS

(1) A sale of tidelands or shorelands otherwise permitted by RCW 79.125.200 to be sold shall be confirmed if:(a) No affidavit showing that the interest of the state in such sale was injuriously affected by fraud or collusion, is filed with the department's Olympia office within t…

The department may with the advice and approval of the board sell state-owned tidelands or shorelands at the appraised market value to any municipal corporation or agency of the state of Washington when the land is to be used solely for municipal or state purposes. However, the d…

Whenever application is made to the department by any incorporated city or town or metropolitan park district for the use of any state-owned tidelands or shorelands within the corporate limits of the city or town or metropolitan park district for municipal park and/or playground …

In the event there are no state-owned tidelands or shorelands in any city or town or metropolitan park district suitable for the purposes of RCW 79.125.710 and the committee finds other lands which are suitable and needed for parks or playgrounds, the department is authorized to …

The director of ecology, in addition to serving as an ex officio member of the committee, is authorized and directed to assist the city or town or metropolitan park district in the development and decoration of any lands so conveyed and to furnish trees, grass, flowers, and shrub…

The following described tidelands, being public lands of the state, are withdrawn from sale or lease and reserved as public areas for recreational use and for the taking of fish and shellfish for personal use as defined in RCW 77.08.010:Parcel No. 1. (Point Whitney) The second-cl…

The director of fish and wildlife may take appropriate action to provide public and private access, including roads and docks, to and from the tidelands described in RCW 79.125.740.[ 2005 c 155 s 534; 1994 c 264 s 67; 1982 1st ex.s. c 21 s 125. Formerly RCW 79.94.400.]

The use of any tidelands, shorelands, and abutting bedlands covered with less than four fathoms of water at ordinary low tide belonging to the state, and adjoining and bordering on any tract, piece, or parcel of land, which may have been reserved or acquired, or which may be rese…

Whenever application is made to the department by any department of the United States government for the use of any state-owned tidelands or shorelands and adjoining and bordering on any upland held by the United States for any of the purposes mentioned in RCW 79.125.760, upon pr…

Whenever application is made to the department, by any department of the United States government, for the use of any state-owned tidelands or shorelands, for any public purpose, and the department shall be satisfied that the United States requires or may require the use of the t…

Whenever the United States shall cease to hold and use any uplands for the use and purposes mentioned in RCW 79.125.760, or shall cease to use any tidelands or shorelands for the purpose mentioned in RCW 79.125.780, the grant or easement of the tidelands or shorelands shall be te…

The department is authorized to deed, by exchanges of property, to the United States Navy those tidelands necessary to facilitate the location of the United States Navy base in Everett. In carrying out this authority, the department shall request that the governor execute the dee…

See RCW 79.105.001.

(1) Except as provided in RCW 79.130.060, the department may lease to the abutting tidelands or shorelands owner or lessee, the beds of navigable waters lying below the line of extreme low tide in waters where the tide ebbs and flows, and below the line of navigability in lakes a…

(1) The department shall, prior to the issuance of any lease under the provisions of this chapter, fix the annual rent and prescribe the terms and conditions of the lease. However, in fixing the rent, the department shall not take into account the value of any improvements placed…

The applicant for a lease under the provisions of this chapter shall first obtain from the United States army corps of engineers or other federal regulatory agency, a permit to place structures or improvements in the navigable waters and file with the department a copy of the per…

At the expiration of any lease issued under the provisions of this chapter, the lessee or the lessee's successors or assigns, shall have a preference right to re-lease all or part of the area covered by the original lease if the department deems it to be in the best interest of t…

The legislature recognizes the importance of economic development in the state of Washington, and finds that the location of a United States Navy base in Everett, Washington will enhance economic development. The legislature finds that the state should not assume liability or ris…

(1) Upon application by the United States Navy, and upon verification of the legal description and compliance with the intent of this chapter, the commissioner is authorized to lease bedlands in Port Gardner Bay for a term of thirty years so the United States Navy can utilize a d…

(1) The department is authorized to exchange bedlands abandoned through rechanneling of the Cowlitz river near the confluence of the Columbia river so that the state obtains clear title to the Cowlitz river as it now exists or where it may exist in the future through the processe…

See RCW 79.105.001.

(1) A person in possession of real property conveyed by the state of Washington pursuant to the authority of chapter 24, Laws of 1895 (Bush act) or chapter 25, Laws of 1895 (Callow act), wherein such lands are subject to a possibility of reversion, shall heretofore have and are g…

Upon an application to purchase the reserved and reversionary rights of the state in any tidelands sold under the provisions of chapter 24, Laws of 1895, or chapter 25, Laws of 1895, or chapter 165, Laws of 1919, or either the reserved or reversionary right if only one exists, be…

(1) If a person wrongfully takes shellfish or causes shellfish to be wrongfully taken from the public lands and the wrongful taking is intentional and knowing, the person is liable for damages of treble the fair market retail value of the amount of shellfish wrongfully taken. If …

Aquaculture products produced on leased state-owned aquatic land may be sold by the leaseholder as prescribed by the department without competitive bid or public auction and consistent with statutes governing aquaculture leases on state-owned aquatic land.[ 2005 c 113 s 1.]

(1) If state-owned aquatic lands are used for aquaculture production or harvesting, rents and fees shall be established through competitive bidding or negotiation.(2) After an initial twenty-three acres are leased, the department is prohibited from offering leases that would perm…

(1) The beds of all navigable tidal waters in the state lying below extreme low tide, except as prohibited by Article XV, section 1 of the state Constitution shall be subject to lease for the purposes of planting and cultivating oyster beds, or for the purpose of cultivating clam…

Any person desiring to lease tidelands or beds of navigable waters for the purpose of planting and cultivating oyster beds, or for the purpose of cultivating clams and other edible shellfish, shall file with the department, on a proper form, an application in writing signed by th…

(1) The department, upon the receipt of an application for a lease for the purpose of planting and cultivating oyster beds or for the purpose of cultivating clams or other edible shellfish, shall notify the director of fish and wildlife of the filing of the application describing…

Before entering into possession of any leased tidelands or beds of navigable waters, the applicant shall have the lands surveyed by a registered land surveyor, and the applicant shall furnish to the department and to the director of fish and wildlife, a map of the leased premises…

The department may, upon the filing of an application for a renewal lease, inspect the tidelands or beds of navigable waters, and if the department deems it in the best interests of the state to re-lease the lands, the department shall issue to the applicant a renewal lease for a…

All leases of tidelands and beds of navigable waters for the purpose of planting and cultivating oysters, clams, or other edible shellfish shall expressly provide that if at any time after the granting of the lease, the described lands shall cease to be used for the purpose of oy…

If from any cause any lands leased for the purpose of planting and cultivating oysters, clams, or other edible shellfish become unfit and valueless for any such purposes, the lessee or the lessee's assigns, upon certifying the fact under oath to the department, together with the …

Beds of navigable waters held under contract or deed from the state of Washington upon which a private party is harvesting or cultivating geoduck shall be surveyed by the private party and a record of survey filed in compliance with chapter 58.09 RCW prior to harvest. Property co…

(1) Except as provided in RCW 79.135.040, geoducks shall be sold as valuable materials under the provisions of *chapter 79.90 RCW. After confirmation of the sale, the department may enter into an agreement with the purchaser for the harvesting of geoducks. The department may plac…

The department shall designate the areas of state-owned aquatic lands that are available for geoduck harvesting by licensed geoduck harvesters in accordance with *chapter 79.90 RCW.[ 2005 c 155 s 709; 1990 c 163 s 5; 1983 1st ex.s. c 46 s 129; 1979 ex.s. c 141 s 5. Formerly RCW 7…

The department may enter into agreements with the department of fish and wildlife for the development of an intensive management plan for geoducks including the development and operation of a geoduck hatchery.[ 2005 c 155 s 718; 1994 c 264 s 74; 1984 c 221 s 26. Formerly RCW 79.9…

The department is authorized to lease first or second-class tidelands which have been or that are set aside as state oyster reserves in the same manner as provided elsewhere in this chapter for the lease of those lands.[ 2005 c 155 s 710; 1982 1st ex.s. c 21 s 142. Formerly RCW 7…

The department, upon the receipt of an application for the lease of any first or second-class state-owned tidelands that are set aside as state oyster reserves, shall notify the director of fish and wildlife of the filing of the application describing the lands applied for. It is…

(1) In the event that the fish and wildlife commission approves the vacation of the whole or any part of a reserve, the department may vacate and offer for lease the parts or all of the reserve as it deems to be for the best interest of the state, and all moneys received for the …

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definition in this section applies throughout this chapter."Marine aquatic plants" means saltwater marine plant species that are dependent upon the marine aquatic or tidal environment, and exist in either an attached or free-floa…

(1) The maximum daily wet weight harvest or possession of seaweed for personal use from all state-owned aquatic lands and all privately owned tidelands is ten pounds per person. The department in cooperation with the department of fish and wildlife may establish seaweed harvest l…

(1) It is unlawful to exceed the harvest and possession restrictions imposed under RCW 79.135.410.(2) A violation of this section is a misdemeanor, and a violation taking place on state-owned aquatic lands is subject to the provisions of RCW 79.02.300.(3) A person committing a vi…

The department of fish and wildlife and law enforcement authorities may enforce the provisions of RCW 79.135.410 and 79.135.420.[ 2005 c 155 s 717; 2003 c 334 s 444; 1994 c 286 s 3; 1993 c 283 s 5. Formerly RCW 79.96.230, 79.01.815.]Notes:Intent—2003 c 334: See note following RCW…

(1) The department shall, consistent with this section, and subject to available funding, work with partners to establish a native kelp forest and eelgrass meadow health and conservation plan that endeavors to, by the year 2040, conserve and restore at least 10,000 acres of nativ…

The enactment of this act including all repeals, decodifications, and amendments shall not be construed as affecting any existing right acquired under the statutes repealed, decodified, or amended or under any rule, regulation, or order issued pursuant thereto; nor as affecting a…

Chapter and section headings as used in this act do not constitute any part of the law.[ 1982 1st ex.s. c 21 s 182. Formerly RCW 79.96.902.]

Sections 176 (amending RCW 79.01.525) and 179 (creating a new section providing for an aquatic lands joint legislative committee) of this act are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, the support of the state government and its existing …

Except as provided in *RCW 79.96.904, this act shall take effect July 1, 1983.[ 1982 1st ex.s. c 21 s 186. Formerly RCW 79.96.905.]Notes:*Reviser's note: RCW 79.96.904 was recodified as RCW 79.135.903 pursuant to 2005 c 155 s 1010.

See RCW 79.105.001.