The recent decision by the Court of appeals which says conservation officers may not search a boat without probable cause could prove to be a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, issues of personal privacy should be protected, indeed are protected by the Constitution, except when a person is in a boat, it seems. Perhaps the very structure of a boat suggests that searches should be acceptable. However, a boat is still the personal property of a person afforded legal protection under the Constitution from unwarranted searches.

Arguably, anyone in a boat is on public water and should not care about being searched, assuming no law is being broken.

Yet, in a similar instance, walking on a public street doesn’t give law enforcement the right to arbitrarily stop people for searches.

America was founded on each individual’s privacy even in public places. That the recent law says officers must have probable cause to search a boat is consistent with the rights guaranteed in the Constitution.

On the other hand, conservation officers are charged with protecting our resources and that job just got more difficult.

Without these dedicated men and women, it is inconceivable what devastation individuals could wreck on the environment and the non-human species with which we share this planet.