Fire destroys cabin of New Hampshire man forced out of woods

[brooklynite]

AP News

CANTERBURY, N.H. (AP) — For almost three decades, 81-year-old David Lidstone has lived in the woods of New Hampshire along the Merrimack River in a small cabin adorned with solar panels. He has grown his own food, cut his own firewood, and tended to his pets and chickens.

But his off-the-grid existence has been challenged in court by a property owner who says he’s been squatting for all those years. And to make Lidstone’s matters worse, his cabin was burned to the ground Wednesday afternoon in a blaze that is being investigated by local authorities.

Lidstone, or “River Dave” as he’s known by boaters and kayakers, was jailed July 15 on a civil contempt sanction. He was told he’d be released if he agreed to leave the cabin, but he has stayed put.

“You came with your guns, you arrested me, brought me in here, you’ve got all my possessions. You keep ’em,” Lidstone told a judge in a court appearance Wednesday morning. “I’ll sit here with your uniform on until I rot, sir.”

Other than being "colorful", how is he not a "Sovereign Citizen"?

[Hoyt]

1. Hope they work something out for River Dave.

[XanaDUer2]

2. This makes me sad nt

[elleng]

3. DAMN!

I think I'll skip visit to NH this year.

[Effete Snob]

6. What state will you visit instead?

[elleng]

7. Thinking of R.I.,

VT too, after visiting daughter + grands in NJ (IF covid permits.) (Am in MD.)

[OAITW r.2.0]

4. Oh well.

Hardly a problem.

[Deuxcents]

5. Seems like arson to me

Who could be so cruel? Poor old man just wanted to be left alone.

[elleng]

8. We KNOW who could be so cruel;

human nature sucks, imo.

[pidge]

9. He wasn't an old man when he decided to live there.

[3Hotdogs]

10. He may have an adverse possession claim to the land.

[elleng]

11. Discussed above.

[elleng]

12. Not 'squatting' for all those years;

had permission of the previous owner, allegedly.

Current owner 'bought' the 'nuisance,' imo.

[LeftInTX]

13. Sounds like Deliverance....

Weird story....

[jpak]

14. He was cutting "his own firewood" on land he didn't own

That's timber theft, not living off the grid.

[Ms. Toad]

15. Nothing in the article suggests he is claiming to be one.

Nor does he use the language of sovereign citizens (with whom I've, unfortunately, all too much familiarity)

[Klaralven]

16. Unlike the bears, humans can't just shit in the woods.

But even if there were a way to allow Lidstone to stay, it would be an uphill battle. His home was in violation of local and state zoning and environmental regulations, and there was no access to a road.

Property owner Leonard Giles, 86, of South Burlington, Vermont, didn’t even know Lidstone was there until the town administrator found out in 2015 and told him, expressing concern “with regard to the solid and septic waste disposal and the potential zoning violations created by the structure,” according to Giles’ complaint in 2016.

[Tarc]

17. We've been dealing with this local loon for years

An alleged verbal agreement with the previous owner is irrelevant and unprovable.
"Squatter's rights", which i vehemently oppose anyways, doesn't even apply here. He hid on land that someone else owned, it was not abandoned.

Sucks that his house burned down, but he was never supposed to be there anyways.

[LeftInTX]

18. I'm thinking the property is a timber tract...

My parents own an acre in a National Forest...(It's a vacation spot)
However, there are people who own thousands of acres....
Someone could easily hide in those acres...Often the landowner doesn't live on the timber tract