New Jersey Statutes Title 2A. Administration of Civil and Criminal Justice 2A § 44-54

Each person taking up any of the lumber or craft under this article shall secure and keep the same for 6 days in some convenient place, within 20 yards of the margin of the river or other waters in which the same may be found.

If, within the 6 days, the same shall not be claimed by the owner thereof, and shall be of the value of $5 or over, the person taking up the same shall make advertisement thereof in a newspaper circulating in the neighborhood, at least once a week for a period of 6 weeks. The advertisement shall contain a true description of the lumber or boat taken up and a notice where the same is located.

If the owner of such lumber or craft shall not claim the same on or before the date of the last advertisement, the person who has taken up and secured the same may sell the property at a public or private sale, at a fair and reasonable price. The proceeds of such sale, after deducting the compensation allowed by this article, and the expenses of the advertisement and sale, shall be held by the seller for 1 year after the sale, subject to the claim of the owner of the lumber or craft so sold, due proof of ownership thereof being first made.

If no owner shall appear to claim such proceeds of sale, or, having appeared, shall fail to make due proof of ownership, the said proceeds of the sale shall become the property of the person so selling the same.

If the value of the lumber or craft shall be under $5 and, if the same shall not be claimed by the owner thereof within 90 days from the time when they were taken up and secured, the person taking up and securing the same may appropriate them to his own use without making any advertisement or sale thereof.