The Future of Public Trust

An 1842 U.S. Supreme Court case resulted in the Public Trust Doctrine. The ruling denied a landowner’s claim to exclude all others from taking oysters from particular mudflats in New Jersey. An 1842 U.S. Supreme Court case resulted in the Public Trust Doctrine. The current status of the Public Trust Doctrine puts public rights, property law, and the very notion of the "commons" at loggerheads with private property rights and the quest for profit derived from wildlife, whether personal, corporate, or even communal. Unfortunately, recent court proceedings portend a tempestuous future for the Public Trust Doctrine.