Wildlife and Private Land

Our North American system of conservation rests fundamentally upon the principle  that wildlife belongs to the public collectively and is managed by  the state, providence or nation for the collective good. The critical issue within the Public Trust arrangmement is that the use of wildlife by one citizen should not be unfairly advantageous to the individual or disadvantageous to the public at large. However, the issue is anything but simple when private properties are involved. Here the Public Trust Doctrine collides with a formidable and equally cherised nortion of North American society, that of private property rights and the ownership of products derived from personal investment and toil on those properties. Private land and wildlife are iconic symbols of our North American society and when their boundaries cross or become confused a public reaction is inevitable.