What is the Public Trust?
The Public Trust Doctrine is the legal principle that certain natural resources like the Lake Michigan shoreline must be protected by the government in perpetuity for the public’s benefit and cannot be controlled by private interests.
Why is it important?
Without the protections of the Public Trust Doctrine, we would lose our right to take long walks or even stand on the Lake Michigan shoreline beyond the boundaries of the public beaches, but it goes well beyond that. Permitting public shorelines to be under private control allows harmful development and puts precious ecosystems and wildlife at risk. Lake Michigan’s shoreline is globally unique. The Public Trust is how we protect it.
What is CLC doing about it?
When we heard that a private property owner was declaring private ownership of the Lake Michigan shoreline, we partnered with the Alliance for the Great Lakes and Save the Dunes to uphold the Public Trust.
The Indiana case of Gunderson v. State was long and difficult. We fought hard and prevailed. Although we won the case in the trial court, the judge's ruling was not clear regarding the Public Trust boundary. We pushed for clarity in the Court of Appeals, but that court did more damage by giving away ownership of the beaches on Lake Michigan to the private landowners. Finally, the Indiana Supreme Court unanimously decided that the public does indeed have a right to use and enjoy the lakeshore up to the natural ordinary high-water mark and that the State of Indiana owns that lakeshore in trust for Indiana's citizens.
Of course, this is not where the battle ended. Since our victory in Gunderson, our opponents have filed yet another lawsuit, this time in federal court, trying to negate the State's ownership of the shoreline.
What now?
Overturning the Gunderson decision would have far-reaching implications. Such a result could compromise not only citizens' access to the Indiana shore but also government ownership and public access to other public lands across America. Does that seem ok to you? We don’t think so, and we’re in this fight to win it.
Public Trust Updates
Question: What is the public trust doctrine?
Cook: The public trust is a legal doctrine that has been passed down from Roman law through British common law and finally to federal and state law here in the United States. Under the doctrine, certain natural resources are held in trust by the government for the benefit of the public.
The public trust has been recognized to extend to a variety of natural resources and to protect several public uses, varying from state to state. As trustee of the public trust resources, the State is required to steward them for the benefit of current and future generations.
Lake Michigan is one of Indiana’s most important public trust resources, and CLC has played a key role in advocating for the recognition and protection of the public’s rights to the lake and its beaches.
The possible construction of an armor stone revetment in Ogden Dunes has been challenged by the non-profit group Save the Dunes. The organization filed an administrative appeal June 19 after the Indiana Department of Natural Resources approved Ogden-Dunes' request for a 2,970-foot-long, 10-foot-wide revetment along Lake Michigan’s lakeshore, according to a statement from Save the Dunes.
On October 31st, the US Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari filed by private landowners in the Pavlock case, declining to consider the legal questions posed by petitioners and to require further consideration by the 7th Circuit.
Conservation Law Center seeks applications for a Senior Staff Attorney to join our team based in the beautiful Midwestern college town of Bloomington, Indiana. This is an exciting opportunity to join a growing public interest law firm working on some of the most important and challenging conservation issues in the US and beyond. The Senior Staff Attorney will be involved in all aspects of CLC’s work, including advocacy and litigation on the organization’s substantive focus areas, and helping teach students in the Conservation Law Clinic at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law. While CLC engages in multiple kinds of conservation advocacy, roughly one-third to one-half of CLC’s work involves litigation. The Senior Attorney will be expected to contribute to CLC’s ongoing projects while also developing their own base of clients for CLC. This full-time position is open to practicing attorneys with seven or more years of experience.
Spring 2022 will be Professor Jeff Hyman’s final semester teaching the Conservation Law Clinic through Indiana University Maurer School of Law. Jeff has taught over 150 law students throughout his tenure with CLC, many of whom have gone on to practice environmental law as a career. It is safe to say he had high expectations of his students and held them to a high standard, but he also met them with honesty and respect. Clinic students have been fortunate to learn both the practice of law as well as specific areas of environmental law from such an experienced professional.
It has become clear to us that the case was not just about the Gundersons and a single beach. Nor was it just about Indiana or even just about Lake Michigan. Rather, the Gunderson case was a strategically important battle in a nationwide war over the sanctity and future of public lands in this country.
Is your right to access Indiana’s Lake Michigan shoreline a national concern? On October 5th, the US Supreme Court was asked to decide if it would consider the issue of the boundary of public rights on the shoreline. Their answer could set a national precedent.
Last week, Sr. Attorney Jeff Hyman presented two panels at the Public Interest and Environmental Law Conference in Oregon. One panel on the Public Trust Doctrine and the other about the Endangered Species Act.
The Conservation Law Center, with attorney Jeff Hyman leading the litigation, represented environmental groups Alliance for the Great Lakes and Save the Dunes in a bid to protect the public’s right to use the Lake Michigan shore as public land.
On December 7th, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that Indiana's Lake Michigan shoreline is held in trust for the public up to the ordinary high-water mark. The opinion, setting an important precedent, recognizes the public trust in Indiana.