Virginia Lee

Public Access to the Public Trust

Synopsis:

Approximately 110 million people are crowding into a thin coastal region that is only 11 percent of the nation's land area, excluding Alaska and United States territories. Coastal counties are among the most densely populated and rapidly growing counties in the nation. It is projected that the nation's coastal population will increase by 60 percent by 2010. This implies an enormous need for providing more public access for increasing numbers of coastal residents. Access along the shore has been a common expectation and legal right for generations. Trespassing across private property to reach the shore, however, is illegal. Since most waterfront property is privately owned, those seeking to reach the shore without trespassing must rely on the various public lands and access ways that dot the coast. However, private coastal development is growing faster than public recreation areas can be provided. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data indicate that in the 1990s, 46 percent of new residential construction and 40 percent of new commercial and industrial building occurred in the coastal zone. Between 1972 and 1984, the amount of public recreation lands in coastal and estuarine areas only increased 27 percent.

"The Public Trust Doctrine provides that public trust lands, waters and living resources in a State are held by the State in trust for the benefit of all of the people, and establishes the right of the public to fully enjoy public trust lands, waters and living resources for a wide variety of recognized public uses." "Whenever a State exercises its public trust authority, it does so immediately adjacent to some of the most expensive real estate in America --- waterfront property. Given the strong property interest of private upland owners, coupled with the confusion over how the Public Trust Doctrine applies, coastal managers need to be keenly aware that their actions under the doctrine may be met with strong resistance." (Slade, 1990)

The Coastal Zone Management Act of 1971 was the first federal law to establish a public access policy for the United States, and state coastal zone management programs are in the forefront of implementing this goal. States use a wide range of tools to achieve the goal, including acquisition, regulatory and land use requirements, technical assistance, and public education and outreach.