The Public Trust Doctrine in Maine's Submerged Lands: Public Rights, State Obligation and the Role of the Courts

The State of Maine has within its borders over three thousand miles of coastline and numerous navigable rivers and lakes. The productive use of these waterways and the lands which lie beneath them historically has been linked to the quality of life within Maine and continues to be essential to the social and economic development of the state. Both the state's control over its thousands of acres of submerged lands and the public's right to use these lands derive from what has come to be known as the "public trust doctrine." The basic tenet of the doctrine is that the state holds its submerged lands in trust for the benefit of the general public. The public trust doctrine comprises the rights of the public to use a state's waterways and the obligations of the state to preserve and protect those rights. The doctrine has developed into a framework through which the courts may play a significant role in protecting the public against unnecessary infringement upon its rights in submerged lands. Although the precursors of the public trust date back to Roman law and the doctrine itself has been a part of our common law heritage for hundreds of years, its precise nature and ramifications remain unclear. Maine's Legislature and the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court recently had an opportunity to consider the nature of the public trust obligation and any resulting limitations upon legislative activity. In 1981, the Legislature enacted a controversial bill which relinquished all state interest in submerged lands that had been filled prior to 1975. Later that year in the Opinion of the Justices, the Justices upheld the validity of the legislation. Both the Legislature and the Justices unequivocally acknowledged the public trust in Maine law. This series of events has stimulated a renewed interest in the meaning of the public trust doctrine in Maine and has raised questions as to the role of the courts in enforcing state trust obligations.