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.
On September 8, CLC attorney Jeff Hyman will be defending the Public Trust with clients Save the Dunes and Alliance for the Great Lakes. The argument is open to the Public and begins 1:00 PM in the Supreme Court Courtroom (room 317) at the State Courthouse in Indianapolis. All are welcome to attend.
This July, La Porte County Judge Richard R. Stalbrink ruled that Indiana holds the state’s Lake Michigan shore in trust for public uses, including swimming, sunbathing, and other recreational activities. The decision, Gunderson v. State, No. 46D02-1401-PL-606 (LaPorte Super. Ct. 2 July 24, 2015) establishes that citizens’ rights extend beyond the water to an administratively established boundary on the shore, regardless of beach ownership.
The Center has been representing the Alliance for the Great Lakes and Save the Dunes in a lawsuit in which certain owners of lakeside property claim ownership of the beach of Lake Michigan right down to the water's edge. The trial court decided that it wasn't a proper forum to settle the ownership question, but affirmed our argument that regardless of ownership, any activity on the land in question must be consistent with the "public trust,"" a legal doctrine that is meant to protect the public's interest in the values of certain critical natural resources.
CLC is representing the Alliance for the Great Lakes and Save the Dunes in litigation over the application of the public trust and the boundary of the State of Indiana's ownership of the shore of Lake Michigan. The lawsuit began when certain owners of lakeside property sued the Town of Long Beach, claiming a town resolution interfered with their rights. The complaint asks the court to declare that there is no public right in the shore landward of the water's edge. CLC’s clients believe that the conservation interest in the lakeshore will be best served by defending the claim of public rights in the shoreland.
