Success via the doctrine depends more on somehow securing federal jurisdiction, at least briefly, and on judges’ docket-management decisions than on any remotely predictable criteria.
In 1970, the public trust doctrine got new life, simultaneously with a larger environmental revolution.
A right of private property—called the public dedication doctrine—rather than the public trust doctrine has been the successful device for preserving Chicago’s famous downtown lakefront park.
Basic questions inherent in the public trust doctrine make it hard for the doctrine to develop in a legally principled way.
A new book begins by explaining the real origin story of the American public trust doctrine.