Chapter 8 Developing Law in the Coastal Zone 



The juncture of land and sea has, from antiq- 

 uity, been an area of uncertain boundaries, subject 

 to imprecise rules, reflective of the natural forces 

 of the tides, and geared to the needs of commerce, 

 navigation, fisheries, and land usage tolerant of 

 imprecision and relatively free of diverse uses. 



The principles on which we base ownership 

 date back at least to Magna Carta, and have been 

 subject to a variety of interpretations in U.S. State 

 and Federal courts. These interpretations stem 

 from the conmion law principle that both the title 

 and dominion of rivers and arms of the sea, where 

 the tide ebbs and flows, and all the lands below 

 the high water mark, are in the sovereign. 



Boundaries determined by tidal ebb and flow 

 are not unambiguous, time-invariant lines, but a 

 condition at the water's edge during a particular 

 instant of the tidal cycle. Ownership of the 

 sovereign of the navigable waters bordering our 

 coasts generally is subject for the benefit of its 

 citizens to a public trust for navigation, commerce, 

 and fishing. 



The public trust also provides a rationale for 

 public regulation regardless of ownership, but it 



has not proven to be an effective restraint upon 

 the indiscriminate sale or disposal of tidelands. And 

 as we become aware of the value of marshland 

 tidelands for biological, recreational, and aesthetic 

 purposes, in addition to reclamation as upland, the 

 pubUc trust under the common law often proves 

 inadequate in conserving such areas where desir- 

 able. Legislation has had to be enacted and 

 administrative action taken to meet the new 

 diverse uses of areas formerly considered waste 

 lands. 



Technological capabilities, coupled with the 

 discovery of rich mineral resources in some tide- 

 lands and submerged areas of the coastal United 

 States, have heightened the conflicts between the 

 States and the Federal Government, and have led 

 to extensive major litigation and enactment of the 

 Submerged Lands Act by which title to the bed 

 and natural resources of the territorial sea within 

 their boundaries was granted by Congress to the 

 States. 



While the Submerged Lands Act clarified some 

 matters, it left to the courts major boundary and 

 ownership questions still to be resolved. In the 



BPiiS'S:, 



Figure 1. Widespread and often unregulated land development has resulted in a general de- 

 mand for more public control of the shoreline. (National Park Service photo) 



III-107 



