Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review Volume 31 Issue 2 Coastal Wind Power Energy Generation: Article 10 Capacities and Conflict 1-1-2004 To Have and Have Not -- Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and the Public Trust Doctrine: Remembering the Land that Time Forgot Christopher Coli McMahon Follow this and additional works at: http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/ealr Part of the Common Law Commons, and the Land Use Law Commons Recommended Citation Christopher C. McMahon, To Have and Have Not -- Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and the Public Trust Doctrine: Remembering the Land that Time Forgot, 31 B.C. Envtl. Aff. L. Rev. 431 (2004), http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/ealr/vol31/iss2/10 This Notes is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT-NANTUCKET, MARTHA'S VINEYARD, AND TIlE PUBLIC TRUST DOCTRINE: REMEMBERING TIlE LAND TIlAT TIME FORGOT CHRISTOPHER COLI McMAHON* Abstract: The Public Trust Doctrine, an ancient mandate under which the sovereign holds unique natural resources in trust for the benefit of the general public, has been adopted by the United States as a staple of American property law. While the federal government is the ultimate trustee of these lands, the states may flexibly interpret and administer this law to maximize the public benefit derived from trust resources. For instance, although most states own the land between the high and low tide lines in trust for its citizens, Massachusetts bases its common law interpretation of the Doctrine on the Colonial Ordinance of 1641-41, a statute passed by the early settlers of the commonwealth providing for private ownership of the ocean flats.