Marquette Law Review Volume 98 Article 10 Issue 3 Spring 2015 A Breach of Trust: Rock-Koshkonong Lake District v. State Department of Natural Resources and Wisconsin's Public Trust Doctrine Anne-Louise Mittal Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/mulr Part of the Environmental Law Commons, and the Property Law and Real Estate Commons Repository Citation Anne-Louise Mittal, A Breach of Trust: Rock-Koshkonong Lake District v. State Department of Natural Resources and Wisconsin's Public Trust Doctrine, 98 Marq. L. Rev. 1467 (2015). Available at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/mulr/vol98/iss3/10 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Marquette Law Review by an authorized administrator of Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. A BREACH OF TRUST: ROCK-KOSHKONONG LAKE DISTRICT V. STATE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND WISCONSIN’S PUBLIC TRUST DOCTRINE Wisconsin has a particularly notable tradition of using the public trust doctrine aggressively to protect the state’s natural resources. The general thrust of the doctrine’s evolution in Wisconsin has been expansion beyond the doctrine’s traditional application to waters navigable for commercial purposes. Emblematic of such expansion is the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision in Just v. Marinette County, which scholars have characterized as a landmark extension of the public trust doctrine to non- navigable wetlands adjacent to navigable waters. In light of this tradition, it is unsurprising that the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s recent pronouncement that the Department of Natural Resources lacked public trust jurisdiction to regulate privately-owned wetlands adjacent to a navigable lake provoked strong reactions, not only by commentators but also by certain members of the court.