FEATURE ARTICLE

October 2008

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Twenty-five Years Later, What if the Public Trust Requires that We Kill Fish?

The Public Trust Doctrine is an ancient legal concept having its origins in Roman law. The doctrine acts as a restraint on the sovereign’s ability to alienate public trust resources. Despite its ancient origins, the first application of this doctrine in the field of water rights, in California at least, was 25 years ago in the National Audubon case. Nat’l Audubon Soc’y v. Superior Court, 33 Cal.3d 419, 437 (Cal. 1983) cert. denied, 464 U.S. 977 (1983). In the short time since then, the doctrine has become ubiquitous within regulatory agency processes; however, the precise contours of its application have remained uncertain and have spawned voluminous commentary.