A Trusting Public: How the Public Trust Doctrine Can Save the New York Forest Preserve

摘要

The public trust doctrine was instituted in England as a permanent limitation on the powers of the Crown. The well-established doctrine was brought to America and applied equally in the states even after the states seceded from England. The doctrine has since served as an indestructible check on the government. Article XIV of the New York State Constitution ensures protection of its wilderness in perpetuity, solidifying the forest preserve as part of the public trust. The paper traces the beginnings of the public trust doctrine and its eventual application Article XIV. The author contemplates the indestructibility of the Forest Preserve as she examines how Article XIV serves as a limitation on government in order to protect the forest preserve through the safeguards of the public trust.