Law & Policy
Legal Program attorneys share Public Trust perspectives at July meetings
Kristen Fletcher and Megan Higgins will each present information and analysis about the Public Trust Doctrine at upcoming meetings. On July 12th, Higgins will present on The Public Trust Doctrine and the Management of Aquaculture in Rhode Island, a workshop geared toward individuals in the Rhode Island aquaculture industry who wish to know more about the legal applications of the public trust doctrine to this expanding economic resource. Hosted by the Coastal Resources Management Council’s (CRMC) Working Group on Aquaculture Regulations, the open discussion will be held Thursday July 12th, from 7 until 8 p.m. at the Corless Auditorium at the University of Rhode Island Bay Campus. There will be a presentation on, followed by a discussion of, the history, legal interpretations, and citizens’ rights under the public trust doctrine as applied to aquaculture by Higgins and Dennis Nixon, associate dean of academic affairs at the URI College of Environment & Life Sciences. For more information, contact David Alves, CRMC’s aquaculture coordinator, at (401) 783-3370.
On July 25th, at the Coastal Zone ’07 Conference, Fletcher will present Legal Considerations of Enhancing the Public Interest in the Post-Kelo Era, an analysis of the application of the use of the public trust doctrine for environmental protection and the implications of Kelo v. City of New London, the US Supreme Court’s recent decision on eminent domain and public access. Fletcher’s presentation will be part of a panel discussion entitled The Intersection of Property Rights and the Public Trust Doctrine in Coastal Management. For more information on the panel and attending Coastal Zone ’07, visit www.csc.noaa.gov/cz/.
Legal Program Assists in Implementation of 2007 Marine Law Summer Program
The second annual Marine Law Summer Program got underway on June 17 at Roger Williams University School of Law. The program offers law students a suite of maritime and ocean and coastal law courses taught by recognized faculty members in these fields. Classes this year included Coastal Zone Law, Marine Biodiversity Law, Maritime Dispute Resolution, Ocean Law and Transnational Maritime Litigation. Coursework is complemented by marine-related field trips and lectures by leaders in maritime law and ocean and coastal law. Students in the first session of the program took a trip to Block Island , RI to view coastal management on the ground through tours of Nature Conservancy conservation sites and discussion about easements and other conservation tools. Session two students will participate in commercial trawls aboard URI’s fishing vessel, the Cap’t Bert, and receive guidance from RISG’s Dave Beutel on fisheries management from the fishing perspective. This year’s lecturers were Jamy Buchanan Madeja, Esq., from the Boston law firm of Buchanan & Associates, who gave a presentation on Making a Life and Living in Environmental Law. Harlan Doliner, Esq., of the law firm of Pepe & Pepe, Boston, MA, will give a presentation on July 18 entitled Port Security in the US: New Legal Developments Apply Environmental Protection. The summer program is open to law students in good standing who have completed one year of full-time study before the start of the program.