Much of the general public is grossly unaware of the rights granted to us through the Public Trust Doctrine.  The Doctrine was adopted when NJ became a colony in the 1600s and is rooted from the laws of the Roman Empire which were designed to allow citizens access to tidal waterways to navigate their vessels, to fish, and to recreate.

In the 1920s the state of NJ granted municipalities the ability to manage each of their shorelines.  While this has allowed the state to have many beautiful beaches that are well maintained and helped create amazing beach communities it has also caused mass confusion as to the limits of that management and how the rights granted under the doctrine intertwine.

Our objective is to educate the general public about the existence of the Public Trust Doctrine and gain clarification from the state of NJ about the current interpretation of the fee structure granted to municipalities and private land owners along the ocean and tidal waterways. 

Additionally, we would like to open a conversation for alternative solutions that can be voted on by the people of NJ.  These conversations would ideally help the continuation of public access rights while also maintaining the great beach management and community that the municipalities have provided.

Many of NJs beaches are replenished not only with state funds but also federal funds.  As such, all citizens of the United States and visitors may access and enjoy tidal waterways throughout the country, including NJ.  The beaches of our country are not just for local taxpayers but for everyone to enjoy. Since everyone helps to pay for the replenishment projects through taxation they are therefore granted the right to access these areas.

In return for allowing such access, the Public Trust Doctrine limits the liability of property owners and municipalities.

Let's ensure everyone can safely enjoy the beauty of our waterways and its resources without discrimination. 

"To put this in more modern terms, the res communes antedate the emergence of civil government, which through law gradually establishes and protects other types of property, but, for unstipulated reasons, leaves certain specific things (the air, the sea, the seashore, larger rivers) in their original, pre-legal condition. Most probably, they are forms of property that, in the ordinary course, do not easily lend themselves to private, or perhaps even public, ownership." - The Roman Origins of the Public Trust Doctrine by University of Michigan Law School, October 2019