Opinion ID: 2258725
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether Title to the Submerged Lands is Subject to the State's Public Trust Easement

Text: [¶ 30] As we have observed, at the time of the taking, the United States had the power to obtain interests in real property by condemnation and to construct public works as necessary. See Act of Apr. 28, 1942, Pub.L. No. 77-531, ch. 250, 56 Stat. 248; Second War Powers Act of 1942, Pub.L. No. 77-507, ch. 199, § 201, 56 Stat. at 177; Declaration of Taking Act, Pub.L. No. 71-736, ch. 307, 46 Stat. 1421. We must determine whether the federal government achieved the separate taking of the State's public trust interest in the small boat pool. [¶ 31] Because navigable waters are of great importance to the public, ownership of the submerged lands underlying those waters is `strongly identified with the sovereign power of government.' Idaho v. United States, 533 U.S. at 272, 121 S.Ct. 2135 (quoting Montana v. United States, 450 U.S. 544, 552, 101 S.Ct. 1245, 67 L.Ed.2d 493 (1981)); see also Ill. Cent. R.R. Co., 146 U.S. at 455-56, 13 S.Ct. 110. Historically, as the United States grew, it regarded newly obtained lands under navigable waters as being `held for the ultimate benefit of future States.' Idaho v. United States, 533 U.S. at 272, 121 S.Ct. 2135 (quoting United States v. Holt State Bank, 270 U.S. 49, 55, 46 S.Ct. 197, 70 L.Ed. 465 (1926)). [¶ 32] For their part, the states have traditionally held these submerged lands in trust for the public. Ill. Cent. R.R. Co., 146 U.S. at 455-56, 13 S.Ct. 110. Title to such lands could be divested to an individual, but would remain subject to the public trust. Id. at 456-58, 13 S.Ct. 110. In Maine, this public trust is in the nature of an easement that preserves for the public the rights of fishing and navigation. Opinion of the Justices, 437 A.2d at 605. Accordingly, the State held two separate interests and could convey the jus privatum, or the private right to title, but that title was subject to the jus publicum, or the public right of fishing and navigation, unless those rights were expressly limited or extinguished by the State. See Opinion of the Justices, 437 A.2d at 605-07; see also United States v. 1.58 Acres of Land, 523 F.Supp. 120, 124-25 (D.Mass.1981); but see United States v. 11.037 Acres of Land, 685 F.Supp. 214, 216-17 (N.D.Cal. 1988) (declining to follow the reasoning of 1.58 Acres of Land and holding that the public trust easement was extinguished by the federal taking). [¶ 33] The small boat pool at issue in the present case incorporates both the intertidal zone abutting Norton's land (i.e., the zone between the high tide and low tide marks) and submerged lands beyond the intertidal zone. [6] Pursuant to Maine law, both types of submerged lands are normally subject to a public trust easement. See Bell v. Town of Wells, 510 A.2d 509, 514-16 (Me.1986); Opinion of the Justices, 437 A.2d at 607 (stating that intertidal and submerged lands are impressed with a public trust, a principle that reflects the unique public value of those lands); People v. Steeplechase Park Co., 218 N.Y. 459, 113 N.E. 521, 524 (1916) (In this country the state has succeeded to all the rights of both crown and Parliament in the navigable waters and the soil under them....). [¶ 34] When the government commenced its condemnation proceeding to take the small boat pool, the Declaration of Taking Act, Pub.L. No. 71-736, ch. 307, 46 Stat. 1421, governed the process by which a taking could be achieved through condemnation. Although in general, the United States' exercise of eminent domain creates a new title and extinguishes all previous rights, A.W. Duckett & Co. v. United States, 266 U.S. 149, 151, 45 S.Ct. 38, 69 L.Ed. 216 (1924), the United States may not take a state's interest in a condemned parcel except by stating so expressly in the condemnation proceeding, see Declaration of Taking Act, Pub.L. No. 71-736, ch. 307, 46 Stat. 1421 (requiring [a] statement of the ... interest in said lands taken) (codified as amended at 40 U.S.C.A. § 3114(a)(3)); see also United States v. Chatham, 323 F.2d at 100 (stating that a condemnation is void if the description was inaccurate or misleading). [¶ 35] Because of the importance of the interest at issue, the United States' taking of the jus privatum through a condemnation of land cannot be understood to implicitly include a taking of a state's public trust interest in that land. Cf. City of Alameda v. Todd Shipyards Corp., 635 F.Supp. 1447, 1450 (N.D.Cal.1986); see also Opinion of the Justices, 437 A.2d at 607. Here, because the description of the property does not include any mention of the public trust easement of the State, we will not imply a reference to that interest, and accordingly, we conclude the United States did not take the public trust easement and therefore never extinguished it by transferring it to a private individual. [7] [¶ 36] The State was appropriately listed as a party to the condemnation proceeding because it held the jus privatum title to the submerged lands beyond the low tide mark until the taking. The inclusion of the State as a party did not, however, negate the requirement that the federal government be explicit about the nature of its taking. We will not read into the description an intention to take the easement held by the State for the public. Accordingly, although the United States exercised its powers pursuant to the Property Clause of the United States Constitution, U.S. CONST., art. IV, § 3, cl. 2, [8] in deeding the land to Norton's father, the jus privatum interest it deeded remains subject to the State's public trust easement, the jus publicum, which allows the public to use the submerged lands for fishing and navigation. [¶ 37] Through the application of the public trust doctrine in the present case, we have determined that Norton's title is subject to the State's public trust easement. This determination does not disrupt the chain of title established by Norton at trial. Norton holds title to the small boat pool, but his title is subject to the State's public trust easement permitting the public to use the small boat pool for fishing and navigation. [9] Accordingly, Norton may, as the holder of title to the submerged lands, limit access to his structures, but may not build or arrange them in a manner that unreasonably interferes with the public's right to fish and navigate in the waters. See Opinion of the Justices, 437 A.2d at 605; State v. Wilson, 42 Me. 9, 26-27 (1856). The parties do not dispute that Norton has title to the breakwater structure itself and possesses the right to exclude others from it. [¶ 38] Because the judgment at issue articulated the State's public trust easement in the small boat pool as preventing Norton from having title to the pool, we clarify the judgment and remand for the entry of a judgment on count four quieting title in Norton, subject to the State's public trust easement. The entry is: Dismissal of count one (quiet title to Island Avenue and Marginal Street) vacated and remanded for further proceedings. Judgment on count two (quiet title to the small boat pool against the Town of Long Island) affirmed. Judgment on count three vacated as to any claim for damages arising from count one, but otherwise affirmed. Judgment on count four vacated and remanded for entry of a judgment quieting title to the small boat pool in Norton, but subject to Maine's public trust easement.