Wisconsin’s legal framework has been an example of a cutting-edge articulation of the public trust doctrine. Because Wisconsin has been at the forefront of developing the legal doctrine, and its water managers face budgetary constraints and conflicts between public rights and private property rights mirrored across the nation, this empirical study illustrates tensions and structures affecting public trust protections that may be relevant to other states.
Additionally, this research examines how water trustees function when there are competing interpretations from the Wisconsin attorney general regarding the scope of agency authority to regulate public trust waters and litigation over contested meanings of the law, as there were for Act 21. Through this research, one can assess the Act 21 regulatory reform and whether it is accomplishing the goals set by the political branches.
