So, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to hear the Indiana case about who gets to access the Great Lakes beach. The case, BOBBIE GUNDERSON, V. STATE OF INDIANA, was hoping to legally define the Ordinary High Water Mark on the Great Lakes. If the Supreme Court had taken it on, it could’ve had a big impact on the whole Great Lakes region.
This means that the previous rulings by the lower state courts still stand, which says the public has the right to access the Great Lake’s shoreline. This all came about after the Supreme Court announced on Tuesday that they were not going to hear an appeal of an Indiana Supreme Court case over this issue.
On a lighter note, you might be wondering why this case was even a thing. Well, it all started in Indiana back in 2012 when Bobbie and Donald Gunderson sued the Town of Long Beach for letting the public use their beachfront property. The Gunderson’s were of the opinion that their property extended all the way to the water’s edge. But in 2018, the Indiana Supreme Court disagreed, saying their property only went up to where the high-water mark usually hits the beach. Indiana’s stance is that the state holds the beach in trust for public use. Now, this case has made it to the highest court in the land and everyone in the Great Lakes tourism industry is waiting with bated breath.
Michigan could be the most affected if the Supreme Court takes the case and sides with the Plaintiffs. Michigan, with its 3,200 miles of shoreline, has the longest freshwater coastline in the US and the second-longest coastline overall, right after Alaska. In 2014, tourists visiting Michigan spent a whopping $22.8 billion, a lot of which was along the state’s shoreline and on or near a Michigan beach.
Deeds for land along the beach sometimes state that their land extends right to the water’s edge. This means these owners have cared for and paid taxes for that land. To make things even more complicated, small cottages along the Great Lakes shores have been replaced by million-dollar homes. Some of these new homeowners feel like they should have a private beach where no one else can tread.
There was a high chance that the US Supreme Court’s ruling on this case could have overturned the Michigan Supreme Court ruling on this issue. Back in 2005, Michigan ruled on Glass v Goeckel, which said that the public had the right to walk along the shores of Michigan’s Great Lakes shoreline on land below the ordinary high-water mark. This land is owned by the state and considered part of the lake bottomlands that are held in trust by citizens for Great Lakes beach access.
Indiana and many shoreline towns and groups have filed briefs stating that the Supreme Court should not take the case. The original plaintiffs, Bobbie and Donald Gunderson, no longer own the beachfront property. The traditionally conservative Mackinac Center for Public Policy wants the high court to take on the case. They believe that the Michigan Supreme Court’s 2005 ruling was unclear and said there are several questions that the Supreme Court could help clarify. They argue that the public trust doctrine erodes property rights for beachfront owners.
If the Supreme Court had taken the case and ruled against the public trust doctrine for Great Lakes shoreline, Michigan Resorts, Hotels, and Cottage owners that rent out their beachfront homes seasonally may have been forced to tell their clients to stay put and not walk the beach. Beachfront owners may have been entitled to put fences along their property right up to the water’s edge to block access.
The ramifications of the Supreme Court Great Lakes Access were huge and we’re relieved that the public trust access standard continues.
Got questions about Great Lakes beach access? If you’re wondering, “Can the public walk my beach property on Lake Huron?” – The answer is yes. The public has access to walk the beach or shoreline up to the Ordinary High Water Mark.
In a nutshell, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to hear an Indiana case about Great Lakes beach access. This means the public can continue to enjoy the shoreline up to the Ordinary High Water Mark. The tourism industry breathes a sigh of relief, as the decision could have had far-reaching implications. Michigan, with its extensive coastline and thriving tourism, stands to be the most impacted.
#GreatLakesAccess #PublicTrustDoctrine
See the original post at [Supreme Court Won’t Take Case to Decide Great Lakes Beach Access](https://thumbwind.com/2019/01/17/great-lakes-beach-access/)
