Dredging, Filling, And The Inalienable Public Trust — The Future Of Florida's Submerged Environment
Dredging and filling, especially to create waterfront property, has hadserious adverse effects on Florida's submerged environment. Primary adverseeffects of dredging and filling are disturbance or elimination of establishedaquatic habitats. Dredging and filling peaked in Florida from the 1920'sthrough the 1950's when large tracts of submerged land were sold to attractoutsiders. Submerged lands are generally considered to be held in inalienablepublic trust and legal questions arise concerning sale of these publicly-ownedlands. First controls over sale of submerged bottoms and dredging-...
