Bridging the Divide

Public and Private Interest in Coastal Marshes and Marsh Islands
September 7-8, 2006

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Presented by the University of South Carolina School of Law
and The Southeastern Environmental Law Journal

NOTE: This event is completed. Below are links to videos of the symposium.

• Introduction & Keynote (Julie Murphy; Dean Walter F. Pratt, Jr.; Barton "Buzz" Thompson, Jr.)
• Panel I: South Carolina's Marsh Island Debate (Nancy Vinson, Henry McMaster, Ellison D. Smith, Carolyn Risinger Boltin)
• Panel II: Public Trust: Where Has it Been and Where is it Going? (Marc R. Poirier, Marcilynn A. Burke, Faith Rivers, Richard Roos-Collins)
• Panel III: Bridging Marsh Islands, Public Trust and other Contemporary Matters (Erin Ryan, Sam Kalen, J.B. Ruhl, James Salzman)

The University of South Carolina School of Law is delighted to host this important symposium dedicated to exploring the modern public trust doctrine and related topics. To provide context for discourse, the conference will begin with a case study of the high-profile and contentious issues of access to privately-owned islands in the coastal marshes of South Carolina. Courts, state agencies and the South Carolina legislature have struggled with the question of how the state should balance competing public and private interests in deciding whether or not to permit bridge construction. This case study will open the door to discussions about how to balance these interests in similar conflicts throughout the nation.