In Massachusetts and Maine (which used to be part of Massachusetts) properties are owned down to the low water line. I figure this was an incentive to 'improve' the shorefront with stones docks and piers. 'Docks' at the time were water impoundments, essentially - stone enclosures where boats/ships could be tied up in protected waters. These could then be filled in over time and the land thus incrementally extended into the sea.
That makes a lot of sense. Waterfronts are a really interesting area of property. In many places in the U.S. shorelines are considered public, part of the public trust, which dates back to Roman property law. There's a semi-famous case about this, when Chicago (I think?) tried to sell its waterfront shoreline to a railroad company, and the state Supreme Court said they weren't allowed because shorelines belong to the public trust and couldn't be privatized.
In Montana, up to the high water mark on navigable streams is open to public access, a point of constant contention, particularly with wealthy landowners with streams or rivers running through their property and who don't like seeing people step on land they consider theirs.
On the public education front, Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve has done an excellent job of explaining why the land was created during Geo Washington's time and asking hard questions about who (people or animal or plant!) has the right to call it "depraved."
Always engaging Antonia. As a person in another ecosystem without easy access to the reading material I am a bit like the neighbors of the Dutch or Singapore :)
I love the author Winchester also and have enjoyed his writing. Land recovery is an interesting issue as an aside. I did a post about the Dutch but will not link here as I consider it bad form :( I consider the flipside of the Dutch expertise and offer that Bush 42 REFUSED the assistance of the Dutch after a major hurricane to rethink how we might manage Gulf Coast storms. The Dutch built the Zuider Zee for less than the cost of one storm, hurricane Harvey that affected Houston.
Singapore, a country EXISTENTIALLY threatened by sea rise has invited the Dutch as PARTNERS to collectively harden their nation against an uncertain future. My POV is the pivot to rapid sea rise is now within our lifetimes after a VERY SLOW rise the previous 60 years. Places like Cambodia and the struggling third world will weather the worst of the consequences by the mid 2030s while the rich world will be able to build its way out of it at least for perhaps 20 years.
You might be interested in taking a look at an example of the converse of reclaimed land - my wife and I live on a houseboat in Seattle and own the mud on the bottom of the lake beneath our house. Yet the lake itself is public and people kayak freely by our bedroom door. The land was deeded before the lake was dammed up for locks to the salt water. The flooded land retains its private title.
That is fascinating! Yes, I would love to learn more about that. I've only read about that kind of situation with regards to sea-level rise. "The flooded land retains its private title" is so evocative and feels saturated with the rich history of evolving private property rights. Thank you!
One of my favourite places in Toronto is the Leslie Street Spit or Tommy Thompson park which a long peninsula (I think) that is built on construction waste and landfill. Now an internationally significant bird site. “Naturalization had not been planned” is a line I always remember and love from the Wikipedia article (from years ago). Says a lot about how often it is indeed and must be planned, most of the time. I like that it mostly belongs to the birds now and hopefully will for a long time. Thanks for the thoughts!
"It is among North America's prettiest landfills." What a gorgeous line -- thank you for sharing this! (If you're into birds, do you know of the Toronto writer Julia Zarankin? She wrote a memoir about birding: https://juliazarankin.com/book/)
In Massachusetts and Maine (which used to be part of Massachusetts) properties are owned down to the low water line. I figure this was an incentive to 'improve' the shorefront with stones docks and piers. 'Docks' at the time were water impoundments, essentially - stone enclosures where boats/ships could be tied up in protected waters. These could then be filled in over time and the land thus incrementally extended into the sea.
That makes a lot of sense. Waterfronts are a really interesting area of property. In many places in the U.S. shorelines are considered public, part of the public trust, which dates back to Roman property law. There's a semi-famous case about this, when Chicago (I think?) tried to sell its waterfront shoreline to a railroad company, and the state Supreme Court said they weren't allowed because shorelines belong to the public trust and couldn't be privatized.
In Montana, up to the high water mark on navigable streams is open to public access, a point of constant contention, particularly with wealthy landowners with streams or rivers running through their property and who don't like seeing people step on land they consider theirs.
On the public education front, Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve has done an excellent job of explaining why the land was created during Geo Washington's time and asking hard questions about who (people or animal or plant!) has the right to call it "depraved."
Ooh, I like that! Who gets to use that word, and how and why? (I've been really stuck on words the last couple of years, and all they imply.)
https://www.harvard.com/book/gaining_ground_a_history_of_landmaking_in_boston/
That looks fascinating, thank you!
Always engaging Antonia. As a person in another ecosystem without easy access to the reading material I am a bit like the neighbors of the Dutch or Singapore :)
I love the author Winchester also and have enjoyed his writing. Land recovery is an interesting issue as an aside. I did a post about the Dutch but will not link here as I consider it bad form :( I consider the flipside of the Dutch expertise and offer that Bush 42 REFUSED the assistance of the Dutch after a major hurricane to rethink how we might manage Gulf Coast storms. The Dutch built the Zuider Zee for less than the cost of one storm, hurricane Harvey that affected Houston.
Singapore, a country EXISTENTIALLY threatened by sea rise has invited the Dutch as PARTNERS to collectively harden their nation against an uncertain future. My POV is the pivot to rapid sea rise is now within our lifetimes after a VERY SLOW rise the previous 60 years. Places like Cambodia and the struggling third world will weather the worst of the consequences by the mid 2030s while the rich world will be able to build its way out of it at least for perhaps 20 years.
I worry about Bangladesh in particular all the time. Every time I turn my car on, I think about Bangladesh.
You might be interested in taking a look at an example of the converse of reclaimed land - my wife and I live on a houseboat in Seattle and own the mud on the bottom of the lake beneath our house. Yet the lake itself is public and people kayak freely by our bedroom door. The land was deeded before the lake was dammed up for locks to the salt water. The flooded land retains its private title.
That is fascinating! Yes, I would love to learn more about that. I've only read about that kind of situation with regards to sea-level rise. "The flooded land retains its private title" is so evocative and feels saturated with the rich history of evolving private property rights. Thank you!
No snow here in my region, Canada's capital , we had record highs in the last week, not in a hurry to see it, 😅 !
I’ll keep your share 😂❄️❄️❄️
We will get plenty soon enough 😅😅😅
;)
One of my favourite places in Toronto is the Leslie Street Spit or Tommy Thompson park which a long peninsula (I think) that is built on construction waste and landfill. Now an internationally significant bird site. “Naturalization had not been planned” is a line I always remember and love from the Wikipedia article (from years ago). Says a lot about how often it is indeed and must be planned, most of the time. I like that it mostly belongs to the birds now and hopefully will for a long time. Thanks for the thoughts!
That’s so lovely! It’s something else to build land that isn’t solely for humans to use. Like wildlife refuges.
https://amp.tvo.org/article/in-the-wilds-of-toronto-the-fight-to-let-nature-reign-on-the-leslie-street-spit hopefully it lives on!
"It is among North America's prettiest landfills." What a gorgeous line -- thank you for sharing this! (If you're into birds, do you know of the Toronto writer Julia Zarankin? She wrote a memoir about birding: https://juliazarankin.com/book/)