Joseph Lawrence Sax (February 3, 1936 – March 9, 2014) was an American environmental law professor, known for developing the

public trust doctrine The public trust doctrine is the principle that the sovereign holds in trust for public use some resources such as shoreline between the high and low tide lines, regardless of private property ownership. Origins Roman law Ancient Roman law se ...

.Douglas Martin
"Joseph Sax, Who Pioneered Environmental Law, Dies at 78"
(obituary), ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', March 10, 2014. Born and raised in Chicago, Sax graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1957 and then earned a J.D. degree in 1959 from the

University of Chicago Law School The University of Chicago Law School is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Chicago, a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It employs more than 180 full-time and part-time facul ...

. After a few years in private practice and at the Department of Justice he began teaching, first with the University of Colorado in 1962 and then at the University of Michigan in 1965. He joined the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 1986.Joseph L. Sax
(faculty profile), Berkeley Law (last visited March 11, 2014). From 1994 to 1996, Sax worked with the

Clinton Administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...

under Interior Secretary

Bruce Babbitt Bruce Edward Babbitt (born June 27, 1938) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 47th United States secretary of the interior from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as the List of governors of Arizo ...

. Sax was involved in environmental and conservation law from early in his career, working with the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the Pro ...

in Colorado. drafting Michigan's environmental law (known as the "Sax Act") and working on a variety of water resource cases in California. Dan Farber
"Berkeley Law: Environmental Law"
'' SFGate'', Feb. 26, 2012. It was while he was teaching law students at the University of Colorado that he realized that there was no satisfactory theory accounting for the public interest in natural resources law, and that his work was "grooming lawyers who might one day help companies extract resources, mainly from public lands."

Works

; Books * ''Playing Darts With a Rembrandt: Public and Private Rights to Cultural Treasures'' (1999) * ''Mountains Without Handrails'' * ''Water Law--Planning and Policy'' * ''Water Law--Cases and Commentary'' * ''Defending the Environment'' ; Scholarly articles
"The Public Trust Doctrine in Natural Resource Law: Effective Judicial Intervention"
68 ''

Michigan Law Review The ''Michigan Law Review'' is an American law review and the flagship law journal of the University of Michigan Law School. History The ''Michigan Law Review'' was established in 1902, after Gustavus Ohlinger, a student in the Law Department ...

'' 471 (1970)

Awards

Blue Planet Prize The Blue Planet Prize recognises outstanding efforts in scientific research or applications of science that contribute to solving global environmental problems. The prize was created by the Asahi Glass Foundation in 1992, the year of the Rio Ear ...

- 2007, from the Asahi Glass Foundation ("likened to a Nobel for environmental science") *

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, fellow * Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award, University of Michigan * Elizabeth Haub Environmental Prize of the Free University of Brussels *

Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...

's Conservationist of the Year Award *

William O. Douglas William Orville Douglas (October 16, 1898January 19, 1980) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 to 1975. Douglas was known for his strong progressive and civil libertari ...

Legal Achievement Award from the Sierra Club * Environmental Quality Award of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Notes

1936 births 2014 deaths American legal scholars American environmental lawyers Harvard University alumni University of Chicago Law School alumni University of Colorado Law School faculty University of Michigan faculty UC Berkeley School of Law faculty Lawyers from Chicago 20th-century American lawyers {{US-law-bio-stub