§ 401. Policy

Lakes and ponds that are public waters of Vermont and the lands lying thereunder are a public trust, and it is the policy of the State that these waters and lands shall be managed to serve the public good, as defined by section 405 of this title, to the extent authorized by statute. For the purposes of this chapter, the exercise of this management shall be limited to encroachments subject to section 403 of this title. The management of these waters and lands shall be exercised by the Department of Environmental Conservation in accordance with this chapter and the rules of the Department. For the purposes of this chapter, jurisdiction of the Department shall be construed as extending to all lakes and ponds that are public waters and the lands lying thereunder, which lie beyond the shoreline or shorelines delineated by the mean water level of any lake or pond that is a public water of the State, as such mean water level is determined by the Department. For the purposes of this chapter, jurisdiction shall include encroachments of docks and piers on the boatable tributaries of Lake Champlain and Lake Memphremagog upstream to the first barrier to navigation, and encroachments of docks and piers on the Connecticut River impoundments and boatable tributaries of such impounds upstream to the first barrier to navigation. No provision of this chapter shall be construed to permit trespass on private lands without the permission of the owner. (Added 1967, No. 308 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. March 22, 1968; amended 1969, No. 281 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1975, No. 162 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. March 15, 1976; 1981, No. 222 (Adj. Sess.), § 41; 1987, No. 76, § 18; 2003, No. 115 (Adj. Sess.), § 110, eff. Jan. 31, 2005; 2009, No. 117 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)