## Facts

- The State of California held title to tidelands and submerged lands in trust for public purposes, including navigation and fishing.
- California statutes authorized the Surveyor General to issue mineral leases on state lands, including tidelands and submerged lands, for oil and gas exploration and production, subject to terms and royalties.
- Boone and other lessees obtained such state mineral leases for offshore tidelands and sought drilling permits needed to operate under their leases.
- The Surveyor General declined or hesitated to process permits on the view that leasing tidelands for oil development conflicted with the public-trust doctrine.
- The lessees filed a mandamus action seeking to compel the Surveyor General to recognize the leases and administer the permitting scheme.
- The case came to the California Supreme Court on appeal from a judgment in the mandamus proceeding.

## Issues

1. Whether statutes authorizing oil and gas leasing of tidelands and submerged lands are invalid because they impermissibly dispose of or impair the state’s public-trust title.
2. Whether the leases and requested drilling permits unlawfully divest the state of its trust property or substantially interfere with navigation and fishing in violation of the public trust.
3. Whether the Surveyor General must administer the leasing and permitting statutes consistent with legislative authorization and public-trust limits, rather than treat public trust as a categorical bar.

## Decision

- The court upheld the validity of the tidelands mineral-leasing statutes and the leases issued under them.
- The court held the leasing scheme did not divest the state of title; it granted limited, regulated rights of use for limited terms while preserving state control.
- The court rejected the claim that oil and gas development on tidelands is categorically incompatible with public-trust purposes.
- The court concluded leasing is permissible so long as authorized uses do not substantially impair public interests in navigation and fishing.
- The court determined the Surveyor General must proceed to administer the leases and permits under the statutory scheme, subject to the public-trust limitation against substantial impairment.

## Legal Principles

- California holds tidelands and submerged lands in trust for public purposes such as navigation, commerce, and fisheries, which limits governmental power to alienate trust property.
- The public-trust doctrine restricts transfers that amount to an abdication or substantial impairment of trust uses, but it does not bar all nontrust uses.
- A lease or regulated authorization of use differs from a conveyance of fee title; leasing that preserves state title and oversight can be consistent with the public trust.
- The legislature may permit uses of trust lands that incidentally affect trust purposes if the use does not substantially impair navigation and fishing.
- Public-trust compliance often turns on the degree of interference and the conditions of administration, allowing permit conditions or denials for operations that would cause substantial impairment.

## Conclusion

The court sustained California’s statutory program for leasing tidelands and submerged lands for oil and gas development, holding that such leases are valid where the state retains title and control and the authorized activities are administered to avoid substantial impairment of navigation and fisheries.


Boone v. Kingsbury, 206 Cal. 148, 273 P. 797 (Cal. 1928)