By Alex Nunes — Two lawsuits are challenging a law enacted in 2023 that sets a new definition for the public trust shoreline in Rhode Island

By Francis Wilkinson — A video of a North Carolina beach house being dismembered by a voracious ocean was a viral hit this spring. But it won’t be long before the novelty wears off.

By Hadley Barndollar — New Englanders often associate flooding with storms, and rightfully so. But imagine sunny days with impassable roads, bubbling storm drains and basements-turned-swimming pools?

By Bill Seymour — A House of Representatives bill putting it 10 feet above the high tide mark won approval earlier this year, following a study commission’s recommendation. The state Senate leadership, however, is throwing cold water right now…

Op Ed By Nathan Vinhaitero and Janet Freedman — … if the “shoreline” changes with each breaking wave, how do we draw a line in the sand for public access? Here’s what the science says on a very complex issue…

By Antonia Noori Farzan — The House Judiciary Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to advance House Bill 8055, which would establish that the public has the right to be 6 feet above the "recognizable high tide line" on any sandy or rocky shoreline.

By Brian Amaral — If it became law, it would give people the rights to the shore so long as they’re below a line that’s 6 feet landward from the recognizable high tide line

By Alex Kuffner — What the two scientists are showing through precise satellite measurements is something that has long been known: that use of the mean high tide line in state law doesn’t give the public very much access at all to the shoreline.

By Thomas Ankersen — … On most U.S. shorelines, the public has a time-honored right to “lateral” access. This means that people can move down the beach along the wet sand between high and low tide — a zone that usually is publicly owned. Waterfront property owners’ control typically stops at the high tide line or, in a few cases, the low tide line.

By Dale P Faulkner — A newly roped-off area on East Beach has drawn the attention of both state and local officials.

By Bill Seymour — The challenge to private beach owners wanting to stop public access to their land is far from over, says Scott Keeley, who organized a protest drawing more than 200 supporters to step over the Charlestown-South Kingstown line into the sand of exclusive beaches.

By Bill Seymour — Exactly defining public access along beaches — and other areas around Rhode Island’s coast — is a complex undertaking requiring some serious study

By Josh Eagle — Over the past few decades, landowners have tried to use the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments to fully privatize the upper, dry-sand part of the beach. If these efforts were to succeed…

By Benjamin Branchaud — James Bedell enjoys classical music and long walks on the beach… In fact, Bedell, a local shoreline access advocate and member of the town’s waterfront advisory, has walked most of Rhode Island’s 400 miles of coastline.