Natural Resources Law

Catalog description

This course will enable students to understand what natural resources are and the fundamentals of how natural resources are managed in the United States. The course will identify various definitions of natural resources and will include consideration of public land laws, and laws governing management and use of water, air, mineral, oil and gas, cultural, and wildlife resources. We will also consider the roles and responsibilities of the primary land management agencies, including, generally, the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service and counterpart state agencies. Reading and discussion topics are current and were selected to be thought-provoking. The course will start with a definition and identification of natural resources and consideration of ownership and management of those resources. The course will include an overview of the various public land laws, the Wilderness Act, the Antiquities Act, other laws creating national monuments and public land withdrawals, the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Mining Law of 1872, the Mineral Leasing Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and the various agencies that implement these laws and their respective implementation roles. Other topics that will be covered in the class include current natural resource policy issues under consideration either by the Biden administration or in Congress.