Digital Commons Network^™

The Durability Of Private Claims To Public Property, Bruce R. Huber

Journal Articles

Property rights and resource use are closely related. Scholarly inquiry about their relation, however, tends to emphasize private property arrangements while ignoring public property — property formally owned by government. The well-known tragedies of the commons and anticommons, for example, are generally analyzed with reference to the optimal form and degree of private ownership. But what about property owned by the state? The federal government alone owns nearly one-third of the land area of the United States. One could well ask: is there a tragedy associated with public property, too? If there is, here is what it might look like: …

No Entry To The Public Lands: Towards A Theory Of A Public Trust Servitude For A Way Over Abutting Private Land, Shelby D. Green

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article explores the problem of inadequate access and why owners of private property abutting public lands cannot fence out the public if their sole or primary purpose is to deny access to public land. The reasons why such landowners should not be allowed to put up fences, even on their own land, if the effect is to hinder the public's access to public land are several. First, it is opportunistic and unjustly interferes with citizens' ability to enjoy the interest they hold in public lands. Second, it denies citizens access rights rooted in the common law. Third, and perhaps …

Public Lands And The Federal Government’S Compact-Based “Duty To Dispose”: A Case Study Of Utah’S H.B. 148 – The Transfer Of Public Lands Act, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

Recent legislation passed in March 2012 in the State of Utah — the “Transfer of Public Lands Act and Related Study,” (“TPLA”) also commonly referred to as House Bill 148 (“H.B. 148”) — has demanded that the federal government, by December 31, 2014, “extinguish title” to certain public lands that the federal government currently holds (totaling an estimated more than 20 million acres). It also calls for the transfer of such acreage to the State and establishes procedures for the development of a management regime for this increased state portfolio of land holdings resulting from the transfer. The State of …

The Birth, Death, And Afterlife Of The Wild Lands Policy: The Evolution Of The Bureau Of Land Management’S Authority To Protect Wilderness Values, Olivia Brumfield

Michael Blumm

Since the enactment of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) in 1976, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has had a troubled relationship with wild lands, the nation’s last remaining places with wilderness characteristics. Although for twenty-five years BLM recognized wilderness values as a resource it must balance and could protect consistent with the agency’s multiple use mandate, in 2003 BLM largely disclaimed that interpretation, potentially imperiling future protection of wild lands that were not designated as wilderness or wilderness study areas. Since then, the agency has made incremental – but potentially powerful – steps toward reclaiming a …

Visitor Comments About Montana: 2012 Nonresident Survey, Norma Nickerson, Ashley Napier, Doris Cooley

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report provdes an analysis of comments written by nonresident visitors to Montana in 2012. Eight general themes emerged from the comments. Nonresident visitors generally love Montana. Their experiences were positive, they enjoyed the scenery, open space, the friendly people, and they want to return. Full listing of all comments are provided in the appendix.

Land Conservation In The Presumpscot River Watershed: Vision, Values & Priorities, Appendix D, Municipal Conservation Goals And Activities, Vanessa Levesque

Publications

No abstract provided.

Hero For The People, Hero For The Land And Water: Reflections On The Enduring Contributions Of David Getches, Charles Wilkinson

Publications

No abstract provided.

2012 Federal Legislative Review, Carolyn Greenshields, Kimberly White Laduca

Animal Law Review

No abstract provided.

Agenda: The Future Of Natural Resources Policy, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

The Future of Natural Resources Policy (December 6)

This forum will provide a post-election perspective on some of the challenges and opportunities that natural resources, public lands, and energy policymakers in Washington are likely to face in the next four years. An expert panel will discuss the dynamics in the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture, and Congress, and how their evolving policies are likely to affect Colorado in the coming years.

Moderator: Dean Phil Weiser, University of Colorado Law School

Panelists:

Jay Jensen, Associate Director for Land & Water Ecosystems, White House Council on Environmental Quality

Scott Miller, Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Colorado Law …

Background Reading: Department Of The Interior, 2013 Departmental Overview, United States. Department Of The Interior, Ken Salazar

The Future of Natural Resources Policy (December 6)

18 pages (DO-5 through DO-22).

"Background Reading"

The Future of Natural Resources Policy: This forum will provide a post-election perspective on some of the challenges and opportunities that natural resources, public lands, and energy policymakers in Washington are likely to face in the next four years. An expert panel will discuss the dynamics in the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture, and Congress, and how their evolving policies are likely to affect Colorado in the coming years.

The Use Of The Public Trust Doctrine As A Management Tool Over Public And Private Lands, Patricia E. Salkin

Patricia E. Salkin

No abstract provided.

Agenda: A Life Of Contributions For All Time: Symposium In Honor Of David H. Getches, University Of Colorado Boulder. School Of Law, University Of Colorado Law Review

A Life of Contributions for All Time: Symposium in Honor of David H. Getches (April 26-27)

On April 26-27, 2012, Colorado Law honored David H. Getches with a symposium to celebrate his life and legacy of trailblazing scholarship. “A Life of Contributions for All Time” featured a keynote address by Distinguished Professor Charles Wilkinson entitled, “Hero for the People, Hero for the Land and Water: Reflections on the Enduring Contributions of David Getches.” Top scholars in the fields of natural resources, water, and American Indian law reflected on Dean Getches’ contributions and their own insights into these fields, including Professor John Leshy, John Echohawk, Professor Carole Goldberg, Professor Joe Sax, Professor Rebecca Tsosie, Justice Greg Hobbs, …

The Practical Effects Of Delegation: Agencies And The Zoning Of Public Lands And Seas, Josh Eagle

Pepperdine Law Review

Legislative efforts to delegate zoning power to public land and ocean management agencies have generally proven unsuccessful. When given the power to create uniform-use areas such as parks and wilderness areas within their broader jurisdictions, agencies either have opted not to exercise it or have been extremely hesitant to do so. The tepid administrative response to zoning is not surprising. Zoning decisions are politically charged, are likely to offend powerful, concentrated interest groups, and erode the discretion that is the core of agency power. These aspects of zoning decisions explain why, by contrast, all states require that municipal zoning ordinances …

Visitor Comments About Montana: 2009-2010 Nonresident Survey , Jake Jorgenson, Norma Nickerson, Laura Lovo

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report provides all the comments written by nonresident visitors to Montana. The comments, categorized into eight themes, include positive comments; travel issues; negative comments; activities; public and private land use management; attractions; specific purpose, and; comments about living in Montana. The majority of comments were about positive experiences visitors had in Montana.

Governance Of Public Lands, Public Agencies, And Natural Resources, Robert L. Glicksman

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Climate change presents serious challenges to the agencies that manage the federal public lands. These changes require new management strategies that may be difficult to design and implement because of internal agency resistance to altering traditional ways of doing business. In addition, there is likely to be a lack of fit between some of the laws from which the agencies derive their management authority and the problems posed by climate change, which differ from those Congress envisioned when it adopted those laws and which undermine some of the key assumptions underpinning those laws. This chapter describes the manner in which …

Seed Abundance For Waterfowl In Wetlands Managed By The Illinois Department Of Natural Resources, Joshua D. Stafford, Aaron P. Yetter, Christopher S. Hine, Randolph S. Smith, Michelle M. Horath

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Managed wetlands on public lands in Illinois, United States, provide foraging habitats for migrating and wintering waterfowl. However, few studies have estimated abundances of waterfowl foods in mid-migration regions of North America, yet such information is needed to inform management and conservation decision-making. During 2005– 2007, we used a multistage sampling design to estimate moist-soil plant seed production (kg/ha, dry mass) and energetic carrying capacity at sites managed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and modeled variation in seed biomass. Average seed biomass among all sites ranged from 1,030.0 6 64.1 (SE) kg/ha in 2005 to 501.5 6 124.1 …

Performing Pisgah: Endurance Mountain Bikers Generating The National Forest, Cynthia Twyford Fowler

Faculty Scholarship

In Western North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest, the extraordinary performances of endurance athletes imbue public lands with multivocality and sculpt spaces into idealized natures. Endurance mountain bikers generate Pisgah as a meaningful place grounded to specific spaces and particular identities as they perform challenging rides on difficult terrain.

Beyond Trust Species: The Conservation Potential Of The National Wildlife Refuge System In The Wake Of Climate Change, Robert L. Fischman, Robert Adamcik

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Over the last two decades, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) has come to define its conservation mission in the context of species protection. The concept of “trust species” is now a common focal point for the myriad responsibilities of the FWS. This has become problematic for one of the major programs of the agency: management of the world’s largest biodiversity conservation network, the national wildlife refuge system (“NWRS”). A major legislative overhaul of the NWRS charter and the imperatives of climate change adaptation have weakened the concept as a reliable touchstone for NWRS management and expansion. The FWS …

Solar Energy Development On The Federal Public Lands: Environmental Trade-Offs On The Road To A Lower-Carbon Future, Robert L. Glicksman

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The federal government has endorsed more extensive use of the federal public lands for the production of solar power, both to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change and to bolster the security of domestic energy supplies. Spurred by grant money made available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 2010 approved nine utility-scale solar projects on public lands in California and Nevada. These projects were designed to avoid adversely affecting the habitats of endangered and threatened species that frequent the desert southwest and cultural resources important to …

Trampling The Public Trust, Debra L. Donahue

Faculty Articles

Livestock production is a chief contributor to many significant and intractable environmental problems This Article examines the causal role of livestock especially beef production in global climate change predator control in the western United States and winter elk feeding in Wyoming It argues that ending livestock grazing on western public lands is a cost effective first step for dealing with these problems and is readily achievable under existing law Removing livestock would lead to improved watershed conditions and make reintroduction of predators politically feasible which would promote further recovery of landscapes impacted by native ungulate populations Ending publicland grazing would …

Ecosystem Services And Federal Public Lands: Start-Up Policy Questions And Research Needs, J. B. Ruhl

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

Present At The Creation: The 1910 Big Burn And The Formative Days Of The U.S. Forest Service, Michael Blumm

Michael Blumm

This is a book review of Timothy Egan's "The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America."

Slides: Second Thoughts About The Antiquities Act: Does The Process For Public Land Decisionmaking Have An Ethical Dimension?, James R. Rasband

The Past, Present, and Future of Our Public Lands: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Public Land Law Review Commission’s Report, One Third of the Nation’s Land (Martz Summer Conference, June 2-4)

Presenter: James R. Rasband, Dean of the J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University (Provo, UT)

32 slides

Slides: Climate Change And Public Lands: Examples From National Parks, Stephen Saunders

The Past, Present, and Future of Our Public Lands: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Public Land Law Review Commission’s Report, One Third of the Nation’s Land (Martz Summer Conference, June 2-4)

Presenter: Stephen Saunders, President, The Rocky Mountain Climate Organization (Denver, CO)

40 slides

Slides: Climate Change Adaptation And The Federal Lands, Robert L. Glicksman

The Past, Present, and Future of Our Public Lands: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Public Land Law Review Commission’s Report, One Third of the Nation’s Land (Martz Summer Conference, June 2-4)

Presenter: Robert L. Glicksman, J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of Environmental Law, George Washington University Law School (Washington, D.C.)

12 slides

Hardrock Mining And The Public Land Law Review Commission: The More Things Change….21st Century Mining, A 20th Century Report, And A 19th Century Law, Roger Flynn

The Past, Present, and Future of Our Public Lands: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Public Land Law Review Commission’s Report, One Third of the Nation’s Land (Martz Summer Conference, June 2-4)

3 pages.

Slides: Chapter 7 Of The Commission Report, David L. Bernhardt

The Past, Present, and Future of Our Public Lands: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Public Land Law Review Commission’s Report, One Third of the Nation’s Land (Martz Summer Conference, June 2-4)

Presenter: David L. Bernhardt, Partner, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck (Washington, DC) and former Solicitor for U.S. Department of the Interior

14 slides

Slides: Livestock Grazing On The Public Lands, Joe Feller

The Past, Present, and Future of Our Public Lands: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Public Land Law Review Commission’s Report, One Third of the Nation’s Land (Martz Summer Conference, June 2-4)

Presenter: Joe Feller, Professor of Law, Arizona State University Law School; Visiting Professor, University of Colorado Law School

33 slides

Slides: America's Redrock Wilderness, Scott Groene

The Past, Present, and Future of Our Public Lands: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Public Land Law Review Commission’s Report, One Third of the Nation’s Land (Martz Summer Conference, June 2-4)

Presenter: Scott Groene, Executive Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (Moab, UT)

23 slides

Slides: The Spotted Owl Controversy: An Example Of The Esa's Dominant Role In Federal Land Use Planning, Norman D. James

The Past, Present, and Future of Our Public Lands: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Public Land Law Review Commission’s Report, One Third of the Nation’s Land (Martz Summer Conference, June 2-4)

Presenter: Norman D. James, Director, Fennemore Craig, PC (Phoenix, AZ)

17 slides