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Full-Text Articles in Law

Pursuing The Exemption: The Makah's White Whale, Sarah Van Voorhis Mar 2024

Pursuing The Exemption: The Makah's White Whale, Sarah Van Voorhis

Washington Journal of Social & Environmental Justice

No abstract provided.


Putting The Public Back In The Public Trust Doctrine: A Reinterpretation To Advance Native Hawaiian Water Rights, Steven Hindman Dec 2023

Putting The Public Back In The Public Trust Doctrine: A Reinterpretation To Advance Native Hawaiian Water Rights, Steven Hindman

Washington Law Review

The public trust doctrine guarantees that the government will hold natural resources in trust and protect them for the common good. The doctrine has played a key role in the allocation of water rights, particularly for Native American and Native Hawaiian interests in the United States. State and federal courts often consider the doctrine when deciding if certain use rights should be granted. In Hawai‘i, the doctrine has taken on a particularly robust form because the State Constitution expressly provides that all public natural resources are to be held in trust for the benefit of all Hawaiians. Unfortunately, the doctrine’s …


Community Empowerment In Decarbonization: Nepa’S Role, Wyatt G. Sassman Dec 2021

Community Empowerment In Decarbonization: Nepa’S Role, Wyatt G. Sassman

Washington Law Review

This Article addresses a potential tension between two ambitions for the transition to clean energy: reducing regulatory red-tape to quickly build out renewable energy, and leveraging that build-out to empower low-income communities and communities of color. Each ambition carries a different view of communities’ role in decarbonization. To those focused on rapid build-out of renewable energy infrastructure, communities are a potential threat who could slow or derail renewable energy projects through opposition during the regulatory process. To those focused on leveraging the transition to clean energy to advance racial and economic justice, communities are necessary partners in the key decisions …


Water Banks In Washington State: A Tool For Climate Resilience, Jennifer J. Seely Jun 2021

Water Banks In Washington State: A Tool For Climate Resilience, Jennifer J. Seely

Washington Law Review

Water banks—a tool for exchanging senior water rights and offsetting new ones—can address multiple problems in contemporary water law. In the era of climate change, water banks enable needed flexibility and resilience in water allocation. As growing cities require new water rights, water banks can repurpose old water for new uses. These advantages should lead the Washington State Legislature to incentivize water banks, but in the 2018 “Hirst fix” it embraced habitat restoration as a false equivalent for water. The Legislature is rightfully concerned about the speculation that some private water banks allow. But overall, water banks enable new and …


Finding Better Words: Markets, Property, Rights, And Resources, Andrew P. Morriss, Roger E. Meiners, Bruce Yandle May 2021

Finding Better Words: Markets, Property, Rights, And Resources, Andrew P. Morriss, Roger E. Meiners, Bruce Yandle

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

To use or conserve environmental and natural resources effectively is complex. Many economists believe that institutional solutions built around markets and property rights can help improve results. This approach addresses what Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto termed the “missing lessons of U.S. history”— institutions whose designers may not have understood the outcomes that would occur, but the results were generally beneficial. However, technical economic analysis generally fails to persuade many at the policy level. Adding a focus on the practicality of solving issues by voluntary action will enrich the policy discussions. To do so requires economists to provide concrete examples …


Of Hatcheries And Habitat: Old And New Conservation Assumptions In The Pacific Salmon Treaty, Paul Stanton Kibel Jun 2020

Of Hatcheries And Habitat: Old And New Conservation Assumptions In The Pacific Salmon Treaty, Paul Stanton Kibel

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

The 1985 Pacific Salmon Treaty between Canada and the United States was negotiated to deal with evidence that Pacific salmon stocks originating in Canada and the United States were in decline. The Pacific Salmon Treaty sought to establish total annual fishing limits for Canada and the United States that were consistent with the sustainable conservation of Pacific salmon stocks, and to base the total allowable catch for Canadian fishermen on forecasts of the total abundance of salmon. As the Pacific Salmon Treaty has been implemented, however, there has been a re-occurring pattern of annual abundance forecasts overestimating the actual abundance …


Mining At The Crossroads Of Law And Development: A Comparative Review Of Labor-Related Local Content Provisions In Africa's Mining Laws Through The Prism Of Automation, Nneoma Veronica Nwogu Jan 2019

Mining At The Crossroads Of Law And Development: A Comparative Review Of Labor-Related Local Content Provisions In Africa's Mining Laws Through The Prism Of Automation, Nneoma Veronica Nwogu

Washington International Law Journal

Africa boasts one-third of the world’s mineral resources. Mineral development, if governed by appropriate legal frameworks, is key to facilitating development in Africa. With this realization, the African Union (AU) adopted the Africa Mining Vision (AMV) in 2009, which aims to prioritize African industrialization, safeguard the environment, build and utilize local labor force capacity, facilitate transparency, and improve revenue-sharing mechanisms in Africa. However, at the same time, the dawn of artificial intelligence (AI) and complex levels of automation is making quick inroads into the mineral development sector. This article argues that, in response to the AMV, over half of Africa’s …


Trapped In The Goddess's Mousetrap: Equitable Solutions For Poverty Poaching Of Venus Flytraps, Katrina Outland Jul 2018

Trapped In The Goddess's Mousetrap: Equitable Solutions For Poverty Poaching Of Venus Flytraps, Katrina Outland

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Most discussions of poaching—the intentional, unlawful taking or killing of a living organism—focus on animals. However, poaching is also the primary threat for many prized collectible plants. The bizarre Venus flytrap has particularly drawn media attention as North Carolina struggles to save its endemic State Carnivorous Plant from extinction. Existing federal plant protection laws are sparse and either ineffective (in the case of the Endangered Species Act) or underutilized (in the case of the Lacey Act). Traditional poaching enforcement methods, which target individual poachers with small fines, are designed for animal poaching, and fail to adequately protect plants. Not only …


Biodiversity Conservation In The National Forests, And The 2012 Planning Rule, Gordon Steinhoff Mar 2018

Biodiversity Conservation In The National Forests, And The 2012 Planning Rule, Gordon Steinhoff

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

The U.S. Forest Service is required to manage the national forests for multiple use, including outdoor recreation, timber production, and more recently, biodiversity conservation. National forest management plans throughout the country are currently being revised under the 2012 Planning Rule. As will be discussed, the 2012 rule provides the Agency with high levels of discretion and management flexibility. The rule does not require maintaining viable populations of all native plant and animal species. The Agency is required to conserve viable populations of “species of conservation concern,” yet the Regional Forester is granted sole discretion in designating these species. The 2012 …


Arctic Law & Policy Year In Review: 2016, Arctic Law & Policy Institute, University Of Washington Jun 2017

Arctic Law & Policy Year In Review: 2016, Arctic Law & Policy Institute, University Of Washington

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with a boost by El Niño, 2016 set new records for global temperatures, capping three consecutive years of record global warming. In Alaska, for example, the average temperature was 31.9 degrees Fahrenheit — 5.9 degrees above the long-term average. The globally averaged sea surface temperature was the highest on record at 1.35° F above average. The globally averaged land surface temperature was also the highest on record at 2.57° F above average. The NOAA report records that in 2016 the Arctic experienced some of its highest air temperatures, least sea-ice (averaging …


Ocean Acidification As A Problem In Systems Thinking, Terrie Klinger, Jan Newton Jul 2016

Ocean Acidification As A Problem In Systems Thinking, Terrie Klinger, Jan Newton

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

The emerging problem of ocean acidification provides a clear signal that we need to think and act differently about our stewardship of the ocean, its resources, and the services it provides to society. No longer can we afford to address environmental problems in the ocean on a reductionist, case-by-case basis, because the number of problems requiring attention has grown so large that the problems now are stacked one on top of another. Moreover, many of these problems are growing rapidly; for example, the contemporary rate of ocean acidification exceeds that at any time in the past 300 million years. Nor …


"Fed" Up With Acidification: "Trusting" The Federal Government To Protect The Tulalip Tribes' Access To Shellfish Beds, Jacqueline M. Bertelsen Jul 2016

"Fed" Up With Acidification: "Trusting" The Federal Government To Protect The Tulalip Tribes' Access To Shellfish Beds, Jacqueline M. Bertelsen

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Part I of this paper discusses the threat ocean acidification poses to the Tulalip Tribes’ ability to practice and preserve its way of life. Part II examines the laws and legal structures, especially the Clean Water Act, that can simultaneously protect the Tulalip Tribes’ right to harvest shellfish at “usual and accustomed” shellfish beds and the health of Puget Sound’s waters as a whole. Finally, Part III proposes actions that can be taken at the state, tribal, and federal levels. First, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should develop criteria and water quality standards relevant to ocean acidification that can be …


Arctic Law & Policy Year In Review: 2014, Arctic Law & Policy Institute, University Of Washington Jun 2015

Arctic Law & Policy Year In Review: 2014, Arctic Law & Policy Institute, University Of Washington

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

A categorized review of major developments, with background information and current events.


Practical Alternatives For Silvicultural Pollution Reduction In Light Of Decker V. Nedc, Erin Anderson Nov 2013

Practical Alternatives For Silvicultural Pollution Reduction In Light Of Decker V. Nedc, Erin Anderson

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center is a recently decided Supreme Court case that originated in the forests of Oregon. Frustrated by the level of pollution in Oregon rivers that was originating from logging roads, an environmental group sued the State to enforce the Clean Water Act and require Oregon to issue National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits for the pollution. The Supreme Court held that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to exclude water pollution from logging roads from NPDES permitting was entitled to deference, reversing the Ninth Circuit’s decision that such pollution required NPDES permits under the …


Making Science Useful In Complex Political And Legal Arenas: A Case For Frontloading Science In Anticipation Of Environmental Changes To Support Natural Resource Laws And Policies, Usha Varanasi Nov 2013

Making Science Useful In Complex Political And Legal Arenas: A Case For Frontloading Science In Anticipation Of Environmental Changes To Support Natural Resource Laws And Policies, Usha Varanasi

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

In the spirit of fostering interdisciplinary dialogue, the Washington Journal of Environmental Law and Policy is proud to present this Article. Professor Varanasi takes examples from her career as a fisheries scientist for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration to argue for a new model for ecological disaster planning and response, in which baseline ecosystem data is collected in advance of possible incidents so that decision-makers are empowered to make informed choices from the first stages of disaster response. She concludes by urging sustained and targeted funding for long-term ecosystem data collection to better understand various disasters’ effects on a …


Legal And Policy Implications Of The Perception Of Property Rights In Catch Shares, Mark Fina, Tyson Kade Dec 2012

Legal And Policy Implications Of The Perception Of Property Rights In Catch Shares, Mark Fina, Tyson Kade

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Catch shares are a fishery management strategy under which persons are allocated exclusive access to specific portions of the total allowable catch of a fishery. Proponents of catch share management argue that these programs allow for more efficient management of annual catch limits and mitigate the negative biological and economic impacts associated with other management programs. Because of the exclusivity of their allocations, catch share programs have been characterized by their opponents as privatizing the public fisheries resource and granting catch share holders a property right to fish. However, case law suggests that a court is unlikely to conclude that …


The Legality Of Washington Shoreline Development Moratoria In The Wake Of Biggers V. City Of Bainbridge Island, Michelle E. Delappe Feb 2009

The Legality Of Washington Shoreline Development Moratoria In The Wake Of Biggers V. City Of Bainbridge Island, Michelle E. Delappe

Washington Law Review

The Washington State Supreme Court struck down the temporary shoreline development moratorium at issue in Biggers v. City of Bainbridge Island, 162 Wash. 2d 683, 169 P.3d 14 (2007); yet the court fragmented on the broader question of whether a local government has authority to adopt a moratorium on shoreline development during long-term land-use planning. In light of upcoming deadlines for the state’s local governments to revise their shoreline-management plans, constraints on local authority to adopt shoreline moratoria during the planning process take on heightened importance for hundreds of local governments. The question highlights the tension between private property …


The End Of The Viarsa Saga And The Legality Of Australia's Vessel Forefeiture Penalty For Illegal Fishing In Its Exclusive Economic Zone, Laurence Blakely Jun 2008

The End Of The Viarsa Saga And The Legality Of Australia's Vessel Forefeiture Penalty For Illegal Fishing In Its Exclusive Economic Zone, Laurence Blakely

Washington International Law Journal

The world’s fish stocks are suffering from over-utilization. The earth’s oceans are subject to exploitation by all nation states and very little preservation. Because of the nature of the international legal regime of the Law of the Sea, enforcement of what conservation and management measures exist is challenging. Boundaries, ephemeral on land, are even more so on water, making rights allocation and management particularly difficult. Nevertheless, as fish stocks continue to decrease and it becomes clearer that oceans require more effective management, coastal states have begun to undertake more significant enforcement procedures corresponding to their rights in their exclusive economic …


Chumming On The Chesapeake Bay And Complexity Theory: Why The Precautionary Principle, Not Cost-Benefit Analysis, Makes More Sense As A Regulatory Approach, Hope M. Babcock Aug 2007

Chumming On The Chesapeake Bay And Complexity Theory: Why The Precautionary Principle, Not Cost-Benefit Analysis, Makes More Sense As A Regulatory Approach, Hope M. Babcock

Washington Law Review

"[H]istory reveals not merely that change is real but also that change is various. All change is not the same, nor are all changes equal. Some changes are cyclical, some are not. Some changes are linear, others are not. Some changes take an afternoon to accomplish, some a millennium. We can no more take any particular kind of change as absolutely normative than we can take any particular state of equilibrium as normative .... The challenge is to determine which changes are in our enlightened self-interest and are consistent with our most rigorous ethical reasoning, always remembering our inescapable dependency …


Recovery In A Cynical Time—With Apologies To Eric Arthur Blair, Dale D. Goble Aug 2007

Recovery In A Cynical Time—With Apologies To Eric Arthur Blair, Dale D. Goble

Washington Law Review

The drafters of the Endangered Species Act envisioned a process in which a species at risk of extinction would be protected while the threats it faces are removed so that it recovers. Over the first three decades of experience with the Act, implementation has proved to be far more complex. Recovering at-risk species imposes two different types of requirements. Biologically, recovery is a demographic problem: the species's population must have increased in numbers and dispersed geographically to a point at which nature's random risks have been reduced so that the species is no longer in danger of extinction. The risk-management …


Precaution, Science, And Learning While Doing In Natural Resource Management, Holly Doremus Aug 2007

Precaution, Science, And Learning While Doing In Natural Resource Management, Holly Doremus

Washington Law Review

Dealing with uncertainty is widely recognized as the key challenge for environmental and natural resource decisionmaking. Too often, though, that challenge is considered only from an ex ante perspective which treats uncertainty as an invariant feature that must be accounted for but cannot be changed. With respect to many natural resource management decisions, that picture is misleading. Decisions are often iterative or similar, providing significant opportunities for leaming. Where such opportunities are available and inaction is not feasible or desirable, learning while doing can provide the benefits of both the precautionary principle and scientific decisionmaking while minimizing the key weaknesses …


From Stratton To Uscop: Environmental Law Floundering At Sea, Donna R. Christie Aug 2007

From Stratton To Uscop: Environmental Law Floundering At Sea, Donna R. Christie

Washington Law Review

No abstract provided.


State Responsibility And The High Seas Marine Environment: A Legal Theory For The Protection Of Seamounts In The Global Commons, Gregory D. Pendleton Apr 2005

State Responsibility And The High Seas Marine Environment: A Legal Theory For The Protection Of Seamounts In The Global Commons, Gregory D. Pendleton

Washington International Law Journal

At its latest session, the United Nations General Assembly urged States to consider a temporary ban on bottom trawling on the high seas. Bottom trawling technology causes extensive damage both to the habitat of deep sea living marine resources ("LMRs") and to the LMRs themselves. This damage is particularly acute at heavily fished undersea mountains known as seamounts. The pronouncement by the General Assembly, while certainly a positive step, is another unfortunate example of short-sighted fisheries management: instead of creating a legitimate protection regime—such as a moratorium or a system of High Seas Marine Protected Areas ("HSMPA")—for these rare and …


Stepping Onto A Moving Train: The Collision Of Illegal Logging, Forestry Policy, And Emerging Free Trade In The Russian Far East, Robert M. Crowley Apr 2005

Stepping Onto A Moving Train: The Collision Of Illegal Logging, Forestry Policy, And Emerging Free Trade In The Russian Far East, Robert M. Crowley

Washington International Law Journal

Faced with economic decline following the Soviet Union's collapse, Russia is energetically seeking ways to develop its economy and stimulate trade. In order to accomplish these goals, Russia has taken a number of steps to improve its interactions with its trading partners and reform its internal economic structures. Among the most sweeping areas of change are Russia's steps toward bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements and the proposed changes to its Forest Code. Externally, Russia has signed an agreement with China to stabilize relations, increase trade, and address shared environmental concerns, and has taken steps toward membership in the World …


Up In Smoke: Using Cooperative U.S. Forest Fire Management Policies As A Model For Implementing An Effective Forest Fire Prevention Program In The Russian Far East, Jim Wilkson Apr 2005

Up In Smoke: Using Cooperative U.S. Forest Fire Management Policies As A Model For Implementing An Effective Forest Fire Prevention Program In The Russian Far East, Jim Wilkson

Washington International Law Journal

The Russian Far East's ("RFE") most abundant natural resource is its vast, relatively unbroken tracts of boreal forest. Wildfires are the largest cause of deforestation in the RFE. Rampant fires in the RFE threaten biodiversity and wildlife habitat, destroy timber reserves, and create pollution and greenhouse gases. Experts estimate that between eighty to ninety percent of these fires are human-caused. However, Russian forestry laws fail to provide the type of legal framework necessary to adequately address these preventable fires. Forest management legislation mandating more comprehensive and cooperative fire prevention could prevent disastrous forest fires in the RFE. U.S. fire management …


Forsaking The Forests For The Trees: Forestry Law In Papua New Guinea Inhibits Indigenous Customary Ownership, Alyssa A. Vegter Apr 2005

Forsaking The Forests For The Trees: Forestry Law In Papua New Guinea Inhibits Indigenous Customary Ownership, Alyssa A. Vegter

Washington International Law Journal

Illegal logging in the tropical forests of Papua New Guinea is one of the greatest threats to the forests and indigenous people of this island nation. Increasing pressure from the commercial logging industry, legislation that restrains customary ownership, and an unclear legal basis for this ownership subjects the indigenous people of Papua New Guinea to unscrupulous, unsustainable, and illegal logging practices. As a region central to the preservation of global ecological and cultural diversity, the devastating consequences of illegal logging in Papua New Guinea have become nationally and internationally significant. Customary ownership of the forests by the indigenous clans of …


The Australian National Representative System Of Marine Protected Areas And The Marine Zoning System: A Model For The United States?, Jennifer L. Schorr Jun 2004

The Australian National Representative System Of Marine Protected Areas And The Marine Zoning System: A Model For The United States?, Jennifer L. Schorr

Washington International Law Journal

Marine Protected Areas ("MPAs") are increasingly recognized as a critical component of marine conservation. MPAs are areas of the marine ecosystem set aside for special protection and management in order to conserve biological or cultural resources. MPAs manage the use of marine resources by limiting or controlling activities within the area. Marine reserves, the most restrictive type of MPA, severely limit or forbid all extractive activities. Scientific research has demonstrated that MPAs, especially marine reserves, can have rapid and long-term benefits for biological diversity, lead to recovery of specific species, and may have a "spill over" effect that benefits adjacent …


The Future Of Municipal Fisheries In The Philippines: Does The Philippine Fisheries Code Do Enough?, Devon Shannon Jun 2002

The Future Of Municipal Fisheries In The Philippines: Does The Philippine Fisheries Code Do Enough?, Devon Shannon

Washington International Law Journal

The allocation of fishery resources is a critical concern for the Philippines municipal fishing sector where the global problem of overfishing has taken its toll on near-shore aquatic life. The dependency of coastal Filipino communities on fishery resources for nutrition and livelihood necessitates an analysis of the 1998 Philippine Fisheries Code's ("PFC's") ability to facilitate effective marine resource allocation at the municipal level. A comparison of international instruments addressing fishery resource management with the PFC reflects a clear intent on the part of the Code's drafters to emulate accepted international standards. In some areas, however, the PFC's ambiguous language hinders …


A Call For Co-Management: Treaty Fishing Allocation In New Zealand And Western Washington, Kristi Stanton Jun 2002

A Call For Co-Management: Treaty Fishing Allocation In New Zealand And Western Washington, Kristi Stanton

Washington International Law Journal

The Maori tribe of New Zealand and the tribes of western Washington are both subject to quota systems as a result of their treaty rights to fish. While New Zealand's quota system was legislatively imposed, western Washington's was judicially imposed. Nevertheless, the two quota systems are quite similar in that both permit approximately half the allowable catch of fish each year to go to the tribes. However, that amount does not adequately represent what the tribes are entitled to based on their treaty rights. Colonization, over-fishing, and resource deterioration have decreased the amount of fish available to the fishing population …


Land Policy And Adat Law In Indonesia's Forests, Kallie Szczepanski Jan 2002

Land Policy And Adat Law In Indonesia's Forests, Kallie Szczepanski

Washington International Law Journal

The Indonesian government's land laws and policies lead to displacement of and hardship for the indigenous peoples of the archipelago. The Basic Agrarian Law, Basic Forestry Law, and Spatial Planning Law all allow for expropriation of indigenous lands formerly governed under the adat legal system. In addition, the central government's policy of transmigration—the shifting of people from the populous Inner Islands of Java, Bali, and Madura to the Outer Islands—only increases the economic and cultural pressure on indigenous peoples of the Outer Islands. The hopelessness and anger that result from the marginalization of traditional adat societies fuel violent ethnic conflicts, …