Natural Resources Law Commons^™

Helping Hand Tools V. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Emily A. Slike

Public Land & Resources Law Review

When the EPA decided to treat biomass fuel sources differently within the BACT analysis, the Ninth Circuit continued Chevron’s legacy and granted the agency deference. The Bioenergy BACT may develop as science continues to evolve, but because the EPA took a “hard look” during a thorough permit review, the court held that agency issuance of new BACT guidelines was reasonable.

Valuing Sacred Tribal Waters Within Prior Appropriation, Michelle Bryan

Faculty Law Review Articles

Throughout the world water plays a central role in the spirituality of indigenous peoples. Focusing on the American West, this article first describes how tribal water needs touch upon the sacred and then explains how both federal law and state prior appropriation doctrine fail to adequately protect these important sacred views of water. Pivoting away from the classic federal law arguments, the article then advocates for an evolution in state water law regimes to provide yet unrecognized protections for tribal sacred waters. Because international law plays an increasing role in this issue, the article also explores case studies from Ireland, …

A Bird In The Hand: Shotguns, Deadly Oil Pits, Cute Kittens, And The Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Samuel J. Panarella

Faculty Law Review Articles

This Article is presented in three parts. Part I describes the modern application (and misapplication) of the MBTA and briefly sets out the history of the Act, including the widespread, indiscriminate killing of migratory birds for food and fashion in the 19th century that first spurred Congress to act. Building off this history and the clear Congressional intent behind the MBTA to criminalize industrial activities directed at killing birds, Part II sorts human-caused bird killing activities into three categories and proposes the appropriate MBTA liability treatment for each category based both on the original purpose of the Act and on …

Center For Biological Diversity V. Jewell, Kirsa Shelkey

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Following years of pressure to list the upper Missouri River population of Arctic grayling as an endangered or threatened species, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service issued a 2014 Finding that listing the fish was “not warranted at this time.” The Service relied on voluntary Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances in the Big Hole River Basin to determine that listing criteria under the Endangered Species Act was not met and therefore listing was not necessary. Ultimately, the court deferred to agency expertise and found that the Service’s decision not to list the Arctic grayling was reasonable.

United States V. Washington, Kirsa Shelkey

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Pacific Northwest Treaties, now known as the Stevens Treaties, were negotiated in the 1850’s between the U.S. and Indian tribes, including the Suquamish Indian Tribe, Jamestown S'Klallam, Lower Elwha Band of Klallams, Port Gamble Clallam, Nisqually Indian Tribe, Nooksack Tribe, Sauk-Suiattle Tribe, Skokomish Indian Tribe, Squaxin Island Tribe, Stillaguamish Tribe, Upper Skagit Tribe, Tulalip Tribes, Lummi Indian Nation, Quinault Indian Nation, Puyallup Tribe, Hoh Tribe, Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Indian Nation, Quileute Indian Tribe, Makah Indian Tribe, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe (“Tribes”). The Stevens Treaties stated that “the right of taking fish, …

City Of Longmont Colorado V. Colorado Oil & Gas Association, Arie R. Mielkus

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In Colorado, the oil and gas industry's use of hydraulic fracturing, and municipalities’ attempts to restrict where the practice can be done, are at odds. Those in favor of hydraulic fracturing laud the economic benefits and natural gas’s ability to burn cleaner than coal, while those in opposition warn of potential adverse environmental impacts including the strain on water resources in the arid west. The City of Longmont was sued following its enactment of an amendment outlawing hydraulic fracturing within city limits. The City’s amendment was found to be preempted by state law, and thus could not remain in force. …

Kain V. Department Of Environmental Protection, Sarah M. Danno

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Global climate change and its chronic frustrations generated passage of the Massachusetts Global Warming Solutions Act. The Massachusetts Legislature imposed time-bound implementation mandates on the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection with Massachusetts residents acting as compliance watchdogs. In Kain, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts interpreted the Act in favor of environmental integrity and strict agency compliance standards.

Mauna Kea Anaina Hou V. Board Of Land And Natural Resources, Wesley J. Furlong

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Native Hawaiians and the scientific community have been pitted against each other in a decades-long culture war over the construction of observatories and telescopes on sacred landscapes. In Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, the Hawai’i Supreme Court handed a victory to Native Hawaiian culture and rights by halting the construction of a new telescope on Mauna Kea. The decision must be read cautiously, however, as it is firmly rooted in the strict application of procedural due process.

Coastal Conservation Association V. United States Department Of Commerce, Taylor R. Thompson

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The Eastern Louisiana District Court upheld Amendment 40 to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council’s Reef Management Plan. The court held that the Gulf Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service’s proposed rule establishing fishing quotas for the red snapper met all of the statutory guidelines imposed under the Magnusson-Stevens Act.

Natural Resources Defense Council V. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Erick A. Valencia

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In Natural Resources Defense Council v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, the court was asked to review the EPA’s Vessel General Permit that set limits on the discharge of pollutants in a ship’s ballast water. Ballast water discharge has become one of the major contributors to the spread of invasive species, especially in the Great Lakes where short voyages allow organisms to easily survive in ballast water. The EPA’s lack of information was a problem of its own making because it prohibited the Science Advisory Board and National Academy of Sciences from adequately exploring available technology before setting the effluent …

Agdaagux Tribe Of King Cove V. Jewell, Taylor R. Thompson

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In a lengthy opinion by the Alaska District Court, the battle for a proposed medical emergency road through the Izembek National Refuge stalled. The court held that the Department of the Interior’s No Action Alternative blocked the construction of the road was decided in accordance within the Department’s authority. It is not the end of the battle over the road, as the court alluded that Congress may be able to change this decision.

Pit River Tribe V. Bureau Of Land Management, 793 F.3d 1147 (9th Cir. 2015), Kathryn S. Ore

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In Pit River Tribe v. Bureau of Land Management, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit explained the correct application of the zone of interests test and further solidified the importance of proper NEPA and NHPA analysis in geothermal leasing. The court reaffirmed that the BLM and the Forest Service must conduct additional cultural and environmental analysis when granting lease extensions under the Geothermal Steam Act. Furthermore, it rejected the BLM’s decision to grant forty-year lease continuations to unproven geothermal leases by treating them as a unit rather than individually.

Sierra Club V. United States Army Corps Of Engineers, 803 F.3d 31 (D.C. Cir. 2015), Ariel E. Overstreet-Adkins

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Despite the majority’s “needlessly circuitous” route, as described by concurring Judge Brown, Sierra Club v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stands as a limit of the application of NEPA to a private pipeline constructed largely on private land. While the main issue identified by the District of Columbia Circuit Court was the scope of environmental review required under NEPA, the court also addressed issues dealing with the ESA and the CWA relating to the construction and operation of a pipeline in the Midwest. The court held that under these circumstances, NEPA review was mandated only for those small stretches where …

Western Watersheds Project V. Jewell, Hannah S. Cail

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The Idaho District Court granted WWP’s motion for summary judgment and denied those of the BLM and intervener Cattle Associations. WWP alleged the BLM failed to protect sage grouse in some 600 grazing permit decisions issued by the Burley Field Office. The court found the decisions insufficient under NEPA because the BLM did not consider the cumulative impacts of grazing permit renewals on sage grouse.

High Country Conservation Advocates V. United States Forest Service, 52 F. Supp. 3d 1174 (D. Colo. 2014), Kathryn S. Ore

Public Land & Resources Law Review

High Country Conservation Advocates v. United States Forest Service concerns the United States Forest Service’s and the Bureau of Land Management’s authorizations of on-the-ground mining exploration activities in the Sunset Roadless Area of western Colorado. The United States District Court for the District of Colorado’s holding has far-reaching consequences for federal agencies’ analysis and disclosure of impacts on the climate under the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”). In addition to bolstering the Plaintiffs’ recent successes at establishing legal standing to challenge federal agencies’ disclosures and analyses of impacts on the climate under NEPA, High Country is the first case to …

Columbia River Treaty Renewal And Sovereign Tribal Authority Under The Stevens Treaty “Right-To-Fish” Clause, David A. Bell

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Shell Gulf Of Mexico, Inc. V. Center For Biological Diversity, Nick Vandenbos

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In an attempt to stave off what it saw as impending litigation, Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc. filed suit under the Declaratory Judgment Act against a range of environmental groups opposed to Shell’s oil exploration in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas of Alaska’s Arctic Coast. Shell requested a declaratory judgment that its oil spill response plans, as approved by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, did not violate the Administrative Procedures Act. Although noting the novelty of Shell’s argument, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concluded the district court had erred in determining a justiciable …

Cause For Rebellion? Examining How Federal Land Management Agencies & Local Governments Collaborate On Land Use Planning, Michelle Bryan

Faculty Law Review Articles

This Article examines how well federal agencies and local governments are collaborating in land use planning, with a particular focus on the West.26 Part I provides a brief overview of local government planning as well as the overarching National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”)27 requirements that apply to federal planning. Part II offers a comparative summary of the varied planning approaches across federal agencies, with a particular focus on the role that local governments can play in agency planning.28 Based on case studies and interviews with federal and local officials, Part III then recommends how to improve federal-local planning efforts so …

At The End Of The Day: Are The West's General Stream Adjudications Relevant To Modern Water Rights Administraton?, Michelle Bryan

Faculty Law Review Articles

This article provides a modest starting place for exploring how adjudications in various western states function together with modern permitting and administration of water rights. By locating adjudication within a state’s broader water rights system, the hope is to elevate in our water law discourse the question of whether, at the end of the day, adjudication proceedings are meaningful in the day-to-day world of water use. Part I summarizes in broad strokes the way various western states approach the interrelated functions of adjudication, permitting, and administration. Part II then highlights some common, emerging issues among state water systems as well …

Wildearth Guardians V. Jewell, 738 F.3d 298 (D.C. Cir. 2013), Ross Keogh

Public Land & Resources Law Review

As part of a comprehensive strategy to keep coal “in the ground,” environmental plaintiffs challenged the BLM’s leasing of federally owned coal tracts in the Powder River Basin in 2010 on climate change grounds. WildEarth Guardians was the first suit to reach a federal circuit court, where the District of Columbia Circuit Court affirmed that the BLM’s environmental analysis of the climate change impacts of the leased coal was adequate under NEPA. Notably, in reversing the district court, the circuit court found that the plaintiffs had procedural standing.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Of Indians V. Nevada, Dept. Of Wildlife, David A. Bell

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe of Indians v. Nevada, Dept. of Wildlife, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a Nevada federal district court decision to vacate the Nevada state engineer’s approval of the transfer of three water applications. While the appeals court recognized the state’s re-watering of wetlands as a “salutary” purpose, it could not allow the engineer’s decision to go forward because it did not meet the legal definition of “irrigation.” The Court made the decision pursuant to two federal court decrees, which resulted from prior actions by the United States to quiet title to …

Wilderness Management In National Parks And Wildlife Refuges, Sandra B. Zellmer

Faculty Law Review Articles

This Article provides a wilderness scorecard of sorts for the two "dominant use" land management agencies-the National Park Service (NPS) and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Given that both agencies operate under a similar conservation oriented mandate, one night assume that the imposition of a wilderness mandate would be closely aligned with their organic missions. However, NPS and FWS have both, at times, been surprisingly hostile toward wilderness within their systems. In NPS's case, this is likely because of a concern that wilderness might disrupt visitor use and rein in its management discretion over park activities and …

Public Lands Access Association V. Board Of County Commissioners Of Madison County, Graham Coppes

Public Land & Resources Law Review

On January 16, 2014, the Supreme Court of Montana reversed and remanded a district court decision that had foreclosed the public’s right to access the Ruby River. The Court held that the right of way was a public prescriptive easement, which extended beyond the road surface itself to include such area as necessary for the county to maintain the road in the interest of the public. Furthermore, the Court concluded that once a public right-of-way is established by prescriptive use, the scope of current and future use of such an easement is not limited to those historic adversarial practices which …

Bostwick Properties Inc. V. Montana Department Natural Resources And Conservation, Carolyn A. Sime

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The Montana Supreme Court upheld the law requiring that applicants for new ground water permits in closed basins show no net surface depletion and that the new appropriation will not adversely affect senior water appropriators. Where the relationship between surface and ground water is uncertain or attenuated, applicants still bear the burden of proof, even if the proposed use constitutes only a de minimis quantity. Once again, the Court acknowledged the hydrologic connection between surface and ground water and the underlying legal framework which seeks to make water available for new appropriation and simultaneously protect the water rights of senior …

City Of Livingston V. Park Conservation District, Graham Coppes

Public Land & Resources Law Review

On appeal from the Park County District Court, the Montana Supreme Court upheld the Park Conservation District’s designation of a channel of the Yellowstone River near the City of Livingston as part of the natural course of the river as reasonable and worthy of judicial deference, even though the record demonstrated that the channel had been continuously used as an irrigation conveyance system and local parties had historically referenced the stream with inconsistent characterizations. Looking ahead, this decision illustrates the Court’s strong deference to the resolutions and statutory interpretations of the state’s local conservation districts. To a lesser degree, the …

Treading Water While Congress Ignores The Nation's Environment, Sandra B. Zellmer

Faculty Law Review Articles

During the late 1960s, the nation's attention was riveted on graphic images of contaminated resources, such as smoldering rivers and oil-soaked seagulls,' as well as Rachel Carson's haunting prose about the "strange blight"2 of chemical pesticides afflicting land, water, and wildlife. Policymakers recognized the need for strong legal protections for public health and the environment, and Congress responded with sweeping legislation governing the pollution of water, air, and soil, and the demise of threatened and endangered species.3

The Clean Water Act of 1972 (CWA), which regulates discharges of pollutants into waters of the United States, is one of the most …

Wilderness, Water, And Climate Change, Sandra B. Zellmer

Faculty Law Review Articles

As the nation searches for climate mitigation and adaptation strategies, the pressure to develop water resources within wilderness areas and to exploit the timber, forage, wildlife, fish, and other virtually untapped components of wilderness will become more acute. This Article makes the case that managers and legislatures should not yield to this pressure and argues that, if anything, the need to preserve untrammeled wilderness characteristics is just as imperative today as it was in 1964 when the Wilderness Act was passed The Article examines the potency of the Wilderness Act and a trio of federal water law doctrines-federally reserved water …

Montana Groundwater Law In The Twenty-First Century, John B. Carter

Montana Law Review

Montana Groundwater Law

Why Resilience May Not Always Be A Good Thing: Lessons In Ecosystem Restoration From Glen Canyon And The Everglades, Sandra B. Zellmer, Lance Gunderson

Faculty Law Review Articles

No abstract provided.

State And Local Governments Address The Twin Challenges Of Climate Change And Energy Alternatives, Irma S. Russell, Jeffery S. Dennis

Faculty Journal Articles & Other Writings

This article examines new programs and initiatives that states, local governments, and regional groups have embarked upon to address the issues of climate change and energy alternatives. The article also questions whether these efforts will be overtaken by federal action or whether a tradition of cooperative federalism will continue.