Natural Resources Law Commons^™

Table Of Contents

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Letter To The Reader

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Interaction Of U.S. Public Lands, Water, And State Sovereignty In The West: A Reassessment And Celebration, John D. Leshy

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Protections Of Property Interests In Western Water, James L. Huffman, Hertha L. Lund, Christopher T. Scoones

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Good, The Bad, And The Unnecessary : Forest Fire Suppression Funding And Forest Management Provisions Of The Consolidated Appropriations Act Of 2018, Peter B. Taylor

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Massachusetts Lobstermen’S Association V. Ross, Daniel Brister

Public Land & Resources Law Review

President Obama established the first––and only––national monument in the Atlantic Ocean on September 15, 2016. Located 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and comprised of 4,913 square miles of marine ecosystems rich in biodiversity, the protected area includes four underwater mountains and three submarine canyons. Plaintiff commercial lobster and fishing associations, seeking to overturn the designation, asserted that the Antiquities Act does not permit a president to establish marine national monuments. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia disagreed, upholding a president’s authority to protect offshore areas and vast ecosystems as objects of scientific interest, and dismissing …

Dam(N) Displacement: Compensation, Resettlement, And Indigeneity, Stephen R. Munzer

Cornell International Law Journal

Hydroelectric dams produce electricity, provide flood control, and improve agricultural irrigation. But the building and operation of these dams frequently involve forced displacement of local communities. Displacement often has an outsized impact on indigenous persons, who are disproportionately poor, repressed, and politically marginalized. One can limit these adverse effects in various ways: (1) taking seriously the ethics of dam-induced development, (2) rooting out corruption, (3) paying compensation at or near the beginning of dam projects, (4) using land-for-land exchanges, (5) disbursing resettlement funds as needed until displaced persons are firmly established in their new locations, and (6) having entities that …

Oil, Gas, And Rhesus Monkeys: A New Framework For Natural Resources Under The Commercial Activity Exception, Madelaine J. Horn

Cornell International Law Journal

The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA) constitutes an exception for sovereign states to the normal jurisdictional rules that govern when parties are subject to suit in US courts. The commercial activity provision is a carveout within that broad exception-it deprives sovereign states of their exceptional immunity when they engage in commercial conduct. Within this framework, courts have used the natural resource rule to circumvent the commercial activity carveout and restore immunity to sovereign states. This Note argues that the rule should be abandoned in favor of a much more limited test, thereby increasing the number of sovereign states …

Warming Oceans, Coastal Diseases, And Climate Change Public Health Adaptation, Robin Kundis Craig

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Climate change is changing the world’s ocean in three important ways. First, the ocean is warming. Second, sea levels are rising. Finally, ice is melting. All of these changes have important implications for human disease risk, ranging from a fairly prosaic increase in harmful algal blooms to the science-fictionish re-release of deadly microbes from long ago.

In the United States, coastal adaptation efforts to date have been sluggish. Many uncertainties attend climate change’s effects on the ocean, particularly with regard to sea-level rise and ice melting. In addition, the time scales involved are generally long, outside of the planning ken …

Controlling Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds For Air Quality, Brian Sawers

Indiana Law Journal

This Article tells a story that is true but seems completely wrong: Trees can make air pollution worse. Smog and ground-level ozone require two chemical ingredients to form: nitrous oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). On a warm, sunny day, these two precursors combine to form smog and ground-level ozone, a pollutant. While NOx are pollutants that are largely human-created, VOCs can originate with plants. In fact, emissions of just one type of VOC from trees exceed all human-caused emissions.

This Article presents new research on the impact of plants, especially trees, on air quality. The science is complicated …

Call For Inputs: Climate Change And Human Rights: A Safe Climate, Sara L. Seck, Lisa Benjamin

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

There is now global agreement that human rights norms apply to the full spectrum of environmental issues, including climate change. The previous Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, Mr. John Knox, developed Framework Principles on Human Rights and the Environment that set forth three sets of duties that engage both States and businesses: procedural obligations; substantive obligations; and obligations relating to those in vulnerable situations.

The current Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, Mr. David Boyd, is working to provide additional clarity regarding the substantive obligations relating to a range of elements that are essential to …

Impacts Of The Changing Ocean-Sea Ice System On The Key Forage Fish Arctic Cod (Boreogadus Saida) And Subsistence Fisheries In The Western Canadian Arctic—Evaluating Linked Climate, Ecosystem And Economic (Cee) Models, Nadja S. Steiner, William W. L. Cheung, Andres M. Cisneros-Montemayor, Helen Drost, Hakase Hayashida, Carie Hoover, Jen Lam, Tessa Sou, U. Rashid Sumaila, Paul Suprenand, Travis C. Tai, David Vanderzwaag

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This study synthesizes results from observations, laboratory experiments and models to showcase how the integration of scientific methods and indigenous knowledge can improve our understanding of (a) past and projected changes in environmental conditions and marine species; (b) their effects on social and ecological systems in the respective communities; and (c) support management and planning tools for climate change adaptation and mitigation. The study links climate-ecosystem-economic (CEE) models and discusses uncertainties within those tools. The example focuses on the key forage species in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (Western Canadian Arctic), i.e., Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida). Arctic cod can be …

Advancing Research For The Management Of Long-Lived Species: A Case Study On The Greenland Shark, Jena E. Edwards, Elizabeth Hiltz, Franziska Broell, Peter G. Bushnell, Steven E. Campana, Jørgen S. Christiansen, Brynn M. Devine, Jeffrey J. Gallant, Kevin J. Hedges, M. Aaron Macneil, Bailey C. Mcmeans, Julius Nielsen, Kim Præbel, Gregory B. Skomal, John F. Steffensen, Ryan P. Walter, Yuuki Y. Watanabe, David Vanderzwaag, Nigel E. Hussey

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Long-lived species share life history traits such as slow growth, late maturity, and low fecundity, which lead to slow recovery rates and increase a population’s vulnerability to disturbance. The Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) has recently been recognized as the world’s longest-lived vertebrate, but many questions regarding its biology, physiology, and ecology remain unanswered. Here we review how current and future research will fill knowledge gaps about the Greenland shark and provide an overall framework to guide research and management priorities for this species. Key advances include the potential for specialized aging techniques and demographic studies to shed light …

How International Oil Companies Could Assist Greece To Achieve The Sustainable Development Goals: A Conversation Starter, Alexandra Sdoukou, Andreas Tornaritis, Perrine Toledano

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

This policy paper wishes to be a timely contribution towards a fruitful debate among stakeholders; it urges International Oil Companies (IOCs) to examine how the critical Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Greece can be integrated into their core business so that the oil and gas industry can contribute to the country’s sustainable growth.

Bridging The Information Gap: How Access To Land Contracts Can Serve Community Rights, Lara Wallis, Sam Szoke-Burke

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Land contracts (also known as investor-state contracts, or concession agreements) show what commitments a forestry, farming or renewable energy company has made and what the government has said the company can do on the land. These promises define the positive and harmful effects the company’s project could have on community members’ livelihoods and human rights, and on the environment.

Accessing land contracts is a crucial strategy for local organizations. This briefing note explains how local organizations can use land contracts and the Open Land Contracts repository (OpenLandContracts.org) to help communities to:

• Understand company and government obligations related to a company …

Reputational And Integrity Due Diligence On Investors, Kroll, Columbia Center On Sustainable Investment

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Before deciding to invest, companies and investors will perform background research on the uncertainties and risks associated with the proposed investment. For natural resource projects, there are risks around geology, market and price developments, construction delays, operations, regulatory changes, political disruptions, and reputational issues. Feasibility studies and due diligence assessments aim to better understand these risks, reduce uncertainty where possible and be better prepared to manage them.

Governments too should understand the risks that are associated with the proposed investments and get to know the investors before entering into negotiations or signing contracts. This is particularly important for long-term agreements …

Sustainable Development And Indian Environmental Jurisprudence, Saptarishi Bandopadhyay

Articles & Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Island Invasion: The Silent Crisis In Hawaii, Sophia Janssen

Pomona Senior Theses

Keeping out invasive species may, upon first review, seem like a trivial environmental cry from ecologists and deep environmentalists; a belated wish to return to an undeveloped world where nature was pristine. However invasive species create problems that impact all of us and can have far more severe consequences than changing a stunning landscape. These problems are heightened in islands like Hawaii, where the fragile ecosystems have developed over centuries of evolution and adaptation. The introduction of a disease-carrying mosquito can put the people of Hawaii at risk to many vector-born illnesses and create an epidemic, taking human life. The …

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 …

Strictly Leakage: How Minnesota Export Subsidies Pay For Climate Pollution, Hudson B. Kingston

Mitchell Hamline Law Review

No abstract provided.