Public Lands and Natural Resources Law (E. Bib*r)

This will be a survey course covering the management of public and private natural resources, including timber, minerals, and rangelands. Because federal public lands are a major component of natural resource management in the United States, much of the class covers lands such as National Forests, Bureau of Land Management lands, and National Parks. The course also looks closely at the agencies that manage those public lands, and explores the role that courts and the legal system should play in supervising those agencies – accordingly, there is substantial coverage of administrative law and its application to natural resources management. We will also talk about the other part of natural resource management in the United States – state and federal regulation of natural resources on state and private lands – including oil and gas law and the state public trust doctrine. Statutes covered in detail include the National Forest Management Act, the General Mining Law of 1872, the Taylor Grazing Act, the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Wilderness Act.

Exam Notes: TH/P