Natural Resources Law

The law and policy of how we manage nature, from biodiversity, fisheries and water, to minerals and forests, among others. An introduction to the historical and constitutional geography of American public lands: the national parks, forests, wilderness system, and grazing lands, and disputes over federal versus local control of these. There is special attention to the historical and political origins of our competing ideas of how nature matters and how it should be managed, from economically productive use to outdoor recreation to preserving the natural world for its own sake. Attention also to the complicated interplay of science and law.