LAW 5895 - Seminar in Natural Resources Law

Credit(s): 3
Natural Resources Law is increasingly moving to the forefront of legal and political debates, and is ever more relevant to the professional practice of the environmental lawyer, resource manager, and policy-maker. From global overfishing concerns to the role of forests in both providing timber and addressing climate change, to the scarcity of water and the development of traditional and alternative energy sources, to the pressures placed on biodiversity by development and increasing populations. This course examines both the legal frameworks and resultant policy debates surrounding natural resources management, and explores the mechanisms by which law and policy facilitates resource management both in the U.S. and worldwide. We will discuss the cross-section of natural resources law and policy with environmental, administrative, property and land use, constitutional, and international law, culminating in a research paper on a discreet topic of interest to the student. The research paper serves the requirement for upper class writing credit.