Natural Resources Law Seminar
Spring 2009
Professor Marcilynn A. Burke

Coursepage Outline

Syllabus

Course Outline

Announcements

General Class Information

Student Presentations

Links to Useful Web Sites

 
Lyle Point on the Columbia River, Hood River, UT
Meeting Place TUII - 117
Meeting Times

Mondays: 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
Office Hours Mondays: 5:45 - 7:00 p.m.; Wednesdays: 2:30 - 4:30 p.m; or by appointment (e-mail to schedule)
Course Description Natural Resources Law surveys the mechanisms for the management, use, and preservation of natural resources on federal land, including wildlife, wilderness, refuges rivers, national parks, minerals, and timber. This course considers the history, jurisdiction, and conflicts of the land management agencies (primarily the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior) under the various natural resources statutes such as the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, to name a few. Current issues to be considered include: the ban on snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park, the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule ("Roadless Rule"), drilling for gas in Nine Mile Canyon in Utah (where there is the greatest concentration of Native American rock art in the United States), and drilling for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. The objectives of this course are to teach the substantive law of the subject matter in a comprehensive manner, to consider ethical and professional questions related to the subject matter, and to integrate the subject matter with the analytical and practical skills necessary to the practice of law.
Required Text

Eugene Volokh, Academic Legal Writing: Law Review Articles, Student Notes, and Seminar Papers (Foundation Press 2003) [hereinafter "Volokh"]
Prerequisites None.
Paper Requirements and Deadlines All deadlines must be met by 5:00 p.m. on the date specified. All written work must be submitted via e-mail attachment to me at mburke@central.uh.edu AND my assistant Abraham Roberts at ajrober2@central.uh.edu. Please be sure to clearly state in the re: line of your e-mail what your are sending (e.g., Seminar Outline). More specific requirements can be found in the Paper Requirements document. Also, please review the document on Plagiarism and do not hesitate to ask any questions regarding this matter.

Outline

Meeting to Discuss Outline by

First Draft

Presentations

Final Draft

February 23, 2009

March 2, 2009

March 26 - April 16, 2009. Papers due on the Thursday before presentation. (Specific dates to be determined by drawing lots.)

March 30 - April 20, 2009

May 4, 2009
Coverage Anticipate that the coverage will be approximately 50 substantive pages per class along with portions of Volokh's book. Assignments will be detailed below as the semester progresses.
Attendance Requirements In accordance with the Law Center's requirement, you must attend at least 80% of the classes. Attendance will bet taken via a roll sheet passed around at the beginning of class. It is your responsibility to be on time and sign the roll sheet when it comes by your seat.
Student Presentations

During the last half of the semesters, students will present their papers to the class. On the Thursday before your class presentation, you must provide copies of your first draft to me and the other students. Before class on Monday, all non-presenting students must prepare a one-page set of comments on the papers for that day. The non-presenting students must provide me and the resepctive writers a copy of the comments.  If you are presenting, you do not have to comment on the papers that are presented on the same day.

Links to Useful Documents

Environmental Law Terms

Proofreader's Marks
Links to Useful Web Sites

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

Forest Service (FS)

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS/NOAA Fisheries)

National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA)

National Park Service (NPS)

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Texas General Land Office (GLO)

The Library of Congress (Thomas)

U.S. Department of Agriculture (DOA)

U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC)

U.S. Department of Interior (DOI)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS)

Announcements

Course Outline

I.

INTRODUCTION TO SCHOLARY WRITING
II.

INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL/NATURAL RESOURCES LAW
III.

WILDLIFE
IV.

TIMBER
V.

NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGES
VI.

RECREATION
VII. ENERGY

Syllabus

Date (2009) Topic and Slides Assignment
Jan. 21

Introduction to Scholarly Writing

Scholarly Writing

Required:
Volokh: 9-32 (The Basics), Plagiarism Handout, Samples of Law Review Articles

Jan. 26

INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL LAW/NATURAL RESOUCES LAW

Required:
Handout, Volokh: 9-38 (The Basics)

Feb. 2

Introduction to Natural Resources Cont'd

Introduction & History

Required:
Handout (You may skim p. 1-40. The focus of the reading is p. 41-61 of the handout)
Feb. 9

WILDLIFE PART 1

Required:
Handout; Volokh: 89-101 (Research)

Feb. 16

 WILDLIFE PART 2

Required:
Handout; Volokh: 102-14 (Writing)

Optional:
Anne Minard, Reintroduced Wolves Dying in Southwest, N.Y. Times, Nov. 4, 2003, at F2; Cornelia Dean, At a Scientific Gathering, U.S. Policies Are Lamented, N.Y. Times, Feb. 19, 2006

Feb. 23

NO CLASS

Sentence Outline with Thesis Statement due by 5:00 p.m. via an e-mail attachment to me and my assistant.
Each heading should be a complete sentence (subject, verb, etc.).

See this website for an example of a short sentence outline. Yours will likely be longer.
Mar. 2

TIMBER

Timber

Required:
Handout; Volokh: 101-26 (Using Evidence Correctly). For the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (pages 46-74), focus on Sections 1, 2, 3 (the first 2 pages) and Titles I, V, and VI. The White House's press release made four major points about the Act. See if you can find evidence of the following within the text of the Act.

  1. Strengthens public participation in developing high priority forest health projects;
  2. Reduces the complexity of environmental analysis allowing federal land agencies to use the best science available to actively manage land under their protection;
  3. Provides a more effective appeals process encouraging early public participation in project planning; and
  4. Issues clear guidance for court action against forest health projects.

Optional:
New Roadless Rule Cartoon; GAO questions land appraisal in Ore. wilderness bill (E&E Daily); Biscuit salvage projects lose money -- GAO (LandLetter); Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act, H.R. 4200, 109th Cong. (2006)

Mar. 9

NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGES

National Wildlife Refuges

Required:
Handout (For the last article, I only gave you the Introduction and Parts III and I and the Conclusion. Focus on Part III.); Volokh: 127-46 (Using Evidence Correctly cont'd)

Optional:

Mar. 16
SPRING BREAK
Mar. 23

RECREATION

Required:
Handout; Volokh: Consider rereading Chaper 1

Optional:
Ban on snowmobiling in Idaho national forest area only way to protect caribou, judge rules (Greenwire); Barry Estabrook, Safety First for Adventurers, N.Y. Times, May 16, 2004 (pdf); Jason Rapp, Comment, Snowmobiling and National Park Management: To Conserve for Future Generations or Provide for Public Enjoyment, 17 Tulane Envtl. L.J. 301 (2004) (link to HeinOnline).

Mar. 30
Student Presentations
Apr. 6

Student Presentations
Apr. 13
Student Presentations
Apr. 20
Student Presentations
Apr. 27

ENERGY

Required:
Handout

Optional:
May 4 Final Draft due by 5:00 p.m. via e-mail attachment to me and my assistant.