Colorado Environmental Law Journal

  INTRODUCTION Our ancestors biggest fear, what they feared most at treaty time, was a loss of the ability to hunt, fish, and gather foods like they’d always done. That’s why they asked for these things to be included in the treaty. – Warm Springs Tribal Member[2] The first foods are the most important thing to us. When we lay out the first foods on the table it is like laying out your life, because the first foods are what sustain you. – Umatilla Tribal Continue reading →

PROLOGUE This piece, a story that has long needed to be told in full, traces the evolution of the historic 1971 decision by the citizens of the City of Boulder, Colorado to place a height limit of fifty-five feet on all future buildings. Ruth Wright is the perfect person to recount this fascinating episode. She was deeply involved in accomplishing this City Charter amendment and also happens to be a careful and objective scholar as well as a writer who knows how to present an Continue reading →

  INTRODUCTION ♣[1]†With continuing population growth and a changing climate, Colorado’s finite water resources face unprecedented pressure. Current projections indicate that Colorado’s population will increase from the current 5.2 million people to between 8.3 and 9.2 million by 2050.[5] As a result of population growth, 2050 municipal water demand is predicted to swell by 600,000 to 1,000,000 acre-feet annually—a sixty to 100 percent increase—primarily to meet Front Range needs.[6] Colorado’s remaining undeveloped water resources are limited, however, and pose nearly insurmountable challenges for thirsty Front Continue reading →

  INTRODUCTION In recent years, the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) has attempted to institute a “Fast-Track” permitting process for renewable energy projects on public lands, which is supposed to increase the efficiency and speed of project development.[2] However, previous attempts have met procedural and administrative hurdles that have led to legal resistance.[3] The new changes BLM is making are likely to encounter similar problems. Given the ten-year trend toward fast-tracking permitting processes on western public lands, and the continued resistance by environmental and cultural Continue reading →

INTRODUCTION Hydropower is one of humankind’s oldest sources of energy.[2] Civilizations from the ancient Mesopotamian region utilized dams in one form or another as early as 8,000 years ago.[3] More than 2,000 years ago, the Greeks utilized the flow of rivers to turn water wheels which then ground wheat into flour.[4] Indeed, it is difficult to imagine any society that did not harness “[t]he power of water . . . for irrigation, grinding corn, metal forging, [or] mining” when environmental conditions allowed.[5] And despite its age, hydropower remains Continue reading →

ABSTRACT In 2014 Congress passed the Huna Tlingit Traditional Gull Egg Use Act. The Act reestablishes a native gull egg harvest that had been eliminated in the 1960s. The new statute, however, does not reference the Migratory Bird Treaty Act or the migratory bird treaties, and the new statute contains several provisions that conflict with one or the other of those documents. Statutes that conflict with earlier treaties without explicitly abrogating them have been found to be unenforceable in court. Therefore, this new statute may Continue reading →

I. INTRODUCTION The Navajo Nation has a bitter history with uranium mining. Uranium mining began in and around the Navajo Nation reservation in 1942, as the uses of uranium were just being discovered.[2] When the worldwide sprint for uranium began during World War II, the dangers associated §with uranium were not yet well understood.[3] Uranium mining safety regulations were generally not implemented.[4] Even later on, however, when the dangers were known, appropriate mining procedures were often not implemented.[5] These precautions were especially lacking in hundreds Continue reading →