Colorado Environmental Law Journal

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 →

    I. Introduction In January 2008, United Nations (“UN”) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon commented on the coincidence of water and conflict at the World Economic Forum. Pointing out that the world’s thirst will grow alongside its economy and that “many more conflicts lie over the horizon,” he observed that “too often, where we need water, we find guns.”[2] Some observers are quick to point to the coincidence of armed conflict in regions of water scarcity and resort to syllogism, often labeling them “water wars.”[3] While 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 →

    National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst. —Wallace Stegner[2]   I. INTRODUCTION In the mid-morning hours of Saturday, September 7, 2013, as the summer season was winding down at Yellowstone National Park, three-year-old Ella Marie Tucker found her father’s gun and shot herself.[3] Park emergency personnel tried to resuscitate her, but Ella died, the victim of the first fatal shooting in Yellowstone in over three decades.[4] Ella’s Continue reading →

        I. Introduction “Balance, that’s the secret. Moderate extremism. The best of both worlds.”[2] As a result of United States federal land policy in the early part of the country’s history, including the disposal of much of the federal land under the 1872 General Mining Law[3] and the granting of over 130 million acres to railroad companies,[4] much of the federal public land is scattered among various private land holdings throughout the country. This has made parts of the federal domain extremely Continue reading →

I. INTRODUCTION Coal is a necessary part of the twenty-first century global economy. Approximately thirty-six percent of all globally generated power is reliant on coal as a primary fuel source.[2] Cheap and relatively easy to extract and export, coal is the fuel of choice for many developing economies[3] and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.[4] In response to this demand, coal extraction operations will continue to produce coal for the global marketplace.[5] Found deep within the earth, coal extraction has historically been a Continue reading →