Colorado Environmental Law Journal

    As the salmon disappear, so do our tribal cultures and treaty rights. We are at a crossroads and we are running out of time. Introduction Political protests at the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota symbolize the modern Indian movement demanding the federal government to recognize tribal sovereignty and treat American Indian tribes as respectable governments. The protests at Standing Rock serve as a catalyst for the tribes’ call to be consulted, as required by federal laws, before major development projects requiring federal Continue reading →

[1]Authors’ note: The analysis and citations in this article to “current” Bureau of Land Management (BLM) planning regulations are to the regulations in effect in 2015, when the article was initially prepared. In 2016, BLM issued new planning regulations, to be effective in January of 2017. However, on March 7, 2017, Congress voted to rescind these regulations pursuant to the Congressional Review Act. As of this writing, the President has not signed the bill into law, but there is little doubt that he will. When he Continue reading →

I. Introduction This Note offers an analysis of how courts in the Tenth Circuit should interpret water development project Environmental Impact Statements (“EIS”) in an increasingly dry and environmentally sensitive West. The analysis is carried out through a case study of the Supplemental Draft EIS (“SDEIS”) for the Northern Integrated Supply Project (“NISP”), a water development project on the northern Front Range. The case study and analysis will show why Tenth Circuit courts should demand that all No Action Alternatives (“NAA”) within an EIS consider Continue reading →

Introduction Just north of Yellowstone National Park, in the Upper Yellowstone River watershed, two proposed gold mines threaten one of America’s most beautiful and biodiverse areas. This Note will argue that a federal act similar to the North Fork Watershed Protection Act of 2014, which withdrew 430,000 acres of public land from mining in northwest Montana, should be passed to ban any new mining and stop the expansion of current mining operations in the Upper Yellowstone River watershed. The Yellowstone River begins its 671-mile journey Continue reading →

  INTRODUCTION Designating areas for conservation purposes often causes conflict in communities with competing public and private interests, particularly when the federal government is involved. However, due to increasing population and a finite land base, conserving natural resources is important for this and future generations. Collaborative methods that encourage local input can help alleviate long-term problems, although the process itself may still be contentious. Communities may use collaborative resource management, a discourse-based process, to combine overall policy initiatives with local concerns, taking into account citizens’ Continue reading →

  Introduction The Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) finalized its Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation Rule (“Waste Prevention Rule” “BLM Methane Rule,” or “Rule”) in November 2016. The stated purpose of the Rule is “to implement and carry out the purposes of statutes relating to prevention of waste from Federal and Indian (other than Osage Tribe) leases, conservation of surface resources, and management of the public lands for multiple use and sustained yield.”[2] The Waste Prevention Rule aims to achieve these Continue reading →

I. Introduction Since the enactment of the Wilderness Act in 1964, some western states and counties have become involved in protracted battles over the federal designation of Wilderness within their jurisdictions. Many of these states and counties are composed of significant amounts of federally controlled land – for example, 64.5 percent of the State of Utah is owned and managed by the federal government.[2] For many of these communities, Wilderness is viewed as a threat because it restricts certain revenue-generating activities (e.g. oil or gas Continue reading →

  ABSTRACT America’s Wilderness Act of 1964[2]* (the “Wilderness Act”) dedicates unique and scenically important federal lands for protection from development.  Over time, the increased acreage of federal land designated as Wilderness, and new legislative proposals to further expand Wilderness, have fueled controversy over the scope of activities that may be pursued in Wilderness areas.  One of the most hotly contested debates of the 21st Century examines whether the Act allows mountain bikers to recreate in Wilderness.  And, if not, the corollary question is raised of whether Continue reading →

  This Article focuses on Florida’s statutory provisions regulating gun ranges; those provisions provide a stark contrast to traditional environmental regulation. In 2004, Florida enacted legislation that makes lawsuits and other legal actions against gun ranges a “last-resort option” for addressing environmental impacts at the ranges and creates a rule that relies on the industry to define the standards for performance of gun range owners and operators. This legislation provides a good example for examining potential limits to self-regulation, which is important to understand in Continue reading →

*I. Introduction The headwaters of the Columbia River are in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Idaho, and Montana. From its headwaters, the Columbia River’s mainstem flows 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) crossing the U.S.–Canada border before it empties into the Pacific Ocean along the border between Oregon and Washington (figure 1). It is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest and the fourth largest in the United States. The Columbia River Basin (“the Basin”) covers 671,000 square kilometers (259,500 square miles), an area roughly the Continue reading →