Natural Resources Law – 6234

Fall 2013
Alexandra Klass

Natural Resources Law is an expansive body of statutes, rules, customs, and processes governing the ways individuals, corporations, and local, state, and national governments interact with water, air, land, wildlife, minerals, forests, and other natural resources. In this course, we will study the private and public aspects of natural resources; the local, state, and federal regulation of these resources; ownership interests and rights relating to these resources; protection and regulation of recreational and cultural resources; and how our relationship with natural resources has evolved through the history of the United States. The primary objectives of this course are as follows: (1) understand the legal principles governing natural resources at a local, state, and federal level; (2) develop an understanding of the concept of natural resources and appreciate our relationship with the natural environmental from a cultural and economic perspective in addition to a legal perspective; and (3) learn and apply principles of statutory interpretation in the context of laws governing natural resources.