Public Lands
A Century of Bipartisan Effort
Over 110 years, Presidents of both parties have worked to save national monuments.
Let’s take a break from the bitter partisan warfare and celebrate a bipartisan triumph: preserving numerous national monuments by presidents of both parties. This effort includes creation of 1.6 million square miles of marine preserves by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. It’s impressive just how many of our Presidents have been involved in …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Steadily-Dying Sierra Nevadas
Drought, Bark Beetle Infestation, Climate Change Imperil Sierra Pine Forests
Like over 600 other environmental lawyers, professors, law students and regulators, I attended the 25th annual Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite last weekend. As always, the Conference–sponsored by the California State Bar’s Environmental Law Section–was a big success, filled with inspirational speakers and thought-provoking panels. But the major topic of conversation–during the Conference proceedings, in …
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CONTINUE READINGState regulation of environmental harms on federal lands
California Supreme Court case indicates substantial authority for states to act
Sean has already reported on the recent Rinehart decision by the California Supreme Court, in which the Court concluded that a state law imposing a temporary moratorium on the use of suction dredge equipment in California waterways was not preempted by federal mining law. Here, I just want to add to Sean’s excellent summary by …
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CONTINUE READINGObama’s Public Lands Conservation Legacy
Progress, but still much more to do
President Obama has gotten some high praise lately from the New York Times editorial board, and this op-ed from Prof. David Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice noted for his biography of President Theodore Roosevelt. Brinkley compares Obama favorably to Teddy Roosevelt for his conservation legacy. The specific recent actions by President Obama that prompted …
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CONTINUE READINGBikes in Wilderness
A misguided proposal in Congress
This New York Times article notes that a bill (S. 3205) is pending in Congress to allow mountain bikes in federally-designated wilderness areas. In short, the bill is a terrible idea. First, on the merits, allowing mountain bikes into wilderness areas has the potential for significant impacts both on other humans using wilderness, and on …
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CONTINUE READINGAmerica’s Best Environmental and Economic Bargain
…and Other Concluding Thoughts About the National Park System
(This is the final installment in a series of posts celebrating the centennial anniversary of the National Park Service.) A wag once observed: It’s hell getting old, but it beats the alternative. I can personally attest to the fact that it’s not a lot of fun achieving senior citizen status. I can’t run as far …
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CONTINUE READINGA(n Admittedly Subjective) List of America’s Very Best National Parks
(This is the fourth in a series of posts this week commemorating the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Park Service.) I love lists. Whether it’s a compilation of the year’s top movies, the best restaurants in California (out-doing even the best restaurants in Bozeman where I grew up), or the best rock …
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CONTINUE READINGMajor Challenges Face the National Park Service in Its Next Century
Park Overcrowding, Crumbling Infrastructure, Changing Constituency Top the List
(This is the third in a series of posts this week commemorating the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Park Service.) To be sure, the National Park Service has much to celebrate as it observes its 100th birthday. The Park Service oversees a stunning and diverse set of national parks, monuments, historic and …
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CONTINUE READINGThe (Relatively) Unknown Treasures of the National Park Service
Our National Park System Consists of Far More Than Just National Parks
When most Americans think of the National Park Service, they contemplate the nation’s stellar collection of national parks: Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Everglades and the other 56 parks created by acts of Congress since 1872. But that’s only part of the story and holdings of the National Park Service, which celebrates its 100th birthday this week. …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Supreme Court Holds Unanimously that the State May Restrict Mining Methods on Federal Lands
Court in People v. Rinehart Upholds State Moratorium on Suction-Dredge Mining
Last year, as I discussed in a prior post, the California Supreme Court granted the State of California’s petition for review in the case of People v. Rinehart. I’m pleased to say that today, the Supreme Court has issued a unanimous opinion, authored by Justice Werdegar, in favor of the state’s moratorium on suction-dredge mining on federal lands. …
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