NATURAL RESOURCES LAW

This site is intended to provide assistance to the student interested in developing a general understanding of the natural resource problems the United States faces and an idea of how the legal system helps us cope with increasing demands on limited and dwindling resources. Numerous issues arise in the study of natural resources law and policy. Should a resource be used or conserved? Who owns our natural resources? How and why are they regulated? What are the effects on society and on the physical environment of their use and misuse? What are the effects on society of their nonuse? Is our lifestyle sustainable? If not, can we develop a sustainable lifestyle? Or, are we programmed to self-destruct?

This sites surveys major resources, but as with any survey, the materials give but a glimpse of areas that can be, and are, treated in depth in special courses. A look at the catalogues of a few law schools, especially those in the western part of the country, reveals courses in Oil and Gas Law, Coal Law, Energy Law, Federal Public Lands, Water Law, and Mining Law.

Resource issues in the east, historically, have been less pronounced than in the west. The smaller amounts of energy fuels such as oil and gas in the east may produce less need for state regulation than is true in the west, but the east has significant experience with another major energy fuel, coal. The greater abundance of water in the east has resulted in fewer conflicts between users and consequently fewer legal disputes. That may be changing, however, as a growing population demands more water, and the consequential increased used produces a decrease in water quality. Thus, even in the east, water is a resource that calls for our attention.

The national interest is high with respect to all natural resource issues. Energy resources must be closely watched by all since uses of these resources have significant national consequences. Also, offshore deposits of oil and gas constantly tempt oil companies, who then do battle with coastal states and the federal government to gain permission to drill.

Debate over the preservation or use of public land resources is intense. Whether it be drilling for oil in Alaska, clear cutting the national forests in North Carolina, giving away valuable minerals under the 1872 mining law, creating off-limits wilderness areas in Utah, what occurs on the public lands is the public's business, east and west. And, finally, the question of international resource issues should be considered. While not specifically addressed in these materials, United States' reliance on other countries' resources (and vice-versa) must be factored into development of a sustainable national and global lifestyle. The consequences of the ever increasing American demand for resources on other societies, not a part of the industrialized world, are great. Consider, for example, U.S. government support of U.S companies drilling in the Amazonian rainforest of Ecuador, which threatens the survival of the Huarani and others. Must these people be eradicated or converted? Preserving them would require non-exploitation of some resources. It is unlikely that there is the will to do that.