Volume 25, Issue 4
Fall 1995
ANNIVERSARY REMARKS
On May 18, 1995, the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program of
Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College celebrated its
twenty-fifth anniversary. The celebration featured two individuals who play
prominent roles formulating environmental and natural resources policy for the
United States. These Remarks are adaptations of speeches delivered at the
anniversary celebration.
Environmental Law and Millennial Politics
Denis Hayes
Mr. Hayes served as National
Coordinator of the first Earth Day in 1970 and International Chairman of the
twentieth anniversary of Earth Day in 1990. Reflecting upon the decline of the
environmental movement during the past few years, Mr. Hayes challenges movement
leaders to acknowledge their weaknesses and offers a strategy for rebuilding
public support for environmental protection.
Challenges to Environmental Law
John D. Leshy
Mr. Leshy is the Solicitor of the
United States Department of the Interior. Pointing to current efforts by
congressional Republicans to weaken many existing environmental laws, Mr. Leshy
emphasizes the urgent need for continued scholarship and public service in the
fields of environmental and natural resources law.
ARTICLES
Addressing Barriers to Watershed Protection
Robert W. Adler
Professor Adler engages in a
comprehensive review of the history of watershed programs in the United States
and discusses the underlying issues preventing those programs from succeeding.
Recognizing the need for comprehensive watershed-based protections, Professor
Adler concludes with a thorough analysis of recommendations for future
watershed programs.
Section 7(a)(1) of the "New" Endangered Species
Act: Rediscovering and Redefining the Untapped Power of Federal Agencies' Duty
to Conserve Species
J.B. Ruhl
Professor Ruhl discusses the
history of section 7(a)(1) of the Endangered Species Act, which imposes a duty
to conserve species on all federal agencies, and explores the recent
administrative and congressional actions affecting this duty. He argues that the
provision should be interpreted to require federal agencies to implement
programs for the recovery of endangered species.
The Dilemma of Mental State in Federal Regulatory Crimes:
The Environmental Example
Susan F. Mandiberg
Professor Mandiberg draws upon
Supreme Court case law and traditional common-law principles to suggest a
framework for interpreting the mental state provisions of environmental and
other regulatory crimes. Unlike other commentators, she suggests that
mental-state analysis be grounded in notions of moral wrongdoing, understood
from a modern perspective. Profesor Mandiberg then applies this framework to
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean Water Act, and the
Migratory Bird Treaty Act to resolve some outstanding issues and illuminate
others that have not yet been widely addressed by courts.
COMMENT
Wheelchair Accessibility in Wilderness Areas: The Nexus
Between the ADA and the Wilderness Act
Jennie Bricker
Ms. Bricker explores the
interaction of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Wilderness Act to
determine whether wilderness areas can be made more accessible to individuals
with disabilities while simultaneously protecting "wilderness
character" in those areas. She concludes that greater access is allowable
under the Wilderness Act, though not reflected in currently proposed ADA
regulations.
BOOK REVIEWS
Pooling Our Resources: A Review of Northwest Passage:
The Great Columbia River
Leslie A. Carlough
Mr. Carlough finds this book to
be an insightful and entertaining historical analysis of the Columbia River.
This Review, like the book, adds perspective to our changing attitudes toward
the Columbia River and our treatment of the environment.
The Law and Policy of the Endangered Species Act
Reauthorization: Noah's Choices and Ecological Mandarins
Donald A. Carr & William L. Thomas
In this Review of Noah's
Choice: The Future of Endangered Species, Messrs. Carr and Thomas highlight
the potential role of this book in the current congressional debate over
reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act. Although critical at times, this
Review applauds Noah's Choice for recognizing the need to keep species
recovery efforts in perspective.
A Moment of Truth: Correcting the Scientific Errors in
Gregg Easterbrook's A Moment on the Earth
Environmental Defense Fund
In this detailed and
scientifically supported Review, the Environmental Defense Fund finds
Easterbrook's portrayal of environmentalists as "doomsayers" to be
highly inaccurate and based on a poor understanding of scientific principles.
By pointing out specific flaws in Easterbrook's analysis, this Review warns
against relying on Easterbrook's work for answers to tough policy questions.
CLEAR THE AIR
A Case History of EPA Overkill
Norman J. Weiner, Clifford B. Olsen & Jerry B. Hodson
The authors represented Taylor Lumber and Treating, Inc., which owns and operates a sawmill and wood treating plant, in a CERCLA enforcement action. Before settling, Taylor suffered an expensive ride through a maze of state and federal regulations that arguably provided little public benefit. Drawing upon the Taylor experience, the authors contend that the current environmental regulatory system should be overhauled to provide local authorities with more power and flexibility.