Meets the following requirements: HS   

By definition "public lands" belong to all of us, yet public lands in this country have a history of use (and abuse) by special interests and a shocking absence of any coherent management strategy for long-term sustainability.  This course is taught in seminar format in which students read and discuss several classic and thought-provoking expositions on the fate of our federal lands.  We examine the legal, philosophical, ecological, and political problems facing our National Parks, wilderness areas, wildlife refuges, national forests, and other public lands.  An effort is made to sort out the tangle of laws and conflicting policies that govern these public resources.  Special attention is given to policy debates currently underway such as: the old-growth controversy in the Pacific northwest, natural resource exploitation in national forests and on BLM lands, overuse of the National Parks, federal water policy in the west, the future of the National Forest System, and the growing "wise use" movement.  A significant portion of the student's grade is based on a group project looking closely at a management issue facing a nearby public land unit. 

Level: Intermediate/Advanced.  Prerequisite:  Environmental Law and Policy, Signature of instructor.
Offered every other year.  Lab fee $15.  *HS*