In anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the 1970 Public Land Law Review Commission, the Center -- in partnership with the Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources, and the Environment and the Consensus Building Institute -- catalyzed a multi-year effort in 2015 to identify the most salient changes that have occurred over the past 50-years; examine what is/is not working with respect to law, policy, and governance; and explore options on how to improve federal land and resources management, including the option of another comprehensive review of federal public land law, policy, and institutional arrangements.

We started in 2015 by convening a workshop of recognized experts in federal public land law, policy, and governance. The findings from that workshop (presented below) then served as the foundation for a series of interviews with about 20 additional experts. Those interviews were completed in 2017 and the results are presented below in the needs assessment.

During 2018 and 2019, we convened some larger conferences and published lessons learned in a couple law review articles. In 2019, we also started planning to convene a national policy dialogue in 2020 on sustaining outdoor recreation on federal public lands.

For more information, please see the resources below and feel free to get in touch.

Resources

• Robert B. Keiter and Matthew McKinney, “Public Land and Resources Law in the American West: Time For Another Comprehensive Review?” Environmental Law (2019).
• Wallace Stegner Center 24th Annual Symposium: Recreation Challenges on Public Lands (2019).
• John Leshey, “Debunking the Creation Myths of America’s Public Lands,” Keynote Address, Wallace Stegner Center 23rd Annual Symposium: Public Lands in a Changing West. Wallace Stegner Center 23rd Annual Symposium: Public Lands in a Changing West (2018).
• Matthew McKinney, “Whither Public Participation in Federal Land Management? Replicating Homegrown Innovations in Shared Problem Solving,” Environmental Law Reporter (2018).
• Summary of Spring 2018 Working Session
• The Future of Federal Public Land and Resources: A Needs Assessment (2017)
• One Third of the Nation’s Lands (Revisited): The Wasatch Front Prospectus on the Future of Federal Public Lands and Resources (October 30, 2015)
• Alternative Approaches to Natural Resources Study Commissions (April 10, 2015)
• One Third of the Nation’s Land: A Report to the President and to the Congress by the Public Land Law

For More Information

For more information, please contact Matthew McKinney.