Natural Resources Law and Policy

This law school casebook presents the law and policy of natural resource management in a user-friendly and engaging manner. The book covers a wide range of natural resources—from forests and wildlife to oceans and rivers—with problem exercises and case studies for students to sharpen their understanding of the issues. The book begins with an exploration of the economic, scientific, political and ethical considerations that drive natural resource policy as well as consideration of the natural resource management challenges presented by common pool resources, scientific uncertainty, mismatched scale, market failures and institutional adequacy. The book then explores these themes and explicates the basic legal regimes for a range of resources—wildlife, fisheries, whaling, water, protected lands, range, mining, and forests. The book also considers natural resource law and management on both public lands and private property, as well as in international settings.