Rated A by preLaw Magazine!

The law school’s Natural Resources & Environmental Law Program (NREP) has been nationally ranked among the top 27 environmental law programs in the country, receiving an “A” grade for the breadth of our environmental training, including our certificate concentration, our curricular offerings, Public Land & Resources Law Review, Environmental Law Group, environmental moot court team, and clinic program focusing on natural resources and environmental law issues.

Canadian Supreme court Justice russell Brown Presents on Indigenous Land Rights

We were privileged to host Canadian Supreme Court Justice Russell Brown, who spent time with our students in Water Law and Philosophy of Law and delivered a compelling keynote address titled “Indigenous Law at the Supreme Court of Canada.” Justice Brown’s address focused on recent developments in the recognition of First Nations land rights.

Clinic Students Focus on Government Service

Under the direction of Professor Sandra Zellmer, clinician Sarah Snow Kottke worked with attorney Elizabeth Erickson of Missoula Parks & Recreation on the removal of Mountain Water Company's dams from the Rattlesnake Recreation Area. Sarah worked through issues involving agency authority, access rights and responsibilities, and requirements imposed by the Clean Water Act, the Wilderness Act, NEPA, and other federal, state, and local provisions. 

Clinician Alyssa Probst worked with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks on issues related to federal authority for wildlife management on public lands. Her subject arose from a research project on fishing regulations for the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. She presented her work to the Department Director, attorneys, and bureau chiefs, engaging over twenty participants in questions and in-depth discussion. 

Our Summer Indian Law courses are underway! In addition to giving our students and students from across the country the opportunity to learn about a diverse range of Indian law topics from nationally renowned scholars and practitioners, we are once again offering CLE credit for all of our courses, which makes them a great opportunity for practitioners too! This summer’s remaining courses are: 

June 25-29: Designing Effective Governmental Regulations, Danna Jackson, Chief Legal Counsel, Montana Department of Natural Resource & Conservation, Helena, Montana, and Public Administration Professor Sara Rinfret, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana

July 2-6: Alaska Native Law and Policy, Matt Newman, Staff Attorney, Native American Rights Fund, Anchorage, Alaska

July 9-13: Native Hawaiian Law, Professor Melody Kapilialoha MacKenzie, William S. Richardson School of Law, Honolulu, Hawaii

July 16-20: Water Law in Indian Country, John Carter, Tribal Attorney, Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes, Pablo, Montana

July 23-27: Indigenous Peoples in International Law, Professor Kristen Carpenter, University of Colorado School of Law, Boulder, Colorado
July 30-August 3: Public Policy and the Tribes, Public Administration Professor Adam Brewer, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana

To register, visit www.umt.edu/indianlaw.

Cremer Award for Best Environmental Law Paper

Congratulations to this year’s winners of the Cremer Award for Best Paper in Environmental Law:

John Byorth – Conservation Necessity and the Culvert Case: Supremacy of Treaty Rights as a Limit on State Power and an Expansion Tribal Authority
(written in American Indian Natural Resources Law)

Kirsa Shelkey – Reimagining the National Park: Lessons from Lobeke, Cameroon

(written in International Environmental Law)

Program Faculty Engage in International Initiatives

Professor Sam Panarella recently directed the school’s China Comparative Law Summer Study Abroad Program. Along with a Chinese professor from Southwest University of Politics and Law (SWUPL) in Chongqing, China, he taught comparative renewable energy law to 12 American students and 14 Chinese students over the course of two weeks.

Professor Monte Mills recently visited Cambodia as a Professional Fellow on behalf of the U.S. State Department and Mansfield Center’s Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative (YSEALI). He and the law school hosted a professional lecturer from Cambodia in Fall 2017, and this spring’s trip was part of that professional exchange. While in Cambodia, Professor Mills spoke with university students from across Phnom Penh about legal education in the United States and the American legal system, including federal Indian law and international indigenous rights.

Follow Us!

Our Program is on Facebook and Instagram, sharing events, job openings, and news relevant to the natural resources and American Indian law issues our students are studying in the classroom. Follow us and join the conversation!