Events

Intro to Practice: Environmental Law

Annie Carlozzi — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 17:55:45 +0000

Intro to Practice: Environmental Law Annie Carlozzi Thu, 09/18/2025 - 11:55

Intro to Practice Lunch Series

Tuesday, October 7, 2025 12pm to 12:50pm

Room 301

Explore various areas of legal practice in this series designed for 1L students (but open to all). Each week, a different panel of attorneys will discuss their particular area of practice (including what they do), provide insight into what skills and experiences helped them build their career path, and talk about what attracts employers in each of the practice areas. In addition to providing students with a glimpse into various practice areas, this lunch series also provides students with several contacts in these practice areas and an easy networking opportunity.

Students are encouraged to attend as many of the sessions that interest them. Lunch will be available at each of the sessions.

September 23 – Intellectual Property
September 30 – Judicial Clerkships
October 7 – Environmental
- Peter Jaacks (’21), Jewell Jimmerson Natural Resources Law LLC
- Robert Rigonan (’18), Earthjustice
- Senator Dylan Roberts, Colorado General Assembly
- Gabriella Stockmayer (’11), Dietze and Davis, P.C.
October 14 – Alternative Pathways in Law

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Oct 22: Ruth Wright Distinguished Lecture in Natural Resources with John Leshy

Annie Carlozzi — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 16:27:37 +0000

Oct 22: Ruth Wright Distinguished Lecture in Natural Resources with John Leshy Annie Carlozzi Wed, 07/16/2025 - 10:27

The Getches-Wilkinson Center is pleased to present the 2025 Ruth Wright Distinguished Lecture in Natural Resources with John Leshy on Wed, Oct 22nd at the Wolf Law Building in Boulder, CO.

On Shaky Ground: America’s Public Lands Face an Uncertain Future

Laying groundwork for the Martz Symposium, Leshy will discuss current challenges to America’s public lands, starting with a proposal to include, in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) that President Trump signed into law in early July, a mandate to sell off millions of acres. While that proposal failed after triggering widespread opposition from western Republicans, among many others, the OBBBA did contain several sweeping---if little-noticed---mandates aimed at industrializing many millions of acres of public lands. Meanwhile, the Trump Administration has taken aggressive steps, principally through deep personnel and budget cuts, to hollow out the four major federal land management agencies, apparently to persuade Americans that the federal government simply cannot manage these lands and thus make a case for transferring them to states and private interests.

The lecture will then address whether all this could fundamentally alter the objective of conserving large areas of land in national ownership, open to all, and managing them primarily for conservation, preservation, inspiration and recreation. That has been a primary objective of public land policy ever since the 1890s. It was then that---partly in reaction to the corruption and plunder by robber barons that marked the so-called Gilded Age---a movement flowered to conserve large areas of land in national ownership, leading to the public lands we see today. Now we are in a new Gilded Age, with the rich amassing unimaginable wealth while many ordinary Americans are stagnating. Leshy will conclude by discussing whether some rethinking of public land policy is in order, as calls grow for using these lands for, among other things, extracting critical minerals, upgrading the electrical grid, and siting renewable energy facilities, as support grows for streamlining governmental decision-making processes, as climate change exacerbates wildfires and droughts, and as recreational visits mushroom.

Wednesday, October 22nd

12-12:50pm Student Lunch with John Leshy in Room 206 - no registration required

6:00-7:30: Lecture: Wolf Law Building, Wittemyer Courtroom
7:30-8:30pm - Reception for all registered attendees

This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required to attend and/or receive the livestream link.
In person and Virtual (Zoom) attendance available.
There will be a reception following the lecture. Details will be sent to registered participants prior to the event.

General Colorado CLE credits are pending for this event.

Registration is OPEN!

John Leshy

John Leshy is Professor Emeritus at the University of California College of the Law in San Francisco. His political history of America’s public lands, Our Common Ground, was published in 2022 by Yale University Press. Leshy was Solicitor (General Counsel) of the Interior Department throughout the Clinton Administration, and earlier served as special counsel to the Chair of the Natural Resources Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, a law professor at Arizona State University, Associate Solicitor of Interior for Energy and Resources in the Carter Administration, an attorney-advocate with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and a litigator in the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. He headed the Interior Department transition team for Clinton-Gore in 1992 and was co-lead for Obama-Biden in 2008. He’s four times been a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1969, after earning an A.B. at Harvard College. His many publications include a book on the Mining Law of 1872 and co-authoring casebooks on public land and resources law (now in its 8th edition) and water law (now in its 7^th edition).

The Ruth Wright Distinguished Lecture in Natural Resources

In 2018, the GWC received a generous gift from the Wright Family Foundation to establish the Ruth Wright Distinguished Lecture in Natural Resources in honor of her inspiring legacy as a leader in western natural resources, land conservation, and environmental policy and advocacy. With this support, we look forward to bringing this free event to our community for years to come.

As a legislator, environmentalist, and historian, Ruth Wright dedicated her career to environmental issues and activism. While a student at Colorado Law, she led efforts to preserve Boulder’s open space and limit the height of buildings in Boulder to 55 feet to protect enjoyment of the unique landscape for the ages. In 1980, she was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives, where she represented Boulder until 1994. She was also the second woman ever to become the House minority leader, a role she held from 1986 until 1992. While serving in the House of Representatives, Wright continued to be a strategic champion for the environment, and has been recognized by such groups as the Colorado Wildlife Foundation, the ACLU, the Sierra Club, and Colorado Open Lands.

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Oct 23 & 24: 2025 Martz Symposium on Public Lands

Annie Carlozzi — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 17:27:20 +0000

Oct 23 & 24: 2025 Martz Symposium on Public Lands Annie Carlozzi Mon, 06/23/2025 - 11:27

The Getches-Wilkinson Center will be convening the 2025 Martz Symposium on Public Lands: "Public Lands in Public Hands – Reflections on 50 Years of Retention History" on Thurs, Oct 23rd and Fri, Oct 24th at the Wolf Law Building in Boulder, CO.

Public Lands in Public Hands – Reflections on 50 Years of Retention History

The Federal Land Policy and Management Act marked a new chapter in the history of public lands in the United States. In that 1976 law, Congress declared a national policy that public lands be retained in federal ownership and control for the benefit of the American people. Over the last 50 years, that retention policy has led to far reaching consequences for people and places across the country. Today, public lands provide critical support for economic, environmental, social, and cultural values, contributing to the vitality of both urban and rural communities. Yet, the nation still struggles with the effects of dispossession and forced removal of Indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands, most of which remain in the hands of the Federal government. Retention of public lands also presents certain challenges to states, localities, and private property owners.

Despite 50 years of retention policy and widespread public support for keeping public lands in public hands, the future of public lands remains uncertain. Some want the federal government to sell off federal public lands or give them to the States. Others are keen to defend and celebrate the retention policy and their love of public lands.

The legal landscape has also changed dramatically over the past 50 years. Public land planning has proved to be a mixed bag, but it engages the public on the critical issues facing public land planners, including resource development, grazing policy, land conservation, endangered species conservation, and the protection of cultural resources, among many other things. Modernizing the decision-making process has also taken center stage, with debates about strategies for making faster and smarter decisions. Adaptive management has also entered the public lands lexicon, although it sometimes seems more aspirational than real.

This year’s Martz Symposium takes a deep dive into the past, present, and future of our national policy of keeping public lands in public hands. The symposium will convene experts in public lands law and policy, advocates from across the political and policy spectrum, including Tribal leaders, experts on public opinion, and many other respected voices. Our goal will be to stimulate new thinking and fresh ideas, and to inspire a new generation of public lands leaders to build on the legacy from the past 50 years. Please join us for what promises to be an outstanding opportunity to engage with old and new friends and colleagues on one of the most important issues facing the American West.

Confirmed Speakers Include:
Bret Birdsong, Professor of Law, UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law
Ethan Blevins, Senior Legal Fellow, Pacific Legal Foundation
Alison Flint, Senior Legal Director, The Wilderness Society
Arthur Gailes, Fesearch Fellow I AEI Housing Center, American Enterprise Institute
Louis Geltman, Vice President for Policy and Government Relations, Outdoor Alliance
Dan Gibbs, Executive Director, Colorado Department of Natural Resources
Kathryn Hahne, Director, New Bridge Strategy
Sarah Krakoff, Moses Lasky Professor, University of Colorado Law School
Natalie Landreth, Partner, Nashoba Consulting LLC and Co-Executive Director, Tribal Public Lands Alliance
Matt Lee-Ashley, Former Chief of Staff and Director of Policy and Programs, White House Council on Environmental Quality
John Leshy, Professor Emeritus, University of California College of the Law, San Francisco
Gussie Lord, Director of Tribal Partnerships, Earthjustice
Mamie Parker, Former Head of Fisheries, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Vanessa Racehorse, Associate Professor of Law, University of Colorado Law School
Katie Schroder, Partner, Davis Graham
Rudy Soto, Executive Director, The National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC)
Mark Squillace, Raphael J. Moses Professor of Natural Resources Law, University of Colorado Law School
Rebecca Tsosie, Regents' Professor of Law, James E. Rogers College of Law and Faculty Co-Chair, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program
Timothy Whitehouse, Executive Director, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
Chris Winter, Executive Director, Getches-Wilkinson Center

Registration is OPEN!

Registration Rates Early Bird - Register prior to October 1, 2025
General (In person) $225
Remote Access Only $75
�鶹��Ѱ��Faculty/Staff/Student (In person or Zoom) Free
*Buff OneCard number may be requested for validation of current �鶹��Ѱ�� faculty/staff/student status.
Colorado Law Alumni Only Reception Thurs, Oct 23 $15
*This is only available to Colorado Law alumni to attend the Martz Symposium Reception on Thurs, Oct 23rd. This does not grant access to the conference.

Registration Rates - Register on or after October 2, 2025
General (In person) $250
Remote Access Only $100
�鶹��Ѱ��Faculty/Staff/Student (In person or Zoom) Free
*Buff OneCard number may be requested for validation of current �鶹��Ѱ�� faculty/staff/student status.
Colorado Law Alumni Only Reception Thurs, Oct 23 $15
*This is only available to Colorado Law alumni to attend the Martz Symposium Reception on Thurs, Oct 23rd. This does not grant access to the conference.

Registration will close Monday, October 20.
No refunds will be offered after October 1, 2025.
Remote access will be given to ALL registered attendees.
Conference reception, campus parking, and lunches/refreshments included with in person registration.
General Colorado CLE is pending.

Hotel Room Block
GWC has a hotel room block at the Boulder Marriott Wed, Oct 22 - Sat, Oct 25. Click here to book online. The room block is available on a first-come, first-serve basis and is valid until September 22nd or until all rooms are filled.

Conference Partnerships

We’re now accepting conference partners at all levels.

Learn more about our partnerships here.

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