Negotiated Sovereignty: Intergovernmental Agreements with American Indian Tribes as Models for Expanding First Nations’ Self-Government

Constitutional issues related to First Nations sovereignty have dominated Aboriginal affairs in Canada for a considerable period. The constitutional entrenchment of Aboriginal self-government has, however, received a setback with the recent failure of the Charlottetown Accord in October of 1992. Nonetheless, day-to-day issues must be accommodated, even while this more fundamental constitutional question remains unresolved. This paper illustrates the American experience with negotiated intergovernmental agreements between tribes and individual states. These agreements have, for example, resolved jurisdictional disputes over taxation, solid waste disposal, and law enforcement between state governments and tribal authorities. The author suggests that these intergovernmental agreements in the United States provide a useful model to resolve lingering issues, effect practical solutions and expand First Nations self-government in Canada

The Law of Wildlife Protection in the United States

27 pages. Contains 12 pages of endnotes

Competing Demands for the Colorado River

The article is in three Sections. The first discusses the historic apportionment of the Colorado River between the Upper and Lower Basins and, ultimately, among the seven Basin states and Mexico. It also addresses possible future legal questions about the interpretation of laws apportioning the River's water. The second Section identifies the most significant uses competing for shares of the water. Agriculture, power production, municipal use, Indians, and instream needs for fish, wildlife and recreation all are competitors for use of the Colorado River. The Section analyzes the nature of future conflicts among those uses and the potential for accommodating some apparently inconsistent purposes. The final Section considers several approaches to maximizing the River's capacity to satisfy future demands. The approaches include storage, efficiency measures, controlling salinity, comprehensive consideration of all available water sources and interstate water marketing. The Section describes some ways in which the approaches may be used to resolve competing demands in the future

SLIDES: The Myth of Certainty: Water, Law, and Climate

Presenter: David H. Getches, Raphael J. Moses Professor of Natural Resources Law, University of Colorado School of Law 16 slide

Takings and Water Rights [includes unsigned annotations by David Getches]

13 pages (includes 1 illustration). Includes unsigned annotations by David Getches

Withdrawals of Public Lands Under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act

17 pages