Snow, Donald

English

University of Montana

University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Syllabi Course Syllabi Fall 9-1-2000 EVST 594.01: Key Natural Resource Policies of the American West Donald Snow The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/syllabi Let us know how access to this document benefits you. Recommended Citation Snow, Donald, "EVST 594.01: Key Natural Resource Policies of the American West" (2000). Syllabi. 5071. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/syllabi/5071 This Syllabus is brought to you for free and open access by the Course Syllabi at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Syllabi by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact scholarworks@mso.umt.edu. KEY NATURAL RESOURCE POLICIES OF THE AMERICAN WESTEVST 594, Section 1Fall Semester 2000D on Snow, Instructor (104 Rankin Hall, 243-2904, 549-8526, dsiiow@bipskv.nei:)COURSE D ESC RIPTIO NFor more than one hundred years, the American W est has had a coherent politics, economy and culture tied to a strong regional identity as a supplier o f natural resources. The region's sense of itself -  what some writers have called its "mythic identity" -  has been closely linked to this historic role as a resource supplier, and still persists despite the fact that the region's economy has undergone fundamental changes that have made the production o f agricultural commodities, wood products and minerals far less important to the job base, personal income and overall economy.At the core o f this historic coherence lies a set o f policies -  some state-based, some federal -  that guide the allocation o f natural resources on both public and private lands. The noted law scholar Charles Wilkinson has called this set o f policies, all with roots in th e l9 th  century, "the Lords o f Yesterday," an apt metaphor to describe the profound grip o f these antique institutions on the contemporary West.This seminar will examine the Lords of the Yesterday -  their history, the milieu in which they came into existence, and their effect on the natural environment, hum an communities, and politics o f the modern West. The allocation policies we’ll examine in detail include the Doctrine o f Prior Appropriation and federal development schemes for water; the M ining Law o f 1872; and federal timber and grazing policies, implemented by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau o f Land Management. The seminar will also briefly examine the original policy formulations that led to the creation o f the national park system, and the movement for land preservation which has stood for more than a hundred years against the American tendency toward privatizing public resources.W e will investigate various perspectives on the key natural resource policies o f  the West. A few important questions we will tty to answer pertain to the longevity o f “the Lords o f Yesterday.” W hy has the increasingly powerful national and regional environmental movement been unable to tear down the edifice of 19th century western resource polices? W hat would it take to create substantive reform o f any o f these antique political institutions? To what extent have environmentalists and others learned to work within the framework o f the “Lord o f  Yesterday,” instead o f trying to erase or replace them?SEM INAR REQU IREM EN TSGrading for the seminar will be based upon performance in two areas:1. Participation in discussions.1Discussions will be based primarily on the readings but are not limited to the scope o f the readings. Members o f the seminar will also bring their own experience and previous learning to bear on our discussions. Some o f our readings are purely informative; some are argumentative, included to provide perspective. W e will try to follow a similar pattern in the seminar sessions: informing each other, presenting and understanding arguments, providing a variety of perspectives on our topic as the semester progresses.In order for our seminar to work as a seminar, it is imperative that each member contributes insights, information, ideas, arguments. Points o f view contrary to the prevailing sentiments of the group are welcome. W e are not coming together to create uniform agreement.O ne-th ird  o f your grade will be based on participation in discussions. If  you're a shy sort, this seminar will be an excellent opportunity to hone your group-speak skills in a congenial atmosphere of discussion.2. PaperTw o-thirds o f your grade will be based on a research paper or annotated essay. The paper should be no fewer than fifteen pages, double-spaced, but no more than thirty (unless I have approved a longer paper in advance).Well before mid-term, I shall ask you to draft a brief proposal (one page or less) on the subject you wish to research and your approach to that subject.Deadlines:1. Your brief proposal is due September 28.2. The first complete draft o f your paper is due no later than November 2. You will receive detailed commentary from me within two weeks of submitting the draft.3. The final draft o f  your paper is due December 14 (in my mailbox, please, or placed in my hand).A W O R D  O N  GRADINGI grade papers on the basis o f two main elements: content and form. Content involves rigor: did the writer bring sound research skills to the subject? Is the research thorough? Does the treatment take into account the complexities and nuances o f the subject? Is the thinking sound and o f high quality? Does the writer add a fresh or original perspective? Is the paper merely a one-sided diatribe, or does it pay attention to the nuances and multiple points o f  view that inevitably accompany complex natural resource issues? Does the paper contribute positively to debate, discussion, and/or the provision o f information in the arena?I do not want you to write a mere literature review on your topic. I want to see your point of view, carefully constructed and presented with clear logic and reasoning, and accurate references to authoritative sources. I also do not want a paper that is loaded with disciplinary jargon. W rite in clear, plain English.2Form means the quality o f the writing and physical presentation. Is the writing clear? Does the paper have a beginning, a middle and an end? Does it use sophisticated elements o f rhetoric? Does the writer exhibit skill using transitions and bridges? Does the text demonstrate fluency with topic sentences; is there evidence o f “framing” such that each central idea finds a proper place in the narration? Does the writer avoid jargon and stilted or academically inflated language? Is the' physical presentation excellent?The first draft o f your paper is due in early November. I’ll review it carefully, write you a letter of critique, and return the draft to you for revision. As far as I am concerned, the second draft I see will be the final draft. T hat one will be due before finals week.Grading your daily participation in the seminar is a bit trickier, since discussions tend to take the course o f interesting conversations (when they work well). I try to grade this part essentially on your demonstration o f comprehension and your willingness to help make this a productive learning experience for yourself and others (including me). It's my job to challenge you; it's your job to remain open-minded enough that you can be challenged. I will never ask that you simply agree with me; I will ask that you try to see the world o f western natural resource policy through multiple points of view, and that you take the authors and scholars we read seriously.3KEY NATURAL RESOURCE POLICIES OF THE AMERICAN WESTEVST 594, Section 1SEMINAR O UTLINE A N D  REQUIRED READINGSFall Semester 2000D on Snow, Instructor and Seminar LeaderI. The Background, Near and FarW eek 2 (9/11, 13)* Charles F. Wilkinson, "The Lords of Yesterday," Chapter 1 in Crossing the Next Meridian:Land, Water, and the Future o f  the West, 1992.Christopher Klyza, “The Ideas: Competing Conceptions o f the Public Interest,” Chapter 2 in Who Controls Public Lands?, 1996.John Locke, "O f Property," from Second Treatise on Civil Government, 1690.Robert H. Nelson, “Ineffective Laws and Unexpected Consequences: A Brief Review of Public Land History,” from Public Lands and Private Rights, 1995-II. W estern W ater D evelopm ent and T he D octrine o f Prior AppropriationW eek 3 (9/18, 20)Wallace Stegner, "Blueprint for a Dryland Democracy," pages 202-242 in Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening o f  the West, 1953-* Charles F. W ilkinson, "Harvesting the April Rivers," Chapter 6 in Crossing the NextMeridian, 1992.W eek 4 (9/25, 27)Robert D unbar, chapters 3, 7, 8, 9, and 10 from Forging New Rights in Western Waters, 1983.Donald J. Pisani, “Enterprise and Equity: A Critique o f Western W ater Law in the 19th . Century,” Chapter 1 in Water, Land, and Law in the West, 1996.4Week 5 (10/2,4)Marc Reisner, “The Go-Go Years,” and "Rivals in Crime" Chapters 5 and 6 in Cadillac Desert, 1986.Charles Wilkinson, “‘The River Was Crouded with Salmon,’” Chapter 5 in Crossing the Next Meridian, 1992.Randy T. Simmons, “The Progressive Ideal and the Columbia Basin Project, Chapter 5 in The Political Economy o f  the American West, edited by Terry Anderson and P.J. Hill, 1994.Week 6 (10/9, 11)M att McKinney, et. ah, “The Protection of Instream Flows in M ontana: A Legal- Institutional Perspective,” Chapter 15 in Instream Flow Protection in the West, 1989.Week 7 (10/16, 18)Elizabeth Checchio and Bonnie G. Colby, “The Context for Indian W ater Settlements” and “Case Studies -  W hat Can W e Learn?” pages 7-20 and 49-65 (also Table 1, pages 4-5) from Indian Water Rights: Negotiating the Future (Tucson: University of Arizona W ater Resources Research Center, 1993).W eek 8 (10/23, 25) [Catch-up Week -  Summary Discussions]III. 1872: T he M ining Law, Yellowstone and the National ParksW eek 9 (10/23, 11/1)* Charles F. Wilkinson, "The M iner's Law," Chapter 2 in Crossing the Next Meridian, 1992.John Leshy, Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 14 from The M ining Law: A  Study in Perpetual Motion, 1987.W eek 10 (11/6, 8)David Gerard, “The M ining Law o f 1872: Digging a Little Deeper,” PERC Policy Series, PS-11, 1997.W eek 11 (11/13, 15)Alfred Runte, chapters 1, 2, 3, and 9 from National Parks: The American Experience, 1987.[We won’t devote much class time to discussion o f the following 2 texts; they are here mostly as background and reference information.]5IV. Revenue-Sharing and State-Local Dependency on Federal Resource DevelopmentSally K. Fairfax and Carolyn Yale, Chapters 1 and 2 in Federal Lands: A  Guide to Planning, Management, and State Revenues, 1987.V. Forest Reserves, the N ational Forests, and the U.S. Forest ServiceSamuel T. Dana and Sally K. Fairfax, Chapter 2 in Forest and Range Policy, Its Development in the U.S., 1980.W eek 12 (11/20, 22)* Charles F. Wilkinson, "Forests for the Home-Builder First o f All," Chapter 6 in Crossing the Next Meridian, 1992.W eek 13 (11/27, 29)* Paul Hirt, Introduction and Chapters 2, 3, 7, 9, 11, 12 in A Conspiracy o f  Optimism, 1994. W eek 14 (12/4, 6) [Catch-up Week -  Summary Discussions]VI. Grazing and C om peting Values on W estern Public RangelandsW eek 15 (12/11, 13)* Charles F. Wilkinson, "The Rancher's Code," Chapter 3 in Crossing the Next Meridian, 1992.Robert H. Nelson, "Uneconomic Analysis: Scientific Management on the Public Rangelands," Chapter 3 in Public Lands and Private Rights: The Failure o f  Scientific Management, 1995.Denotes reading in a book required for the course.6

EVST 594.01: Key Natural Resource Policies of the American West

https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6062&amp;context=syllabi

EVST 594.01: Key Natural Resource Policies of the American West

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

University of Montana