GEOG 463/563
Geography, Law, and Environment
Spring 2008, MW 2:00 - 3:20
Condon 301
Instructor: Alexander Murphy, 173 Condon, x6-4571, abmurphy@uoregon.edu
Office hours: Tuesdays, 10:30 am – noon or by appointment
Co-Instructor: Eve Vogel, 217 Pacific, x6-2698, evevogel@uoregon.edu
Office hours: Wednesdays, 3:45-5:00 pm or by appointment
This course explores the role of laws in shaping the evolving character of places, as well as the ways in which geographical arrangements and understandings find expression in the law. We consider how law has organized the landscape by regulating how humans divide and use the surface of the earth; how the regulation of public resources has shaped environment, society and place throughout the United States; and how the rise of the administrative state has constrained and driven conflicts over resources. We also consider reciprocal influences: how legal structures have been shaped by historical and geographical context, often with long-lasting repercussions.
The focus of the course is the United States. We will adopt a loosely historical approach, beginning with the early development of common law in the colonies and early American republic, moving on to the disposal and regulation of the vast lands and limited waters of the American West, continuing with the rise of administrative bureaucracies that transformed rivers and lands under the New Deal, and ending with an examination of the regulatory systems put in place since the late 1960s.
There is a blackboard site for the class [http://blackboard.uoregon.edu]. You should consult the site regularly for announcements. All non-textbook class readings are under “Course Documents” on the site. The course will involve considerable reading, and a commitment to completing readings before the session to which they are assigned is essential to success in the course. Readings will be drawn from the book Land Use and Society: Geography, Law, and Public Policy by Rutherford H. Platt (revised edition, Island Press, 2004) [available at the U of O bookstore; hereinafter Platt] and from a variety of other books and academic journals [see the blackboard site]. In addition to active participation in class discussions (10% of the grade), there will be two quizzes on readings/lectures (each worth 20% of the grade) and a project/paper (50% of the grade). To keep a level playing field for everyone, extra-credit work will not be an option. Here are the details on the various graded components of the class:
Participation:
To do well, it is important to attend classes and participate fully. Your participation will reflect your level of attendance, as well as active participation in discussions in a way that demonstrates an engagement with class materials. Periodically students will be called upon to summarize or give comments on readings. If an extraordinary circumstance prevents you from completing relevant readings before a given class, you should come to class anyway and tell the professor at the beginning that you are not prepared on that day.
Quizzes
The quizzes will be in short essay form and are designed primarily to ensure that students are attending class, staying up with readings, and digesting course material. The quizzes will be taken during regular class periods. You will have 45 minutes for each quiz.
Projects/Papers
· Undergraduates will undertake an independent research project on a local (i.e., southern Willamette Valley) issue (see separate handout on the GEOG 463 independent research/paper assignment) and present the results of their research on a field trip (see below). Undergraduates will be divided into teams of two-people each for these projects, but each student will be responsible for a distinct segment of the project. The oral presentation will account for 20% of the final grade, and the written product (approx. 7-8 pages per student) will account for 30% of the final grade. Term papers will be due on June 10 (Tuesday of exam week).
· Graduate students will undertake a research project on their own (see separate handout on the GEOG 563 independent research/paper assignment), which need not be in the southern Willamette Valley, but can be. They will prepare a written paper of c. 15 pages (30% of the grade) and will make a short presentation of their findings either during the field trip (if appropriate) or in class during the latter part of the term (10% of the grade). In addition, graduate students will participate in a biweekly discussion of additional readings after class (10% of the grade). These readings will be covered on graduate-student versions of the quizzes. Term papers will be due on June 10 (Tuesday of exam week).
Field Trip
A required full-day field trip will take place near the end of the term (date to be set at the beginning of the term). If you know that you cannot participate in this field trip, please see the instructor before registering for the class. A modest fee will be assessed to cover the cost of the field trip.
Learning Environment:
Everyone should respect the class as a place for learning, both for us individually and for everyone else. Showing respect for your peers is absolutely essential to a good group learning process. This includes tolerance of differing opinions, using your listening skills (in addition to your talking skills), and refraining from personal attacks. Violations of academic integrity, such as plagiarism and cheating will not be tolerated (for university policies on this matter, see: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~conduct/sai.htm). Suspected violations will be reported to the Director of Student Judicial Affairs. If that office finds the student to be guilty of a violation, it may result in a grade of F for the course.
SCHEDULE OF CLASS TOPICS AND READINGS
March 31
Introduction to the subject matter of the course
Geographical and legal perspectives on the environment
Discussion of term paper assignment and field trip
Reading: Platt, chapter 1.
Timothy Link et. al. 2003. "State of the United States' Water." Asit Biswas (ed.) 2003, Water Resources of North America: pp. 130-132, 149-155.
April 2
The nature of the law-geography nexus
Law as a cultural and ecological system
Reading: Platt, chapter 2.
Thompson, Shelley & Wije, Geography. Environment, and American Law – pp. 1-9.
Arthur McEvoy 1986, The Fisherman’s Problem: Ecology and the Law in the California Fisheries, 1850-1980 – pp. 9-14.
April 7 (Grads meet this week)
The roots of American approaches to land use regulation
Commitment to specific term paper topics
Reading: Platt, chapter 3.
William Cronon, Changes in the Land Ch. 4, “Bounding the land”
Joseph E. Taylor III 1999, Making Salmon: An Environmental History of the Northwest Fisheries Crisis – Ch. 1 excerpts: pp. 13-20, 23-27, 35-8.
April 9
The nature of property rights –
Delineating and regulating public lands and water, from the American Revolution to the early 20th centuries
Reading: Platt, chapter 7, pp. 209-226.
William E. Nelson 1975: Americanization of the Common Law: The Impact of Legal Change on Massachusetts Society, 1760-1830 – pp. 1-2, 4-5, 7-8;
Taylor, Making Salmon pp. 45, 59-67.
Donald Worster 1979, Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s, pp. 3-8.
Charles F. Wilkinson 1992, Crossing the Next Meridian: Land, Water, and the Future of the American West, pp. 17 (middle)-23 (top).
April 14
Case Study – The Klamath Basin controversy
Guest instructor: Chris Massingill
Reading: Holly Doremus and A. Dan Tarlock, 2003. "Fish, Farms, and the Clash of Cultures in the Klamath Basin," Ecology Law Quarterly, 30. The following sections can be skimmed: Roman numeral 1, subsection D1 (useful, but long) Roman numeral 2, subsection A, and Roman numeral 3, subsections B and C.
April 16 - Meet in the foyer of the Knight Law Library
Special session on legal research with law librarians Stephanie Midkiff and Andrea Coffman
April 21 (Grads meet this week)
Organizing, simplifying and “making legible” land and natural resources
Reading: Excerpts from James C. Scott 1998, Seeing like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed, pp. 11-22, 44 (middle) – 47 (middle), 49 (middle) – 51 (top)
Platt Ch. 7, pp. 226 – 235.
Donald Meinig 1998, The Shaping of America Vol. 3 “New Economic Regions, pp. 227-245; Railroads: The Conquest for Territory” pp. 245-265.
April 23
Organizing cities
Reading: Platt, chapters 4 (pp. 95-112), 5, and 6
April 28
Organizing government: The imprint of federal and local jurisdiction on the landscape
Reading: Wilbur Zelinsky, “The Imprint of Central Authority,” in Michael Conzen, ed., The Making of the American Landscape, chapter 16.
Platt, chapter 8.
April 30
First 45 minutes of class on April 30: First quiz on readings/lectures
Organizing government: The imprint of tribal and state jurisdiction on the waterscape
Reading: Edmund Goodman 2000: Indian Tribal Sovereignty and Water Resources: Watersheds, Ecosystems and Co-management Land Resources and Environmental Law, 20:
· pp. 185-192 read fairly carefully (don't worry about footnotes in this and subsequent sections)
· pp. 192-206 read well enough to understand the principles of these aspects of law in theory, practice, and evolution, but you don't need to know the details of specific cases or statutes
· pp. 206-214 can skip (though these pages cover interesting topics for those w/ particular interest in water or Native American legal rights)
· pp. 214-218 middle (ending "dispute resolution process") - read fairly carefully
· pp. 218 middle to the end of the article - skip for now, but may be reading for last week.
Michael Blumm, David Becker and Joshua Smith, 2006. “The Mirage of Indian Reserved Water Rights and Western Streamflow Restoration in the Mccarran Amendment Era: A Promise Unfulfilled.” Environmental Law 36:
· Read Introduction and conclusion only, pp. 1157-1162, 1201-1203 (don't worry about footnotes)
May 5 (Grads meet this week)
The emergence of modern environmental law (post-World War II period)
Reading: Platt, chapter 12.
Sara Ewert, “Environmental Politics in the Nixon Era” (a book review essay), Journal of Policy History 15 (3), 2003, pp. 345-348.
May 7
Law, Landscape and Land Use
Reading: Alexander Murphy, “Planning for places in an issue-based legal environment,” Urban Geography 15(1): 4-8.
Platt, excerpts from chapters 9, 10, and 11
Chapter 9 -
260-274 (middle); 278-283 (top)
Chapter 10 - 289-305 (top); 320 (middle) - 325
Chapter 11 - 353-365
Donald Meinig 1979. "Symbolic Landscapes: Some Idealizations of American Communities," in The Interpretation of Ordinary Landscapes, pp. 164-192.
May 12
Oregon land use law and politics
Reading:
1. Skim Oregon Statewide Planning Program (glossy brochure) at:
http://www.oregon.gov/LCD/docs/publications/brochure.pdf
2. Read excerpts from Environmental Law Winter 2006 (vol. 36) – symposium on Measure 37 (articles written before state Supreme Court decision upholding Measure 37, and before Measure 49 passed in Fall 2007, modifying Measure 37):
3. Look at video (link in top box) and maps (series #s 13-16) at:
http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/series/this-land-measure-37s-impact-on-oregon
4. Read recent news: Measure 49 and the “Big Look”
May 14
Law, water and water use
Reading: Karen Lewotsky 1988. “Water in the West.” The Missouri River Brief Series #7. Missoula, MT: Northern Lights Institute.
NLRB (Natural Resources Law Center), 2005. "Conference Primer: An Introduction to Key Facts and Issues Regarding the Allocation and Use of the Colorado River," University of Colorado School of Law.
B. Boxall and A. Powers, 2007. "Colorado River Water Deal is Reached," Los Angeles Times, Dec. 14, part A, page 16
Also, please have a look at this relatively short, humorous (but with a serious overtone) piece -- available on the web:
General Delivery University College of Law Review
10 Water Laws of the West
at
http://www.bandersnatch.com/water.htm
May 19, 21 and 28: Law and Waterscape Case Study: The Columbia River
May 19 (Grads meet this week)
The fight for Native American treaty-reserved fishing - and fish - in the Columbia
Reading: Fay Cohen, 1986. Treaties on Trial. Seattle: University of Washington Press, pp. 3-15; 89-94; 98-103; 118-125; 137-143; 147-149.
May 21
Structuring a river and a region's politics: Hydropower and regionalism on the Columbia
Reading: Eve Vogel, 2008. “Regional Power and the Power of the Region,” in Michael Goodman, Maxwell Boykoff and Kyle Evered, Contentious Geographies (Aldershot, England: Ashgate), pp. 165-186.
May 26 – No class (Memorial Day)
May 28
Negotiating the Columbia River through the Endangered Species Act
Reading: TBA.
June 2 & 4 (Grads meet on June 2)
Law for the public and the community?
First 45 minutes of class on June 4: Second quiz on readings/lectures
Reading: TBA
June 10 - TERM PAPERS DUE IN MURPHY’S BOX (107 CONDON) BY 5:00 PM