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Zane Reynolds Surveys Regulatory Frameworks for Carbon Capture and Utilization Storage

Annie Carlozzi — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 17:16:33 +0000

Zane Reynolds Surveys Regulatory Frameworks for Carbon Capture and Utilization Storage Annie Carlozzi Tue, 08/19/2025 - 11:16

Zane was born and raised in Eagle, Colorado. During his undergraduate studies at the ��ý��, he developed an interest in environmental and natural resources issues, which led him to return for law school. At Colorado Law, he has taken several environmental courses, including Water Resources, Foundations of Natural Resources, and Environmental Decisionmaking. He also serves as President of the Transaction & Negotiation Team, as an associate editor on the Colorado Law Review, and as a member of the Acequia Assistance Project. As a 3L, Zane hopes to continue exploring legal issues related to public lands, energy, mining, and water, both in and outside the classroom.

This past summer, Zane worked as a law clerk in the Transactions Department at Davis Graham in Denver. He assisted clients across the energy, mining, and renewable energy sectors. One of his primary projects involved a survey of regulatory frameworks for Carbon Capture and Utilization Storage (CCUS) in Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota, Louisiana, and Texas. While the core technologies behind CCUS have existed for decades, policymakers, scholars, and industry leaders are now intensifying efforts to deploy carbon capture as part of broader climate change strategies. The goal of Zane’s project was to recommend how states might balance creating investment-friendly legal environments with protecting public lands, water, and property rights.

In addition to his work on CCUS, Zane contributed to transactional projects involving energy development. He analyzed provisions of purchase and sale agreements and membership interest purchase agreements in preparation for Davis Graham’s annual Energy M&A Summit. Though often viewed through a business lens, these transactions also determine how companies handle environmental liabilities, regulatory compliance, and obligations to landowners and communities.

Zane also gained experience with a multinational mining transaction spanning three countries. While details remain confidential, the matter provided insight into how cross-border resource development implicates diverse legal systems, indigenous and community rights, and sustainability challenges. Even in transactional practice, these issues underscore the role of lawyers in shaping how resource development proceeds and ensuring it is balanced against environmental and societal concerns.

Overall, Zane’s summer experience deepened his interest in the intersection of environmental, energy, and natural resources law. He came away with a stronger appreciation for how transactional lawyers can influence industry engagement with climate goals, resource stewardship, and community impacts. As he enters his final year of law school, he looks forward to continuing to explore these intersections and the role of law in building a more sustainable future.

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GWC Planned Giving Opportunities

Annie Carlozzi — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 17:13:48 +0000

GWC Planned Giving Opportunities Annie Carlozzi Tue, 08/19/2025 - 11:13

Through a planned gift to the Getches-Wilkinson Center (GWC), you can create a legacy that shapes the future of natural resources, and environmental law while supporting the students and faculty who will carry this vital work forward. Whether through a bequest, retirement assets, real estate, or another giving option, your generosity has the power to endow scholarships,/fellowships, support a conference or lecture series, and sustain a cause at GWC that inspires you most. Legacy donors to GWC have already transformed lives, expanded opportunities, and helped ensure that the center remains at the forefront of legal innovation and public service. As a member of the Colorado Law Heritage Society, you will be recognized for your vision and commitment—while always having the option to remain anonymous. By including GWC in your estate plans, you are not only giving back, but you are also helping to protect the future. To explore how your gift can make a lasting impact, please contact Robert Garelick (Assistant Dean for Advancement) at robert.garelick@colorado.edu / 303-735-5845.

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2024 Harrison Fellow Dives into Litigation and Explores NYC Environmental Justice

Annie Carlozzi — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 20:17:55 +0000

2024 Harrison Fellow Dives into Litigation and Explores NYC Environmental Justice Annie Carlozzi Thu, 08/14/2025 - 14:17

Victoria Matson

This summer, I had the opportunity to serve as a legal intern at Gersowitz Libo & Korek (GLK), a leading plaintiffs’ law firm in New York City known for its work in personal injury and tort litigation. My time at GLK provided invaluable exposure to the practical side of litigation and significantly deepened my understanding of tort law within the broader context of environmental justice.

One of the initial focuses of my internship was researching toxic torts under New York common law. Through this work, I assessed which categories of toxic exposure—such as lead poisoning, mold contamination, industrial chemical exposure, and asbestos—had not only solid legal grounding but also potential for meaningful impact and success in litigation. My findings helped the firm refine its litigation approaches and explore new areas of practice that align with both client needs and the evolving environmental landscape of New York City.

Beyond toxic torts, I had the chance to contribute directly to trial preparation in a high-stakes civil case. Working alongside lead trial partners, I conducted civil procedure and evidence research for both direct and cross-examinations, helping shape the firm’s courtroom strategy. This experience gave me a close-up view of how attorneys use the facts of a case—combined with careful legal analysis—to craft persuasive narratives in front of a judge and jury. I also participated in client trial preparation sessions, which highlighted the human element of litigation and the importance of building trust and clarity between lawyer and client. I supported the jury selection process, underscoring the nuances of voir dire and the critical role of attorney intuition and psychology in building a favorable jury pool. Observing and assisting with jury selection was a particularly eye-opening aspect of the internship, illustrating the intersection between legal doctrine and human dynamics.

My summer at GLK not only sharpened my research and writing skills but also exposed me to the unique challenges of litigating complex environmental and toxic tort cases in a densely populated urban setting. It was a formative experience that reinforced my interest in pursuing a career at the intersection of natural resources law, environmental justice, and litigation.

I am grateful to the Getches-Wilkinson Center for supporting students who are passionate about environmental law and its practical applications. The skills and insights I gained this summer will serve as a foundation for my continued legal studies and future advocacy in the fields of environmental justice and natural resources law.

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Acequia Assistance Project Enters 14th Year Providing Pro Bono Legal Services

Annie Carlozzi — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 16:39:23 +0000

Acequia Assistance Project Enters 14th Year Providing Pro Bono Legal Services Annie Carlozzi Thu, 08/14/2025 - 10:39

Nathan Boyer-Rechlin , Gabrielle Cooper and Andrew Nosler

The Acequia Assistance Project is entering its 14^th year of providing pro bono legal services to the acequia community in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. Each year the project accepts new cases – ranging from helping acequia members write or amend their ditches bylaws, file articles of incorporation, or prove their water rights – and first year law students take on the challenge, and opportunity, of engaging in meaningful legal work, under supervision of a supervising attorney. For 2025-2026, the project is once again a Tier 3 grant recipient from the office of Public and Community Engaged Scholarship (PACES). These funds will support student trips to engage with their clients and the community, student events that offer professional development and community building, and legal fees associated with the project. Student apply to the project in September, and most teams begin project work with their clients in early January. The keystone of the project’s engagement with the acequia community is the annual Congreso de Acequias, hosted by the Sangre de Cristo Acequia Association and Colorado Open Lands. Each year the project brings between 15 and 30 students down to this event to represent the project, connect in person with clients, and do outreach for new cases. For most students, this is the most meaningful element of their time in the in the acequia project.

Last March, in conjunction with their trip to Congreso, Andrew Nosler and Gabrielle Cooper had the opportunity to attend the annual shareholder meeting of the ditch they are representing. Read more about their experience in the project, and connecting with the community below:

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As part of the CU Law Acequia Assistance Project, our team is working to develop and update the Bylaws for Canon Ditch No. 22, located near Antonito, Colorado. Acequias are community operated irrigation ditches. The practice was brought to Spain by the Moors and to Colorado by Spanish and Mexican farmers who settled here before Colorado became a state. The Acequia Assistance Project aims to provide no-cost legal assistance to Acequia users in the San Luis Valley.

We recently paid a wonderful visit to Colorado’s San Luis Valley for the annual Congreso meeting. There, Acequia users from across the valley gathered to discuss and showcase the state of water management in the valley. Farmers and ranchers brought exhibits and presentations to share their unique strategies for land and water use. We watched people make fungus-based fertilizer in real time, explored a model electric fencing construction, and even learned about harvesting wild plants. These presentations showcased a future of abundance and sustainability. Locals in the valley are working hard for the future of their land and water. They are creative, industrious, and deeply connected to the community.

Colorado water rights are “first in time, first in right.” This means that the first person to appropriate water and use it has a priority water right over later users. The Acequias in the San Luis Valley are some of the oldest water rights in the state. On a tour of San Luis People’s Ditch, water right No. 1 in Colorado, we learned a slice of the vibrant history that defines the valley. Jerry Gallegos, a People’s Ditch irrigator brought us to different points along the ditch and his ranching property, so we could see for ourselves how the ditch works and the products of irrigation. We visited the stream that provides People’s Ditch with water, Culebra Creek. Alongside a group of cows (and adorable newborn calves) cold, clean water flowed fresh off the southern end of the Sangre de Cristo Mountain range. At a diversion point, called a headgate, the ditch starts and pulls a modest flow of water from the stream. It has spread water to community members for any imaginable number of uses since 1852. Walking along the ditch, it was easy to get lost imagining the generations of community members who have loved and cared for this water.

Because many of the Acequias in the San Luis Valley were established before, or early on, in Colorado’s statehood, they hold some of the highest priority water rights in the state under the first in time, first in right rule. The Colorado Acequia Recognition Law allows acequias to continue operating under their traditional communal water sharing systems and strengthens their ability to protect their water rights under Colorado law. The Acequia Assistance Project aims to assist farmers in the Valley to take full advantage of these protections, so that their water rights are protected into the future, especially as the likelihood of water scarcity rises. Students participating in the project work on a variety of projects for clients: title searches, assisting with articles of incorporation, community outreach and engagement, and drafting bylaws for ditch operations. Participating in the project has been a valuable opportunity to connect not only with people in the Valley, but also with other law students passionate about water law and equitable access to legal services.

Our team had the opportunity to attend the annual shareholders meeting for our ditch, Canon Ditch No. 22. Canon Ditch No. 22 flows near Antonito, which is southwest from San Luis. The shareholders were excited for the upcoming spring, summer, and fall. With winter slowly fading, everyone was ready to get the ditch up and running. Shareholders got down to business as soon as they formed a quorum. They voted to appoint a ditch rider, who would monitor and report on the condition of the ditch as water started flowing. They discussed transferred shares, and protocols for delinquent water users. Every discussion was open, and solution oriented. Canon Ditch draws from the Conejos River, which comes out of the San Juan Mountains. With below average snowpack, the members focused on late season conditions and how to plan around unpredictable flow rates this season.

Both at Congreso and the Canon Ditch shareholders meeting, we saw inspiring people tackling important water issues hands-on. Everybody we met had a deep connection with the land and the community. Ranchers talked about repurposing old bed frames to install electric fences and using old wheels to wind rope. Student speakers from the Acequia Assistance Project presented updates to our project and the legal services we provide. In every corner of the valley, people are working hard to secure and improve the future of agriculture. Canon Ditch No. 22 members were excited to have us down there. They explained how we can be useful and welcomed us into their conversations. It is such an amazing opportunity to serve such brilliant and hardworking people, and we look forward to helping the cause of farmers and ranchers in the San Luis Valley.

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GWC Welcomes Bill Hedden as Senior Fellow

Annie Carlozzi — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 21:33:37 +0000

GWC Welcomes Bill Hedden as Senior Fellow Annie Carlozzi Wed, 08/13/2025 - 15:33

Bill Hedden

In the movie Good Will Hunting, both Robin Williams and Matt Damon
make critical decisions in their lives because they’ve “gotta go see about a
girl.” Much the same thing happened to me at the conclusion of my
Harvard neurobiology studies when I gave up science and followed my
wife, Eleanor Bliss, to a wild valley in southeastern Utah. I’d never been
west of Pennsylvania before suddenly finding myself living full time
outside, building our home in a hayfield from which I could see Arches
National Park, the gorge of the Colorado River, three BLM Wilderness
Study Areas, and the Manti LaSal National Forest. For the next half
century, America’s public lands were the setting for our daily lives. We
drew our irrigation water from BLM lands, gathered stone for the house
and firewood for the winter from the national forest, and hiked and
kayaked and fished wherever we wanted. It was a hard place to get rich,
but a very good place to be poor.

I say I gave up science, but it occasionally came in handy or got me in
trouble, depending on your point of view. Soon after we got settled in our
new home, the U.S. Department of Energy came to Moab looking for a site for the nation’s high level nuclear waste repository. They especially liked the salt formations adjacent to Arches and Canyonlands, and the local politicians were excited about the economic development possibilities.
The common refrain was, “We dug it out of the ground here, so we have a
responsibility to take it back.” I began to tell people that high level waste is not the same as uranium ore, and sacrificing a glorious national park for
the repository might be a poor trade. Within no time, I was the face of the
opposition with a prominent seat on the Utah commission formally
consulting with the DOE. I recall testifying at a hearing with David Brower
when we had to run a gauntlet of enraged uranium miners and county
officials. Ultimately, the remoteness of the Utah sites and our opposition
helped result in the so-called Screw Nevada Bill, that let everybody off the
hook as long as they agreed Yucca Mountain had to take the waste. That
unsatisfying compromise was my introduction to environmental politics.

After falling into the deep end of nuclear waste policy, I began remedial
education about the West, serving as Utah’s representative on the board of High Country News with luminaries like Tom Bell and Ed and Betsy
Marston. I worked on national forest management issues for Robert
Redford’s Institute for Resource Management, and on wild and scenic river
designation for The Keystone Center. I was appointed by Governor Leavitt
to the Utah Board of Parks and Recreation and was a member of the
board of the Utah Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and the Southern
Utah Wilderness Alliance. Meanwhile, at home, Eleanor and I were raising
our two girls, I was the perennial president of the local irrigation company,
and I built custom furniture to keep the wolf from the door.

Somehow, that stew of local visibility and westwide involvement helped
get me elected to the Grand County Council in 1992 when the people
threw out the commissioners and changed the form of government. Seven essentially unpaid neophytes took charge of an insolvent 2.4 million acre county with two national parks, the nation’s busiest BLM recreation
district, a national forest, and the largest roadless area in the lower 48
states. Wilderness issues were on fire, we’d just had a recreation-run-
amok riot at the Slickrock bike trail, and the county was spending all its
mineral lease money on a deeply unpopular road across the Bookcliffs at
the same time our hospital was about to close from lack of that same
money. We had a steep learning curve. After I played a leading role in
killing the road and saving the hospital, I went to a meeting of Utah county commissioners and was shunned after being brusquely told, by the leader of a nearby county, “We like roads!”

As much fun as all that volunteer work was, our kids were getting ready to
go to college, so I took a job as the Utah Director of the Grand Canyon
Trust, marking what is still the only time a paid environmentalist has been a county councilperson in Utah. My older daughter, accustomed to my
working in the woodshop or garden, asked Eleanor, “Mom, why did dad
have to take this stupid, invisible job?” It got even worse when I was
promoted to Executive Director a few years later and began spending half
my time in Flagstaff.

A friend at SUWA once remarked that The Grand Canyon Trust is the
Swiss army knife of environmental groups. The Trust works on issues
across the spectrum. During my time, amid much else, we helped clean up
emissions from coal fired power plants and remove radioactive wastes
from the bank of the Colorado River. I negotiated deals to remove grazing
from over a million acres of public lands and bought two ranches covering
850,000 acres on the Grand Canyon’s North Rim. Ethan Amuck, who took
over when I retired, led the largest forest restoration program in U.S.
history in northern Arizona. Perhaps most significant, we created a
groundbreaking Native America program where my Navajo staff members
and their communities led the way in killing a proposal to build a tramway
into the heart of the Grand Canyon, and ultimately helped win designation
of the Bears Ears National Monument.

We were aided in all the work by a spectacularly accomplished Board of
Trustees, including David Getches and Charles Wilkinson. Both were dear
friends and served terms chairing the board. Thus, it is an honor and a
kind of homecoming for me to become associated with the Getches/
Wilkinson Center. I hope to repay my inestimable debt for all they taught
me by working to protect America’s public lands.

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Colorado River Remains a Key Focus of the GWC

Annie Carlozzi — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 19:33:07 +0000

Colorado River Remains a Key Focus of the GWC Annie Carlozzi Wed, 08/13/2025 - 13:33

Doug Kenney

As the economic, ecological and cultural centerpiece of the American Southwest, the increasingly dire condition of the Colorado River remains a central focus of GWC activities. Continuing a recent tradition, the GWC joined with the Water & Tribes Initiative in June to bring basin officials, Tribal leaders, water users, and river advocates to discuss the situation in: Turning Hindsight into Foresight: The Colorado River at a Crossroads. With roughly 350 in-person (and 115 Zoom) attendees, participants were tasked with identifying past experiences and lessons that can inform current challenges, beginning with the experiences of the Ancient Puebloans displaced by drought in the 13^th century, to efforts in the early 21^st century to craft the soon expiring 2007 Interim Guidelines, to ongoing efforts to craft new rules guiding river operations after 2026. Not surprisingly, the conversation was a lively union of technical analyses of law, policy and hydrology nested within a spiritually rich foundation acknowledging the deeply personal impact that the declining river has on the people and creatures that call the region home.

Efforts to craft new (post-2026) reservoir operating rules on the river dominate most Colorado River discourse at the moment, with the ongoing Environment Impact Statement (EIS) process expected to result in a Draft EIS by December and a Final EIS (and Record of Decision) by next summer. Those efforts have largely stalled over the last year as the Basin States have, unsuccessfully, attempted to craft a joint Alternative to be included in the analysis, a difficult proposition given that every road forward is likely to result in declining water availability for every state, a painful but mathematically inevitable result of life in a basin where snowmelt-driven natural flows have dropped nearly 20% since 2000. This reality was the backdrop of a public forum in late June where I was paired with Rebecca Mitchell, the Colorado official tasked with representing the state in these negotiations. Speaking before the crowd in Crested Butte, neither of us found much reason for optimism in current trends in climate and hydrology, a situation only magnified by the shockingly low runoff of local streams resulting from what seemed like a relatively healthy winter snowpack. No amount of interstate negotiation—or threats of interstate litigation—can overcome the increasingly consequential impact of warming in the basin.

This tension between the river we thought we had and the river that now exists runs through much of the work of the Colorado River Research Group (CRRG), hosted by the GWC but comprised of over a dozen prominent Colorado River scholars spread across the basin (and beyond). CRRG members are currently drafting a detailed summary of key issues and, in some cases, prescriptions for the river system, focusing on issues affecting nearly all sectors and sub-regions of the basin. It is an increasingly alarming review of trends that, collectively, illustrate the erosion of all the safety nets in the basin: reservoir storage, groundwater reserves, federal drought response funding, and technical support from agencies and universities engaged in Colorado River problem-solving.

It is a challenging time in the Colorado River Basin. More than ever, the GWC is focused on developing new leaders to bring ideas and energy to a basin in need of answers.

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Harrison Fellow Spends Summer Immersed in International Law Practice

Annie Carlozzi — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 15:03:18 +0000

Harrison Fellow Spends Summer Immersed in International Law Practice Annie Carlozzi Wed, 08/13/2025 - 09:03

Celeste Baro

Thanks to the GWC and the David Harrison Innovations in Water and Energy Law & Policy Fellowship, I had the incredible opportunity this summer to work in Jakarta, Indonesia with the Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative (IOJI). This fellowship made it possible for me to immerse myself in international law practice in another country, gaining firsthand experience in the intersection of environmental protection, maritime security, and human rights.

During my time at IOJI, I authored a report examining the challenges of combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and the gaps in governance that allow it to persist. My research focused particularly on the high seas and distant-water fishing fleets, including their links to labor exploitation and environmental degradation. Additionally, I collaborated with a colleague on a comparative legal analysis, evaluating how environmental protection is addressed at a national scale in the United States versus Indonesia. This comparative perspective illuminated both the strengths and weaknesses of each country’s legal frameworks and underscored the importance of strong enforcement mechanisms.

One of the highlights of my fellowship was attending a conference at Indonesia's Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, hosted in honor of the International Day for the fight against IUU fishing. Here, IOJI presented research and recommendations to government officials, civil society organizations, and academics. This was an invaluable opportunity to see how legal and policy work translates into tangible advocacy at the national level.

Beyond the capital, I traveled with the IOJI team to more remote Indonesian islands, where we hosted community town halls to hear directly from local fishers and residents. Many shared stories of the hardships they endure due to rampant IUU fishing, insufficient maritime security, and gaps in both human rights protections and environmental law enforcement. Listening to these experiences reinforced the reality that legal and policy solutions must be grounded in the realities of those most affected.

Our work in the field was also about building solutions. We collaborated with other civil society organizations, academic partners, and government agencies to develop actionable recommendations aimed at strengthening Indonesia’s maritime governance and protecting both marine ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.

This experience gave me a deeper appreciation for the interconnectedness of environmental law, human rights law, and international maritime policy. It also showed me the vital role that lawyers can play in bridging the gap between high-level policy and on-the-ground realities.

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GWC Welcomes Sam Kalen as Senior Fellow

Annie Carlozzi — Mon, 11 Aug 2025 18:57:38 +0000

GWC Welcomes Sam Kalen as Senior Fellow Annie Carlozzi Mon, 08/11/2025 - 12:57

GWC is excited to welcome two new Senior Fellows, Sam Kalen and Bill Hedden.

Sam Kalen is the inaugural IU McKinney Family Chair in Environmental Law at Indiana University McKinney School of Law. From 2009 to 2024 he was at the University of Wyoming College of Law and most recently served at Wyoming as the William T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law and Associate Dean. Professor Kalen’s teaching and scholarly interests focus on natural resources and public lands, environmental law, energy law, Federal Indian law, and administrative law. White at the Wyoming College of Law, he founded and then served as the co-director of the Center for Law and Energy Resources in the Rockies (later the Gina Guy Center for Land & Water). He is a co-author of a casebook on natural resources law and policy, a book on the Endangered Species Act, as well as a 2018 Cambridge University Press book chronicling the history of energy law and policy, entitled Energy Follies: Missteps, Fiascos, and Success of America’s Energy Policy; he also has authored numerous law review articles and book chapters. Before teaching, Professor Kalen practiced in Washington, D.C. for over 20 years, both in the private and public sectors. His private practice work focused principally on environment, energy, Native American, as well as public lands and natural resources law; and he worked primarily on public lands and natural resource matters when serving in the Solicitor’s Office at the Department of the Interior during the Clinton Administration. Immediately after law school, Professor Kalen began his career as a law clerk for Justice Warren D. Welliver of the Missouri Supreme Court. He earned his J.D. at Washington University School of Law, in St. Louis, MO, and his B.A. at Clark University, in Worcester, MA.

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Wyss Scholar Andrea Shipton Attends Summer Retreat

Annie Carlozzi — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 16:27:14 +0000

Wyss Scholar Andrea Shipton Attends Summer Retreat Annie Carlozzi Thu, 08/07/2025 - 10:27

Andrea Shipton

In late June, I attended a retreat with other law and graduate students in the Wyss Scholars Program. This event, held in Washington State this year, allowed the incoming class of scholars to spend time together and chat about our studies, summer work experience, and career goals. From those spending the summer with environmental law nonprofits to those working with local park organizations and doing vital field research, it was fascinating to hear what everyone has been up to in the broad field of U.S. land conservation, especially at such a critical time for much of these lands.

Thanks to the Wyss Scholars from Yale, who organized the retreat, we spent three nights in a gorgeous house, nestled on the shores of a small lake outside of Seattle. I arrived after dark on Thursday evening but rose at first light on Friday to check out my favorite aspect of our lodging—the proximity to public lands! I was especially excited to lace up my shoes since this was my first time ever visiting the Pacific Northwest—I had mapped out a trail running route days in advance in anticipation of this morning. The trails blew my mind—it’s wild how just a few steps into thick, lush, PNW forests feels like being miles deep into the wilderness. Massive slugs dotted the trail while birds ruled the mossy branches up high. The cool morning temperatures, cloudy skies, and low altitude also served as a welcome respite from my normal weekday summer adventures in ��ý��.

The next forty-eight hours were filled with day trips to Seattle, plenty of paddling and swimming around the lake, a group hike, and lots of laughs and great conversation. We splashed around the lake on warm afternoons, waiting anxiously for the clouds to clear—which they finally did on Saturday afternoon, revealing a stunning Mount Rainier peeking out of the horizon to the southeast. We paused on trails to watch slugs inch out of harm’s way all while discussing the recent congressional attacks on public lands, the impacts of climate change, and other topics fascinating to a group of students passionate about land conservation.

I can’t thank the Wyss Foundation and the Yale cohort enough for putting together this incredible retreat. Not only was the local landscape breathtaking, but the time spent with other students who shared similar passions for land conservation was truly irreplaceable. I left Washington on Sunday morning feeling inspired by the work of my fellow Scholars and hopeful about the impacts young adults like us will make on the future of U.S. land conservation.

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Colorado Law Students Attend the 71st Annual Natural Resources and Energy Law Institute

Annie Carlozzi — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 16:37:15 +0000

Colorado Law Students Attend the 71st Annual Natural Resources and Energy Law Institute Annie Carlozzi Fri, 07/25/2025 - 10:37

Jacob Lehrman

From July 17-19, the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law hosted the 71^st Annual Natural Resources and Energy Law Institute in Whistler, British Columbia. I would like to begin by expressing my gratitude to the Foundation for providing the funding that made this opportunity possible. Along with the Foundation Scholarship winners, Solomon Biers-Ariel and Emily Derrenbacker, the Foundation’s generosity and commitment to student engagement allowed for Colorado Law students Corinne Griffin, Danielle Polinske, and myself to attend this incredible event.

Right out of the gates, keynote speaker Professor Richard J. Lazarus gave a powerful presentation on the history of environmental law and the restrictions recent Supreme Court decisions have placed on environmental regulations. While the presentation left me frustrated by how these decisions have chipped away at hard fought environmental protections, it also filled me with a renewed sense of urgency to stay engaged and push for stronger laws to safeguard our planet.

As the conference moved forward, I found myself captivated by Professor Robin Kundis Craig’s presentation titled “Developing the Nation’s Other Water Resources – Saltwater Facilities and Critical Mineral Operations Meet Marine Critters.” Professor Kundis got right into the weeds of critical mineral operations on the seafloor, providing a detailed explanation of how the operations function and their implications for marine life. I am always eager to learn more about the actual the on-the-ground activities and industries that environmental laws and regulations seek to govern, and this presentation provided that and more.

Beyond the presentations, this conference provided plenty of opportunities to engage with fellow students, attorneys, and professors. It was truly inspiring to meet so many people who share a similar passion as myself and to see where that passion has taken them. Interacting with the attorneys allowed me to see the multitude of avenues a career in natural resources, energy, or environmental law can take you. It showed me that when you stay true to your personal values and pursue work you genuinely believe in, a fulfilling and successful career is always within reach.

My fellow Colorado Law attendees shared in my sense of inspiration and motivation as well. When Danielle Polinske was asked about her favorite part of the weekend was, she responded, “It was really nice getting to connect with other students from difference schools who are also passionate about environment law. Hearing about their experiences and goals reminded me that there is a whole community of future lawyers committed to making a difference in this field and it was amazing getting to join in that sense of purpose.”

When Corinne Griffin was asked about her experience, she spoke about the Portia’s Lunch for Women. “It was a unique experience to be in a room of all female lawyers. I’ve never been in a situation like it and found it to be very inspiring, especially hearing from individuals like Rebecca Watson. Hearing the hardships and wins of women who came before me from being one of the only few or only women in the room when practicing was enlightening and made me feel like the challenges of law school are more than worth it.”

Simply put, the 71^st Annual Natural Resources and Energy Law Institute was an unforgettable experience.

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