Course Description
Upon successful completion of this course students will possess a thorough understanding of the U.S. legal system governing fish and wildlife conservation as it relates to wildlife management and will develop the skills necessary to analyze the complex stakeholder motivations affecting U.S. wildlife conservation policies from multiple perspectives.
Course Objectives
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- Analyze and discuss primary sources, including statutes and cases relevant to the course topics.
- Appraise and debate the Constitutional framework, levels of government and forms of law, the courts’ role in resolving conflicts and the potential barriers to bringing cases and requesting relief on behalf of wildlife.
- Examine and critique traditional and contemporary approaches to wildlife management in the United States, including the North American Model and the public trust doctrine, and apply ethical frameworks for identifying and analyzing related ethical concerns.
- Evaluate key U.S. treatises, federal statutes and agencies involved in the conservation of fish and wildlife, protection of endangered species and the publics’ role in affecting policy formulation, implementation and government accountability.
- Inspect and compare the goals, objectives, strengths and weaknesses of existing statutes, non-governmental recommendations and the role of environmental conservation efforts for affecting positive changes in wildlife protection.
- Explain and interpret tensions between stakeholder interests, differentiating between ethical, cultural, societal and other contextual perspectives in resolving controversies associated with protection of endangered species and habitats.
Course Topics
Module | Topic |
---|---|
Module 1 | Course Introduction; Reading Cases & Statutes; What is Wildlife in the U.S. |
Module 2 | Our Relationship to Wild Animals & Ethical Perspectives |
Module 3 | U.S. Government Basics & the Evolution of State Wildlife Oversight |
Module 4 | Wildlife & Private Interests in the U.S. |
Module 5 | Wildlife & Private Interests Continued; the Constitutional Framework |
Module 6 | State Agencies & Game Laws; Wildlife on Federal Land |
Module 7 | Key Federal Statutes: Lacey, MBTA, B&GEPA, Wild & Free-Roaming Horses & Burros Act |
Module 8 | Key Federal Statutes Continued: FAWRA, MMPA, Magnuson-Stevens |
Module 9 | Key Federal Statutes Continued: ESA |
Module 10 | Native American Tribal Rights to Wildlife |
Module 11 | Wildlife Special Topics |
Module 12 | New Approaches to Wildlife Law & Conservation |
Module 13 | Course Wrap-up |