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• Student Bar Association (SBA)
• Student Handbook Appendices
  • Appendix A: Course Offerings
  • Appendix B: Online Exam Policy
  • Appendix C: Rules Governing Externships
  • Appendix D: Academic Probation, Dismissal and Readmission Policy
  • Appendix E: Master of Science in Legal Administration (MSLA)
  • Appendix F: NRELP; LL.M., MRLS, CS- Part 1
  • Appendix F: NRELP; LL.M., MRLS, CS- Part 2
  • Appendix F: NRELP; LL.M., MRLS, CS - Part 3
  • Appendix G : Code of Academic Conduct - Part 1
  • Appendix G : Code of Academic Conduct - Part 2
  • Appendix H: University of Denver Code of Student Conduct
  • Appendix I: Alcohol Events Policy for Law Student Organizations
  • Appendix J: Emergency Procedures
  • Appendix K: Student Bar Association Constitution
  • Appendix L: Certificate Program in Environmental and Natural Resources Law
  • Appendix M: Certificate Program in Worklaw
  • Appendix N: Certificate Program in International Law
• Student Health Information
• Tuition and Financial Aid
• Vision and Mission Statement
• Westminster Law Library

Appendix L - Certificate Program in Environmental and Natural Resources Law

University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Environmental and Natural Resources Law (“ENRL”)
Certificate Program Proposal

I. Description of the Certificate Program

The Environmental and Natural Resources Program (“ENRLP”) at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law is one of the oldest and most extensive environmental law programs in the nation. For a century, the program, its faculty and its students have provided leadership in the development, understanding and application of environmental law and related fields.

The program has regularly been ranked among the best environmental law programs in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, ranking number 15 in 2009. It also received the prestigious American Bar Association Award for Distinguished Achievement in Environmental Law and Policy in 2007, an honor shared by only five other law schools in the United States. Our graduates regularly find employment in many areas of environmental and natural resources law.

The ENRLP emphasizes both theoretical and experiential knowledge and offers extraordinary opportunities to join classroom learning, practical experience and community service. Students examine domestic and international environmental policy, processes, and standards. Students also explore practical and ethical contributions to current and future environmental and natural resource issues.

The following is a quick overview of the strengths of the DU ENRLP:

• The program includes one of the most pedagogically sound and legally effective environmental law clinics in the nation.
• The program administers an environmental and natural resources law externship program with more than 60 listed employers, as well as an annual Practitioner-in-Residence program, and an Environmental Moot Court competition.
• Program faculty advise both the law school’s Water Law Review and the student Natural Resources and Environmental Law Society, as well as provide a first year advising program for interested students.
• The program includes an LLM and Masters Natural Resources Law degree program in domestic and international natural resources law.
• The program includes the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute.

II. Market Analysis

Environmental and Natural Resources Law remains a significant practice area for lawyers in the United States and around the world. Moreover, there is a high level of competition between law schools to recruit students interested in this practice area. Increasingly, law schools with strong programs are offering students the opportunity to obtain specialization certificates in the field. Approximately 12 law schools currently offer a certificate in environmental or natural resources law, including several that are consistently ranked in the top 10 environmental programs nationally. These schools are:

• Lewis & Clark College;
• Pace University;
• University of California – Berkeley;
• University of Colorado;
• University of Maryland;
• Duke University;
• Tulane University;
• University of California – Davis;
• University of Texas;
• Florida State University; and
• University of Utah.

Schools offering certificates have indicated that such offerings are “designed to assist [students] with an interest in environmental [law] in designing a coordinated curriculum and achieving a meaningful level of curriculum emphasis in [the field].” The purpose of the program is to both “enhance [student] exposure” to the field and to provide students a competitive advantage in the market place. Students at schools offering certificates have responded and are increasingly taking advantage of the opportunity. Of the schools surveyed, student participation ranged from a low of 15 at Berkeley and a high of 40 per year at Tulane.

The Sturm College of Law attracts large numbers of students interested in pursuing environmental or natural resources law. As was typical of previous years, over one-third of the incoming class of 2012 (104 students) identified this area as an interest of study, or as a motivating factor in their decision to come to Sturm College of Law. In 2009-2010, over 780 students enrolled in the environmental courses listed in this proposal. Student interest in the program is also demonstrated through participation in the student natural resources and environmental law society, which typically attracts upwards of 40 new students per year, and interest in the college’s environmental law clinic. The clinic receives between 25 and 30 applications each year for 12 open spots. In short, there is good reason to believe that there will be strong interest among the students in obtaining a certificate in environmental and natural resources law.

By offering this certificate in environmental and natural resources law, the University of Denver will enhance opportunities for existing Sturm College of Law students and help ensure that the college’s already renowned environmental program remains a competitive choice for potential law students.

III. Relationship of this certificate to other DU degrees and certificates

The ENRL Certificate is intended to acknowledge a path of specialized learning within the J.D. program. As such, it is a supplement to the basic J.D. degree.

The Graduate Studies Program in Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Policy is administered as an independent program within the College of Law. The program offers two degrees (LLM & Master of Resources Law Studies or MRLS) and a Certificate in Natural Resources Law Studies. The program was approved by the faculty and University Board of Trustees and has seen steady growth for a decade. The program’s director works closely with ENRLP faculty to insure that courses and resources benefit both its graduate students as well as the JD population. All courses offered by the graduate program are open to JD students.

The mission of the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute (“RMLUI”) is to serve the public as the West’s leading interdisciplinary, nonpartisan forum for research and education on the legal and public policy dimensions of development, growth management, and the environment.

The signature event organized by the institute is the annual land use conference, a world class event attracting up to 600 participants, including this country’s leading land use legal practitioners and academics. This is the largest public interest conference held at the University of Denver and one of the largest land use conferences held in the United States. The Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute provides opportunities for ENRLP students to engage in its programs and activities. The Institute supports the student Land Use Law Society by providing a lecture series and an unparalleled support base offering direct access to practitioners in the field.

The RMLUI is an affiliated organization with its own governing board and a national and regional advisory panel that includes some of the most prominent practitioners and scholars in land use law and planning. ENRLP faculty serve on the advisory boards of the RMLUI and make significant contributions to both the planning and presentation of the annual conference.

IV. Past, current, projected enrollment

We expect students interested in Environmental Law and Natural Resources Law to take advantage of this program. Based on the current level of interest in ENRLP courses, we anticipate that twenty to thirty students each year will complete the ENRL Certificate.

V. Admission criteria

All enrolled law students in good standing will be eligible for the ENRL Certificate.

VI. Curriculum

A. The Basic ENRLP Curriculum
Environmental Law (L4220) – This course covers the major federal laws and programs for environmental protection, such as the National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Toxic Substances Control Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, wildlife laws, landform preservation laws, and public resource laws. In this class, federal laws are compared to state and local legislation and common law remedies. Issues of economics and technology, tactics of environmental litigation, legislative lobbying, and administrative agency enforcement are explored.
Prerequisites: Administrative Law recommended but not required.
Credit Hours: 3
Natural Resources Law (L4450) –This course covers the primary natural resources subject matter areas: water law; mining law; oil and gas law; public land law; environmental law; and energy law.
Prerequisites: None
Credit Hours: 3

B. More Depth: Topic-Specific Courses and Seminars

1. Advanced courses
Civil Rights Seminar: Animal Rights (L4019) – Students enrolled in this course explore the definition of the term animal, the laws offering some protection of animals. State and federal anti-cruelty laws, such as the Animal Welfare Act and the Endangered Species Act, are used as a basis for in-class discussions debating the need for animal rights.
Prerequisites: None
Credit Hours: 3
Comparative Environmental Law (L4317) –This course provides an introduction to the growing network of international law (multilateral and bilateral treaties, customary law, adjudications, etc.) that govern environmental law. The course focuses on international legal issues including global climate change; transboundary pollution; resource depletion; toxic waste export; biodiversity and wildlife/plant extinction; deforestation; desertification; ocean pollution; sustainable development; etc. (The internal domestic environmental laws of individual countries receive some attention as does trade law, but these are covered with more detail in Comparative Law and International Business Transactions, respectively.)
Prerequisites: None
Credit Hours: 3
Economics of Natural Resources Investment and Finance (L4452) – This course deals with the basic concepts of financial evaluation of a natural resources project. The emphasis is on financial evaluation topics and issues relevant to a lawyer’s participation in a project. Students are introduced to the time-value of money; spreadsheet analysis; discounted cash flow; and spreadsheets, with relevancy to negotiations. This course is part of the core curriculum for the graduate degree courses in International Natural Resources Law and Policy.
Prerequisites: Students are encouraged to consult with the director of this program before enrollment.
Credit Hours: 3

Energy Law (L4210) – Energy Law presents the regulation of production, conversion, transportation, distribution and pricing of fossil, hydro, nuclear, and other conventional sources of primary energy. It also offers insight into the regulation of renewable energy resources, including energy from the sun, wind, biomass, oceans, earth (geothermal), and rivers (including low-head hydro). There is an emphasis on new legislative and judicial development relating to these various energy sources. The course is taught in a seminar fashion, and students present and critique classmate papers as part of the class.
Prerequisites: None
Credit Hours: 3

Environmental Ethics & Justice (L4219) – This course provides a broad analytical consideration of ethical environmental policy-making. Students consider the historical aspect of environmental ethics as the various ethical approaches to making a decision concerning the environment. The class also explores the roles that the law, economics, and society’s values play in environmental ethics.

Prerequisites: None
Credit Hours: 3

European Union Environmental Law & Policy (L4037) – In the last 25 years, the European Union (EU) has become a leading player in the context of European environmental legislation and policy making. Of particular interest has been the relationship between economic development, which serves as the underpinning of the EU’s single market, and environmental protection, the importance of which is clearly set out in the European Community Treaty. Matters dealing with climate change, genetically modified organisms, and recycling are now dealt with on a regular basis at EU level. These matters have impacts, both internally in the EU’s 27 member states, as well as internationally where companies, including U.S. firms, must abide by EU standards in order to market products in the world’s largest single market. This course considers the history of EU environmental policy, the current legal basis of EU environmental activities, seminal court decisions involving environmental protection, and the growing role of the EU in setting world standards in environmental protection. The course is taught online beginning Jan. 12 and ending May 1. It consists of a series of reading, video interviews, and writing assignments as well as on-going internet discussions.

Prerequisites: None
Credit Hours: 3

Adv. ENRL Seminar: Federal Wildlife Law (L4251) – This course covers federal wildlife law beginning with the Constitutional underpinnings of federal wildlife law. It focuses on the Endangered Species Act with some coverage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The course takes new approaches to species and habitat preservation, paying particular attention to Colorado species.
Prerequisites: None
Credit Hours: 3
Global Climate Change (L4259) – As concern over the threat of global climate change spreads, action on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) is increasingly commanding attention. This seminar consists of supervised research and writing on the issue of climate change and the legal and policy responses. The course focuses the effects of climate change on development and the environment in industrialized and developing countries and the laws in the international, regional and domestic arenas that address the problem. The course thoroughly examines the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol and trade issues related to climate change, especially the flexible mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol cap and trade provisions. The course gives special attention to China and India as they increasingly become the largest emitters of greenhouse gases. This seminar examines rules, procedures, and institutions that address climate change as well as on-going domestic and regional cases that concern the effects of climate change.
Prerequisites: None
Credit Hours: 3

Growth Management and Sustainable Development (L4703) – This course focuses on the utilization of local zoning, modern growth management, and smart growth regulatory programs that attempt to shape and control development of the built environment in metropolitan areas both in the United States and throughout the world. The course will examine how laws and public policies in the United States and elsewhere in the world relate to shaping the form and design of the built environment and provide the governing context for urban development and economic growth. The course provides a law and public policy analysis of the related sustainable development issues of free markets, private property rights, population growth, immigration, education, technology, land use, green development, urban sprawl, food production, infrastructure, transportation, housing, environmental protection, energy, global warming, and social cohesion. The course examines how urban planning, smart growth, and other governmental polices impact urban sprawl, environmental protection, and sustainable development in this country and in other countries of the world. A particular focus of the course will be twenty-first century public policy issues related to the development of China’s cities, peak oil, urban collapse, global warming, climate change, alternative energy systems, social cohesion, and urban terrorism.

Prerequisites: None
Credit Hours: 3

Hazardous Waste and Toxic Substances (L4380) – This practical, hands-on course reviews the major federal environmental protection programs, with an emphasis on the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or “Superfund”) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). It also covers Toxic Torts, Underground Storage Tanks, the Clean Water Act, Safe Water Drinking Act, and the Clean Air Act. Other materials may be distributed by the instructor on OSHA, NEPA, TSCA, OPA, the Colorado state voluntary cleanup program (VCUP), toxicology, and immunity issues. The course emphasizes practical application of major environmental laws. Students will become familiar with statutory and regulatory schemes, and are expected to be able to identify environmental legal issues and apply environmental laws and regulations to hypothetical problems.

Prerequisites: Environmental Law; Natural Resources Law; or Public Land and Resource Law.
Credit Hours: 3

International and Comparative Mining Law (L4342) – The course deals with basic concepts of mineral law, as practiced in various jurisdictions. This includes exploration, mining and environmental protection and reclamation issues. It then focuses on the current evolution and legal and policy status of mining legislation, mineral investment agreements, and major actors. Students completing this course develop a basic understanding of the general approaches, legal frameworks, policies and agreements used to regulate the mining industry in key jurisdictions outside the United States.

Prerequisites: This course is part of the core curriculum for the graduate degree courses in International Natural Resources Law and Policy. Students are encouraged to consult with the director of this program before enrollment.
Credit Hours: 3

International and Comparative Petroleum Law (L4343) – The course deals with basic concepts of international law relating to petroleum investment, current elements of petroleum legislation, and petroleum investment agreements (production-sharing, concession, joint venture, service, management contracts). Also, students explore such aspects of petroleum law as dispute settlement and legal status. The instructor discusses the major actors (international petroleum companies, state petroleum enterprises, Ministries of Energy) and their legal and policy status. Students completing the course leave with a basic understanding of the general approaches, policies, and agreements used to regulate the petroleum industry in key selected jurisdictions outside the United States.
Prerequisites: This course is part of the core curriculum for the graduate degree courses in International Natural Resources Law and Policy. Students are encouraged to consult with the director of this program before enrollment.
Credit Hours: 3
International Water Law (L4672) – This course presents a global overview of water law, systems, and practice in the modern world. It includes coverage of hydrology, history, national legal systems, and modern international treaties and cases. It has a special emphasis on sustainable development, equitable utilization, pollution control, and ecosystem protection utilized for multi-nation water basins.

Prerequisites: Water Law and International Law courses not a prerequisite, as basics will be covered.
Credit Hours: 3

Land Conservation Transactions (L4358) – This course covers the fundamental law and principles related to land conservation. It is a research based class, and students are responsible for researching, presenting information and drafting regarding a specific conservation project. This course provides all the background necessary to allow students to conduct a meaningful research foray in and to create conservation easements for land conservation.

Prerequisites: None
Credit Hours: 3

Land Use Planning (L4360) – This is an examination of public controls and powers used in the regulation of privately owned land. The master plan, the official map, subdivision regulation, zoning, eminent domain and urban renewal are planning techniques that are analyzed that restrict the private use of land. Special problems in land use planning also studied include exclusionary zoning; slow growth ordinances; regulation of aesthetics; regulation of natural resources development; and inverse condemnation.
Prerequisites: None
Credit Hours: 3

Mining Law (L4445) – This course provides the basic framework of mining law. Through a resource by resource survey, the class explores how hard minerals and energy resources are acquired and developed both through private leases and through federal and state mining and mineral leasing laws. Special emphasis is given to understanding title issues, the concept of severance, and efforts to resolve competitive demands for exclusive and multiple use of public lands for mineral production and conservation. The course is taught in a seminar fashion, and students present and critique classmate papers as part of the class.
Prerequisites: None
Credit Hours: 3
Native American Natural and Cultural Resources Law (L4706NA) – This course studies the convergence of federal Indian law, natural and cultural resources law. Topics may include Indian lands, environmental regulation and natural resource development in Indian Country, water rights, hunting and fishing, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, use and protection of tribal songs, stories, and ceremonies, and sacred sites. The course culminates in a research project, including an oral presentation and paper. This course meets the Upper Level Writing Requirement.
Prerequisites: None
Credit Hours: 3
Negotiating Natural Resource Agreements (L4462) – Students completing this course leave with an understanding of the general approaches, and primary issues and motivations pertaining to the negotiation of large, internationally funded petroleum and mining projects. They particularly gain a perspective on the negotiation of first-tier agreements between trans-national companies and governments, and joint venture agreements between private parties.

Prerequisites: This course is part of the core curriculum for the graduate degree courses in International Natural Resources Law and Policy. Students are encouraged to consult with the director of this program before enrollment.
Credit Hours: 3
Ocean & Coastal Law & Policy (L4461) – This course addresses both legal and scientific principles applicable to oceanic and coastal resources. The course begins with an overview of basic scientific principles including oceanography, fisheries management, the geomorphology of the coastal zone and the ecology of marshes and beaches. The first half of the course addresses oceanic law and policy issues, specifically sources of oceanic law, the scope and extent of national jurisdiction, navigation rights, seabed mining, protection of the marine environment, protection of migratory species and the resolution of boundary disputes. Particular attention is paid to the Third U.N. Conference on the Law of the Sea and the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. The second half of the course addresses coastal law and policy issues, specifically the scope and extent of federal and state jurisdiction, property interests in coastal resources, the public trust doctrine, the navigation servitude, shoreline access, coastal water quality and both federal and state regulation of fisheries. Particular attention is paid to the Coastal Zone Management Act.
Prerequisites: None
Credit Hours: 3
Oil and Gas Law (L4465) – This course surveys the various characteristics of oil and gas interest. Topics include mineral rights, and how ownership leases and transfers of these rights should be handled. The instructor also distinguishes the field of oil and gas law on private lands from those in the public domain.
Prerequisites: None
Credit Hours: 3
Public Land and Resources Law (L4495) – This offering grants an overview of law, policy, and procedures governing the lands managed by the federal government and state of local government lands. The interwoven law, history, and economics controlling acquisition and allocation of public lands and resources are traced. The class grants a close examination of traditional commercial uses and other resource categories of land use practices.
Prerequisites: Administrative Law recommended but not required.
Credit Hours: 3

Renewable Energy and Project Finance Law (L4501) – This course explores the legal, economic, technological, and policy underpinnings of the Renewable Energy Industry, global warming, and associated implications to the electric utility and transportation sectors. The course addresses both domestic and international perspectives on renewable energy development including the Kyoto Protocol. A detailed introduction to the law of energy project finance is presented, which provides the student with the theory and tools needed to structure and develop domestic and international energy production projects. (Project Finance Law is now a substantial practice area at major international law firms.)

Prerequisites: Contract Law is a prerequisite, and an interest in energy, environmental or natural resource law is recommended.
Credit Hours: 2

Sustainable Development & Trade (L4556) – This seminar is designed to give an introduction into the convergence of trade, environment, and development issues and law, addressing areas of conflict and synergies among them. It will focus on rules, procedures, and institutions aimed at making globalization compatible with sustainable development by integrating trade policy and law with policies that address other aspects of “human development,” such as environmental concerns, social concerns, human rights, gender issues, and governance. The seminar will also cover relevant cases, such as the WTO Shrimp-Turtle Case, the Beef Hormone Case, and the GMO Case. Issues relating to sovereign wealth funds will also be covered.

Prerequisites: None
Credit Hours: 3

Water Law (L4670) – Water Law is an introductory course for students interested in pursuing water law. It covers private property rights in water, and the legal and environmental controls surrounding it.
Prerequisites: Administrative Law recommended but not required.
Credit Hours: 3

2. New courses launched in 2009

The ENRLP program launched five timely and important new courses in August 2009. These courses reflect the law school’s commitment to providing the broadest and most sophisticated environmental, natural resources, and renewable energy curriculum of any law school in North America.
Comparative Latin American Mining Law (L4702LML) – Latin America’s mining sector has enjoyed significant expansion in recent years. Two countries that exemplify mining sector growth are Argentina and Peru. However, the countries are different in how the mining sector has expanded and what challenges and opportunities lay ahead. Argentina is a “non-traditional mining” country in that the sector is beginning from a lower level of output than Peru. However, Argentina has huge tracts of land in the western part of the country at the base of and in the Andes that represent major areas of exploration and development. On the other hand, Peru is a mining leader – it produces more silver than any country in the world and is second in copper. Nearly two-thirds of Peru’s exports in 2007 came from the mining industry. Underscoring the region’s growing importance as an exporter of minerals is the fact that Chinese and Indian companies have joined Australian, European, and North American firms in searching for investment opportunities in Latin America. This course, which will be taught by two of Latin America’s pre-eminent mining law experts, will introduce students to mining law in the region. Special focus will be placed on Argentina and Peru. Among other topics, the course will consider constitutional treatment of natural resources, how mining rights are obtained, administrative procedures, general contractual structures used in mining, environmental issues, promotional regimes, and project financing and other financing sources (such as IPO’s, bond issuances and syndicated loans, etc.).
Community Relations in Natural Resources Law (L4701CR) – Mining (and other natural resources) companies across the world understand that a key component of their success is tied to successfully managing community relations in locations where they operate. David Humphreys, chief economist for mining sector giant Rio Tinto, has observed, “[Mining] is a capital intensive industry and, generally, not a very profitable one, which can ill afford the delays, disruptions and other costs that are associated with poor community relations. At the same time, the benefits of managing its community relations well prospectively confers competitive advantages on a company.” This course will explore the various issues involved in community relations. It will be taught by two pre-eminent experts in this growing field: one a leading mining lawyer from Peru and the other a sociologist by training who works as a community relations manager for a major mining company operating in Peru. This course has several objectives: (1) understanding the strategic importance of successful community relations; (2) creating a multi-disciplinary examination of community relations, including consideration of social, legal, and economic issues; (3) analyzing the “tool box” of ideas and concepts available to successfully manage community relations; (4) exploring alternatives when community relations problems arise, and (5) introducing students to a simulated community relations exercise.

Renewable Energy for the 21st Century: Policy, Law, Markets, Technology – Renewable Energy for the 21st Century” will help prepare students for future involvement in this dynamic sector. In this regard, students will be introduced to the policy and legal framework involving renewables and energy efficiency as well as important technological and market-based issues. The course will include lectures and presentations from many of the top people at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the nation’s principal research and development center for renewable electricity and fuels, as well as other outside experts. The first two-thirds of the course will involve a range of experts who will explain the technologies, policies, and markets that are driving the development and implementation of renewable energy. Students will be assigned a series of reading assignments to supplement these lectures. During this segment of the course, students will be introduced to topics ranging from the role of federal and state policies in promoting renewables and energy efficiency to overcoming barriers to major renewable energy projects. The final third of the course will involve student presentations and the submission of a paper on a topic related to the subject matter of the course. The final two class sessions will summarize topics covered and include a dialog with NREL senior policy analysts to test the students’ knowledge developed during the semester. In addition to the above, the course will emphasize the on-going and cutting-edge debates that surround renewable energy policy making in the U.S. and internationally.

Urban Planning Law, Growth, and Sustainable Development: An International Perspective – This course focuses on the utilization of local zoning, modern growth management, and smart growth regulatory programs that attempt to shape and control development of the built environment in metropolitan areas both in the United States and throughout the world. The course will examine how laws and public policies in the United States and elsewhere in the world relate to shaping the form and design of the built environment and provide the governing context for urban development and economic growth. The course provides a law and public policy analysis of the related sustainable development issues of free markets, private property rights, population growth, immigration, education, technology, land use, green development, urban sprawl, food production, infrastructure, transportation, housing, environmental protection, energy, global warming, and social cohesion. The course examines how urban planning, smart growth, and other governmental policies impact urban sprawl, environmental protection, and sustainable development in this country and in other countries of the world. A particular focus of the course will be twenty-first century public policy issues related to the development of China’s cities, peak oil, urban collapse, global warming, climate change, alternative energy systems, social cohesion, and urban terrorism.

Adv. ENRL Seminar: Regulation of Urban Pollution (L4700U) – Urbanization of the western United States brings with it new legal and social challenges. Industrial pollution, changed land use patterns, and new infrastructure development can have significant consequences on a population. This course first will examine these challenges by focusing on the emerging environmental issues along Colorado’s increasingly urban Front Range. The class will critically examine the regulatory programs and legal resources available to urban governments and citizens to balance economic growth with protection of public health and quality of life. The course will involve guest speakers and field trips to broaden student knowledge. 3 credit hours.

C. Practice-Based Experiences

1. Environmental Law Clinic

The Environmental Law Clinic (“ELC”) was originally established at the College of Law in January 1995 in partnership with Earthlaw, a local public interest environmental law firm. From its inception, the Environmental Law Clinic has taken on important public lands and biodiversity protection cases. From 2000 to 2003, Earthjustice (a prominent national environmental organization) ran the clinic. In August 2003, the current Environmental Law Clinic at the University Of Denver Sturm College Of Law assumed environmental clinical responsibilities from Earthjustice. In 2008, the College of Law hired its first tenure-track environmental law clinical director, Michael Harris.
Bringing the clinic “in house” has provided the ELC with increased opportunities to select cases for educational value, more opportunities to integrate clinic expertise into classroom teaching, and greater opportunities for the College of Law and its students to get credit in the press for environmental victories. The clinic and clinic cases have received press through a number of prominent outlets such as television, National Public Radio, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Denver Post.

Beginning in the 2009-2010, the ELC will offer two distinct tracks for clinical students: the traditional Federal Wildlife/Resources Program (“FWP”) and the new Colorado Urban Program (“CUP”). Students who select the FWP track will gain significant hands-on experience in litigation under the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the National Forest Management Act. Students who select the CUP track will learn to utilize both federal and state laws to tackle the growing urban environmental issues along the Front Range, including the Federal Clean Water Act, Federal Clean Air Act, local land use planning, and environmental justice policies.

In their regular class meetings, clinic students focus on improving their legal writing and lawyering skills. Also, through real-world scenarios, the clinic students explore the “anatomy of a law suit” including aspects of federal court litigation that regularly come up in clinic cases.

2. Externships

The Environmental/Natural Resources Law Externship Program (“ENRLEP”) includes the leading federal, state and local government agencies; international, national and local public interest organizations; private law firms; and corporations. Approximately 15% of the law school’s 429 externships in 2009 were in the environmental, natural resources, and energy areas. The externship program provides students the opportunity to acquire real experience in Environmental and Natural Resources Law practice. Students generally take externships for 3 units of credit during summer, fall, and spring semesters.

The ENRLEP is a very popular offering, open to JD students in good standing after completion of their first year and to students in the LLM and MRLS Programs. Enrollment is normally in the range of 40 to 50 students per year. The result is a contribution of thousands of pro bono hours of service provided to the Denver legal community by our students.

3. Natural Resources Distinguished Practitioner Seminar
During the Natural Resources Distinguished Practitioner Seminar, students cover a broad range of topics. The instructor provides insight into everything from legal writing and drafting memos to working well with other practitioners and staying sane while practicing law. The only prerequisite for the seminar is the professor’s permission, and the seminar qualifies for 3 credit hours.
VII. Program objectives

The ENRL Certificate program will offer in-depth study and training in Environmental Law, Natural Resources Law, and Energy Law. The Certificate will also provide a platform for participating students to interact with employers and scholars in the field of environmental and natural resources law.

VIII. Program requirements and required courses

1. Administrative Law (which is already a required course in the standard J.D. program).

2. A minimum of fifteen (15) credits in the ENRL curriculum including:

(A) At least one of either Environmental Law or Natural Resources Law, AND

(B) Completion for credit of one of the following live-client experiences or simulations in the ENRL program:

(i) An ENRL related experience through the Student Law Office, OR

(ii) An ENRL related full semester externship through the legal externship program, OR

(iii) A simulated experience course such as the Natural Resources Distinguished Practitioner Seminar.

3. Completion of a research paper satisfying the College of Law’s upper-level writing requirement on an ENRL topic, either through a course or directed research.

4. A cumulative G.P.A. of 3.0 in all ENRL courses.