Unbecoming Adversaries: Natural Resource Federalism in Wyoming

Authors

Tara Kathleen Righetti, University of Wyoming College of lawFollow
Robert B. Keiter, S.J. Quinney College of Law, University of UtahFollow
Jason Robison, University of Wyoming College of lawFollow
Temple Stoellinger, University of Wyoming College of lawFollow
Sam Kalen, University of Wyoming College of lawFollow

Author ORCID Identifier

0000-0002-7443-9898

0000-0002-5609-6940

0000-0002-1960-5259

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2021

Abstract

Wyoming’s unique cultural and physical landscape fostered dynamic federalism relationships that have oscillated between adversarial and cooperative. Too often, though, the State and its federal and tribal counterparts have found themselves in the role of unbecoming adversaries. As current and former natural resources faculty members at the University of Wyoming (UW) College of Law, we are privileged to offer a retrospective on this subject upon the law school’s centennial. In 2021, the State is facing new and daunting challenges that are straining its core industries and budget, including economic changes associated with the COVID-19 global pandemic and rapidly transforming energy markets. Concurrently, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated tourism and recreation activity and brought remote worker-migrants to mountain towns, offering new sources of revenue while increasing impacts on infrastructure and parks. In these times, moreover, we cannot ignore climate-related changes or the need to make natural resources governance more inclusive and more just. It is our humble hope that this natural resource-focused evaluation of federal-state-tribal relations within Wyoming offers insights to inform and improve these relationships in the years ahead.

Recommended Citation

Tara Kathleen Righetti, et al., Unbecoming Adversaries: Natural Resource Federalism in Wyoming, 21 Wyo. L. Rev. 289 (2021)