Join Bob Anderson, Solicitor of the Deparment of the Interior for his lecture: "Public Lands, Water, and Tribal Sovereignty in an Era of Energy Transition"

Policies regarding federal public lands and waters must adjust to the reality of climate change and the inevitable trend toward a clean energy economy.  Over the last four years, the federal government has moved sharply to promote solar and wind energy on federal lands, while limiting fossil fuel development. And in a time of rising temperatures and prolonged drought, management of over-appropriated river basins in arid areas requires unprecedented creativity and cooperation. In other regions, like the Columbia River Basin, priorities include restoration of fish habitat coupled with continuing support to regional economies. More than ever before, Indian tribes, treaty rights, and co-stewardship initiatives shape the way in which all of these diverse natural resources are viewed and managed, while groups favored by past policies strive to protect their interests.  This lecture will canvas these and related topics as experienced in the Department of the Interior over the past four years and suggest future paths toward sound stewardship.

Bob Anderson

Solicitor of the Department of the Interior

Bob Anderson is a law professor with extensive experience in American Indian law, public land, and water law. He is an enrolled member of the Bois Forte Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. He taught at the University of Washington School of Law and directed its Native American Law Center for the past twenty years. For over a decade he has been an annual visiting professor at Harvard Law School. He served as the Associate Solicitor for Indian Affairs and Counselor to the Secretary under Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. He began his career as a staff attorney for the Native American Rights Fund.