Robert B. Keiter
Wallace Stegner Professor of Law
University Distinguished Professor
Director of Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources, and the Environment
Professor Keiter holds a J.D. degree with honors from Northwestern University School of Law and a B.A. with honors from Washington University. He has taught at the University of Wyoming, Boston College, and Southwestern University, and served as a Senior Fulbright Scholar at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, Nepal.
His books include Keeping Faith With Nature: Ecosystems, Democracy, and America's Public Lands (Yale Univ. Press 2003); Reclaiming the Native Home of Hope: Community, Ecology, and the West (Univ. of Utah Press 1998); Visions of the Grand Staircase-Escalante: Examining Utah's Newest National Monument (Utah Mus. of Nat. History & Wallace Stegner Center 1998); The Wyoming State Constitution: A Reference Guide (Greenwood Press 1993); and The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: Redefining America's Wilderness Heritage (Yale Univ. Press 1991). He has also written numerous book chapters and journal articles on public lands and natural resource law, addressing such topics as national parks, ecosystem management, wildfire policy, and biodiversity conservation. He serves on the boards of the National Parks Conservation Association, the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, and the University of Utah’s Institute for Clean and Secure Energy.
Professor Keiter teaches Natural Resources Law, Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, and Federal Courts. He has received teaching awards from the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, the University of Wyoming College of Law, and the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation. In 2008, he was named a University Distinguished Professor by the University of Utah. His current project is a book on the American national park idea.
Scholarship Highlights
Books
Keeping Faith with Nature: Ecosystems, Democracy, and America's Public Lands (Yale Univ. Press 2003)
Reclaiming the Native Home of Hope: Community, Ecology, and the West (Robert B. Keiter, ed., Univ. of Utah Press 1998)
Visions of the Grand Staircase-Escalante: Examining Utah's Newest National Monument (R. Keiter, S. George & J. Walker eds., Wallace Stegner Ctr., Utah Museum of Nat. Hist. 1998)
The Wyoming State Constitution: A Reference Guide, co-authored with T. Newcomb (Greenwood Press 1992)
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: Redefining America's Wilderness Heritage, (R. Keiter & M. Boyce eds., Yale Univ. Press 1991)
Book Chapters
Climate Change and Wildfire Policy, in Climate Change: A Reader (W.H. Rodgers, Jr. et al. eds., Carolina Acad. Press, 2011)
Saving Special Places on the Public Domain, in The Evolution of Natural Resources Law and Policy (L. MacDonnell & S. Bates eds., A.B.A. 2010)
A Glen Echo Passage, in Law Touched Our Hearts: A Generation Remembers Brown V. Board of Education (M. Robinson & R. Bonnie eds., Vand. Univ. Press 2009)
Department of the Interior and Bureau of Land Management, in Encyclopedia for Environmental Ethics and Philosophy (J. B. Callicott & R. Frodeman eds. Macmillan 2008)
The Greater Yellowstone Idea, in People and Place: The Human Experience in Greater Yellowstone (P. Schullery & S. Stevenson eds., Yellowstone Nat'l Park Ctr. for Res. 2004)
Legal Perspectives on Ecosystem Management: Legitimizing a New Federal Land Management Policy, co-authored with L. Milkman & T. Boling, in Ecological Stewardship: A Common Reference for Ecosystem Management (W.T. Sexton et al. eds., Elsevier Sci. Ltd. 1999)
Law, Policy, and Forest Fragmentation in the Southern Rocky Mountains, in Forest Fragmentation in the Southern Rocky Mountains (R. Knight et al. eds., Colo. Associated Univ. Press 1999)
Law Review Articles
The National Park System: Visions for Tomorrow, 50 Nat. Resources J. 71 (2010)
Breaking Faith with Nature: The Bush Administration and Public Land Policy, 27 J. Land Resources & Envtl. L. 195 (2007)
The Law of Fire: Reshaping Public Land Policy in an Era of Ecology and Litigation, 36 Envtl. L. 301 (2006)
The Realities of Regional Resource Management: Glacier National Park and Its Neighbors Revisited, co-authored with Joe Sax, 33 Ecology L.Q. 233 (2006)
Public Lands and Law Reform: Putting Theory, Policy, and Practice in Perspective, 2005 Utah L. Rev. 1127
Ecological Concepts, Legal Standards, and Public Land Law: An Analysis and Assessment, 44 Nat. Resources J. 943 (2004)
Of Gold and Grizzlies: A Tale of Two Laws, 24 J. Land Resources & Envtl. L. 233 (2004)
Ecological Restoration and the Public Lands: Toward a More Natural Order, 33 Envtl. L. Rep. 10443 (2003)
Biodiversity Conservation and the Intermixed Ownership Problem: From Nature Reserves to Collaborative Processes, 38 Idaho L. Rev. 301 (2002) (symposium)
The Monument, the Plan, and Beyond, 21 J. Land Resources & Envtl. Law 521 (2001) (symposium)
Change Comes to the Public Lands: New Forces, Directions, and Policies, 46 Rocky Mtn. Min. L. Inst. 3-1 (2000)
Preserving Nature in the National Parks: Law, Policy, and Science in a Dynamic Environment, 74 Denv. U. L. Rev. 649 (1997) (symposium)
Protecting Nepal’s National Parks: Law and Conservation in the Developing World, 22 Ecology L. Q. 591 (1995)
Beyond the Boundary Line: Constructing a Law of Ecosystem Management, 65 U. Colo. L. Rev. 293 (1994), reprinted in 26 Land Use & Env't. L. Rev. 33 (1995)
Works in Progress
To Conserve Unimpaired: The American National Park Idea (Island Press, forthcoming)
Wildlife Conservation, Climate Change, and Ecosystem Management, in Ecosystem Management and the Law (Kalyani Robbins, ed.) (Akron Univ. Press, 2012).
Revisiting the Organic Act: Is It Time?, 28 George Wright Forum__(2011).
The Wyoming State Constitution: A Reference Guide, 2d ed. (Oxford Univ. Press, forth coming).
Other Publications
Glacier National Park and Its Neighbors Revisited: A Twenty-Year Assessment of Regional Resource Management, 24 George Wright F. 23 (2007)
Completing Canyonlands, Nat'l. Parks Mag. 27 (Mar./Apr. 2000)
Ecosystems and the Law: Toward an Integrated Approach, 8 (2) Ecological Applications 332 (1998) (symposium)
Ecological Policy and the Courts: Of Rights, Processes, and the Judicial Role, 4(1) Hum. Ecology Rev. 2 (1997) (symposium)
Greater Yellowstone's Bison: The Unraveling of an Early American Wildlife Conservation Achievement, 61(1) J. Wildlife Mgmt. 1 (1997)
Toward Legitimizing Ecosystem Management on the Public Domain, 6(3) Ecological Applications 727 (1996)
Law and Large Carnivore Conservation in the Rocky Mountains of the United States and Canada, co-authored with H. Locke, Conservation Biology 1003 (1996) (symposium)
Selected Talks and Presentations
Graduation Speech, National Park Services Training Center, "National Park Idea in the 21st Century," Grand Canyon National Park, Aug. 2011
Panel Presentation, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Fdn. Annual Institute, "Lessons from Nine Mile Canyon: Achieving Consensus over Energy Development on the Public Lands," Santa Fe, NM, July 2011 (with K. Lindstrom)
Wallace Stegner Center Annual Symposium, Wildlife Management Challenges in a Fragmented Landscape, Univ. of Utah College of Law, Salt Lake City, UT March 2011
What Is a National Park?, Natural Resource Law Teachers’ Biannual Institute, Chico Hot Springs, MT, May 2009
The Role of the National Parks in Combating Climate Change, Invited Testimony, U.S. House of Representatives Comm. on Natural Resources, Subcomm. on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, Field Hearing, Twenty Nine Palms, CA, Apr. 2009
Regional Resource Management on Public Lands, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, National Policy Dialogue on Landscape Conservation, Cambridge, MA, Apr. 2009
Glacier National Park and Its Neighbors: Exploring Regional Resource Management, Gonzaga University School of Law Environmental Law Caucus, Spokane, WA, Feb. 2009
National Park Protection Strategies, National Parks Second Century Commission, Yellowstone National Park, WY, Jan. 2009
Energy, Public Lands, and the Environment, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Energy Summit, Midvale, UT, Oct. 2008
Regionalism, Ecosystem Management, and the Public Lands, University of Montana College of Law Public Land Law Conference, Missoula, MT, Oct. 2008
The Elusive Quest for Sustainability on the Public Lands, Public Lands Foundation, Park City, UT, Sept. 2008
Ecosystems, Law, and Policy: Seeking a Greater Synthesis, Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Milwaukee, WI, Aug. 2008
Glacier National Park and Its Neighbors: Lessons for Western Lands Issues, Idaho State Bar Environment and Natural Resources Section, Boise, ID, Jan. 2008
Law and Science of Forestry Management, Eighth and Tenth Circuits Judges’ Conference, Vail, CO, July 2007
Glacier National Park and Its Neighbors: A Twenty Year Assessment of Regional Resource Management, International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, Park City, UT, July 2007
University of Colorado Natural Resources Law Center 25th Anniversary Conference, Preserving 7 Special Places, Boulder, CO, June 2007
Regionalism and the Public Lands, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and Univ. of Montana Public Policy Research Institute, Whitefish, MT, May 2007
Gold, Grizzlies, and the Evolution of Natural Resource Policy, Utah Dept. of Natural Resources and Dave Foster Foundation, Salt Lake City, UT, May 2007
Glacier National Park and Its Neighbors: A Twenty Year Assessment of Regional Resource Management, George Wright Society Conference, St. Paul, MN, Apr. 2007
Public Land Policy in the New Millenium, U.S. Forest Service Intermountain Region Annual Meeting, Ogden, UT, Feb. 2007
Glacier National Park and Its Neighbors: A Twenty-Year Study of Regional Resource Management, Clason Lecture, Western New England College School of Law, Springfield, MA, Oct. 2006
Oil Shale Redux: A Viable U.S. Energy Option?, Western New England College School of Law Faculty Workshop, Springfield, MA, Oct. 2006
Striking the Balance: Multiple Use Quandaries on Public Lands, U.S. Geological Survey Energy and Raptor Conservation Workshop, Salt Lake City, Apr. 2006
Roadless Area Conflict: History, Politics, and Law, Idaho State Bar Environment and Natural Resources Section CLE Program, Boise, ID, Jan. 2006
Recent Developments in Constitutional Law, And Justice for All CLE Program, Salt Lake City, UT, Jan. 2006
Management of the National Parks and the Parks of the Southwest, U.S. House of Representatives Comm. on Government Reform, Subcomm. on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources Field Hearing, Flagstaff AZ, Apr. 2006
Professional Service
Trustee, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, 1993-present (Exec. Comm. 2008-11)
Associate Director, University of Utah Institute for Clean and Secure Energy, 2006-present
Trustee, National Parks Conservation Association, 1999-2008, 2009-present
Board of Directors, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, 2009-present
Board of Directors, University of Wyoming Ruckelshaus Institute for Environment and Natural Resources, 2006-10
Board of Directors, The Sonoran Institute, 2008-10
Board of Advisors, Public Land and Resources Law Review. University of Montana School of Law, 1990-1996. 2006-2010
Chair, Wallace Stegner Centennial Celebration Committee, 2006-09
Chair, Natural Resources Law Teachers Group, Rocky Mtn. Min. L. Found., 2000-02
Honors & Awards
Executive Special Recognition Award, The Pax Natura Foundation, 2010
Faculty Scholarship Award, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, 2009
University Distinguished Professor, 2008-present
National Parks Achievement Award, National Parks Conservation Association, 2008
Clyde O. Martz, Outstanding Law Professor Award, Rocky Mtn. Min. L. Found., 2008
Outstanding Teaching Awards, 2003 (Utah), 1989 (Wyoming)
Senior Fulbright Scholar, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal, 1993