University of Utah : S.J. Quinney College of Law

Robert B. Keiter

Wallace Stegner Professor of Law
Director, Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources, and the Environment

Robert B. Keiter received his A.B. cum laude (1968) from Washington University and a J.D. cum laude (1972) from Northwestern University School of Law. He joined the College of Law faculty in 1993 having previously taught at the University of Wyoming College of Law (1978-93) where he was the first Winston S. Howard Distinguished Professor of Law and served as interim dean. Professor Keiter also has taught at Boston College Law School (1985), Southwestern University School of Law (1976-78), and was a Senior Fulbright Scholar in Kathmandu, Nepal (1993). He was managing attorney for Idaho Legal Aid Services, Inc. (1975-76), and a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow for the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund in Charleston, West Virginia (1972-74). He has written extensively on public land policy, endangered species, national parks, and ecosystem management, as well as constitutional law. His books include Keeping Faith with Nature: Ecosystems, Democracy and America's Public Lands (Yale University Press), The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: Redefining America's Wilderness Heritage (Yale University Press), The Wyoming State Constitution (Greenwood Press), Reclaiming the Native Home of Hope: Community, Ecology and the West (University of Utah Press), and Visions of the Grand Staircase-Escalante: Utah's Newest National Monument.

Professor Keiter teaches in the areas of natural resources, public lands, constitutional law and federal courts.

Scholarship Highlights

Book Chapters

"Legal Perspectives on Ecosystem Management: Legitimizing a New Federal Land Management Policy," with L. Milkman and T. Boling, in Ecological Stewardship: A Common Reference for Ecosystem Management 9-41, W.T. Sexton, et al., editors, Vol. 3 (Elsevier Science Ltd., 1999).

"Law, Policy, and Forest Fragmentation in the Southern Rocky Mountains," in Forest Fragmentation in the Southern Rocky Mountains, 401-421, R. Knight et al., editors (Colorado Associated University Press, 1999).

"Ecosystem Management and the National Parks: Exploring the Legal-Political Framework," in National Parks and Protected Areas: Their Role in Environmental Protection, 63-88, G. Wright, editor (Blackwell Science Inc., 1996).

"Public Lands," in American Law of Real Property, A. Gaudio, editor (Matthew-Bender, 1993).

Books

Keeping Faith with Nature: Ecosystems, Democracy, and America's Public Lands, (Yale University Press, 2003).

Reclaiming the Native Home of Hope: Community, Ecology, and the West, editor (University of Utah Press, 1998).

Visions of the Grand Staircase-Escalante: Examining Utah's Newest National Monument, editor with S. George and J. Walker (Wallace Stegner Center-Utah Museum of Natural History, 1998).

The Wyoming State Constitution: A Reference Guide, with T. Newcomb (Greenwood Press, 1992, state constitutions series).

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: Redefining America's Wilderness Heritage, editor with M. Boyce (Yale University Press, 1991).

Legal Writing

"Changes Comes to the Public Lands: New Forces, Directions, and Policies," 46 Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute 3-1 (2000).

"Ecosystems and the Law: Toward an Integrated Approach," 8 (2) Ecological Applications 332- 42 (1998) (symposium).

"Preserving Nature in the National Parks: Law, Policy, and Science in a Dynamic Environment," 74 Denver University Law Review 649 (1997) (symposium).

"Ecological Policy and the Courts: Of Rights, Processes, and the Judicial Role," 4(1) Human Ecology Review 2 (1997) (symposium).

"Greater Yellowstone's Bison: The Unraveling of an Early American Wildlife Conservation Achievement," invited essay, 61(1) Journal of Wildlife Management 1 (1997).

"Toward Legitimizing Ecosystem Management on the Public Domain," special issue, 6(3) Ecological Applications 727 (1996).

"Law and Large Carnivore Conservation in the Rocky Mountains of the United States and Canada," with H. Locke, Conservation Biology 1003 (1996) (symposium).

"Protecting Nepal's National Parks: Law and Conservation in the Developing World," 22 Ecology Law Quarterly 591 (1995).

"Greater Yellowstone: Managing a Charismatic Ecosystem," 3 Utah State University Natural Resources and Environmental Issues 75 (1995).

"Beyond the Boundary Line: Constructing a Law of Ecosystem Management," 65 University of Colorado Law Review 293 (1994).

"Conservation Biology and the Law: Assessing the Challenges Ahead," 70 Chicago Kent Law Review 911 (1994).

"The Old Faithful Protection Act: Congress, National Park Ecosystems, and Private Property Rights," 14 Public Land Law Review 5 (1993).

"Bison, Brucellosis, and Law in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem," with P. Froelicher, 28 Land and Water Law Review 1 (1993).

"Observations on the Future Debate Over 'Delisting' the Grizzly Bear in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem," 13 The Environmental Professional 248 (1991).

"Wolf Recovery Under the Endangered Species Act: A Study in Contemporary Federalism," with P. Holscher, 11 Public Land Law Review 19 (1990).

"NEPA and the Emerging Concept of Ecosystem Management on the Public Lands," 25 Land and Water Law Review 43 (1990).

"Taking Account of the Ecosystem in the Public Domain: Law and Ecology in the Greater Yellowstone Region," 60 University of Colorado Law Review 923 (1989), reprinted in Conservation Biology and Public Policy 153, E. Grumbine, editor (Island Press, 1994).

"Glacier National Park and its Neighbors: A Study of Federal Interagency Relations," with J. Sax, 14 Ecology Law Quarterly 207 (1987), reprinted in Our Common Lands: Defending the National Parks 175-240, D. Simon, editor (Island Press, 1998).

"On Protecting the National Parks from the External Threats Dilemma," 20 Land and Water Law Review, 355 (1985).

Talks & Presentations

National Resource Law Teachers biannual institute, "The Wilderness Concept Revisited," Estes Park, CO, June 2001.

University of Wyoming Environment and Natural Resources Institute, "Legal and Policy Issues in Managing the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem," Jackson, WY, January 2001.

Keynote address, Society for Human Ecology annual conference, "On Ecosystems, Democracy, and America's Public Lands," Jackson, WY, October 2000.

American Law Institute, American Bar Association Public Land Law Conference, "Ecosystem Management on the Public Lands: Legal and Policy Implications," Jackson, WY, September 2000.

Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation 46th annual institute, "Change Comes to the Public Lands: New Forces, Directions, and Policies," Vancouver, BC, July 2000.

George Wright Society biannual research conference, "Exploring the Future of National Parks," Asheville, NC, March 1999.

Denver University College of Law Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute first annual Conference on Environmental Protection and Growth Management in the West, "Public Land Management and Local Planning," Denver, CO, October 1998.

Colorado State University Forest Fragmentation Symposium, "Law Policy, and Forest Fragmentation in the Central Rockies," Ft. Collins, CO, November 1997.

Yellowstone National Park Fourth Biennial Science Conference, "The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Concept," Mammoth, WY, October 1997.

Keynote address, Buffalo Bill Historical Center Bison Symposium, "The Greater Yellowstone Bison Controversy," Cody, WY, August 1997.

Keynote speaker, University of California at Davis annual environmental law symposium, "Ecosystem Management: Law, Policy, and Science," Davis, CA, February 1997.

University of Montana College of Law annual public land law conference, "America's Public Land Policies: An Historical Perspective," Missoula MT, October 1996.

Oregon State University Center for Analysis of Environmental Change, "Ecological Policy and the Courts: Of Rights, Processes, and the Judicial Role," Corvallis, OR, September 1996.

Utah State University College of Natural Resources seminar, "The Legal Dimensions of Ecological Management," Logan, UT, May 1996.

Stanford University Law School environmental law seminar, "Ecosystem Management and Law in the Greater Yellowstone Region," Palo Alto, CA, April 1996.

U.S. Forest Service National Ecosystem Management Symposium, "Ecosystem Management, National Forests, and the Law," Tucson, AZ, December 1995.

Ecological Society of America annual meeting, "Ecosystems and the Law: Toward an Integrated Approach," Snowbird, UT, August 1995.

National Brucellosis Symposium, "Brucellosis and Law in the Greater Yellowstone Area," Jackson, WY, September 1994.

Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, "Law and Ecosystem Management," Washington, D.C., March 1994.

Tribhuvan University Institute of Law, "Judicial Review in a Constitutional Democracy," Pokhara, Nepal, December 1993.

Dhaka University College of Law, "Environmental Law: Comparing the American and Asian Experience," Dhaka, Bangladesh, December 1993.

University of Colorado Natural Resources Law Center, "Beyond the Boundary Line: Constructing a Law of Ecosystem Management," Boulder, CO, September 1993.

Utah State University Conflicts in Natural Resource Management Symposium, "Greater Yellowstone: Managing a Charismatic Ecosystem," Logan, UT, April 1993.

University of Montana annual public land law conference, "Conserving Biological Diversity and the Law," Missoula, MT, April 1993.

Five-state judicial conference, "Public Land Law and the States: Reflections on the Past and Future," Cheyenne, WY, July 1992