UF and the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) co-hosted a one-day academic symposium on November 12, 2004, to focus attention on the implications of the Supreme Court’s 2003-2004 term, a term in which the Court decided an unprecedented six environmental cases. The purpose of the symposium, titled “Alternative Grounds: Defending the Environment in an Unwelcome Judicial Climate,” was to explore these recent important environmental law decisions in light of existing case law and evaluate the viability of relevant statutory and constitutional theories, as well as litigation strategies. The symposium was organized by Professor Michael Wolf, who holds the Richard E. Nelson Chair in Local Government Law, and was supported through the Nelson Chair. The Symposium was held at the historic Belleview Biltmore in Clearwater.

     Presenters at the conference included Professors Christopher Schroeder (Duke), William Buzbee (Emory), J.B. Ruhl (Florida State), Richard Lazarus (Georgetown), Robert Glicksman (Kansas), Paul Boudreaux (Stetson), and Sean Donahue (Washington & Lee), and UF Environmental and Land Use Law Professors Mary Jane Angelo, Alyson Flournoy and Michael Allan Wolf, with Mark Fenster, Richard Hamann and Christine Klein serving as respondents. Joining these academics were Jay Austin of ELI, Doug Kendall of the Community Rights Counsel, Sambhav Nott Sankhar, a law clerk to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor during the 2003-2004 term, and Donald Stever, a partner at Kirkpatrick and Lockhart. Papers presented at the conference will be published in a volume edited by Professor Wolf and published by the ELI.

     UF’s Environmental and Land Use Law Program was recently ranked in the top 20 of law schools throughout the nation, in large part due to strong scholarship and research by program faculty. The program offers an unusually rich and diverse curriculum and numerous opportunities for students to gain practical experience and network with professionals as well as the opportunity to earn a certificate in the area. New offerings this spring include a course on Environmental Issues in Business and Real Estate Transactions to be co-taught by adjunct faculty members Terry Zinn and Enola Brown.

     Two additional major conferences on environmental and land use law issues are scheduled for February 2005. On Feb. 11, at the Hilton UF Conference Center in Gainesville, the Richard E. Nelson Symposium will focus on “Billboards Law: Regulating the Signs of the Times.” (Contact Conference Director Barbara DeVoe at devoe@law.ufl.edu for details). On February 24-26, the students of UF’s Environmental and Land Use Law Society host the Eleventh Annual Public Interest Environmental Conference (PIEC) at the J. Wayne Reitz Union on the UF campus. (Contact Ashley Cross-Rappaport at cross711@ufl.edu or Adam Regar at aregar@ufl.edu).

     The PIEC kicks off with a reception on Thursday evening at the Florida Museum of Natural History, featuring remarks by 2004 Goldman Environmental Prize winner and grassroots environmental justice activist Margie Eugene-Richard. A Thursday afternoon pre-conference workshop, sponsored by the Florida Native Plant Society and the University of Florida Conservation Clinic, will focus on the promotion and protection of Florida’s native plant species. The panels on Friday and Saturday address a broad range of topics, including climate change, the state of our seas, post-hurricane redevelopment, water quality credit trading, adaptive management, citrus canker, brownfields redevelopment, conservation of reptiles and amphibians, and many others. You can visit the conference website and register online at www.ufpiec.org.

     For more information on UF’s Environmental and Land Use Program visit us at http://www.law.ufl.edu/elulp/.