ENVIRONMENTAL LAW, 1998
First Problem Set/Exam
INSTRUCTIONS: The following questions are to be answered by each study group in the class. Print a copy of this Web page. Enter your study group code and each of your names in the table, below. Answer the first twelve questions by highlighting with a colored, transparent marker the section of the answer table you think is correct. Answer the last question in an essay, word-processed on a separate piece of white paper in 12 point font. The essay should consist of three or four paragraphs and is not, under any circumstances, to be longer than one page, single-spaced. It should refer in the text to supporting cases but need not have footnotes. Each study group must turn in the exam and the essay, stapled together, at the beginning of the class period on Tuesday, February 3rd, 1998. Correct answers to questions 1-10 are worth five points. The essay is worth 10 points.
| STUDY GROUP IDENTIFICATION CODE (e.g. HND): __ __ __ |
| Student Names (in block capitals): |
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
1. In which category of public land law and policy does the Organic Act of 1897 belong?
| a. Acquisition | b. Disposition | c. Reservation | d. Management |
2. The following is a full and precisely accurate citation of the identity of the first Texas Committee on Natural Resources decision, the decision that preceded Sierra Club v. Espy (1994) and which Judge Higginbotham refers to as TCONR I: Texas Committee on Natural Resources v. Bergland, 573 F.Supp. 201 (5th Cir.)., cert. denied, 349 U.S. 966 (1978).
| a. True | b. False |
3. In Sierra Club v. Espy (1994) the court observes that national forests are subject to multiple uses. These multiple uses are defined by statute in the Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960. How many statutorily sanctioned multiple uses of the national forests are there?
| a. three | b. five | c. nine | d. eleven |
4. The forest reserves that became the national forests were established "to improve and protect the forest...[and] for the purpose of securing favorable conditions of water flows, and to furnish a continuous supply of timber" 16 U.S.C. 475. [Congress also] directed the managing agency to promulgate regulations for protection of the reserves from fire and depredation, and authorized the sale of "dead, dying, and diseased growth of trees." 16 U.S.C. 473-481. Is this a correct reading of the relevant statute?
| a. Yes | b. No |
5. In Sierra Club v. Marita (1995) there are repeated references to a "diversity statute." Which statute is this?
| a. NEPA | b. ESA | c. NFMA |
6. In our class discussion of the complexities of forest management we mentioned something called allowable cut. The people who work in the Forest Service spend a lot of their time calculating and re-calculating the annual allowable cut from the national forests, a process the text describes as "less than an exact science." If the allowable cut in a given part of a national forest is calculated according to NDEF rather than non-NDEF assumptions, what difference does this make on the ground?
| a. in the aggregate, allowable cut will decrease | b. in the aggregate, allowable cut will increase |
7. Based on your careful reading of the extensive extracts from the NFMA that appear in the text, would you as an environmental attorney tell a client that it is quite clear, as a matter of statute law, that the Forest Service is required to practice NDEF?
| a. Yes. | b. No. |
8. The opinion of the court in Citizens for Environmental Quality v. United States (1989) focuses on alleged violations of a single statute but the extract of the opinion makes it clear that plaintiffs and intervenors based their complaint on several major statutes. How many?
| a. four | b. three | c. six |
9. The ranchers who were the plaintiffs in Elko County Board v. Glickman (1995) are criticized by the court for underestimating the regulatory authority of the Forest Service. The court observes at one point that "The Forest Service has promulgated extensive regulations governing activities on national forest lands" with the full support of Congress. Are these regulations:
| a. constitutional law | b. statute law | c. administrative law | d. federal common law |
10. What relief does the Supreme Court provide to appellants in Robertson v. Methow Valley Citizens Council (1989)?
| a. preliminary injunction | b. summary judgment | c. damages | d. remand |
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Essay Question: On a separate piece of paper and in accordance with the instructions, above, write a short essay explaining how your group would answer question 7 on page 683 of the main text. (We assume that after your group discusses the question one person will volunteer to draft the essay and that this chore will be rotated for future exams).
GW-S/January 1998.