Environmental Law at the Turn of the Century: A Reportorial Fragment of Contemporary History

Abstract

Contemporary environmental law, focused on biodiversity protection and restoration, is proving especially contentious since it affects virtually all areas, public and private, developed and pristine, unlike an earlier time when some areas were set aside for protection, but elsewhere development was given virtually free rein. The new, broader needs of the biodiversity era have spawned a new style of public control, much more centered on collaborative, contract-like efforts to achieve restoration of natural functions within the developed worlds of agriculture, industry, and urban life. Three exemplary efforts to achieve compliance with the Endangered Species Act in the setting of heavily used rivers in the arid West are illustrative of the new style of environmental management, with all its promise and its problems.