Our Common Ground: Why America’s Public Lands Are a Political and Conservation Success

Date: 

Wednesday, November 16, 2022, 4:00pm to 5:30pm

Location: 

Austin Hall 101 East, HLS, 1515 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge

The Harvard University Center for the Environment, the Salata Institute for Climate & Sustainability, and the Environmental & Energy Program at HLS present a book release and lecture by John Leshy, Emeritus Professor, University of California, Hastings College of the Law & Former Solicitor, US Department of the Interior (Clinton Administration). 

The Harvard University Center for the Environment, the Salata Institute for Climate & Sustainability, and the Environmental & Energy Program at HLS present a book release and lecture by John Leshy, Emeritus Professor, University of California, Hastings College of the Law & Former Solicitor, US Department of the Interior (Clinton Administration). 

John Leshy is currently Emeritus Professor at UC Hastings. He began there in the fall of 2001 after serving as Solicitor (General Counsel) of the US Department of the Interior throughout the Clinton Administration. Previously, he taught at Arizona State University College of Law (1980–1992) and served in the Carter Administration's Department of the Interior as special counsel to the US House of Representatives' Chair of the Committee on Natural Resources, as well as the Natural Resources Defense Council in California. He started his legal career as a litigator with the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice.

In 20082009 Leshy co-chaired the Obama Administration transition team for the Department of the Interior after heading the Interior transition team for Clinton-Gore from 1992–1993. In 2013, he received the Defenders of Wildlife Legacy Award for lifetime contributions to wildlife conservation.

In 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2011, Leshy was a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1969 after earning an AB at Harvard College. His publications include books on the Mining Law of 1872 (1987) and the Arizona Constitution (2nd edition published in 2013), and he is a co-author of textbooks on water law (6th edition published in 2018) and federal land and resources law (7th edition published in 2014). His most recent release, Our Common Ground: A History of America's Public Lands, was published in March of 2022.

In-person only. Event will be recorded. Register to attend. 

Contact: huce@environment.harvard.edu