Maurer School of Law: Indiana University Digital Repository @ Maurer Law Articles by Maurer Faculty Faculty Scholarship 2007 What Is Natural Resources Law? Robert L. Fischman Indiana University Maurer School of Law,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/facpub Part of the Environmental Law Commons, and the Natural Resources Law Commons Recommended Citation Fischman, Robert L., "What Is Natural Resources Law?" (2007). Articles by Maurer Faculty. Paper 197. http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/facpub/197 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articles by Maurer Faculty by an authorized administrator of Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. WHAT IS NATURAL RESOURCES LAW? ROBERT L. FISCHMAN* INTRODUCTION Natural resources law is a field with divided loyalties. It has one foot in statutory, administrative law and the other in common law property. Within the ambit of environmental con- cerns, management of natural resources looms large. It can justifiably claim an important role in any course of study in en- vironmental law. Similarly, any advanced property curriculum ought to consider the myriad forms of rights and allocative schemes in natural resources law. Yet, many practitioners and professors identify themselves as specialists in the field of natural resources, rather than in a natural resources sub- specialty of environmental or property law. Indeed, this analy- sis began as a contribution to a panel discussion sponsored by the natural resources law section, which is separate from the environmental law section, of the Association of American Law Schools.