On March 11 and 12, the Sixteenth Annual Stegner Symposium, “Wildlife Conservation in the 21st Century,” will ask the important question, “How can we best manage our lands in order to sustain ecosystems and the wildlife they support?”
Panels and discussions at the two-day event include “Climate Change and Its Impact on Wildlife Management,” “Predator Management and Wildlife Conservation,” and “Understanding Wildlife Law,” among others. The symposium will commence on Thursday March 10, at 6:00 p.m., with the Wallace Stegner Lecture featuring Zygmunt Jan Broel Plater, a professor at Boston College Law School, who will recount “Classic Lessons from a Little Fish in a Pork Barrel—Featuring the Notorious Story of the Endangered Snail Darters and the TVA’s Final Dam.” Plater’s lecture, to be held in the College’s Sutherland Moot Courtroom, is free and open to the public. No pre-registration is required to attend the reading.
Robert Keiter, Director of the Stegner Center, said that the interrelated issues of wildlife and land management are particularly timely, given current events: “Wildlife management, ranging from big game to wolves to desert tortoises, is drawing a good deal of attention, as reflected in the ongoing controversy over delisting wolves under the Endangered Species Act. These issues raise strong passions about federal-state relations, management of the public lands, the role of hunting, and protection for lesser-known species with little obvious economic value.”
A broad range of speakers and panelists including scientists, scholars, public officials, conservationists, ranchers, hunters, and others, will participate in this year’s symposium. They will offer perspectives ranging from the academic, nonprofit organizations, government, and the farming and ranching industry. Keiter believes this broad approach is key to the Symposium’s enduring popularity.
“The symposium, we hope, will provide fact-based information about wildlife management challenges, including the impact climate change may have on different species, the role of the Endangered Species Act, innovative ways to protect wildlife habitat, and coordination opportunities among agencies and landowners,” Keiter said.
The Stegner Symposium will be held at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law. For more information or to register, call 801-581-6897 or visit the Stegner Center webpage.