The University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law launched the Wallace Stegner Center Student Writing Award during the 2022-23 academic year. The award will annually provide a cash award of $1,000 to the student who authors the best paper on an environmental or natural resource law topic during the academic year. Nominations are made by professors based on student papers submitted for courses, seminars, or directed research, with the SJQ Awards Committee making the final selection from among the faculty nominations.
For the 2022-23 academic year, the inaugural award went to Ben Cilwick for his paper National Forests Watershed Management. Ben authored his paper as a directed research project overseen by Stegner Center Director and University Distinguished Professor Bob Keiter. In commenting on Benjamin’s award, Professor Keiter noted, “Ben’s paper did an excellent job examining the Forest Service’s legal responsibility to protect watershed values in the national forests and then analyzing how the agency and local water districts are collaborating to meet this responsibility with a focus on Utah’s Wasatch Front national forests.”