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The Public Land & Resources Law Review is excited to announce its 41st Public Land Law Conference, The Changing Landscape of the Administrative State. In the Conference’s 41 years, much has been accomplished in the field of natural resources management on both our public lands and in Indian Country. As with all things, there is still much learning to be done as we face ongoing challenges alongside ones we had not envisioned four decades ago. This conference gathers the bright minds of the field, both seasoned visionaries who presented in past conference years and those approaching this discourse with fresh eyes, to engage in a history-grounded discussion of what we have learned and how we should apply that wisdom to the complex future of public and tribal lands. 

Working Draft - Subject to Change

Keynote Speakers

Opening Keynote

• Robert Anderson, former Solicitor of the DOI

Friday Morning Keynote - A conversation with...

• Martha Williams, former Director of FWS
• Tracy Stone-Manning, former Director of the BLM

Friday Noon Keynote

• Chief of the United States Forest Service Tom Schultz

Panels

Thursday, September 18th – The Public Land Law Review is excited to host the Public Utilities Law Section of the Montana Bar Association for an afternoon of CLE Panels focused on the topic of energy law.

• Panel 1 – The Intersection of Energy Grid & Renewables: A discussion of legal and regulatory considerations associated with integrating renewable energy into the transmission grid. Presenters to be announced.
• Panel 2 – Siting & Zoning Electrical Transmission & Generation: A discussion on siting and zoning transmission and generation in Montana with a particular focus on renewable energy generation and legislative and local efforts to limit wind development. Presenters include Greg Dorrington, Lucas Forcella, and/or Morgan Pettit with Crowley Fleck. 
• Panel 3 – The Major Questions Doctrine & Delegated Authority to Administrative Agencies: PacifiCorp Senior Attorney Zachary Rogala discusses the intersection of the major questions doctrine and utility regulators' broad statutory authority.

Friday, September 19th��– 

• PANEL 1 - What Does “Environmental Review” Mean Today? Navigating a Post-Held, Post-CEQ World: With the changing state of NEPA, and in a Post-Held Montana, there is much to be learned about environmental review and tribal consultation today. This panel assembles a diverse group of experts to update us on the latest state, federal, and tribal developments. 
  • Jeremiah Langston, Department of Environmental Quality, Attorney Specialist
  • Wesley Furlong, Native American Rights Fund, Staff Attorney
  • John Ruple, Research Professor of Law and Stegner Center Follow at the Wallace Stegner Center for Land Resources and Environment

• PANEL 2 - What Does “Multiple Use” Mean Today? Highlighting Ag and Energy on Public Lands: The current administration is shifting its focus for the uses of public lands, which means new approaches on the horizon for public lands planning and permitting. This panel explores what this shift means for parties engaged in resource development on public lands, as well as interests advocating for a balance of other multiple uses like recreation and tribal cultural resource protection.  
  • Barbara Chilcott, Senior Attorney at Western Environmental Law Center
  • Sarah Clergett, Of Counsel and Government Affairs Director at Holland & Hart, LLP
  • Danna Jackson, Tribal Attorney for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

• PANEL 3 - What Does “Shared Governance” Mean Today? Opportunities in Water Administration: Because water is a shared resource important in all facets of life, it is uniquely situated to provide new pathways to cooperative natural resource management. This panel explores multiple forms of shared water governance among state, tribal, and federal actors across the West, including compacting, co-management, and more. 
  • Pelah Hoyt, Compact Implementation Project Manager at the DNRC
  • Monte Mills, Professor of Law and Director of the Native American Law Center at the University of Washington College of Law 
  • Dylan Hedden-Nicely, Associate Professor of Law and the Director of the Native American Law Program at the University of Idaho College of Law

• Panel 4 – Five Steps to Responsibly Make AI a Part of Your Practice: Kevin Frazier, the AI Innovation and Law Fellow at UT Austin School of Law, provides his recommendations for how lawyers can improve their practice via AI. Frazier will provide short demonstrations of novel uses of AI tools and walk through some best practices for making use of available AI tools as well as those on the horizon.

Schedule

Thursday, September 18th, 2025

Friday, September 19th, 2025