December 12, 2024
MSL Student Gets Paper Published in the Environmental Law Reporter
Justin Kooyman, a Master of Studies in Environmental Law candidate at Lewis & Clark Law School and Director of Trail Operations for the Pacific Crest Trail Association recently had his paper, “Along” the National Scenic Trails: A Case Study of Statutory Interpretation, published in the Environmental Law Reporter.
Justin Kooyman on a recent backpacking trip in the Escalante National Monument.
“Lawmakers understood that to provide opportunities for exploration into our most scenic and remote landscapes and to provide restoration of the human spirit from the pressures of everyday life, exposure to motorized vehicles must be limited,” Justin Kooyman, a Master of Studies in Environmental Law candidate at Lewis & Clark Law School and the Director of Trail Operations for the Pacific Crest Trail Association states in his paper: “Along” the National Scenic Trails: A Case Study of Statutory Interpretation.
Justin’s paper, recently published in the Environmental Law Reporter, looks at the background of national scenic trails and lawmakers’ intent for the experiences these trails should provide, analyzes the difference in meaning between the terms and concepts of “on” and “along,” and considers the width of adjacent management areas that lawmakers implied with the use of the latter term. It also examines the management implications of these interpretations, and where agencies and nonprofit trail management partners may go from here.
The paper was an independent research project that Justin did under the supervision of Professor Dan Rohlf as part of his academic study in the MSL program at Lewis & Clark.
