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Reflections on the Martz Symposium on Public Lands

On Friday, October 4th and Saturday, October 5th, as beautiful weather and fall colors descended upon the Front Range, legal practitioners, academics, government officials, and students gathered at the University of Colorado Law School in the Wittmeyer Courtroom for a two-day symposium.

Despite the allure of Colorado’s autumn days, there was no squirming or restless fidgeting from attendees of the 2024 Martz Symposium on Public Lands, presented by the Getches-Wilkinson Center, American Indian Law Program, and Colorado Environmental Law Journal. The reason? A darn good topic: The Future of Public Lands- People, Place, and Power.

The Symposium’s namesake, Clyde O. Martz, was a former Colorado Law professor, Assistant U.S. Attorney General, Solicitor of the Department of the Interior, partner at Davis, Graham & Stubbs, among many other accolades. To honor Professor Martz’s legacy as a “father of natural resource law,” the Symposium’s theme always centers around natural resource law issues.

The topic of public lands, as one can imagine, encompassed a wide showcasing of the relevant law—rules, statutes, cases—as well as viewpoints, from industry and academia to federal agencies and NGOs, though all shared a focus on the American West. Each panel began with the moderator giving a primer on the subject matter to be discussed. After that overview, panelists took turns weighing in on the issue and introducing new ideas from their respective positions. Naturally, some debate ensued.

The first panel, for example, incorporated all those perspectives in their discussion on the implementation and reception of BLM’s 2024 Public Lands Rule. Attendees also got a glimpse of the budding contention between renewable energy development and the interests of Tribes, with Pattern Energy’s SunZia providing the case study. And the first day concluded with a deep dive into ongoing debates about the future of the Antiquities and national monument designations. With all the panels, spirited Q&A followed, demonstrating the high level of engagement of conference attendees.

The purpose of events like the Martz Symposium is to expose people to different points of view, while also providing the medium to soundboard issues, ideas, and solutions off one another. Lunch hour and networking breaks paint that picture well, as colleagues and old classmates continued discussions that started on the panels in Wittmeyer Courtroom.

Despite feelings of uncertainty surrounding the potential impact of a new administration on the future of public land management, permitting reform, and tribal co-stewardship, conference attendees did not let that uncertainty rue the day. Throughout every presentation, there was an overarching theme of optimism for the future of stewardship and care for America’s public lands.

Stay tuned for the Journal’s symposium issue (estimated publication: May 2025), where some of our conference panelists will publish articles on their talks.

Recordings and Images Available: 

The recordings of the 2024 Martz Symposium on Public Lands can be found here.

Barb Colombo of 11:11 Photography Productions captured images of the Martz Symposium. These images are available for viewing here.

Heidi McIntosh Presentation

Heidi McIntosh Presentation