The Center for Conservation Excellence

Conservation through Higher Education

The Center for Conservation Excellence’s goal: create and maintain informed conservation professionals as to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.

The Center for Conservation Excellence exists:

• To showcase the importance of conservation law
• To build awareness of the field of conservation law and policy
• And, to bring conservation efforts, as well as the threats to those efforts, to the forefront of conversation.

Building an awareness of these threats to conservation is paramount to continuing the traditional methods of harvesting wildlife and enjoying the fruits of the discipline we commonly call the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.

Colloquially known in America today as the “conservation industry,” it has sustained an interconnected relationship with legislative decisions, public policy and public opinion since the late 1800s. If a favorable combination of scientific fact and public opinion are met, new legislation may surface which opens opportunities to advance the efforts of wildlife conservation. The alternative is also true, and represents a challenge facing the efforts of conservationists in America today.

Conservation Law Colleges

1. Michigan State University College of Law / East Lansing, Michigan

• Conservation Law Center
• Wildlife Law
• Legal Issues with Energy Development & Wildlife
• Bull Moose Conservation Law Society

Contact:

• Shelby DeVuyst – SDeVuyst@nwtf.net

2. Indiana University Maurer School of Law / Bloomington, Indiana

• Wildlife Law (B550)
• Public Natural Resources (B675)
• Conservation Law Clinic (B558)

Contact:

• Professor Robert Fischman – rfishma@indiana.edu
• Professor Christian Freitag (Executive Director of the Conservation Law Center) – cfreitag@indiana.edu

3. University of Wyoming College of Law / Laramie, Wyoming

• Wildlife Law (6915)

Contacts:

• Professor George Mocsary – gmocsary@uwyo.edu
• Professor Debra Donahue – ddonahue@uwyo.edu

4. University of South Carolina School of Law / Columbia, South Carolina

• Fisheries Course

5. Georgia State College of Law / Milledgeville, Georgia

• Wildlife Law (Professor Kyle Pearson)

6. University of Georgia / Athens, Georgia

• Wildlife Law (Professor Laura French)

Continuing Legal Education

Continuing Legal Education, also known as Mandatory/Minimum Continuing Legal Education, is a form of profession education for practicing attorneys and judges after their initial admission to their State Bar Association. States may differ slightly in their requirements- including how many credits one needs every year (or two), how many credits of ethics are required (or not), or how many minutes constitutes one “credit hour.” Double check your CLE Requirements through your State Bar Association website or on the ABA website.

The Conservation Law Seminar is offered as a prerecorded, online seminar with live hosts to answer your questions. Each segment of the seminar is 60-minutes, meaning that we are able to offer a 7-hour course, which includes 1 credit hour of ethics.

An outline for the Conservation Law Seminar follows:

• History of Conservation: The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation & the Public Trust Doctrine
  Gordon Batcheller | Certified Wildlife Biologist, Northeast Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies
• Wildlife Management & the Evolution of the Public Trust Doctrine
  Lane Kisonak | Chief Legal Officer, Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies
• Federal Jurisdiction: Federal Authority for Fish & Wildlife Conservation
  Parks Gilbert | Attorney from Alexandria, VA
• Constitutional Right to Hunt & Fish
  Carol Frampton | Chief of Legal Services, National Wild Turkey Federation
• Human Rights for Animals & Natural Resources
  Michael Jean | Director of the Office of Litigation Counsel, National Rifle Association of America – Institute for Legislative Action
• Hunting & International Law
  Jeremy Clare | Litigation Counsel & CITES Manager, Safari Club International
• Ethics
  Shelby DeVuyst | Assistant Director of the Center for Conservation Excellence, National Wild Turkey Federation
• State Specific Game Laws
  State Specific Game Warden, DNR Director or equivalent position

Professional Opportunities

Jobs/internships will be posted as they are available or as we secure reoccurring internship opportunities.