2-21-08

Media Release

Environmental Law Scholar Mary Wood to Speak on ‘Nature's Trust’

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Legal scholar Mary Wood will speak on “Nature's Trust: A Legal Paradigm for Natural Resources Stewardship,” on Thursday, Feb. 28, at Oregon State University.

The talk begins at 7 p.m., in OSU’s Gilfillan Auditorium and is the eighth lecture in the Ideas Matter series, “Who Owns the Sky? The Tragedy or Triumph of the Commons.” The event is free and open to the public.

In her talk, Wood will make the case that confronting climate change and protecting natural resources requires a clear sense of government obligation that is inherent to sovereignty, not a matter of political choice. Since climate change puts a premium on all remaining natural resources, farmland, air, water, wetlands, wildlife, soils, mineral resources and forests must be protected to ensure that Americans – present citizens and future generations – have the fundamental survival resources they need.

Wood is the Philip H. Knight Professor of Law at the University of Oregon. She is founding director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program, Luvaas Faculty Fellow, and Faculty Leader of the Program's Conservation Trust Project. She is a frequent speaker on climate issues and is writing a book, titled “Nature’s Trust.”

Ideas Matter is sponsored by the Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature, and the Written Word, and the OSU Department of Philosophy. The complete schedule for "Who Owns the Sky? The Tragedy or Triumph of the Commons," as well as video links to previous talks are available on the web: http://springcreek.oregonstate.edu.