EDITOR’S NOTE

Written by Jennifer L. Harder
Editor-in-Chief

In this issue, Environmental Law News is pleased to publish the following articles:

• Aaron Gruen outlines an innovative constitutional solution to the nation’s housing crisis, proposing that there is, and should be recognized, a fundamental right to migrate and settle, grounding this right in existing judicial analysis in a case involving municipal growth restrictions.
• Patrick Huber writes about the ways in which courts have interpreted the CEQA unusual circumstances exception, exploring challenge, suggesting alternative perspectives, and recommending approaches that practitioners can take to navigate this complex issue in the real world.
• Co-author team Steve Oliva, Michael Perrone, Tim Smith, Katherine (Katy) Spanos, and Marcus Yee provide their insights into a community-engaged agricultural and land stewardship process, describing strategies for reconciling fish habitat, infrastructure, and other public projects with the needs of agricultural working lands and local concerns in a Bay-Delta case study.
• UC Davis School of Law JD candidate Alina Werth reviews historical inequities in water allocations to California’s indigenous peoples, and proposes a partial solution via Tribal Beneficial Use Designations under California’s water quality laws. Alina’s article won the 2024 California Water Law Writing Prize, awarded at the 2024 California Water Law Symposium.
• Kim Bick describes the Environmental Law Section’s 2024 Student Environmental Negotiations Competition, with insights from our winning student team and a call for attorney volunteers to support this meaningful annual ELS event.
• Sara Dudley presents her biannual book review, this time exploring Citizen Justice: The Environmental Legacy of William O. Douglas – Public Advocate and Conservation Champion by Hon. M. Margaret McKeown, sharing fascinating facts about the late Justice Douglas along the way.

Environmental Law News invites you to submit an article! Whether you are a new or seasoned author, we are eager to hear from you. Feel free to pitch an idea for an article that you would like to write, or offer a response to a prior article. Please contact me at jharder@pacific.edu with proposals or questions.