John Leshy, Challenges for the West: Water and Public Lands

Professor John Leshy is the former General Counsel of the United States Department of the Interior and now teaches at  UC Hastings College of the Law. Previously he served as special counsel to the Committee on Natural Resources, U.S. House of Representatives, and with the Natural Resources Defense Council in California. He started his legal career as a litigator with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.  Leshy co-chaired the transition teams for the Interior Department for both President elect Obama in 2008 and President elect Clinton in 1992.  In 2013 he received the Defenders of Wildlife Legacy Award for lifetime contributions to wildlife conservation.  Leshy has written extensively in response to attacks on the constitutionality of public lands and of particular interest to the Upper Gunnison Valley community, he is the author of a book in the Mining Law of 1872 which continues to impact local debate.