|
|
|
|
|
 Charles
Wilkinson graduated from Stanford Law School in
1966, practiced with private firms in Phoenix and
San Francisco and with the Native American Rights
Fund, and is now the Moses Lasky Professor of Law
at the University of Colorado. In recognition
of his scholarship and teaching, the University
has named him Distinguished University Professor,
one of twenty on the CU-Boulder campus.
Wilkinson has written broadly on law, history, and
society in the American West. His twelve books
include the standard law texts on federal public
land law and Indian law. Over the past decade,
Wilkinson has moved beyond legal scholarship to
a general audience in books such as The Eagle Bird
(1992), Crossing the Next Meridian (1992),
and Fire on the Plateau (1999). The
New York Times praised The Eagle Bird
as a book of “elegant essays. A vigorous
study of [how] the development of the West has both
disrupted many delicate environments and profoundly
reshaped the societies that emerged on the frontier.”
Of Crossing the Next Meridian, the Christian
Science Monitor wrote “He is an extraordinary
writer, able to tell the human stories that make
up both history and law.” His most recent
book, Messages From Frank’s Landing: A
Story of Salmon, Treaties, and the Indian Way,
a profile of Billy Frank, Jr. of the Nisqually Tribe
of Washington, received the 2000 Colorado Book Award.
Wilkinson has received teaching awards from his
students at the Oregon, Michigan, and Colorado law
schools. The Universities of Colorado and
Oregon have given him their highest awards for leadership,
scholarship, and teaching. The National Wildlife
Federation presented him with its National Conservation
Award. In its 10-year anniversary issue, Outside
Magazine named him one of 15 “People to Watch,”
calling him “the West’s leading authority
on natural resources law.” He has served
on the boards of The Wilderness Society, Northern
Lights Institute, and the Western Environmental
Law Center, and is currently Board Chair of the
Grand Canyon Trust.
Over the years, Wilkinson has taken on many special
assignments for the Departments of Interior, Agriculture,
and Justice. He served as special counsel
to the Interior Department for the drafting of the
Presidential Proclamation, signed by President Clinton
in September 1996, establishing the Grand Staircase-Escalante
National Monument in Utah. In December 1997
Agriculture Secretary Glickman appointed him a member
of the Committee of Scientists, which resulted in
the 2000 Forest Service planning regulations.
Wilkinson acted as facilitator in negotiations between
the National Park Service and the Timbisha Shoshone
Tribe concerning a tribal land base in Death Valley
National Park; in 2000 Congress enacted legislation
ratifying the resulting agreement. He is currently
serving as mediator in negotiations between the
City of Seattle and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
