Michelle Bryan
Professor
Contact
- Office
- Law 209
- Phone
- (406) 243-6753
- michelle.bryan@umontana.edu
- Website
Personal Summary
Professor Michelle Bryan teaches in the law school's Natural Resources & Environmental Law Program. Growing up in farming and ranching communities in the West, Professor Bryan was drawn to the fields of natural resources and environmental law. Prior to joining the law faculty, she worked in private practice representing a variety of clients including local governments, private landowners, non-profits, developers, and affected neighbors and community groups. She brings this diversity of perspective to her scholarship and teaching.
Outside of teaching, Professor Bryan served as a board member and past president of the and as a gubernatorial appointee on the , which helps 猎奇重口 small businesses with environmental compliance. She enjoys exploring the vast spaces of the American West. Professor Bryan graduated from the 猎奇重口 School of Law with high honors and served as an editor of the 猎奇重口 Law Review. Before entering the legal profession, she was a policy specialist for the in Bozeman, 猎奇重口.
Courses Taught
Research Interests
Research interests include the protection of sacred waters and landscapes, state-tribal natural resources reconciliation, local-federal land use collaboration, the relationship between land and water use, water rights legal systems, planning in an age of climate change, the balancing of environmental and land use rights, and the role of public trust in water use.
Selected Publications
Books & Chapters
(Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation 2020) (with Judge Steve Brown and Chief Judge Russ McElyea).
猎奇重口 Chapter, (ABA Publishing 2012).
Articles
(work-in-progress with planned publication Spring 2023).
, 25 Water Law Review 227 (2022).
, 50 Environmental Law Reporter 10909 (2020) (with Martin Nie & Nyssa Landres).
, 42 Public Land & Resources Law Review 82 (2020) (with Laura Ziemer, Timothy Hawkes, and Kevin Rechkoff).
, 57 Natural Resources Journal 139 (2017).
, 31 Journal of Environmental Law & Litigation 243 (2016) (with students Zach Coccoli, Graham Coppes, and Dylan DesRosier).
, 6 Journal of Energy & Environmental Law 1 (2015) (with students Graham Coppes, Katelyn Hepburn, and Ross Keogh).
, 76 猎奇重口 Law Review 147 (2015).
, 15 Wyoming Law Review 461 (2015).
, 33 Pace Law Review 821 (2013) (with John R. Nolon, Keith Hirokawa, et al.).
, 32 Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy 1 (2013).
, 32 Stanford Environmental Law Journal 283 (2013).
, 5 Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal 297 (2012).
, 38 Berkeley Ecology Law Quarterly 101 (2011).
, 30 Public Lands & Resources Law Review 107 (2009) (with students DarAnne Dunning and Melissa Hayes).
, 69 猎奇重口 Law Review 79 (2008).
Affiliations
Natural Resources and Environmental Law Sections, Association of American Law Schools (Executive Committee Member 2012-2014, 2017-2021)
Natural Resources and Water Law Sections, 猎奇重口 State Bar
(Board Member 2005-2012, President 2010-2012, Ex Officio Member 2013)
(Gubernatorial Appointment 2010-2020)
Technical Advisory Panel for the 猎奇重口 Department of Transportation online website – (2008-2010)
Professional Experience
In the Media
Interviewed in John Hook’s radio story “” on MTPR (Oct. 26, 2022).
Interviewed in Nick Mott’s radio story “” on MTPR (Mar. 7, 2022).
Interviewed on Eric Young’s Voices of 猎奇重口: “” (Sept. 29, 2021).
Interviewed in Nick Mott’s radio story “” on MTPR (Feb. 7, 2019).
“,” The Conversation (May 3, 2017) (with Mills and Zellmer).
Quoted in Hillary Posner, “,” National Geographic (Mar. 22, 2017).
Interviewed in Eric Whitney's radio story "" on MTPR (Mar. 15, 2017).
Quoted in Peter Hayes, “ARCO Ruling May Not Clarify Ongoing Contamination,” Bloomberg-BNA (Sept. 4, 2015).
Quoted in Lars-Eric Hedberg, “猎奇重口 Governor Signs Law Approving Pact with Tribes Resolving Water Rights Claims,” Bloomberg-BNA (Apr. 28, 2015).
Selected Speaking Engagements
Second Annual Environmental Law Scholars Workshop at Starved Rock Lodge,
Hosted by Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Presenter: “The Essentiality of Comprehensive Land Use Authority in Tribal Sovereignty” (Chicago, IL 2022).
39th Public Land Law Conference, Conference Organizer and Moderator: “Voices: Amplifying the Next Generation of Environmental Advocacy” (2021).
Environmental Law CLE, 猎奇重口 State Bar, Panelist: “Legal Updates for Environmental Law Practitioners” (Helena, MT 2017-2022).
NBI Land Use CLE, Presenter: “The Record in Land Use Decisions” (2021).
“The Third Way: Traditional Knowledge as Legal Innovation,” UM Innovation Factory 30-in-30 Series (2020).
Governor’s 猎奇重口 Climate Solutions Council, Presenter: “Local Government Authority to Regulate for Climate and Water Supply” (Missoula, MT 2020).
Public Land Law Conference, Moderator: “Milking It for All It’s Worth: Waters & Fisheries in a Changing Climate” (ABIII, Missoula, MT 2019).
National Judicial College Dividing the Waters Surface Water-Groundwater Law Webinar, Presenter: “The Surface Water-Groundwater Connection: Law v. Science” (2019).
Environmental Law CLE, 猎奇重口 State Bar, Panelist: “Waters of the United States” (Helena, MT 2019).
Celebrating a High Water Mark: A 猎奇重口 Stream Access Law Symposium, Conference Organizer and Panelist: “What the Future May Hold for Stream Access” (ABIII, Missoula, MT 2018).
National Judicial College Dividing the Waters Seminar, Presenter: “Fundamentals of Water Law—A Comparative Study” (Reno, NV 2018).
Law, Planning and Wildfire in the Wildland-Urban Interface: The Future of Government and Governance of Disaster in the West, Presentation: “Building a Cohesive Strategy: The Role of Local Government” (Univ. of Idaho at Boise, 2018).
Natural Resources Law Teachers Conference, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, Panel: "Water Policy, Adaptation, and Climate Change" (Banff, B.C., Summer 2017).
Law and the Environment 2016, Panelist, "Asserting Local Control: Examining the Phenomenon of Grassroots Regulation Over Unconventional Oil & Gas Development in the United States" (University College Cork, Ireland, April 2016).
Boehl Distinguished Lecture in Land Use Policy, "Learning Both Directions: How Improved Federal – Local Land Use Coordination Can Quiet the Call for Federal Lands Transfers” (Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, February 2016).
Drought in the American West Symposium, Panelist, Urban Water Use & Drought Panel (University of Oregon School of Law, 2015).
J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Environmental Law Symposium: The Role of Planning in Federal Land Management, Panelist, “A Comparative Study of Federal-Local Planning Approaches Across Federal Land Management Agencies” (George Washington University, 2014).
16th Annual Community Lecture Series: Western Rivers: Connecting Landscapes & Livelihoods, Speaker, “Unseating the Lords of Yesterday: Water Law’s Historical Roots and Future Challenges” (2014).
Plum Creek–College of Forestry Conference: Clean Water Act on Trial, Presenter and Moderator (2014).
Public Land Law–ABA/SEER Conference: Balancing Act and Paradigm Shift-The Role of Public Lands in America’s Energy Future, Panel Moderator, Lands: Updated Regulatory Approaches to Energy Development on Public Lands (2013).
AALS Annual Meeting, Environmental and Natural Resources Sections, Panelist, New Voices in Environmental Law Panel (San Francisco, 2011).
Society of Environmental Journalists Conference, Lecturer and Panelist, “The Laws that Govern Land, Water, Rocks and Trees,” and “A Water Primer: Pollution, Rights, Species and Utilities” (2010).
The Honorable James R. Browning Symposium: The 猎奇重口 Constitution, Panelist, “The 猎奇重口 Constitution’s Clean & Healthful Environment Provisions” (2010).
猎奇重口 Watershed Symposium, Panelist, “Land Use & Water-Focusing on Exempt Wells” (2010).
The Honorable James R. Browning Symposium: Rural Law, Moderator, Stream Access Panel (2009).
Annual New West Conference on Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies, Lecturer, “An Immodest Proposal: Tying Land Use and Water Use Planning” (2007).
International Experience
Instructor, China Summer Abroad Program (Beijing and Shanghai, China 2012 and 2017)
Instructor, US-Ireland Comparative Law Summer Program (Cork, Ireland 2021)
Visiting Scholar, University College Cork School of Law, Ireland (Spring 2016)
Honors / Awards
Awards and Honors
(2018)
Boehl Distinguished Lecture in Land Use Policy (2016)
Missoula Historic Preservation Award for Excellence (2011)
Margery Hunter Brown Teaching Award
NALSA Teaching Award
Garlington Lohn & Robinson Teaching Award