John Leshy

Bio

Professor John Leshy came to UC Law SF in the fall of 2001, after serving as Solicitor (General Counsel) of the U.S. Department of the Interior throughout the Clinton Administration. Previously he taught at Arizona State University College of Law (1980-1992) and served in the Interior Department in the Carter Administration (1977-1980), as special counsel to the Chair of the Committee on Natural Resources, U.S. House of Representatives (1992-1993), and with the Natural Resources Defense Council in California (1972-1977. He started his legal career as a litigator with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (1969-1972).

In 2008-2009 Leshy co-chaired the Obama Administration transition team for the Interior Department, after heading the Interior transition team for Clinton-Gore in 1992-93. He has received numerous honors over the years, including most recently the Horizon Award from the Harvard Environmental Law Society in 2025 and the Trelease Award from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 2024.

In 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2011 Leshy was a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1969, after earning an A.B. at Harvard College. He has also been a visiting professor at several other law schools and served on numerous boards and commissions.

His publications include books on the Mining Law of 1872 (1987) and the Arizona Constitution (2d edition published in 2013), and a co-author of textbooks on federal land and resources law (8th edition published in 2022) and water law (7th edition forthcoming in August 2025).

Scholarship

Books

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Our Common Ground: A History of America’s Public Lands (Yale Univ. Press 2022).

Federal Public Land and Resources Law (Foundation Press, 3rd ed. 1992 – 8th ed. 2021) (with George C. Coggins, Charles F. Wilkinson, & Robert L. Fischman).

Legal Control of Water Resources: Cases and Materials (West Academic 3rd ed. 2000 – 6th ed. 2018) (with Barton H. Thompson, Robert H. Abrams & Sandra B. Zellmer).

The Arizona State Constitution (Oxford University Press 2d ed. 2013) from Oxford Commentaries on the State Constitutions of the US.

The Mining Law: A Study in Perpetual Motion (Resources for the Future 1987).

Journal Articles

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Public Lands and Native Americans: A Guide to Current Issues, 47 Pub. Land & Resources L. Rev. 1 (2024).

America’s Public Lands: What History Suggests about Their Future, 34 Colorado Envtl. L. J. 1 (2023).

America’s Public Lands: A Sketch of Their Political History and Future Challenges, 62 Nat. Res. J. 341 (2022).

America’s Public Lands: A Look Back, A Look Ahead, 67 Rocky Mtn. Min. L. Inst. (2021). URL

Building Better Conservation Easements for America the Beautiful, Harv. Envtl. L. Rev. Online (2021) (with K. King Burnett & Nancy A. McLaughlin) (September 15, 2021). SSRN URL

Public Land Policy After the Trump Administration: Is This a Turning Point?, 31 Colo. Nat. Resources Energy & Envtl. L. Rev. 471 (2020). SSRN

Interior’s Authority to Curb Fossil Fuel Leasing, 49 Envtl. L. Rep. News & Analysis 10631 (July 2019). URL

The Interaction of U.S. Public Lands, Water, and State Sovereignty in the West: A Reassessment and Celebration, 41 Pub. Land & Resources L. Rev. 1 (2019) (Frank and Elvira Jestrab Water Lecture, University of Montana Law School, September 26, 2018). FULLTEXT

Are U.S. Public Lands Unconstitutional?, 69 Hastings L.J. 499 (2018). FULLTEXT SSRN

Legal Wilderness: Its Past and Some Speculations on its Future, 44 Envtl. L. 549 (2014). FULLTEXT

Reflections on Social Change and Law Reform, 84 U. Colo. L. Rev. 217 (2013). FULLTEXT SSRN

Federal Lands in the Twenty-First Century, 50 Nat. Resources J. 111 (2010). FULLTEXT SSRN

Notes on a Progressive National Water Policy, 3 Harv. L. & Pol’y Rev. 133 (2009). FULLTEXT SSRN URL

In Praise of Joe Sax, 14 Hastings W.–Nw. J. Envtl. L. & Pol’y 13 (2008). FULLTEXT

Interstate Groundwater Resources: The Federal Role, 14 Hastings W.–Nw. J. Envtl. L. & Pol’y 1475 (2008). FULLTEXT SSRN

Where’s the Beef? Facilitating Voluntary Retirements of Federal Lands from Livestock Grazing, 17 N.Y.U. Envtl. L.J. 368 (2008) (with Molly S. McUsic). FULLTEXT SSRN

A Conversation About Takings and Water Rights, 83 Tex. L. Rev. 1985 (2005). FULLTEXT SSRN

Contemporary Politics of Wilderness Preservation, 25 J. Land Resources & Envtl. L. 1 (2005). FULLTEXT SSRN

A Property Clause for the Twenty-First Century, 75 U. Colo. L. Rev. 1101 (2004). FULLTEXT SSRN

Natural Resources Policy in the Bush (II) Administration: An Outsider’s Somewhat Jaundiced Assessment, 14 Duke Envtl. L. & Pol’y F. 347 (2004). FULLTEXT SSRN

The Federal Role in Managing the Nation’s Groundwater, 11 Hastings W.–Nw. J. Envtl. L. & Pol’y 1 (2004) (reprinted in 14 Hastings W.-N.W. J. Envtl. L. & Pol’y 1323 (2008)). FULLTEXT SSRN

Mining Law Reform Redux, Once More, 42 Nat. Resources J. 461 (2002). FULLTEXT SSRN

Shaping the Modern West: The Role of the Executive Branch, 72 U. Colo. L. Rev. 287 (2001). FULLTEXT SSRN

The Babbitt Legacy at the Department of the Interior: A Preliminary View, 31 Envtl. L. 199 (2001). FULLTEXT SSRN

Water Rights for New Federal Land Conservation Programs: A Turn-of-the-Century Evaluation, 4 U. Denv. Water L. Rev. 271 (2001). FULLTEXT SSRN

Public Lands at the Millennium, 46 Rocky Mtn. Min. L. Inst. 1 (2000).

Challenges to Environmental Law, 25 Envtl. L. 967 (1995). FULLTEXT SSRN

Natural Resources Policy in the Clinton Administration: A Mid-Course Evaluation from Inside, 25 Envtl. L. 679 (1995). FULLTEXT

Whither the Public Lands, 41 Rocky Mtn. Min. L. Inst. 3-1 (1995) (with Jerome C. Muys).

The Prior Appropriation Doctrine of Water Law in the West: An Emperor with Few Clothes, 29 J. West 5 (1990).

The State of Constitutional Law in the States of the United States: Are There Any Lessons for Australia?, 20 U. W. Austl. L. Rev. 373 (1990). FULLTEXT SSRN

Arizona Law Where Ground and Surface Water Meet, 20 Ariz. St. L.J. 657 (1988) (with James Belanger). FULLTEXT SSRN

Reforming the Mining Law: Problems and Prospects, 9 Pub. Land L. Rev. 1 (1988). FULLTEXT SSRN

The Making of the Arizona Constitution, 20 Ariz. St. L.J. 1 (1988). FULLTEXT SSRN

Water and Wilderness/Law and Politics, 23 Land & Water L. Rev. 389 (1988). FULLTEXT SSRN

Granite Rock and the States’ Influence Over Federal Land Use, 18 Envtl. L. 99 (1987). FULLTEXT SSRN

Indigenous Peoples, Land Claims and Control of Mineral Development: Australian and U.S. Legal Systems Compared, 8 U. New S. Wales L.J. 271 (1985). FULLTEXT SSRN

Irrigation Districts in a Changing West—An Overview, 1982 Ariz. St. L.J. 345 (1982). FULLTEXT SSRN

Wilderness and its Discontents—Wilderness Review Comes to the Public Lands, 1981 Ariz. St. L.J. 361 (1981). FULLTEXT SSRN

Unraveling the Sagebrush Rebellion: Law, Politics and Federal Lands, 14 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 317 (1980). FULLTEXT SSRN

Management of Federal Coal Reserves, 24 Rocky Mtn. Min. L. Inst. 139 (1978) (with Leo M. Krulitz).

Interlocutory Injunctive Relief in Environmental Cases: A Primer for the Practitioner, 6 Ecology L.Q. 639 (1977). FULLTEXT SSRN

The Federal Judiciary and National Forest Management, 75 J. Forestry 195 (Apr. 1977).

Non-NEPA Legal Aspects of Federal Coal Leasing and Development Policy: An Environmental Attorney’s Analysis, 9 Nat. Resources Law. 495 (1976). FULLTEXT

A Black Mark: Failure of the Federal Coal Leasing Policy, 17 Env’t 6 (Dec. 1975) (with Terry R. Lash).

Computers and Federal Regulation, 21 Admin. L. Rev. 287 (1969) (with Calvin Davison & Stephen L. Babcock). FULLTEXT

Chapters In Books

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A Brief History of America’s Public Lands, in The Judges’ Book: Scholarship

for the Bench, Vol. 7, 83-94 (2023) (published annually by the Center for

Litigation and Courts at U.C. College of the Law, San Francisco, available at

https://repository.uclawsf.edu/judgesbook/vol7/iss1/11).

Are U.S. Public Lands Unconstitutional?, The Judges’ Book, Vol. 3, 95-100 (2019) https://repository.uclawsf.edu/judgesbook/vol3/iss1/15/ (summary version of article in 69 Hastings L.J. 499 (2018).

Litigation Versus Settlement in Non-Indian Federal Reserved Rights, in The Future of Indian and Federal Reserved Water Rights: The Winters Centennial 270 (Barbara Cosens & Judith V. Royster eds. 2012). CATALOG

The Future of Winters, in The Future of Indian and Federal Reserved Water Rights: The Winters Centennial 307 (Barbara Cosens & Judith V. Royster eds. 2012). CATALOG

Preface to the First Edition, in Endangered Species Act: Law, Policy, and Perspectives xv (Donald C. Baur & Wm. Robert Irvin eds., American Bar Ass’n 2010). CATALOG

The Future of Mineral Development on Federal Lands, in The Evolution of Natural Resources Law and Policy 346 (Lawrence J. MacDonnell & Sarah F. Bates eds., American Bar Ass’n 2010). CATALOG

Department of the Interior: Natural Resources Serving Society, in Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President 388 (Mark Green and Michele Jolin eds., 2009). CATALOG

FDR’s Expansion of Our National Patrimony: A Model for Leadership, in FDR and the Environment 177 (Henry Henderson & David Woolner eds., Palgrave Macmillan 2005).

Putting the Antiquities Act in Perspective, in Visions of the Grand Staircase–Escalante: Examining Utah’s Newest National Monument 83 (Robert B. Keiter, Sarah B. George, & Joro Walker eds., Utah Museum of Natural Hist. 1998).

The Arizona Constitution, in Arizona Legal Research Guide 1 (Kathy Shimpock–Vieweg & Marianne Sidorski Alcorn eds., W.S. Hein 1992).

Mining’s Diminished Future, in Reopening the Western Frontier 242 (Ed Marston ed., Island Press 1989) (appeared in High Country News, Oct. 24, 1988, at 28).

Natural Resources Policy, in Natural Resources and the Environment: The Reagan Approach 13 (Paul R. Portney ed., Urban Inst. Press 1984). CATALOG

Sharing Federal Multiple–Use Lands — Historic Lessons and Speculations for the Future, in Rethinking the Federal Lands 235 (Sterling Brubaker ed., Resources for the Future 1984). CATALOG

Special Water Districts—The Historical Background, in Special Water Districts: Challenge for the Future 11 (James N. Corbridge ed., Natural Res. Law Ctr., Univ. of Colo. Sch. of Law 1983).

Book Reviews

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23 Ariz. St. L.J. 1163 (1991) (reviewing John S. Goff ed., The Records of the Arizona Constitutional Convention of 1910 (1991)).

Wash. Monthly (Nov. 1986) (reviewing Mark Reisner, Cadillac Desert: The American West and its Disappearing Water (1986)).

27 Jurimetrics J. 77 (1986) (reviewing Howard Ball, Justice Downwind (1986)).

Amicus J. (Summer 1985) (reviewing Frank Welsh, How To Create a Water Crisis (1985)).

New Times Phoenix (Feb. 1982) (reviewing Philip L. Fradkin, A River No More: The Colorado River and the West (1981)).

Newspaper & Magazine Articles

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Close to Home: Settling Was the Best Option for Point Reyes Ranchers, Press-Democrat, Jan. 21, 2025 (with Molly Ross and David Watts), https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/opinion/sonoma-marin-point-reyes-dairies-ranches-settlement/

Utah Wants the Supreme Court to give It Land Owned by All Americans, N.Y. Times, Jan 8, 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/08/opinion/utah-parks-supreme-court.html

 

The Federal Government Can Protect the Okefenokee, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May13, 2024, https://www.ajc.com/opinion/opinion-the-federal-government-can-protect-the-okefenokee/A5SIG2JG2VEUBAN5JUHWLGKFLI/

Utah Wants to Disable the Law that Led to the Creation of Four of Its Magnificent National Parks, N.Y. Times, Mar. 5, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/05/opinion/national-parks-bears-ears-monuments.html.

 

The Public Lands, Colorado Plateau Advocate (Spring/Summer 2021), https://www.grandcanyontrust.org/advocatemag/spring-summer-2021/Public-Lands-John-Leshy. 

The Facts About the Antiquities Act and the Courts, Salt Lake Tribune, April 10, 2021, https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2021/04/19/john-d-leshy-facts-about/.

Still Made for You and Me? Am. Scholar, Sep. 14, 2020, at 34.

A Trump Plan Breaks a Great Deal for Ranchers and Park Lovers, N.Y. Times, March 3, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/03/opinion/environment-ranchers-trump.html

Secretary Bernhardt Says He Doesn’t Have a Duty to Fight Climate Change. He’s Wrong, Vibrant Environment Blog, Environmental Law Institute, Jun. 19, 2019. URL

Outdated Mining Law Lets Industry Use and Abuse Public Lands for Free, The Hill, May 6, 2019. URL

A Paradigm Shift in the Politics of Public Lands, The Hill, Feb. 28, 2019. URL

The Endangered Antiquities Act, N.Y. Times, Mar. 31, 2017 (with Mark Squillace).

The Trump Judiciary Threatens Federal Public Lands, The Hill, Nov. 28, 2017 (with John D. Echeverria).

Exploding the Myth that Federal Lands are Unconstitutional, Colorado Plateau Advocate (Spring 2017)

Unsatisfied Mining Industry Wants More from the Taxpayer, Morning Consult, Mar. 23, 2017 (with Roger Flynn).

Lands Transfer to States? It Would Take Another Dred Scott Decision, Salt Lake Tribune, Jan. 30, 2016.

Our Turn: 2 Bills Undermine Arizona’s Water Supply, Az. Republic, Feb. 23, 2016 (with Robert Glennon)).

Tracing Our Common Ground, U.S. Hastings Alumni Magazine (Spring 2015), pp. 22-23.

Mining Law Reform Reaches a Critical Phase, Colo. Plateau Advocate, Summer, 1991.

Solving Water Rights Conflicts, J. Am. Water Works Ass’n, Mar. 1991, at 36 (with Les Lampe, Gary R. Clark, Glen H. Fiedler & Duane Georgeson).

Implications of Arizona Public Service v. Long for Water Management in Arizona, Effluent: Yours, Mine, Ours (Az. Chptr. Am. Water Res. Ass’n, Oct.1989.

Mining’s Diminished Future, High Country News, Oct. 24, 1988, at 28 (reprinted in Reopening the Western Frontier 242 (Ed Marston ed., Island Press 1989)).

Strategies to Protect Streamflows in Arizona’s Dwindling Riparian Area, Ariz. Waterline, Fall, 1986 (reprinted in Ariz. St. U.L.Forum, Fall 1986).

The Law and the Hydrological Staircase, Ariz. Waterline, Spring, 1986.

Implications of Federal Water Project Cost–Sharing for Arizona, Ariz. Waterline, Summer, 1985.

Working in the System, Envtl. Action, 1977.

Formal Lectures

 

“America’s Public Lands: A Political and Conservation Success Story,” Edwin Way Teale Memorial Lecture, U. of Connecticut, Nov. 17, 2022.

 

“The Interaction of U.S. Public Lands, Water, and State Sovereignty in the West: A Reassessment and Celebration,” Frank and Elvira Jestrab Water Lecture, U. of Montana Law School, September 26, 2018.

“Debunking Creation Myths about America’s Public Lands,” Wallace Stegner Lecture, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, March 14, 2018 (published in booklet form by U. of Utah Press). CATALOG

“Our Common Ground: Public Lands and America’s Greatness,” Riley Memorial Lecture, UC College of the Law San Francisco, September 25, 2017.

Other Publications

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Debunking Creation Myths About America’s Public Lands, University of Utah (2018) (published version of Wallace Stegner Lecture, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, March 14, 2018). CATALOG

Litigation (examples)

In Re Adjudication of Water Rights of Gila River System (subflow issue), 175 Ariz. 382, 857 P.2d 1236 (1993) (lead counsel for The Nature Conservancy at trial and appellate level); lead trial and appellate counsel for plaintiffs in Natural Resources Defense Council v. Arcata National Corp., 59 Cal. App. 3d 959, 131 Cal. Rptr. 1972 (1976); Wyoming Outdoor Council v. Butz, 484 F. 2d 1044 (10th Cir. 1973); and United States v. Choctaw County Board of Education, 446 F. 2d 57 (5th Cir. 1971); lead trial counsel for plaintiff in United States v. Board of School Commissioners of Indianapolis, 332 F. Supp. 655 (D. Ind. 1971), aff’d 474 F. 2d 81 (7th Cir. 1973). Wrote amicus briefs in California Coastal Comm’n v. Granite Rock Co., 480 U.S. 572 (1987) (on behalf of nineteen states); United States v. Locke, 411 U.S. 84 (1985) (on behalf of Sierra Club): Lau v. Nichols, 483 F.2d 791 (9th Cir. 1973), rev’d, 414 U.S. 563 (1974) (on behalf of the United States in 9^th Cir., including oral argument).

Legislation (examples)

Witness at dozens of legislative hearings and extensive experience in drafting and negotiating legislation in the U.S. Congress and the Arizona and California legislatures.

Consulting

 

Clients have included states and state governmental agencies (e.g., State of Arizona, California State Land Commission, New Mexico Attorney General, the Edwards Aquifer Authority (Texas)); the Western Governors’ Association; Indian Nations (e.g., the Hopi Tribe); various environmental organizations, foundations, and the Congressional Research Service.

 

Board Memberships and Similar Activities

 

President (Aug 2002-July 2007) and Vice-Chair of Board (since July 2007) of the Wyss Foundation which supports land conservation and related activities around the world.

 

Member, Board of Directors, Grand Canyon Trust, 1987-1992; 2002-___.

 

Member, Board of Directors, Natural Heritage Institute, 2002-2010.

 

Member, Board of Directors, Arizona Raft Adventures, Inc. (operating commercial river trips in the Grand Canyon) 1982-1992; 2002-2008.

 

Member, Endangered Species Act Working Group on Habitat, Sept. 2005-March 2006 (convened by the Keystone Center at the request of six U.S. Senators to recommend improvements in statute).

 

Member, City of Phoenix Environmental Quality Commission, 1987-1990.

 

Member, Arizona Governor’s Task Force on Environmental Impact Assessment, 1990.

 

Member, Committee on Onshore Oil & Gas Leasing, National Academy of

Sciences/National Research Council (study mandated by Congress in the Federal Onshore Oil & Gas Leasing Reform Act of 1987) 1989-1990.

 

Member, Arizona Governor’s Task Force on Recreation on Federal Lands, 1985-86.

 

Member, Board of Directors, Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest, 1981-1986.

 

Bar Memberships

 

Ohio (1969); California (1972); District of Columbia (1977).

Education

• Harvard Law School
  J.D. magna cum laude 1969

• Harvard College
  A.B. cum laude 1966

Accomplishments

• Distinguished Achievement Award, American Bar Association, Section on Environment, Energy and Resources
  2018

• Defenders of Wildlife Legacy Award for Lifetime Achievement in Wildlife Conservation
  2013

• Vanity Fair Magazine recognition as one of the Nation’s Best Environmental Stewards
  2004