Protecting Wild Animal Abundance with Natalie Jacewicz

The world is hemorrhaging wild animals. Relative to fifty years ago, trees have fewer birds, rivers fewer fish, and bonnets fewer bees. The result is a radically reshaped environment, yet for the most part, these changes lie beyond the ambit of American environmental law. Statutes such as the Endangered Species Act prevent rare species from extinction, and state fish and game laws ensure the supply of sport animals runs high. But no law focuses on maintaining large numbers of animals considered common. As a result, eye-popping numbers of common wild animals can die without triggering statutory alarm bells. In this lunch talk, moderated by LEAP Postgraduate Fellow Laurie Sellars, University of San Diego School of Law Professor Natalie Jacewicz argues that draining abundance should concern us and that the law should change to protect common animals’ numbers. Both instrumental views of wildlife and those that assign nature or animals intrinsic value can provide foundations to value abundance. Yet depending on the rationale adopted, the prescriptions for protecting abundance change dramatically.

Natalie Jacewicz is an assistant professor of environmental law at the University of San Diego (USD) School of Law. Prior to joining USD, Jacewicz was a Furman Academic Fellow at NYU School of Law and a clerk for the Honorable Judge Randolph D. Moss of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and the Honorable Judge David S. Tatel of the D.C. Circuit. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in California Law Review, NYU Law Review, Harvard Environmental Law Review, and the Michigan Journal of Environmental and Administrative Law. 

Lunch will be provided.