David Pierce Serving as President of Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation

Photograph: David Pierce.

Professor Pierce hopes to make his mark this year by promoting an expanded role for the member law schools in the Foundation. He notes: "The Foundation has 31 member law schools that are each represented as governing organizations on the Board of Trustees; this includes Washburn and K.U. One of my goals this year is to increase the funding available to member law schools to allow them to send their students to Foundation programs. I also plan to develop additional programs that will make greater use of the law school trustees so they can help introduce the next generation of lawyers to the Foundation."

Commenting on the present relationship between the Foundation and its member law schools, Pierce explains: "The Foundation already makes a substantial contribution to its member law schools by providing funding for professors to attend the annual institutes. During the past 29 years the Foundation has also provided $667,000 in scholarships to students at member law schools. Another effort I plan to continue is increasing the annual budget available to our scholarship committee so it can make more scholarships, and larger scholarships. Our 2008-2009 budget for student scholarships is $200,000, a marked increase over prior years. We plan to use this money to assist students interested in pursuing careers in natural resources law."

Professor David E. Pierce has been serving as the 54th president of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation since July 2008. He is only the third law professor to serve as the Foundation's president in its 54 year history. Pierce will conclude his year as president by presiding at the Foundation's 55th Annual Institute in San Francisco, California in July 2009.

When asked to comment on his election as president, Pierce observed:

"It is a great honor, particularly for an academic, to be selected to head an organization comprised of the very best natural resources lawyers in the world. This is a very unique organization composed of members with widely varying, and often conflicting, views on natural resources issues. However, the major force that brings everyone together is the desire to have an accurate and complete picture of reality concerning the law and its application to the issues. The Foundation's focus is on educating lawyers and other professionals using instructors who have first-hand knowledge of the issues and expertise at dealing with the issues. Our instructors are all volunteers who donate their time to prepare scholarly papers and to travel to the many venues where the Foundation holds its programs."

The Foundation was established in 1955 as a non-profit educational organization dedicated to the study of legal systems and issues affecting domestic and international mineral and water resources. The Foundation's membership is comprised of law schools, bar associations, industry associations, and many law firms, corporations, and individuals with expertise in oil and gas law, mining law, water law, environmental law, and related natural resources disciplines.

The goals of the Foundation are to foster and encourage a scholarly and practical study of both domestic and international natural resources law topics. During Pierce's tenure as president the Foundation will

In addition to its programming, the Foundation also maintains one of the most extensive collections of publications addressing natural resources law. These are available in hard copy and through the Foundation's Digital Library.

Posted February 9, 2009