Environmental Law – Page 24 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Usufructuary Rights and the Chippewa

Post author:David R. Papke
Post published:March 13, 2013
Post category:Environmental Law Public

I am only kidding when I tell my Property students that using the word “usufruct” on their finals will yield extra credit, but I am in fact intrigued by the venerable notion of usufructuary rights. The holders of usufructuary rights may use and enjoy real property that is vested in another as long as they do not use up that property or do harm to it.

The potential assertion of usufructuary rights has surfaced recently in conjunction with Governor Walker’s efforts to prompt iron ore mining along the northern rim of Wisconsin and to create sales opportunities for manufacturers of mining equipment. Native Americans and particularly several bands of Chippewa (formally recognized branches of the Ojibwe people) have opposed the development of the mines because mining waste contains sulfides that pollute wetlands, streams, and groundwater. And, as it turns out, the Chippewa have usufructuary rights related to the lands where the projected mines will be located!

Why Dive?

Post author:Melissa Love Koenig
Post published:December 11, 2011
Post category:Environmental Law Public

As the temperatures drop at this time of year in Wisconsin, my thoughts turn to diving in the Caribbean.

Scuba diving is my family’s hobby, and we have dived (and snorkeled) throughout the Caribbean. I have seen almost anything imaginable on dives except for sharks. I know (and actually hope) they are there, swimming at the edge of the reef, but I haven’t been fortunate to see one yet.

My favorite animal to spot is a ray. The eagle rays look like birds soaring through the water. Once I came close to a barracuda. In my excitement I forgot to back away and had to be pulled back. Another time our boat came upon a pod of dolphins that jumped and raced with the boat.

Fukushima and the Law of the Sea (Part I)

Post author:Ryan Scoville
Post published:August 28, 2011
Post category:Environmental Law International Law & Diplomacy Public

Two days ago, Japan’s nuclear regulatory agency disclosed estimates of the volume of radioactive material that has escaped from the Fukushima reactor complex since the March earthquake and tsunami. The agency estimates that the emitted volume of radioactive cesium is approximately 168 times higher than that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima at the end of WWII, and that the volumes of radioactive iodine and strontium are approximately 2.5 times higher. All are linked to cancer, and the cesium and strontium isotopes can persist in the environment for decades.

The estimates are truly alarming. Some have argued that the impact on humans will be limited because the vast majority of the material has fallen or leaked into the ocean, where it will disperse and substantially dilute. But dilution is not a great reassurance. Given the extended half-lives of some of these materials, there is reasonable concern that radiation from Fukushima will damage marine habitats for years and, in turn, harm the citizens of Japan and other proximate countries.