Name David Getches | Education Occidental College | |
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Died July 5, 2011, Boulder, Colorado, United States Books Water Law in a Nutshell | ||
In memory of david getches
David Harding Getches ( August 17 , 1942 – July 5 , 2011) was Dean and Raphael J. Moses Professor of Natural Resources Law at the University of Colorado School of Law in Boulder, Colorado. He taught and wrote on water law, public land law, environmental law, and Indian law.
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Biography
Getches was born in Abington, Pennsylvania in 1942. He received his B.A. in Political Science from Occidental College and his J.D. degree from the University of Southern California Law School. From 1970 to 1976 he served as Executive Director of the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), a nonprofit law firm specializing in Native American issues. While at NARF, he served as lead counsel on the controversial case United States v. Washington, 384 F.Supp 312 (W.D. Wash. 1974), also known as the Boldt Decision, a case that affirmed the right of most Indian tribes in Washington State to harvest salmon.
Getches joined the law faculty at the University of Colorado School of Law in 1979. He took two leaves of absence from the university, first to serve as the Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, during the administration of Governor Richard Lamm, from 1983 to 1987, and then to serve as a special consultant to the United States Secretary of the Interior in 1996.
In 2003, he was appointed to serve as Dean of the law school. While serving as Dean, he led the effort to build the Wolf Law Building, a building notable on the campus for having 100% of its electrical power drawn from renewable energy sources. In addition to classroom and lab space, it houses the William A. Wise Law Library, which is the most comprehensive law library in the 12-state Rocky Mountain region and one of the largest in the country.
On June 30, 2011, Getches stepped down from his position as Dean. He died of an aggressive and advanced form of pancreatic cancer on July 5, 2011. The next day, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) unanimously voted to give Getches the NCAI Lifetime Achievement Award, which is one of its highest honors. The award is given to individuals who produce significant and influential work that honors the place of American Indian nations, cultures and governments through a lifetime of work and personal dedication. The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) dedicated the 2011 edition of its annual report to Getches, citing his lifetime of scholarship and litigation to advance Indian law.
In January 2013, Colorado University created the Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment to support research in the areas of natural resources, energy and the environment. The center was named for Professor Getches and Professor Charles Wilkinson to honor their contributions in these areas of study.
Publications
Professor Getches' publications included books, articles, Congressional testimony, speeches, litigation documents, and much more. Getches' writings are preserved in a special collection at the law library of the Colorado University School of Law. Some of his better known works include: