Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation

History

The Foundation was organized in 1955 to provide broad educational coverage over a wide geographic area to many practitioners and mineral company personnel who were interested in a field of law in which only a few were expert, and to avoid duplication of effort among the law schools and industry organizations interested in the problems of the rapidly developing mineral industry, particularly the oil and gas industry in the Rocky Mountain area. The first institute brought mineral resources lawyers together to hear experts talk on significant and timely subjects. The papers from the conference provided permanent reference material, which was made available by publication of the Proceedings of the First Annual Institute. The Foundation has continued to be a meeting place and focal point for lawyers and others whose work brings them into contact with the legal aspects mining, oil and gas, energy, water, public lands, and related areas.

When the decline of the oil and gas industry occurred in the Rocky Mountain area in the early 1960s, it was accompanied by increased activity in "hard rock" minerals. Commencing around 1965, the Foundation gave increasing attention to mining law and to expansion into water law, as well as expanding geographically into new areas of the west. This policy was put into effect in 1967 by adding to the Annual Institutes a section for water lawyers, an innovation that has continued to the present time. The geographic expansion might be considered as beginning with the 14th Annual Institute at Flagstaff, Arizona in 1968, which also inaugurated a Landman's Section that has since been a regular feature of the Annual Institute.

The Foundation began a new era with the appointment of David P. Phillips as Executive Director in December 1970. The regions served have gradually expanded past the Rocky Mountains under the direction of Mr. Phillips, first to Canada and Mexico and then later to South America. The Foundation today is a tribute to the foresight of its founders, who created a structure with a balance that has accommodated diverse opinions.

Programs

In fulfilling its goals, the Foundation carries out varied programs of interest to attorneys, landmen, management, government personnel, law faculty, students, and others involved in mining, oil and gas, energy, water, public lands, and related areas of natural resources law. These programs include annual and special institutes and short courses in various locations around the world.

Summer Annual Institute

The Foundation is probably best known for the Annual Institutes and the published Proceedings containing the scholarly papers presented at each of the Institutes. Annual Institutes were originally held on the campuses of member law schools such as the University of Montana at Missoula, the University of Utah at Salt Lake City, the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque, and the University of Denver.

Institutes today are no longer held on-campus, with the most recent sites including Vancouver, Snowmass, San Francisco, Banff, Santa Fe, and Newport Beach.

Special Institutes and Short Courses

The Special Institutes are intended to examine specific topics in depth. Some of the repeating core topics include Mining Agreements, Oil and Gas Agreements, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and Federal and Indian Oil and Gas Royalty Valuation and Management.

Under the format of a Short Course, an entire field of law is reviewed. Topics have included Mineral Title Examination and Oil and Gas Law. Short Courses on international law are routinely held both in the United States and countries around the world.

Publications

In addition to institutes and courses, the Foundation publishes a variety of educational materials:

Grants

The Grants Program was established by the Foundation in 1976 to promote scholarship, research, writing, teaching, and the study of mineral resources law and related fields at law schools around the country. Grants awards typically range from $2000 to $5000. Applications are evaluated by the RMMLF Grants Committee, with preference given to the Foundation's Constituent Law Schools and to projects having results of widespread utility and value such as the preparation of teaching materials, publications, and visiting lectureships on mining law, oil and gas law, energy law, water law, public land law and related areas.

Scholarships

The Scholarships Program consists of the Joe Rudd Scholarships, established in 1980 in honor of a prominent natural resources attorney in Alaska, and the RMMLF Scholarships, established in 1993. Law students enrolled full-time at one of the Foundation's Constituent Law Schools who demonstrate a commitment to the study of natural resources law are eligible to apply for tuition scholarships. Academic and leadership ability as well as financial need are evaluated by the Foundation's Scholarships Committee consisting of volunteer attorneys. To date, 331 scholarships have been awarded, totaling almost $1.5 million.