Many of the externships and summer jobs students can get in the region are with natural resource issues as well. Professor Smith, who teaches environmental and public land law, is the author of articles ranging from environmental regulation of private land to public land management and endangered species protection, and serves on the University Environmental Science Steering Committee. In addition, Professor Dale Goble, a former attorney with the Department of the Interior Solicitor's Office, teaches water law, environmental legal history, and natural resource law and policy. Professor Goble also has published widely on natural resource subjects including water law, energy law, wildlife law, and public land law. He serves as a Trustee for the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation and is a board member for the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies.
Student organizations are also a part of the environmental and natural resource program at Idaho.
The Environmental Law Society sponsors lectures and symposia on environmental issues and coordinates student research projects for attorneys involved in environmental and natural resource practice. In addition, the Board of Student Advocates each year sponsors a team which participates in the national environmental moot court competition at Pace University in New York. This experience, garnered from the offices of large firms in various metropolitan areas, helps our students make a smooth adjustment from academia to the professional world. Associate Dean Ben Beard and Professor Mark Anderson are typical of the quality and breadth of experience our professors bring to the classroom. I practiced general commercial law.