Martin Nie

I am Professor of Natural Resource Policy in the College of Forestry and Conservation. My courses cover such topics as public lands and resources policy, environmental policy, property, and conservation strategies and tools. I have a particular interest in political conflict and much of my research examines public lands governance—the political institutions and decision making processes used to handle difficult policy problems. My latest book is The Governance of Western Public Lands: Mapping Its Present and Future (University Press of Kansas, 2008). When not thinking about public lands, I like to hike, ski, float, hunt, and fish on them.

Ph.D. Northern Arizona University, Department of Political Science.

FOR 422:  Natural Resources Policy (undergraduate & graduate).  This course examines public land and resources policy, law and administration from multiple perspectives.  It covers environmental and administrative decision making and various contemporary resource management problems and conflicts.  A number of substantive policy areas are examined including national forests, public rangelands, water, wildlife and biodiversity, and protected areas, among others.  These substantive areas are approached and analyzed in a number of different ways.  422 is generally taught every fall and spring semester, and can be taken for undergraduate and graduate credit. Fall 2009 syllabus in PDF.

FOR 380:  Environmental Conservation.  This course examines a number of problems and challenges related to land conservation and the policy approaches and “tools” that can be used to help resolve them. The first part of the course examines policy issues pertaining to private property and land ownership.  The second part of the course surveys various land conservation approaches, strategies, and tools.  Policy options for private land conservation, regulatory approaches, land acquisition and conservation easements, ecosystem restoration, ecosystem services, environmental certification, land use planning, market and incentive-based approaches, and collaborative conservation are examined from multiple policy perspectives. 

FOR 622: Advanced Problems in Environmental Policy.  The seminar examines a number of policy problems and contemporary issues in environmental policy, law, and administration.  Problems and opportunities related to public land conflict and governance, environmental planning, science and decision making, tribal resource management, and private land development, among others, are analyzed.  It is a readings-based seminar and students lead most reviews and discussions. Fall 2009 syllabus in PDF. 

federal public land and resources policy, wildlife policy, environmental conflict, conservation strategy, property, governance.

I am a core faculty member in the College's Resource Conservation Program.  

I also conduct applied and commissioned research projects as a policy analyst at the Bolle Center for People and Forests.

Nie, M. & M. Fiebig. "Place-based Legislation as Method of Resolving Multiple-Use Conflicts on National Forests," Ecology Law Quarterly, 37(1) (forthcoming 2010). (The version provided here is in draft form as the Article is currently undergoing editorial review). PDF here.

Nie, M. "Interview with Mark Rey," Headwaters News (April 22, 2009). 

Burchfield, J. & M. Nie. National Forests Policy Assessment: Report to Senator Jon Tester (Missoula, MT: University of Montana, College of Forestry and Conservation, 2008).  PDF here.  

Nie, M. "The Use of Co-Management and Protected Land Use Designations to Protect Tribal Cultural Resources and Reserved Treaty Rights on Federal Lands," Natural Resources Journal, 48 (2008): 1-63.  

Nie, M. "The Underappreciated Role of Regulatory Enforcement in Natural Resource Conservation," Policy Sciences, 41, no. 2 (2008): 139-164.  PDF here. 

Nie, M. The Governance of Western Public Lands: Mapping Its Present & Future (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2008)