Open PDF in Browser: Rhodes Evans,* Foreword
John Muir said it best: “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”
The scholarship highlighted in the second Issue of this Volume fully embodies this idea. In each article, we see authors address seemingly separate issues within the natural world—spanning from preservation of Indigenous landscapes to the promises of relief through state constitutional claims to challenges amid efforts for clean energy expansion to access to, and regulation of, our water supplies—only for their examinations to illuminate how interconnected our world actually is. And perhaps the greatest throughline among the issues in these articles is the role of, and impact on, humans—a concept I had yet to fully grasp and recognize until working on this Issue.
I have always appreciated the natural world; in fact, one of the reasons I chose to attend Colorado Law School was its proximity to the Rocky Mountains. However, that appreciation has not always translated into academic curiosity. Throughout my education, I have always gravitated to cases and concerns that, in my eyes, heavily centered around people. To that end, I will admit that I have avoided natural resources and environmental law classes; of course, I knew humans are part of the natural world and our actions contribute to our planet’s well-being, but humanity felt a bit tangential to the immensity of Earth and its resources.
That perception is evidently not reality. To me, this was the pleasant surprise I encountered while working on this Issue. Throughout each article we see stories of people: people afraid to change, people who feel unrepresented in our current landscape, or people who need the support of our legal system. This Issue has taught me something important, as I hope it will show or reaffirm to you: Humans, and the choices we make are an essential part of our natural world. Natural resource issues are also necessarily human issues, and we have a duty to deeply consider not only how we influence the natural world but importantly how the environmental policies we advocate for also impact humanity.
Thank you to the members of Colorado Law Review. Thank you for fearlessly tugging at important issues so we can then understand how connected we truly are. It may be messy, it may feel convoluted, and we may ask ourselves if we are biting off more than we can chew, but seeking to understand a small piece of a larger puzzle is always worthwhile.
Rhodes Evans
Managing Editor
Colorado Law Review, Volume 97
* J.D. Candidate, 2025, Colorado Law Review. Volume 97 Managing Editor. There is something special about those who are willing to go above and beyond what is asked of them for the betterment of others. The members of Colorado Law Review are perfect examples of those special people. Late nights, busy weekends, and challenging subject matter, my peers on CLR truly do it all. Their tenacity has inspired me, and I am forever thankful for our time together. Thank you to my lovely family and my partner, Jacob, for constantly challenging me to think critically and supporting me through it all.