June 17–Livestream event

Join us online for this summer’s Hot Topics in Environmental Law Summer Lecture Series, brought to you by the Environmental Law Center at VLGS. The series is free and open to the public. In addition to featuring live Q&A with the audience, each installment is eligible for Vermont Bar Association Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit.

This session, “A Dog is a Chimp is a Mouse is a Rabbit? How Charismatic Species Shape Law Animal Welfare Laws and Policies,” will be presented by Larry Carbone.

In this talk, Carbone will explore the effect of using charismatic species (such as dogs, primates, and rabbits) to advance welfare reforms. Do new laws and practices crafted to accommodate interests of one species have a ripple effect that improves the lot of other animals? Or do special protections for one type of animal come at the expense of others? Carbone shows how both outcomes have occurred through the years, and argues that activists should be mindful of arguments that elevate species we care about at the expense of those without a human constituency advocating for their interests.

Tune into the livestream below.

Hiking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing

The Tongariro Crossing in New Zealand is not for the faint-hearted but what spectacular and unusual landscapes.  It doesn’t only resemble Mordor–Peter Jackson used it as the location shoot for Mount Doom in the Return of the King, the last of the Lord of the Rings films. 

Western Australia

El Questro Station (station is Strayan for huge cattle ranch with wild cows roaming a property the size of Oklahoma). We’d book a campsite creekside but two weeks ago a wee Saltie moved in Only a 7-footer but up went the No Swimming signs. Everyone here is discussing next travel stops as early rains have the campgrounds and parks and gas stations closing. The single roadhouse with diesel on some 200 mile dirt track (Gibb River Road) is on Wet season hours (2 hours a day; not on Sundays).

Deep Water Crossing

Change of plans. Heavy rains last night, so do we want to be the first ones to drive this bit this morning? The downside of starting our days at 5, but there are other hikes to welcome us. Near El Questro Station in Western Australia.