The Douglas Forum on Conservation Law builds on the legacy of William O. Douglas – United States Supreme Court Justice from 1939-1975 – whose judicial opinions, books and political work revealed the need and potential for the law to effectively conserve natural resources. Although Douglas’ thinking on natural resources was broad in scope, his legal perspective was grounded in his formative experiences in Washington State’s Yakima River region in the Pacific Northwest’ Columbia River Basin.

The Douglas Forum focuses on research, scholarship and advocacy concerning strategies to engage the law to improve management of rivers in the United States and worldwide (particularly transboundary rivers that span multiple nations) to better conserve and restore fisheries.

The director of the Douglas Forum – Paul Stanton Kibel – is professor emeritus of water law, author of the book Riverflow: The Right to Keep Water Instream (Cambridge University Press 2021), member of the International Association of Water Law’s Executive Council, advisory board member for the California Water Law Symposium and San Francisco Baykeeper. Since 2014 he has served as natural resource counsel for the Water and Power Law Group. He holds a B.A. from Colgate University in New York, an LL.M. from the University of California-Berkeley Law School and is a Ph.D. in Law candidate at the University of Manchester International Law Centre in England.