The National Wildlife Refuge System and the Hallmarks of Modern Organic Legislation

The article explores the origins and precise meaning of the term "organic act," which is widely used in public land law. It argues that the evolution in the meaning of the term reflects larger shifts in the role of legislation in public resource management. The article illustrates this with an analysis of the 1997 Refuge Improvement Act, a substantial revision of the charter for the Refuge System and the first major statute governing public lands management enacted since 1976. Along the way, it attempts to show that the Refuge System's "dominant use" regime is an important model for sustainable resource management.