Eric T. Freyfogle
Max L. Rowe Professor
Phone: 217-333-8713
Email: efreyfog@law.illinois.edu
B.A. Lehigh University
J.D. University of MichiganCourses
Environmental Law & Policy
Conservation Thought
Natural Resources Law
Property Law
Wildlife LawProfessor Eric Freyfogle, the Max L. Rowe Professor of Law, received his J.D. degree summa cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was Managing Editor of the Michigan Law Review. He fulfilled a military obligation by serving as Assistant to the Army General Counsel in Washington, D.C., and then practiced law in Indianapolis before joining the faculty in 1983. He has taught as visiting professor at several law schools, including, most recently, the University of Michigan.
Professor Freyfogle is the author or editor of various books dealing with issues of humans and nature, some focused on legal aspects, others reaching to larger cultural and social issues. His work is broadly interdisciplinary--drawing upon history, philosophy, biological sciences, economics, and literature--and is guided by a conservation ethic that seeks better ways for humans to live on land. His works on conservation thought includes Why Conservation is Failing and How It Can Regain Ground (Yale University Press, 2006), The New Agrarianism (2001) (editor); Bounded People, Boundless Lands (1998); and Justice and the Earth (1993). Writings focused particularly on private property rights in nature include On Private Property: Finding Common Ground on the Ownership of Land (Beacon Press, 2007) and The Land We Share: Private Property and the Common Good (2003), along with a law school casebook, Natural Resources Law: Private Rights and Collective Governance (Thomson/West, 2007). With Dale Goble of Idaho he is author of Wildlife Law: Cases and Materials (2002, revision forthcoming) and the first-ever overview of all American wildlife law, Wildlife Law: A Primer (Island Press, 2009). His many journal articles and book chapters include several studies of the conservation ideas of Aldo Leopold and Wendell Berry. Shorter works have appeared in a variety of publications including Orion, Dissent, Conservation Biology, and the New York Times. He advises a limited number of nonlaw students on doctoral dissertations related to conservation thought and policy.
Professor Freyfogle has lectured widely, including endowed presentations at various universities and recent appearances in England, Brazil, and Korea. In April, 2009 he served as a Distinguished Visitor at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. He has also spoken to various conservation organizations, from local to national, and to a wide range of professional societies. A native of central Illinois, he has long been active in local, state, and national conservation efforts including current service on the Board of Prairie Rivers Network, the Illinois affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation. He enjoys birding, canoeing, and hiking.
