Michael Blumm

Michael Blumm serves as Jeffrey Bain Faculty Scholar and Professor of Law at Lewis & Clark College Law School, where he pioneered the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program and the nationally recognized Externship Program—placing over 600 students in government agencies, nonprofits, and law firms since 1979. His four-decade career bridges academic scholarship and practical environmental advocacy, including drafting foundational EPA wetland regulations during his Washington, D.C. tenure.

Blumm earned his BA cum laude from Williams College (1972), JD with honors from George Washington University Law School (1976), and LLM with highest honors from the same institution (1979). His scholarly focus centers on Pacific Northwest ecological challenges, particularly salmon restoration, public lands preservation, tribal resource sovereignty, and innovative applications of the public trust doctrine to contemporary environmental crises.

His recent publications (2021-2022) reveal critical thematic shifts: accelerating engagement with climate-driven ecosystem collapse (salmon dams, river restoration), global expansion of trust principles (Chilean constitutional reform), and urgent integration of tribal consultation into federal environmental governance. This work increasingly addresses transnational legal strategies while maintaining deep regional expertise in Columbia Basin hydrology and Western public lands.

Key honors include:

• Fulbright Professorship at the University of Athens (1991)
• Jeffrey Bain Faculty Scholar designation

Blumm actively mentors student scholars—co-authoring over fifty publications with students—and directs high-impact initiatives like the Externship Program and Northwest Water Law and Policy Project. His leadership extends to chairing the American Association of Law Schools’ Natural Resources Law Section (2005-2007) and lecturing globally from Australia to Brazil.

He maintains operational leadership through the Law School’s Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program, coordinating faculty, student externs, and practitioner networks to advance litigation, policy reform, and scholarly discourse on Western conservation challenges.