Dale Goble passed away on April 14, 2022. He was a long-time Member Scholar at the Center for Progressive Reform and Professor Emeritus of Law at the University of Idaho College of Law. He was also an adjunct faculty member of the Environmental Science, Water Resources, and Bioregional Planning Faculties at UI.
He earned an A.B. in philosophy from Columbia College and a J.D. from the University of Oregon. Following law school, he taught at Oregon for a year before joining the Solicitor's Office at the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. as an Honor's Program Attorney. He subsequently worked in the Lands and Minerals Division where his responsibilities included sagebrush rebellion litigation, wilderness, land-use planning, and wild and scenic river issues. He joined the College of Law in 1982.
Professor Goble taught natural resource law (including public land law and wildlife law), natural resource history, and torts. His scholarship focuses on the intersection of natural resource law and policy, constitutional law, and history. In addition to the usual numerous articles and essays, he was the co-author of three books: Wildlife Law: A Primer (Island Press 2008), Wildlife Law: Cases and Materials (Foundation Press, 2d edition, 2009) and Federal Wildlife Statutes: Texts and Cotexts (Foundation Press, 2002). He also co-edited two volumes that grew out of the Endangered Species Act @ 30 Project, The Endangered Species Act at Thirty: Renewing the Conservation Promise (Island Press, 2006) and The Endangered Species Act at Thirty: Conserving Biodiversity in Human-Dominated Landscapes (Island Press, 2006). He also co-edited a collection of essays on the environmental history of the Pacific Northwest, NorthwestLands, Northwest Peoples: Readings in Environmental History (University of Washington Press, 1999). Professor Goble published extensive chapters and articles on the Endangered Species Act, diversity and recovery.
Between 2001 and 2008, he was an organizer of a multidisciplinary, multi-interest evaluation of the Endangered Species Act at its thirtieth anniversary. The ESA @ 30 Project produced two national conferences, nearly a dozen smaller workshops, and a series of briefings to groups including congressional staffs, the Associate Regional Directors of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Nature Conservancy-Smith Fellows, and the Western Association of Fish and Game Administrators.
Professor Goble received the College of Natural Resource's Bridge Builder Award (2008), the University of Idaho's Award for Excellence in Research / Creative Activity (2004-2005), the Idaho State Bar Association’s Distinguished Service Award (1992), and four Alumni Awards for Excellence in Teaching.
He served on the boards of directors of Idaho Conservation League, Idaho Legal Aid Services, Idaho Land and Water Fund, and Idaho Environmental Forum; he was a member of the editorial advisory board of Western Legal History and is Idaho state reporter for Administrative and Regulatory Law News.
