Stuart Butzier Elected President of Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation
Stuart Butzier, a shareholder with Modrall Sperling, has become the President of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation after being elected by the organization’s Trustees. He will serve a one-year term as President, a multi-year term on RMMLF’s Board, and a life-long term as a Trustee of the organization.
As a long-time RMMLF Member and former Trustee and Secretary, Stuart has served on numerous committees and presented legal papers at domestic and international institutes, and has been involved in initiatives such as the Foundation’s commitment to expanding its memberships and connections internationally.
Stuart is Modrall Sperling’s Vice President, Managing Director of the Santa Fe office, and Chair of the Mining Practice Group. Rated in Band 1 in Environment, Natural Resources, and Regulated Industries by Chambers USA, he has been named Lawyer of the Year eight times in four practice areas by Best Lawyers®. In recent years, Super Lawyers® named him one of the Top 25 Super Lawyers in New Mexico. Stuart was named Natural Resources Lawyer of the Year by the Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Law (NREEL) Section of the State Bar of New Mexico in 2018.
Officed in Santa Fe, Stuart’s law practice covers predominantly the western United States, where he focuses on the areas of mineral exploration and mining, solid and hazardous waste treatment and disposal, energy infrastructure, environmental law, public lands, community development and cultural and historic rights of indigenous peoples.
He serves in a number of professional capacities in the mining and natural resources industries, including as an officer of the International Bar Association’s Section on Energy, Environment, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure (SEERIL) Mining Law Committee; Moderator and Co-Chair of the mining law panel at the 2018 SEERIL conference in Lisbon; industry representative of New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division’s Director’s Advisory Committee; and a member of the New Mexico Mining Association’s Environmental and Legislative Affairs Committee. He also Co-Chaired the planning of an international mining law short course that was to be presented by RMMLF in Santiago, Chile in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic, and that is being rescheduled for a later date.
“It is a distinct honor and privilege in these challenging times to serve this global learning community in a leadership capacity,” Stuart said. “Over the past several decades’ worth of professional and expert volunteer efforts, the Foundation has become known worldwide for the expertise, objectivity, and practicality its members bring to the scholarly legal and policy discussions of important natural resources, energy, and environmental issues of our day. I look forward to working with the many talented, dedicated members and staff of the organization to foster adaptive changes to the invaluable services it provides so that the Foundation maintains its vitality and relevance well into the future.”
Now in its 66th year, RMMLF is a collaborative educational non-profit organization dedicated to the scholarly and practical study of law and policies relating to traditional and renewable energy, mining, water, public and Indian lands, environmental protection, and other related disciplines.
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