The 31st annual Public Land Law Conference, Rocky Mountain Energy Leadership: Strategies for a New Energy Future, begins today at the University of Montana in Missoula. This evening Patricia Limerick will deliver the keynote address, titled "The Power of the Rockies: Living with Energy in the Old West, the New West, and the Next West." Limerick is the faculty director and chair of the board of the Center of the American West and co-author of "What Every Westerner Should Know About Energy" and "What Every Westerner Should Know About Energy Efficiency and Conservation." Her talk begins at 7:00 p.m. at the University Center Theater.

The conference runs through midday Wednesday. Click here for the full schedule and registration information and here for the conference brochure (opens PDF). And check back with NewWest.Net/Missoula for coverage of Limerick's talk.