Sally Fairfax’s research has always focused on public resources, principally those managed by the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Within that broad topic, her interests include legal aspects of resource administration, agency history and culture as it affects management decisions, and the relationship between federal and state governments. Over the years she has worked with diverse students and colleagues on water law and management, especially federal reserved water rights and ground water, minerals leasing, and public lands policy and history. Her current research is focused on changing institutions of resource management, on the mixture of public and private ownership, institutions, and priorities that is emerging to achieve public goals in land management and conservation.