News
#1 in Environmental Law - Again
U.S. News ranks Lewis & Clark Law’s environmental law program number one in the nation for 2021.
Fall Law School Environmental News
This fall, we continue to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Environmental Law program. While this year hasn’t gone in a direction anyone would have predicted, the Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law program and our students have adapted to the new normal and continue to press forward in the ever-changing climate of 2020. We have a mix of students, faculty, and staff on-campus or at-home, taking classes, teaching, and working. We’re pleased that our program continues to evolve, in part due to our expanding online offerings, and we are looking forward to the next 50 years.
Prof. Klass - Distinguished Env. Law Visitor Lecture: “U.S. Energy Transitions in the Trump Administration: A Law and Policy Perspective”
Lewis & Clark’s Environmental Law program welcomed Professor Alexandra B. Klass, of the University of Minnesota Law School, as its 32nd annual Distinguished Environmental Law Visitor this month. Her lecture, titled “U.S. Energy Transitions in the Trump Administration: A Law and Policy Perspective”, was delivered (via webinar) to a wide audience of environmental law alums, practitioners, faculty, and students. This event is one of several events the program has hosted throughout 2020 in celebration of its 50th anniversary.
Global Law Alliance Champions Wild Animals, Wild Spaces at Lewis & Clark Law School
Combining its nationally recognized expertise in environmental law and animal law, Lewis & Clark Law School announced the creation of the Global Law Alliance for Animals and the Environment (the “Alliance”). The Alliance is a champion for wild animals and wild spaces across the globe, working to protect animals and the environment through the development, implementation, and enforcement of international law. Law students (JD and LLM) actively participate in the work through two clinics within the Alliance.
Legal Petition Urges U.S. to Certify That China’s Pangolin Trade Violates Wildlife Treaty
Conservation organizations, including Lewis & Clark’s International Animal and Environmental Law Clinic, filed a legal petition urging the U.S. secretary of the Interior to formally certify China for illegally trading in critically imperiled pangolins. If certification under the Pelly Amendment is granted, the U.S. government can sanction China, including banning all wildlife imports from the country.
LC’s Earthrise law center files lawsuit to protect Maui Dophins.
Earthrise, and their co-counsel Sea Shepherd Legal, filed a lawsuit on behalf of Sea Shepherd New Zealand and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society challenging the U.S. government’s failure to protect New Zealand’s critically endangered Māui dolphin.
Professor’s Paper on Wolf Protections Cited by the New York Times
Professor Dan Rohlf’s interdisciplinary paper, co-authored with Carlos Carroll, Bridgett VonHoldt, Adrian Treves, & Sarah Hendricks, was cited in the October 29, 2020, New York Times article describing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) decision to remove federal protections for grey wolves under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Earthrise Protects Salt Ponds in the Bay Area
Earthrise Law Center, at Lewis & Clark Law School, on behalf of their client San Francisco Baykeeper, recently won an important case in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to protect salt ponds in Redwood City, California.
Wyss Scholars Program: Applications Open
Funded by the Wyss Foundation, a private, charitable foundation dedicated to land conservation in the Intermountain West, the Wyss Scholars Program seeks to identify and support a new generation of leaders focused on western land conservation issues. The selected Lewis & Clark Scholar will receive financial support during their 2L summer, 3L year and post-graduation.
Diehl Environmental Law Fellows: Applications Open
Lewis & Clark Law School is the recipient of a bequest from John E. Diehl who was an active environmentalist in Washington. The Diehl bequest supports a fellowship program for Lewis & Clark law school graduates who are planning to work in public interest environmental law. The bequest specified a preference for graduates who are “dedicated to resource conservation, wilderness and wildlife habitat and preservation, or human population stabilization.” Recipients will be designated “Diehl Environmental Law Fellows.”
Prof. Dan Rohlf co-authors BioScience article critiquing de-listing of gray wolf
Prof. Dan Rohlf is a coauthor of a recent article in BioScience critiquing the US government’s proposal to remove the gray wolf from the list of species protected under the Endangered Species Act on the basis of a claim that the statute permits a species to be declared recovered given the existence of a single presently secure population.
LC’s Global Law Alliance contributes to ABA handbook on fighting Illegal Wildlife Trafficking
LC’s Global Law Alliance for Animals and the Environment (“the Alliance” - formerly IELP) worked with the ABA to produce a handbook analyzing legal tools to combat illegal wildlife trafficking in Latin America. In addition to writing the chapter on Bolivia, the Alliance helped the ABA think through the overall approach and priority topics.
Environmental Law Alums & Students Honored
Lewis & Clark’s environmental law program honored several alumni on October 13, 2020, in a virtual event.
Global Law Alliance Champions Wild Animals, Wild Spaces at Lewis & Clark Law School
Combining its nationally recognized expertise in environmental law and animal law, Lewis & Clark Law School announced the creation of the Global Law Alliance for Animals and the Environment (the “Alliance”). The Alliance is a champion for wild animals and wild spaces across the globe, working to protect animals and the environment through the development, implementation, and enforcement of international law. Law students (JD and LLM) actively participate in the work through two clinics within the Alliance.
Nawneet Vibhaw Honored as “Top 40 under 40” lawyers in India
Lewis & Clark Law School’s LLM alum, Nawneet Vibhaw, class of 2010, has been recognized as one of the 40 top lawyers under the age of 40 by BW Legal World (India). Nawneet is now a Partner at one of India’s largest law firms, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co.
Jacqueline O’Keefe: a summer of firefighting and clerking
Jacqueline O’Keefe (3L), shared with us her experience as a firefighter, and clerking this summer for a federal judge.
Lewis & Clark alums instrumental in historic gas pipeline case
Several Lewis & Clark Law alums, Ryan Talbott, Derek Teaney, and Ben Luckett, played important roles in a recent D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals case, Allegheny Defense Project v Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), overturning 50 years of precedent. Ellen Gilmer, is the journalist who wrote a Bloomberg article analyzing the court’s decision.
Earthrise Files Lawsuit to Save Māui Dolphins
On May 21, 2020, Earthrise, and their co-counsel Sea Shepherd Legal, filed a lawsuit on behalf of Sea Shepherd New Zealand and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society challenging the U.S. government’s failure to protect New Zealand’s critically endangered Māui dolphin.
Inspiration, virtual activities to celebrate Earth Day
We welcome to the community to share and participate in virtual and in-home environmental activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day - together while we are apart. #MyPlanetMyPledge #LCEarthDay
LC alums and Award-winning journalist, Kelly House, is Bridge’s new environment reporter
Kelly House, Master or Studies alum from Lewis & Clark Law School, whose investigations into groundwater mining and other environmental challenges in Oregon won national honors, has joined Bridge Magazine to cover the environment, natural resources and conservation issues.
Professor Serves as Legal Advisor at the Convention on Migratory Species
Professor Chris Wold has played a vital role as a legal advisor to the Convention on Migratory Species’ (CMS) since 2014, advising on voting and other procedures as well as drafting resolutions designed to protect migratory animals. This February, Wold was in India as an advisor to CMS at the Thirteenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP).
“Now Is the Time to Revolutionize Our Relationship with Wildlife,” writes Prof. Lyman
“The information now in front of us regarding COVID-19 is not revelatory, but it should spark a revolution. Zoonotic diseases, those diseases that transfer from animals to humans, can cause pandemics. They can cause great suffering and loss of life; they can bring the world’s economy to a grinding halt, sacrificing untold livelihoods. COVID-19 has taken this exact toll—and, by most accounts, we’re only in the early stages of the fallout.”
Earthrise Settles Case Protecting Wild Salmon
On February 11, 2020, Earthrise Law Center, the environmental legal clinic at Lewis & Clark Law School, settled a case protecting wild salmon from a net pen collapse that released hundreds of thousand non-native Atlantic salmon into the Puget Sound.
First Diehl Environmental Law Fellows Announced
Lewis & Clark Law School’s Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law Program announced the first four recipients for Diehl Fellowships. Three current students and one recent graduate were selected from a pool of applicants in February. The 2020 Diehl Environmental Law Fellows are Audrey Leonard ’20, Jesse Caldwell ’20, Teryn Yazdani ’20, and Dani Replogle ’19. Each Fellow will receive a $40,000 stipend for their work in public interest environmental law.
Earthrise Leads Efforts to Fight Proposed Changes to NEPA
Earthrise Law Center recently submitted extensive comments on the government’s proposed changes for how federal agencies must comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Nick Fromherz, staff attorney at LC’s International Env Law Project, speaks to enviro prosecutors in Peru
On March 10, Nick Fromherz, staff attorney and adjunct professor for Lewis & Clark’s International Environmental Law Project, spoke with approximately 100 environmental prosecutors in Lima, Peru. Fromherz was the lead speaker in a session focused on illegal fishing and fisheries crime.
Student Selected to Present Paper at Environmental Law Symposium
Sadie Normoyle (’20) will be presenting her paper, “Protecting Water Quality Through Tribal Treaty Fishing Rights: An Analysis of Idaho’s Fish Consumption Rate”, at the University of Arizona’s Next Generation of Environmental Law Symposium in April. The paper will also be published in the Arizona Journal of Environmental Law & Policy in the Summer 2020 issue.
Maddy Munson Named Wyss Scholar
Lewis & Clark Law School is pleased to announce that Maddy Munson ’21 is the third Wyss Scholar to be selected from the law school. The Wyss Foundation is a private, charitable organization dedicated to western public lands issues, and its Scholars Program supports graduate-level education for the next generation of leaders in western land conservation.
LC law alums, experts in environmental compliance issues, to present at Superfund 2020 symposium
Three Lewis & Clark Law School alums, including Leah Feldon (’04), Cyndy Mackey (’86), and Laura Kerr (’14), will provide expert analysis at an upcoming symposium on Superfund issues organized by the Environmental Law Education Center (ELEC).
LC alum, Kathleen Ho, slated to head Hawaii’s Office of Environmental Quality Control
LC Law LLM alum, Kathleen S. Y. Ho, is slated to become the next Director of the Office of Environmental Quality Control (OEQC) in Hawaii. Ho has extensive experience in environmental law, having served as deputy attorney general in the Health Division since 1992.