The Conservation Law Center, a non-profit environmental law firm based in Bloomington, has hired Christian Freitag to succeed W. William Weeks as president and director of the organization. The Conservation Law Center provides legal counsel without charge to conservation organizations, works to improve conservation law and policy, and offers law students clinical experience in the practice of law and the profession's public service tradition.
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August is Water Quality Month (#WQM17) and Conservation Law Center (CLC) is sponsoring a social media campaign to raise awareness of the importance of water quality and availability in Indiana. Here is our Letter to the Editor from CLC Director Bill Weeks and Indiana University's Dr. Jeffrey White about the #WQM17 initiative.
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The Sierra Club, represented by Earthjustice and Conservation Law Center, has been granted intervention in a trial court proceeding in which the right to burn hazardous waste near homes and schools is being disputed.
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For a good portion of the year, CLC has been representing Friends of the White River in a Tree Clearing Settlement Agreement with the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) to ensure that the proposed tree clearing on the Indianapolis banks of the White River represents the community as well as the safety concerns it addresses.
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CLC staff attended Earth Charter Indiana's "Climate Leadership Summit" this week. Aside from the science, the committee of leaders discussed the climate-friendly changes in Indiana's communities and brainstormed resources and policies to help Indiana adapt to a changing climate.
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On October 26, the CLC submitted comments on the Office of Surface Mining’s proposed Stream Protection Rule on behalf of the Hoosier Environmental Council. The proposed rule updates surface coal mining regulations in light of new information on coal mining’s effects on ecosystems and the difficulty of replacing healthy streams impacted by mining. The proposed rule would allow companies to mine through streams if avoiding the streams is not practicable and the applicant demonstrates that she can replace the form and function of the impacted stream. However, the rule allows states with primary authority over surface coal mining to develop their own standards to measure stream function.
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The CLC is assisting The Nature Conservancy in clearing mineral encumbrances from properties in the Wabash River watershed for conservation. Many property owners do not own the mineral rights beneath their property. This means the mineral rights owner can use the surface to reach any coal, oil, or natural gas beneath the property. We are clearing abandoned rights of titles and working with owners with current rights to secure the release of the surface rights so the property can be committed to conservation use without the risk of mining or drilling occurring in the future.
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On behalf of Friends of the White River, CLC has challenged the Indiana Department of Natural Resources’ decision to authorize the permanent destruction of more than seven acres of mature hardwood forest and other high-quality riparian habitat along Indianapolis’s White River levee.
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The Conservation Law Center is representing Friends of the White River in contesting a plan to strip vegetation in the White River corridor from Broad Ripple to Kessler in Indianapolis. This much loved urban oasis is home to mature bottomland hardwood forest of considerable ecological value. Apparently relying on outdated advice from the Corps of Engineers, the City of Indianapolis has claimed that the riverside levee must be clear of vegetation in order to obtain a safety certification. CLC will argue that Congress has changed the law as to vegetation clearing, and that the city's application for a permit to clear the trees should be denied.
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The Indiana Supreme Court has granted CLC's request for leave to file a friend of the court brief on behalf of the Hoosier Environmental Council. The State's authority to regulate or prohibit "high fence" deer shooting operations is at stake because the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled that the State Department of Natural Resources has no authority in the matter.
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The Center has been representing the Alliance for the Great Lakes and Save the Dunes in a lawsuit in which certain owners of lakeside property claim ownership of the beach of Lake Michigan right down to the water's edge. The trial court decided that it wasn't a proper forum to settle the ownership question, but affirmed our argument that regardless of ownership, any activity on the land in question must be consistent with the "public trust,"" a legal doctrine that is meant to protect the public's interest in the values of certain critical natural resources.
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The Indiana Forest Alliance, with the support of State Senator Mark Stoops, requested that the CLC prepare model legislation for an Indiana Wilderness Act. The CLC drafted a bill that would require the department of natural resources to identify large, remote forested tracts of state-owned land and, in appropriate cases, to recommend such areas to the natural resources commission for designation as state wilderness areas.
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CLC is representing the Alliance for the Great Lakes and Save the Dunes in litigation over the application of the public trust and the boundary of the State of Indiana's ownership of the shore of Lake Michigan. The lawsuit began when certain owners of lakeside property sued the Town of Long Beach, claiming a town resolution interfered with their rights. The complaint asks the court to declare that there is no public right in the shore landward of the water's edge. CLC’s clients believe that the conservation interest in the lakeshore will be best served by defending the claim of public rights in the shoreland.
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In response to the recommendation of the Indiana Sustainable Natural Resources Task Force, and in collaboration with members of the Indiana General Assembly, the CLC developed legislation to update Indiana's water management policies. Currently, water management decisions related to flood control, drainage, and water supply planning are the responsibility of a number of different state and local entities.
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In partnership with The Nature Conservancy, CLC has developed a manual for landowners in Indiana and Illinois who are interested in preserving their land by donating conservation easements, but are concerned that lingering mineral interests on their land could complicate or undermine their efforts.
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Prof. W. William Weeks, Director of the Conservation Law Clinic, has been elected the Chairman of the Indiana Sustainable Natural Resources Task Force.
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