Clients and Matters
One of the Conservation Law Center's goals is to promote the development of more effective conservation law and policy. We make our work public whenever it does not conflict with confidentiality requirements. We will post public documents on this website as they become available.
Our Clients
- ACRES
- Alliance for the Great Lakes
- Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy
- Center for Biological Diversity
- Central Indiana Land Trust, Inc.
- Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana
- Ducks Unlimited
- Friends of Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge
- George Rogers Clark Land Trust
- Great Lakes Protection Fund
- Great Lakes United
- Indiana Land Protection Alliance
- Hoosier Environmental Council
- Land Trust Alliance
- National Speleological Society
- Ozark Regional Land Trust
- Sycamore Land Trust
- Save The River
- Save the Valley
- Southern Indiana Cooperative Weed Management Area
- The Nature Conservancy
- Three Valley Conservation Trust
- Wabash River Heritage Corridor Commission
- Additional Projects and Writings
ACRES
We have provided counsel on Indiana law relating to conservation organizations and property taxes.
Alliance for the Great Lakes
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management, after past failed attempts at rulemaking, currently is in the process of promulgating regulations to implement antidegradation policies pursuant to the Clean Water Act. The agency has opened up the process to various stakeholder groups and CLC is working with environmental organizations in the region to assure that conservation interests are heard.
Documents
- Fed Antidegredation Policy 40 CFR 131.12 [PDF]
- Environmental Protection Agency Water Quality Handbook CH 4 Antidegredation [PDF]
- IDEM Antidegredation draft rule 1 3/14/08 [PDF]
- IDEM Antidegredation draft rule 2 6/5/08 [PDF]
- CLC Comments on 3/14/08 Antidegredation Draft 4/9/08 [PDF]
- CLC Comments on 6/5/08 Antidegredation Draft 6/16/08 [PDF]
- Comments on IDEM's 2nd Notice Draft Rule (Antidegradation) from Environmental Coalition Attachment A -- Proposed Edits to Draft Rule
- Comments on IDEM's 2nd Notice Draft Rule (Antidegradation) from Environmental Coalition Attachment B – Enviro Coalition De Minimis Submission, Oct. 2008
- Comments on IDEM's 2nd Notice Draft Rule (Antidegradation) from Environmental Coalition Attachment B – Enviro Coalition De Minimis Submission, Oct. 2008
- Comments on IDEM's 2nd Notice Draft Rule (Antidegradation) from Environmental Coalition
Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy
We have advised CMLC on its response to the demand of a receiver in a securities fraud matter that CMLC agree to the extinguishment of a donated conservation easement.
Center for Biological Diversity
The CLC provided CBD with legal advice on ground water issues.
Central Indiana Land Trust, Inc.
We have advised CILTI on the implications for its work of Indiana law regarding marketable title for real property.
Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana
CLC is representing STV in litigation in the case of IKEC v. Citizens Groups.
Documents
- IKEC Verified Petition for Judicial Review and Amended Complaint
- Citizens Groups' Motion to Dismiss I Filed 5.9.10
- Citizens Groups' Motion to Dismiss II Filed 6.2.10
- Citizens Groups' Motion to Dismiss I Brief Filed 5.9.10
- Citizens Groups' Motion to Dismiss II Brief Filed 6.2.10
- Citizens Groups' Reply II Filed 8.16.10
Counsel to Government Agencies
We have advised Indiana government agencies on land conservation issues ranging from marketable title to carbon mitigation.
Ducks Unlimited
We have advised Ducks Unlimited on conservation issues with respect to property ownership.
Friends of Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge
We have helped this group incorporate as a nonprofit organization and file for tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status, and continue to advise the group on the day-to-day governance of an environmentally-oriented charitable organization.
George Rogers Clark Land Trust
We drafted the articles and bylaws for this new southern Indiana land trust, and provided a model conservation easement for its use. We expect to help GRCLT prepare its application for federal determination of tax status.
Great Lakes Protection Fund
We have provided research regarding certain provisions of the wildlife laws of Great Lakes states, the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, financial responsibility and surety statutes, certain aspects of insurance law, and the law governing the Saint Lawrence Seaway.
Great Lakes United
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The Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) proposed amendments to its existing ballast water
regulations to address inconsistencies with the Canadian regulations. Among the issues addressed in the
proposed regulations was saltwater flushing of ballast tanks containing only residual amounts of ballast
water or sediment. Saltwater flushing is intended to reduce the invasive species carried by vessels
passing through the Saint Lawrence Seaway. In collaboration with other public interest groups, CLC assisted
in drafting comments that pointed out a potential loophole in the proposed regulation and suggested language
to improve the protectiveness of the regulation. Several GLU comments were incorporated into the final
regulations.
Documents
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The Saint Lawrence Seaway extends 2,340 from the Atlantic Ocean to the head of the Great Lakes. The SLSDC
is a wholly-owned government corporation, created in 1954 to construct, operate, and maintain deep-water
navigation works in the Saint Lawrence Seaway in cooperation with its Canadian counterpart. CLC prepared a
memorandum tracing the history, authority, and operational structure of the SLSDC.
Document
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Ships entering the Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence Seaway over the past half century have introduced aquatic
invasive species highly damaging to the ecology and economy of the Great Lakes states. Ships continue to carry
invasive species into the Great Lakes yet federal legislation has been unable to solve the problem. CLC drafted
model legislation tailored to New York law to provide a tool that states can use to address the aquatic invasives
problem.
Documents
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GLU marked the 50th anniversary of the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway by developing seven principles
for a sustainable future for the Seaway and the shipping industry as a whole. These principles were
endorsed by over 50 organizations in the United States and Canada. Based on our past Seaway work, the
CLC provided GLU with the research and recommendations for the principle of improved Seaway tranparency
and governance.
Document
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The United States Coast Guard proposed to amend its regulations on the discharge of dry cargo residue,
including limestone, taconite, iron ore, coal, cement, and salt, into the Great Lakes. The Coast Guard also
prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement on such discharges. CLC collaborated with GLU and other groups
on comments submitted to the Coast Guard on its proposed rule and EIS.
Documents
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The CLC assisted Alliance for the Great Lakes, Great Lakes United, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition,
Natural Resources Defense Council, and the National Wildlife Federation in preparing comments responding to
the U.S. Coast Guard's Proposed Rulemaking on Standards for Living Organisms in Ships' Ballast Water Discharge
in U.S. Waters. The comments addressed the proposed implementation schedule and standards, the practicability
review, regulating "lakers," the treatment system approval process, among other issues.
Document
Hoosier Environmental Council
We have provided research support and legal advice to HEC on a number of issues relating to water quality. Currently, the CLC is providing legal support to HEC in an Indiana rulemaking that will change the way Confined Animal Feeding Operations - or factory farms - are regulated. CLC is also representing HEC in litigation in the case of IKEC v. Citizens Groups (See Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana to view documents).
Indiana Land Protection Alliance
We provided counsel on the creation of by-laws and created a model conservation easement.
Land Trust Alliance
The U.S. Congress, in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, delegated to electric utility companies the authority to acquire a right-of-way within a designated National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor by the exercise of eminent domain. This eminent domain authority poses a threat to private conservation land interests such as conservation easements. CLC analyzed the extent to which conservation easements held or co-held by private land trusts may be resistant to this eminent domain authority, by virtue of partnerships with governmental entities or other mechanisms. CLC also assisted LTA by conducting an "ask-an-attorney" call for Indiana land trusts and prepared a fact sheet for the Revised Form 990.
Documents
- CLC Condemnation in NIET Corridors Memo Post 6/2/08 [PDF]
- 72 Fed Reg 56992 NIETCs [PDF]
- Fact Sheet on Revised IRS Form 990 [PDF]
National Speleological Society
We provided counsel on certain aspects of Indiana's non profit corporations law.
City of Oakland City
At the City's request, we provided draft ordinances for its consideration.
Ozark Regional Land Trust
We provide ongoing legal support to the Ozark Regional Land Trust, including review of conservation easement agreements and related documents, research of pertinent laws and legal standards, and advice on conservation strategies.
Sycamore Land Trust
We have provided counsel for the Sycamore Land Trust in many matters, ranging from the application of CERCLA to the implications of certain provisions in the Federal Tax Code.
Some landowners who donate conservation easements to land trusts want to retain the right to extract timber from the underlying land. CLC drafted a model sustainable forestry conservation easement intended to maintain the conservation values on properties with high quality forests.
Document
Save The River
The spring opening date for shipping on the Saint Lawrence Seaway is set by the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC). Ice breaking may accompany the opening, depending on how early the date is set. Save The River seeks to promote an spring ice breaking policy that protects the delicate ecosystem of the Upper Saint Lawrence River from ship wakes and scouring damage.
CLC assisted STR in preparing a rulemaking petition to the SLSDC, asking the agency to begin a notice and comment rulemaking on the process and criteria it uses to establish the spring opening date of the Seaway. CLC also assisted STR with a FOIA appeal to the SLSDC.
Documents
- Rulemaking Petition to the SLSDC
- Freedom of Information Act Appeal to the SLSDC for Save The River [PDF]
- Freedom of Information Act Response Scan 1 and Scan 2 [PDF]
- SLSDC's Response to FOIA Request [PDF]
Save the Valley
CLC is representing STV in litigation in the case of IKEC v. Citizens Groups. See Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana to view documents. (LINK)
Southern Indiana Cooperative Weed Management Area
www.fs.fed.us/r9/hoosier/docs/plants/sicwma.htm
Cooperative weed management areas are local organizations that provide a mechanism for sharing invasive plant management resources across jurisdictional boundaries to prevent and control invasive plants. The Southern Indiana Cooperative Weed Management Area (SICWMA) covers 36 counties with similar terrain, soil, climate, and threats from invasive species.
- CLC assisted SICWMA in incorporating as a nonprofit in Indiana and obtaining 501(c)(3) Recognition of Exemption from the Internal Revenue Service.
- We continue to provide counsel to SICWMA on nonprofit governance issues.
The Nature Conservancy
We have provided counsel on several matters, ranging from the implications for conservation of certain Indiana laws to certain aspects of the law of conservation easements.
Three Valley Conservation Trust
The CLC provided counsel to Three Valley Conservation Trust regarding federal tax law of conservation easements.
Wabash River Heritage Corridor Commission
We have provided counsel on matters relating to the Indiana statute that established the commission and specifies the manner in which it is to be funded, governed, and supported.
Additional Projects and Writings
- Legal Considerations Regarding Amendment to Conservation Easements [PDF]
- We have advised Indiana government agencies on land conservation issues ranging from Marketable Title to Carbon Mitigation.
- The CLC is currently reviewing information on several species that are potential subjects of litigation or a petition for listing under the Endangered Species Act.
- COMMENT on California Ridge Wind Energy LLC Permit Application, TE03502B
- COMMENT on Final EIS and Final HCP for Buckeye Wind Power Project, Champaign County, Ohio
- COMMENT on Draft EIS, Draft HCP/ITP, and Draft IA for Fowler Ridge Wind Energy Facilities
- ARTICLE: In Defense of Conservation Easements, by Nancy McLaughlin and W. William Weeks [PDF]
- ARTICLE: Hicks v. Dowd, Conservation Easements, and the Charitable Trust Doctrine: Setting the Record Straight [PDF]
- ARTICLE: The Legal Challenge of Protecting Animal Migrations as Phenomena of Abundance [PDF]
- ARTICLE: A Tradable Conservation Easement for Vulnerable Conservation Objectives [PDF]