Latest News
Tradebe’s operations in East Chicago are under scrutiny as IDEM weighs two key permits: a renewal and expansion of the facility’s hazardous waste permit under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and a modification of its Clean Air Act (CAA) permit. Yet advocates argue that Tradebe’s extensive non-compliance record demands adequate, stronger oversight before any permit approvals are granted.
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Environmental Justice
Nearly 4,000 acres in Sullivan County will become the new Busseron Creek Fish and Wildlife Area. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources was able to acquire more land, faster with the help of partners like the Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape, the Conservation Fund and the Nature Conservancy.
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Land
Nature has reclaimed an old coal mine in southern Indiana, and state environmentalists have collaborated to ensure the land will belong to all Hoosiers.
Indiana’s Department of Natural Resources, working with the Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape initiative and The Conservation Fund, have acquired nearly 4,000 acres of diverse habitat that will become the Busseron Creek Fish and Wildlife Area in Sullivan County.
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Land
The Conservation Law Center and The Conservation Fund secured permanent protection of 4,000 acres in Southern Indiana, creating the Busseron Creek Fish & Wildlife Area, benefiting biodiversity, local communities, and climate resilience.
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Land
A 3,950-acre conservation near LGTF, Indiana, ensures biodiversity, recreation, and resilience through partnerships, opening to the public in 2025.
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Land
Conservation Law Center is excited to announce the hire of Ben Taylor, our coordinator for the Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape RCPP.
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Land
CLC has drafted five policy proposals focused on PFAS regulation, wetland protection, and the establishment of an Indiana Water Authority.
SISL’s overarching goals are to preserve and protect military missions, support sustainable farming and forestry, restore and sustain ecosystems, ensure thriving human communities, and improve climate resiliency.
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Land
A recent International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health report on concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in the United States highlights a disturbing truth: large-scale industrial farming is poisoning our air, water and communities.
- Services: Legal Advocacy, Policy
- Issues: Land, Water
Water, essential to all life on the planet, is an abundant resource in Indiana. This alone puts Indiana in a resilient position as we navigate toward a climate-changed future.
- Services: Policy
- Issues: Climate Change, Water
Conservation work is largely relationship-driven. One of Central Indiana Land Trust’s longtime champions, Michael Spalding, was not only instrumental in expanding Meltzer Woods in 2020. He also played a key role in the Lowe Tract’s protection.
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Land
State Conservationist Damarys Mortenson announced today that Indiana’s USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is making funding available to help landowners protect and restore key forestland across southern Indiana through land easements. The funding is provided through the Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). Eligible landowners must submit applications for the current funding pool on or before October 4.
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Land
Raenah Bailey is the Midwest Climate Specialist for the Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape and the Camp Ripley Sentinel Landscape.
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Climate Change, Land
Michael recently returned from a wildland firefighting assignment in California. He originally became certified as a wildland firefighter after completing the basic courses and training here at IU in October 2007. Since that time, he has continued to take additional classes and training, including the annual refresher to stay current on issues and policies, including the physical fitness test commonly known as the “pack test.”
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Land
A Gary resident is suing the Little Calumet River Basin Development Commission over alleged violations of transparency rules, the eligibility of two of the body's members, and the commission's ongoing relationship with the company behind a controversial planned waste recycling facility in Gary.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Environmental Justice
SISL Coordinator, Rob McCrea, was invited to attend the Climate and Conservation Summit hosted by the Department of Defense and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in July.
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Land
California-based Fulcrum Bioenergy, the company behind controversial plans for a jet fuel making facility in Gary, is facing bankruptcy, according to a report by Bloomberg published on Tuesday.
The outlet reported that nearly all of the company's roughly 100 employees had been laid off in mid-May and that most of the company's operations had been halted. Fulcrum's website is no longer functioning.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Environmental Justice
The grassroots environmental group Gary Advocates for Responsible Development (GARD) is seeking judicial review of a complaint against the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) that was dismissed last month.
In 2022, GARD filed a petition with the Indiana Office of Environmental Adjudication (OEA) in which it claimed that IDEM acted improperly when it granted a federally enforceable state operating permit (FESOP) to Fulcrum Bioenergy for a planned trash-to-fuel facility at Buffington Harbor earlier that year.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Environmental Justice
Greetings from the Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape. I hope you all are enjoying the good things that come along with spring such as listening to the spring peepers and chorus frogs or watching your favorite spring ephemerals while hunting for morels. As we continue to work through numerous projects including agreement negotiations for our NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program, I wanted to take the time to share some updates with you all. Have a safe and happy Spring. - Michael Spalding, SISL Program Coordinator
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Land
Conservation Law Center is excited to announce that the Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County has chosen us as one of 18 local organizations to receive matching funds through June of 2025, as well as a $10,000 operational grant to support staff and fundraising needs.
Interpreting the complex system of permits and standards that regulate the Region's many industries can be a daunting task.
“You’ve got to be an environmental scientist or an engineer to respond to these permits," Gary resident Doreen Carey said during an October panel held at Indiana University Northwest.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Environmental Justice
CLC announces the launch of the organization’s Environmental Legal Aid Program to serve the environmental legal needs of local residents, advocates and community groups in Gary, Hammond, Whiting and East Chicago (“the Region”). The new program builds on CLC’s mission of providing free representation to environmental non-profits tackling critical environmental health and justice issues, as well conservation organizations engaged in protecting natural resources, water quality, and wildlife habitat.
- Services: Legal Advocacy, Partnerships
- Issues: Environmental Justice
CLC is excited to share that Deals in the Heartland: Renewable Energy Projects, Local Resistance, and How Law Can Help, an article coauthored by Indiana University Maurer School of Law’s Dean Christiana Ochoa, CLC’s Kacey Cook, and University of Minnesota Law School’s Hanna Weil, has been selected as one of three articles for the honor of inclusion in the 2022-2023 Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review.
A Bloomington native, Rob received his law degree from Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, and practiced at his grandfather’s law firm in Bloomington before deciding to return to his environmental roots, first working for Sycamore Land Trust as the Land Preservation Director and now at the Conservation Law Center as the Land Conservation Attorney. His work focuses on the Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape project, for which CLC is the lead coordinator.
- Issues: Climate Change, Land
Megan graduated from the University of Mississippi with a degree in International Studies and worked in her home state for the Illinois House of Representatives for two years before attending Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law. During law school Megan interned with the Conservation Law Center and after graduation, joined CLC as the Nancy C. Ralston Graduate Fellow Attorney.
Question: I know you have a background in land protection. Could you please share your insights on how the preservation of land, habitat, and species intersect?
Freitag: I’m a systems guy. The knee bone’s connected to the thigh bone, as they say. You care about critters? Then save the places they need to live and eat and mate. You worry about how the critters will adapt to climate change? Connect the protected landscapes so they can move. And for heaven’s sake, take care of the water. Every life depends on it. But most importantly, understand that human beings are not separate from nature but instead a participant. As Jane Goodall says, you cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you, so decide what kind of impact that will be. What will your grandchildren say about your impact?
- Services: Legal Advocacy, Nonprofit Support
- Issues: Biodiversity
Kim E. Ferraro is the Senior Attorney at the Conservation Law Center, known for her pivotal role in securing landmark legal victories for environmental protection during her tenure with the Hoosier Environmental Council. Kim’s achievements include halting threats posed by factory farms, compelling cleanups of industrial waste sites, and preventing the construction of hazardous industries near critical natural areas and marginalized communities, demonstrating her commitment to conservation, and addressing environmental injustice.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Environmental Justice
Kacey’s career path in environmental law was charted during her time as a student in CLC’s Conservation Law Clinic at the IU Maurer School of Law. After graduating, Kacey served as Policy Specialist and Staff Attorney at Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council in Northern Michigan, where she collaborated with local communities to protect the area’s abundant freshwater resources. In 2022, she was invited to return to CLC, this time as the Constance and Terry Marbach Conservation Attorney.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Public Trust, Water
Michael Spalding, the Program Coordinator for the Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape, has deep-rooted ties to conservation, stemming from his family’s land in central Indiana that dates back to 1889. Graduating with honors from Purdue University College of Agriculture in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry, he has dedicated more than 15 years to conservation efforts spanning 55 Indiana counties. Michael’s career has seen him work as a field forester in a forestry consulting firm and manage public forests, including Jackson-Washington, Yellowwood, Morgan- Monroe State Forests, and Atterbury Muscatatuck Training Center.
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Land
We are pleased to announce that the Powell Township Board has enacted an official “RESOLUTION” rejecting the plan by the Michigan Aerospace Manufacturers Association (MAMA) to rezone Granot Loma to build an industrial rocket launch site, finding under the Township Zoning Ordinance that it:
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity, Land, Water
You may have noticed we took a break from our last newsletter as we anxiously awaited to hear the results of some exciting projects we have been pursuing. We can confidently say the wait was worth it. In this newsletter, you will find two keys projects that have now secured funding and will move to implementation over the coming months and years. Following that, we are highlighting several stories about fantastic progress by just a few of our committed and hard-working partners. As always, we remain thankful and grateful for the landowners of this landscape who choose conservation and the numerous partners whose work supports those positive actions.
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Land
We are proud to announce the continued support of the Herbert Simon Family Foundation for the Conservation Law Center. This year, their significant investment will allow us to provide critical support to Indiana land trusts and launch our new environmental justice program in Northwest Indiana. Their generosity enables CLC to expand its impact, helping the communities and organizations that need it most.
Conservation Law Center is incredibly excited to announce that the Efroymson Family Fund has awarded us a generous grant to support our mission and marketing efforts. The Efroymson Family Fund helps support nonprofit organizations across Central Indiana. Their gift to us will help fund the positions of several critical full-time staff members, build out new and existing conservation programs, and bolster our day-to-day operations.
The CLC is proud to announce that the Brabson Family Foundation has continued to support our work with a grant of $20,000.
- Services: Nonprofit Support
- Issues: Land, Water
Macaw Recovery Network announces its first land purchase toward the restoration of habitat for the critically endangered Great Green Macaw.
Its purchase of La Peninsula in northern Costa Rica will help save not only this magnificent bird but all forest wildlife that share its habitat.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity, Land, Water
Gary, IN - - In an ongoing challenge to Fulcrum Centerpoint’s air pollution permit, Gary Advocates for Responsible Development (GARD) is asking the administrative law judge overseeing the case to put an end to Fulcrum’s harassing litigation conduct. Fulcrum, a large California corporation wants to build what it calls a “biorefinery” that will “gasify” garbage and turn it into a sustainable source of jet fuel. GARD appealed Fulcrum’s air permit out of concern that the planned operation will add even more toxic air emissions to Gary’s already unhealthy air.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Climate Change, Environmental Justice
CLC is proud to announce the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust has continued their support of CLC’s Clean Water Indiana Program with a grant of $484,000 over the next two years. The Pulliam Trust and CLC have a long-standing partnership to improve water quality in the state.
- Services: Policy
- Issues: Biodiversity, Water
ODGEN DUNES — The possible construction of an armor stone revetment in Ogden Dunes has been challenged by the non-profit group Save the Dunes.
The organization filed an administrative appeal June 19 after the Indiana Department of Natural Resources approved Ogden-Dunes' request for a 2,970-foot-long, 10-foot-wide revetment along Lake Michigan’s lakeshore, according to a statement from Save the Dunes.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity, Land, Public Trust, Water
A little more than three years ago, Lake Michigan was at its highest level in more than 30 years, and waves dashed up against the sheet steel piling that lakefront homeowners in the town of Ogden Dunes had installed in the 1980s and 1990s.
Worried that the piling was vulnerable and their homes were in danger, the town petitioned for permission to install a revetment — a layer of large, interlocking boulders along the shoreline — to protect their homes.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity, Land, Public Trust, Water
(Ogden Dunes, IN)- Save the Dunes filed an administrative appeal on Monday with the Indiana Natural Resources Commission. The appeal challenges the Indiana Department of Natural Resources’ (“DNR”) approval of the Town of Ogden Dunes’ proposal to build a 2,970-foot-long, 10-foot-wide, armor stone revetment along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Save the Dunes is represented in the case by the Conservation Law Center, a public interest environmental law firm that also runs the Conservation Law Clinic at Indiana University Mauer School of Law.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Public Trust, Water
The state is allowing AES Indiana to dump more than 1 million gallons of water contaminated with harmful coal ash pollutants directly into the White River every day, according to Indiana environmental groups who call the approval process a "contradictory shell game."
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Climate Change, Environmental Justice, Water
(BLOOMINGTON, IN) The Conservation Law Center is excited to announce a new resource is now available for landowners within the Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape. The Conservation Discovery Web Application will increase awareness and access to conservation options to help landowners effectively and sustainably manage their lands.
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Land
The Conservation Law Center is excited to announce that Christie Pace has been hired as the Operations Manager, a new position at CLC. As Operations Manager, Christie will be responsible for providing support on human resources, accounting, and a wide range of administrative and executive support.
An Indiana environmental group says the state is allowingutility AES Indiana to release more than 1 million gallons ofcontaminated water a day into the White River from coalash ponds at its Eagle Valley Generating Station inMartinsville in violation of the federal Clean Water Act.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Environmental Justice, Land, Water
The Eagle Valley natural gas plant in Martinsville is using water that could be contaminated with toxic coal ash to cool the plant and then putting it back into the White River.
The Hoosier Environmental Council said that violates federal coal ash rules. The group is challenging the state’s decision to reissue Eagle Valley’s wastewater permit.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Environmental Justice, Water
For seven Bloomington-area breweries, beers and conservation go together like hops and yeast. A new collaborative brew called SentinAle has debuted and its goal is to raise awareness about the Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape.
- Services: Partnerships
(MARTINSVILLE, IN)- The Hoosier Environmental Council (“HEC”) filed an administrative appeal on Monday with the Indiana Office of Environmental Adjudication (“OEA”). The appeal challenges a water permit issued by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (“IDEM”) that allows the Eagle Valley Generating Station—an AES-owned powerplant in Martinsville—to discharge toxic contaminants from its leaking coal ash ponds directly into the West Fork of the White River.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Water
Along with colleagues from Syracuse University and INCAE, Costa Rica’s main business school, CLC Executive Director Christian Freitag recently co-authored an article concerning Nosara, Costa Rica, one of only five “blue zones” in the world.
- Services: Nonprofit Support, Partnerships
- Issues: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Land, Water
We are proud of the progress that has been made in our landscape this past year and the bright future ahead. None of this could be possible without the hard work and time commitment from all of you, including both landowners dedicated to conservation and partnering organizations and agencies.
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Land
Conservation Law Center is excited to announce a first time award from the Ropchan Foundation to fund the Indiana Land Protection Program.
- Services: Nonprofit Support
- Issues: Land
A ditch system dug nearly 100 years ago to drain Beaver Lake, formerly the largest natural lake in Indiana, is at the center of a legal battle between a 4,350-dairy cow CAFO and the neighboring Newton County residents.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Land, Water
On October 31st, the US Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari filed by private landowners in the Pavlock case, declining to consider the legal questions posed by petitioners and to require further consideration by the 7th Circuit.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity, Land, Public Trust, Water
Environmental law attorney Kim Ferraro might have only been half-joking when she claimed that if she had known at the start of her career what she knows now, she probably would have chosen a different practice area.
- Services: Legal Advocacy, Legal Education
- Issues: Climate Change, Environmental Justice, Land, Water
The team at CLC, along with our partners, have been working hard to successfully launch the SISL program. Our first six months have been packed full of planning and outreach. Here are a few of the activities we have been focused on.
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Water
IU to help manage newly declared Sentinel Landscape
The Conservation Law Center is proud to announce the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust has continued their support of CLC’s Clean Water Indiana Program with a grant of $180,000. This grant represents a longstanding partnership between the Pulliam Trust and CLC, with a shared goal of improving water quality in the state of Indiana.
- Services: Policy
- Issues: Climate Change, Water
The Conservation Law Center is excited to announce Kacey Cook as the inaugural Constance and Terry Marbach Conservation Attorney.
The Marbach Conservation Attorney will focus primarily on land conservation and habitat protection projects. This position will be responsible for fostering existing relationships with land trusts and other clients as well as developing new relationships and projects for CLC.
- Services: Nonprofit Support
- Issues: Biodiversity, Land
Conservation Law Center is pleased to announce that Rob McCrea has been hired as the Landscape Conservation Attorney.
Rob grew up hiking, hunting, and camping in the hills of southern Indiana. Rob’s passion for the outdoors began in his childhood camping at his family’s land in Monroe County with his father and friends. Rob studied Ecology and Natural History at Prescott College in Arizona and received his Law degree at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. While he has been fortunate to travel widely, his heart has always remained in Indiana.
- Services: Nonprofit Support, Partnerships
- Issues: Land
Conservation Law Center is pleased to announce that Michael F. Spalding was recently hired as the Program Coordinator for the Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape.
Michael grew up in central Indiana on land that has been in his family since 1889. His passion for conservation began while exploring the fields, forests, and streams of his family’s farm. Michael graduated magna cum laude from Purdue University College of Agriculture with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry in 2005. Since that time, he has performed conservation work in 55 counties throughout Indiana. He began his career as a field forester with a forestry consulting firm and has spent the past 15 years managing public forests at Jackson-Washington, Yellowwood, and Morgan-Monroe State Forests as well as Atterbury-Muscatatuck Training Center.
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Land
Today, the Hoosier Environmental Council (HEC) wishes a warm farewell and many thanks to its long-time Senior Attorney, Kim Ferraro, who is leaving HEC after 11 years to become the Senior Staff Attorney at the Conservation Law Center (CLC), effective August 1st.
- Services: Legal Advocacy, Legal Education, Nonprofit Support, Partnerships, Policy
- Issues: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environmental Justice, Land, Public Trust, Water
Conservation Law Center appreciates our long-standing relationship with the Herbert Simon Family Foundation and are proud to acknowledge their continued support of our efforts. This year, the Herbert Simon Family Foundation will be aiding us in our land conservation work which includes our ongoing support of Indiana land trusts as well as our new Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape program.
- Services: Nonprofit Support, Partnerships, Policy
- Issues: Biodiversity, Land, Water
A new initiative that aims to strengthen Indiana’s military readiness will also help preserve and protect a large swath of southern Indiana around military installations.
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Land
February 16, 2022 – The designation of more than 3.5 million acres in southern Indiana as a Sentinel Landscape will protect critical habitats and species, conserve natural resources, strengthen military readiness, and help the state prepare for environmental change. Southern Indiana is one of 3 new additions to the federal program, bringing the total to 10 nationwide.
- Services: Partnerships
- Issues: Land
CLC is pleased to announce Executive Director, Christian Freitag, has joined the Board of Directors for the Lake Monroe Water Fund.
The Lake Monroe Water Fund is an active funder for watershed projects that conserve, protect and sustain Lake Monroe as a shared community water resource. Its board includes leaders from the five counties that surround Lake Monroe who share goals of community education about watersheds and understanding external impacts to drinking water.
- Services: Nonprofit Support
- Issues: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Water
Spring 2022 will be Professor Jeff Hyman’s final semester teaching the Conservation Law Clinic through Indiana University Maurer School of Law. Jeff has taught over 150 law students throughout his tenure with CLC, many of whom have gone on to practice environmental law as a career. It is safe to say he had high expectations of his students and held them to a high standard, but he also met them with honesty and respect. Clinic students have been fortunate to learn both the practice of law as well as specific areas of environmental law from such an experienced professional. Jeff will be missed!
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity, Land, Public Trust, Water
Hi! My name is Lucy Newell, and I am a senior at Indiana University studying Law and Public Policy at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. This past semester, I have been the Undergraduate Intern at the Conservation Law Center.
- Services: Legal Education
The Conservation Law Center is excited to announce the creation of a new position—the Nancy C. Ralston Conservation Law Fellowship. Through a nation-wide search, Megan Freveletti has been selected to start in August 2022. The fellowship will cover a broad spectrum of responsibilities including litigation-related research, land protection transactions, advising conservation clients, policy analysis, and outreach.
- Services: Legal Advocacy, Policy
- Issues: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Water
Conservation Law Center is excited to announce the creation of a new position for the organization—the Constance and Terry Marbach Conservation Attorney.
- Services: Nonprofit Support
- Issues: Land
Conservation Law Center is excited to announce a $10,000 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation to establish a new student fellowship program. The Duke Energy “Grass Roots” Conservation Fellowship will offer students at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law a paid internship to gain hands-on experience advocating for water conservation and improved water quality in the state of Indiana.
- Services: Legal Education
- Issues: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environmental Justice, Land, Water
Last year, Governor Holcomb created the state’s first Wastewater Task Force to address issues of Indiana’s water management and water quality. Co-chairs Senator Eric Koch and Representative Ed Soliday currently lead this important review of Indiana’s water infrastructure and causes of water quality impairment, including issues that are CLC’s priorities like drainage reform and failing septics.
- Services: Policy
- Issues: Climate Change, Water
There's nothing spooky about bats. 
Although they are often accused of being pests, these winged friends actually play important roles in pest control. Here in Indiana, bats can eat up to 1,000 mosquitoes an hour. Bats also enjoy snacking on beetles, gnats, flies, moths, and other insects providing a safe, natural form of pest control. Not only does this help protect humans from these pests, it also helps farmers protect their crops from damage and our land and food from toxic insecticides.
Although they are often accused of being pests, these winged friends actually play important roles in pest control. Here in Indiana, bats can eat up to 1,000 mosquitoes an hour. Bats also enjoy snacking on beetles, gnats, flies, moths, and other insects providing a safe, natural form of pest control. Not only does this help protect humans from these pests, it also helps farmers protect their crops from damage and our land and food from toxic insecticides. - Services: Policy
- Issues: Biodiversity, Climate Change
In 2020, Conservation Law Center partnered with Hoosier Environmental Council and the Indiana Audubon Society in a suit against Natural Prairie and the US Army Corps of Engineers. Contrary to its name, Natural Prairie is a confined animal feeding operation (CAFO) with over 4300 cows in the bed of the former Beaver Lake, once the largest natural lake in Indiana. Beaver Lake was part of the Grand Kankakee Marsh, at one point the country’s largest inland wetland, and this property sits adjacent to the Kankakee Sands, owned and managed as tallgrass prairie by The Nature Conservancy. This procedural win in the US District Court for the Northern District of Indiana requires the US Army Corps of Engineers to go back and reassess its jurisdiction over these important wetlands. CLC is proud to partner with HEC and Indiana Audubon to protect this ecologically and historically important natural area.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Climate Change, Land, Water
Finding the Army Corps of Engineers did not follow its own guidance and procedures, the Northern Indiana District Court has thrown out the Corps’ decision that a concentrated animal feeding operation built on a former wetland in Newton County is not under federal regulation.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Land, Water
Clean water is vital to our health, our collective agricultural needs, and the needs of our environment. August is #NationalWaterQualityMonth (https://nationalwaterqualitymonth.org/) and here at CLC we work to identify and implement solutions to water issues vital to all Hoosiers, including direct piping of raw sewage into Indiana streams and rivers, failing septic systems across the state, and updating the state drainage law.
- Services: Policy
- Issues: Climate Change, Water
Pollution, deforestation, extinction of endangered species, and extreme weather events are taking their toll on today’s world. A nonprofit organization in Bloomington, Indiana is doing its part to reverse these trends.
- Services: Legal Education
- Issues: Biodiversity, Land, Water
This report, requested by the Macaw Recovery Network (MRN), details the ways in which the rapidly growing pineapple industry in Costa Rica threatens the survival of the Great Green Macaw, an already endangered species. It specifically examines the impacts of the pineapple industry on the environment, labor rights, and public health. It also provides overviews of several initiatives aimed at amending the pineapple industry and offers suggestions for enhancing Great Green Macaw conservation efforts. Finally, the report outlines potential next steps for continued research that may be helpful to MRN’s conservation efforts.
- Services: Legal Advocacy, Nonprofit Support
- Issues: Biodiversity, Land
In 2016, with support from Nina Mason Pulliam Trust, CLC completed a 45-page report, Water and Quality of Life in Indiana, giving 14 recommendations on how to improve the state of Indiana’s water quality. Indiana is naturally endowed with great rivers, streams, and lakes. These freshwater systems are essential for drinking, for industry, for agriculture, and for economic development.
- Services: Legal Advocacy, Policy
- Issues: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Water
Water is essential for life, and people concerned about the health of Lake Monroe have worked together to form the Lake Monroe Water Fund.
On its website, it’s described as an “active funder for watershed projects that conserve, protect and sustain Lake Monroe as our shared community water resource.”
- Services: Nonprofit Support
- Issues: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Water
Having safe and reliable access to clean drinking water is something easily taken for granted by most Americans, but in reality, 2018 data showed that nearly 30 million Americans were consuming unsafe drinking water.
- Services: Policy
- Issues: Climate Change, Water
Due to loss of habitat, disease, pesticides, and climate change, the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee, Bombus affinis, has been classified as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. These insects are home in grasslands and prairies, but much of this land has been lost, degraded, or fragmented in recent years. Among these various threats, climate change is one of the biggest.
- Services: Legal Advocacy, Policy
- Issues: Biodiversity
And they’re off, south for the winter! As birds head toward the winter home, they follow specific paths called “Flyways.” Along the way, they have to handle plenty besides the long journey alone, including urbanization, pollution, and changing conditions related to climate change. Throughout the years, Conservation Law Center has worked to preserve the migratory habitats the birds need to survive.
- Services: Policy
- Issues: Biodiversity, Land, Water
A familiar name from a different email address feels out of context. Upon further investigation it is perfectly in context. Andrea Lutz has been my ‘forever’ Upland Brewing Company contact.
Now, she is the spokesperson with the Conservation Law Center headquartered near the IU Bloomington campus.
- Issues: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Land, Water
Conservation Law Center is excited to welcome Andrea Lutz in the newly created position of Director of Advancement. This new role replaces the prior Director of Development position and will expand the responsibilities to include administering the organization’s development and marketing initiatives, as well as program expansion and management.
- Issues: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environmental Justice, Land, Public Trust, Water
Thank you to the Herbert Simon Family Foundation who has awarded the Conservation Law Center a $60,000 grant to further our work in water quality and land conservation.
- Services: Nonprofit Support, Policy
- Issues: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Land, Water
Each school year, second- and third-year law students at the IU Maurer School of Law have the opportunity to enroll for credit as interns in our Conservation Law Clinic, one of Maurer’s six public interest clinics focused on providing students a hands-on learning experience working with real clients. Under the supervision of CLC attorneys, student interns work closely with each other and with the attorneys on live legal matters for our myriad clients who need assistance with natural resource conservation issues.
- Services: Legal Education
- Issues: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environmental Justice, Land, Public Trust, Water
Land conservation has always been one of Conservation Law Center’s focus areas. With a combined 60 years of experience, Christian Freitag, our Executive Director, and Bill Weeks, our Board Chair and Founder, have continually improved our legal support of land trusts, helping them do their work better and faster.
- Services: Legal Advocacy, Nonprofit Support
- Issues: Land
We continue to work on solutions to Indiana’s water quality challenges thanks to a generous gift of $40,000 from the Herbert Simon Family Foundation.
- Services: Legal Advocacy, Nonprofit Support
- Issues: Land
In our landmark case, Gunderson v. Indiana, CLC represented the environmental groups Save the Dunes and Alliance for the Great Lakes through the Trial Court, the Indiana Court of Appeals, and the Indiana Supreme Court, and through our opponents’ unsuccessful petition to the U.S. Supreme Court. CLC was a major driving force defending Indiana’s ownership of its Lake Michigan shore and the public’s right to enjoy it.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Public Trust, Water
Macaws are some of the most beautiful birds in the world, and among the most threatened. Great Green Macaws are a particular concern to conservationists right now, due to pressures from habitat loss and the pet trade in Central America. As part of its conservation mission, the Indianapolis Zoo has supported the Macaw Recovery Network in Costa Rica.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity
The Duke Energy Foundation recently awarded Conservation Law Center a grant for $20,000 to help improve water monitoring and management of Lake Monroe.
George Rogers Clark Land Trust and the Center made history with the closing on Indiana’s first farmland easement under the USDA’s Agricultural Conservation Easement Program.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Land
Harrison County agreement marks the first use of the federal agricultural land easement component in Indiana.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Land
Conservation Law Center and Earthjustice, working in collaboration to represent the Sierra Club, have prevailed in the case of Essroc Cement Corp. v. Clark County Bd. of Zoning Appeals & Sierra Club. Essroc had sued the Clark County Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) in an attempt to overturn the BZA’s denial of Essroc’s plan to burn hazardous wastes as a fuel for its cement plant.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Environmental Justice
Every second, as you read this blog post, you are consuming energy from the power grid, If you live in the midwest, as I do, your electricity comes mostly from coal power plants, and some from nuclear energy. But even If your power source is not fossil fuels, every second, the production harms the environment.
- Issues: Climate Change
Mass production in Industry has revolutionised the way that we live and work, but like all good things, it comes at a cost. Water pollution can be caused by both legal and illegal discharges from factories and proccessong plants. Incorrect disposal of dangerous chemicals can permanently damage a watershed.
- Issues: Climate Change
Mining, whether it is for coal, oil, aluminium, uranium, silver, or gold, is notoriously damaging to the environment. Often when we think of these impacts, we think of the adverse health conditions that many miners experience, or the loss of wildlife habitat due to strip mining. Unfortunately, those aren't the only negative effects of mining. Mining of resources and their subsequent refinement, often near or at the same site, pollutes tremendous amounts of water.
- Issues: Climate Change
The location of a city is almost always dictated by its proximity to water. Whether it be for agriculture, shipping, or drinking, water is a crucial part of any city. That is how water affects cities, but how do cities affect water?
- Issues: Climate Change
According to the EPA 32% of our country’s water is used for agriculture, but all of that water has to go somewhere. Some of the water is used by plants, some of it evaporates, but a large portion of it permeates through the ground or washes away as runoff. Runoff can wash away pesticides and bring them into our water, endangering animals and humans alike. It can also bring fertilizers into lakes clogging them with algae. Or worse, it can accelerate erosion and bring sediments in rivers and creeks.
- Issues: Climate Change
We wanted to send a friendly note to our supporters to let you know about some of our recent work, and just to say thank you!
Climate change is already causing changes now, right here in the state of Indiana. This year’s spring was one of the five wettest in the state’s history, and wet springs and intense rainfall events will only get more common in the future. Indiana summers will come to resemble either present-day Missouri or Texas by late century, and our winters will be like those now seen in the Mid-Atlantic[1].
- Services: Legal Education
- Issues: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Water
This past June, I accepted an invitation from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University and Ocean University of China to participate in the 2019 Public Affairs Governance Workshop in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China.
- Services: Nonprofit Support, Policy
- Issues: Land, Water
This summer, Conservation Law Center is fortunate to have the help of Thalia Hobson, a summer research intern from Maurer Law School. Her work involves diving into Indiana’s laws—and lack-thereof in some cases—to see how the state will cope with climate change.
- Services: Legal Education
- Issues: Climate Change
Reduce, reuse, and recycle. These three tenets of environmentalism are what we have been taught our whole lives. Unfortunately, Recycling is not the bastion of environmentalism as it is often advertised. Not only does recycling require ludacris amounts of water, but when plastic is exported to third world countries for recycling it is often processed incorrectly, it can often end up in the ocean.
- Issues: Climate Change
Is your right to access Indiana’s Lake Michigan shoreline a national concern? On October 5th, the US Supreme Court was asked to decide if it would consider the issue of the boundary of public rights on the shoreline. Their answer could set a national precedent.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Land, Public Trust, Water
On August 25, Hoosiers will gather in Indianapolis, Bloomington, and Monroe County to celebrate Water Quality Day. As part of National Water Quality Month, Water Quality Day is a day to bring the focus closer to home. The month is dedicated to celebrating Indiana’s abundant waterways. In Indiana, freshwater supports a billion-dollar resource economy, making it vital to Hoosiers’ quality of life.
Christian Freitag, executive director of Sycamore Land Trust for the past 18 years, has resigned to become president and director of the Conservation Law Center. Freitag will succeed W. William Weeks as president and director of the nonprofit environmental law firm in Bloomington.
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.
Happy Earth Day! This week the CLC office has been buzzing with thoughts on how we can celebrate a day meant to promote environmental protection. One of the greatest threats of our time is appearing to be a theme across many organizations this Earth Day: plastic.
- Issues: Climate Change
On March 2, CLC Director Bill Weeks delivered the Carlson Lecture at Indiana University School of Public Health.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity
Last week, Sr. Attorney Jeff Hyman presented two panels at the Public Interest and Environmental Law Conference in Oregon. The two panels are described below.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Public Trust
The Conservation Law Center, with attorney Jeff Hyman leading the litigation, represented environmental groups Alliance for the Great Lakes and Save the Dunes in a bid to protect the public’s right to use the Lake Michigan shore as public land.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Public Trust, Water
This month we're celebrating our Graduate Fellow Attorneys and their accomplishments. We hired two new Fellows this fall and are sending off our third this month.
The Graduate Fellow Attorney position at the Conservation Law Center aims to give recent graduates practice in the field. Fellows work with the center for 1-2 years and then continue to work for both public and private firms; we have former Fellows now working with Earthjustice, Beveridge & Diamond, and the Tennessee Attorney General's office.
- Services: Legal Education
The facts about water make you think: human beings are about 70% water. And so is our home; the earth’s surface is about 70% water.
August is Water Quality Month (#WQM17). What’s on tap? A reminder to celebrate Indiana’s bounty of rivers, lakes and streams. They support a billion-dollar recreational economy and are central to our health, industry and agriculture.
I worked as a Graduate Fellow at the Conservation Law Center for two years directly after law school. During that time, I gained a wide range of experience in conservation law, took on significant responsibility, and mentored students in the Conservation Law Clinic. If you want to make a difference for the environment and develop the skills to be an effective lawyer, I highly recommend the Graduate Fellow program at the CLC.
- Services: Legal Education
Carol Kugler, a reporter for The Herald-Times in Bloomington, IN, attended CLC's recent presentation at Green Drinks Bloomington.
- Services: Legal Advocacy, Policy
- Issues: Water
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.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Climate Change, Environmental Justice
On December 7th, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that Indiana's Lake Michigan shoreline is held in trust for the public up to the ordinary high-water mark. The opinion, setting an important precedent, recognizes the public trust in Indiana.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity, Land, Public Trust, Water
The Public Trust Doctrine grants access to use the land between the low and high water marks of Indiana's Lake Michigan shoreline.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Public Trust, Water
Thanks to the efforts of the Friends of White River (FOWR), the banks along a stretch of riparian corridor in Warfleigh and Broad Ripple will retain vegetation originally slated for removal.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Land, Water
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.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Land, Water
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.
- Issues: Climate Change
In an important decision, the court has ruled for the bats, setting a precedent which will mean more careful consideration of the environmental impacts of all federal decisions.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity
The CLC is continuing its efforts to promote responsible wind energy development. Wind turbines can kill many birds and bats, including federally protected species, and can destroy important wildlife habitat. Properly locating and operating turbines can drastically reduce these deaths. CLC attorneys submitted comments on a proposed multi-state wind power plan urging increased protections for birds and bats impacted by the proposed action. We collaborated with American Bird Conservancy, the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, and Union Neighbors United.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity, Climate Change
Peter Murrey and the CLC recently submitted comments on behalf of the Hoosier Environmental Council encouraging stricter oversight of bankrupt coal companies. We urged the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) to develop regulations requiring insolvent and nearly insolvent corporations to post bonds covering clean-up costs, instead of merely making promises they may never fulfill.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Climate Change, Land
Peter Murrey, Jeff Hyman, and CLC submitted comments on the new Fish and Wildlife Service mitigation policy, urging for more accountability and better protections for threatened species and habitats. This article sums up the proposed mitigation policy and our suggestions for improving it.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity
Jeff Hyman, Bill Weeks, and CLC are embarking on our second year arguing tor sufficient protection of the Endangered Indiana Bat from Wind Turbines. This article sums up our research and describes a possible solution to reduce the impact of increased wind energy on the Indiana Bat and other bat and bird species.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity
Conservation is an objective, not itself a science. And it is a human objective, at that. But the definition and achievement of the objective requires the appreciation of at least biological, ecological, geological, and climatological sciences, to say nothing of the law and various of the political, economic and social sciences. The demands are as encompassing as the life conservation is designed to addressed. And the objective—the kind of world we and our descendants will live in—is of similarly broad concern.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Water
Graduate Fellow Attorney Alexis Andiman began working for Earthjustice United, a nonprofit environmental law firm, in February. We take this opportunity to share gratitude for her 18 months of service and reflect on her invaluable contribution to CLC.
- Services: Legal Education
We are proud to announce that the Conservation Law Center's first Community Conservation Project will be on behalf of the monarch butterfly. This week, supporters of CLC will be receiving milkweed seeds in the mail and an invitation to plant the wildflowers in their neighborhoods. The plants will provide vital food and habitat for the monarch, a threatened species currently under consideration for endangered species status.
- Issues: Biodiversity
Peter Murrey and Clinic interns submitted comments on behalf of the American Bird Conservancy to the Fish and Wildlife Service urging the agency to strengthen proposed rules governing private oil and gas drilling in these sensitive areas.
Director Bill Weeks spoke at Friends of the White River annual meeting this February. CLC has been assisting FOTWR in negotiations with the DNR about tree removal on the White River levee.
At the event, President Dan Valleskey presented the organization's annual award to CLC. The hand-made carved paddle represents FOTWR's gratitude for CLC's legal council.
This July, La Porte County Judge Richard R. Stalbrink ruled that Indiana holds the state’s Lake Michigan shore in trust for public uses, including swimming, sunbathing, and other recreational activities. The decision, Gunderson v. State, No. 46D02-1401-PL-606 (LaPorte Super. Ct. 2 July 24, 2015) establishes that citizens’ rights extend beyond the water to an administratively established boundary on the shore, regardless of beach ownership.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Public Trust, Water
Conservation Law Center Director Bill Weeks has been named Chair of an American Bar Association Task Force on Conservation Easement Law. Under the auspices of the Real Property, Trust, and Estate Law Section, the Task Force will work over the next year to develop recommendations for improving the clarity of applicable federal tax law, and the enhancing the conservation results achieved.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Land
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.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Water
The CLC is assisting The Nature Conservancy in clearing mineral encumbrances from properties in the Wabash River watershed for conservation.
- Services: Nonprofit Support
- Issues: Land
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.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Land, Water
On July 6, CLC joined a coalition of environmental organizations to send a letter urging the National Marine Fisheries Service to take immediate action to conserve the endangered Southern Resident population of killer whales. After several drastic declines, only approximately 81 of these animals remain in the wild. Recent government research reveals that a variety of human activities threaten the killer whales year-round, but only the population's summer habitat in Puget Sound currently receives federal protection.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity
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.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Water
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.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Land
Peter Murrey is a 2014 cum laude graduate of Indiana University Maurer School of Law.
- Services: Legal Education
We are arguing in court that the endangered Indiana bat deserves more protection than it is getting in the process for approving wind energy installations. We came across a study that concluded that the protections we would like to see implemented will cost about 1 percent of the power the wind turbines can generate. Wind turbines produce relatively little power from gentle breezes. Bats, on the other hand, avoid flying when the wind blows at the speed it takes to generate wind power efficiently.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity
This fall the Conservation Law Center opened its second Clinic office, located at the Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis.
- Services: Legal Education
The CLC believes that conservation easements are essential for conservation, and that they will be more effective if key public officials know how they work. Thus, in May, CLC joined with the Columbia University School of Law Charities Oversight Project and the National Association of State Charities Officials to sponsor a conference on the law of conservation easements.
- Services: Nonprofit Support
- Issues: Land
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.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Public Trust, Water
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.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity, Land, Public Trust, Water
On behalf of the American Bird Conservancy, the Conservation Law Center filed an amicus curiae — a friend of the court — brief in a dispute over the approval of the construction of wind turbines in Nantucket Sound.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity
The CLC has submitted comments (together with American Bird Conservancy) on the Draft Upper Great Plains Wind Energy Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS).
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity
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.
The CLC recently submitted comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Beech Ridge Energy's Draft Habitat Conservation Plan and the Service’s associated Draft Environmental Impact Statement. BRE's 66-turbine wind facility in West Virginia currently operates under a court-ordered restricted schedule.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity
The CLC submitted comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Buckeye Wind LLC's application for an Incidental Take Permit for the federally endangered Indiana Bat.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity
The CLC recently submitted an amicus curiae brief for the consideration of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Conservancy of Southwest Florida v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The case involves the petition of a group of environmental organizations requesting the USFWS to designate critical habitat for the federally endangered Florida panther.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity
The CLC's Jeff Hyman represented three Indiana environmental groups in oral arguments before the Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday, March 15, in a case that will have repercussions for advocacy organizations throughout Indiana.
- Services: Legal Advocacy, Nonprofit Support
- Issues: Climate Change, Land
The CLC prepared the third in a series of conservation easement guides for the Land Trust Alliance (LTA).
- Services: Nonprofit Support
- Issues: Land
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.
- Services: Nonprofit Support
- Issues: Land
Prof. W. William Weeks, Director of the Conservation Law Clinic, has been elected the Chairman of the Indiana Sustainable Natural Resources Task Force.
The CLC, in collaboration with American Bird Conservancy (ABC), recently submitted comments on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's initial plan to fast-track wind energy projects within a 200-mile-wide corridor through the Great Plains from Canada to the Texas coast.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity
The Conservation Law Center is representing three Indiana environmental groups in litigation filed by the Indiana-Kentucky Electric Corporation (IKEC), the operators of the Clifty Creek power station in southern Indiana.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Climate Change, Land, Water
CLC Staff Attorney, Jeffrey B. Hyman, has been named the Hoosier Environmental Council (HEC) "Litigator of the Year" for his talents and dedication, especially in regards to the IKEC v. Citizens Groups case.
- Services: Legal Advocacy, Nonprofit Support
- Issues: Climate Change, Land, Water
On February 5, 2010, Save the River (STR) filed a rulemaking petition with the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC).
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Water
Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are critical components of our national strategy to fend off climate change, reduce pollution, and promote energy independence.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Biodiversity
CLC attorneys and Clinic interns are participating in the second semester of a year-long series of interdisciplinary seminars on protecting animal migrations, an effort initiated by the environmental program of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
- Services: Legal Education
- Issues: Biodiversity, Climate Change
CLC attorneys and Clinic interns advised long-standing client, Great Lakes United, and four other conservation groups in preparing comments on the U.S. Coast Guard's ballast water rulemaking (docket number USCG-2001-10486).
- Services: Legal Education, Policy
- Issues: Biodiversity, Water
Indiana's Hoosier Environmental Council has asked for CLC's help in advancing their interests in an upcoming rulemaking that will change the way Confined Animal Feeding Operations -- or factory farms -- are regulated.
- Services: Legal Advocacy
- Issues: Climate Change, Land
The CLC attorneys and Clinic interns will be participating in the second semester of a year-long series of interdisciplinary seminars on protecting animal migrations, an effort initiated by the environmental program of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
- Services: Legal Education, Policy
- Issues: Biodiversity
CLC attorneys and Clinic interns continue the CLC's multiyear involvement in Indiana's antidegradation rulemaking on behalf of client Alliance for the Great Lakes.
- Services: Legal Advocacy, Policy
- Issues: Water
We have been asked to advise CEAP (Conservation Effects Assessment Project) -- a multi-agency effort to quantify the environmental benefits of USDA-funded conservation programs -- on a geographic prioritization strategy for identifying which watersheds are the best candidates for conservation dollars.
In mid-October, CLC attorneys presented workshops at the annual national meeting of the Land Trust Alliance in Portland, Oregon. Bill co-presented the workshop "Conservation Easements in a Changing World - Balancing Flexibility with Permanence."
- Services: Legal Education, Nonprofit Support
- Issues: Land
With the legal assistance of CLC attorneys and Clinic interns, Friends of the Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge incorporated as a not-for-profit organization.
- Services: Nonprofit Support
- Issues: Biodiversity
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