In July 2019, the Hoosier Environmental Council, the Indiana Audubon Society and a handful of residents filed a complaint against Natural Prairie. The plaintiffs asserted the defendants violated the Clean Water Act by blocking the ditches.
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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.
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Conservation Law Center seeks applications for the Landscape Conservation Attorney to join our team based in the beautiful Midwestern college town of Bloomington, Indiana. This is an exciting opportunity to join a growing public interest law firm working on some of the most important and challenging conservation issues in the US and beyond. The Landscape Conservation Attorney will focus primarily on land conservation and habitat protection projects, with a particular focus on the Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape project. We are bringing landscape-scale conservation to the heartland, and the Landscape Conservation Attorney position will be a key player in the effort.
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Last week, Christian Freitag testified at the new Task Force, stressing the need for data-driven decision making on this critical resource for the state’s environmental health and economic vitality. The state has worked hard to advance its water management in recent years, and we have opportunities to build on those successes using recommendations outlined in CLC’s “Water Report,” available at: conservationlawcenter.org/water.
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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. Indiana, along with other states and townships across the country, is facing severe problems with being able to provide reliable drinking water to its citizens.
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We continue to work on solutions to Indiana’s water quality problems thanks to a generous gift of $40,000 from the Herbert Simon Family Foundation.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Carol Kugler, a reporter for The Herald-Times in Bloomington, IN, attended CLC's recent presentation at Green Drinks Bloomington.
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On Wednesday, March 22 at 6 pm in honor of World Water Day, Bill Weeks, Director of the Conservation Law Center, and Lily Bonwich, Director of Development of the Conservation Law Center will present a talk entitled "Water and Quality of Life in Indiana."
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The Public Trust Doctrine grants access to use the land between the low and high water marks of Indiana's Lake Michigan shoreline.
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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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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.
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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.
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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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