Tribes face both environmental and natural resource issues on a daily basis. In a world where natural resources are reduced more than ever, extracted and exploited on mass proportions in relation to demands, tribes require natural resources management and preservation, face threats to air, land and water rights, and must assert their rights in line with the regulatory requirements the same. Our attorneys have:
- Been on the cutting edge of environmental and natural resource law for over a decade. The Firm, inter alia, created federal precedent for the protection of desert washes (Save Our Sonoran v. Flowers, 408 F.3d 1113 (9th Cir. 2005))
- Saved the Grand Canyon from a land exchange that would have allowed for large scale commercial development on the southern edge of the National Park (Sierra Club et al v. Dombeck, 55 Fed. Appx. 411, 2002 WL 31887831 (9th Cir. 2002 – unpublished; 161 F. Supp.2d 1052 (D. Ariz. 2001));
- Helped preserve and create Goshawk habitat in the southwestern United States (Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S., 349 F.3d 1157 (9th Cir. 2003))
- Helped to keep the Desert Nesting Bald Eagle from being taken off the endangered species list (Center for Biological Diversity v. Kempthorne, No. CV 07-0038-PHX-MHM (D. Ariz. 2008))
- Helped to stop a land exchange that would have put a high power shooting range next to a residential subdivision in Bellmont, Arizona
- Helped to stop the State from destroying the San Pedro River to benefit a handful of developers
- Successfully assisted the Center for Biological Diversity in protecting the Verde River
- Helped stop the Bella Terra development, a subdivision with its own wastewater treatment plant near Oak Creek
- Lead litigation to preserve the sacred San Francisco Peaks from desecration by use of contaminated water to create snow for recreational uses
- Secured tribal interests in various environmental reviews (NEPA) disputes involving tribal lands whether fee, trust or non-Indian owned
- Assisted a tribe the Treatment as a State process under the Clean Water Act