Environmental attorneys speak from the heart

Father and son environmental attorneys Lindell and Christian Marsh spoke to our environmental planning class on October 29. Lindell Marsh worked to save endangered species from the inception of the environmental protection movement. He views his work as an environmental attorney from three levels. The first step is to decide what to do, next is to decide how to relate to the problem and the last step is to evaluate what the substance of the law is.

Lindell explained that post World War II, development proceeded without any restrictions. It wasn’t until 1969 when the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) http://ceres.ca.gov/ceqa/ were established that limitations were set. Lindell explained that NEPA http://www.nepa.gov/nepa/regs/nepa/nepaeqia.htm is a much broader document than what it has been distilled down to. Currently, its whole focus is the EIR component which is a limited narrow interpretation.

Even with NEPA and CEQA and the newly established EPA, environmental mitigation agreements were sometimes ignored. This was the case with vernal pools protection. A program was established but was never implemented. Mitigation funds were never used. Lindell felt that this was a mistake and that Governor Pete Wilson never intended to follow through with this commitment.

Fortunately, there is currently a “difference sense in the air” where environmental concerns are taken very seriously. Lindell has witnessed a shift in environmental protection from advocacy to dialogue. He defined “dialogue” as active listening, civility, compassion, finding a common vision with concepts and specifics and defining themes and variations. The final component was finding alternatives that might work. Solutions often present themselves within this process, he explained.

Lindell also touched upon efforts to save endangered species including the tiger salamander, the Alameda whipsnake, the red-legged frog and the California giant water snake. For information on the California red-legged frog, go to http://www.fws.gov/endangered/i/D0N.html.
Among other things, he explained adaptive management which allows for adaptations found necessary while continually monitoring the environment. The California Department of Fish and Game has a flow chart explaining habitat conservation, http://www.dfg.ca.gov/habcon.
Christian Marsh added points during the presentation and touched upon his political involvement during the Clinton Administration.

It was a pleasure to listen to these professionals who care deeply about the environment cover the landscape of environmental planning. This short presentation could only touch on the accomplishments of these attorneys. While it often seems that attorneys are indifferent interpreters of the law, it is heartening to listen to those who care deeply about our environment and serve with all of their might as its protectors.