This past October we sent our amazing staff Attorney, Jaime Neary, to the 31st annual Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite put on by the California Lawyers Association. Four days of learning from some of our State’s best environmental legal minds and the opportunity to network with like-minded individuals that are working to protect our environmental resources. Nationally recognized as the largest and most prestigious gathering in California of leaders in environmental, land use, and natural resources law, this conference was full of beneficial information. Another great opportunity for us to find new and innovative ways to protect our watershed!
The ELC consisted of a great mixture of engaging panels and networking opportunities. With a healthy mix of panels available to attendees and a fair balance of perspectives. Many panels also opened up to healthy discussion from the audience as well.
Here are just a few of the great topics discussed at ELC:
- Federal Action on Environmental Justice: A Conversation with EPA’s Martha Guzman
- Modernizing California Water Rights Law with Chair Esquivel and Clifford Lee on the panel
- Environmental Legislative Updates
- Discussion on Clean Water Act at 50
- Recent Environmental Law Developments in SCOTUS, 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the California Supreme Court
- Discussion on Lawyering to Make a Difference
- Colorado River at the Crossroads
- Unhoused Encampments, Environmental Quality, and the Human Right to Water
Mixed in with all these great panels, our Staff Attorney was finally able to meet many of our fellow California-based Keepers, partners, outside counsel, and agency contacts in person for the first time too! With so many faces known only from behind a zoom screen, this was a huge opportunity to engage in off-the-cuff conversations about all aspects of water law and policy and resulted in the sharing of new ideas, viewpoints, and contact resources.
Re-energized with great information and new connections, we cannot wait to see how topics learned at this year’s conference get incorporated into our ever-growing advocacy work at Russian Riverkeeper! Thank you, Jaime!