Review of 2024; Looking forward to 2025

We hope this letter finds you and yours well this holiday season. On behalf of Earthrise and Lewis & Clark, we want to thank you for your interest in—and for many of you, your participation in—the clinic and its mission. Below, we summarize Earthrise’s accomplishments and transitions, and we invite you to support Earthrise as it nears its 30th year of protecting the environment and training the next generation of legal advocates to do the same.

In 2024, Earthrise attorneys made great strides towards advancing the clinic’s mission of protecting the environment while providing invaluable real-world legal experience to the next generation of environmental advocates. Some notable Earthrise achievements include:

• Earthrise successfully challenged the South Warner timber sale in federal court, a result that kept in place the Eastside Screens, which for decades have protected large trees east of the Cascade crest.
• Earthrise filed its first Petition for Certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court in litigation challenging another timber sale. Our petition seeks to overturn a Ninth Circuit decision allowing federal agencies to unilaterally withhold key materials from the administrative records that courts use to determine the legality of agency decisions.
• Earthrise teamed with American Whitewater to create the Deadbeat Dams Law Project, aimed at stopping the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission from allowing companies to abandon their obsolete dams that continue to harm our rivers.
• As a result of a threatened lawsuit by Earthrise, the Environmental Protection Agency warned Massachusetts about serious defects in the state’s regulations for water withdrawals, putting Earthrise in a strong position to help its clients secure additional protections for instream flows in the state.
• Earthrise continued to press numerous matters related to its long-term effort to improve water quality, achieve cooler water temperatures, and protect aquatic species throughout the Pacific Northwest.
• Earthrise is providing invaluable experience to 17 future advocates during the 2024-2025 school year, as well as two Earthrise fellows.

We are proud of the work we have done this year. But on the precipice of a second Trump Administration, we face a future that imperils the progress the country has made toward reducing carbon emissions, realizing environmental justice, and protecting wildlife. Over the next four years and beyond, lawyers must play a crucial role in defending gains in these areas from what will no doubt be an onslaught of “drill, baby, drill” types of actions. On behalf of our clients, Earthrise attorneys and students will use the law to play offense to secure environmental victories.

We also want to update you regarding some staff changes at Earthrise. It has been a year of transition for the clinic. Director and Clinical Professor Allison LaPlante left in May. Allison’s remarkable accomplishments over two decades include precedent-setting wins to protect aquatic species and water quality in the Pacific Northwest, as well as her crucial contributions to the lawsuit that led to the shutdown of the last coal-fired power plant in Oregon. Most of all, of course, Allison mentored and inspired hundreds of law students, many of whom now contribute their talents to protecting the environment. Earthrise staff attorney Lia Comerford stepped in as Acting Director upon Allison’s departure and has done an exceptional job in the difficult role of filling Allison’s shoes over the past six months.

Financial considerations are driving further changes at Earthrise. As many of you know, while Earthrise is part of the law school at Lewis & Clark, the clinic is largely self-funded through fee recoveries, grants, and donations. The first two sources in particular are challenging and unpredictable, and revenue shortfalls have forced the law school to make the difficult decision to reduce our staff by laying off Lia and Earthrise Development Associate Alex Davis. These are tough losses for Earthrise. Lia has been a staff attorney since 2013, during which time she has contributed to many wins in court and has taught and been a role model to scores of students. Alex’s work has, for seven years, been instrumental to keeping the clinic’s doors open.

While change is difficult, it also brings opportunities. Looking forward, Earthrise is going back to its roots. Earthrise co-founder Professor Dan Rohlf, who has continued his involvement with the clinic in an Of Counsel role since 2010, will again assume the directorship starting in January 2025. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Earthrise, and he will lead an organization that continues to be one of the largest law school environmental law clinics in the country. Dan is looking forward to working more closely with Clinical Professor Tom Buchele, Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Cassidy, our two Diehl Fellows Lydia Dexter (’23) and Zach Nacev (’24), and Financial Administrator Karen Russell.

We have the opportunity to create the next chapter for Earthrise. The need for committed and skilled environmental advocates is greater than ever, and fortunately, a new generation of students is ready and willing to take up the mantle of using the law to protect the environment. At Earthrise, we remain steadfast in our efforts to train strong legal advocates with the passion, skill, and determination to fight against any planet-destroying agenda.

We are committed to ensuring that Earthrise continues as one of the premier environmental law clinics in the country. Please help us keep that commitment with a year-end contribution. Particularly at this challenging time for Earthrise, your support really does make a difference!

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Lia Comerford, Acting Director

Dan Rohlf, Co-founder and Incoming Director