Pacific Legal Foundation launches Environment and Natural Resources practice group to promote liberty, prosperity, and human ingenuity

Washington, DC; July 7, 2025: Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), the nation’s leading defender of property rights and limited government, has launched its Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) practice group to protect Americans’ freedom to use land and resources in ways that drive innovation, prosperity, and environmental stewardship.

“PLF’s new ENR practice group is rooted in a simple idea: People — not bureaucracies — are the most powerful force for environmental improvement and economic progress,” said Steven D. Anderson, president and CEO of Pacific Legal Foundation. “This group builds on our unmatched record at the U.S. Supreme Court and will pursue bold legal strategies, research, and policy reforms to ensure Americans can build, grow, and solve problems without unjust government interference.”

The ENR practice expands PLF’s proud legacy of Supreme Court victories advancing property rights and environmental common sense. Six of PLF’s 18 Supreme Court wins have reshaped natural resource law in favor of liberty:

• Sackett v. EPA (2012) — Affirmed landowners’ right to challenge federal compliance orders in court.

• Sackett v. EPA (2023) — Limited the federal government’s power to regulate wetlands under the Clean Water Act.

• Rapanos v. United States (2006) — Reinforced constitutional limits on the Clean Water Act.

• Weyerhaeuser v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (2018) — Protected private landowners from arbitrary critical habitat designations.

• Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co. (2016) — Confirmed the right to judicial review of federal wetlands determinations.

• Nat’l Ass’n of Manufacturers v. Dep’t of Defense (2018) — Ensured that legal challenges to overreaching water rules are heard in the correct court.

The ENR practice group will accelerate efforts to:

• Challenge unconstitutional interpretations of the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and related statutes;
• Remove regulatory barriers that prevent people from using land and resources productively;
• Defend the right to access and improve both private and public land;
• Support industries — like energy, agriculture, mining, forestry, recreation, and fishing — that feed, fuel, and build America; and

• Advance legal reforms that restore constitutional boundaries and empower people — not bureaucracies — to solve environmental challenges.

Mark Miller, director of PLF’s Environment and Natural Resources practice, emphasized that liberty and abundance go hand in hand:

“We believe a thriving environment and free individuals are not in conflict — they’re connected by freedom. Americans shouldn’t have to beg the government to use their own land or innovate in their own communities. Our goal is to ensure that the people who steward the land — farmers, ranchers, builders, and families — are empowered to shape a freer, more prosperous future.”

In addition to more than a dozen existing, ongoing cases that will now be part of our ENR practice, PLF is announcing new cases and research that illustrate the comprehensive approach we are taking to establish lasting legal change.

Today, we launched a new case challenging the Army Corps of Engineers’ continued use of enforcement powers that the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional. Additionally, we published a new research report on how the productive use of natural resources makes human flourishing possible. In the coming days and weeks, we will announce new cases, research, legislative efforts, and commentary that further these goals.

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