Environment and Natural Resources

"I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing."   —Stubb, the second mate, in Herman Melville's Moby Dick    In New Bedford, Massachusetts, sits an old chapel: the Seamen's Bethel, built in 1832 for sailors to visit and pray before heading out to sea. Herman Melville visited the Bethel before going ...

Nearly 40 years ago, Congress enacted the Food Security Act of 1985, a comprehensive bill about farming. Included in this bill were wetland conservation provisions that govern how farmers must treat wetlands on their property. Despite the name of the bill, these provisions—colloquially known as "Swampbuster"—threaten food security by overregula ...

In 2023, rural Iowa landowner Dan Ward found himself at odds with the Army Corps of Engineers over a construction project deemed to be in violation of the Clean Water Act. Nearing retirement, Dan plans to spend the next chapter of his life on his property in southern Iowa. His first step was building a home. Then he moved on to other projects th ...

Legend says the outlaw Butch Cassidy hid vast stashes of loot across the West. But those still hunting for Cassidy's treasure could join the Wild Bunch in outlaw status. Hunting for buried treasure on federal lands, it turns out, is a federal crime, and almost all the West where Cassidy roamed is federal land. But that's not all. If you were to ...

When Mike Colosi moved to Florida, he had a simple but big dream: to build a beautiful home nestled within the serene, natural beauty of his newly acquired 5.07-acre property. He envisioned using only about an acre for his residence, leaving the rest untouched to preserve its natural tranquility. But instead of enjoying a home in his new surroundin ...

Robert White built a thriving seafood business in North Carolina. With his hard-earned profits, he bought some coastal property as an investment he could one day leave to his children. Eager to improve the property, Robert set out to make the land more productive by reducing its flood risk. But the work ground to a halt and Robert's plans were pu ...

Ethan Blevins, legal fellow at Pacific Legal Foundation, recently joined The Charles C. W. Cooke Podcast for a lively discussion on the issue of federal land in the United States. Charles and Ethan explored the history of federal land management, the federal government's shift away from homesteading toward a policy of land retention, the issue o ...

Good news for North Dakota's Northland Township this month, as it appears its case against the federal government will come to an end before it even began. Represented by Pacific Legal Foundation, the small town of just 56 people was gearing up to take on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) over its regulatory abuse of what is known as a "pr ...

There are countless stories of governments tramping on individual rights, causing extreme financial burdens along with mental and emotional stress. For PLF client Tom Hamann, the violation of his property rights and the subsequent economic losses and stress were accompanied by physical injuries that have forever altered his life. On top of fight ...