Representative Natural Resources & Energy Experience

Natural Resource & Energy Litigation

• Represented dairies in Washington in litigation under the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA).
• Advised International Natural Resource development company on trans-boundary environmental impacts and related litigation governed by Boundary Waters Treaty between the U.S. and Canada.
• Represented an investor-owned utility in an appeal successfully defeating challenges to prior federal administrative decisions under the Northwest Power Act.
• Represented an investor-owned utility in an appeal successfully defeating challenges to Bonneville Power Administration’s final decisions on multi-billion-dollar settlement securing benefits for utility customers under the Residential Exchange Program of Northwest Power Act.
• Defended a commercial shellfish harvester against shellfish trespass claims brought by the Washington Department of Natural Resources.
• Obtained summary judgment for a TIMO and dismissal with prejudice in claim by the plaintiff relating to option to purchase certain real property in timberlands in Snoqualmie forest.
• Defended a mining company executive in a federal jury trial of six felony counts charged under the Clean Water Act, obtaining an acquittal or hung jury on all felony charges.
• Prevailed following a lengthy trial on behalf of a prominent mining company in defending against a constitutional challenge to mineral exploration permits.
• Represented Ecology in the Yakima Basin surface water adjudication, a case spanning four decades and involving thousands of parties including the United States, the Yakama Nation, and municipal and agricultural water users.
• Achieved a favorable jury verdict in a negligence and contract dispute involving a failure ‎to deliver irrigation water that caused crop losses.‎

Environmental, Permitting, and Agency Actions

• Advise multi-national timber company on federal environmental compliance throughout its vast timberlands holdings in the United States.
• Represented utility in the development of an advanced nuclear reactor. Navigated environmental and regulatory impacts of permitting with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, state regulatory agencies, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Defended and resolved enforcement actions issued by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Department of State Lands, Department of Agriculture, Water Resources Department, and Department of Forestry.
• Resolved, through stipulated agreement and mutual order and agreement, various Oregon Department of Agriculture and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality claims.
• Prepared and obtained land use authorizations applications for projects involving Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and Department of State Lands.
• Negotiated on behalf of operator with Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) regarding purported lapse of aggregate mine permit.
• Advised developer on land use permitting for development of renewable natural gas facilities in Washington and Oregon.
• Advised developers on purchase of landfills and other brownfields for solar development.
• Provided strategic permitting advice for a highly contested project before Oregon’s Energy Facilities Siting Council (EFSC), including local outreach and political strategy consultation.
• Performed land use due diligence and advised developer regarding siting and permitting for BESS projects in Oregon and Washington.
• Assisted with permitting a number of electrical transmission projects throughout Oregon. Such work included regulatory due diligence analysis, obtaining and defending land use permits, and assistance with energy facility site certificate applications before the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council.
• Successfully obtained local government approvals for a major regional renewable diesel production plant and associated improvements.
• Assisted a large U.S. mining company in multi-state acquisition of multiple mines by navigating ‎state and federal environmental permitting requirements and conducting due diligence.
• Advised a client on permitting a large energy development project requiring a Clean Water Act 404 permit and provided strategic advice on compliance with federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) processes.

Water Law

• Successfully defended a client’s water right transfer in an administrative contested case.
• Successfully protested the Oregon Water Resources Department’s proposed denial of our client’s application to extend a water use permit for an organic farm in Oregon. The proposed denial would have had significant negative impacts on operations, reducing the authorized rate of diversion and irrigated acreage. We negotiated a settlement with OWRD that provided for the requested extension and preserved the entire permitted rate and acreage.
• Represented an energy company for nearly two decades in Oregon water rights adjudication.
• Assisted applicants in obtaining water rights (storage, groundwater, surface water), transfers, permit amendments and extensions, groundwater modifications, and other authorizations from and agreements with the Oregon Water Resources Department.
• Advised a global investment company on water rights aspects of transactions involving over 20,000 irrigated acres, including preparation and negotiation of water delivery agreements.
• Represented a ranch client in negotiating a flow restoration agreement with The Freshwater Trust. Our client was paid to reduce irrigation for the benefit of summer steelhead.
• Formed a water supply district for a group of irrigators and helped the district secure water rights and a long-term water service contract with the Bureau of Reclamation.
• Served as general counsel to one of Oregon’s largest irrigation districts, providing general advice and litigation counsel on water law, land use, and public governance issues.
• Assisted applicants in obtaining water rights (storage, groundwater, surface water), ‎transfers, permit amendments, extensions of time, and groundwater modifications from the ‎Oregon Water Resources Department.‎
• Advised a private water company in a sale to a large utility company, including ‎conducting water rights due diligence, integrating findings into the purchase ‎and sale agreement, and providing continued advice on water right compliance.‎

Natural Resource & Energy-Related Real Estate Transactions

• Acted as lead counsel with regard to the acquisition of over 300,000 acres of timberlands in the Shasta Region of Northern California in two separate transactions for affiliated timber investment management organization entities.
• Represented a timber investment management organization in the acquisition of 1.55 million acres of timberland located in Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, and Alabama involving approximately 1.38 million fee acres and approximately 175,000 acres of leasehold property.
• Represented a timberlands company in its $225,000,000 sale and $325,000,000 acquisition involving hundreds of thousands of acres of investment-grade timberlands in California, North Carolina, and Virginia.
• Represented an investment management company in its $90,000,000 sale of Southern Oregon timberlands.
• Advised lender on real estate, environmental, and tax matters for ten-figure sale-leaseback financing of wind project.
• Managed all local due diligence, including real estate, land use, environmental, and tax, for $225 million sale-leaseback financing of wind project.
• Represented utility in multi-state conveyance of land and associated energy generation facilities involving complex title and regulatory issues.
• Assisted international renewable energy developer in obtaining site control via ground leases, lease options, and easements over thousands of acres for development of combined solar, wind, and battery storage (BESS) projects.

Natural Resource & Energy Investment, Financing, and Acquisitions

• Advised multiple timber investment management organizations on acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, and operational matters.
• Advised private agricultural lender on numerous secured financing transactions.
• Represented one of the nation’s largest organic agricultural producers in acquiring two processing facilities and multiple farming operations in Georgia and Florida.
• Served as lead counsel for acquisition, funding, and operational issues related to a small-diameter log mill facility and accompanying integrated biomass energy campus in Wallowa, Oregon.
• Represented an agricultural lender in hundreds of secured financing transactions.
• Assisted developer on site control and financing for ten-figure renewable energy project.
• Advised lender on Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act risks on wind project as loan collateral.
• Represented solar developer in construction loan transaction financing transaction involving complex title curative issues.
• Represented client in environmental diligence on the acquisition of a renewable energy facility with assets of $75 million.
• Led environmental due diligence for $225M wind project repower and refinance transaction.

Business & Corporate and Intellectual Property

• Advised farmers, ranchers, and agricultural property owners on corporate organization, governance, real property, and operational matters.
• Provided legal support to a suite of finance and regional operations teams across North America and globally for negotiation of commercial agreements, management agreements, REIT compliance, and governance matters.
• Advised and executed the establishment of structures across U.S. and global timberland investments.
• Manage the trademark portfolio of an international timber products company.

Natural Resource & Energy Law in Indian Country and Alaska

• Advised tribes, tribal entities, and private companies on the development of renewable energy projects in Indian Country.
• Counseled clients on credit financing for energy projects and low-income housing in Indian Country.
• Advised developer on land use concerns for battery energy storage system on fee land in Indian country.

Carbon Transactions and Voluntary Market

• Represented a conservation entity that owns a 50,000-acre tract in the redwood region in California regarding its sale of a complex working-forest conservation easement and its subsequent verification and disposition of a significant volume of forest carbon credit offsets under both the voluntary Climate Action Reserve carbon market and the economy-wide carbon cap-and-trade market in California administered by the California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board.
• Advised a carbon project developer client on the deal structure and created documents pertaining to an approximately 75,000-acre improved forest management carbon project in Alaska, and its companion project which involved the permanent retirement of approximately one billion tons of coal reserves by way of equitable servitude.
• Advised a carbon project developer in connection with a large-scale grasslands carbon project in Montana.
• Reviewed and revamped carbon project transaction documents, including carbon development agreements and Emission Reduction Purchase Agreements (ERPAs), for several different carbon developers and landowners.
• Negotiate carbon project development agreements with private and public landowners, involving regulatory and voluntary markets.
• Advised multiple clients on the implementation of platforms for online sales of carbon credits.