Apr 20, 2017
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is deliberating a case with significant implications for playgrounds, parks, and other open space across the state. The decision before them is whether Westfield’s John A. Sullivan Memorial Playground, also known as the Cross Street Playground, is constitutionally protected land that cannot be converted to other purposes without a two-thirds vote… Continue reading Is a City Playground Protected Land? Massachusetts Supreme Court to Decide
Apr 18, 2017
“Today’s agreement is a massive victory for all Vermonters who take pride in our state’s rich farming heritage,” said CLF senior attorney Sandra Levine. “When you pull off this scenic highway exit, you should be greeted by sprawling fields and colorful produce, not bulldozers and industrial parks. Thanks to the hard work of all parties involved, this valuable farmland will be back where it belongs – in the hands of local farmers supported by, and providing for, our communities.”
Apr 03, 2017
Last week, Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit brought by fishing industry groups who have challenged President Obama’s designation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument under the Antiquities Act of 1906. In partnership with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Center for Biological Diversity, and… Continue reading Defending New England’s Only Marine Monument
Mar 29, 2017
“At Conservation Law Foundation, we have worked for years with scientists and members of the public who support permanent protection of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts and other such special areas,” said Peter Shelley, Senior Counsel for the Conservation Law Foundation. “We need to intervene in this unfortunate litigation filed by fishermen – who use this area little, if at all – to ensure New Englanders’ and scientists’ views are properly before the court as it considers the industry’s claims.”
Mar 20, 2017
President Trump’s first 100 days in office started with a bang – as in, the sound of a shot through the heart of our country’s environmental protections. One of the President’s first official actions was to sign an executive order that requires federal agencies to axe two existing regulations for each new regulation they create.… Continue reading Trump’s “Two-for-One” Order is Bad for the Environment
Feb 28, 2017
“Today the President said clearly and unequivocally that ensuring Americans have access to clean and safe water is not on his to-do list,” said Christopher Kilian, Director of CLF’s Clean Water and Healthy Forests program. “Repealing this critical protection not only defies the broad-based will of the American people, but it also places our region’s wetlands, streams and coastal estuaries at risk. New Englanders deserve better, and CLF stands ready to fight this catastrophic action at all costs.”
Feb 28, 2017
The New Frontier in the Fight to Save Boston Harbor When CLF launched its 1983 lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for dumping toxic sludge and untreated wastewater into Boston Harbor, years of neglect by the federal government, the state, the city, and polluters had turned the harbor into a shameful liability. But over time,… Continue reading Boston Harbor 2.0
Feb 21, 2017
The Conservation Law Foundation, which has fiercely opposed the development, made good on its threat to sue the state to stop developer Jon Cronin’s $260 million project if it received approval from state environmental regulators. The project, proposed on the site of Cronin’s Whiskey Priest and Atlantic Beer Garden restaurants, got the green light from… Continue reading Environmental group files suit to stop Seaport condo tower
Feb 21, 2017
“The Boston waterfront is a public treasure, an engine of tourism and a hub of economic growth, but it all collapses when we neglect our communal right to this resource,” said CLF senior counsel Peter Shelley. “The public has invested well over fifteen billion dollars in the harbor cleanup and waterfront improvements and has a protected privilege to enjoy the benefits of these investments. By approving a luxury residential scheme that essentially privatizes a public resource, the Baker Administration is corrupting a longstanding process designed to protect public interest. The minute we prioritize individual development goals over the public good, we start down a slippery slope that could spell disaster for our communities and our harbor.”
Feb 02, 2017
“The Baker Administration is now fully complicit in Mayor Walsh’s unlawful effort to enrich a favored developer using public resources,” said CLF President Bradley M. Campbell. “CLF will now turn to the courts to enforce well-established law and ask the Attorney General to fulfill her duty to protect the public trust. Meanwhile, the City’s unwillingness to stand up for the true stewards of our waterfront – the people of Massachusetts – will again delay needed improvements to this treasured public resource.”
