Recently, Earthrise’s team filed its Motion for Summary Judgment on behalf of its client, the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance (BRWA) to halt the Robert’s Gap Project, a large logging project, in the Ozark-St. Francis National Forests of Arkansas until the Forest Service completes additional environmental analysis. BRWA is a nonprofit entity originally created to prevent the development of a large hog Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) in 2013, which would have harmed the nearby Buffalo National River, the first National River in the United States.
The Robert’s Gap Project again places the Buffalo National River at risk, as both the headwaters of the Buffalo National River and a portion of the Buffalo River itself lie within the Project area. The Forest Service failed to complete baseline analysis of the water quality within the Project area, only promising to do so after it completed its Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for the Project. Further, after the final Environmental Assessment was published, an endangered Indiana bat maternity colony was discovered in the Project area, the first to be discovered in the entire Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. The public, including BRWA, had no opportunity to comment on this discovery or object to Project actions that could harm the Indiana bat.
Earthrise enlisted the help of two of its clinic students to assist with this case: Kelsey Shaw and Megan Sweeney. For Megan Sweeney, this case involves more than just protecting the environment and building her legal skills:
“I grew up in southwest Missouri, just a few hours north of the Buffalo River area. While my dad was in law school, he and his best friends started going on yearly camping/canoeing trips along the Buffalo River, which became a tradition that they continued after having families. My family didn’t go on a lot of vacations, so these trips were the best part of my summers growing up and to this day are my favorite memories I have with my dad. We stopped going when I was in high school, around the time my dad was diagnosed with a rare form of dementia at 57 years old. Nearly eight years later, he’s now in the final stages and receiving hospice care, and it has been difficult being so far away from him and my family while he’s in this condition. When I was accepted into Earthrise and assigned to work on this case, it was one of those moments that felt like a little wink from the universe reassuring me I’m supposed to be here. While it’s been a difficult journey, my dad continues to be my inspiration for bettering the world and it’s incredibly meaningful getting to help fight for the river that he loved so much.”
