SUE , BRAG , PROFIT Not only do litigant groups generate money from attorney fees , but they then use that financial windfall to bankroll large marketing campaigns to solicit more donations based on court cases .
“ Environmental groups use the ESA , and challenges to decisions under the ESA , as incredibly effective fundraising tools ,” said Pat Crank , former Wyoming attorney general and vice president of the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission , while testifying before the U . S . Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in 2020 . “ They challenge any delisting of the GYE grizzly for reasons that ignore the amazing success story of the GYE bear recovery . Every challenge leads to millions of dollars pouring into their coffers .”
It ’ s a cycle that has repeated itself year after year . In 2012 , a report compiled by the U . S . House Natural Resources Committee used data from the Department of Justice to show that the federal government defended more than 570 ESA-related lawsuits over a four-year period ( 2009 to 2012 ) which cost American taxpayers more than $ 15 million in attorney fees . This occurred during a window when all the environmental groups mentioned above were especially active , including several that filed multiple lawsuits seeking to stop the state management of wolves in the northern Rockies .
“ According to the Department of Justice , some attorneys were reimbursed up to $ 500 an hour and two lawyers each received more than $ 2 million in attorney fees from ESA cases ,” the report stated . “ This data provides further evidence that the ESA has become litigation driven , where money and resources are spent addressing endless , frivolous lawsuits instead of species recovery .”
Environmental organizations employ hundreds of attorneys on their collective staffs to constantly challenge ESA rulings , costing sportsmen and other taxpayers millions of dollars each year .
CONSERVATION DOESN ’ T HAPPEN IN COURTROOMS Late in the 20th century and continuing into the 2000s , many Americans frowned upon environmental organizations due to their litigation-heavy reputation . Among the more notable offenders are the Alliance for the Wild Rockies ( no attorney list on its website ), Center for Biological Diversity ( 46 attorneys ), Defenders of Wildlife ( 8 to 10 attorneys ), Earthjustice ( 143 attorneys ), Humane Society of the United States (“ dozens ” of attorneys ), Sierra Club ( legal staff of 104 ) and WildEarth Guardians ( legal staff of 15 ). It comes as no surprise that these seven groups filed almost half of the more than 570 lawsuits in the 2012 report .
The Center for Biological Diversity ( CBD ) based in Tucson , Ariz ., topped the 2012 report ’ s list of “ most litigious organizations ” with 117 ESA-related lawsuits . The CBD now proudly boasts a “ Trump Tracker ,” a listing of all 266 environmental lawsuits it filed against the U . S . government during the 1,461-day Trump administration . That equates to one new legal action filed every 5 1 / 2 days !
In one suit filed on June 27 , 2019 , the CBD called on the federal government to forcibly introduce grizzlies into Texas , California , Arizona , New Mexico , Nevada , Utah , Colorado , Wyoming , Montana , Idaho , Oregon and Washington . Proposed release locations include the Grand Canyon , California ’ s Sierra Nevada and Montana ’ s Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem where there are already more than 1,000 grizzlies .
The transition to the Biden administration has not slowed this machine . In fact , it has accelerated . As of April 7 , 2021 , CBD publicly proclaimed it filed 43 lawsuits against the federal government — an average of one new legal action every 1.8 days !
To get an overarching picture of what is happening , the Administrative Conference of the United States , an independent federal agency that develops recommendations to improve administrative process and procedure , found 15 federal agencies paid more than $ 58 million in awards of attorney ’ s fees and other expenses under EAJA during fiscal year 2019 . Again , that $ 58 million comes out of the pockets of America ’ s taxpayers .
ADOBE STOCK
STOLEN IDENTITIES With so many lawsuits , some groups consciously shied away from the terms environmentalism or environmentalist and replaced them with conservation and conservationist . What is particularly vexing , and especially perplexing for the general public , is the hijacking of the word conservation by environmental groups . The CBD , for one , refers to itself as “ a national , nonprofit conservation organization .” Others do the same , and many media outlets
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