LSI 2010 NRD Santa Fe final conference binder 072110.pdf

Allan Kanner of Kanner & Whiteley, L.L.C. Speaker 23: 5
of government agencies, as opposed to private individuals. 5
Congress enacted environmental
legislation in order to “ensure that government agencies respected social and cultural values
when pursuing development projects,” 6 rather than to address the illegal conduct of polluters and
the consequences of their actions.
In effect, we have begun to move from a “great places” approach to natural resources to a
“reclaiming” approach. While a few “great place” battles still continue, such as the effort to
preserve the Arctic Wilderness, today environmental activism and legislation is inspired by the
need to restore and prevent further exploitation of injured and diminishing natural resources such
as the nation’s coastal areas. Environmentalism is motivated less by the need for preservation
and more by the desire for reclamation. People now understand two things about natural
resources. First, natural resources can be salvaged, even in seemingly impossible industrial and
urban locales. The technology and the capacity to reclaim and recreate natural resources have
improved exponentially and will continue to improve. The Meadowlands in New Jersey is a
classic example of this type of transformation potential. 7
Second, people take property rights
5 Robert V. Percival, Environmental Federalism: Historical Roots and Contemporary Models, 54 MD. L. REv. 1141,
1158 (1995).
6 Id.
7 At one time the world’s largest dump, “[t]he Hackensack Meadowlands is perhaps the largest urban wetland
complex in the northeastern United States. It lies along the Hackensack River and is located within the New York-
Newark metropolitan area. Given this location, the Meadowlands has been greatly impacted by urban and port
development . . . The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (“NJMC”) is acquiring wetlands and management
rights and making zoning changes . . . in an effort to protect the remaining wetlands. Plans are underway to restore
the Hackensack Meadowlands ecosystem . . . Wetland restoration and enhancement efforts include restoring tidal
flow, removing contaminated soils, creating open water areas, controlling invasive species . . . and regulating water
levels . . . The main hope for the future of Meadowlands wetlands as well as for other urban wetlands is that as many
as possible will be set aside as open space for our benefit and for future generations and that wetland restoration
efforts will be accelerated to revitalize significantly impacted wetlands and to rebuild lost wetlands wherever
practicable. Wetlands are natural resources that, among other things, increase the quality of life for urban residents
across America.” Ralph W. Tiner, John Q. Swords, & Bobbi Jo McLain, Wetland Status and Trends for the
Hackensack Meadowlands, December 2002, available at http://library.fws.gov/Wetlands/Hackensack.pdf.
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Law Seminars International | Natural Resource Damages | 07/16/10 in Santa Fe, NM