SMW Prepares Ballot Measure to Fund Open Space Protection
In 2014, voters approve a parcel tax measure sponsored by the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority and drafted by the firm.
Audubon Society Leverages Project Implementation for Conservation Funding
Assisted by the firm, the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society negotiates a 2013 agreement with San Jose developers during project implementation that provides significant funding to permanently preserve burrowing owl habitat and conduct surveys to support regional conservation efforts.
Critical Wildlife Corridor Established
The firm advises Laguna Greenbelt in successful negotiations leading to the 2019 opening of the Orange County Great Park Wildlife Corridor in Irvine to connect the Cleveland National Forest to the coast.
Water Rights for Fish and Wildlife
The firm represents The Nature Conservancy in a petition to dedicate water rights for the Big Springs Ranch in Siskiyou County to instream use for the protection of fish and wildlife in the Shasta River. The project becomes a model for sustainable ranch management to protect endangered coho salmon. The firm later represents private ranch […]
SMW Protects Parks and Greenbelt Along San Joaquin River
The firm successfully challenges in court Fresno County’s approval of 5,000 homes adjacent to the San Joaquin River Parkway. The firm is then able to negotiate a settlement that forces the developer to mitigate its project’s impacts on the parks and other public resources within the Parkway. (San Joaquin Parkway and Conservation Trust v. County […]
Protecting California’s Redwood Forests
In 2011 the firm begins representing Save the Redwoods League, the premier organization that has protected California redwood forests for more than a century. SMW assists the League in purchasing forests and surrounding lands and conservation easements. SMW is working with the League and its partners to acquire permits for a new National and State […]
Quarry Transformed into Park
The firm advises the City of Saratoga in acquiring a former quarry to be redeveloped as a park subject to a conservation easement and in subsequent park planning and operations. The park opens in 2015 and in 2020 the City opens a trail providing access to Sanborn County Park and, from there, to open space […]
SMW Defends Program for Protection of Farmland
The court of appeal upholds the authority of local governments to require dedication of conservation easements to mitigate the loss of farmland caused by new development. (Building Industry Assn. of Central California v. County of Stanislaus, 190 Cal. App. 4th 582 (2010).)
SMW Litigation Stops Rezoning of Timberland in Lassen County
Following a CEQA suit filed by the firm, Lassen County rescinds its approval of a proposal by Sierra Pacific Industries to rezone 5,000 acres of timberland for urban development. (Friends of Lassen Forest v. Lassen County (2009).)
SMW Enforces Agricultural Conservation Easement
After years of litigation, the firm negotiates a groundbreaking settlement to enforce a conservation easement and preserve and enhance the agricultural productivity of Sonoma County’s Lower Ranch. (Sonoma Land Trust v. BBRRBR LLC (2008).)