University of California Berkeley Sierra Club History Committee Oral History Series - James W. Moorman ATTORNEY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, 1966-1981: CENTER FOR LAW AND SOCIAL POLICY, SIERRA CLUB LEGAL DEFENSE FUND, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE DIVISION OF LANDS AND NATURAL RESOURCES An Interview Conducted by Ted Hudson 1984 With an Introduction by Mike McCloskey Sierra Club History Committee 1994 Sierra Club History Committee Oral History Series All uses of this transcript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California, the Sierra Club, James W. Moorman, and Ted Hudson, dated April 4, 1994. The transcript is made open for research purposes and may be quoted for publication. All literary rights in the transcript in its entirety, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley, and to the Sierra Club. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows James W. Moorman, "Attorney for the Environment, 1966-1981: Center for Law and Social Policy, Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, Department of Justice Division of Lands and Natural Resources " an oral , history conducted in 1984 by Ted Hudson, Sierra Club History Committee, 1994. Sierra Club History Committee 1994 James W. Moorman, 1992 Photo by Dupont Photographers Cataloging information Moorman, James W. (b. 1937) Attorney, environmentalist Attorney for the Environment. 1966-1981: Center for Law and Social Policy. Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund. Department of Justice Division of Lands and Natural Resources. 1994, vii, 168 pp. Discusses family, education, and interest in environment; Sierra Club's Atlantic and Southeast chapters, 1960s; legal cases as attorney in Justice Department's Lands Division, 1966-1969; attorney for Center for Law and Social Policy, 1969-1971: early use of NEPA [National Environmental Policy Act] in environmental litigation, trans-Alaskan pipeline case, growth of field of environmental law; Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund executive director, 1971- 1977: relationship with the club and its legislative program, litigation on wilderness, forestry, clean air issues, Admiralty Island timber sales; assistant attorney general for land and natural resources, 1977-1981: Attorney General Griffin Bell and other members of Carter administration, land acquisition, Indian rights, Alaskan land, toxic waste issues. Introduction by Michael McCloskey, Sierra Club chairman Interviewed 1984 by Ted Hudson, volunteer for the Sierra Club History Committee as part of the Sierra Club History Committee Oral History Series. TABLE OF CONTENTS --Janes W. Moorman PREFACE i INTRODUCTION lv INTERVIEW HISTORY vi BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION vii I FAMILY, EDUCATION, AND INTRODUCTION TO THE SIERRA CLUB 1 Family History 1 Childhood Interest in Natural World 3 Education 8 Early Hikes 8 Practicing Law in New York City 9 Discovering the Sierra Club, 1964 12 II ATTORNEY FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE LANDS DIVISION, 1966-1969, AND SIERRA CLUB CHAPTER LEADER 15 Combining Vocation & Avocation 15 Western Water Law Cases 17 Other Cases: Hydrological Benchmarks, Oyster Beds, Acreage Limitations, Water Rights 21 Southeast Chapter of Sierra Club 26 West Virginia Highlands Conservancy 30 Witnessing the Brower Controversy as Southeast Chapter Council Representative, 1968-1969 31 Transition from Johnson to Nixon Administration in the Lands Division 36 III AT THE CENTER FOR LAW AND SOCIAL POLICY, 1969-1971 39 Origins of the Center 39 Representing the Environmental Defense Fund to Deregister DDT 43 Invoking NEPA in the Trans -Alaska Pipeline Dispute 44 Otter Creek Wilderness Preservation 49 Preparing the Case in Trans -Alaska Pipeline Matter 50 Airlie House Conference, 1969, a Catalyst for the Field of Environmental Law 54 The Genesis of the National Environmental Policy Act, 1969 56 The Center's Program for Legal Education 58 Cooperation Among a Network of Environmental Law Attorneys: SST, Calvert Cliffs, Hilton Head 59 IV THE SIERRA CLUB LEGAL DEFENSE FUND, 1971-1977 62 Beginnings of the Legal Defense Fund 62 Appointment as Executive Director of SCLDF 65 Oversight and Supervision of Sierra Club Chapter Lawsuits 68 Role of Executive Director of SCLDF 70 Financing SCLDF 73 SCLDF 'S Rocky Mountain Office 74 California Coastal Protection 76 Decision to Sue for Roadless Area Protection, 1972 78 Clean Air Litigation 80 Clear- Cutting Near Redwood National Park 81 Mineral King Litigation/Standing to Sue 82 Key Staff and Volunteers in Defense Fund Efforts 85 Relationship Between SCLDF & Sierra Club 87 Admiralty Island Timber Sale Litigation 89 Land Dispute With Forest Service in California 94 Role in Forest Management Legislation 95 Administrative Appeals on Roadless Areas 96 Legislative Drafting by SCLDF 99 SCLDF' S Clients 100 V ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES, 1977-1981 102 Joining the Carter Administration 102 Confirmation as Assistant Attorney General 109 Strengthening the Lands Division 111 Policy, Legislation and Special Litigation Section 114 Vork of the Land and Natural Resources Division 118 Role of an Assistant Attorney General 122 Expanded Responsibilities for the Lands Division 124 Working with Other Members of the Carter Administration 127 Secretary of Interior Cecil Andrus 129 CEQ and EPA 131 The Solicitor's Office at Interior 133 Attorneys General Griffin Bell and Ben Civileti 135 The Army Corps of Engineers 140 The Press and Ethics in Government , 141 Conservative Public Interest Law Firms 144 Environmentalists' Support and Their Missed Opportunity 144 Cases Involving Private Industry 146 Putting Out Legal Fires for President Carter 147 Difficult Cases on Indian Rights to Natural Resources 150 Land Acquisition for National Parks 153 Love Canal Litigation 155 Delegation to Study Soviet Environmental Protection 156 Private Practice in Washington, D.C. 158 TAPE GUIDE 163 APPENDIX: VITA, James W. Moorman 164 INDEX 165 PREFACE- -Sierra Club Oral History Program to 1978 In fall 1969 and spring 1970 a self-appointed committee of Sierra Clubbers met several times to consider two vexing and related problems. The rapid membership growth of the club and its involvement in environmental issues on a national scale left neither time nor resources to document the club's internal and external history. Club records were stored in a number of locations and were inaccessible for research. Further, we were failing to take advantage of the relatively new technique of oral history by which the reminiscences of club leaders and members of long standing could be preserved. The ad hoc committee's recommendation that a standing History Committee be established was approved by the Sierra Club Board of Directors in May 1970. That September the board designated The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley as the official repository of the club's archives. The large collection of records, photographs, and other memorabilia known as the "Sierra Club Papers" is thus permanently protected, and the Bancroft is preparing a catalog of these holdings which will be invaluable to students of the conservation movement . The History Committee then focused its energies on how to develop a significant oral history program. A six-page questionnaire was mailed to members who had joined the club prior to 1931. More than half responded, enabling the committee to identify numerous older members as likely prospects for oral interviews. (Some had hiked with John Muir!) Other interviewees were selected from the ranks of club leadership over the past six decades. Those committee members who volunteered as interviewers were trained in this discipline by Willa Baum, head of the Bancroft's Regional Oral History Office (ROHO) and a nationally recognized authority in this field. Further interviews have been completed in cooperation with university oral history classes at California State University, Fullerton; Columbia University, New York; and the University of California, Berkeley. Extensive interviews with major club leaders are most often conducted on a professional basis through the Regional Oral History Office. Copies of the Sierra Club oral interviews are placed at The Bancroft Library, in the Department of Special Collections at UCLA, and at the club's Colby Library, and may be purchased at cost by club regional offices, chapters, and groups, as well as by other libraries, institutions, and interested individuals. ii Our heartfelt gratitude for their help in making the Sierra Club Oral History Project a success goes to each interviewee and interviewer; to everyone who has written an introduction to an oral history; to the Sierra Club Board of Directors for its recognition of the long- term importance of this effort; to the Trustees of the Sierra Club Foundation for generously providing the necessary funding; to club and foundation staff, especially to Michael McCloskey, Denny Wilcher, Colburn Vilbur, and Nicholas Clinch; to Villa Baum and Susan Schrepfer of the Regional Oral History Office; and last but far from least, to the members of the History Committee, and particularly to Ann Lage, who has coordinated the oral history effort since 1974. You are cordially invited to read and enjoy any or all of the oral histories in the Sierra Club series. By so doing you will learn much of the club's history which is available nowhere else, and of the fascinating careers and accomplishments of many outstanding club leaders and members . Marshall H. Kuhn Chairman, History Committee 1970-1978 May 1, 1977 San Francisco