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Neil Kagan works to protect water quality in the Great Lakes and nationally as a Senior Counsel in the NWF's Great Lakes Regional Center. Before NWF, Neil practiced environmental and land use law in Oregon, both as a solo practitioner and with 1000 Friends of Oregon, a land use watchdog group. Throughout his career, Neil's work has protected forests, wetlands, rivers, the Great Lakes, and other natural resources. Neil is also an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Law at Michigan Law School, where he has served as Director of the Environmental Law Clinic since 1996.

Loose Limits on Ships Loose Invasive Species on Great Lakes

12/14/2011 // Neil Kagan

On December 8th, the federal government unveiled its plan to protect the Great Lakes from the scourge of invasive species. Unfortunately, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed limits on ships’ discharges of ballast water that are too loose to prevent… Read more >

Video — Great Lakes and Invasives and Oil, Oh My!

7/7/2011 // Neil Kagan

Two of the greatest threats to the greatest of lakes – invasive species and submerged oil pipelines – were the subject of a Detroit public television legal affairs program on which I recently appeared. Among other things, Michigan Law School… Read more >

Success: EPA agrees to take invasive species seriously

3/8/2011 // Neil Kagan

Today, NWF and other conservation groups placed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on a path that should finally protect native aquatic life from new invasive species. Species like the zebra mussel which have already invaded are wreaking havoc on native… Read more >

Wisconsin Leaves its Waters Vulnerable to Invasive Species

2/17/2011 // Neil Kagan

Everyone’s familiar with the old “I have good news, and I have bad news” gag. Wisconsin’s approach to aquatic invasive species could provide fodder for that joke. Unfortunately, it’s no laughing matter. The good news is that Wisconsin issued a permit… Read more >

Who owns Lake Erie?

2/9/2011 // Neil Kagan

That is the question now being pondered by the Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court. Last week, the court held a hearing in the case presenting the question: Merrill v. State of Ohio. I was on hand representing NWF and… Read more >

Lake Wars: Dispatch from the Lake Erie Front

2/7/2011 // Neil Kagan

Last October, I put the finishing touches on my last salvo ina 6-month legal battle to stop the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from dumping massive amounts of nutrient-laden sediment in Lake Erie in 2010 — up to 800,000 cubic… Read more >