Legal Services

We come and go, but the land is always here.

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I have a lifelong connection to the land, the shore, and the water in the Pacific Northwest. They are the focus of my law practice.

I have assisted clients with the following projects:

Land

• Real estate transactions.
• Wetland mitigation plans, mitigation banking, private mitigation agreements.
• Cell tower and rooftop leases.
• Resolution of easement issues.
• Permits and variances for floodplain development.
• Boundary disputes and discrepancies between surveys.
• Land transfers with the Oregon Department of State Lands.
• Leasing, use rights, and land exchanges on state and federal lands.

 

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Shore

• Clarification of waterway boundaries along rivers, lakes, and the Pacific Ocean.
• Permits for dredging and upland development.
• Resolution of filled lands ownership.
• Removal, repair, and vegetation issues on levees.
• Analysis of public use rights on shores and waterways.
• Permitting for docks and streambank stabilization.
• Wharf registrations for marine terminals on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers.

 

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Water

• Successful challenge to the State of Oregon’s claim of ownership to 89 miles of the Rogue River.
• Permits for waterway crossings and in-water structures.
• Protection of historic water rights in the Klamath Basin Adjudication.
• Waterway leases and registrations.
• Resolution of enforcement actions by the Oregon Department of State Lands.
• Legislation to clarify recreational use of rivers and streams.

 

 

River Navigability

The Rogue River channel has moved since its first survey in 1854. I helped property owners oppose the state’s claim of ownership based on navigability.
 

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Moving Boundaries

Ownership boundaries along water can fluctuate. I helped owners and developers clarify boundaries along dozens of rivers and lakes in Oregon and Washington.