Defending The Nature Conservancy

How we choose to live with nature today will determine our future. Our longtime pro bono partner, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is one of the most effective and wide-reaching environmental organizations in the world with conservation efforts in 79 countries and territories across six continents. Paul Hastings regularly provides advice and counsel to TNC on a wide range of activities, from research and analysis, advice on fundraising and governance issues, to high profile impact litigation.

One of our litigation teams won a major victory for TNC in California, helping to save TNC management of an island where it grows crops to support migrating species.

In 2019, a team of associates in our New York office successfully defended TNC in a suit brought by a landowner against TNC and the Mianus River Gorge (MRG). The landowner had property that was adjacent to a preserve owned by TNC and managed by MRG.

In the suit, the plaintiff-landowner claimed that he owned or had easement rights over a small tract of road on that preserve. Our team stepped in to dispute the plaintiff's claims over the road in the suit, working to prevent the development of portions of the preserve that needed to be protected to maintain the delicate ecosystem. Months into the suit, the plaintiff agreed to settle. This victory cleared the path for MRG to acquire an essential 11-acre parcel bordered on three sides by the Mianus River Gorge Preserve.

“It was 65 years ago that concerned citizens and the newly formed Nature Conservancy banded together to protect the centuries-old hemlock forest in the Mianus River Gorge in what was to become the Conservancy's first land protection project,” said Jim Attwood, chair of TNC’s New York State Board of Trustees. “The Nature Conservancy is a proud partner and happy to support the Mianus River Gorge to ensure the protection of this special place for generations to come.”