Mr. Carr is a partner in Morrison & Foerster’s San Francisco office. He represents public agencies, landowners, private individuals, non-profits, and business concerns in all areas of natural resource law, including forestry, agriculture, mining, endangered species, water quality, coastal and ocean, fisheries, land use and real property law. Mr. Carr has extensive experience in permitting and litigation under the federal Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act and their California counterparts. He regularly advises clients on investigations and administrative actions by federal and state agencies that regulate endangered species and water quality impacts, including Regional Water Quality Control Boards, the California Department of Fish and Game, the California Department of Forestry, the California Board of Forestry, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and NOAA Fisheries (formerly National Marine Fisheries Service).

Mr. Carr’s natural resource policy experience includes:

• Special Assistant to Joseph L. Sax, Counselor to the Secretary, U.S. Department of Interior, Washington, D.C. (1995): Prepared policy documents, congressional testimony and other materials concerning “takings” legislation, Endangered Species Act, and other natural resource and public land issues.
• Fisheries Officer and Fellow, Office of Marine Conservation, U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C. (1994): Prepared congressional testimony and other materials regarding fisheries conservation and management and represented the United States at international fishery conferences and negotiations.

Representative Matters

• Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council (2007 to present). Advise Stewardship Council on legal requirements for development and implementation of Land Conservation Plan for PG&E lands to promote beneficial public values, including open space preservation, protection of historic values, sustainable forestry, habitat protection, agricultural uses and outdoor recreation.
• Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch v. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (2006 to present). Represent Sierra Pacific Industries in California Supreme Court in action challenging CDF’s approval of THPs for alleged non-compliance with Forest Practice Rules and California Environmental Quality Act.
• California Forestry Association (2005 to present): Serve as outside counsel to CFA on a variety of natural resource legal and policy issues, including: developing permitting mechanisms for incidental take of anadromous species under the California Endangered Species Act and testifying before the Board of Forestry regarding the same; crafting Forest Practice Rule amendments to improve Sustained Yield Plans and Programmatic Timberland Environmental Impact Reports as comprehensive resource planning documents; and submitting amicus briefs to the California Courts of Appeal and Supreme Court on cases that impact timber harvesting and sustainable forestry in California.
• The Nature Conservancy (2005 to present): Advise The Nature Conservancy with respect to its initiative to purchase groundfish trawl vessel licenses and bank or sub-lease them with conservation conditions in order to promote sustainable fisheries and preserve coastal communities.
• Mayor Gavin Newsom's Clean Technology Advisory Council (2005 to present): Participate as a member of and advise the CTAC with respect to initiatives to increase San Francisco’s use of clean technology and renewable energy as well as make San Francisco a magnet for clean technology companies. Chair Tidal and Wave Energy Subcommittee and advise the Mayor on federal, state, and local permitting process and requirements for development of a tidal energy generation facility under the Golden Gate Bridge.
• Center for Biological Diversity v. California Department of Fish and Game (2005). Represent the Pacific Lumber Company in an action brought by the Center for Biological Diversity challenging the Department of Fish and Game’s consistency determination based on the Company’s multi-species HCP as violative of the California Endangered Species Act and the California Environmental Quality Act.
• Environmental Protection Information Center v. USFWS (2004 to 2005). Represent Pacific Lumber Company in an action brought by the Environmental Protection Information Center asserting that the Company’s multi-species HCP and its implementation violates the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, and the federal Endangered Species Act, as well as California Business and Professions Code section 17200.
• Campbell Timberland Management (2004 to present). Advise Campbell Timberland Management on a variety of natural resource legal and policy issues, including requirements imposed by the Department of Fish and Game and the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board in THP review and approval process, California Environmental Quality Act, requirements for timber harvesting, and proposed Mendocino County grading ordinance.
• Big Creek Lumber Company (2002 to 2005). Advise Big Creek Lumber Company on a variety of natural resource legal and policy issues, including THP compliance with the Forest Practice Act and Forest Practice Rules and Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board regulation of water quality impacts of timber harvesting.
• Environmental Protection Information Center v. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (2002 to present). Represent Pacific Lumber Company in action (now before California Supreme Court) seeking to overturn approvals and permits associated with Headwaters Forest agreement based on alleged failure to comply with Forest Practice Act, California Endangered Species Act, streambed alteration provisions of Fish and Game Code, and California Environmental Quality Act.
• Alder Springs Vineyard - North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Actions (2002 to present). Represent Mendocino County vineyard owner in Regional Board and National Marine Fisheries Service enforcement actions, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers investigation of alleged water quality and salmonid impacts from vineyard development and operation following timberland conversion.
• Syar Industries, Inc. (2001 to present). Serve as outside counsel to Syar in defending Clean Water Act and other federal environmental citizen suits and advising with respect to compliance with federal and state environmental laws.
• Environmental Protection Information Center v. Pacific Lumber Co. (2001 to date). Represent Pacific Lumber Company in an action brought by the Environmental Protection Information Center asserting that silvicultural activities constitute point source discharges governed by section 402 of the Clean Water Act, notwithstanding EPA regulations defining silviculture as a nonpoint source.
• “No Surprises” Litigation (1998 to 1999). Represent coalition of Southern California Counties as intervenors in defense of federal Endangered Species Act "No Surprises" regulation upon which their multi-species habitat conservation plans relied for regulatory assurances.

Professional Activities and Memberships

• Member, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Clean Technology Advisory Council
• Member, Public Policy Committee, Wine Institute
• Member, Legal Affairs Committee, California Forestry Association
• Member, Environment Committee, California Construction and Industrial Materials Association
• Lecturer, Environmental Law, Boalt Hall School of Law, U.C. Berkeley

Community Activities

• Member, U.C. Berkeley Library Advisory Board
• Fundraiser, Bridge of Books Foundation

Lectures, Presentations & Publications

• Speaker, “Northern California River Watch v. City of Healdsburg: Implications for the Industry,” CalCIMA Annual Conference (Mar. 2007)
• Panelist, “Hot Issues, Endangered Species Act: New Settings for Habitat Conservation Plans,” CLE International (Nov. 2007)
• Panelist, “Carbon Finance and Climate Risk: Profitable Innovation as a Result of Global Warming,” GreenVest 2007, San Francisco (Jun. 2007).
• Moderator, “State Initiatives: California and Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative,” Conference on Cap and Trade as a Tool for Climate Change Policy: Design and Implementation, Boalt Hall School of Law, U.C. Berkeley (Feb. 2007)
• “What to Do When a Clean Water Act 60-Day Notice Letter Arrives in the Mail,” with Linda Mackey-Taverner, Construction Materials Association of California Annual Conference (Mar. 2006)
• Panelist, “Environmental Compliance Issues Impacting the Bottom Line,” Unified Wine and Grape Symposium (Jan. 2006)
• Panelist, “Implications of North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board Proposed Sediment Amendment,” meeting convened by Wine Institute, Family Winemakers of California, and California Association of Winegrape Growers (May 2005)
• “Water and Wine: Regulation of Vineyard and Winery Development and Operation in California’s North Coast Counties,” with Janelle Kellman, Practical Winery & Vineyard (Mar. 2005)
• “The New Spin on Drainage,” with Danny Hagans and George Rau, Wine Business Monthly (Oct. 2004)
• “Transformations in the Law Governing Highly Migratory Species: 1970 to Present,” Bringing New Law to Ocean Waters (2004) 55-94
• “Dealing with a Resource Crisis: Regulatory Regimes for Managing the World’s Marine Fisheries,” with Harry N. Scheiber, 21 Stanford Environmental Law Journal 45 (2002)
• “Courts Go Too Far In Allowing Environmental Citizen Suits,” with Edgar B. Washburn, 20 Washington Legal Foundation. 34 (Aug. 2001)
• Moderator, Endangered Species Roundtable, Sea Change: NAELS Conference on Ocean & Environmental Law, Stanford Law School (Mar. 2000)
• Speech, “Coastal Resources Governance,” Ecologies of the Coast Symposium, University of California, Santa Cruz (Apr. 1999)
• “Fisheries Compliance and Enforcement for the 21st Century,” 2 California & the World Ocean ’97 at 935 (1998)
• “From Extended Jurisdiction to Privatization: International Law, Biology, and Economics in Marine Fisheries Debates, 1937-1976,” with Harry N. Scheiber, 16 Berkeley Journal of International Law 10 (1998)