Law360 Quotes Beth Ginsberg on Decision to Reject Changes to Dam Flows to Protect Spotted Frogs

Stoel Rives attorney Beth Ginsberg was quoted in Law360 in an article titled “Oregon Dams Won't Open For Spotted Frogs Even A Tad.” The article discusses a recent decision in the U.S. District Court rejecting a bid by an environmental group to have dam flows changed on the upper Deschutes River to protect the Oregon spotted frog. Stoel Rives represented several irrigation districts in the case.

In rejecting the motion for preliminary injunction, Judge Ann Aiken said that it had failed to prove that changing the water levels would actually be beneficial to the frogs and that it would likely be of detriment to others with an interest in the water, including local tribes, irrigation districts and surrounding communities and farmers.

Ginsberg, who was the lead trial counsel in a team that included David Filippi, Jason Morgan and Kirk Maag, expressed her hope to resolve the dispute in a collaborative manner.

“Litigation is not the path forward,” she said. “The districts feel that collaboration is the path forward. And that collaboration is what’s going to benefit the frog more than anything.”