Program Co-Chairs

Ella Foley-Gannon focuses on advising land development companies on a wide range of federal and state regulatory matters. These include the Clean Water Act, federal and state Endangered Species Acts (ESA), the Porter-Cologne Act and California Department of Fish and Game Stream Alteration Agreements.

Keynote Presenter

Charles R. "Chip" Smith is responsible for executive leadership, policy development, strategic planning, and dispute resolution for the Army's Regulatory Program, environmental restoration and protection projects, Indian affairs, historic preservation, and water resources planning policy. He serves as primary liaison with senior leaders of the Administration, tribal governments, state and federal agencies, members of Congress, industry, and other environmental organizations.

Aaron O. Allen co-authored technical guidance for the Corps' South Pacific Division for determining limits of waters of the U.S. in the arid Southwest. He is also working with the team that is developing a regional technical manual for jurisdictional determinations for braided streams in the Southwest.

Donna R. Black is a partner in her firm's Land Use and Environmental Law Group in Southern California, with a special focus on CEQA, land use permitting and entitlements, and natural resources. She is co-editor and an author of the California Environmental Law Handbook, and serves as Chair of the State Bar of California Real Property Section's Zoning and Land Use Committee.

Kenneth M. Bogdan is environmental counsel with his company and specializes in compliance issues related to environmental laws and regulations, including the Clean Water Act, NEPA and CEQA. He is co-author of The NEPA Book: A Step-By Step Guide and other books and publications with Solano Press.

Tony Bomkamp is a field botanist and wetlands ecologist. He has extensive experience in wetland delineation throughout Southern California. As a botanist, he has diverse field experience extending back over 30 years, including graduate studies focused on wetland botany.

Jae Chung specializes in developing Special Area Management Plans to address Section 404 permitting and mitigation on a watershed basis. He has worked for his District for eight years. He completed his doctoral studies developing an alternative assessment of riparian ecosystems based solely on remote sensing data.

Mary Lynn K. Coffee has extensive experience obtaining all entitlement, permits and approvals required for development projects under local, state and federal resource protection laws. She has also developed, implemented and supervised many state and federal environmental compliance programs.

Theodore J. Griswold emphasizes natural resource, wetlands, habitat, Native American and environmental land use issues. He has coordinated the development and modification of species conservation plans, mitigation banks, wetland permits, streambed alterations and conservation preserves.

Richard A. Harlacher has over 27 years' experience in wetlands work, including 11 years with the Corps of Engineers. He has worked on complex and contentious wetlands projects throughout California. His expertise includes wetland delineation and value assessment, Section 404 permitting, endangered species assessment and habitat restoration.

Travis G. Hemmen serves as market and business development leader for his firm, a national mitigation banking company. He has managed large-scale mitigation projects as both a consultant and for a national homebuilder. He specializes in state and federal environmental law, mitigation planning, and permitting.

M. Reed Hopper oversees his foundation's Endangered Species Act Program and Clean Water Act Project. He previously served as both an Environmental Protection Officer and Hearing Officer in the U.S. Coast Guard enforcing the Clean Water Act in the Gulf Coast. He has litigated precedent-setting environmental and land use cases, including the recent Rapanos case in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Gerald E. Johns was appointed to his position by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2004. He oversees statewide programs and offices, including the Division of Environmental Services, Colorado River and Salton Sea Office, and the Bay-Delta Office. He has over 33 years of experience dealing with water rights, supply and quality issues in California.

R. Clark Morrison has extensive experience in the entitlement and development of large and controversial development projects. He has significant experience in wetlands, ESA and water rights matters. He is presently handling some of California's most complex wetlands and endangered species issues.

Randall D. Neudeck represents his district on water quality, water supply and environmental issues related to Southern California's imported water supply from the San Francisco Bay-Delta watershed. He previously worked for the City of Los Angeles on key water resource and environmental issues, water recycling and groundwater banking programs.

Sylvia Quast focuses on complex environmental and natural resource planning and management issues. Her experience includes legal counseling for conservation philanthropy programs. She previously served as Senior Counsel in the Policy Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environmental and Natural Resources Division, where she represented the United States in several major cases, including a recent U.S. Supreme Court case upholding protections for wetlands in California’s Central Valley.

Eric Stein heads his Project's Watershed Department, where he oversees a variety of projects related to stormwater and mass emissions monitoring, remote sensing, watershed and water quality model development, and assessment of wetlands. He also chairs the Science Advisory Panel for the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project.

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