Chris Winter – Co-Executive Director & Staff Attorney

Tel:  (503) 525-2725

Chris Winter received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University in 1994 and then graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1998, where he focused on environmental and natural resources law. For three years he practiced environmental law at Stoel Rives LLP in Portland, Oregon, representing corporate clients on complex issues relating to investigation and cleanup of contaminated industrial sites, regulatory compliance and business transactions.

In 2001, he founded the Crag Law Center to provide affordable legal assistance to groups promoting conservation issues. Since that time, we has helped dozens of groups throughout Oregon, Washington and Alaska, including municipal and tribal governments, conservation organizations, citizen groups, recreational clubs and individual activists. His current practice focuses on environmental justice, salmon habitat and water quality regulation, and public land management. He is a member of the Oregon, Washington and Alaska Bars and is admitted to practice in the District of Oregon, the Western and Eastern Districts of Washington, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  He also recently served as an Adjunct Professor at Lewis and Clark Law School, where for several years he taught a seminar on forest law and policy.

When Chris isn’t working, he spends time in the mountains with his wife and friends.  His passion for high, wild places has led him across the continental United States and to remote locations in Alaska, Asia, Africa and Europe. He loves the mountains and wilderness of the Pacific Northwest for their unmatched opportunities for adventure and solitude.

Ralph Bloemers – Co-Executive Director & Staff Attorney

Tel:  (503) 525-2727

Ralph grew up on a cheese farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. After high school he left for Colorado’s Rocky Mountains to study Political Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He then worked abroad in Munich, Germany, and after that moved to Salem, Oregon, to attend law school at Willamette University. He completed an externship at 1000 Friends and a fellowship at the Nature Conservancy where he learned about environmental, land use and natural resources work. He studied international environmental law in Holland and then returned to Willamette to graduate Cum Laude in 1998. After law school, he practiced Intellectual Property, Securities and Finance law at an established Portland law firm for almost three years. Through representation of new technology, entrepreneurs and inventors, the insane demand created by the Internet “boom” and a healthy measure of initiative, Ralph gained extensive experience with the nuts and bolts of practicing law. Ralph left to commit his energy to build upon his pro bono endeavors and progressive causes and founded the Crag Law Center.

Ralph is a member of the Oregon and Washington State Bars. He is admitted to practice in the Federal District of Oregon, the Western District of Washington and the Eastern District of Washington. Ralph has developed a specialty in public lands and natural resources law and has worked with dozens of clients throughout the Pacific Northwest since Crag’s founding.

Courtney Johnson - Staff Attorney

Tel:  (503) 525-2728

Courtney received her JD with a certificate in environmental and natural resources law from Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland.  While in her first year of study, she interned with the Crag Law Center.  Courtney also interned in the Office of Compliance and Enforcement at the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).   She also gained experience at San Francisco Baykeeper, working to protect the water quality of the San Francisco Bay.  Before joining Crag, Courtney clerked for a district court judge in Ketchikan, Alaska.  While there, Courtney bore witness to the wilds of Alaska and its incredible wildlife while sea kayaking, hiking and snowshoeing.

Courtney joined the Crag Law Center in 2008 and focuses her energy on the Coastal Law Project.  Much of her work at Crag has focused on protecting the health of coastal rivers, from gravel mining in the rivers of the south coast, including the Chetco, the Rogue, and the Elk, to addressing proposals for Liquefied Natural Gas along the mighty Columbia at Astoria.  Courtney enjoys working with coastal residents to help develop their communities for lasting and sustainable economic and environmental health.

When she is not working, Courtney enjoys spending time with her husband and puppy on the beaches and rivers and in the mountains of Oregon, hiking, skiing, kayaking, biking and surfing.  She also keeps busy with her home garden, cooking, reading and traveling.

Tanya Sanerib – Staff Attorney

Tel. (503) 525-2722

Tanya joined the Crag Law Center in 2009 after moving back to Portland from Washington D.C. where she was a partner at the public interest law firm Meyer Glitzenstein and Crystal. For six and a half years, Tanya worked with the dedicated lawyers at MG&C representing a wide variety of clients on a whole host of matters in state and federal courts as well as in the international arena. Tanya is a member of the Oregon and District of Columbia bars.

It was Tanya’s passion for the natural world that originally got her involved with environmental causes in high school in Wisconsin, led her to Colorado College to study environmental science, and eventually convinced her to pursue environmental law. Arriving in Seattle after college, Tanya worked with the Washington Forest Law Center before attending law school at Lewis & Clark in Portland. She volunteered with a number of Pacific Northwest environmental groups throughout her time in Seattle and Portland and quickly came to call the Cascades home. Graduating with a certificate in environmental and natural resources law and an environmental moot court championship under her belt, Tanya moved east for the time in her life. While her D.C. experience was remarkable, Tanya is happy to be back in the Pacific NW where she can backpack and hike in the diverse and wild places that are so abundant throughout the region. When she is not working Tanya also enjoys biking and running, gardening, dancing, traveling, cooking and sharing food with friends, knitting, and otherwise learning about life and how to enjoy it from her and Andrew’s dog Neptune.

Suzanne Savell – Development Coordinator

Tel. (503)525-2724

Suzanne hails from the mountains of East Tennessee, where as a kid she hiked nearly every trail of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with her family. She received a BA from Warren Wilson College and holds a Masters Degree in Appalachian Studies from Appalachian State University.  Her research emphasis was asset-based community development in rural mountain communities, and she conducted research in the mining valleys of Southern Wales and in Ashe County, NC.

Suzanne has spent much of her life working on social and environmental justice issues. She worked at Appalshop, a non-profit media, arts and education center based in Whitesburg, KY.  She directed Appalshop’s Traditional Music Program, and organized cultural arts education programs across Appalachia’s coal mining communities.  During her time in Eastern Kentucky she became involved in the movement to challenge mountaintop removal coal mining practices and lobbied for better oversight and enforcement of the coal mining industry, including mine safety.

Suzanne came to Portland through her involvement with the Portland Old Time Music Gathering, where she serves on the Board of Directors and the organizing committee.  Musically, culturally and geographically, she feels a deep connection between the Pacific Northwest and her Appalachian homeland, and enjoys exploring the region with her dog, Bella.  She also enjoys living in a city where she can ride her bicycle to work!  Before joining Crag full-time, Suzanne worked as an Arts Integration Facilitator for The Right Brain Initiative. In her free time, she enjoys exploring the wilds of the Pacific Northwest, gardening, cooking and playing banjo.

Andrew Mulkey – Paralegal

Tel. (503)525-2727

Andrew Mulkey began as an intern with The Crag Law Center in September 2010.  Andrew now works for Crag as a paralegal. Originally from Oklahoma, Andrew is a 2009 graduate of Wesleyan University, with a B.A. in Government.  Andrew applied to Crag because of his strong desire to work on what he views as the core environmental issues facing our society: climate change, pollution, and resource use.  He is particularly interested in public interest law and environmental management.  Andrew is having a blast learning about the law and legal research from the attorneys at Crag.  Before joining Crag, Andrew interned at Northwest Public Radio.  He has also worked as an Americorps volunteer and an intern for community watershed organizations in Colorado and Appalachia. When he’s not at Crag, you can find him outdoors, enjoying the Pacific Northwest.