Courtney Johnson

Executive Director & Staff Attorney

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. As a law student, Courtney interned in the Office of Compliance and Enforcement at the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and San Francisco Baykeeper. Before joining Crag, Courtney clerked for a district court judge in Ketchikan, Alaska. While there, Courtney enjoyed the wilds of Alaska and its incredible wildlife by sea kayaking, hiking and snowshoeing.

Courtney joined the Crag Law Center in 2008 as a Staff Attorney. 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 and the Rogue, to addressing proposals for fossil fuel exports along the Columbia at Astoria. Courtney represents the Nez Perce Tribe on the cleanup and restoration of the Portland Harbor Superfund Site. She also works with Oregon’s youth challenging the state to take action on climate change in the children’s climate case. Courtney is a published author on topics of climate change adaptation and marine spatial planning.

After five years in the role of Director of Operations, Courtney was promoted to Executive Director in November 2018. She has served on the Board of Directors of Bark – the watchdog for Mt. Hood, and will chair the Executive Committee of the Oregon State Bar Sustainable Future Section in 2019. When she is not working, Courtney enjoys spending time with her husband and dog on the beaches and rivers and in the mountains of Oregon, hiking, skiing, and biking. She also keeps busy with her home garden, cooking, reading and traveling.

Ralph Bloemers

Co-Founder & Senior Staff Attorney

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 of Oregon 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 the firm to commit his energy to build upon his pro bono endeavors and progressive causes and in 2001 he co-founded Crag Law Center with Chris Winter.

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.

Meriel Darzen

Staff Attorney

Tel: (503) 525-2725

Meriel is originally from the Boston area but has spent more than a decade living and working in the Pacific Northwest. She graduated from the University of Washington with a law degree and Masters in forestry. After law school, Meriel spent six years living in Bend where she practiced civil litigation and land use law. Prior to joining CRAG, Meriel was a staff attorney with 1000 Friends of Oregon, litigating cases on farmland, forest and wildlife protection across Oregon.

Before becoming an attorney, Meriel graduated from Wesleyan University and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic, where she helped construct a fruit tree nursery and learned how to graft mango trees. She speaks Spanish and lives in a three-generation household in Portland, with her wife Kirsten, son Dominic, father-in-law Steve and two dogs. She loves trail running, snowboarding, vegetable gardening and the Red Sox. She serves on the board of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters.

Maura Fahey

Staff Attorney

Maura received a B.A. in sociology, with a minor in political science, from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She earned her J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland with a certificate in environmental and natural resources law. During her first summer of law school, Maura studied international law in India. She then interned with Crag Law Center during her second summer and third year. Maura also gained experience through work with the Northwest Environmental Defense Center and Earthrise Law Center. Upon graduating, she was awarded the Environmental Leadership Award and membership in Lewis & Clark’s Cornelius Honor Society.

Maura joined the Crag Law Center staff in October 2013 as a legal fellow. Her docket consists of a variety of work including land use challenges in Oregon and Washington, Clean Water Act enforcement and federal public lands law. Maura is a member of the Oregon and Washington State Bars and is admitted to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the District of Oregon.  She serves on the Executive Committee of the Environmental & Natural Resources Section of the Oregon State Bar.

In her free time, Maura enjoys skiing, hiking, backpacking, running, and exploring all the wonder the Pacific Northwest has to offer.

Oliver Stiefel

Staff Attorney

Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Oliver joined Crag as a Legal Fellow in 2013. Oliver’s work focuses on public lands management and fish and wildlife conservation in Oregon and Southeast Alaska. His docket primarily consists of forests and fisheries issues under the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, and National Forest Management Act. He is admitted to practice in Oregon Federal District Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Oliver holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, and received his J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law. During law school, Oliver served as an editor on the Washington Law Review, and worked for the Washington House of Representatives, Judge Joel Penoyar of the Washington Court of Appeals, and the Washington Forest Law Center.

Outside of work, Oliver enjoys spending time with his wife; together they like to backpack, cook, fly fish, kayak, travel, trail run, snowboard, and spend time with family.

Ka’sha Bernard

Legal Fellow

Ka’sha was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She received a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies, with a minor in Arabic Studies from Louisiana State University. She earned her Juris Doctor from Notre Dame Law School, with a GLOBES certificate in Environment and Society. During her first summer of law school, Ka’sha clerked at the Orleans Civil District Court in New Orleans. She then served as a Summer Associate with Crag Law Center during her second summer of law school.

Ka’sha returned to the Crag Law Center as a legal fellow in 2018. Ka’sha looks forward to working on issues such as Environmental and Climate Justice projects.

In her free time, Ka’sha can be found cooking, reading, crafting, and exploring what Portland has to offer.

Anuradha Sawkar

Coastal Law Project Legal Fellow

Tel: (503) 233-8044

Anu was born in Poughkeepsie, New York and grew up in Portland, Oregon. She graduated from Whitman College with a B.A. in Politics with a minor in Economics, and earned her J.D. with a concentration in Advocacy from Cornell Law School.

Anu had the opportunity to volunteer at Crag Law Center both before and after attending law school, taking on tasks in both legal and development. She joined Crag Law Center’s staff as the Coastal Law Project Legal Fellow in January 2019. Through this partnership with the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition, Anu works to preserve public access to Oregon’s beaches and conserve Oregon’s priceless coastal ecosystems—from the crest of the Coast Range to the edge of the continental shelf.

Outside of work, Anu enjoys running, hiking, yoga, reading, and writing longhand.

Suzanne Savell

Development Director

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 old time music. Since moving to Portland she has served on the Board of Directors of Bubbaville, a non-profit that supports traditional music and dance in the Portland area and organizes the annual Portland Old Time Music Gathering.  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. 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.

Patricia Donohue

Development & Admistrative Assistant

Tel. (503) 525-2724

Patricia is a recent transplant from Lexington, KY, moving with an equine related job to Portland in 2014. Graduating from the University of Kentucky with a BA in Anthropology, she pursued a masters in Medical Anthropology with an emphasis on Gerontology (unrequited). As an undergraduate and graduate student, she spent many weekends in the Red River Gorge, camping, hiking rock climbing and back packing in the Smokies. Along the way, her passion for all things equine sent her off onto another path for many years. After arriving in Portland, life took another fork. Picking up her fiddle, Patricia is active in the contra music and dance community. A member of the Portland Megaband, she plays and dances contra and Old English dances contra and Old English. She also plays Old Time Music and some Irish thrown in. She is also an active community organized within Portland’s traditional music and dance community, serving on the Portland Old Time Music Gathering planning committee, the Portland English Ball Committee, and the Cascade Crossing Roadhouse Committee. She shares a house with her sister and her partner, enjoys gardening, traveling, hiking, dance camps and handwork. She is thrilled to be a part of Crag and to be making a small but positive difference for the environment.

Karen Russell

Financial and HR Support Contractor