Reconnecting with our community
By Courtney Johnson | April 5, 2023
Crag staff at our staff retreat. We’re lucky enough to not only have amazing staff members but also incredible community members like yourself!
This year has already been a year of reconnection. In February, all of us at Crag spent a couple of days together at our staff retreat. We played games, cooked together, and laughed a lot. We also spent some time working through big issues like how to better implement environmental justice into our public lands work. It was a great opportunity to get to know each other better, and reminded me of how lucky I am to work with this amazing group of people.
In March, our crew went to Eugene for the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference – in person for the first time in four years. Our attorneys presented on topics ranging from environmental justice, to local land use planning, to forest protection on public lands. We reconnected with clients, partner organizations, and supporters, and made new connections with groups as far away as Australia! Spending time immersed in our broader environmental law community reminded us that we are part of a larger fight for our collective future.
It is an honor to be fighting for our environment as part of our Crag community. And when we talk about our Crag community, we mean you!
Rebeka, Kelly, and Mike at the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference in Eugene.
Everyone who has taken a step, big or small, to engage with our team is part of our community. From the first board members who helped get this crazy idea going 22 years ago, to the interns and volunteers who have enriched our team, to the folks who are opening our newsletter today for the first time.
We rely on you all more than you may know. So much of our work happens behind the scenes. That is partly by design. We aim to keep the spotlight on our clients. Our job is to support them in achieving their goals for their communities and our environment. We are here to demystify the law and help chart a path through government processes so that those most impacted by a decision have a voice in the outcome. We are here to fight to ensure our environmental laws work for the people.
In this newsletter, you’ll read from Rebeka Dawit about how we are expanding our vision of what it means to be a lawyer in order to provide services to a broader range of community groups fighting for environmental justice. Erin Hogan writes about how our work to protect forests is crucial to addressing the climate crisis. And you’ll hear from our newest attorney, Mike Sargetakis, about the importance of protecting public access to Oregon’s iconic beaches.
Every person who knows about Crag, who takes the time to come to an event, read an article, love a story, or share a post about our work is helping increase our impact. We hope you will help us continue to grow our community by telling someone you know about Crag. If one of the stories in this newsletter inspires you, please share it! Friends telling friends is how we build authentic connections and keep our movement strong.
Our work helps protect places like the Oregon Coast, home of Haystack Rock. Photo by Courtney Johnson.
Courtney Johnson, Executive Director
Since joining Crag in 2008, Courtney’s legal work has focused on protecting the health of coastal rivers, from gravel mining in the rivers of the south coast to addressing proposals for fossil fuel exports along the Columbia at Astoria. 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.