Public Lands

Of Counsel

Jeff serves as Of Counsel to PEER, where he specializes in civil service, scientific integrity, and whistleblower protection issues. Jeff was PEER’s Executive Director from 1997 to 2019 and its Pacific Director from 2019 to 2025. Previously, he was the Policy Director and a staff attorney at the Government Accountability Project, representing whistleblowers from both the public and private sectors. Before coming to DC, Jeff worked in California state government for 17 years, mostly in the State Legislature as counsel to various committees where he drafted hundreds of laws on topics ranging from energy conservation to the rights of employed inventors. Jeff served stints as a deputy district attorney and an appellate court clerk. He is a graduate of the California Correctional Officers Academy.

Statement | Ten Steps to Ensure that Proper Leaders Run the Department of the Interior

by Peter Jenkins | December 22, 2020
A guide for the Biden administration to avoid repeating the Trump administration's unlawful actions in making appointments in the Interior Department ...

Big Cypress ORV Plan a Travesty: Former Superintendent   

by Susan Sargent | December 15, 2020
Park Service Shirking Wilderness, Wildlife, and Conservation Responsibilities ...

PEERMail | Climate Change and the Transition Ahead

by Tim Whitehouse | November 16, 2020
Government actions must reflect the reality of climate change. The Biden-Harris campaign promises to address climate change on public lands ...

BLOG | COVID-19, Yellowstone, and the Company that puts the American Public at Risk

by Guest Contributor | November 10, 2020
Winter snow guides in Yellowstone protest pandemic response in managed Yellowstone National Park, six guides were fired as a result ...

PEERMail | Troubled Timber Sales at Tongass

by Tim Whitehouse | October 15, 2020
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is suing the U.S. Forest Service to produce an audit of staggering monetary losses from past timber sales in the Tongass National Forest ...

BLOG | Is Pendley Indispensable at BLM or Just Undetectable?

by Jeff Ruch | October 9, 2020
A federal court in Montana is now determining which of William Pendley actions as illegal head of the Bureau of Lang Management (BLM) should be invalidated ...
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