FOIA

Senior Counsel

Peter has been an environmental, land use, and consumer attorney and advocate since 1983. He has held various roles in Washington, DC including Of Counsel at the Center for Food Safety; Vice President for U.S. Government Policy at Conservation International; Director of International Conservation at Defenders of Wildlife; and Staff Attorney at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Additionally, he worked as a contracted consultant on endangered species recovery efforts with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Turner Endangered Species Fund in New Mexico. Prior to that, he served as an Attorney and Policy Analyst for the U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, and was also in private law practice. His career has centered on bringing the best science to bear in environmental protection efforts; he has specialized in working with scientists so their findings can inform good policy, as well as in federal litigation. Most of his work has been in aid of wildlife conservation in the fields of pesticides, genetically modified organisms, invasive species, wildlife disease prevention, international trade, land use conflicts, and other areas. Peter received his law degree from the University of Puget Sound (now Seattle University) School of Law and also has a master’s degree in Environmental Studies from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, with a focus on conservation biology.

What to Expect from Trump II – A Preview Based on Trump’s First Term

by Peter Jenkins | January 2, 2025
The first Trump administration took rampant “bad government” steps that we must not forget. In recent weeks, President-elect Trump has already raised new threats to good government norms to a level that is unprecedented and frightening ...

PEERMail | Meeting the Trump Challenge in the Trenches

by PEER | November 12, 2024
We know these times are tough. But at PEER we don’t shy away from a hard job or an important fight. The stakes are too high ...

Feds Should Stifle Heritage Foundation Witch Hunt

by PEER | October 17, 2024
Right-Wing Group’s Fleet of FOIAs Seeks Employee Personal Information ...

BLM Unclear on Transparency

by Chandra Rosenthal | July 24, 2024
According to the latest Interior Department quarterly report on its backlog of unanswered FOIA requests, BLM leads as its least responsive agency ...

Letter to BLM Director and Attorney General – BLM’s FOIA Backlog

by Elizabeth Duan | April 30, 2024
DESCRIPTION: Letter to BLM Director Stone Manning and Attorney General Garland Requesting to Meet Regarding BLM’s Backlog of FOIA Requests TO: Director Tracy Stone Manning, Bureau of Land Management, and Attorney General Merrick Garland FROM: PEER, Western Watersheds Project, ...