protecting our parks

Senior Counsel

Jeff serves as Senior 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.

PEERMail | Plastic Free Parks Are Possible!

by Tim Whitehouse | June 30, 2021
The National Park Service must act quickly to address the crisis of plastics in our parks, Sec. Haaland has an opportunity to make a difference ...

Let’s Resist the Temptation to “Improve” Wilderness

by Guest Contributor | March 19, 2021
In designated wilderness areas, management means protecting the resource and natural processes, sometimes this means less access instead of more ...

Beyond 2020: National Park Service

by Jeff Ruch | September 2, 2020
How the Park Service can continue to preserve the country’s natural and historical heritage for current and future generations ...

COMMENTARY | National Forests and COVID-19. What’s Happening?

by Tim Whitehouse | June 12, 2020
National Forests receive less attention than parks during COVID-19, but overcrowding, lack of resources, and risk to gateway communities are the same ...

BLOG | National Parks Stumble Towards Reforms

by Jeff Ruch | June 2, 2020
In order for national parks to remain “America’s Best Idea,” park managers must move from merely maximizing crowds to actually managing them ...
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