VLS Professor Parenteau
Gets Conservation Award

Pictured at the recent awards ceremony are (l-r) emcee and SeaWorld/Busch Gardens Animal Ambassador Julie Scardina, Patrick Parenteau, and the president and CEO of NWF Larry Schweiger. (Provided) Martha 1

America’s leading conservation organization dedicated to protecting wildlife has honored Vermont Law School's Patrick A. Parenteau with its National Conservation Achievement Award for protecting wildlife and natural resources.

Parenteau, who is Director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic and Professor of Law at VLS, received his award in the legal/legislative category from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) at an annual awards dinner last week in Washington, DC. Julie Scardina, animal ambassador for SeaWorld and Busch Gardens, presented the award.

"Pat Parenteau is a lawyer’s lawyer who has achieved real success in protecting the environment," said Larry Schweiger, President and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. "He has been an inspiration to future generations of environmental lawyers. His mark has been left on environmental policy in this country and his accomplishments on behalf of the natural world will be noted for decades to come."

Parenteau is a nationally recognized expert on key environmental legislation, including the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. He has been involved in drafting, litigating, administering, teaching, and writing about environmental law and policy for over three decades.

In 2005, Parenteau led litigation that forced the federal government to protect gray wolf populations in the northeast. The decision marked a victory for the National Wildlife Federation and a coalition of environmental groups, and reinstated a recovery plan for wolves in the forests of northern New England and New York. Thanks to the efforts of Parenteau and his colleagues at the Vermont Law School (VLS), the Fish and Wildlife Service now recovers wolves across their historic range.

Recognized for his expertise regarding endangered species and biological diversity, water quality and wetlands, environmental policy and litigation, and land use and property rights, Parenteau has held leadership positions with several organizations and is a former Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation.

With Parenteau at the helm, VLS was named America’s top environmental law program by U.S. News and World Report.

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