Jeff retired from legal practice this past spring, after 16 years with Conservation Law Center. He
deftly applied skills and knowledge gained in his previous career as an ecologist to his work
defending the ecosystems, waters, communities, and species that needed him most. Jeff’s
diligence, ingenuity, and intelligence are truly exceptional, as was his dedication as an advocate
for the public interest.
Like Senator Douglas, Jeff entered the battle for the Dunes at a critical juncture. After the
passage of a local ordinance in 2010, a legal dispute arose in which the Gundersons and other
private landowners claimed that they owned the Lake Michigan beach in front of their homes
and could thus exclude the public. They ultimately filed a 2014 lawsuit asserting this claim.
Jeff represented Save the Dunes and other public interest groups as intervenors in the Gunderson
case, a more than four-year effort that resulted in the Supreme Court of Indiana’s 2018 ruling that
the State’s Lake Michigan shoreline up to the natural ordinary high water mark was held in trust
by the State for the benefit of all Hoosiers.

Looking back at early articles introducing the region to Paul, the same words pop up time and time again – communicator, collaborator, and strong skills in consensus building. These words could not be truer. Immediately, Paul strengthened relationships between Indiana Dunes and its stakeholders. He repaired damage from soured partnerships and helped rebuild trust with the National Park Service. Moreover, he did all of this just in time to ready our region for the big renaming of Indiana Dunes as a National Park.