Experience

Oil and Gas

• Negotiated and drafted RNG (biomethane) offtake agreements for clients seeking to sell or buy RNG in Arizona, California, Iowa, Kansas, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Texas and Washington, including the offtake agreements to support a $60 million bond offering for an anaerobic digester project with feedstocks consisting of feedlot and dairy manure, food wastes, agricultural wastes, and other digestible materials. Clients include RNG project developers, sustainable investment funds, and CNG station owners seeking to generate Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard, and credits under California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) or Oregon’s Clean Fuels Program (CFP) from vehicle fuel usage and industrial consumers and utilities seeking to source RNG to meet sustainability goals.
• Advised RNG project developers on pipeline interconnection and transportation issues, LEAP Master Agreements for the sale and purchase of RINs and LCFS credits, and general project development issues.
• Represented buyer in acquisition of operating biogas facility, including negotiation of amendments to long-term feedstock, effluent offtake and lease agreements with host dairy.
• Represented oil and gas working interest owner in joint operating agreement dispute with operator over development and operating costs.
• Negotiated and drafted 30-year, $250 million joint venture to develop natural gas reserves and a $100 million amendment to the joint venture.
• Represented utility in structuring and regulatory proceedings for multi-state cost-of-service natural gas program.
• Represented underground natural gas storage developer on $125 million expansion project, including negotiation and drafting of development agreements and property acquisition agreements.
• Represented LNG terminal developer in interstate pipeline joint venture negotiations, including transaction structuring under Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) constraints.
• Negotiated and drafted purchase and sale agreements for independent oil company’s $20 million lease acquisition program and advised on related $200 million equity financing.
• Negotiated and drafted carbon dioxide supply agreements for enhanced oil recovery projects.
• Represented coalbed methane developer in connection with exploration program financing.
• Assisted clients with acquisition, leasing and development of oil and gas properties in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kansas, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
• Assisted clients with development and operational issues for underground gas storage facilities in Alaska, California, Illinois, Oregon and Utah.
• Authored drilling title opinions, division order title opinions and gas storage title opinions on both public and private lands.
• Advised clients on all manner of oil and gas agreements, including joint operating agreements, farmout agreements, gathering and processing agreements, master service agreements, precedent agreements for interstate transportation of natural gas, natural gas sales agreements, pipeline easement and franchise agreements, and surface use agreements.

Mining

• Represented buyer in $46 million acquisition of prospective sand mine, including negotiation of royalty agreements and various lender-related agreements.
• Negotiated royalty agreements in connection with $35 million financing for industrial mineral project.
• Represented mining company in acquisition of fee interests and unpatented mining claims for limestone quarry.
• Represented owners and developers of industrial mineral and construction material surface mines on various title, leasing and permitting issues.
• Advised clients on various federal mining claim issues.
• Advised underground mine operator on federal, state and local permitting issues.
• Negotiated purchase agreement to acquire gold mining property out of bankruptcy.
• Drafted organizational documents and mining leases for limited liability company owning 28,000 acre mineral estate.
• Represented developer in the land use permitting of a surface mine and commercial composting facility, including successful resolution of appeals before the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals and the Oregon Court of Appeals.
• Assisted developer in obtaining surface mine operating permit from the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) and satisfying conditions of approval.
• Represented mineral estate owner in state condemnation of cinder deposit.
• Represented royalty owner in litigation for unpaid royalties.
• Authored title opinions on unpatented mining claims and mill sites.
• Assisted clients with mining issues in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Minnesota, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon and Wisconsin.
• Represented clients in the negotiation of all manner of mining agreements, including leases, royalty agreements and consulting agreements.

Other Experience

• Represented buyer in 224,000 acre timberland transaction with respect to severed mineral issues, including negotiation of surface use agreement.
• Advised clients on issues associated with severed mineral estates, including purchase and sale transactions and negotiation of accommodation agreements and waivers of surface rights for renewable energy and other surface development.
• Negotiated and drafted lease for underground compressed air energy storage project in California.
• Advised clients on private property and U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issues related to carbon sequestration and drafted carbon sequestration easements covering thousands of acres throughout the United States.
• Represented European client in negotiation to acquire environmental attributes of geologically sequestered carbon dioxide.
• Negotiated and drafted 10-year, $30 million industrial gas (oxygen, nitrogen and argon) supply contract for steel mill.
• Represented developer of the Whistling Ridge Energy Project, including issuance of a site certificate from the Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, obtaining unanimous Washington Supreme Court decision upholding the site certificate and successfully resolving litigation brought under the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act.
• Advised project developer on multiple National Historic Preservation Act issues associated with traditional cultural property (TCP).
• Advised clients on Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) and Endangered Species Act compliance in connection with a variety of development projects.
• Obtained land use permits for a $250 million transportation infrastructure project crossing protected environmental areas.
• Assisted client in navigating local historic resource regulations and state historic resource review process in connection with the successful permitting of a $20 million project.
• Negotiated revisions to restrictive city environmental zoning regulations that allowed clients’ businesses to remain in operation.

Honors & Activities

Professional Honors and Activities

• Listed among Rising Stars (Energy & Natural Resources), Oregon Super Lawyers^®, 2014, 2018
• Trustee, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, 2018–present
• Member, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation’s Young Professionals Committee, 2015–2018 (chair 2017–2018)
• Board Member, Oregon Concrete & Aggregate Producers Association (OCAPA), 2017–2019
• Recipient, Chairman of the Board Award, OCAPA, 2019

Reported Appellate Court Decision

• Friends of Columbia Gorge, Inc. v. State Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, 178 Wn.2d 320, 310 P.3d 780 (2013)

Civic Activities

• Board Member, LifeWorks NW, 2019–present
• Commissioner, Oregon Heritage Commission, 2010–2018 (chair 2015–2017)
• Board Member, Northwest Energy Association, 2014–2015
• Den Leader, Cub Scout Pack #254, 2017–2020

Insights & Presentations

• Frequent contributor to Stoel Rives’ Mineral Law blog
• “Net-Zero Without Carbon Sequestration Is ‘Virtually Impossible’; Yet Site Acquisition and Permitting Hurdles Hinder Implementation” (co-author), POWER magazine, Feb. 2022
• “The Hydrogen Rainbow: Elected Officials Focus on Green” (co-author), POWER magazine, April 2021
• “Oil and Gas Survey: Oregon,” Texas A&M Journal of Property Law (forthcoming 2020)
• “Shedding Light on Solar Leasing” (co-presenter), American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL), Annual Meeting, Huntington Beach, California, 2020
• “INSIGHT: Waste-to-Energy Projects Not Immune From Covid-19” (co-author), Bloomberg Law Environment & Energy Report, April 2020
• “Understanding Solar Leases” (co-presenter), West Coast Landmen’s Institute, Atascadero, California, 2019
• “Oil and Gas Survey: Oregon,” 5 Texas A&M Journal of Property Law 123, 2019
• “Mining Resource Transactions 101” (presenter), Oregon Concrete & Aggregate Producers Association, Winter Workshop, Salem, Oregon, 2019
• “Constitutional Questions Dog Local Gov’t Actions Against Crude Oil Transportation” (author), The Legal Intelligencer, Aug. 2018
• “Federal Roadblocks to Local Governments’ Efforts to Stymie Crude Oil Transportation and ‘Keep It in the Ground,’ ” 64 Rocky. Mt. Min. L. Inst. 25-1, 2018
• “ ‘Keep it in the Ground’ and Out of this City: Federal Roadblocks to Local Government Efforts to Stymie Crude Oil Transportation” (presenter), Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, Annual Institute, Victoria, British Columbia, July 2018
• “Developing Underground Gas Storage: From Leasing to Open Season” (co-author), American Association of Professional Landmen, Landman, March/April 2018
• “Oil and Gas Survey: Oregon,” 4 Texas A&M Journal of Property Law 119, 2018
• “Chthonic Pithos: Pore Space Rights Today” (presenter), West Coast Landmen’s Institute, Oxnard, California, 2017
• “Title Review Now: Where Do We Start?” (presenter), American Association of Professional Landmen, Mining and Land Resources Institute, Reno, Nevada, 2017
• “Mining on 10 Million Acres in Six States Impacted by BLM’s Proposed Withdrawal to Protect Sage-Grouse Habitat” (co-author), ABA Mining and Mineral Extraction Committee Newsletter, Sept. 2016
• “Mineral Rights” (presenter), Oregon State Bar, Real Estate and Land Use Spring Forum, Portland, Oregon, 2016
• “North American Gas: Demand Side Responses to Low Prices” (panelist), IHS Energy CERAWeek, Houston, Texas, 2015
• “Portland’s Fossil Fuel Policy Raises Commerce Questions” (author), Law360, 2015
• “Mineral Rights” (co-author), Oregon State Bar’s Oregon Real Estate Deskbook, 2015
• “Mineral Resources (Supplement)” (co-author), Washington State Bar Association’s Real Property Deskbook, 2015
• “Accommodating the Rights of Mineral Owners and Surface Owners” (presenter), Determining Land Ownership and Access Rights, Foxmoor Continuing Education, Portland, Oregon, 2014
• “Getting Closer: The Emerging Regulatory Framework for Carbon Sequestration in the U.S.” (presenter), Northwest Association of Environmental Professionals, Portland, Oregon, 2013
• “Just Passing Through, Nothing to See Here: Pass-Through and Pore Space Rights” (presenter), Bakersfield Association of Professional Landmen, Bakersfield, California, 2013, and Los Angeles Association of Professional Landmen, Long Beach, California, 2013
• “Fits & Starts: Legal Hurdles to CCS Deployment in the U.S.” (presenter), 2013 Utah Governor’s Energy Development Summit, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2013
• “Ownership, Acquisition and Leasing Issues for Frac Sand Owners and Developers in Minnesota,” 2013
• “Oregon Land Use: The Permitting Process” (presenter), Best of CLE, The Seminar Group, Portland, Oregon, 2012
• “Carbon Sequestration on Federal Land: the BLM Takes the First Step with Site Characterization Permits” (presenter), 11th Annual Carbon Capture, Utilization & Sequestration Conference, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2012
• “Permitting Renewable Energy Projects” (presenter), Renewable Energy Law, University of Oregon Law School, 2012
• “Oregon Land Use Update: Reviewing Interpretations of Local Land Use Regulations, Takings, and Industrial Lands Legislation” (presenter), Best of CLE, The Seminar Group, Portland, Oregon, 2011
• “No Controlling Authority: The Use of Public Lands for Carbon Sequestration” (presenter), Fifteenth Institute for Natural Resources Law Teachers, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, Stevenson, Washington, 2011
• “Oregon Land Use Update: Urban/Rural Reserves and Measures 37 and 49” (presenter), Best of CLE, The Seminar Group, Portland, Oregon, 2010
• “Approaches to Pore Space Rights” (co-author), California Carbon Capture and Storage Review Panel, 2010
• “Carbon Dioxide Pipelines” (co-author), California Carbon Capture and Storage Review Panel, 2010
• “Combining NEPA Compliance with Other Statutes: The National Historic Preservation Act and the Endangered Species Act” (co-author), Special Institute on the National Environmental Policy Act, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, 2010
• “The Interaction of NEPA and Other Federal Laws” (co-author), NEPA: Climate Change, Cumulative Impacts and Compliance, CLE International, 2009
• “Siting and Permitting Challenges” (co-author), Renewable Energy in the Pacific Northwest, Law Seminars International, 2007
• “Liberalization and Cravathism: How Liberalization Led to the Reorganization of the Legal Profession in Germany and Japan,” 43 Stanford Journal of International Law 169, 2007

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