The following post appears courtesy of the Environment and Natural Resources Division.

Today, on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, employees of the Justice Department, led by Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary G. Grindler and Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) Ignacia Moreno, rolled up their sleeves, planted trees, and cleaned up trash at  Marvin Gaye Park in Northeast Washington, D.C.  The park clean up and tree planting event has been a yearly tradition. ENRD has devoted over 2,500 hours to planting trees, removing trash, laying sod and gardening at the park since the service day began.

Assistant Attorney General Ignacia S. Moreno, Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary G. Grindler and Steve W. Coleman, Executive Director of Washington’s Parks and People plant a tree at Marvin Gaye Park in Washington, D.C.

Whether it’s protecting our nation’s air, land and water; ensuring cleanup of oil and hazardous waste; or promoting responsible stewardship of America’s wildlife and natural resources, the division’s attorneys and staff are making valuable contributions everyday to protect human health and the environment. The division also criminally enforces our nation’s pollution and wildlife laws, defends vital federal programs and interests, promotes national security and military preparedness and protects Indian resources.

To provide a deeper look at the many cases the division has worked on this part year, the Environmental and Natural Resources Division today released their annual report to the American people. Summarizing the accomplishments the division has made on behalf of Americans this year, the annual report is available for download on Justice.gov.

The report offers a detailed picture of some of the major litigation that impacted our environment this year, as well as offers up information about the division’s internal efforts to be better stewards of the planet.

Wondering what you can expect in the coming year? Assistant Attorney General Moreno lays it out in the report’s foreword:

“Be assured that I could not be more committed to fulfilling ENRD’s core mission: strong enforcement of civil and criminal environmental laws to ensure clean air, clean water and clean land for all Americans; vigorous defense of environmental, wildlife, and natural resources laws and agency actions; effective stewardship of our public lands and natural resources; and careful and respectful management of the United States’ trust obligations to Native Americans. To meet this challenge, we must be creative and resourceful.”

Check out the full report for yourself: ENRD 2009 Annual Report .

To find community service opportunities in your own neighborhood, visit Serve.gov

A Sea Turtle in the wild. Image courtesy of NOAA.

The following post appears courtesy of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of The Department of Justice. 

The Department of Justice, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was recognized this week with the Animal Welfare Institute’s Clark R. Bavin Law Enforcement Award for its successful work uncovering and prosecuting four sea turtle smuggling rings that were operating full-scale supply networks in Mexico and China with Operation Central. 

Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said:

“This award appropriately recognizes the talented and dedicated prosecutors in the Environmental Crimes Section, who worked tirelessly to break up these international smuggling rings. Let there be no doubt:  the United States is not a safe-market for illegal wildlife products.  We will continue to work with our allies around the world to stop the destructive practice of illegal wildlife smuggling.”

Operation Central uncovered four sea turtle smuggling rings – two based in Mexico and two in China – engaged in illegal trafficking in endangered and threatened sea turtles and other protected species, and products made from their parts.  The investigation and prosecution stands as the largest probe ever of the black market exploitation of highly endangered sea turtles.

Several of the sea turtle species illegally traded nest solely in Mexican waters, and this illegal trade had a significant impact on populations of these species.  The market value of the wildlife parts and products at issue was estimated at well over $1 million.  

The complex multi-year investigation, led by the Environment and Natural Resources Division, resulted in 12  individuals being charged with more than 50 counts of conspiracy, smuggling, and money-laundering.  The investigation included innumerable hours coordinating and supervising both the collection and translation of tape-recorded and electronic evidence, and the simultaneous take-down of the charged defendants in different jurisdictions.  It also included the preparation and execution of eight search warrants in five different states, and the simultaneous arrest of eight of the charged individuals, six of whom were lured to the United States from Mexico and China.  Through their diplomacy, the prosecution team also garnered the cooperation of the Mexican government in coordinating a simultaneous take-down in Mexico of other Mexican nationals suspected of engaging in similar conduct. 

All of the defendants lured to, or arrested in, the United States pleaded guilty and were sentenced. 
This effort curtailed illegal trade in a significant population of endangered sea turtles and other wildlife, and forged a cooperative and successful relationship with Mexican law enforcement authorities engaged in wildlife protection.  The case was handled jointly with the United States Attorney’s Office in the District of Colorado.

The Clark R. Bavin Law Enforcement award is named after the late Chief of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement.  For more information about the United States Delegation to the Convention of Internation Trade in Engandered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), visit uscites.gov.

Guests sign in for the ENRD Celebration

Today, Attorney General Holder, Assistant Attorney General Ignacia S. Moreno and current and past employees gather to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Environment and Natural Resources Division.  Special guests included former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, former Deputy Attorney General Carol Dinkins, and many former Assistant Attorneys General of the Division. 

Additionally, Attorney General Holder formally welcomed Assistant Attorney General Moreno as the new head of the Environment and Natural Resources Division: 

Ignacia is a talented, really fine attorney, and I know she arrives at this moment armed with great ideas.  I also know that she is already a friend to many of you here in the audience, and that you, like me, are looking forward to working with her to advance the Division’s important mission.  Ignacia helped develop the Department’s Environmental Justice program during the Clinton Administration, recognizing the special burden that a polluted environment puts on minority and low-income communities.  I am especially looking forward to working with her to strengthen our efforts to achieve environmental justice. 

The Assistant Attorney General arrives just in time to celebrate 100 years of work aquiring lands for national parks, working for cleaner air and water, helping to assure military readiness, and protecting wildlife. In these ways, and many more, the work of the Environment and Natural Resources Division has touched the lives of almost every American. 

 Exactly 100 years ago, on November 16, 1909, then-Attorney-General George W. Wickersham established the Public Lands Division of the United States Department of Justice.  As the nation grew and developed, the division’s name changed to the “Environment and Natural Resources Division.” The division is organized into nine sections,  has a staff of over 600 people with offices in Washington, D.C., Anchorage, Boston, Denver, Sacramento, San Francisco and Seattle.

 There are currently over 6,000 active cases, and has represented virtually every federal agency in courts all over the United States and its territories and possessions.

More information about the Environment and Natural Resources Division can be found on its centennial Web site.   There you can read about case highlights, learn about the people and resources of ENRD, and delve into the work of specific sections.

For more information about the Environment and Natural Resources Division, visit: http://www.justice.gov/enrd/index.html.