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New president for Conservation Law Foundation

Print | Comments () Posted by Beth Daley April 15, 2009 06:46 AM

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By Beth Daley, Globe Staff

A long time Vermonter who served at the helm of the state’s Agency of Natural Resources has been chosen to head the Conservation Law Foundation, New England’s most influential environmental group.

John B. Kassel

John B. Kassel, 51, from Middletown, NY has lived in Vermont for 30 years and is a graduate of Middlebury College and Cornell Law School. Most recently he served as co-managing partner and co-founder of Shems Dunkiel Kassel & Saunders, a Burlington-based law firm, where he counseled non-profits and businesses on the creation and permitting of renewable energy projects.

Kassel will assume his new post on May 1. His selection to head the organization, which has a budget of nearly $6 million, culmininates a five-month search. CLF's 40 year history has included landmark efforts to block oil drilling off Georges Bank and, more recently, to help design the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the only existing mandatory carbon trading program in the US.

Kassel's “experience with community and environmental advocacy together with his strong belief in the need for a blend of legal advocacy with market-harnesses ventures makes him the perfect choice,’’ said Bill Coleman, interim president of CLF.

Reached by phone yesterday, Kassel said it was an exciting time to be at CLF – and in the environmental field.

Environmentalism, he said, is moving from a legacy of “pure advocacy and conservation to a more creative mix of those elements, and market-based solutions, that will produce environmental results and sustain themselves financially.”

“It is a loss for us, here on the ground, for our environmental and land use community,’’ said Kinvin Wroth, director of Vermont Law School's Land Use Institute and former president and dean of the school. Kassel serves on several advisory boards to Vermont Law School, including Wroth's institute. Wroth said Kassel comes with great experience in both private and public policy work. “It is a great choice for that position.”