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J.J. GOICOECHEA
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J.J. is the Eureka County Commission Chairman and a fourth generation rancher in Nevada’s Newark Valley. As a seated Eureka County commissioner, Goicoechea brings his understanding of public lands to his role as local government representative on the Sagebrush Ecosystem Council. He currently serves on the NACO Public Lands Task Force, and is past president of the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association. Goicoechea is a practicing veterinarian specializing in large-animal care, and serves as a board member on Nevada’s Veterinary Medical Association. Goicoechea attended University of Nevada, Reno, where he studied Veterinary Sciences, and received his D.V.M. from Colorado State University at Fort Collins.
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LAURA K. GRANIER
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Laura is a Partner in the Reno, Nevada office of Holland & Hart. She delivers pragmatic counsel to help mining, energy, and natural resources clients navigate litigation and regulatory challenges. Laura's clients, including large energy users, mining companies, and water purveyors, benefit from both her extensive litigation and regulatory experience, and her experience as Vice President and U.S. General Counsel for a large utility provider. Laura represents clients before numerous regulatory agencies including the Bureau of Land Management, United States Forest Service, Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, the Nevada Division of Water Resources, and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection. She has served as lead counsel in numerous regulatory proceedings including general rate cases, integrated resource planning and on complex water, resource and environmental agency issues. Laura also assists clients through the permitting process for projects on public and forest system lands.
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ERIK MOLVAR
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Erik is the Executive Director of Western Watersheds Project in Reno, Nevada. Erik cut his teeth in conservation in the field, doing more than half a million acres of wilderness inventory in Wyoming’s Red Desert and Medicine Bow Mountains. This led to a leadership position fighting oil and gas projects in Wyoming during the Bush administration. His signature accomplishment is defeating the 1,240-well Seminoe Road Coalbed Methane Project during that time. He wrote comprehensive, science-based conservation alternatives for federal land-use plans involving lands in the Red Desert, the Bighorn Basin, and the Medicine Bow National Forest. He spent 13 years as a conservation advocate and later Executive Director of Wyoming-based Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, and led WildEarth Guardians’ Sagebrush Sea Campaign for three years. Over this period, he became a national leader in sage grouse conservation and recovery. Molvar is a wildlife biologist with published research in the behavior, ecology, and population dynamics of Alaskan moose as well as large-scale conservation planning.
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BRET SUMNER
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Bret is a Shareholder in the Denver office of Beatty & Wozniak. He focuses his practice on energy and environmental matters. Bret specializes in advising clients on large scale infrastructure projects and permitting issues, involving multiple states and jurisdictions (federal, state and local) and a wide range of industry, agricultural, private landowner, local government, and other stakeholder interests. Bret represents companies in litigation, permitting, enforcement, and administrative proceedings. He regularly defends permits and projects from legal challenges, and he represents clients in federal and state courts, and before administrative adjudicatory entities. Bret’s project representation includes electric transmission, water pipelines, helium projects, rare and critical mineral development, interstate and intrastate oil and natural gas pipelines, and upstream oil and gas exploration and development projects. He specializes in counseling clients on front-end regulatory authorization and environmental compliance matters, with the twin goals of expediting project approvals from federal, state, and local agencies, and minimizing litigation risk.