Interview transcript, 1999 August 9-September 30

Audio recording and transcript of an oral history interview with Daniel Rohlf that was conducted by Clark Hansen in three sessions, from August 9 to September 30, 1999, at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, as part of the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series.

In this interview, Rohlf discusses his family background and early life in Denver, Colorado; shares his reasons for pursing a career as an environmental lawyer; and describes how his career led him to become a law professor at Lewis and Clark College in Portland. He discusses working on his 1989 book, “The Endangered Species Act: A Guide to Its Protections and Implementation,” and talks about his involvement in efforts to have salmon listed as endangered under that law. He discusses the results of the National Marine Fisheries Service’s biological opinion, which was issued in 1993. He speaks about the 1994 decision by Judge Malcolm F. Marsh to throw out that biological opinion, and about the revised opinion issued by the agency in 1995. He discusses litigation he was involved in regarding environmental law and the Columbia River Basin. He closes the interview by talking about the future of salmon in the basin.