Enviro Litigation Mill Loses Big

The Center for Biological Diversity, despite its name, is all about lawsuits, not biology. They even call themselves "Nature's Legal Eagles." Almost singlehandedly, the group has put millions of acres under layers of additional regulation, caused major economic hardships to millions by driving up the cost of housing and making ranching less profitable -- and they have lined their pockets handily in the process.

On slam-dunk lawsuits against the federal government, they collect taxpayer money for legal fees at the tune of $300 an hour, while they pay their ecowarrior litigators considerably less.

Now they've lost big -- $600,000 -- according to the Arizona Daily Star. (I can't find a link to the days-old article on their site, so I'm copying text in.)

Tucson's Center for Biological Diversity must pay rancher and banker Jim Chilton $600,000 because the environmental group defamed him with a press release and photos posted on its Web site, a jury decided Friday.

In a 9-1 verdict, jurors in Pima County Superior Court awarded Chilton $100,000 for the harm done to his reputation and Arivaca cattle company. The jury tacked on an additional $500,000 in punitive damages meant to punish the center and deter others from committing libel.

Chilton, whose wife, Sue, is chairwoman of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission, sued the center over material that alleged he mismanaged his 21,500-acre Forest Service allotment, northwest of Nogales.

Many of the center's 21 photos depicted barren patches that captions described as "denuded" by cows. But Chilton's lawyer showed jurors wide-angle photos taken at the same locations that revealed the surroundings as worthy of a postcard, with oaks and mesquites dotting lush, rolling hills.

It's about time. The Center's founder Kieran Suckling lamented that the lawsuit might have a chilling effect on activist groups. Good. They've had a free hand long enough, and because they collect money when they win and pay nothing when they lose, they have no self control, only misguided holy zeal.

Let's hope other victims of their lawsuit abuse see this as a signal from the refs to pile on.