Lowell E. Baier
Lowell E. Baier (born January 6, 1940) is an American attorney, successful entrepreneur, and an environmental historian and author. He has dedicated his life to natural resources and wildlife conservation. Throughout his career he has been an advisor to many elected officials and educators, including every successive presidential administration since George H. W. Bush, and has been an active and instrumental member of several national conservation groups. Early years and education. Lowell E. Baier was born on January 6, 1940, in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up on a farm outside the small town of Remington, Indiana. He  was a member of the Boy Scouts of America. He became an Eagle Scout in 1954, at the age of 14. In 1956 his Congressman Charles A. Halleck (R-2nd IN) appointed him to be his Page Boy in the United States House of Representatives, because he was the first Boy Scout to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout in Jasper County, Indiana. He developed a passion for wildlife and natural resource conservation early in life that has greatly influenced his career. Baier received his B.A. in economics and political science from Valparaiso University in 1961. He went on to attend  law school at Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington, Indiana, where he received his J.D. in 1964. He served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1956 to 1964. Career. Lowell E. Baier's intellectual curiosity during his long career has taken him from a practicing attorney, to an entrepreneur, to a tireless advocate for natural resources and wildlife conservation, to a legal and environmental historian and author. After law school, Baier moved to Washington, D.C., to practice law. During the early years of his law career, he formed Baier Properties, Inc., based in Bethesda, Maryland. This company develops warehouses , residential properties, award-winning office buildings, and shopping centers. Baier has devoted much of his life's work to natural resources and wildlife conservation. He was one of the original founders of the Wild Sheep Foundation. This organization funds over $2.4 million annually to reestablish historically extant habitats and populations of the four species of wild sheep in North America. Baier's exploratory work for this organization led to his active participation in creating similar programs in Russia and Mongolia. Baier has been active in the Boone and Crockett Club (America's oldest wildlife conservation organization) since 1975. Baier  is its first President Emeritus, and was elected an Honorary Life Member in 2016. Baier has taken his environmental and wildlife conservation passion into politics as well, having served as an advisor to many elected officials and educators. Baier took the lead in drafting President George H. W. Bush's wildlife conservation agenda in 1989, and has been an advisor and counselor to all successive presidential administrations. From 1992 to 2010, Baier led in the creation of Ph.D. programs at four separate universities dedicated to postgraduate studies in natural resources and wildlife conservation management. From 2004 to 2007, he led  a national campaign to raise $6.5 million to purchase for the federal government the last and largest remaining piece of privately held land that was initially Theodore Roosevelt's historic Elkhorn Ranch, established in 1884. Adjacent to the existing Theodore Roosevelt National Park, also once part of the ranch, this purchase expanded the national park by virtually one-third its size. The Elkhorn is popularly called the "Cradle of Conservation" and the "Walden Pond of the West" since between 1884-1887 Theodore Roosevelt here conceived the cornerstones of the American conservation movement as we know it today. Scholarship. Baier  has authored several books pursuant to his passion for wildlife and natural resources conservation, including "Inside the Equal Access to Justice Act: Environmental Litigation and the Crippling Battle over America’s Lands, Endangered Species, and Their Critical Habitat" (2016); a sequel, "Playing God with Nature: The Codex of the Endangered Species Act" (forthcoming 2018); and is currently at work on "Voices from the Wilderness: A Biography", celebrating America's wilderness preservation system and the fiftieth anniversary of the Wilderness Act (due 2019). Lowell E. Baier's book "Inside the Equal Access to Justice Act: Environmental Litigation and the Crippling Battle  over America's Lands, Endangered Species, and Critical Habitats" was named the 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Grand Prize Winner in non-fiction in 70 categories from over 7,000 books submitted, as well as the Winner in the Science/Nature/Environment category. His book has also been chosen as a 2016 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award finalist in the two categories of Ecology/Environment and History, as well as a finalist for the Forest History Society’s Charles A. Weyerhaeuser Book Award. One of America's preeminent experts on environmental litigation, Baier's 2016 book chronicles the  century-long story of America's resources management, focusing on litigation, citizen suit provisions, and attorneys' fees. He provides the first book-length comprehensive examination of the little know [Equal Access to Justice Act] (EAJA) and its role in environmental litigation, focusing on its detrimental effect on wildlife and endangered species. In addition to authoring several books, Baier has been published in several law reviews and journals, including: Professional contributions. In addition to his work as an advisor to politicians and educators on conservation issues, Baier has had an extensive career of public service and volunteerism, serving on numerous boards  and commissions, and has been recognized many times over the years for his service, both locally and nationally. He currently serves on the Executive Committee for the Theodore Roosevelt Association, the President's Council of the National Wildlife Federation, the Conservation Leadership Council sponsored by the Environmental Defense Fund, the Roosevelt-Rockefeller Brothers Conservation Roundtable, the Explorers Club, the Cosmos Club, and is Vice Chairman of the National Conservation Leadership Institute. Personal life. Baier lives in suburban Washington, D.C., with his wife, Bonnie, whom he married in 1968. He is an avid collector of art and 19th century animalier bronze  sculpture works. He contemporaneously continues to practice law, specializing in wildlife conservation and natural resources policy, legislation, and regulation, he manages Baier Properties, Inc., and writes extensively.