A recent Tufts Magazine article profiles Jeffrey Glassberg, founder of Debevoise pro bono client the North American Butterfly Association (NABA), and mentions the suit Debevoise lawyers filed demanding that the Trump administration conduct federally required environmental assessments, and follow legal due process before attempting to build a border wall through NABA’s 100-acre nature and wildlife sanctuary in South Texas.

The author writes, “[Mr. Glassberg] told me that he was suing a number of government agencies to fight the wall project, with the pro bono legal services of the New York firm Debevoise & Plimpton.”

In its 20-page complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, NABA said construction of the proposed wall along the southern border would cut off two-thirds of its property, effectively destroying the Butterfly Center. NABA owns and operates the National Butterfly Center (“NBC”), a vast conservation, education and research center in Mission, Texas. NABA has transformed what was an agricultural field, when acquired by NABA in 2002, into the largest botanical garden in the United States focused on using native plants in a garden setting. More than 220 species of wild butterflies have been seen at the NBC.

The Butterfly Effect
By Shannon Fischer
Spring 2018