A senior attorney at Earthjustice is departing to start a new nonprofit devoted to rewilding the Potomac River.
Neil Gormley, who has been with Earthjustice since 2010, is pivoting away from legal affairs to focus squarely on plant and animal conservation along the Potomac. His nonprofit, called Wild Potomac, is slated to launch in early 2025 and will look to create opportunities for cleaning up the Potomac basin and reintegrating native species there.
The nonprofit’s goal is to restore the health of the Potomac ecosystem and to connect people with the natural landscape of the river, Gormley explained. The organization will focus on tangible opportunities to rewild the river and to educate people about Potomac wildlife, rather than legal advocacy on behalf of the basin.
“I don’t see litigation being one of the tools that we’re going to use at Wild Potomac,” Gormley said. “I’m just personally very excited about pursuing a different theory of change.”
