Laurie O'Reilly

Writer, editor, designer, and proofreader with expertise in conservation and outdoor subjects.

Writing

Feature articles, annual reports, blogs, executive ghost writing, invitations, scripts, reports, and more.

Feature Writing •

Helping Justice Take Root

A trip down Manchester’s Beech Street reveals a sad irony about its tree-inspired name: The farther south on Beech you travel, the fewer trees you’ll see. The same holds true of Chestnut, Elm, Pine, and Maple streets.

The unofficial dividing line in the city – Bridge Street – is perhaps more aptly named. North of Bridge, you’ll find neighborhoods filled with single-family houses. Trees here are not only abundant but also tall, lush, and decades old...
Annual Report Article Writing •

Taking the Long View

Sometimes, a good idea takes a long time to come to fruition. A very long time. It also takes vision, tenacity, and skill.

Take ocean planning – the idea that we can be smarter and more coordinated about how we collectively use, manage, and protect limited ocean resources. When the Northeast Regional Ocean Plan was approved for New England’s federal waters last year, it capped off a journey for CLF that began nearly two decades ago.
Annual Report Article Writing •

Stopping Childhood Lead Poisoning

For the past four years, Tom Irwin has talked to countless people about the tragedy of childhood lead poisoning. Especially before the Flint crisis put lead issues back in the headlines, he often would be met with the incredulous response, “But haven’t we solved that problem already?”

It’s a fair question, says Irwin, director of CLF’s New Hampshire Advocacy Center. “We’ve known that lead is a dangerous toxin, especially for kids, for decades, even before it was banned from paint in 1978.
Conservation Law Foundation •

Measuring Community Health

A New Research Model Puts the Community in the Driver’s Seat

One of the most significant ways to transform health and grow local economies is by improving neighborhoods through a type of development called transit-oriented development: high-density housing that integrates commercial, retail, and green space within easy walking distance of public transportation.

Promoting such development was the impetus behind the 2014 launch of the Healthy Neighborhoods Equity Fund, a partnership between CLF
Annual Report Article Writing •

Reclaiming the People’s Harbor

It doesn’t take long for Peter Shelley to warm to his story, though he’s told it countless times before. It’s the case that has defined the career of CLF’s senior statesman, transformed the organization into a litigation powerhouse, and changed the face of Boston forever. It’s the story of Boston Harbor, and it begins like so many modern epics – with an intrepid reporter, a three-part exposé, and a life-changing phone call.
Conservation Law Foundation •

Whale Watch

Listening to Zack Klyver describe North Atlantic right whales, it’s clear how much the veteran naturalist holds them in awe. “They are magnificent,” he says. “They’re over a hundred thousand pounds and 50 to 60 feet long, with an enormous black tail that’s very symmetrical and beautiful when they bring it up out of the water. They are just amazing animals to see.”

Seeing a right whale, however, is increasingly rare. Klyver has guided whale watching trips for more than 25 years, currently as hea
Conservation Law Foundation •

Local Food 2.0

Training a New Generation of Farmers in Western Massachusetts

For Rafael Herrero, farming is a family tradition. Though he admits, it skipped a generation. “My grandfather was a farmer in Puerto Rico,” he says, “but none of his sons became farmers themselves.” Today, Herrero is reviving his family’s heritage by training a new generation of urban farmers in Massachusetts.

As Director of Agriculture and Environment for Nuestras Raíces, a Holyoke-based community organization, Herrero is overseein
Conservation Law Foundation •

Restoring Lake Champlain

Reasons for Hope after Decades of Degradation

When it comes to the future of Vermont’s Lake Champlain, Crea Lintilhac is optimistic. “We’re going to clean up our waters,” declares the long-time CLF Vermont Board member (and now chair), who has lived on the shores of the iconic lake for nearly 30 years. Given that she has witnessed the lake’s increasing degradation over three decades, one wouldn’t blame her if her outlook was a bit less rosy.

But Lintilhac has also witnessed a shift in the publ
Conservation Law Foundation •

Talking Trash

On a Monday night in February, more than 100 people crowded into the Sturbridge, Massachusetts, town hall for an emergency meeting of the town’s Board of Health. Nineteen wells in the Sturbridge neighborhood closest to the massive Southbridge Landfill had just tested high for lead – a dangerous neurotoxin proven to do irreversible harm to young children. Recent tests had also revealed a possible carcinogen, 1,4 Dioxane, in six wells in the same testing area.

The residents in the town hall that
Conservation Law Foundation •

Boston Harbor 2.0

The New Frontier in the Fight to Save Boston Harbor

When CLF launched its 1983 lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for dumping toxic sludge and untreated wastewater into Boston Harbor, years of neglect by the federal government, the state, the city, and polluters had turned the harbor into a shameful liability. But over time, and thanks to the dedicated efforts of public and private partners, the harbor has become the pride of Boston and a centerpiece of booming economic growth, t
Conservation Law Foundation •

The Legal Food Hub

Noah Fralich moved back home to Maine with one ambition: to open a business on his family’s land in New Gloucester. His fledgling Norumbega Cidery was just getting off the ground when he hit a snag – the name of his business was already trademarked by someone else. Now, in the midst of trying to grow his business, he was confronting a significant legal issue, with limited means to afford a lawyer to help him solve the problem.

Fralich’s not alone. Like any small business, farmers and food entre
Conservation Law Foundation •

Our Changing Ocean

In September, leaders from around the world gathered in Washington, D.C., for the third annual Our Ocean Conference, hosted by Secretary of State John Kerry. Together, they committed to 136 new initiatives aimed at conserving and protecting fragile ocean areas worldwide.

In between commitments from the countries of Sri Lanka and Panama, CLF Vice President and Director of Ocean Conservation Dr. Priscilla Brooks took to the microphone to address heads of state and environment ministers from aroun
Conservation Law Foundation •

Community Voices: The Clean Energy Landscape

On one of those perfect, blue-sky-and-sunshine summer days that New Englanders dream of all winter long, Peter Baute emerges from a shaded trail into a small clearing overlooking Block Island Sound. At least half a dozen people mill about the clearing, cameras in hand, jockeying for the best angle of the scene before them.

They’re not here to photograph the cloudless sky, the blue-green water, or even the dramatic Mohegan Bluffs that plunge into the ocean nearby. Instead, they’re transfixed by
Newsletter Article •

Windward Progress

Climate change threatens our communities, our economy, and our environment – and it needs an urgent response now. Developing clean energy resources is a vital part of that response – and finding practical solutions that boost our ability to generate clean energy in responsible ways is key. That means tapping into resources that are naturally replenished and permanently sustainable. Fortunately, New England has plenty of both.

CLF has long championed clean energy in New England, taking a multi-f
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