Henry Gargan

Associate Attorney

Henry works with agencies responsible for stewarding the Southeast’s public lands as part of Southern Environmental Law Center’s National Forests and Parks program. He makes sure the agencies’ planning and project-level processes protect these precious environmental and cultural resources. He advocates for state and federal policy that protect wildlife species found only in the Southeast. 

Henry also assists with litigation protecting the integrity of critical environmental laws and advocates for Clean Water Act permitting processes vital to the protection of water quality in North Carolina and the Southern Appalachians. He helps develop and advocate for land management policies that protect the important carbon sequestration services of Southeastern forests. 

I feel so lucky to do work that strengthens and reflects my love for the places that made me who I am and to which I owe my happiest memories.

Associate Attorney Henry Gargan

“Every part of our relationship with the landscape, at all scales and in all places, deserves our care and respect,” says Henry. 

Henry’s interest in environmental work grew from his time in local journalism, where as a reporter for the Raleigh-based News & Observer he discovered his favorite stories seemed to address how communities were mediating the relationship between their respective landscapes and what their residents needed—housing, transportation, and so on. His experience with those processes and choices drew him into environmental law, and he was especially attracted to SELC’s community-based engagement with similar issues.

As a North Carolina native, he is especially proud of SELC’s long-term commitment to advocacy for communities affected by irresponsible industrial hog operations in the rural eastern part of the state. 

Previous Experience

  • Natural Resources Defense Council, intern
  • SELC, intern
  • J.D., Duke University School of Law, magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, with a certificate in public interest and public service law, Duke Law Journal, articles editor.
  • B.A., University of North Carolina
  • With SELC since 2021