Overview

Danielle is a skilled problem-solver, advisor, and litigator with a comprehensive understanding of federal administrative procedures, public land and natural resource management, and the intersecting responsibilities of federal, state, tribal, and local environmental and land-management agencies.

Danielle has extensive experience with administrative proceedings before government agencies and legal disputes arising under the National Environmental Policy Act, Federal Land Policy and Management Act, Mineral Leasing Act, General Mining Law of 1872, Endangered Species Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Administrative Procedure Act.

Prior to joining Welborn, Danielle worked for over thirteen years as an attorney in the Office of the Solicitor for the U.S. Department of the Interior. While at Interior, she advised the Bureau of Land Management on diverse natural resource management issues related to energy development, rights-of-way, mining, and recreation; handled numerous administrative and judicial appeals; and became familiar with the operations of various federal agencies with intertwined public land and natural resource management responsibilities, including the Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, and Office of Natural Resources Revenue.

Danielle also practiced in environmental and natural resources law and commercial litigation at the Denver offices of two national law firms.

Experience & Results

• Danielle provides strategic advice to clients about what to anticipate when working with federal agencies to advance projects on public lands and how to work through challenges. She is familiar with the procedures involved in federal oil and gas leasing and permitting, authorization of renewable energy and transmission rights-of-way on public lands, and approval of hardrock mining plans of operation. Danielle understands the factors that influence agency decision-making, including analysis of potential impacts to resources and resource uses, the roles of Tribal and interagency consultation and public involvement, and the constraints and opportunities of the federal and state legal framework.
• Danielle is adept at analyzing complex resource challenges that arise from the layered directives in agency regulations and guidance, executive policies, federal resource and environmental statutes (Federal Land Policy and Management Act, Mineral Leasing Act, Indian Mineral Development Act, General Mining Law, Endangered Species Act, Clean Air Act, and Clean Water Act) and state laws. She assists clients in their analysis and planning for proposing projects on federal or tribal lands and guides them in working with agencies to refine and improve project proposals. Danielle also helps clients with participation in public comment opportunities during agency decision-making that affects their interests, such as rulemakings, resource management plans, and project proposals.
• When clients are adversely affected by agency decisions, Danielle represents them in seeking administrative or judicial review. She also represents clients in defending project-approval or rulemaking decisions challenged by other parties. Her litigation experience includes defending agency planning, leasing, and permitting decisions in cases involving impacts to greenhouse gases and climate, air quality, water quality, wildlife habitat, wilderness values, areas of critical environmental concern, and recreation. She has defended federal enforcement orders and has represented regulated entities in CERCLA and state environmental compliance proceedings. She counsels clients in evaluating whether settlement advances their interests, and is a trusted advisor in negotiating workable solutions that avoid or curtail litigation.

Practice Areas

• Public Lands
• Natural Resources
• Renewable Energy
• Transmission Permitting
• Federal Oil and Gas
• Mining
• Tribal Lands and Minerals
• Environmental Compliance
• Administrative Appeals
• Litigation

Publications

• D. M. Bennett & D. DiMauro, Piecing it Together – A Guide to Finding NEPA Resources, THE FOUNDATION FOR NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY LAW, SPECIAL INSTITUTE ON NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT (2023)
• R.W. Watson & D. DiMauro, Expanding Use of the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Renewable Energy Development on Public Lands, ABA PUBLIC LANDS AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER (2008)
• D. DiMauro, The Migratory Bird Rule and Constitutional Avoidance in Solid Waste Agency, 74 UNIV. COLO. L. REV. 795 (2003)
• D. DiMauro and M. L. Hunter, Jr., Reproduction of Amphibians in Natural and Anthropogenic Temporary Pools in Managed Forests, 48 FOREST SCIENCE 397 (2002)

Professional & Community Involvement

• Open Space Advisory Committee – Jefferson County, Colorado – Member at Large

Speaking Engagement

• “Administrative Appeals of Public Land Management Decisions”; National Association of Counties, Public Lands Policy Steering Committee Meeting, Adams County, Colorado, July 21, 2022.

Education

• J.D., University of Colorado School of Law, 2003
• M.S., University of Maine, Wildlife Ecology, 1998
• B.A., Smith College, Biological Sciences, 1992

Bar Admissions / Qualifications

• Colorado, 2003
• U.S. District Court, District of Colorado, 2004
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, 2005