In addition to authoring his new, comprehensive and educational book, “Green Gone Wild: Elevating Nature Above Human Rights,” M. David Stirling is known by many for his extensive career, which has led him to his present position as vice president of the Pacific Legal Foundation.

For the past decade, Stirling, 67, has assisted the efforts of the 501(c)(3) PLF, which ranks as the leading public interest legal organization of its kind in the nation.

With offices in four states and headquartered in Sacramento, PLF, which performs its work in the nation’s courts, has a mission to “advocate for limited government, to defend individual and economic freedoms, including the right to reasonably use private property, to promote balanced environmentalism and to advance the principles of free enterprise.”

A native of Morgan City, La., Stirling attended Principia College in Elsah, Ill., where he excelled both academically and athletically.

In addition to his status as an honor student at the school, Stirling was a highly touted football player, who received offers to try out for the San Diego Chargers and the Chicago Bears of the National Football League.

But persuaded by his parents to choose a different path in life, Stirling instead enrolled at the Tulane University School of Law, where he was among the graduates of 1965.

The following year, Stirling, while living in Whittier, Calif., was admitted as a member of the California Bar and soon afterward began the first of his seven years as a trial lawyer.

During this time, then-Gov. Ronald Reagan appointed Stirling as a member of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board in the Los Angeles Region.

Stirling said that he eventually decided he wanted to take a different route in life.

After leaving his work as a trial lawyer, Stirling briefly gave speeches on the state of the criminal justice system.

“I came right out of this criminal justice system, so people appreciated hearing what it was really like,” Stirling said. “I began to do more than just practice law. I began to be very much involved in the community.”

Stirling once again took another route in life when he served three terms as a member from the 64th District of the State Assembly.

In 1983, following his unsuccessful bid to become the district attorney of Los Angeles County, Stirling began the first of his six years as general counsel of the state’s Agricultural Labor Relations Board.

“That was a very controversial state agency that was really in the pocket, if you will, of Mr. Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers’ Union,” Stirling said. “It seemed like a bit of a challenge, but I like challenges. I took the job and it was one of the most stimulating jobs I ever had.”

Following his time with the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, Stirling spent a year as the superior court judge of Sacramento County.

In 1991, Stirling was named as chief deputy attorney general at the California Department of Justice. He held this position for the following eight years. He also led an unsuccessful bid as the GOP candidate for state attorney general in 1998.

Thirty-two days after leaving his position as chief deputy attorney general in 1999, Stirling began his work with PLF.

Stirling, who has two adult sons, Phillip and Dwight, and a 15-year-old daughter named Mikaela, said that in his free time he enjoys attending his daughter’s volleyball games and swimming meets at Christian Brothers High School with his wife Susanne, taking photographs of people, landscapes and sporting events, and of course, promoting his new book.