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Making Nuclear Warheads at the Los Alamos National Laboratory - Center for Research on Globalization

Replacing and stockpiling bombs that no one should ever use is insane. How can people who say they enjoy the Land of Enchantment seem so hell-bent on breaking the spell?

ATVs Threaten Biological 'Hot Spot' - Courthouse News Service

An off-roading plan will transform the geologically unique Pryor Mountains, sacred to the Crow Indians, into a "motorized playground," six environmental groups claim in Federal Court.

DNRC to schedule hearing on water rights protections - Billings Gazette

Several Montana ranchers and water users who petitioned the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation over a water rights issue were notified Monday that the matter will get a closer look.

Approval of gas terminal draws several appeals - Register Guard

Opponents say federal regulators who OK’d the project failed to adequately consider the impacts

Oregon, others petition FERC to halt gas pipeline - Mail Tribune

Groups say the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission failed to meet standards set in the Clean Water Act, Coast Zone Management Act

Oregon AG threatens lawsuit over proposed LNG terminal - Legal Newsline.com

Kroger filed the challenge along with fellow Democrat Gov. Ted Kulongoski.

Enviros seek rehearing of Jordan Cove LNG port - KTVZ.com

Some environmental groups are joining the state of Oregon in asking federal regulators to reconsider approval for a liquefied natural gas port on Coos Bay and a related pipeline to the California border.

A safe passage: Competition in Vail hopes to help wildlife cross the road - Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

The site was chosen from 22 possible locations across North America and is expected to draw competitors from around the world attempting to make affordable wildlife crossing structures safe for animals and motorists.

Forest Service rewriting Bush logging rule - Associated Press

After striking out the last three times, the U.S. Forest Service is embarking on another rewrite of the basic planning rule that balances logging against fish and wildlife and clean water in national forests.

Can you design a bridge for wildlife on Vail Pass? - Vail Daily

Competition next year seeks unique designs for overpass the would span I-70 on West Vail Pass

Back on the road to recovery - Durango Telegraph

The Mexican gray wolf has taken a big step back into the Southwest. A recent legal settlement has buoyed efforts to recover the endangered animal, and the wolf will soon have freer range over the Arizona, New Mexico and possibly Colorado backcountry.

Montana ranchers seek to curb residential wells - Associated Press

Ranchers in Montana has asked a state agency to stop giving away water use rights for tens of thousands of new homes being built in areas once dominated by agriculture.

Review of New Mexico's Water Quality Standards Begins December 8, 2009 - Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety News Update

The federal Clean Water Act requires each state to review the adequacy of their water quality standards at least once every three years.

Confirmation Shifts 4th Circuit Court Toward Democrats' Appointees - The New York Times

The Senate yesterday confirmed a long-stalled judicial nominee to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, swinging the ideological balance of a conservative-leaning bench that has issued a string of decisions unfavorable to environmental interests.

State enters fray over Waldo Lake: The marine board may soon vote to ban gas-powered boats on the pristine body of water - The Register-Guard

Arguing under a states-rights banner, Lane County timber heir Steven Stewart — and his father, Stub, before him — have long stalled the U.S. Forest Service’s 20-year effort to banish gas-powered boats from pristine Waldo Lake. But now the state is exercising its right to regulate the lake by proposing a gas-powered motorboat ban that’s just like the Forest Service’s sidelined proposal.

Apocalypse Soon: Today’s environmental horrors could lead to a scary Sci-Fi future - Santa Fe Reporter

Here in the Land of Enchantment, environmental horrors abound. Corporations influence the government’s ability to regulate environmental emergencies, people who might otherwise be allies have faced off against one another in battle, and climate change is already punching its tentacles into the Southwestern landscape. Herein, SFR explores New Mexico’s potential, scary science fiction future—the dystopias that could be—if actions aren’t taken to address today’s environmental, economic and political realities.

National Groups ask EPA to looks at CAFOs - Magic Valley Times News

A coalition led by the Humane Society of the United States has asked the U.S. Environmental Pro-tection Agency to start regulating confined-animal feeding operations under the Clean Air Act, curbing emissions of hydrogen sulfide, ammonia and two greenhouse gases.

Preserve states’ right to fight climate change - Grist

In his Sept. 22 U.N. speech President Obama got it right: the battle to arrest calamitous climate change can be won only if each of us enlists, perseveres, and fights “for every inch of progress.”

Coalition Asks EPA to Regulate Greenhouse Gases and Other Toxic Air Pollutants From Factory Farms - Common Dreams

The Humane Society of the United States and a coalition of environmental and public health organizations filed a legal petition with the Environmental Protection Agency seeking to regulate air pollution from factory farms.

LNG opponents appeal Clatsop County decision to state - The Daily Astorian

Opponents of the Bradwood Landing liquefied natural gas project filed notice Tuesday that they will appeal Clatsop County commissioners' recent approval of the Bradwood Landing liquefied natural gas project.

Gunnison Sage Grouse Gets Another Chance at Protection - Common Dreams

A western Colorado county and a coalition of national and regional environmental organizations have agreed to settle a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failure to list the highly imperiled Gunnison sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act. The agreement requires the agency to prepare a new listing decision by June 30, 2010.

Celebrating safer, cleaner air in Oregon's field burning Sacrifice Zone - The Oregonian

More than 200 guests came from all over Oregon's Sacrifice Zone -- small communities like Junction City, Harrisburg, Alvadore, Coburg and Brownsville -- to celebrate their historic legislative victory.

In Colorado, it's not about why the wildlife cross the road, but whether they'll survive the trip - Denver Westword

No one knows exactly when the first elk wandered into the median around milepost 142, but after a few days they were hard to ignore. By that point, there were 25 or 30 of them spread over three miles, trapped, cars and trucks streaking by them on the interstate that flanked them north and south.

Groups Challenge Montana Logging - Courthouse News Service

A Forest Service plan to sell timber on a burned section of Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest ignores scientific debate over salvage logging and invokes a bogus "emergency situation" to begin immediately, environmentalists claim in Federal Court.

Supplemental NEPA analysis sought for Jordan Cove project - Energy Current

The Western Environmental Law Center has requested that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) undertake a supplemental National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis and environmental impact statement to document the environmental effects of the proposed Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.

Species viability on national forests preserved! - High Country News - The GOAT Blog

Yet another attempt by the Bush Administration to change federal regulations in order to accelerate logging on the national forests has apparently gone down in flames. On the last day of June a federal judge in Oakland overturned regulations the Bush Administration crafted in order to gut a provision of the National Forest Management Act. That provision requires that the Forest Service protect fish and wildlife on the national forests. The Bush Administration sought to maintain habitat but not to monitor whether that habitat was effectively protecting fish and wildlife.

Bush-era Northwest logging plan withdrawn: Activists had sued to protect northern spotted owls and salmon - The Associated Press

The Obama administration on Thursday withdrew the Bush administration's last attempt at increasing logging in federal forests in the Pacific Northwest that are occupied by northern spotted owls and salmon. Assistant Interior Secretary Ned Farquhar told a conference call of attorneys Thursday that they had determined the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's decision not to consult federal biologists over the logging's effects on spotted owls and salmon violated the Endangered Species Act.

How a $9 ad launched a career in environmental advocacy - Greenwire

In Practice Profile: MATT KENNA. In Practice is an occasional feature profiling prominent environmental attorneys. Position: attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center. Location: Durango, Colo. "Will work for cheap -- or free -- if the cause is right." So said the $9 ad in the Durango, Colo., High Country News. Lucky for Matt Kenna, a recent law school graduate trying to kick-start his environmental practice, the unconventional plea caught the attention of three former Forest Service employees in search of an attorney.

Judge Tosses Bush-Era Forest Management Regulations - New York Times

A federal judge sided with environmentalists yesterday and threw out Bush-era Forest Service regulations that govern management plans for national forests. Judge Claudia Wilken of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the service failed to analyze the effects from removing requirements guaranteeing viable wildlife populations. The planning rule determines how 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands develop individual forest plans, governing activities from timber harvests to recreation and protecting endangered plants and animals.

Judge overturns Bush administration logging rule - The Associated Press

A federal judge has struck down the Bush administration's change to a rule designed to protect the northern spotted owl from logging in national forests. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ruled from Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday that the U.S. Forest Service failed to take a hard look at the environmental impacts of changing the rule to make it easier to cut down forest habitat of species such as the spotted owl and salmon on 193 million acres of national forests.

EPA Allows States to Enforce Stricter GHG Tailpipe Emissions Limits: A hard-fought victory for Environmental Groups - Mountain Gazette

In a critical step to combat global warming, the U.S. EPA today granted to California a long-delayed waiver for California's greenhouse gas reduction law for new vehicles. Today’s action reverses President Bush’s denials of the waiver request in 2007 and 2008.

Environmentalists Push for Pesticide Labeling - Courthouse News Service

The Environmental Protection Agency failed to protect Californians from toxic chemicals by delaying a decision on their petition to require the disclosure of hazardous ingredients on pesticide labels, environmentalists claim in Federal Court.

Field burning phaseout: Overdue -- or an environmental disaster? - KVAL News

By the slimmest of margins, the state legislature has voted to ban most open field burning in Oregon by the summer of 2010. "It's crazy that we're even considering not doing it," says co-owner Danuta Pfeiffer of Pfeiffer Vineyards near Junction City.

Supreme Court Said to Stymie Environmental Causes - Scientific American

Environmental interests were trounced in the 2009 Supreme Court term that ends Monday. In five high-profile cases, the justices overturned decisions that favored environmentalists. They ruled in favor of the Navy in a case pitting national security concerns against the welfare of marine mammals; limited the scope of liability for a Superfund cleanup; and reversed a decision that held no cost-benefit test could be used to determine the best technology for withdrawing water from rivers to cool power-plant turbines.

Wilderness Group Fights for Missouri Breaks - Courthouse News Service

Environmentalists say the Bureau of Land Management is allowing too much grazing and development on the Upper Missouri River Breaks Monument, some of the wildest and most scenic country in the Great Plains.

EDITORIAL: Put out the fires - The Legislature should approve the field burning bill - Register-Guard

Compromise is the yeast that makes the legislative bread rise in Salem. But too much yeast can spoil the loaf, and supporters of a ban on field burning should make no further concessions in their efforts to end this antiquated, health-endangering practice in Oregon.

The Oregon Legislature must finish some business - Oregonian

As the Oregon Legislature lurches toward adjournment, several important bills must not get lost in the rush to get out of Salem...The reeling economy has dealt lawmakers a dreadful hand this year, severely limiting their opportunity for landmark legislation. However, they can still make history by passing Senate Bill 528 and putting a stop to the open burning of grass seed fields in the Willamette Valley.

Group sues over plan to manage Missouri Breaks - Great Falls Tribune

A conservation group is accusing the U.S. Bureau of Land Management of managing a national monument in northcentral Montana as if it were run-of-the-mill public land, but the agency is standing by its plan.

Conservationists File Lawsuit to Defend Scenic, Natural and Historic Values of the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument - Mountain Gazette

The Western Environmental Law Center on behalf of the Montana Wilderness Association (MWA) filed a complaint in Federal District Court against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for violating laws protecting the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument in north-central Montana.

Killing Fields: Field burning’s deadly legacy from the I-5 pile-up to today’s toxic air - Eugene Weekly

The fight over field burning began in the 1960s, but that young family’s tragic death in 1988 is probably the grimmest reminder of the dangers of field burning smoke. This summer marks the release in paperback of William Wharton’s novel Ever After: A Father’s True Story that chronicles the life and death of his daughter, Kate du Aime Rodewald, and her family in that field burning accident, and it also marks yet another attempt in the Oregon Legislature to put an end to the controversial practice. A bill to phase-down the practice introduced by Gov. Ted Kulongoski died in committee, but Senate Bill 528, written as a ban on burning, is struggling its way from committees to the Senate this week, and its advocates have long hoped it would mark a complete end to the fires in the grass seed fields of Oregon.

Conservation group sues over Missouri Breaks plan - WKRG News

A Montana group has sued the federal government over a new management regime for the Upper Missouri River Breaks that closes some roads and backcountry airstrips but not as many as conservationists had sought.

Association files complaint against BLM - Great Falls Tribune

The Western Environmental Law Center, on behalf of the Montana Wilderness Association (MWA), filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Missoula Thursday against the Bureau of Land Management, alleging the agency violated laws protecting the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument in northcentral Montana.

Feds, States Join to Safeguard Western Wildlife Corridors - Environmental News Service

When new electrical transmission lines are built, migratory animals can be disrupted. Today, Western governors and Cabinet secretaries signed an agreement to work together on protecting wildlife corridors essential to the survival of migratory animals such as pronghorn, caribou, mule deer, and elk.

Natural Gas: “Clean” Energy in the West? - Grassroots Press

It’s no secret the West is heating up. According to a 2008 report by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization and NRDC, entitled Hotter and Drier: The West’s Changed Climate, the American West in the last five years has experienced warming “70 percent more than the overall planet’s warming.”

Groups Challenge Snowmobile Trails - Courthouse News Service

Environmentalists say the U.S. Forest Service illegally approved the "grooming" of 158 miles of snowmobile trails in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, without public notice or comment or environmental analysis. Plaintiffs claim, among other things, that the snowmobiles will devastate wolverines. Wildlands CPR and Friends of the Bitterroot are represented in Federal Court by Sarah McMillan with the Western Environmental Law Center.

Ban field burning to protect Oregon - Ashland Daily Tidings

Ample information is available to justify an immediate end to the state's field burning program. Without spending an additional dime of scarce public funds, lawmakers in Salem can improve public health and save lives. They should do it now, without further delay, by ending field burning.

Waldo Lake ruling unclear - Register Guard

A lawsuit challenging a ban on motor boats doesn’t resolve the question of the Forest Service’s ability to decide the issue

Field burning: Ban it to protect Oregon - Statesman Journal

A confluence of recent science and newly-analyzed data linking field burning to dangerous air pollution now presents lawmakers in Salem with the best opportunity in decades to put an end to this antiquated practice.

Snowmobilers vie for acreage in lynx habitat - Washintgon Times

The Washington and Wyoming state snowmobile associations filed a lawsuit earlier this month in U.S. District Court in Cheyenne challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to designate parts of six states as critical lynx habitat.

Rule focuses on aerial applicators - Capital Press

Upcoming changes to the Environmental Protection Agency pesticide application permit will affect aerial applicators more than farmers, an agency lawyer says.

Snowmobile groups sue over lynx habitat - Seattle Times

Snowmobile groups in Wyoming and Washington have filed suit challenging the federal government's designation of 39,000 square miles of land in six states as critical habitat for the threatened Canada lynx.

Field burning should go the way of the wigwams - The Oregonian

Last summer only about 150 of Oregon's 1,500 grass-seed farmers set fire to their fields. The growers now urging the Legislature to allow them to keep burning are indeed the holdouts, the farming equivalent of the last wigwarm burners that churned out smoke until the state forced them to stop.

It's time to end field burning - The Oregonian

Guest opinion by WELC's Dan Galpern and Maya Leonard-Cahn. A confluence of recent science and newly analyzed data linking field burning to dangerous air pollution now presents lawmakers in Salem with the best opportunity in decades to put an end to this antiquated practice. Both House Bill 2183, sponsored by Gov. Ted Kulongoski, and Senate Bill 528, authored by a number of legislators, would cleanse the Willamette Valley of field burning smoke.

Wash. Farmers To Keep Playing By Old Pollution Rules - Law360

Large-scale farms in Washington will not have to scrutinize their manure pollution more closely, now that a Washington state appeals court has upheld a regulatory body's decision allowing relatively lax regulation, over the objections of environmentalists.

Field burning: A smoky-orange sunset in rye-grass country - The Oregonian

Guest Opinion - The spring grass carpeting the floor of the Willamette Valley is emerald green. The farm where I lived and worked for five summers is quiet, the only sounds the distant buzz of a crop-dusting plane and the murmers of a crew spot-spraying a bentgrass field. Listening to the debate in the Legislature, it is hard to recognize my farm experience, or the farmers I worked for. Some of the opponents of field burning seem to think farmers look forward to field burning. In fact, as my former boss told me as we drove around his farm last week, looking at his lush fields, "I hated it. I hated every minute of it."

Groups protest sale of gas, oil leases - Associated Press, Durango Herald

A coalition of sportsmen and environmental groups is challenging the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's quarterly natural-gas and oil-lease sale on Earth Day, saying the agency is failing to address concerns about global warming. Erik Schlenker-Goodrich of the Western Environmental Law Center said Tuesday the need for BLM to address emissions has become more important given a finding last week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases emitted by cars and many industrial plants "endanger public health and welfare."

Clean Air Act: Rules continue under EPA in the Four Corners area - Indian Country Today

Air quality rules in the Four Corners area will remain largely unchanged after requests for a review of the Environmental Protection Agency’s pollution-limiting regulations were denied in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals April 14. Environmentalists and tribal groups maintained the emissions controls should be more stringent, designed according to state-of-the-art methods, and embodied in a new plan that would further restrict pollutant emissions. Matt Kenna, of the Western Environmental Law Center, Durango, Colo., who represented the environmental/tribal groups, said that under the appellate court’s decision, at least current limits were upheld. However, the ruling “seems to give EPA more flexibility on Indian lands than on non-Indian lands” and it appears that the Clean Air Act itself is “not as stringent for Indian country as elsewhere.”

Groups protest oil and gas lease sale - Associated Press, Forbes

A coalition of sportsmen and environmental groups is challenging the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's quarterly oil and natural gas lease sale on Earth Day, saying the agency is failing to address concerns about global warming.

Guest Viewpoint: The data is in: End field burning now - The Register Guard

Guest Viewpoint Article by WELC's Dan Galpern and Maya Cahn. A confluence of recent science and newly analyzed data linking field burning to dangerous air pollution now presents lawmakers in Salem with the best opportunity in decades to put an end to this antiquated practice. Both House Bill 2183, sponsored by Gov. Ted Kulongoski, and Senate Bill 528, authored by a number of legislators, would cleanse the Willamette Valley of field-burning smoke.

EPA must issue greenhouse pollution restictions, including for soot, with this month's endangerment finding - Mountain Gazette

The Western Environmental Law Center (WELC) sent an urgent letter to Lisa Jackson, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, urging her to speed issuance of regulations aimed at restricting greenhouse pollution and to include black carbon, or soot, among climate forcing agents to be regulated.

To Burn or Not to Burn? - Oregon Public Broadcasting

WELC's Charlie Tebbutt was featured on Oregon Public Broadcasting's "Think Out Loud" program discussing field burning.

Conservationists Applaud EPA Decision to Not Seek Reversal of Victory Protecting Local Water Supplies, Fisheries & Wildlife - Mountain Gazette

Rebuffing the Department of Agriculture, the Justice Department today announced that it will not seek rehearing of a recent significant environmental decision.

Vilsack vs. WELC - Eugene Weekly

Eugene-based Western Environmental Law Center’s (WELC) recent legal victory that ended a Bush administration policy allowing the application of pesticides to waterways without a permit is facing opposition from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and senators on the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

A mom's last words: 'I don't want to die' (Oregon's Sacrifice Zone -- an occasional series) - The Oregonian

Understandably, Paul Vogel will never forgive Idaho's grass seed growers for their role in the death of his wife. Sharon Vogel, a fit, athletic 37-year-old with asthma, died on Aug. 15, 1996, a night when their Idaho community of Sandpoint was blanketed in smoke from the farmers' fields.

Environmental policy a specialty of Obama's solicitor general - New York Times

"Under Kagan, we are likely to see the government take a less hostile approach to environmental enforcement," said Matt Kenna of the Western Environmental Law Center.

Breathers vs. burners - The Oregonian

It's no contest: The health dangers of field smoke overwhelm the economic benefits enjoyed by a few grass-seed growers.

Group seeks larger lynx designation - Durango Telegraph

An alliance of environmental groups trying to add the southern Rocky Mountain region to the list of Canada lynx habitats has threatened legal action against the federal government if the region isn't designated a legally and biologically critical habitat by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

End burning in valley - Register Guard

Bills give lawmakers choice of approaches

Threatened Canada Lynx Protection Falls Short - Mountain Gazette

Conservationists Ask Obama to Heed the Science and Provide Greater Habitat Protection

Bills would quench Oregon grass seed field burning - The Oregonian

But the Democratic-run Legislature is considering two bills -- House Bill 2183 and Senate Bill 528 -- that would ban the field-sanitizing practice. Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who worries about the smoke's effects on hearts and lungs, is behind the House bill.

Groups say designated lynx habitat inadequate - Seattle Times

In northeastern Washington and areas of Montana, the revised habitat designation excludes places important in providing connections for lynx habitat in Canada and the northwestern states, and between the northern and southern Rockies.

Court decision could speed up small timber harvests - Capital Press

Timber industry representatives say a U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting certain environmental challenges could speed up the sales of small-scale harvesting plans on federal lands.

Desert Rock hits another new hitch - Durango Telegraph

“Whether or not this indicates that the government is completely rethinking the power plant … it is good news for the health of the people of the Navajo Nation, the Four Corners region, and the rest of the world,” said Durango attorney Matt Kenna of the Western Environmental Law Center

Tipton asks top attorney to address pollution - Durango Herald

Study: Four Corners Power Plant emits most nitrous oxide in U.S.

Field-burning debate reignites - Statesman Journal

State health panel hears testimony

Ban on Oregon field burning draws heated testimony - KVAL.com

With her two preschoolers in tow, Stayton resident Stephanie Jorgensen tearfully pleaded with lawmakers to protect her children from the effects of those towering columns of smoke that rise up from Willamette Valley grass seed farms each summer.

Discussion on field burning begins - Register Guard

Emotional testimony opens the yearly argument on the effects of burning grass fields

Doom for Desert Rock? - Local Dialogue

Many New Mexicans have been involved in the fight against Desert Rock, but two grassroots activists in particular illustrate how effective incremental progress, full-time dedication and on-the-ground community organizing can be against flashy public relations campaigns, political inaction and something as seemingly indomitable as a $4 billion coal-fired power plant.

Wind farms: the new NIMBY - Summit Daily News

Among the objections: shadow flicker, vibration, noise, blighted view, lighted towers at night, and the remote chance that a turbine will break or fling off a chunk of ice.

Oregon Bills Would Snuff Out Field Burning - Salem-News.com

The hearings for two bills that would eliminate field burning are scheduled for this week.

Environmentalists call feds' decision to reassess Navajo power line a victory - Arizona Daily Star

"It could indicate a willingness on the part of this administration to rethink the whole Desert Rock, Navajo Transmission Project, or it could be an acknowledgment on their part that the environmental analysis was willfully inadequate," said Matt Kenna, an attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center.

Oregon air monitors miss most field burning pollution, report says - The Oregonian

Oregon's air quality monitors are spaced too far apart to record most of the harmful pollution from Willamette Valley grass field burning, according to a group advocating for an end to the burns.

Local lawyer hears from Supreme Court - Durango Telegraph

In their ruling announced this week, Supreme Court justices smiled on one piece of Kenna’s case but frowned on another.

Supreme Court Excludes Public Comment, Appeal of Small Timber Sales - Environment News Service

"We are disappointed that the court reinstated these harmful forest regulations," said Matt Kenna, the Western Environmental Law Center attorney who argued the case before the Supreme Court.

Bush Logging Rule is Reinstated - Los Angeles Times

Former Agriculture Under Secretary Mark Rey will be smiling. Rey oversaw the Forest Service under Bush and his pet peeves were appeals and lengthy environmental reviews, which he called "analysis paralysis."

Supreme Court limits advocacy groups' standing to challenge public lands rules - New York Times

Advocacy groups cannot challenge federal regulations on public lands unless they can prove they are themselves directly threatened by the proposed rules, the Supreme Court ruled in a split decision.

Seeking safer passage for critters - Denver Post

Animals crossing roads — deer, elk, sheep, bears and lynx — create the third-biggest source of vehicle collisions in Colorado. A coalition of environmental groups is pressing state transportation officials to commit 1 percent of a projected $650 million in state and federal highway funds for wildlife-related projects.

Oregon's sacrifice zone: Listen to the physicians - The Oregonian

Smoke from Willamette Valley grass-seed field burning is not a mere nuisance; it's harmful to everyone's health.

A test of wells, a test of trust in Lower Valley - Yakima Herald-Republic

State health officials at the workshop explained how residents can get their water tested and what they can do if the results show a problem.

Wind setbacks - High Country News

Everyone wants alternative power in theory, but nobody wants to live next to giant wind turbines.

End open burning of Oregon grass seed fields - The Oregonian

Oregon should no longer abide with an outdated industry practice that fills nursing homes and hospitals with smoke, rains ash on summer weddings and forces asthmatics to spend sunny days penned up in their homes, windows shut tight, wheezing for breath.

Tackling the roadkill problem - Post Independent

An electronic sign warns motorists of migrating elk herds along Hwy. 82 between Carbondale and Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

Burning debate - Corvallis Gazette-Times

Pressure is building to eliminate field burning, but mid-valley growers vow to fight on

Highway coalition to be formed - Valley Courier

Monica DiGiorgio from the Western Environmental Law Center approached the San Luis Valley Regional Transportation Planning Region (SLV TPR) on Thursday about a possible collaboration between the Southwest TPR regarding the Highway 160 corridor.

Federal CBM document faces second appeal - Casper Star Tribune

"We see no reason why Wyoming should be turned into a sacrifice zone for energy development when common sense solutions were required just across the border in Montana," said Western Environmental Law Center attorney Erik Schlenker-Goodrich

Peconic Baykeeper views ruling as victory - East Hampton Press

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that all applications of pesticides to, over and around waterways need to comply with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, as specified in the Clean Water Act.

Several groups file lawsuits challenging logging plan - Register Guard

Environmental coalitions claim more logging will harm drinking water and species

Environmental groups sue to block Oregon logging hike - The Oregonian

At least two separate lawsuits were filed against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, alleging violations in the BLM's development of the Western Oregon Plan Revisions, or WOPR, which would raise logging levels in the Coast Range.

Groups sue BLM over oil and gas leases - Forbes.com

Greenhouse gas emissions and global warming have become the top arguments of environmentalists who are challenging the BLM's lease sales in the West, but the lawsuit is one of the first court actions to use those arguments.

Dairies' discharge at issue in court, group argues for state-required monitoring of groundwater for contamination - Yakima Herald-Republic

If the state doesn't look for groundwater contamination by dairies and other large-scale animal farms, it won't find any. But studies show it's there.

Safe Passage - Durango Herald

U.S. Highway 160 underpasses for animals, humans could be part of Obama package, groups say.

Court Cancels EPA Clean Water Act Exemption for Pesticides - Environment News Service

Environmental groups today celebrated their victory as an appeals court vacated a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule that has allowed pesticides to be applied to U.S. waters without a Clean Water Act permit.

Vail-area animals need economic stimulus, groups say - Vail Daily

A wildlife crossing over Vail Pass in Colorado is one of several projects a wildlife conservation group wants to see funded in a proposed federal economic stimulus plan being discussed in Washington, D.C.

Lynx one step closer to endangered species protection - The New Mexico Independent

The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it has begun the process of offering endangered species protection to the Canada lynx.

Conservation groups sue BLM over greenhouse gases - The Missoulian (AP)

The lawsuit claims the agency violated federal law by failing to prepare any environmental analysis to justify the lease sales and by relying on nearly 30-year-old decisions, which do not address global warming.

Environmental Groups Sue to Stop Bush Midnight Sale of Oil Leases - Courthouse News Service

Plaintiffs say the Bureau of Land Management "rushed to complete the challenged lease sale before a new administration takes office in January 2009. In its haste, the agency failed to complete the analysis required by federal law for the protection of natural and cultural resources."

Government to study lynx protection in NM - Associated Press, KOB.com

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed Wednesday to study whether the Canada lynx should be protected in New Mexico under the Endangered Species Act.

Advocates push field burning ban - Register Guard

Governor Ted Kulongoski is calling for an eventual stop to the practice, now that Oregon medical organizations are lining up three-deep behind the ban and a Eugene law group pledges nonstop lobbying and organizing.

Wilderness Association backs U.S. Forest Service in lawsuit - Great Falls Tribune

Conservation groups have come out in defense of the U.S. Forest Service in a travel plan lawsuit brought by motorized user groups.

Settlement Reached In Lawsuit Over Lynx - The Denver Channel

Fish, Wildlife Service Will Decide If Lynx Should Be Protected In N.M.

Greens thwart oil/gas development in sensitive areas - New Mexico Business Weekly

By forming coalitions with regional eco-groups, ranchers, hunters, home owners and local and state legislators, New Mexico Wilderness Alliance has thwarted industry attempts to expand into sensitive areas, including Chaco Canyon, Otero Mesa, the Galisteo Basin, the Rio Chama watershed and the Valle Vidal, north of Taos.

Suit filed over Mac Pass biathlon facility - Queen City News

Jim Posewitz of Helena, a board member of the Hunters and Anglers Association, said that the Forest Service had “left us no other option but to enter into litigation to protect critical wildlife habitat, values, and movement corridors on the Continental Divide”.

Divided on the Divide - Helena Independent Record

Groups content that the biathlon course would impact wildlife traveling through this “corridor” between Yellowstone and northern wilderness areas, including animals on list covered by the Endangered Species Act.

Montana biathlon course challenged - Seattle Post Intelligencer

Critics of a plan to develop a military biathlon course on U.S. Forest Service land about 15 miles west of Helena have filed a lawsuit charging the agency gave scant attention to the project's effect on wildlife.

On the bench for respondents: Lujan v. NWF author, arguer - Endangered Species & Wetlands Report

It has to be a little daunting to stand before a Supreme Court that includes both the author of crucial precedent in your case and the attorney — now the Chief Justice — who argued and won that same case.

Letting it all sink in - Register Guard

Many local residents seem cautiously optimistic over Obama’s victory

Big Sky back in court - Magic Valley Times-News

The groups argue that commissioners failed to consider the feedlot's impact on nearby property, and especially on the nearby Minidoka National Historic Site, where the remnants of a World War II internment camp have been preserved by the National Park Service.

Group joins suit against Jerome County commissioners - AG Weekly

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has joined a broad coalition of Idahoans and state and national organizations as a co-plaintiff in a lawsuit appealing a decision by the Jerome County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 23 to approve an application for a confined animal feeding operation permit near the Minidoka National Historic Site.

Lawsuit filed to stop Idaho feedlot near monument - Seattle Times

A lawsuit has been filed in an effort to prevent a massive animal feedlot from being built near a national historic site in south-central Idaho where about 9,000 Japanese-Americans were confined during World War II.

Supreme Court weighs case on public-land management - Sacramento Bee

In one of the year's most anticipated environmental cases, the court could either narrow or expand the public's power over the Forest Service. Consequently, everyone from homebuilders to California Attorney General Jerry Brown is weighing in.

Hidden wells, dirty water Part 2: Where's the accountability? - Yakima Herald-Republic

Part 2 of a 4 part series on groundwater pollution in the Yakima Valley of Washington State.

Here's why there is no systematic testing - Yakima Herald-Republic

Part 1 of a 4 part series on groundwater pollution in the Yakima Valley of Washington State.

Supreme Court May Bar Groups From Contesting Federal Rules - Environment News Service

The case centers on a dispute over rules imposed by the U.S. Forest Service, but legal experts contend the court's ultimate decision could have far-reaching impacts and make it nearly impossible for many individuals and third parties to contest rules enacted by federal agencies.

Argument Report: Environmental Groups Out on a Limb? - Law.com

The Supreme Court justices on Wednesday seemed receptive to government arguments that a coalition of environmental groups lacked standing to bring a challenge to U.S. Forest Service regulations because their claims were not tied to a specific site or project.

Enviro groups' standing at issue in challenge to Forest Service rules - E&ENews PM

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments today on whether a group of environmental organizations has established standing to contest a series of Forest Service regulations.

Supreme Court Snapshot - Mother Jones

Your guide to the notable cases on the high court's docket.

Endangered birds at risk in Southwest, biologists say - The Zonie Report

The complaint states that officials left several lands out of the preservation plan that scientists said were necessary for the flycatcher’s successful recovery.

Government and green groups set for regulation fight - BusinessGreen

Supreme Court ruling could make it harder to challenge illegal regulations covering everything from forestry to air pollution.

Environmentalists Challenge More Bush Administration Political Interference in Endangered Species Decisions - Center for Biological Diversity

“The Bush administration has the worst record protecting endangered species of any administration since passage of the landmark Endangered Species Act,” said Noah Greenwald, science director for the Center for Biological Diversity.

Field burning ban long overdue; why wait longer? - Register Guard

Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s recent acknowledgment that field burning smoke constitutes a serious threat to public health, coupled with the fact that alternatives to burning are readily available and currently employed by the majority of grass seed growers in Oregon and Washington, means that no one else should be forced to suffer through another season of field burning.

Field burning is best for farmers only - Corvallis Gazette-Times

We arrived in Lebanon to thick smoke — at ground level, and my mom’s hospital room reeked of field smoke.

Expansion Inches Forward at White Pass - The Chronicle

Work Under Way as Appeal Deadline Approaches

Mr. Kenna goes to Washington - Durango Herald

Matt Kenna, an attorney with the Durango-based Western Environmental Law Center, is off to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court. Kenna’s case challenges the U.S. Forest Service’s ability to approve timber sales without environmental review or public input.

Governor’s proposal to curb field burning aired at meeting of commissioners - Register Guard

The bill — to be taken up by the Legislature next year — would cut the acreage that grass seed farmers can torch in the Willamette Valley by half to 32,500 acres in summer 2010 and then to zero in 2011.

A new plan for old fish - Missoulian

Living fossils - some joke they may be more closely related to triceratops than trout, Montana's 500 or so sturgeon have come, finally, to the brink.

Historic Agreement Reached to Save Kootenai River White Sturgeon - Boundary News

"The Kootenai River white sturgeon is on the brink of extinction," said Noah Greenwald, science director for the Center for Biological Diversity. "This historic agreement helps give the sturgeon a shot at survival."

A real face behind the clouds of smoke - The Oregonian

The weather has been almost unbearably hot, and Ike's house is like an oven. But although the windows will be tightly shut tonight, the stench will seep into the small, close bedroom, and sleep will be impossible. Ike will gag, and he will cough, and his body will spasm, and he will cling to his oxygen tube waiting for morning, praying for the smoke to stop. He has no time for litigation, additional studies and long phaseouts.

Medical studies make case to ban field burning - Register Guard

In 1996, a 37-year-old mother of two in Idaho died in two hours from an asthma attack caused by field burning smoke.

Turning desert green comes with caveats - Las Vegas Sun

Utility-scale solar farms would take up thousands of desert acres that are home to several endangered species, including the desert tortoise.

Feel The Heat - Santa Fe Reporter

Behind the headlines, scientists warn that climate change is already hitting New Mexico

Foes urge judges to reject Sandpoint, Idaho bypass - Seattle Times

The major north-south road through the resort town of Sandpoint, Idaho, can be a nightmare in summer months, with a series of 90-degree turns crammed with logging trucks, RVs and pedestrians.

Federal appeals court hears bypass case - Bonner County Daily Bee

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear oral arguments Monday in the North Idaho Community Action Network’s federal lawsuit over the Sandpoint bypass.

California logging venture is next Supreme Court environment showdown - McClatchy Newspapers

What began as a 238-acre Sequoia National Forest timber sale has drawn in big players on all sides. The fight, pitting California officials against the Bush administration, will determine how easy it will be to challenge future forest decisions nationwide.

Advocates urge field burn warning - Register Guard

Patrons at the Creswell Coffee Company came in from a patio to escape the falling cinders. Employees ran out to roll up their car windows. A monstrous plume of smoke rose in the sky, owner Paul Nordquist said.

Preview: Summers v. Earth Island Institute - Scotusblog

In this case, the Court will consider the justiciability of challenges to the regulations, as well as whether the Ninth Circuit erred in affirming a nationwide injunction prohibiting the Forest Service from applying the regulations.

NV Summit Aims For New "Energy Independence Day" - Public News Service

The Clean Energy Summit opening Monday in Las Vegas is a major event that could determine the future of clean energy production and decide where it will be produced in the West.

Industry, state officials and enviros battle over coal-fired energy - Desert Rock Blog

"In San Juan County, we're talking about an area that's investing heavily in continued dependency on fossil fuels and a carbon economy, and we need to move away from all that," said Erik Schlenker, Taos-based director of the Western Environmental Law Center's southwest office.

Field burn debate flares up - Corvallis Gazette-Times

Field-burning opponents say recent research has shown that the fine particulates in smoke are much more harmful than previously believed, penetrating deep into the lungs and potentially triggering serious health problems, especially in young children, the elderly and people with asthma or other breathing conditions.

States to sue EPA on ship GHG emissions - Marine Log

"Ships, aircraft and industrial equipment burn huge quantities of fossil fuel and cause massive greenhouse gas pollution yet President Bush stalls with one bureaucratic dodge after another," said California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown.

Oregon joins four states in EPA suit - Statesman Journal

Federal government neglected to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions, their lawsuit says.

Oregon threatens to sue EPA - KOIN News

“Here in Oregon, we are ready to take the necessary steps to protect our planet from global warming, but the federal government continues sidestep the issue with red tape and bureaucratic delay,” said Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers.

California Plans Another Emissions Lawsuit Against EPA - GreenBiz

It is the third lawsuit from California and other states related to greenhouse gas emissions. California has set a goal of reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

California To Sue EPA For Failing To Regulate Agriculture Industry Emissions - Imperial Valley News

California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced California’s plan to sue the U.S. EPA for continuing to “wantonly ignore its duty” to regulate greenhouse gas pollution from agricultural equipment.

Environmentalists Plan To Sue Over Tractor Pollution - Oregon Public Broadcasting

Dan Galpern, an attorney for the Western Environmental Law Center, says environmentalists are demanding federal standards - because the Clean Air Act expressly bars states from regulating emissions from non-road vehicles.

Judge OKs emergency grazing program, with limits - Seattle Times

Farmers and ranchers struggling against high grain prices got some help Thursday from a federal judge who cleared the way for an emergency federal program opening private conservation land to hay production and cattle grazing.

State proposes field burning restrictions - Capital Press

Environmental group pushes for immediate ban on practice. "While a phase-down may provide adequate protection at the end of that period, the fact of the matter is, Willamette Valley residents need that protection now," said Dan Galpern of the Eugene-based Western Environmental Law Center.

Blowing smoke, will Kulongoski put out the field fires? - Eugene Weekly

Many Oregonians are hoping for a ban on the burn and attorneys for the Western Environmental Law Center (WELC) say Gov. Ted Kulongoski has the power to do just that. So why hasn’t the governor put out the fires? And if he doesn’t, who will?

Renewing the landscape, Work begins to limit renewable energy’s impacts - Durango Telegraph

As the era of extractive carbon-based energy passes on, conservationists and politicians are working to ensure that renewable energy leaves a lighter mark on the earth.

Group Challenges Another Oil, Gas Lease Sale - The Daily Times

Western Environmental Law Center is challenging today's sale of 80 parcels of federal land in New Mexico and three other states.

Farmers got burnt in the end - Capital Press

Farmers have made changes. They are using more chemicals, and growing different crops. They have greatly reduced the number of acres burned, obtained burning permits, and are allowed to burn only when conditions are considered ideal by regulators.

Keeping the Reserve in Conservation - New York Times

The farmers certainly deserve sympathy, but the potential environmental damage caused by taking these lands out of conservation is far too great.

Grass Burning issue reignites in Oregon - Associated Press

The practice of grass seed burning has long been the bane of a number of Eugene-Springfield residents. The Eugene City Council and the Lane County Board of Commissioners have rallied against the practice in court and at the Legislature periodically over the past 30 years.

Sand Creek Byway on Hold - Red Orbit

Construction of the controversial Sand Creek Byway in Sandpoint has been temporarily blocked by an injunction issued by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

BLM rejects oil and gas lease protests - Las Cruces Sun-News

The BLM said it rejected the protests because the agency already addresses greenhouse gas emissions.

The Southwest desert's real estate boom - Fortune Magazine

From California to Arizona, demand for sites for solar power projects has ignited a land grab.

Owens Valley is the model of what to expect - Las Vegas Sun

As Las Vegas policymakers eye the water beneath Nevada, a scientific debate erupts over the possible effects.

Oil, gas lease protest breaks new ground - The Daily Times

Seven environmental groups are breaking new ground with their protest of an entire Bureau of Land Management oil and gas lease sale.

Greens ask ban on burning Oregon grass-seed fields - Associated Press

If air clear of the smoke from burning fields is a good thing for the Olympic athletes in town for 10 days, it ought to be a good thing for the people who live in the Eugene region year-round, environmentalists argue.

Asthmatics, Law Center Battle for Clean Oregon - Willamette Week

Feel free to take a deep breath, all of you asthmatics, small children, joggers, fast walkers, and, well, anyone else who enjoys clean air. For now, at least.

Olympic trials re-ignite field burning issue - The Oregonian

The Olympic track and field trials, a national sports spectacle that begins next week in Eugene, has stirred the embers of an ongoing environmental debate over field burning.

Law professor wants to use courts to fight global warming - Albany Democrat Herald

“It’s a theory that seems well-suited and perhaps ideal when you’re talking about who owns the atmosphere.” said Greg Costello, executive director of the Western Environmental Law Center.

You don’t even have to burn it. - High Country News

The Western Environmental Law Center has been busy filing legal challenges to BLM oil and gas leases around the West. Nothing new about that. What is new is that these challenges are based on potential impacts to global warming.

Groups challenge oil and gas leases - New Mexico Business Weekly

"This is the first time an entire lease sale in New Mexico has been protested because of greenhouse gas emissions," said Hans Stuart, the BLM's state communications chief.

Second Suit In 2 Days Targets Wolf Program - Red Orbit

For the second time in two days, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's management of the Mexican gray wolf recovery program was targeted by a federal lawsuit filed by conservation groups.

Environmental group files new lawsuit against Outlook dairy - Tri-City Herald

"The dairies and the agencies responsible for regulating them have ethical and legal obligations to limit the massive pollution they are causing and harm they are doing to the citizens of the Yakima Valley," said Charlie Tebbutt, Western Environmental Law Center

Environmentalists sue Outlook dairy over methanol emissions - Yakima Herald-Republic

While dairies across the country have been sued for various environmental threats, from contaminating water with liquid manure to illegal dumping in irrigation ditches, the lawsuit appears to be the first to target methanol under the federal Clean Air Act.

Proposed oil, gas leases in southern Colorado net protests - The Examiner

Proposed oil and gas leases on more than 140,000 acres in a national forest in southern Colorado, including roadless areas, generated several protests.

Citizens file suit against Washington dairy - Seattle Post Intelligencer

The group Community Association for Restoration of the Environment, also known as CARE, says DeRuyter Brothers Dairy in Outlook should be required to obtain permits under the Clean Air Act.

Drilling the Climate: Part I - This is a big deal - Daily Kos

This protest is groundbreaking. As far as I know, a protest of oil and gas leases based on the effects of climate change has never before been attempted. This is a big deal.

Forest Service Bid to Lift Wildlife Protections Met With Lawsuit - Environment News Service

A coalition of 14 conservation groups filed suit today in federal court to block the U.S. Forest Service from implementing a new rule that would remove protections for fish, wildlife, and other resources throughout the 192-million acre National Forest System.

Forest Service Tries Again With Revision of Forest Planning Rule - kgw.com

Conservation groups said they will be back in federal court to again challenge the rule, which was tossed out by a federal judge last year on procedural grounds. They argue that the Forest Service continues to refuse to analyze the potential for causing harm to the environment after taking out a long-standing system of protections for fish and wildlife habitat.

More drilling, more rules - Denver Post

Colorado is proposing a slate of regulations as oil and gas wells proliferate

Politicians ponder smoke-black summer skies - Register Guard

Opponents of field burning say there’s already enough evidence that the smoke is harmful and the commission has been remiss in allowing the practice to continue.

Village at Wolf Creek lawsuit settled - Durango Herald

"This lawsuit and the resulting settlement agreement make clear to the Forest Service and the developers that whatever is proposed for this site in the future will have to be done with full public disclosure and adherence to the highest environmental protection standards." said Geoff Hickcox with the Western Environmental Law Center.

Spotted owl critical habitat upheld by court - Eastern Arizona Courier

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton in Phoenix upheld the critical habitat designation after a legal challenge by the Arizona Cattlegrowers Association, which had hoped to overturn the designation.

Environmental Groups File Suit Against Los Alamos Lab - The Daily Californian

Based on data collected by the laboratory, the groups allege that the PCB levels at some of the sites were more than 25,000 times than that of the New Mexico human health standards.

Habitat for Mexican spotted owl to stand - San Jose Mercury

"This was a complete victory for the Mexican spotted owl," said Matt Kenna, attorney for the Western Environmental Law Center.

Editorial: Pete, Jeff, Tom: fight for LANL cleanup - Sante Fe New Mexican

Sens. Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman, along with Rep Tom Udall of the House Appropriations Committee, should insist on all the dollars it will take to clean LANL's fouled nest.

Spotted-owl protections upheld in four states - The Denver Post

Ranchers lose their challenge as 8 million acres of Western land is ruled "critical habitat."

Environmental groups sue Los Alamos lab over water - Las Cruces Sun-News

The lawsuit contends the lab has failed to comply with its national pollution discharge permit for 59 storm water sites.

Environmental groups sue LANL over water - Sante Fe New Mexican

Organizations are worried that PCB pollution could get into the Rio Grande and drinking water.

Boats Could Face New Greenhouse Gas Regulations - The Log

According to data from the Western Environmental Law Center, greenhouse gas emissions from nonroad engines have increased at a faster rate (49 percent) than from motor vehicles or aircraft.

Brown targets off-road vehicles - Mercury News

Attorney General Will Ask EPA Today for Tougher Emission Rules. **This story appeared in several publications.

NICAN suing corps over bypass approval - Bonner County Daily Bee

"As the agency entrusted with protecting the region's aquatic resources, the corps shouldn't just rubber stamp the application to dredge and fill Sand Creek," said Matthew Bishop, an attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center.

Feds abandon appeal of forest management - Sierra Sun

Opponents to the rules had argued they weakened protection for wildlife and the environment to the benefit of the timber industry.

Energy corridor could divide Navajoland - Gallup Independent

Southwest electric transmission line corridor allows for “fast-track” approval of utility and power line projects, nullifying environmental laws, and enabling energy companies to condemn private land for new high-voltage transmission lines.

Critics hit energy corridor plans - Press Enterprise

A federal proposal to expand energy corridors throughout the Western United States could open the door to more development on public lands, critics charged.

Suit filed over federal agency plan for southwest energy corridor - Monterey Herald

The 70,000-square-mile southwest corridor crosses several national parks including Joshua Tree, as well as national monuments such as the Carrizo Plain and the Sonoran Desert. The area contains at least 95 threatened and endangered species. (This AP story appeared in numerous other publications)

Group sues to shut down power corridor - North County Times

An environmental group sued Thursday to overturn the federal government's designation of Southern California and Arizona as an electricity corridor of "national interest," something with big implications for a power line proposed for San Diego County.

Conservation Group Files Lawsuit Against Department of Energy Over Southwest Energy Corridor - ewire.com

Transmission Line Corridor Will Exacerbate Global Warming, Harm Public Health

Bush Administration Abandons Effort to Undercut National Forest Protections - Environment News Service

U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton found that Bush administration officials had bypassed legally required environmental review and endangered species protections in creating a new management system for the national forests.

Environmentalists Score Victory - Associated Press

The Bush administration has dropped its appeal of a 2007 court decision that had overturned new management rules for 191 million acres of national forests.

Washington State to sue EPA over tailpipe emissions - The Columbian

Governor Chris Gregoire rejected EPA Administrator Steven Johnson's argument that allowing states to adopt their own standards would result in a "confusing patchwork" of regulations across the nation.

California bid denied to lower greenhouse gas - The World

The Environmental Protection Agency slapped down California’s bid for first-in-the-nation greenhouse gas limits on cars, trucks and SUVs,

Dems Will Investigate Emissions Ruling - Associated Press

At issue is the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to block California and at least 16 other states from regulating greenhouse gases that come from new cars and trucks.

EPA turns down plans for auto emissions - Register Guard

“There will be a tremendous backlash against the (Bush) administration,” said S. William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies. “This strikes at the guts of the Clean Air Act and states rights.”

White Pass halts expansion work - Associated Press

The White Pass Ski Area has agreed to halt work on a major expansion project until a federal judge rules on an appeal by environmental groups seeking to block it.

Oregon governor promises legal action over EPA decision - Associated Press

Governor Kulongoski said that he will take any legal action necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles.

Judge says California can limit emissions - Associated Press

Handing a major defeat to the auto industry, a federal judge ruled Wednesday that California can regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

DOJ Seeks to Blunt District Judges' Nationwide Rulings - Greenwire

Western federal judges have repeatedly enjoined environmental laws in recent years at the behest of groups opposed to Bush administration forest, land and conservation policies. The administration has had enough.

New Mexico Will Demand the Most Comprehensive Greenhouse Gas Reporting in the Nation - Albuquerque Journal

Gov. Bill Richardson said, in a recent statement, that the reporting program is essential to the state's effort to address climate change.

Conservation group wins suit over forest records fee - Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

The U.S. Forest Service has relented in its efforts to charge a nonprofit conservation group for records that are expected to show the impact of unauthorized roads and recent policy changes upon national forests.

New Mexico moves to forefront of global warming issue - The Taos News

Operators of power plants, oil refineries and other sources of global warming pollution must report greenhouse gas emissions to the state.

Judge blocks new Wolf Creek roads - The Durango Herald

Ruling delays billionaire's plan to develop at ski area's base in threatened Canada lynx habitat.

Judge issues ski-village injunction - The Daily Camera

No groundbreaking can take place until Judge Kane decides whether to permanently block the development, said attorney Geoff Hickcox of the Western Environmental Law Center, which is representing the groups.

Judge issues injunction blocking work on ski village - The Denver Post

No ground will be broken for a ski village in southwest Colorado until a lawsuit aiming to block the development is heard in court, a federal judge ruled Thursday. (This AP story also appeared in the San Diego Tribune)

Gas Out - Santa Fe Reporter

The reporting program is about opening up the oil and gas industry to transparency and understanding what their global warming footprint actually is says Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, an attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center.

Get in Gear - The Columbian

Feds dragging their feet on auto emission standards.

Emissions Planning Under Way - ABQ Journal

The initiative comes as states across the country are taking steps to curb climate change in response to what critics consider a lack of leadership on the issue in Washington.

Let the lawsuits fly: EPA deserves to be target because of waiver delay - The Register Guard

The Western Environmental Law Center in Eugene filed notice that it will sue the EPA if it doesn't clear the way for Oregon's plan to cut emissions.

Group threatens lawsuit against EPA over auto emissions - The San Diego Union Tribune

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and other Western governors also are demanding immediate action from the EPA. (This AP story also appeared in the Oregonian, KOMO News and keprtv)

Local law clinic files intent to sue EPA - The Register Guard

Although a dozen states are prepared to adopt California's standards, the effort has been blocked by automaker pressure on the EPA, said U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Or.

Not another field burning study - The Oregonian

State environmental regulators ignore Oregon history by denying Lane County's plea to halt the annual fires.

Field burning study questioned - The Register Guard

Critics say a unit of the Oregon State University College of Agricultural Sciences may not be the best place for research on health effects of an agricultural practice.

Defending the Land - FIVE - Issue 18

Western Environmental Law Center takes a stand for our environment.

Biatholon facility bad for wildlife - Helena Independent Record

The nature of MacDonald Pass as both a wildlife corridor and as a quiet place for recreation would dramatically change as a result of the Biatholon project.

Panel snuffs field-burning ban - The Register Guard

After hearing testimony laced with jabs at Eugene, along with claims the public's health is at risk, the state Environmental Quality Commission declined to order an immediate ban on field burning based on research that smoke endangers people's lungs.

Agency won't discuss field burning this month - The Register Guard

"They need to make this decision. Delay is as bad as a negative decision because burning will continue while they're delaying," said Dan Galpern, attorney with the Eugene-based Western Environmental Law Center.

Conservation groups want lynx protected in New Mexico - 9News.com

Conservation groups from three states are asking federal wildlife officials to provide endangered species protections for the Canada lynx throughout its range in northern New Mexico.

Species manadate lifted from N.W. forest plan - Seattle Post Intelligencer

"This is another in a long line of administration attempts to rip out the last of our remaining old-growth forests," said Pete Frost, a lawyer for the Western Environmental Law Center. "And it is no more legal today than it was when the court declared it to be illegal two years ago."

Thirsty Las Vegas seeks more rural Nevada water - Las Vegas Sun

With one ruling in hand for billions of gallons of rural Nevada water, the water supplier for sprawling southern Nevada is pressing for billions of additional gallons a year - in a move that pits farmers and ranchers against developers eager to keep the gambling mecca booming.

Clearing the air: County weighs lawsuit to halt burning - The Register Guard

If Lane County sues to try to stop Oregon grass-seed growers from burning fields, it can win, said Stan Long, an attorney who spent the mid-1970s in court battling the practice for the city of Eugene.

Lawsuit targets Four Corners Power Plant emissions - The Durango Herald

"The Clean Air Act charges EPA with protecting the health of people who live near large pollution sources like power plants," said Matt Kenna, attorney for the Western Environmental Law Center in Durango. "Yet this plan does nothing but codify the status quo, which causes asthma in Navajo and other children, and impairs visibility in Mesa Verde National Park and the entire region."

Coughing Blood - The Eugene Weekly

Suffering the effects of field burning.

County takes field-burning case to state - The Register Guard

Emissaries from the city of Eugene and Lane County appearing before the environmental panel in Portland on Friday said the medical evidence on the danger of breathing particulate in smoke is overwhelming - especially when it comes to people with asthma, chronic bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, emphysema and cardiovascular disease.

County weighs field burn suit - The Register Guard

Field burning is so hated in Lane County that the Board of Commissioners is talking about suing the 150 grass seed farmers who still use the practice to clear straw from their fields.

Alliance mounts fight against big dairies - The Oregonian

Community groups from at least 16 states, including Oregon, joined forces this week to fight against large-scale dairies.

EPA launches air emissions study - The Capital Press

The Environmental Protection Agency today announced the beginning of the first-ever nationwide study of air emissions from poultry, dairy and swine animal feeding operations.

Lane County considering new way to stop field burning - Associated Press

"The idea is to have the county, on behalf of people who live here, petition the state Environmental Quality Commission," said Lane County Commissioner Peter Sorenson.

Burning ban effort rekindled - The Register Guard

This latest effort to ban field burning is the brainchild of the Eugene-based Western Environmental Law Center, a nonprofit legal firm that represents environmental groups and other agencies across the Western United States.

LANL waste still seeps; watershed work still needed - The New Mexican

The Environment Department isn’t seeing any decrease in plutonium levels. And the Cerro Grande fire of 2000 left surrounding hills subject to greater erosion; storm-water runoff in some places is showing plutonium 16 times the safe-drinking-water standard.

Environmental group challenges state's CAFO permit - The Capital Press

Charlie Tebbutt, an attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center said the soil monitoring doesn't go far enough to prevent contamination. He said groundwater monitoring and enforcement is necessary to protect residents near large CAFOs.

Letter to the Editor: Put scientists in charge - Register Guard

Letter to the Editor by Greg Costello, WELC's Executive Director

Lawsuit targets interior official - The Denver Post

A lawsuit by nine environmental groups and San Miguel County contends the Bush administration made a political, not scientific, decision to keep the Gunnison grouse off the endangered species list.

It's Time to Ban Field Burning - West By Northwest

In 1998, Washington state banned open burning of grass seed fields after finding the public health costs to be too great. Oregon is now the only Northwest state in which field burning is lawful.

Major Nevada water-pumping decision released - North Country Times

A plan to pump billions of gallons of rural groundwater from a rural Nevada valley to thirsty, booming Las Vegas was cut to less than half the requested amount and approved Monday by the state's water engineer.

Grass seed farmers get fired up - Register Guard

Field burners have abruptly realized the Legislature might ban burning.

Judge tosses new forest rules - The San Francisco Chronicle

"Those who love wildlife and care about our public forests should be elated by this ruling," Pete Frost, of the Western Environmental Law Center, an Oregon attorney representing environmental groups.

Judge rejects national forest rules - Associated Press

A federal judge tossed out Bush administration rules that gave national forest managers more discretion to approve logging and other commercial projects without environmental reviews. (This AP story also appeared in CBS News)

Environmental Law Conference to Mark 25 Years - Register Guard

The annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference celebrates its anniversary next week with an impressive roster of keynote speakers, films and four days of panel discussions of dizzying variety.

It is time to ban field burning - Register Guard

Guest viewpoint by WELC Attorney Dan Galpern

EPA facing lawsuits over pesticide rules - Seattle Times

Environmentalists say the agency has knowingly violated a court decision in an Oregon case that would have meant fewer pesticides flowing into Oregon rivers.

Federal pollution definition gets court challenge - Mail Tribune

"If the rule is not contested, the Clean Water Act will allow pesticide applications directly to our drinking water sources," said Chad Woodward of the National Center for Conservation Science & Policy

Environmental groups sue EPA - Eureka Reporter

“Congress was quite clear in directing EPA to regulate pesticide pollution,” Self said. “Rather than enforcing laws as Congress wrote them, once again the Bush administration has simply interpreted the law to suit its purposes.”

Senate OKs Valle Vidal Protection - Free New Mexican

"Countless New Mexicans have worked tirelessly to ensure the permanent protection of this remarkable treasure for generations to come, and passage of this bill is a testament to their efforts," U.S. Rep. Tom Udall said

President Considers Protection for Valle Vidal - The Abuquerque Tribune

Legislation to block oil and gas drilling in the Valle Vidal is heading to President Bush's desk for signature into law.

Sage grouse get a lawyer - Telluride Daily Planet

Amy Atwood of the Western Environmental Law Center said the case will challenge the top levels of the U.S. Department of the Interior for directly interfering with the grouse's placement on the Endangered Species List.

Groups urge protection for N.M. roadless forest streams - Associated Press

The petition seeks protection for more than 100 miles of waterways that provide water for municipalities, agriculture and recreation.

Forest Service rebuked on logging - San Francisco Chronicle

Public must be able to comment without suing, U.S. court says

Forest Service Sulk - Washington Post

The Forest Service's decision to suspend more than 1,500 permits for activities in national forests -- including weddings, mushroom-picking and hunting expeditions for the disabled -- should lead to more questions about the real motives of the agency that allegedly protects the nation's forests.

Forest Service criticized for suspending projects - San Diego Union-Tribune

Legal action wasn't meant to delay minor tasks, activists say.