Victories

Western Environmental Law Center Victories

Victory for two species of salamander

We won a victory for two salamander species that live in the old-growth forests of California and Oregon.

WELC wins permanent protection for the Valle Vidal

We were the primary strategist behind the successful campaign to protect the 100,000 acre Valle Vidal in northern New Mexico.

Stopped a ski resort in critical Canada lynx habitat

We won a preliminary injunction to stop a private developer from building a destination ski resort at Wolf Creek Pass, Colorado.

Core Grizzly Bear Habitat Protected in Idaho!

In 2006, on behalf of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, WELC attorneys stopped the Boundary timber sale by filing a lawsuit in federal court. The Boundary sale would have allowed intrusive, helicopter logging in “core” habitat for the highly endangered population of grizzly bears that lives in the Selkirk Mountains.

Keeping the Grand Canyon Wild!

We forced the Bureau of Reclamation to reassess the impacts of the Glen Canyon Dam on imperiled native fish species throughout the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River ecosystem.

Safe guarding water quality in Northern California

We protected the water quality of the Russian River when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the City of Healdsburg’s discharges from a wastewater treatment pond were illegal.

Blocked 1866 mining law loophole from opening up public lands to motorized vehicles

we blocked the use of RS 2477 to force incursion of motor vehicles into the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area of the Siskiyou National Forest in southwestern Oregon.

WELC defeats attemps to evisterate Northwest Forest Plan (once again)

In the Cascades of Washington and Oregon, we once again defeated attempts to eviscerate the Northwest Forest Plan and to sell off our remaining old growth forests.

WELC defends the Kalmiopsis Wilderness from development

In the Klamath Siskiyou eco-region of northern California and southern Oregon, designated as one of the most critical biodiversity hotspots in the world, we stopped a proposal to build a destination resort in the heart of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area.

Bed rock environmental laws defended!

In a case with nationwide impacts, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld our victory rejecting the government’s attempts to eliminate public comment and input on most Forest Service management decisions.

Fifty-seven wild and scenic rivers protected

We protected 57 rivers and streams in Arizona that are suitable for designation as wild and scenic rivers.

WELC secured the highest form of protection for Valle Vidal waters

We worked with allies, like the State of New Mexico to further ongoing ecological restoration efforts in the Valle Vidal by successfully obtaining, in December 2005, Outstanding National Resource Water (“ONRW”) designation for the Valle Vidal’s waters.

WELC wins fight over national forests and citizen input!

A federal judge ruled last Friday, March 30th, that the Bush Administration illegally adopted wholesale changes to the planning regulations that control activities in the country’s national forest system.

WELC helps reign in massive Las Vegas groundwater pumping plan

On April 16, 2007, the Nevada State Engineer issued a long-awaited decision on how much water Las Vegas will get from a rural eastern Nevada groundwater basin that is the lynchpin of its plans to tap the region’s groundwater and pipe it over 200 miles to Las Vegas, in order to slake the ever-growing demand of urban sprawl and golf course-and-water-fountain development there.

U.S. Forest Service withdraws reauthorization of grazing allotments on MacDonald Pass in Helena National Forest

The U.S. Forest Service ("USFS") has decided to withdraw their reauthorization of three grazing allotments along the Continental Divide, in the Helena National Forest - an area that provides important structural and functional wildlife connectivity for grizzly bears, lynx, and wolves, in response to WELC's 60-day notice of intent to sue.

Victory for Clean Water in New Mexico!

State’s Right to Protect Water Upheld in Court Against Industry Challenge

VICTORY! WELC Propels New Mexico to Forefront of Global Warming Solutions

The result: a pioneering rule requiring a host of industries – including power plants, oil refineries, and upstream oil and gas development operations – to report both major and minor source greenhouse gas emissions.

VICTORY! WELC Saves Mexican Owl Habitat

"This was a complete victory for the Mexican Spotted Owl," stated attorney WELC attorney Matt Kenna.

VICTORY! Wilderness Protected from Damaging Commercial Packstock Operations

Excessive commercial packstock operations using horses and mules erode meadows, degrade streams, and interfere with the solitude that backcounty recreationists are entitled to experience in wilderness.

White House drops forest appeal

The Bush administration has dropped its appeal of WELC’s 2007 district court victory protecting 193 million acres of national forest lands.

VICTORY! WELC Wins Battle for Off-Road Records

WELC has won a two-year battle to gain access to U.S. Forest Service’s data on the damage caused by off-road vehicles and unmaintained roads on national forests around the West.

VICTORY! Feds will reconsider protecting the vulnerable chub

Roundtail and headwater chubs are important indicator species for their current and historic habitat in the rivers of eastern Arizona and western New Mexico.

VICTORY! WELC Protects Wildlife, Birds and Habitat on Farms

We are thrilled to report that, in one of the quickest legal resolutions we've seen, WELC won a significant victory protecting habitat for wildlife on farmlands.

Conservation groups, the state of Montana, Kootenai Tribe of Idaho and federal agencies reach historic agreement to help save the Kootenai River white sturgeon

“After nearly six years of litigation, the parties have agreed to a plan that will help save the sturgeon,” said Geoff Hickox, an attorney from the Western Environmental Law Center.

Conservationists Win Decision Protecting Local Water Supplies, Fisheries &Wildlife; Bush Rule Exempting Pesticide Application From Clean Water Act Protections Vacated.

In yet another of a long list stinging defeats for the Bush’s Environmental Protection Agency, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a clear rebuke against the administration’s attempt to exempt certain commercial pesticide applications from oversight of the Clean Water Act.