We Defend the West
Defending Wildlands | Protecting Wildlife | Safeguarding Climate
The Western Environmental Law Center uses the power of the law to safeguard the public lands, wildlife, and communities of the American West in the face of a changing climate. We envision a thriving, resilient West, abundant with protected public lands and wildlife, powered by clean energy, and defended by communities rooted in an ethic of conservation.
We Defend the West
Defending Wildlands | Protecting Wildlife | Safeguarding Climate
The Western Environmental Law Center uses the power of the law to safeguard the public lands, wildlife, and communities of the American West in the face of a changing climate. We envision a thriving, resilient West, abundant with protected public lands and wildlife, powered by clean energy, and defended by communities rooted in an ethic of conservation.
We Defend the West
Defending Wildlands
Protecting Wildlife
Safeguarding Climate
The Western Environmental Law Center uses the power of the law to safeguard the public lands, wildlife, and communities of the American West in the face of a changing climate. We envision a thriving, resilient West, abundant with protected public lands and wildlife, powered by clean energy, and defended by communities rooted in an ethic of conservation.
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EXPLORE WAYS TO GIVE
Defending Wildlands
The American West is defined by its natural heritage of wildlands, rivers, forests, and wildlife. Since its inception, WELC has worked hard to preserve and restore these unique characteristics.
Protecting Wildlife
The American West depends on its iconic wildlife. WELC protects native animals while preserving and restoring the healthy, functioning natural ecosystems they call home.
Safeguarding Climate
Our world is warming, with dire consequences to the American West’s communities, lands, rivers, and wildlife. But, as the saying goes, in every crisis lies opportunity.
Protecting NEPA – The Environmental Magna Carta
The U.S. Forest Service has proposed a rule to overhaul its environmental analysis procedures under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which will dramatically curtail the role the public and science play in land management decisions on 193 million acres of national forest lands across the country. Learn more here.
Wolves: Groups will challenge Trump admin removal of endangered species protections in lower 48
Today, the Trump administration will announce its decision to prematurely remove endangered species protections for wolves in the lower 48 states, in violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The most recent data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its...
Trump administration agrees to review climate implications of selling 1.8 million acres of public lands for fracking in American West
A federal court late last Friday agreed to allow the Trump administration to conduct a legally required review of the climate consequences of selling public lands for fracking across the western U.S. “The law is clear, and our cases have cemented that the federal...
Lawsuit challenges Pendley over 1.7 million-acre fossil fuel plan in Colorado
Climate groups filed new legal claims today challenging the federal government’s 1.7 million-acre resource-management plan (RMP) to expand fossil fuel development in southwestern Colorado, saying it should be overturned because it was approved during William Perry...
Extinction’s Opposing Counsel
Wildlife attorney Matt Bishop has dedicated his career to fighting extinction. He focuses on predators – keystone species whose importance to ecosystem health can’t be overstated. Likewise, Matt’s success in defending those species has had an outsized impact across the West. Matt’s fellow WELC attorney Laura King wrote a profile on Matt, offering a look inside our Montana office and what drives extinction’s opposing counsel. MORE>>
