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.
Lawsuit: USFWS ignored court order on southern Rockies lynx critical habitat
Late yesterday, wildlife advocates filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the Service) over its failure to take any action in response to a 2016 court order striking down the agency’s exclusion of Canada lynx habitat in the species’ entire...
Hearing examiners embrace renewable future for Four Corners in recommendation to PRC
On Wednesday, New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) hearing examiners recommended the PRC replace San Juan Generating Station power with 100 percent renewable energy when the coal-fired power plant is retired in 2022. The PRC must now choose to lead by...
Trump administration OKs beaver killing in Oregon, despite harm to endangered salmon, steelhead
Despite recognizing that restoring beaver populations is key to recovery of imperiled salmon and steelhead species, a federal agency just gave the go-ahead to keep killing beavers in Oregon. In a long-awaited analysis, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)...
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>>
