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.
Stamping out “accidental” grizzly deaths
People sometimes shoot threatened grizzly bears, confusing them for black bears. Bear baiting stations frequently result in these tragic and most often lethal cases of mistaken identity. We’re working to prevent these unnecessary and unacceptable incidents. Learn more here.
Trump administration again reauthorizes wildlife-killing ‘cyanide bombs’ despite strong opposition
The Trump administration today announced it will reauthorize use of sodium cyanide in wildlife-killing devices called M-44s. These “cyanide bombs” have received approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency despite inhumanely and indiscriminately killing...
Statement: Gov. Lujan Grisham’s NM Climate Strategy appears strong
Today Gov. Lujan Grisham’s interagency climate change task force issued a strong road map to correct course in New Mexico after eight years of climate denial and fossil fuel servitude by the previous administration. The task force’s strategy offers a full-spectrum...
Groups challenge Trump administration approval of massive Montana coal mine expansion
Today a group of concerned Montanans filed a legal challenge to protect the climate and water resources from destructive coal mining practices in eastern Montana. The groups are challenging the federal Office of Surface Mining’s (OSM) misguided approval of an enormous...
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>>
