News & Updates
Bill to restore clean water protections, safeguard drinking water passes final Senate committee
Today, the Senate Finance Committee voted 6-4 to pass SB 21, a bill to provide critical protections for New Mexico waters. Earlier in the legislative session, the bill passed the Senate Conservation and Judiciary committees. It will next go to the full Senate for...
Legal intervention defends Powder River Basin coal leasing decision
The Northern Cheyenne Tribe, alongside Tribal and conservation groups, filed a motion today to join a lawsuit to defend the Biden administration’s 2024 decision ending new coal leasing on public lands in Wyoming and Eastern Montana’s Powder River Basin. In a...
National betrayal of federal workers unconscionable; WELC stands with fired civil servants
We denounce the Trump administration’s decision to fire 4,400+ federal public lands stewards at the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other agencies without cause. These decisions are cruel,...
Listen to Stories of Kinship, our new podcast!
Looking for more ways to learn, stay updated, and get connected with like-minded folks in these uncertain times? Tune in for the Western Environmental Law Center's new podcast! Hosted by WELC's Suze Wehr, Stories of Kinship features conversations about the...
Feds approve plan for railway to reduce grizzly killings
Wildlife conservation groups are cautiously optimistic about a new U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service habitat conservation plan and incidental take permit covering BNSF Railway Company trains on 206 miles of track through grizzly bear habitat in the Northern Continental...
Bill to restore clean water protections, safeguard drinking water passes second committee
Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 6-3 to pass SB 21, a substitute bill combining SB 21 and SB22. The bill will provide critical protections for New Mexico waters. The bills earlier passed the Senate Conservation Committee on two 6-3 votes. SB21 will next go...
Statewide coalition supports direct investments to strengthen communities in the community benefit fund
Today, Clear Horizons New Mexico, a statewide coalition of environmental, social justice, and conservation advocates from 31 organizations across New Mexico, applauds the Senate Conservation Committee for passing the Community Benefit Fund, made up of Senate Bills 48...
Two bills to restore clean water protections, safeguard drinking water pass first committee
Today, the Senate Conservation Committee voted 6-3 to pass both SB 21 and SB 22, a pair of bills that will provide critical protections for New Mexico waters. The bills are also assigned to the Senate Judiciary and Finance Committees before they move over to the House...
2025 NM legislative session presents great opportunity for environmental progress, water protection
The Western Environmental Law Center is encouraged and optimistic that the New Mexico legislature is considering a range of strong bills to safeguard our rich natural resources and climate, leverage the state’s power to protect water quality to account for federal...
New Mexico legislature faces urgent calls to further address climate change in 2025 session
Today, a coalition of environmental, social justice, and conservation advocates from across New Mexico expressed their strong support for Senate Pro Tem Mimi Stewart’s suite of bills that will take action on climate change: the Clear Horizons Act, the Community...
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