17 groups sue to require Montana PSC to consider climate in utility decision making

Oct 15, 2026 | News Release

Today, 17 organizations—including healthcare providers, youth organizations, and clean energy and climate advocates—filed a lawsuit against the Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) for rejecting a 2024 petition demanding that it recognize its constitutional duty to...

Five-alarm fire: Radical Senate ‘permitting reform’ bill threatens to eviscerate environmental, wildlife, water, climate laws

Sep 30, 2026 | News Release

The Republican-controlled Senate will soon formally announce a legislative “permitting reform” deal to speed the development of AI data centers and energy infrastructure. We expect the Senate will then rush through a vote in the lame duck session immediately after the...

Court orders changes to controversial water quality certification, delaying destruction of sacred Tribal resources

Sep 21, 2026 | News Release

A panel of judges today sided with the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation (Yakama Nation) and Columbia Riverkeeper, and the Western Environmental Law Center, ordering the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) to rewrite a portion of a...

Conservation groups to challenge Trump administration’s move to banish bison from public lands

Aug 4, 2026 | News Release

Western Watersheds Project, represented by the Western Environmental Law Center, on Wednesday filed a complaint in Montana Federal District Court against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for revoking American Prairie’s permits to graze bison on public lands in...

Lawsuit challenges Trump’s decision to stop protecting species’ habitat

Jul 14, 2026 | News Release

Today, conservation groups and a fishing guide filed suit in federal court in San Francisco to challenge the Trump administration’s new interpretation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that “harm” to species does not include destroying their habitat. The new...

New Mexico modernizes oil, gas industry bonding, cleanup rules, now among nation’s strongest

Jul 1, 2026 | News Release

The New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission voted Wednesday to reform outdated oil and gas bonding and cleanup rules, adopting some of the strongest safeguards in the country to prevent orphan wells and ensure oil and gas corporations pay to clean up the wells they...

Pondera County, local landowners, conservationists sue EPA to protect Madison Aquifer from industrial wastewater injection 

Jun 15, 2026 | News Release

The Pondera County Commissioners filed litigation against the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday, June 12th challenging the agency’s decision to exempt a portion of the Madison Aquifer in the county from protections under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The...

Media advisory: NM rulemaking for Surface Water Permitting Program 6/8-6/18

Jun 8, 2026 | News Release

In 2023, federal rollbacks stripped Clean Water Act protections from 95% of New Mexico’s streams and up to 88% of its wetlands. New Mexico responded by passing Senate Bill 21 to create its own surface water permitting program. Now, a rulemaking will take place June...

Conservation groups challenge Trump administration’s move to banish bison from public lands

Jun 8, 2026 | News Release

Western Watersheds Project, represented by the Western Environmental Law Center, today appealed a decision by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to revoke American Prairie’s authority to graze bison on public lands in northeastern Montana—a move that conflicts with...

Lawsuit challenges USFS’, USFWS’ drastic redefinition of “secure habitat” slashing grizzly protections in critical connectivity corridor

Jun 2, 2026 | News Release

Today, Montana conservation organizations challenged the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for dramatically weakening a core benchmark for grizzly bear conservation in Montana’s Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest. The...