News & Updates
Federal court cites human health, climate costs in rejecting massive Wyoming, Montana coal mining plan
A federal judge late yesterday struck down two U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) resource management plans that failed to address the public health consequences of allowing massive amounts of coal, oil, and gas production from public lands and minerals in the...
STATEMENT: Inflation Reduction Act-related “permitting reforms” threaten bedrock environmental laws
The Inflation Reduction Act is potentially transformative climate and energy legislation. Yet the bill contains several bitter pills for communities and groups that have spent years challenging the extraction of fossil fuels on federal public lands. Now, details have...
Mature and old-growth logging sale undermines Biden climate policy; threatens McKenzie River, habitat
Today, old-growth forest and wildlife advocates provided the U.S. Forest Service the means to reconsider the pending Trump-era “Flat Country” timber sale in Oregon’s Willamette National Forest. The vast majority of the proposed logging would be in mature and...
WELC ANALYSIS: Inflation Reduction Act’s forest provisions
On Thursday, the U.S. Senate announced an historic agreement designed to reduce inflation, combat the climate crisis, and provide needed funding for essential government programs. Included in the package are significant investments in federal land management and...
WELC ANALYSIS: Inflation Reduction Act’s climate provisions
Late yesterday, Leader Schumer announced a tentative deal for Senate Democrats to pass a bill called the “Inflation Reduction Act,” a long-awaited bill with important climate, energy, and environmental implications. The legislation would make substantial investments...
Wildlife advocates, hunters, anglers challenge Helena National Forest’s scrapping of longstanding wildlife protections
Today, a coalition of wildlife advocates, hunters, and anglers challenged the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the Forest Service’s decision to abandon all 10 crucial wildlife standards that have guided wildlife habitat management of the...
Local communities applaud Lujan Grisham administration’s support for water protections for northern New Mexico streams
Conserving watersheds will preserve clean water, cultural history, traditional irrigation, outdoor recreation Contacts: Tannis Fox, Western Environmental Law Center, 505-629-0732, gro.w1741488713alnre1741488713tsew@1741488713xof1741488713 Roberta Salazar, acequia parciante, executive director of Rivers...
Conservationists issue legal warning over plan to log thousands of acres of Oregon’s old-growth forest reserves
A coalition of Oregon conservation organizations notified the Bureau of Land Management today it intends to sue the agency to protect marbled murrelets and coastal martens from a plan by the agency to log thousands of acres of old-growth forest in areas designated as...
Wildlife advocates to challenge new, inadequate federal Mexican gray wolf recovery rule
Today, Western Environmental Law Center, on behalf of group of conservation organizations that includes WildEarth Guardians, Western Watersheds Project, Wildlands Network, New Mexico Wild, and Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project, notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife...
Lawsuit challenges Biden’s resumption of oil, gas leasing on public lands
Climate and conservation groups filed a lawsuit late Tuesday challenging the Biden administration’s resumption of oil and gas leasing on public lands today — the first auctions since the president paused leasing shortly after taking office. The lawsuit challenges the...
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