News & Updates

Federal Court Rejects Trump Administration Cancellation of Methane Pollution Rule

Jul 16, 2020

A federal judge late yesterday reinstated the Bureau of Land Management’s 2016 methane waste rule, aimed at protecting people and the climate from methane waste and pollution from oil and gas extraction on public lands. The ruling is the third defeat for the Trump...

Trump administration guts National Environmental Policy Act

Jul 15, 2020

Today, the Trump administration finalized its proposal to gut more than 40 years of settled environmental law. The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) released the final text of a sweeping rule which will eviscerate core components of the National...

Outdoor recreation and conservation advocates challenge EPA rule granting industry priority over state, public in clean water decisions

Jul 13, 2020

Citing breathtaking levels of overreach, conservation, fishing, and paddling advocates today filed a complaint in federal court challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final rule effectively sidelining the role the states and the public have long...

Court challenge: Feds cut out public on 40,802-acre NM oil and gas leases

Jul 9, 2020

Moving to protect the climate, public health, and to further environmental justice, a coalition today filed suit to overturn the sale of leases on nearly 41,000 acres of public land in New Mexico for oil and gas drilling. The Bureau of Land Management (the Bureau) did...

Advocates deal Trump another loss: Yellowstone Grizzlies to stay on endangered list

Jul 8, 2020

Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Trump administration and state of Wyoming’s appeal of a 2018 decision restoring endangered species protections for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem population of grizzly bears. The original decision halted...

Court orders USFS to revise massive logging plan to protect roadless big game habitat on Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest

Jul 6, 2020

Late last week, a federal judge shelved portions of a logging plan on the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest known as the Tenmile-South Helena Project (“Tenmile project,” map) until the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) can ensure protections for roadless big game...

Lawsuit: USFWS ignored court order on southern Rockies lynx critical habitat

Jul 2, 2020

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

Jun 25, 2020

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

Jun 19, 2020

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)...

Trump exploits public health and racial crises to silence public, increase pollution, steamroll vulnerable communities

Jun 4, 2020

Today, the president is expected to sign a far-reaching executive order under the guise of “economic emergency,” exempting large, intrusive, highly polluting and destructive projects from public scrutiny and environmental guardrails in place since 1970 under the...