News & Updates

Zinke defies public outcry and ignores likely job losses, will recommend Trump illegally shrink Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument

Aug 24, 2017

Today, the Washington Post reported Interior Sec. Zinke will recommend President Trump reduce the area of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in Oregon and California, or may also recommend a change in management of the monument. This recommendation defies the will of...

WELC statement on Charlottesville violence, hate in America

Aug 17, 2017

Taos, NM – Today, we acknowledge our responsibility to stand in solidarity with all people and communities of good conscience who oppose hatred and discrimination. Heather Heyer’s murder at the hands of a white nationalist in Charlottesville, Virginia last weekend was...

Court halts expansion of largest proposed underground coal mine in the country

Aug 15, 2017

BILLINGS, Mont. - A U.S. District Court judge ruled Monday that the federal Office of Surface Mining (OSM) improperly approved the expansion of Signal Peak Energy’s Bull Mountain coal mine, south of Roundup, Montana. The judge ordered that mining immediately stop in...

Court upholds agreement protecting imperiled lynx from trapping

Aug 7, 2017

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the Montana Trappers Association’s appeal of a settlement agreement between Friends of the Wild Swan, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, WildEarth Guardians, and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks that protects lynx from being...

Win for wildlife and quiet use on Santa Fe National Forest

Jul 26, 2017

Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upholds U.S. Forest Service decision to protect 400,000 acres from ATVs Santa Fe, NM—On Monday, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the second lawsuit by an off-road vehicle advocacy organization challenging the U.S. Forest...

Large coalition joins lawsuit against Trump administration over illegal postponement of methane waste rule

Jul 10, 2017

BLM rule delay defies Congress, harms taxpayers, public health, and environment The Trump administration has decided to indefinitely postpone a rule that requires oil and gas companies to minimize waste and fix leaks from oil and gas development on public land—a...

Fight begins to maintain protections for Yellowstone grizzly bears

Jun 30, 2017

Conservationists Signal Impending Legal Challenge Over Removal of Federal Safeguards Today, WildEarth Guardians notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service it will sue the agency over its flawed decision to strip grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem of...

Groups Challenge Plan Increasing Off-Highway Vehicle Use in Old-Growth Areas of Ochoco National Forest

Jun 28, 2017

Extensive new motorized trail system threatens wildlife, upsets use balance Today the U.S. Forest Service issued a final decision green-lighting an extensive motorized trail system that would add 137 miles of new off-highway vehicle (OHV) trails to the existing...

Conservationists Condemn Premature Stripping of Protections for Yellowstone’s Grizzlies

Jun 22, 2017

Planned Trophy Hunts Would Fundamentally Undermine Grizzly Recovery Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it is finalizing its flawed proposal to strip grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem of Endangered Species Act protections despite...

WELC Statement: Interior to Rewrite or Rescind BLM Methane Rule

Jun 21, 2017

Sec. Zinke provides conflicting information to court, Congress Yesterday, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke told the Senate Energy Committee the Trump administration will rewrite or rescind the Bureau of Land Management methane waste rule. The methane rule, which...