Lawsuit challenges Pendley over 1.7 million-acre fossil fuel plan in Colorado
Climate groups filed new legal claims today challenging the federal government’s 1.7 million-acre resource-management plan (RMP) to expand fossil fuel development in southwestern Colorado, saying it should be overturned because it was approved during William Perry...
Judge denies motion, opening door to lawsuits challenging Pendley decisions spanning 30 million acres of public land
A federal judge denied a motion from conservation groups today to support a lawsuit involving William Perry Pendley’s unlawful tenure as acting director of the Bureau of Land Monument, opening the door to new lawsuits challenging Pendley’s decisions on land management...
Western conservation group sues Trump administration over secretive coal council
Today, on behalf of the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC), Democracy Forward and the Western Environmental Law Center sued the Trump administration for violating the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) by refusing to make fully public the meetings and...
Feds flout science–once again–to deny wolverine protections
Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a decision—once again—to deny much-needed Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections to imperiled wolverine, which number about 300 in the contiguous U.S. The new decision follows a 2016 Western Environmental...
A Tribute to George Atiyeh
The conservation community lost a true hero in the Beachie Creek fire near Oregon’s Opal Creek Wilderness. As young child George Atiyeh climbed up into the magnificent old growth trees of Opal Creek and pledged his soul to defend them and the land on which they stand....
Federal court in Colorado confirms thousands of acres of Thompson Divide leases expired
Late last week, a Federal District Court in Colorado ruled that thousands of acres of oil and gas leases in the Thompson Divide properly expired nearly a decade ago. This is just one of many leasing related battles that Wilderness Workshop (WW) and the Western...
Conservation groups: Federal Powder River Basin coal plan violates court order
Conservation groups sued the Trump administration today to challenge a massive Powder River Basin coal mining plan that the groups say ignores alternatives to coal, oil and gas leasing and fails to publicly acknowledge the harms from coal combustion, violating federal...
Lawsuit targets Trump administration fossil fuel plan in Colorado ‘climate hot spot’
Climate groups sued the Trump administration today over its plan to expand drilling, fracking and mining across 1.7 million acres of public lands in southwestern Colorado, one of the fastest-warming regions in the nation. Today’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court...
WA Supreme Court ruling removes public, legislature voice from river flow decisions, gives Ecology total control
Yesterday, the State Supreme Court ruled against protecting flows in the Spokane River, rejecting arguments of river advocates, upholding the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology)’s drought-level flow rate decision. The decision subverts the will of the state...
REPORT: NM methane flaring sky high, state rules need fixes
Today, the Western Environmental Law Center released a new report on venting and flaring in New Mexico authored by Thomas Singer, Ph.D., who served on the state’s Methane Advisory Panel. The report takes a close look at how much natural gas is being flared in New...