Western Environmental Law Center

Protect Chaco 🖤 Defend the heart of the Southwest. Today, New Mexico community groups express their strong support for the revival of a 2023 bill to codify into law a 10-mile buffer zone restricting new oil and gas extraction around Chaco Culture National Historical Park. The Trump administration intends to reverse a 20-year administrative mineral withdrawal to intensify the oil and gas assault on this culturally and historically significant area. “The Greater Chaco Landscape’s culturally important areas extend far beyond the borders of Chaco Culture National Historical Park, and the Trump administration’s attacks on this modest 10-mile protection zone require a legislative shield. More than 90% of Greater Chaco is already either industrialized by oil and gas extraction or promised to industry for more drilling in the future, even as we recognize this activity’s impacts on the area’s communities and the climate. We will continue to push for community protections in intensively overexploited areas such as Greater Chaco so we may all enjoy a healthy, livable future in which our leaders prioritize environmental justice.” Kyle Tisdel, WELC climate and energy program director. Read our full statement: bit.ly/ProtectChacoBuffer

WELC statement on the "Unleashing American Energy" renewed commitment to poisoning the countr– *cough*, I mean, uh, coal production. "The Trump Administration has once again demonstrated its utter inability to respond rationally to prevailing market and environmental realities by vocally re-affirming its commitment to coal– the dirtiest form of energy. Contrary to the Interior Department's assertion that ending the federal coal moratorium will promote "energy independence," this renewed focus on opening federal lands to coal mining will further burden taxpayers with declining royalties, severe environmental damage, and untold health costs– to say nothing of the climate impacts. In the meantime, the administration wants to exacerbate the impacts to the American public and federal public lands in Montana and Wyoming by providing royalty "relief" to producers." – Melissa Hornbein, WELC Senior Attorney

From advocating for beavers and recreational immunity to calling for protections against invasive species and emerging contaminants such as PFAS and 6PPD, it's been a busy few months for us in the Oregon legislature. While some of the bills we supported have not advanced, they've set the groundwork for future efforts. We're incredibly thankful for the leadership shown my many of the legislators in our watershed, and our partners including Western Environmental Law Center, Columbia Riverkeeper, Willamette Riverkeeper, Oregon Environmental Council, Oregon Wild, Intertwine Alliance, and Oregon Trails Coalition. Visit our website for a list of the bills we've been supporting and opposing during this session, and stay tuned for important action alerts over the coming weeks related to a handful of these bills. https://lnkd.in/gRK4-RPZ

CLEAN WATER BILL SB21 = OFFICIALLY SIGNED INTO LAW! 💙 Today, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed SB 21, now a law to provide critical protections for New Mexico waterways and communities. This win was made possible by a powerful intersectional movement of water champions across the state. Special thank you to SB21 sponsors Sen. Wirth, Rep. Ortez, and Sen. Gonzales for their dedication to this important legislation throughout the 2025 session and to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for making it official! SB 21 will now ensure that federal clean water protections that had existed in New Mexico for 50 years are continued at the state level. In addition, it provides authority for the state to take over permitting from the federal government for the waters that are still federally protected, streamlining the process and bringing oversight into the hands of New Mexicans.💦 Learn more and read our full statement at bit.ly/SB21BecomesLaw

WE SPEAK FOR THE TREES📢🌲😤 Together with Cascadia Wildlands, we've just received a critical victory in our work challenging the authorization of N126, one of the largest Oregon logging projects proposed in decades and slated to occur primarily in late successional reserves (areas intended for habitat protection & development for federally protected species). In May 2022, Cascadia Wildlands challenged the BLM for failing to complete an environmental impact statement for this massive project. Basically, the agency failed to consider impacts to endangered species, dismissed dozens of environmental issues from consideration, and failed entirely to consider cumulative impacts of simultaneous / overlapping projects in the area. Following exhaustive public comments pointed out problems with the proposed logging, extensive field checking and on-the-ground verification, and years of litigation, the court ruled that the heavy logging and extensive road building and renovation associated with this project involved significant and largely unanalyzed impacts in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. “This is one of the largest federally approved logging project on public land in Oregon in decades, and as the court rightly found, many of the Bureau of Land Management’s ‘findings of no significant impact’ don’t hold up under scrutiny. This is a hard-fought victory, and the final phase still ahead will be decisive as we work to ensure continued protection for the rare and threatened wildlife that call the N126 project area home.” – Sangye Ince-Johannsen, WELC attorney. Read more at our statement and join our fight to defend Oregon forests: bit.ly/N126Project

HB 2978 for wildlife connectivity + improving road safety just got a big green light in the Oregon legislature ✅ This exciting bill has officially passed the House floor and is heading to the Senate Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee!! From integrating planning between ODFW and ODOT to providing more training and guidance materials, HB 2978 will go a long way to protecting drivers, wildlife, and critical habitat connectivity across the state. Stay tuned for news on upcoming hearings and ways to take action🐾

We're not fooling around when it comes to protecting wildlife and wildlands across the West.🐢 Today isn't just April Fools’ – it's Arizona Gives Day, a powerful online giving movement to protect the land, wildlife, and communities that make this state so special 🫶 From fighting for the Sonoran Desert National Monument to helping recover Mexican wolves from the brink, we're proud of our work to make real, lasting progress in AZ, and we're only able to do so thanks to your incredible support. If you're ready to join the collective effort to safeguard AZ's ecosystems for generations to come, stand with our team and consider making a donation (of any size!) to the Western Environmental Law Center this Arizona Gives Day: https://lnkd.in/gSvWmSia 

It is with kinship, gratitude, and joy that we will find our way through these dark times. 💚 From making youth climate justice history in Held v. Montana to scoring meaningful protections for Canada Lynx and grizzlies, read our spring newsletter to learn more about recent wins, case updates, and advocacy you make possible across the West: bit.ly/WELCSpringNews

In #NMPol #NMLeg, we just wrapped up a 60-day legislative session. It always amazes us the sheer magnitude of effort our community dedicates during legislative sessions toward making New Mexico a safer, healthier, better place. Our main focus this year was to pass SB 21, a bill to reinstate water protections in place for over 50 years until the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the Clean Water Act. We're happy to report SB 21 passed with flying colors. Other things we worked on successfully include: ☀️ Community Benefit Fund (SB 48) to help with a #JustTransition 🐺 Modernizing wildlife management to conserve not JUST game species (SB 5) ☢️ Removing toxic oil and gas wastewater from the Strategic Water Supply 🦫 Appropriating $500K/year for 3 years to conserve and restore beavers 🏭 Defeating a false solution carbon capture and storage bill (HB 457) 🛢️ Defeating the creation of "reclaimed water authorities" run by the oil and gas industry (HB 311) More details in the pics! Thanks to so many of you reading this for all your hard work this session. We got a lot done thanks to your dedication, knowledge, and acumen.

WELC mourns the loss of Dr. David Mattson, a brilliant scientist, a passionate grizzly bear advocate, and treasured friend. David served as an advisor and expert in all or nearly all our cases to restore grizzly bears in the West. His declarations were instrumental to our success restoring protections for grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in 2018, among many other victories for grizzly bear conservation in Montana and beyond. His expertise, dedication, and friendship will be sorely missed at WELC.   Here are some thoughts David wrote about wildlife in 2018 as we awaited a decision in our Greater Yellowstone grizzly bear case: “We need revolution, not reform, when it comes to wildlife management. We are no longer (for the most part) a nation bent of genocide, whether homo- or eco-centric. We need federal policies that empower everyone in this country...when it comes to living with the wild animals on this Earth. They are sentient beings, like us. They deserve rights.”   Read his obituary at the link below. Rest in peace, David. https://lnkd.in/gJNhwhxR