WESTERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER

We use the power of the law to safeguard the wildlife, wildlands, and communities of the western U.S. We envision a West with thriving, resilient wildlands, waters, and wildlife; a region powered by clean, renewable energy; and communities that are rooted in an ethic of conservation.

WELC strategically employs a complete set of advocacy tools—including direct engagement with agencies, policy, litigation, and collaboration—to build, defend, and enforce a legal framework for conservation that is:
(1) Informed by science and economics;
(2) Rooted in and accountable to communities, wildlife, and special places in the West;
(3) Cognizant that we rely on ecological systems that provide us with food, water, homes, and energy;
(4) And complementary to efforts that revitalize our civic and democratic institutions.
We leverage the law through strategic advocacy campaigns and projects. These campaigns and projects also integrate national policy strategies and regional perspective with the local knowledge of our 100+ partner groups.

Our highly experienced team of talented attorneys, conservation biologists, and Western policy experts. Annually, we partner with more than 180 organizations ranging from large, national environmental protection organizations to small, grassroots conservation groups. We are able to protect and preserve the American West through a regional vision. Each of our offices in Oregon, Montana, New Mexico, and Washington listens and acts upon the local needs of wildlife, wildlands, and communities, and takes necessary action to safeguard the climate as well as promote clean, renewable energy.

Top Recent Victories:

In a historic victory, our legal team ensured grizzlies in the Yellowstone region will remain protected by the Endangered Species Act. The court rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to put politics before science in determining the fate of these vulnerable bears. This win for the Yellowstone bears is important for the recovery and survival of grizzly bears across the American West.

Saving Wildlife from Illegal Fur Exports: e took the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to court over its international fur export program because it facilitates the export of thousands of animal pelts each year with little oversight. Now the USFWS must review their policies to better prevent Canada lynx from being killed in traps set for bobcats.

Securing a Historic Win for Climate Change:
For over a decade, WELC has led a national coalition seeking to address an enormous yet silent climate
killer: methane gas from oil and gas drilling. Natural gas is made mostly of methane, and while it
is invisible to the naked eye, it is a greenhouse gas 87 times more potent than carbon dioxide. We
advocated for the Obama administration’s development of strong rules to address rampant methane
pollution from oil and gas companies operating on public lands. Predictably, the Trump administration
and industry allies attacked those rules every way they could. We defeated their clumsy attempts to
green-light unnecessary pollution and waste four successive times—three times in federal court and
once in Congress. This year, in the most serious and consequential challenge to these common-sense
climate protections, we prevailed a fifth time over fossil fuel industry greed. Our victory will have
longstanding protections for our climate and communities.

We saved 145,063 acres from fracking in Montana: In another major victory, our team protected Montanans, their livelihoods, clean water, public lands, and our climate. We prevailed, showing the Bureau of Land Management failed to consider risks to the environment and water supply before issuing 287 oil and gas leases covering 145,063 acres of Montana’s public lands. We partnered with rural landowners and other conservation groups to win this case in federal court. This case is part of our integrated legal and policy approach to end reckless fracking across the West.

We are in court, using the full power of the law to defend NEPA, our country’s most significant
environmental and public health protection, and a critical environmental justice law.
This case is one of the most important fights of our generation.

For more results on our work, please visit:https://westernlaw.org/victories/