Western Environmental Law Center (WELC)

Campaigns

• STOP Bobcat and Wolf Fur Export!

  Under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regulates the export of animal pelts. The Service has illegally failed to evaluate the export program, resulting in the trapping and killing of native and endangered species. Western Environmental Law Center is a nonprofit, environmental law firm whose expert attorneys are dedicated to defending the wildlife of the American West. WELC attorneys filed suit against U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in May.

  13,652 of 15,000 Signatures

  Created by Sarah Goeth, Western Environmental Law Center
• Stop Killing Wildlife in Colorado!

  Wildlife Services is a federal agency that conducts predator control on private, public, and tribal lands throughout Colorado. Predator control includes shooting, trapping, snaring, and aerial gunning to kill black bears, bobcats, mountain lions, and coyotes. Lethal poisons and chemicals are also used for predator control, imposing a risk to public health and safety. Wildlife Services is expanding this work in an attempt to increase mule deer populations for hunting, although the best available science suggests that predator control isn’t effective. Western Environmental Law Center is a nonprofit, environmental law firm dedicated to defending wildlife in the West. Their expert attorneys are preparing to file suit against Wildlife Services about this matter.

  5,057 of 6,000 Signatures

  Created by Sarah Goeth, Western Environmental Law Center
• Protect the Sonoran Desert Tortoise from Extinction!

  The Sonoran desert tortoise is a newly recognized species of tortoise found in the desert scrub habitats in Arizona and Mexico, east and south of the Colorado River. In 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found in a preliminary assessment the tortoise was warranted for endangered species act protections. In 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 further reviews reaffirmed the warranted finding. Despite the findings, in 2015 the Service reversed its position and denied protections for the Sonoran desert tortoise. These unique desert animals need legal protections to escape extinction. The Western Environmental Law Center is a nonprofit, public-interest environmental law firm and our expert attorneys will use the full power of the law to take the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to court to force the agency to reconsider its ill-informed decision to not list the Sonoran desert tortoise under the Endangered Species Act.

  10,355 of 15,000 Signatures

  Created by Michelle Loth, Western Environmental Law Center
• Stop the Use of Lethal M-44 "Cyanide Bombs" to Kill Native Wildlife!

  The Trump administration recently reauthorized the use of deadly sodium cyanide in wildlife-killing devices called M-44s on our public lands. These “cyanide bombs” were approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency despite inhumanely and indiscriminately killing thousands of animals each year by luring them in by smelly bait. Anything or anyone that pulls on the baited M-44 device can be killed or severely injured by the deadly capsule of sodium cyanide inside. In 2017 alone, M-44s temporarily blinded a child and killed three beloved family dogs in two incidents in Idaho and Wyoming, and accidentally killed an endangered wolf in Oregon. The Western Environmental Law Center is a nonprofit, public-interest environmental law firm and our expert attorneys are using the full power of the law to stop the use of dangerous, lethal sodium cyanide poison devices on public lands nationwide.

  34,544 of 35,000 Signatures

  Created by Michelle Loth, Western Environmental Law Center
• Save the Proposed Crater Lake Wilderness from Logging

  Western Environmental Law Center is a nonprofit, public-interest environmental law firm. We filed a lawsuit challenging the Loafer logging Project in December 2013. In April 2014, in response to WELC’s lawsuit, the Forest Service pulled its proposal, but now it’s back. We are fighting this project because it would not only impact native and endangered species in the short-term, but would preclude some of the last remaining untouched Western forests from wilderness protection.

  483 of 500 Signatures

  Created by Natalie DeNault, Western Environmental Law Center
• Stop the dangerous Jordan Cove LNG Terminal and Pacific Connector Pipeline project!

  The Western Environmental Law Center and a coalition of conservation groups have challenged this LNG project for years, and we secured a great victory when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejected the Jordan Cove-Pacific Connector project in early 2016 after it was determined that the drawbacks of the pipeline outweigh its public benefits. Now it’s back thanks to the Trump Administration’s plans to allow fossil fuels to further exploit our natural heritage, our communities, and our climate. The Western Environmental Law Center is a nonprofit, public-interest environmental law firm. Our expert attorneys are ready to use the full power of the law to stop the dangerous and destructive Jordan Cove LNG Terminal and Pacific Connector Pipeline project. WELC will be submitting all signatures and comments below to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on July 10, 2017.

  784 of 800 Signatures

  Created by Michelle Loth, Western Environmental Law Center
• Help Us Prevent GRIZZLY BEARS from Losing Endangered Species Act Protection

  Western Environmental Law Center is a nonprofit, public-interest environmental law firm. Our expert attorneys are ready to use the full power of the law and the courts to protect grizzly bears. We will be submitting legal comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding their proposal, but we need your help! Please join us before the comment deadline on May 10, 2016 by signing this petition and adding your comments to USFWS that you want grizzlies to fully recover as a natural and integral part of our landscape.

  3,627 of 4,000 Signatures

  Created by Natalie DeNault, Western Environmental Law Center
• NO SALVAGE LOGGING IN HIGH QUALITY LYNX HABITAT!

  The Western Environmental Law Center is a nonprofit, public-interest environmental law firm. Our expert attorneys are ready to use the full power of the law to stop salvage logging in high quality lynx habitat. WELC will be submitting all signatures and comments below to Andrea Jones, District Ranger for the Conejos Peak Ranger District of the Rio Grande National Forest on November 30, 2017.

  694 of 800 Signatures

  Created by Michelle Loth, Western Environmental Law Center
• Obama: Don't double down on COAL in the Four Corners

  In 2015, the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) finalized a Record of Decision approving another 25 years of coal mining and burning at the Four Corners Power Plant (FCPP) and Navajo Mine outside of Farmington, New Mexico. The DOIs decision was predicated on a faulty Fish and Wildlife Service biological opinion and violated numerous statutes contained in the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act. It is also in direct contradiction to the United States’ global climate change commitments. The Four Corners Power Plant was built in the early 1960s with a stated useful lifespan of 50 years. Each year it spews the greenhouse gas equivalent of over 11 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere alongside thousands of tons of toxic pollutants including mercury, arsenic, selenium, lead, and nitrogen oxides. These elements degrade regional air and water quality and are dangerous to human health. Studies clearly demonstrate that communities downwind of the mouth-mine complex already experience elevated incidences of chronic respiratory diseases compared with the rest of the country. Aside from this complex’s egregious impacts to environmental and human health, just as concerning is what this decision means for our regional economy. The coal industry is in permanent decline, the Navajo Mine is struggling to stay afloat, and FCPP needs hundreds of millions of dollars to modernize its antiquated facilities. Instead of reinforcing the economic and moral imperative to transitioning away from coal, this decision, in essence, directs hundreds of millions of dollars into toxic assets that are bound to fail. This money would be far better spent modernizing our infrastructure and preparing our energy economy for the jobs of tomorrow.

  561 of 600 Signatures

  Created by Sarah Goeth, Western Environmental Law Center
• So close to climate change victory in Washington State -- help us win!

  Eight youth plaintiffs just won a precedent-setting court victory in Foster et. al. v. Washington Department of Ecology. The Western Environmental Law Center, a nonprofit public interest law firm, represented the youth who filed their petition in collaboration with Our Children's Trust, a nonprofit leading a global legal campaign for a healthy atmosphere and stable climate. In a landmark decision, the King County Superior Court ordered the Washington Department of Ecology to reconsider their decision denying the youth’s request for a rule regulating carbon dioxide emissions and to consider the best available climate science. We need your voice to help us ensure that Governor Inslee does the right thing by directing Ecology to regulate carbon dioxide emissions by August 7, 2015.

  836 of 1,000 Signatures

  Created by Natalie DeNault, Western Environmental Law Center