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An old homestead in front of wind turbines on private working ranch land near Kevin, Montana. (William Campbell / Corbis via Getty Images)
Press Release: Victory March 20, 2024

Montana Supreme Court Again Rebukes NorthWestern Energy on Clean Energy Projects

Court requires utility to pay fine for failing to invest in community renewable projects

document March 20, 2024

Montana CREPs Decision

The Montana Supreme Court has ruled NorthWestern Energy’s hostile approach to clean energy was a violation of the law. The Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) followed NorthWestern’s lead and allowed the company to ignore a requirement for the utility to invest in Montana communities by purchasing renewable energy from small community-based projects. The penalty for this violation will provide much-needed revenue to Low-Income and Tribal Energy Assistance programs.

A pair of grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park. (Todaysfotos / Shutterstock)
Press Release: Victory March 20, 2024

Court Ruling Halts Wolf Trapping and Snaring in Idaho Grizzly Bear Habitat

Trapping and snaring will no longer be allowed during non-denning periods

document March 19, 2024

Idaho Wolf Trapping Order

A summary judgment ruling in Idaho District Court will prevent the state of Idaho from authorizing wolf trapping and snaring in grizzly bear habitat during non-denning periods.

Montana’s cold, clean streams contain some of the last prime habitat in the United States for threatened bull trout, whose historic range has shrunk by half.
(Joel Sartore / National Geographic Stock / U.S. FWS)
Press Release: Victory March 13, 2024

Court Again Finds Flathead National Forest Roadbuilding Harms Grizzly Bears and Bull Trout

Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife Service did not lawfully examine impacts to species

document March 12, 2024

Flathead National Forest Findings

A Montana District Court ruling found that significant new roadbuilding projects in the Flathead National Forest will negatively impact Endangered Species Act-listed grizzly bears and bull trout. The court found that the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not lawfully examine the impacts to these species when the agencies greenlit the roadbuilding plan in 2018.

In the News: Montana Free Press March 4, 2024

Petitioners ask Montana utility board to integrate climate impacts into regulatory decisions

Jenny Harbine, Managing Attorney, Northern Rockies Office: “If the commission decides not to abide by those constitutional obligations, it certainly subjects itself to legal arguments that it acted unlawfully. We’re hoping we don’t have to cross that bridge.”

In the News: Great Falls Tribune February 27, 2024

Supreme Court approves copper mine near edge of beloved Smith River

Jenny Harbine, Managing Attorney, Northern Rockies Office: “Montanans and the wildlife who depend on pristine water quality and adequate flows in the Smith River deserve no less than the full protections afforded by these laws.”

The Smith River in Montana is beloved for trout fishing and rafting. (Pat Clayton /  fisheyeguyphotography.com)
Press Release February 26, 2024

Montana Supreme Court Overturns District Court Ruling That Blocked Mine’s Operating Permit

Separate challenge to Black Butte Copper Mine’s water rights could still prevent mining

document February 26, 2024

Smith River Copper Mine – MEPA Decision

The Montana Supreme Court ruled in favor of Sandfire Resources and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, reinstating the operating permit for the proposed 1,888-acre Black Butte Copper Mine in the Smith River watershed.

North Antelope Rochelle Mine, Campbell County, Wyoming. (Ecoflight)
Press Release February 21, 2024

Ninth Circuit Decision Throws Out Coal Leasing Challenge

Northern Cheyenne Tribe and conservation groups urge Interior Department to act on coal

document February 21, 2024

Ninth Circuit Coal Leasing Moratorium Decision

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a lawsuit from the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and conservation groups that had successfully reinstated the Obama-era coal leasing moratorium is moot.

Wolverines, says journalist and wildlife biologist Douglas H. Chadwick, are "not afraid of anything. They climb peaks that human climbers turn back from. So they're just fearless, and they're tireless, and they got no end of attitude."
(Photo Courtesy of Dale Pedersen)
Article December 6, 2023

Keeping the Wolverine Wild in a Climate Crisis

New federal protections secured through Earthjustice litigation will help ensure that wolverines, a snow-dependent species, can survive a warming world.

A wild wolverine kit playing on the snow outside of a rendezvous site in the Northern Rockies (Steven Gnam)
Press Release: Victory November 29, 2023

Wolverine Receives Much-Needed Endangered Species Act Protections

Fish and Wildlife Service to list species as threatened following decades of litigation

One of the largest coal strip mines in the nation, the Rosebud mine feeds coal directly to the Colstrip coal-fired power plant. <a href="https://www.bing.com/maps?cp=45.861882%7E-106.724514&lvl=14.4&style=a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">(© Maxar / © Microsoft)</a>
Press Release: Victory November 27, 2023

Montana Supreme Court Rules Department of Environmental Quality Failed to Protect Water Near Rosebud Coal Mine

Court order vacates expansion of Rosebud’s Area B mining permit

document November 22, 2023

Rosebud Area B Supreme Court Opinion

The Montana Supreme Court ruled on November 22, 2023, that the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) repeatedly ignored the law and failed to protect water quality from an expansion of the “Area B” permit area of the Rosebud coal strip mine near Colstrip, one of the largest coal strip mines in the nation. The court’s order vacated the mining permit, finding that Montana’s laws governing strip mining (the Montana Strip and Underground Mine Reclamation Act) prohibit DEQ from allowing strip mining if a company cannot assure that water resources will be protected.

A small group of bison roam the Snake Butte Pasture on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana. (<a href="http://conservationmedia.com/">ConservationMedia</a>)
Article November 1, 2023

In Montana, Wild Bison Are Back, and an Entire Ecosystem Is Healing

The return of bison ten years ago to their home on tribal lands at the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation has helped restore an ecosystem and tribal culture.

Press Release October 16, 2023

Legal Complaint: Signal Peak Coal Mine Causing Cave-Ins, Safety Hazards

Signal Peak failing to comply with permit requirements to reclaim lands affected by subsidence