Spring 2025
Regional Spotlight
The Intermountain West
In the Intermountain West, Earthjustice’s roots run deep. Our teams in Bozeman, Montana, and Denver, Colorado, have spent decades fighting to safeguard biodiversity, to advance a just transition to clean energy, and to protect people’s health — with a special focus on Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, and points in between.
With unparalleled regional expertise, strong partnerships on the ground, and our steadfast supporters, we have never been better positioned to meet the challenges ahead. We’re pleased to share highlights of our progress, and a glimpse at what’s next.
Climate and Energy
Earthjustice works to put fossil fuels in the past and usher in an equitable clean energy future. In the Intermountain West, which holds some of the best solar and wind resources in the U.S. — and the heart of coal and gas country — our efforts grow more urgent every day.
Blocking New Fossil Fuels
In January 2025, we secured a victory for greater sage-grouse and sagebrush habitat, one of the most imperiled ecosystems in the West. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed an earlier district court ruling that threw out hundreds of oil and gas leases issued by the previous Trump administration in key habitat for the iconic bird.
We are also defending crucial wins to end coal. Industry and the states of Montana and Wyoming are suing to undo the Biden administration’s landmark action to end coal leasing in the Powder River Basin, the largest coal-producing region in the U.S. The decision represented a historic shift in federal management of coal in the region and was the result of nearly a decade of advocacy and litigation by Earthjustice and our allies.
Representing the Northern Cheyenne Tribe alongside Tribal and conservation groups, we are intervening to defend the Biden administration decision and protect the Powder River Basin.
Advancing Clean Energy in Colorado
We’re celebrating the approval of a landmark plan that advances building decarbonization throughout the state — a win for consumers, Colorado’s energy workforce, and public health.
Black Hills Energy’s Clean Heat Plan, which was approved by Colorado’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in February 2025, highlights the power of household electrification to deliver cost-effective solutions for consumers while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It includes a portfolio of resources focused on energy efficiency, redirecting costly investments in the gas system, and ensuring fair access to clean energy incentives in Black Hills’ gas-only service territory.
This win follows another victory in August 2024, when the Colorado PUC issued its decision on Xcel Energy’s inaugural Clean Heat Plan. Xcel’s was one of the first plans in the nation detailing how a gas utility will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Xcel will now spend more than $252 million over the next four years on programs that provide incentives for customers to electrify homes, multi-family buildings, and businesses by installing efficient and cost-effective heat pumps and heat pump water heaters.
Clean Energy Across the Rockies
In the Northern Rockies, we’re pushing for clean energy progress on multiple fronts:
- Defending the penalties NorthWestern Energy owes for failing to purchase renewables from community-based projects; challenging the company’s proposal to increase customer rates to pay for expanded fossil-fuel reliance.
- Enforcing the Montana Public Service Commission’s obligations to incorporate climate change considerations in new energy decisions.
- And supporting the Northern Cheyenne Tribe’s advocacy for an equitable transition from coal to renewables.
And in the Dakotas, we’ve made progress supporting seven Sioux Tribes in their efforts to develop clean energy resources on their lands, which would provide significant economic benefits. We will continue to seek out ways to support our Tribal partners here.
Biodiversity
Earthjustice defends biodiversity and ecosystems in the Intermountain West and beyond, focusing especially on the migration corridors of key indicator species in priority geographies.
Grizzly Bear Recovery in Montana and Wyoming
This year, Earthjustice secured more victories in our long-running effort to protect this keystone species: We won a court ruling barring Idaho from authorizing wolf trapping and snaring — which also threatens grizzlies — during grizzly bears’ non-denning periods. We won a challenge to a federal plan for the Flathead National Forest that would have allowed new roadbuilding in grizzly habitat. And, citing similar harms, we filed a lawsuit challenging increased roadbuilding in the Bitterroot National Forest.
Despite these wins, 2024 saw a record number of grizzlies killed by humans — including the charismatic and well-known Grizzly 399, a 28-year-old female who mothered 18 cubs and drew fans from across the globe to Teton National Park. While grizzlies are rebounding in the Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Continental Divide ecosystems, these sub-populations remain disconnected, and other sub-populations are perilously small.
To address this, Earthjustice launched a grizzly bear recovery campaign on behalf of a large coalition to advance a comprehensive, science-based vision for grizzly bear connectivity and recovery in the Northern Rockies. With the expertise of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s former leading grizzly biologist, we are petitioning the agency to revise its 30-year-old grizzly recovery plan and ensure, at least, that states can continue protecting these bears, especially if they lose Endangered Species Act protections (“delisting”).
We expect the Trump administration to attempt to delist grizzlies and are ready to fight back when this happens. We will also fight against proposals to increase grizzly killings in habitats key to their future recovery.
Wolves in Idaho and Colorado
Our victory for grizzlies in Idaho also secured tangible results on the ground for wolves in the state. This 2024 win was reaffirmed in January 2025 when the state and the trapper associations attempted to weaken the ruling and narrow its scope.
According to our partners on the ground, our efforts have resulted in a significant reduction of wolf mortalities from years prior. We will now need to defend this great result on appeal.
In Colorado, we continue to succeed in supporting the state’s voter-approved efforts to reintroduce the gray wolf to a landscape where it’s long been missing.
Most recently, our work helped convince the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission to reject a livestock industry petition to pause restoration measures for gray wolves.
Reintroductions boost the genetic health of the state’s nascent population, helping wolves find mates and successfully reproduce, and helping to restore the region’s core ecological balance.
Bison in Yellowstone National Park
Earthjustice is defending Yellowstone National Park’s bison management plan on behalf of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes alongside conservation groups.
Yellowstone’s plan increases the number of bison allowed in the park and prioritizes the restoration of the species on Tribal lands. It recognizes the role of bison in maintaining healthy ecosystems and provides increased Tribal hunting opportunities that honor treaty rights. The plan marks a step forward in science-based bison conservation.
We are defending the plan against a lawsuit from the state of Montana, which wants to reinstate outdated policies that no longer reflect the best available science.
If successful, Montana’s suit would set back conservation efforts by cutting the bison herd by nearly half, including by shipping them to slaughter, while reducing opportunities to transfer Yellowstone’s disease-free bison for the restoration of Tribal bison herds.
This is the latest example in Montana’s war on the wildlife that makes the state special — and we’ll support our clients as they fight back for as long as it takes.
Water in the Southwest
Earthjustice has defended southern Arizona’s San Pedro River, the last major free-flowing river in the desert Southwest, for years. The San Pedro, a sanctuary for endangered species including the jaguar and millions of migratory birds, is at risk of drying up from excessive groundwater pumping. But we are making progress to prevent that.
Due to our advocacy, the state of Arizona is reexamining its prior decision to approve a groundwater pumping proposal for a large developer that would further desiccate the river.
We are also working to protect a riparian area east of Phoenix, Arizona, from the Pinto Valley Mine. Pinto Creek is a rare perennial stream that provides habitat for fish and wildlife in a semi-arid desert within the Tonto National Forest. Groundwater pumping from the nearby mine is dewatering this precious creek.
On behalf of the Sierra Club and Maricopa Audubon, we are challenging the expansion of the mine with the goal of forcing it to source its water elsewhere.
Healthy Communities
Earthjustice supports long haul community-led movements for the right to clean air, clean water, and a healthy environment.
Colorado Air Pollution
Residents of North Denver suffer from an onslaught of air pollution that causes some of the highest rates of asthma, cancer, and cardiovascular disease in Colorado. A major culprit of this pollution is the Suncor crude oil refinery.
Year after year, Suncor has habitually violated its Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act permits, discharging benzene and other harmful chemicals into the air. We’ve documented over 9,000 instances of Clean Air Act violations alone.
Earthjustice has fought Suncor for many years and secured legal wins that have begun to hold the refinery accountable. Still, actions by the state and the EPA continue to fall short.
As state and federal agencies prove unwilling to rein in Suncor’s pollution, protect communities, and hold the company accountable, Earthjustice is going after the refinery directly in a “citizen lawsuit,” a civil enforcement case that puts power in the hands of impacted people and communities when the government fails to act.
In August 2024, Earthjustice sued Suncor Energy over its repeated Clean Air Act violations in a lawsuit filed on behalf of GreenLatinos, the Sierra Club, and 350 Colorado. In addition to immediate remediation measures, the lawsuit calls for hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and civil penalties. We’ll be in it for the long haul to ensure that Suncor pays for its pollution violations and installs pollution controls to comply with the Clean Air Act.
Sacred Springs in Arizona
In February 2025, we celebrated a huge win for the Hualapai Tribe, whose sacred spring was threatened by mineral exploration.
When a company called Arizona Lithium received federal approval to drill more than 100 holes reaching depths of 360 feet into public lands above the aquifer that feeds the medicinal spring of Ha’Kamwe,’ we sued the Interior Department and the Bureau of Land Management on behalf of the Tribe and in partnership with the Western Mining Action Project.
As a result of our efforts, the mining company has withdrawn its exploratory mining plan and withdrawn as intervenors in the case.
Mining Pollution in Montana
We continue to safeguard lands and waters in Montana from destructive hardrock mining.
We are currently defending the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, where Hecla Mining Company has renewed its efforts to develop the Montanore copper and silver mine.
In Eastern Montana, we are representing the Fort Belknap Indian Community in a state enforcement proceeding against unlawful mining at the former Zortman mine.
And we’ll continue challenging the expansion and operation of the Rosebud and Bull Mountains coal mines.
Looking Ahead
While we hold the line against the Trump administration’s anti-environment agenda, we’re using creative tactics to advance our own plan to secure the thriving world that is still within reach.
Innovative Litigation
By relying on novel legal approaches, Earthjustice is carving a path to progress despite setbacks at the federal level.
In Utah, we’re applying the state’s public trust doctrine to litigate a landmark case to restore the drying Great Salt Lake. These long-established state-based common-law doctrines require states to protect public resources on behalf of their citizens.
And we are expanding our work supporting citizen enforcement, as we have against Suncor. In absence of EPA oversight, this tactic ensures communities impacted by pollution can bring lawsuits directly against polluters.
Localized Solutions
State-level work enables us to move forward in spaces where the federal government has less power to derail progress.
We’re working to establish new state laws to shore up environmental protections that have been undermined at the federal level. For example, after the Supreme Court gutted nationwide protections for wetlands, we worked with a coalition in Colorado to help pass a law that provided state-based legal protections and are currently helping draft robust regulations to implement that law.
We are also seeing hopeful signs working with state constitutional provisions.
In December, the Montana Supreme Court upheld the ruling in the youth climate case, Held v. Montana. The case holds that Montana’s attempt to ignore greenhouse gas emissions and climate impacts in its environmental review process was unconstitutional, relying heavily on precedent set by a prior Earthjustice case.
We filed a “friend-of-the-court” brief on behalf of a large coalition. We’re now working to build on this precedent to establish an affirmative duty by state agencies — starting with Montana’s Public Service Commission — to account for and avoid climate harms in their decision-making.
Partnership and Public Engagement
We continue to deepen and expand our regional partnerships and drive change in the court of public opinion.
For example, our grizzly bear recovery campaign has convened advocates, scientific experts, and media firepower to build the scientific record and communications strategies needed to defend grizzly protections in court and build support with the public.
And we’re partnering with Tribal groups and outdoorspeople in South Dakota to launch the Save The Black Hills Campaign to secure federal action to withdraw all new mining projects in the Black Hills.
On Watch and Prepared to Fight
Earthjustice won struggles before to protect ecosystems and the biodiversity they sustain. We’re prepared to do it again if the Trump administration attempts to undo our progress.
National Monuments
We’re ready to defend national monuments and the Antiquities Act that creates them against attacks from the Trump administration — just as we did in 2017.
Forests
We’re poised to challenge any logging plans, timber sales, or efforts to broadly weaken environmental protections that violate the law and put public forests at risk. Safeguarding forests that are essential to the web of life has been flagship work for Earthjustice.
Powering the Fight for Our Future
The work before us is immense. We must fend off a second Trump administration that’s more lawless than the first, and we must advance affirmative work regionally, in the states, and locally. But we are undaunted because we never go alone.
The Intermountain West holds great promise for progress. Thank you for being with us as we bring those possibilities to bear.