The Blackfeet Nation has prevailed in a four-decade fight to fend off oil and gas development in the Badger-Two Medicine region of Montana.

Ruling a setback for human health and national park scenic views, including Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Badlands National Parks.

Decision will harm human health and ruin views in national parks

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a petition for review that would bring some of Utah’s worst polluting coal plants into compliance with the Clean Air Act’s visibility-protection provisions, instead enabling the Hunter and Huntington plants to continue polluting at the same damaging levels they have for more than a decade. The decision allows polluters to continue threatening air quality for Utah’s communities and muddies views at treasured national parks.

Heeding calls from tribal leaders, President Biden designated nearly a million acres as Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.

Highlights of how Earthjustice’s Northern Rockies office has leveraged the power of partnership and the law to defend communities, sacred lands and wildlife, and clean air and water.

Illegal mining in the Zortman-Landusky Reclamation Area has worsened an environmental justice disaster for the Fort Belknap Indian Community.

Montana Legislature’s attempts to weaken state’s coal mining laws put on hold

A federal judge has approved a stipulation by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) not to “take any action to apply, effectuate, or enforce the provisions of HB 576 or SB 392” for seven months.

Jenny Harbine, Managing Attorney, Northern Rockies Office, Earthjustice “It’s not enough to say that there’s a pretty good chance that this mine will operate as planned and environmental harm will be avoided. That’s not what the statute requires, and that’s not good enough for the Smith River or its tributaries, which have irreplaceable values to…

Intervention defends Montana DEQ in its challenge to illegal mining at Zortman gold mine

Intervention defends Montana DEQ in its challenge to illegal mining at Zortman gold mine

Continuing to mine coal from public lands is fundamentally incompatible with the urgent action required to protect communities and combat climate change.

Federal law requires state to obtain approval before such changes are made

Groups filed suit in Montana District Court challenging two recent laws passed by the 2023 Montana Legislature intended to weaken water and environmental protections from coal mining.

Suit claims the Montana Board of Environmental Review attempted to illegally invalidate water quality protections for selenium in Lake Koocanusa

Conservation groups filed suit in Montana District Court challenging a Montana Board of Environmental Review (BER) decision attempting to invalidate a selenium water quality standard that was adopted to protect Lake Koocanusa from harmful pollution.

Twelve First Nations and Tribes sent a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau and Premier Eby calling on the governments of Canada and British Columbia to act to protect their recognized traditional territories from legacy, operational, and proposed mining in British Columbia.