Western Watersheds Project

Judge halts BLM-approved highway through Utah tortoise preserve The order casts doubt on the "Northern Corridor” project that would cut across the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area.

Judge Randolf Moss of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction that bars the Utah Department of Transportation from starting road construction in the conservation area and a preserve for the threatened Mojave Desert tortoise.

Ground Shift or Power Shift: Is a Ground Shift in the environmental movement a good idea, or not? (Part I of III) A three-part series examining the network of power behind the Ground Shift initiative—and the records of the officials now positioned to shape conservation’s future.

Some ideas presented in the Ground Shift rollout are new, some are old; some will advance conservation, others undermine it. Separating the wheat from the chaff will be critical. How that happens, and who renders those judgments, will be important.

Sierra Club Releases First Trove of Emails, Texts, and Calendars from Trump’s Department of the Interior WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Sierra Club released the first batch of communications and calendars received from the Department of the Interior in the wake of the organization’s lawsuit following the ag...

The Sierra Club released the first batch of communications and calendars received from the Department of the Interior in the wake of the organization’s lawsuit following the agency’s failure to respond to public records requests for the documents.

A newly revealed FWS document allows Catron Co. ranchers to kill any endangered Mexican gray wolf who happens to be in the area of two grazing allotments in NM. The permit doesn’t identify which wolf the ranchers can shoot, nor does it specify livestock lost to wolves preceding this authorization.

Managing for Cows or Managing for Grouse? In the sagebrush sea, the choice is not abstract: the lands still supporting wildlife are the lands where grazing pressure is lowered and rest is real.

Tribal stewardship is demonstrating what federal policy avoids—sage grouse recovery begins with fewer cattle in the habitats that matter most.

westernwatersheds.substack.com/p/managing-f...

Conservation Group Protests Plan to Increase Grazing on Steens Mountain - Western Watersheds Project For Immediate Release, February 23, 2026 Contact:  Adam Bronstein, Western Watersheds Project, adam@westernwatersheds.org, (541) 299-9907 Conservation Group Protests Plan to Increase Grazing on Steens...

These allotments have been recovering from decades of harmful grazing since 2014 when the former permittees, Hammond Ranches, Inc. had their permit revoked following illegal fires the ranchers set on public land.

Interior Department Plans to Transfer 2.1 Million Acres of Public Land to Alaska for Development State of Alaska eyes massive tract of federal public land along the Dalton Highway

Oil and gas and mining development would change the wild character of this remote part of Alaska forever.

ourpubliclandsandwaters.substack.com/p/interior-p...

Two Charged In Illegal, Out-Of-Season Wolf Killing In Wyoming Two men were charged in connection with an illegal wolf killing near Cody. The wolf was killed in a wolf hunting zone, but authorities allege it was shot…

In Wyoming, residents can't be trusted to obey the game and fish regulations even in the 14% of the state where wolf hunting is managed and regulated. More evidence that federal protection under the Endangered Species Act is warranted.

cowboystatedaily.com/2026/02/18/t...

This Saturday join WWP executive director Erik Molvar for a *free* webinar hosted by Seed the Commons where he will take on Beyond the Regenerative Myth: The Reality of Public Land Ranching in the American West.

Register today: tinyurl.com/beyondthemyth

A Grazing Fee Hike That Changes Nothing for Public Lands The maximum fee hike nudges grazing from $1.35 to $1.69 per month — still a fraction of market value, still a system where taxpayers underwrite private profit and the land pays the cost.

The maximum fee hike nudges grazing from $1.35 to $1.69 per month — still a fraction of market value, still a system where taxpayers underwrite private profit and the land pays the cost.

Who benefits—and who loses—when public lands go private An environmental scientist’s analysis reveals who will win and who will lose in the push to put federal land into private hands

An environmental scientist’s analysis reveals who will win and who will lose in the push to put federal land into private hands

www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-...

Fourth time’s a charm? Lawmaker tries again to ban Wyoming’s practice of chasing, striking wildlife with snowmobiles - WyoFile Bill introduced on Wednesday proposes language that would end an era of recreationally running over foxes, coyotes, wolves and other animals on public land.

A quick guess on what industry is opposing the bill?

Utah’s War on Mountain Lions How a politically driven predator purge is masquerading as wildlife science

Utah is now killing mountain lions year-round, without bag limits, and trapping them in six designated “study areas” to see what life looks like without them.

JUST FILED: A formal protest of BLM’s plan to revoke American Prairie’s bison grazing permits. Years of work tossed aside to favor the public-lands livestock lobby over native wildlife.

westernwatersheds.org/2026/02/west...

The Most Important Thing in Willow Was What Wasn’t There Western Montana grassland under chronic livestock grazing, with uniform low vegetation in the foreground and remnant cottonwood gallery forest skeletons in the distance—evidence of a once wetter, more...

Most extinction does not look like a last individual dying in front of witnesses. It looks like absence going unnoticed.

lylel.substack.com/p/the-most-i...

What’s needed to protect sage grouse? Less grazing. - High Country News Two tribes are showing how saving sage grouse, and other iconic species of the West’s vast sagebrush steppe, will require are assessment of the widespread cattle grazing that has become an emblem of t...

Louder for those in the back!

Hunting YouTuber Had A Bear Violation Before Facing Felony Poaching Charges Ryan Lampers built a following on social media and podcasts before criminal charges led to his downfall.

Hunting influencer Ryan Lampers, who faces multiple poaching-related charges in Idaho, was also cited in Montana last year for failing to submit a black bear hide and skull for inspection, according to a law enforcement record obtained by Public Domain.

www.publicdomain.media/p/ryan-lampe...

BLM Just Authorized the Livestock Lobby to Police Its Own Damage After gutting independent oversight, the agency is handing monitoring authority to the industry responsible for the harm.

After gutting independent oversight, the agency is handing monitoring authority to the industry responsible for the harm.

The Trump Presidency Is the Worst Ever for Public Lands According to a new analysis by the Center for American Progress, his administration has removed or is attempting to remove protections from areas of public land equivalent to the size of Florida

According to a new analysis by the Center for American Progress, his administration has removed or is attempting to remove protections from areas of public land equivalent to the size of Florida.

www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adve...

The deadline for Trump administration officials to decide if Yellowstone-area grizzly bears should retain Endangered Species Act protections has been pushed back nearly a year.

A Battle over Bison in Montana Sets a Dangerous Precedent | National Review The Trump administration just undermined property rights — and ranchers should be worried.

For years, Republicans have urged environmentalists to put their money where their mouths are. Stop suing. Stop lobbying for new regulations. Respect property rights and buy the land you want to protect. Well, one conservation group took that advice & the administration just punished them for it.

We are facing unprovoked attack on Mexican wolves | Arizona Capitol Times Rep. Paul Gosar's bill to remove ESA protection for Mexican wolves threatens their survival.

On Jan. 22, the House Natural Resources Committee overwhelmingly approved Rep. Paul Gosar’s “Enhancing Safety for Animals” bill. It would remove Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection from Mexican wolves, the smallest, shyest and most endangered wolf subspecies.

Manifest Destiny Never Ended What looks like a new authoritarian turn is the return of an old governing logic—one that treats land, life, and dissent as obstacles to be cleared.

The authoritarianism taking shape in the United States today is not an aberration. It is an inheritance. It is the continuation of one of its oldest governing doctrines: Manifest Destiny.

Judge Hints He Will Send Cody Roberts Wolf Torture Case To Trial A Green River, Wyoming, judge on Wednesday hinted he’ll send the animal cruelty case of Cody Roberts to a jury in two months. Judge Richard Lavery stopped…

A Green River, Wyoming, judge on Wednesday hinted he’ll send the animal cruelty case of Cody Roberts to a jury in two months. Judge Richard Lavery stopped just short of denying Roberts’ argument for immunity, saying he’ll file a written order later.

Above the Law on Public Land A private leaseholder destroyed rare alkali wetlands owned by the people of Washington—and federal agencies are now intervening to shield them from the consequences.

A private leaseholder destroyed rare alkali wetlands owned by the people of Washington—and federal agencies are now intervening to shield them from the consequences.

westernwatersheds.substack.com/p/when-ranch...

Trump admin clips EPA oversight amid deregulatory blitz POLITICO’s E&E News reviewed the steady dismantling of scientific and regulatory oversight functions happening largely under the radar.

The Trump administration has squelched both external and internal oversight of EPA’s deregulatory agenda with moves that silence forums for critics, among other impacts, a review by POLITICO’s E&E News has found.

www.eenews.net/articles/tru...

USFWS Director Responds to Questions About National Wildlife Refuge 'Reviews' On December 16, Brian Nesvik, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), posted an order to all internal department staff to perform a “comprehensive review” of the National Wildlife Refu...

When pressed on the matter of selling public lands, Nesvik responded by saying, “We oftentimes have exchanges of refuge lands for other lands that are alike for a similar trade that are authorized by Congress. Like value for like value.”

Feeding Elk on a Landscape Given to Cattle When “crucial elk habitat” becomes cattle pasture.

The Upper Green River Lakes elk feedground on the Bridger-Teton NF in Wyoming sits on land designated as crucial yearlong elk habitat by the WY Game and Fish Dept. On paper, this is one of the most important places in the state for elk survival. On the ground, it looks like cattle-bombed country.

"In justifying [the] decision to revoke American Prairie’s bison grazing permits, BLM relied on a contorted reading of federal statutes to disguise what was really happening: a concession to an entitled public lands grazing lobby and the politicians beholden to it."

missoulian.com/opinion/colu...

Some thoughts on Taylor, the boundary-defying wolf When I saw the map and Taylor (Mexican gray wolf #3065) wasn’t on it, I had a bad feeling.

Each of these wolves shows that the boundary of Interstate 40 isn’t itself insurmountable to the species, and also that the agencies that force them south are fighting a losing battle. If these are the wolves we know of because of their collars, how many wolves without collars have made the trip?