Tell Congress: Stop the ESA Amendments Act (H.R. 1897) - Western Watersheds Project

And follow up with a message: westernwatersheds.org/actionalerts...

H.R. 1897 could hit the floor for a full vote this week. It would gut the ESA forcing economic impact considerations into listing decisions, limiting your ability to challenge bad science in court, and hand politicians more control over which species get protected. CALL YOUR REP: 202-224-3121

Mexican gray wolves need room to roam We’re now lucky to have 319 wild Mexican gray wolves in the United States. Dozens more live in northern Mexico, and eight others will soon be released in the Sierra

Federal and state agencies should allow all wolves to move about at will. That would increase the chances of intergradation and rescuing the Mexican gray wolf from depleted genes, fewer pups and ultimately extinction.

www.santafenewmexican.com/opinion/my_v...

Feds order Flaming Gorge drop to save imperiled Lake Powell from potential structural failure - WyoFile Record-breaking heat and historically low snowpack have reduced water storage on the Colorado River system to 36%, officials say.

Record-breaking heat and historically low snowpack have reduced water storage on the Colorado River system to 36%, officials say.

wyofile.com/feds-order-f...

Trump’s Interior secretary is about to face Congress for the first time in a year. It could get ugly. Doug Burgum’s proposed budget would devastate America’s public lands

Burgum’s Interior budget calls for cutting funding across the agency by almost 13 percent, and cutting staffing levels by thousands. (The agency has already lost around 20 percent of its workforce over the last 15 months, largely due to cuts from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.)

Water Rights Have Become Water Wrongs Across most of the arid West, snowpack is low, rainfall is scarce, and residents are staring down the barrel of another year of major drought. Water levels are dropping, native fishes have become enda...

The main culprit of the water deficit in the western rivers and streams is the livestock industry, and its heavy reliance on irrigated feed crops to support cattle production in desert environments completely unsuitable for this water-hogging animal.

“This action by the Trump administration may prove to be a galvanizing moment for a whole new generation of advocates and voters who support the Endangered Species Act and the wildlife and ecosystems it protects,” said Ben Greuel, national wildlife campaign manager at the Sierra Club.

Trump’s Interior Dept. Crafted Talking Points For Mike Lee’s Public Land Sell-Off Scheme Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said a federal land sell-off “wasn’t part of the president’s agenda" even though his staff shared research with the Utah senator.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said a federal land sell-off “wasn’t part of the president’s agenda" even though his staff shared research with the Utah senator.

www.publicdomain.media/p/trump-inte...

Grand Teton National Park Forced To Introduce Bizarre New Robots To Combat Airport's Disruption High school students have manufactured bizarre robots that have now been introduced at Grand Teton National Park to help solve a major problem.

The solution? Don't build your airport on a sage grouse lek in the first place!

Tell Congress: Stop the ESA Amendments Act (H.R. 1897) - Western Watersheds Project

This bill could come up for a vote as early as tomorrow and will have disastrous consequences. Take action TODAY: westernwatersheds.org/actionalerts...

A Closer Look at Trump’s FY27 Interior Budget Proposal What key funding changes reveal about priorities for public lands, wildlife, and oversight.

What key funding changes reveal about priorities for public lands, wildlife, and oversight.

The Wolves Return to Durango, Mexico The descendants of seven Mexican gray wolves are once again running in the place it all nearly ended.

The rematriation of the species to this place feels like coming full circle, the slow and steady and often fraught work of restoring a wild part of a wild system.

“¡Que vivan los lobos!” – Conservationists Celebrate Release of Mexican Gray Wolves in Durango, México and Urge Family Pack Releases in the U.S. - Western Watersheds Project For immediate release April 8, 2026 Media contacts: Greta Anderson, Western Watersheds Project, 520-623-1878, greta@westernwatersheds.org Jacqueline Covey, Defenders of Wildlife, 630-427-7164, jcovey@...

¡Que vivan los lobos! We are celebrating the historic translocation of two families of Mexican gray wolves in Durango, Mexico, almost fifty years after the last wolves were removed from the state to initiate the captive breeding program that saved the subspecies from extinction.

Molvar of WWP said the loss of regional offices would leave the Forest Service with fewer experienced staff to handle forest management, environmental protections and oversight of commercial activity.

Burrowing owl research seeks what’s causing rapid decline LANDER — Across the nation there is an unseen shortage; in Wyoming, some of the state’s smallest long-distance travelers are not coming home.

Over the past 50 years, the population of birds as a whole across North America has dropped by nearly three billion birds, according to an estimate through 2019 research by Rosenberg et. al. This means that just over one in four birds in 1970 is no longer present across the landscape today.

Big Bend Wall Protests Draws Thousands To Texas Capitol The rally in Austin was a major show of bipartisan opposition to the Trump administration's border wall plans.

Thousands of protesters gathered at the steps of the Texas Capitol Saturday to protest against the construction of a border wall through Big Bend, in a show of bipartisan opposition to the White House’s plans.

www.publicdomain.media/p/big-bend-w...

Wyoming faces grimmest snowpack in recorded history - WyoFile At a time of year when mountain snowpack usually peaks, record heat and little precipitation have created an unseasonably early melt that’s already run its course in some basins.

Drought conditions mean less forage on public land, for wildlife.

Perhaps it's time to give public lands in drought-stricken states the year off from the extra pressures of private livestock, and give wildlife the best chance to survive these challenging conditions.

Last days on Point Reyes: Part 1 — Ranchers' time up as deal returns grazing land to park - Local News Matters Story and Photos by George Alfaro • Bay City News PART 1 | April 2, 2026 ON SEPT. 13, 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a bill establishing the Point

On April 8th, most of the cattle ranching at Point Reyes National Seashore will come to an end, transitioning this National Park Service unit from commercial use to its primary purpose of public inspiration and protection and restoration of natural landscapes, as the law intended.

Opinion | The silence of the wild lambs U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman is prepared to introduce legislation that would severely reduce protections for bighorn sheep outside "core" areas in northwest Wyoming, writes Dagny Signorelli.

“The proposed changes would hurt efforts to protect bighorn sheep from lethal disease transmission,” writes Dagny Signorelli with WWP.

Conservation Group Launches Investigation of Forest Service Livestock Program  - Western Watersheds Project For immediate release: April 2, 2026 Media contacts:  Megan Backsen, Western Watersheds Project, megan@westernwatersheds.org; 719-207-2493  Greg LeDonne, Western Watersheds Project, greg@westernwaters...

Western Watersheds Project filed a lawsuit today seeking public documents from the U.S. Forest Service under the Freedom of Information Act to obtain long-overdue requests for information about public lands livestock grazing in Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Nevada.

Public Lands, Private Use: Inside the USDA/DOI Grazing Action Plan USDA's plan to put more cattle on public lands while stripping away laws, data, and accountability meant to protect them.

The agencies are explicit about the goal: boost beef production, reduce “bureaucratic red tape” (read: remove environmental protections), and ensure livestock grazing is maximized across public lands.

westernwatersheds.substack.com/p/public-lan...

Native species unionize, seek eviction of invasive pests A newly organized coalition of native wildlife cites federal livestock grazing as an unlawful occupation of their habitat following a sudden ability to speak.

A newly organized coalition of native wildlife cites federal livestock grazing as an unlawful occupation of their habitat following a sudden ability to speak, and litigate.

BREAKING: Trump Administration Orders Dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service The headquarters is going to Utah. Every regional office is being shuttered. The research program is being destroyed.

The headquarters is going to Utah. Every regional office is being shuttered. The research program is being destroyed.

We Built the First Real-Time Threat Map for America’s Public Lands We’re tracking every active threat to America’s protected lands, with everything you need to act before the votes happen. Free and open to everyone.

Incredible new interactive map out from More Than Just Parks to show threatened public lands and ways to take action.
Click any marker to see the full story -- what is threatened, who is responsible, and exactly what you can do about it. Every location includes a call script for Congress.

Lands used for livestock grazing in health spiral, greens say An environmental group is raising concerns that monitoring public land health could go by the wayside as agencies face staffing shortfalls.

PEER's new analysis based on data compiled by the Bureau of Land Management, shows public lands are in steep decline, showing that healthy lands dropped from 72 percent in 2022 to 58 percent in 2024. A 2025 report shows that only 53 percent of BLM managed lands have healthy native plant communities.

Grizzlies Were Supposed to Be Reintroduced to the North Cascades, Now the Government Ignores Its Own Previously Approved Plans Plus, a new fun initiative to help protect public lands and waters

>> It’s pretty clear that for the remaining time the Trump administration is in power, the North Cascades grizzly recovery plan will remain where it currently is: stalled indefinitely. <<

Scientists search for big answers about a little bunny that relies on disappearing sagebrush - WyoFile As Wyoming and Idaho researchers ponder unanswered questions about the world’s smallest lagomorph, the pygmy rabbit faces new threats.

In 2024, FWS signaled it would take another look in response to a new listing petition from WWP. The agency wrote that “the compound effects of fire, cheatgrass, and climate change” suggest there is a “substantial” indication that listing the pygmy rabbit rangewide “may be warranted.”

Western Watersheds Project, Union Ratify First Collective Bargaining Agreement - Western Watersheds Project For Immediate Release March 25, 2026 Contact: Cyndi Tuell, Western Watersheds Workers, 520-272-2454, westernwatershedsworkers@gmail.com Erik Molvar, Western Watersheds Project, (307) 399-7910, emolvar...

Western Watersheds Project and Western Watersheds Workers Union today announced the ratification of their first Collective Bargaining Agreement.

westernwatersheds.org/2026/03/west...

Public lands need less extraction and more rewilding - High Country News In the age of extinction, we need a new model for these landscapes and the communities that rely on them.

"We cannot escape the “paradox of choice” by merely shuffling and condensing the impacts, and the thought of accepting public-land “sacrifice zones” is unacceptable," writes WWP Oregon Director Adam Bronstein in an Oped out today for HCN.

www.hcn.org/articles/pub...

Can America’s Wolves Survive an Onslaught of Political Attacks? Gray wolves made an uneasy comeback in the Northern Rockies and are struggling to return to the Southwest. But legislation now working its way through Congress is being spurred by misinformation and m...

Gray wolves made an uneasy comeback in the Northern Rockies and are struggling to return to the Southwest. But legislation now working its way through Congress is being spurred by misinformation and myth, rather than science, and threatens to end wolf recovery in the U.S.