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Welcome to the April Frontline newsletter!
If you’re like me, you were heartened to see so many Americans around the country participating in “Hands Off!” rallies this past month, which included people standing up for our public lands, wildlife, climate, and a healthy environment. This strong showing was not surprising– poll after poll reveals Americans overwhelmingly support protecting our nation’s wild places and the laws created to conserve them.
To keep this momentum building, please join us next Tuesday, April 22 (Earth Day), for our “Hands Off Nature!” webinar to hear how WildEarth Guardians will be fighting back against the Trump administration’s attacks on our natural world, the legal system, and Western communities. We’ll describe the pending threats and the strategic actions we’ll be taking to meet the moment for nature and future generations.
Of course, you will be absolutely critical to helping keep the Trump administration’s “Hands Off Nature!”, so please register now!
This month’s Frontline includes: New Republican bill puts Endangered Species Act in the crosshairs TAKE ACTION: Send a message to Congress to protect the Endangered Species Act! What oil and gas protections in New Mexico do for the nation Victory on Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission– thanks to you! New legal action to reveal more internal Forest Service documents on logging Wandering Colorado and New Mexico wolves found dead; Montana pups under the gun BLM told no environmental check needed for new oil and gas leases Latest on Guardians' new Executive Director search
As always, we appreciate your support, and keep on howling! | | |
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| | New Republican bill puts Endangered Species Act in the crosshairsRight out of the gate, the second Trump administration set its sights on gutting the Endangered Species Act (ESA)–slashing funding for wildlife programs, firing federal wildlife workers, making plans to sell off public lands habitat, and otherwise prioritizing industry over science and conservation through executive orders.
But the Trump administration isn’t alone in trying to roll back protections for wildlife, it’s also Republicans in Congress. House Republicans are currently pushing the so-called ESA Amendments Act of 2025. Disguised as reform, this bill would severely weaken the law by sidelining the scientific expertise that has long guided ESA decisions, limiting judicial review of listing decisions, and imposing arbitrary deadlines that could force the removal of species from the endangered list before they have actually recovered.
The ESA has been critical to the recovery of American species such as the black-footed ferret, which has been thought to be extinct twice in the 20th century. But thanks to the ESA, black-footed ferrets have returned to the West’s grasslands through its recovery plan as an endangered species. This law is the last line of defense against extinction, and one we cannot afford to weaken. TAKE ACTION: You can take action now to protect the Endangered Species Act by sending a message to your Congresspeople telling them to keep their hands off the Endangered Species Act, and to protect our wildlife! How can we fight for wildlife outside of Congress? Chris Smith, Guardian’s Wildlife program director, shares his thoughts on how we can be effective for the Wild at the local, state, and federal levels. | | |
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| | Victory on Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission– thanks to you!Many people don’t know that most of the important state decisions about wildlife management are ultimately decided by a small group of relatively unknown people–wildlife commissioners. In most Western states, wildlife commissioners are appointed by the Governor to serve for a certain period of time. Usually, these commissioners are not required to have any conservation background, and in fact, wildlife commissions around the West are often chock-full of gubernatorial donors and cronies with little scientific experience.
That’s why it’s important to keep good wildlife commissioners when we have them, and this past month in Colorado, we successfully saved a wildlife-friendly commissioner from being removed–with your help! In fact, this commissioner, Jay Tuchton, is a former WildEarth Guardians attorney.
Jay has been an important champion for science on the commission, and particularly critical for the continued reintroduction of wolves in Colorado. For this reason, he was unpopular with some members of the commission, who were maneuvering to have him removed.
But that’s where you came in–our Colorado members generated 327 comments to Colorado’s Senate in support of Tuchton, influencing their decision to keep Jay Tuchton on the wildlife commission. You made the difference!
This was a critical flex of Guardians’ muscle in Colorado, one we will continue to exercise with your help! | | |
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| | New legal action to reveal more internal Forest Service documents on loggingLast month, we shared news about how Ryan Talbott, our Pacific Northwest conservation advocate, was digging into the Forest Service’s plans to increase logging in the new Northwest Forest Plan, as revealed in documents acquired through Freedom of Information Act requests (FOIAs). The Northwest Forest Plan is the largest forest plan in the country, and covers an area the size of Maine across California, Oregon, and Washington.
Ryan documented his research on this visual Storymap, with photos, maps, and context for the records. As it turned out, the Forest Service redacted (blacked out) much of the information we requested in the FOIA documents.
We were undaunted. This month, we filed a lawsuit against the Forest Service to acquire the un-redacted versions of these documents, which we believe will provide better transparency as to why the Forest Service is seeking to increase logging. This transparency will enable us to better advocate to keep mature and old growth forests standing in the Northwest Forest Plan, and across the West.
In the meantime, you can take action right now to help our old growth forests by sending a message to your Senator to reject the so-called “Fix Our Forests Act.” After a Republican-led bill passed in the House, Western Democrats introduced a Senate version of the bill. Unfortunately, the Democrat-led Senate bill provides equally troubling “guidance” on forest management, including provisions to allow logging that would bypass critical environmental laws, restrict scientific input, and limit public engagement in management decisions. The bill will be voted on soon–please send your message to your Senators now. | | |
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| | Wandering Colorado and New Mexico wolves found dead; Montana pups under the gunIt’s been a tough month to be a wandering wolf. Wolves from both Colorado and New Mexico have followed their instincts to look for habitat and food, only to perish across an arbitrary political boundary where wolves are managed differently.
Ella, a reintroduced New Mexico lobo, was found dead north of Mount Taylor in late March. A male wolf reintroduced to Colorado wandered across the Wyoming border in early April, where he was subject to Wyoming’s anti-wolf laws. He was the second reintroduced Colorado wolf who died in Wyoming this year.
Further north, WildEarth Guardians is working hard to fend off cruel state bills in Montana. One of these bills, House Bill 258, would allow the killing of wolf pups, nursing mothers, and pregnant females. Guardians has been active in testifying against this bill, along with personnel from Montana’s own Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department, and pointing out this is exactly the kind of law that would encourage the federal government to take over management of wolves again.
Back in New Mexico, as part of a growing trend in counties across the rural West, Catron County declared an “emergency declaration” on wolves, claiming wolves are a danger to their communities. Guardians is looking to fight these attacks on wolves at every level, but we need your support so we can travel to hearings, meet with officials, and generate attention for the issue. Please consider donating to Guardians now so we can continue to be effective advocates for wolves across the region. | | |
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| | BLM told no environmental check needed on new oil and gas leasesThe attacks on our public lands reached a peak last week, when Guardians received a deluge of inquiries from reporters across the country asking about a new Department of Interior announcement. The announcement declared that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the largest land management agency in the federal government, would no longer be required to produce an environmental impact statement for thousands of oil and gas leases on BLM lands across seven western states. Guardians garnered several court victories where judges sent BLM back to the drawing board to analyze leasing impacts, leading to BLM’s decision to do an environmental impact statement after years of foot-dragging.
This action, along with proposals to sell off public lands to pay for an extension of the 2017 tax cuts, to repeal the Antiquities Act, and prioritize mineral extraction on public lands, among others, has made it clear the Trump administration intends to privatize the public lands owned equally by all Americans.
Chris Krupp, Guardians’ public lands attorney, shares our game plan for punching back, using every legal and advocacy tool possible to hold the line for the lands we love. | | |
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| | Attention all Arizona, Idaho, and Montana residentsWe are pleased to announce that Schilling Cider has once again chosen Guardians as a partner this April for their Keep It Wild! campaign. Schilling Cider will donate 5% of its proceeds from its two most popular drinks sold in Arizona, Idaho, and Montana to Guardians. So keep an eye out for them– you could be enjoying a beverage and helping protect the wild places we all love at the same time! | | |
| | Update: Executive Director searchWe have begun our first round of interviews for WildEarth Guardians' new executive director. We continue to encourage interested candidates to submit applications, although the window will be closing soon. We anticipate being able to share a new executive director this summer.
Know a great potential candidate? Share the job description with them! | | |
| | Thank you!We know our Western wildlife, wild lands, and communities will face mounting challenges in the years to come and will need us to fight for them. All the hard-fought work and victories in this Frontline are made possible by the support from you, and thousands of other WildEarth Guardians members. Please consider making an additional financial gift to support Guardians' efforts today to take on the coming attacks. Your additional donation will go towards expanding our legal team, adding program depth, and increasing our overall capacity to protect and defend the American West. | | |
| | Photo Credits: Black-footed ferret—Kerry Hargrove; Girl drinking water—Milena, Adobe Stock; Mountain lion—Moodboard; Nez Perce Clearwater National Forest—Friends of the Clearwater; Mexican wolf—gnagel; Browns Canyon National Monument, Colorado—Bob Wick, BLM; Schilling promo—Schilling Cider. | | |
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| | WildEarth Guardians protects and restores the wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and health of the American West. | |
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