Western Environmental Law Center

Today, conservation groups and a fishing guide filed suit in federal court in San Francisco to challenge the Trump administration’s new interpretation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that “harm” to species does not include destroying their habitat. The new decision reverses 50 years of bipartisan agreement that protecting species’ habitat is at the heart of the ESA and, without it, many species will go extinct.

The conservationists assert that no matter how the administration contorts the legal term “harm,” its plain meaning, as confirmed by the Supreme Court in Babbitt v. Sweet Home, includes destroying species’ habitat. Indeed, the ESA itself states its first purpose is “to provide a means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend may be conserved.”

“This is war on the forests and rivers of the West,” said Pete Frost, attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center in Eugene. “No longer protecting where grizzlies, salmon, and owls live will make them extinct. We’re hopeful the court will clarify what the ESA has always meant.”

Chris Daughters, a licensed fishing guide on the McKenzie River in Oregon, decided to join the lawsuit as a plaintiff, because “my business depends on cold, clean water in which salmon thrive. Without good habitat, we won’t have salmon, and I won’t have customers.”

“Marbled murrelets depend on coastal old-growth forests,” said Tom Wheeler of EPIC. “The administration’s twisted interpretation of the ESA means ancient forests could be logged—and the murrelet doomed to extinction. Not only does that wrongly fully interpret the ESA, it’s reprehensible position for the administration to forward.”

“Removing habitat protections for spotted owls would not only mean a death sentence for spotted owls, but a death sentence to old-growth forest ecosystems of the Northwest as we know them. What’s at stake isn’t just one species, but the web of life that countless other wildlife depend on,” says Sydney Wilkins, conservation attorney for KS Wild.

Lost habitat is the very reason most species are listed under the ESA. And habitat loss causes more species to go extinct than any other single factor. To illustrate, the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog, which is now 90% gone, is nearing extinction due to its alpine lake habitat being destroyed, not because people are stomping on frogs. Similarly, spotted owls and murrelets are not directly harmed by logging – these birds are not crushed by logging equipment. Rather, logging removes viable habitat for vital life activities such as nesting and foraging, leading to the slow unraveling of entire populations as breeding and nesting areas disappear, prey becomes scarce, and the ecosystem balance they depend on quietly collapses.

Likewise, the four recent dam removals in the Klamath River Basin are for the first time in decades allowing wild salmon to swim hundreds of miles upstream to reach historic habitat. But this may not have been possible without the prior longstanding, sensible interpretation of the ESA: habitat matters.

The idea that burning down a person’s house does not ‘harm’ that person defies all logic,” said Bethany Cotton, conservation director with Cascadia Wildlands. “The Trump administration’s interpretation that destroying an imperiled species’ habitat is not harmful is absurd and will not stand.

The conservationists ask the court to set aside the administration’s new rule and require it to first evaluate what this radical change will mean for protected species analysis, which they illegally failed to do for this major change in interpreting and applying the ESA.

Cascadia Wildlands, KS Wild, EPIC, Friends of the Shasta River, and Mr. Daughters are represented by attorneys at the Western Environmental Law Center.

Contacts: 

Pete Frost, Western Environmental Law Center, 541-543-0018, frost@westernlaw.org

Tom Wheeler, EPIC, 206-356-8689, tom@wildcalifornia.org

Sydney Wilkins, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, 541-488-5789, sydney@kswild.org

Bethany Cotton, Cascadia Wildlands, 503-327-4923, bethany@cascwild.org

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Job Opening Announcement: Wildlands and Wildlife Program Staff Attorney
Reports to: Wildlands and Wildlife Program Director
Location: Portland, Oregon strongly preferred. Other WELC office locations may be considered for an exceptional candidate in the right situation.
Timeline: Job opening posted July 9, 2026; we will review applications and interview candidates on a rolling basis and encourage early applications. The position is open until filled.
Salary: $76,000 – $106,000 annually
To Apply: ApplicantPro portal

About the Western Environmental Law Center:
The Western Environmental Law Center is a leading nonprofit, public-interest environmental law firm rooted in the landscapes and communities of the western U.S. Founded in 1993, WELC has been celebrated as an Outside Magazine Best Place to Work for the final six years of the contest (it ended in 2024), Oregon Business Magazine Best Nonprofit, Law360 Environmental Group of the Year, and Better Business Bureau Torch Award winner for ethics.

We envision a thriving western U.S., abundant with protected and interconnected ecosystems, powered by renewable energy, and cared for by communities brought together in an ecology of kinship. We embrace a collaborative, team-based approach to foster the trust, belonging, and dignity essential to a healthy organization and to relationship-based advocacy that builds power for transformative change.

We seek to retain a Staff Attorney (2+ years of experience) to join our team. We strongly encourage people of color, persons with disabilities, women, LGBTQ+ applicants, and people of diverse lived experience to apply.

Position Summary:
The Wildlands & Wildlife Program Staff Attorney is an exempt, full-time position. The central focus of this position is strategic legal advocacy centered on public lands, waters, wildlife, and communities in the western U.S. The position’s responsibilities will be allocated among the following core areas:

• Litigation and administrative engagement protecting federal public lands, wildlife habitat, species, and water.
• Engagement in federal and potentially state-level legislation, rulemaking, and policymaking to protect public lands, water, and species. This may include defense of existing laws and regulations as well as efforts to improve the same.

Given the dynamic moment in which we find ourselves, this litigation position’s focus and time allocations will necessarily evolve in response to changing political, scientific, social, and economic circumstances and opportunities consistent with specific organizational strategies. Further, the position may be somewhat flexible to accommodate a successful candidate’s distinctive skills, experiences, and interests to further and complement WELC’s strategic Wildlands and Wildlife focus. WELC’s organizational and strategic direction is not “top down,” but is informed precisely by the individual qualities of its staff. Moreover, the location of the successful candidate will play a role in their precise docket of work.

Accordingly, over time, the Staff Attorney will be encouraged and supported to identify and advance opportunities to shape WELC’s organizational and strategic direction, to share perspectives, and to become a trusted and respected leader in their field and within their scope of work. The Staff Attorney will support and coordinate with WELC leadership, development, communications, and finance staff, as well as represent WELC in public and private settings. The Staff Attorney will also participate in retreats, trainings, and other organizational events.

To fulfill this position’s responsibilities, the Staff Attorney may provide a full range of legal services on behalf of WELC, including primarily litigation, but also policy advocacy, and administrative action. To excel in these efforts, the Staff Attorney will stay apprised of relevant law, policy, social, and other developments. The Staff Attorney will work collaboratively with staff across the organization, as well as with partner organizations and clients.

The Staff Attorney is a normal 40-hour week position based out of WELC’S Portland office or, potentially for an exceptional candidate, another of WELC’s office, primarily working during Monday to Friday business hours, though some night and weekend hours may be required at times, depending on organizational and advocacy needs. Limited travel is required, averaging a total of 2-3 weeks per year, including some overnight and weekend travel. The position also involves standard office physical demands. WELC will provide all reasonable accommodations to the extent possible or required pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Qualifications:
We are keenly interested in considering a range of applicants with diverse lived experiences who approach the world with kindness, empathy, imagination, and vision. We will happily consider applicants who offer an equivalent or alternative set of qualifications to fulfill this position’s responsibilities, apart from the first two qualifications set forth below, which are mandatory.

• Law degree from an accredited law school.
• Admission to and good standing with the state bar in Oregon, and/or one of the states where we practice and willingness and ability to obtain membership to the Oregon state bar at the earliest opportunity.
• Lived experience within or past work experience in partnership with people and communities of diverse backgrounds and experience, particularly in the western U.S.
• Two or more years relevant attorney experience.
• Excellent research, writing, and oral advocacy skills.
• Experience with and knowledge of public lands, waters, species, and community challenges and opportunities in the western U.S.
• Experience with and knowledge of the relevant agencies, laws, and regulations employed in litigation to protect public lands, waters, and species.
• Ability and willingness to use a complete set of legal advocacy tools including litigation, policy, and administrative advocacy.
• A commitment to conceptualizing and implementing legal strategies that further equity, inclusion, and justice, including through the just treatment and meaningful involvement of clients, partners, and frontline community groups and individuals.
• Dynamic and empathetic skills to foster relationships with partners, clients, agency staff, and community members. Demonstrated ability to work in complex, potentially high-conflict, multi- dimensional arenas involving a broad array of organizations and interests.
• Eagerness to mentor, support, and help develop newer attorneys and a self-awareness, motivation, and desire to seek opportunities for your own growth and development.
• An interest in and understanding of science and other technical fields and their interplay with public interest environmental law.
• Ability to work independently and proactively, including a willingness to be flexible and adaptive when needed.
• Desire to work on and contribute to a team. This includes learning from others, giving and receiving support and feedback, and active, constructive engagement in organizational discussions to advance the organization’s mission and contribute to its cohesion.
• Highly organized and intellectually curious.
• Demonstrated commitment to WELC’s mission and strategies and the public interest, as well as a love for the land, waters, species, and communities of the western U.S.

Benefits and Compensation:
Western Environmental Law Center is an equal opportunity employer. We offer a flexible, friendly, team-based environment with immediate opportunities to shape organizational strategies, and competitive, transparent, and equity-based salaries as follows:

• Staff Attorney, range based on years of legal experience: $76,000 (2 years) – $106,000 (10 years) with commensurate increases for an attorney with greater experience.
• WELC offers an excellent benefits package, including health, vision, dental, life, and disability coverage (with 100% employer paid premiums), a 401(k) retirement plan with a 4% employer match, 22 days combined of paid annual vacation and personal leave, 13 days of paid holiday leave, paid sick leave, and a paid long-term leave policy (3 months sabbatical leave for every 5 years of employment).

To Apply:
Please submit the following as PDF attachments through our ApplicantPro portal.

• 1-2 page cover letter addressed to Sarah McMillan, Wildlands & Wildlife Program Director
• Resume;
• 3 professional references; and
• 1-2 concise writing samples, with at least 1 writing sample involving a legal memorandum, brief, or filing. An additional, non-legal writing sample is also welcomed to illustrate the candidate’s background, views, or

Cover letters should communicate applicants’ commitment to WELC’s mission and advocacy and their motivation to work in this position and in public interest environmental law generally. In your cover letter, please do not repeat information apparent from a review of your resume. Instead, applicants are very strongly encouraged to tell us who they are as human beings, why they care about this work, and why they want to work for WELC specifically.

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The New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission voted Wednesday to reform outdated oil and gas bonding and cleanup rules, adopting some of the strongest safeguards in the country to prevent orphan wells and ensure oil and gas corporations pay to clean up the wells they drill and operate.

“This decision comes down to the simple idea most New Mexicans agree on: If you drill it, you clean it,” said Tannis Fox, senior attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center. “After a thorough, evidence-based process, the Commission acted to protect our water, our communities, and our state budget – ensuring the public isn’t left paying for industry’s messes.”

The Commission’s decision followed months of hearings, expert testimony, legal briefing, and negotiations among parties. In its deliberations, the Commission largely affirmed the legal and evidentiary basis for modernizing New Mexico’s bonding system and adopted most of the reforms included in the parties’ negotiated agreement, including reaffirming that HB80 complements, but does not replace, a modernized bonding system.

Why It Matters

New Mexico faces between $700 million and $1.6 billion in current and near-future oil and gas well cleanup liabilities, according to state data, with nearly 700 wells already abandoned and more than 4,400 likely to be abandoned in the near term.

When wells are not properly plugged, they can leak methane and toxic chemicals into the air and groundwater, threatening the climate, public health, drinking water, agriculture, and nearby communities.

State data show the average cost to plug a well is approximately $163,000, yet outdated rules have allowed operators to post bonds for far less – leaving taxpayers exposed when corporations walk away or go bankrupt.

What the Rules Do

The updated rules:

• Update bonding requirements to $150,000 per well for oil and gas wells at highest risk of abandonment – including low-producing and inactive wells – more closely aligning with the Oil Conservation Division’s actual plugging costs.
• Require operators with high-risk portfolios – more than 20% inactive wells – to post single-well bonding of $150,000 for all their wells, reducing the risk that large portfolios of aging wells are left without adequate cleanup funds.
• Strengthen well transfer rules to prevent poorly funded or noncompliant operators from acquiring aging wells – a common pathway to well abandonment.
• Require the most marginal wells (producing fewer than 90 barrels of oil equivalent in 12 months) to demonstrate they still serve a useful purpose or properly plug them.
• Tighten rules for inactive wells by requiring operators to show wells will return to production in the future, preventing non-producing wells from lingering indefinitely without cleanup.

Frontline and Community Voices

“After more than a century of living with oil and gas operations and seeing the remnants of aging infrastructure across Diné communities in the San Juan Basin, our communities know what happens when corporations fail to clean up after themselves,” said Robyn Jackson, executive director of Diné C.A.R.E. “These stronger rules are an important step toward ensuring oil and gas corporations are responsible for protecting our water, air, lands, and communities.”

“New Mexicans have been clear: corporations should clean up the wells they drill,” said Ahtza Chavez, chief executive officer at Naeva. “These rules move us closer to that standard by protecting our communities, our water, and making sure the public isn’t left paying for industry’s mess.”

“In Carlsbad, we’ve seen firsthand what happens when corporations don’t have the financial backing in place to fix problems they create,” said Haley Jones of Citizens Caring for the Future. “These rules are a practical step to make sure corporations clean up their wells so communities like ours aren’t left with the costs or the uncertainty.”

Broad Public Support

The decision reflects strong, statewide support:

• 89% of New Mexicans support requiring corporations to pay to clean up wells they drill
• 91% say industry should be financially responsible for cleanup
• 90% say protecting drinking water and public health is essential

Support spans political parties and regions across the state.

A Strong National Standard

With today’s vote, New Mexico establishes one of the strongest oil and gas regulatory systems in the nation to prevent orphan wells and ensure timely closure of inactive wells in the country, demonstrating that New Mexico is committed to protecting public health, safeguarding taxpayers, and requiring corporate responsibility.

Looking Ahead

The updated rules mark a major step toward preventing future abandoned wells and protecting New Mexico communities, land, air, and water. By requiring corporations to plan for cleanup upfront, the state reduces long-term environmental and financial risks. At its core, the decision reflects a simple principle: The people who drill and operate wells should be the ones who clean up.

In the coming weeks, the Oil Conservation Commission will issue a written Final Order and publish the rule in the New Mexico Register. Typically, rules become effective 30 days after publication in the Register.

Coalition Support

“Conservation Voters New Mexico Education Fund congratulates the frontline and fenceline communities who have been pushing for better bonding and other oil and gas industry rules for decades,” said Doug Meiklejohn, water quality & land restoration advocate at CVNM Education Fund. “Hard-working New Mexicans and their families and communities are resilient–they deserve clean air, land, water, and good health. These new financial assurance rules are a significant victory that will help ensure oil and gas companies benefitting from our state’s resources will pay to clean up their mess.”

“Low-producing wells can actually be very high-polluting,” said Mandy Sackett, New Mexico lead campaigner for Earthworks. “I’ve documented emissions near schools, improperly functioning flares, and continuous leaks with zero accountability for harms to communities from Counselor to Carlsbad. The new rules make corporations that drill in New Mexico put real money toward cleanup, and that matters for every community I’ve worked in.”

“Orphaned oil and gas wells threaten public health and safety, the water we drink, and the climate,” said Adam Peltz, senior director and lead counsel for energy transition at Environmental Defense Fund. “Far too often, New Mexicans have been left to foot the bill for cleaning up after oil and gas companies, and the state faces billions of dollars in decommissioning risks from low- and non-producing wells. Today, New Mexico finalized reforms to right-size historically insufficient financial assurance, inactive well management and well transfer regulations in order to ensure all wells are plugged in a timely manner at the end of their useful life by their operators. We commend the state for its strong leadership on this critical issue.”

“All religious traditions believe caring for Earth is an ethical and moral responsibility. The oil and gas industry has a responsibility to Earth, our communities, health, and future generations. These state bonding rules are a small way to be responsible and address pollution and harm in favor of the sacredness of Life,” said Sister Joan Brown, community advocate at New Mexico and El Paso Interfaith Power and Light.

“New Mexico families deserve clean air and the assurance that corporations, not hardworking families, are responsible for cleaning up the wells they drill,” said Celerah Hewes on behalf of Moms Clean Air Force. “These stronger protections help safeguard children’s health, reduce harmful methane pollution, and ensure communities across our state are not left with the long-term costs and consequences of abandoned oil and gas wells.”

“When oil and gas companies walk away from cleanup obligations, the costs fall to taxpayers, putting stress on local governments and diverting public revenue away from schools, infrastructure, and essential services,” said Jessica Pace, program director at Western Leaders Network. “By modernizing the state’s bonding program, the Commission establishes New Mexico as a national leader, holds industry accountable for its own mess, and stands up for the natural resources that local elected officials and their communities rely on.”

“New Mexico is finally starting to align oil and gas bonding with the real-world costs and risks communities are already facing across the state,” said Rebecca Sobel, climate and health program director at WildEarth Guardians. “In 2025 alone, industry spilled over 38,000 times, releasing over 9.4 million gallons of toxic liquids across New Mexico. Stronger bonding matters because spills are active, recurring risks tied to aging infrastructure, repeat bad actors, and fracking waste contamination. Today’s vote moves New Mexico closer to a system where corporations, not the public, are responsible for the damage they create.”

Contacts:
Tannis Fox, Western Environmental Law Center, 505-629-0732, fox@westernlaw.org

Robyn Jackson, Diné C.A.R.E., 505-862-4433, robyn.jackson@dine-care.org

Andrew Forkes-Gudmundson, Earthworks, 507-421-9021, andrewfg@earthworks.org

Bill Rodgers, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter, 330-881-9918, bill.rodgers@sierraclub.org

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