WildEarth Guardians

A Force for Nature

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Photo Credit: USDA

Protect public lands – connect vast landscapes where wildlife can roam

Public Lands

Our greatest conservation opportunity is protecting and connecting the West’s vast landscapes where majestic wildlife can roam—from the largest grizzly to the smallest meadow jumping mouse; where birds can soar and sage grouse can strut; where fish thrive in water that is pure and clean; and where people experience the primal power of the wild.

Yet the federal government and corporate interests have other ideas, and are bent on destroying public lands, waters, and wildlife with increased logging, mining, livestock grazing, oil and gas development, motorized use, and even more roads.

Guardians combats this culture of extraction with connection, protection, and healing, deploying strategies from education and restoration to advocacy and litigation to preserve and restore America’s wild places, wild rivers, and wildlife. We think and act at the local, regional, and West-wide levels: from the unparalleled biodiversity of the Greater Gila in New Mexico to the majesty of Glacier National Park, from the mountain sources of rushing rivers along their flow through the Pacific Northwest, we strive for vast, interconnected landscapes teeming with the diversity of life.

Public Lands Program Work

WildEarth Guardians plants native vegetation along riversides once scarred by livestock grazing, protects wild landscapes from disruptive and damaging motorized off-road vehicles, and much more.

Public Lands in Public Hands

Protecting public lands from agencies, Congress, modern-day robber barons, and everyone else who seeks to privatize them

Rewild Lands and Waters

Removing unneeded roads from public lands, maintaining roads that are still needed, and restoring passage for fish when roads block their spawning grounds

Grazing Permit Retirement

A proven strategy to equitably resolve conflicts between historic uses and modern ecological realities

Moderating Motorized Use

Keeping off-road vehicles and snowmobiles off of fragile landscapes to protect wildlife and water quality

The Greater Gila

Safeguarding the diversity and dynamism of the Greater Gila Bioregion, including working with ranchers to retire grazing allotments and return Mexican wolves to their ancestral homeland

The Status of the Grizzly Bear: Has it Really Recovered?

Five leading experts present their findings.

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Brave New Wild Blog

A Retreat to Jump Forward

A Retreat to Jump Forward

Guardians gathered to connect with one another, reflect on past triumphs, and develop a strategic plan to guide the organization into the future.

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Public Lands Press

We can promote resilience in Santa Fe mountain forests

Santa Fe New Mexican | Mar 11, 2023

The Sangre de Cristo Mountains rise in beauty behind Santa Fe. They are home for species ranging from rare giant helleborine orchids to the tiny threatened American pikas, along with our state’s iconic bald eagles, mule deer, cougars and black bears.

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All Public Lands Op-Eds

The Yaak Valley Is Ground Zero for Montana’s Environmental Future

The Flathead Beacon | Nov 1, 2023

The controversy reached its boiling point in August when U.S. District Court Judge Donald W. Molloy ruled that the USFS failed to adequately account for the Black Ram’s negative consequences on the Yaak’s grizzly bear population and climate change more generally.

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All Public Lands In the News