Photo: National Park Service In our original blog, ‘Why Restore Wolves to Colorado,’ we briefly discussed the top five reasons wolves should be reintroduced to the state. Now, we’re digging deeper into each of those arguments. You can also check…
Background Bighorn sheep are an iconic species of the American West. They call some of our country’s most rugged and remote landscapes home. Their cultural, ecological, aesthetic and economic value has made bighorn sheep a vital part of North American…
We know that meaningful and permanent public lands protections take time. Lots of time. Lots of stakeholders are at the table and compromises are hashed out over years, not weeks. Often times such efforts are framed by politicians as being…
Is it everything we hope for? No, but it is undoubtedly a significant step forward. We’ll continue to use all the tools we have to fight for permanent protections in the region. Check out the full press release below with…
Photo: Jack Brauer Really, it isn’t a surprise to most of us that the majority of Western Slope voters support our public lands and want them protected. For those who are skeptical, this recent poll clearly shows widespread support for…
Photo: Wikimedia Commons In our original blog, ‘Why Restore Wolves to Colorado,’ we briefly discussed the top five reasons wolves should be reintroduced to the state. Now, we’re digging deeper into each of those arguments. You can also check out Part…
In our previous blog, ‘Why Restore Wolves to Colorado,’ we briefly discussed the top five reasons wolves should be reintroduced to the state. In this and future blogs, we’re digging deeper into each of those arguments. Blogs by Gary Skiba,…
We’ve been working to protect Greater Chaco from rampant and unchecked oil and gas development for over a decade. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has long failed to conduct any sort of meaningful tribal consultations or robust environmental or cultural resource…
Photo: Wildearth Guardians Even a court ruling doesn’t seem to deter the Bureau of Land Management in Farmington. They are determined to push through industry wish lists, undermining environmental review, public input, and even the courts. We’ll continue calling them…
Photo: Tom Sykes The Forest Service has rescinded its approval to use chainsaws in Weminuche and South San Juan Wildernesses! We were surprised last month to hear about Regional Forester’s illegal approval to use motorized equipment in the form of…
Photo: National Park Service Chain Saws in Wilderness Update June 4th, 2019 Background On May 7th the Forest Service unexpectedly, and without any public notice or input, announced it would allow chain saws in the Weminuche and South San Juan…
Photo: Fish and Wildlife Service Wolves have long stirred strong emotions in this country and still do. The idea of bringing wolves back to Colorado generates passionate support as well as die-hard opposition. Yet from an ecological standpoint, wolves belong…
Photo: Rob Zeigler It’s certainly promising, if not surprising, that Department of Interior Secretary David Bernhardt is making promises to protect Greater Chaco. We’re grateful to Senator Heinrich for playing a key role in orchestrating Bernhardt’s visit to Chaco Cultural…
Below is our press release detailing our arguments against the Forest Service’s recent secretive approval allowing for chainsaws to be used in the Weminuche and South San Juan Wildernesses starting June 1. We’re asking the court to reverse the decision….
This is great news! Momentum in our decade-long effort to protect Greater Chaco from unbridled (and illegal) oil and gas development is finally resulting in real gains. Back in 2015, along with our partners, we filed a lawsuit against the…
Real progress is being made toward protecting Greater Chaco! Last month a Congressional visit welcomed lawmakers to the region to learn about the impacts of oil and gas development and the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act was re-introduced. At the…
Photo: Alex Pullen OK, here we go again. Many of you joined us in submitting protests this last fall on the draft decision to provide road access to the Village. And for good reason. It’s not surprising they went ahead and…
The Energy Transition Act will reduce electricity costs for New Mexicans, leverage affordable clean energy, and provide economic relief to the Four Corners. Today, a coalition of New Mexico labor, community, and environmental organizations celebrated the passage by the…
It’s time to speak out in defense of Greater Chaco again. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Farmington and Rio Puerco field offices in northwestern New Mexico continue to allow oil and gas companies to frack without a plan in…
Woot woot! A new Governor in New Mexico along with a host of bold, progressive, new State House representatives, looking to the future and creating opportunities. We’re hopeful we can make big strides in clean energy, a just transition for…
Photo: Jack Brauer Senator Bennet and Representative Neguse are breathiing new life into the decade-long campaign to permanently protect iconic, yet vulnerable, alpine landscapes in the San Juan Mountains. Next week, they’re introducing a new bill, the Colorado Outdoor Recreation &…
While Colorado has been a national leader in establishing state-wide methane rules to limit waste, a task force is calling for more to be done to curb ozone pollution stemming from the oil and gas industry. With many counties, particularly…
Victory! Excellent decision today putting the public back into decisions about our public lands! The New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission took all of 5 minutes to grant a re-hearing on the rule allowing for double drilling in Rio Arriba and…
Elections matter. That fact is being clearly made in New Mexico, where the public voted in a new administration with vastly different values when it comes to our public lands, among other things. We are thrilled that the new administration…
Photo: Alex Pullen, Future home of would-be Village at Wolf Creek Good News! You probably aren’t new to this decades-long controversy over the proposed Village at Wolf Creek development. And even so, it can be hard to follow all the…
Photo: WildEarth Guardians We’ve been working to protect the Greater Chaco region from rampant and largely uncontrolled drilling for over ten years. Sadly, the need for protections is only increasing. Our partners organized a rally of over 200 people to…
Photo: Wikipedia Commons We’ve been advocating for wildlife, quiet use and watershed protections within the Rico West Dolores Travel Management Plan for a decade. Many of you have joined us in demanding that the region be managed for the those…
Hilcorp tried to sneak through a rule change that would double the drilling density in San Juan and Rio Arriba Counties in New Mexico – without public input or analysis of impacts. You may have heard we’ve been making a…
Again? Yes, again. It’s hard to keep track how many times and in how many different ways this administration has attempted to gut the two common-sense methane rules established under the Obama Administration. Secretary Zinke has tried, and failed, twice…
Recently, Senator Gardner told a group gathering in Norwood, Colorado that he wouldn’t stand in the way of the San Juan Mountains Wilderness Act moving forward. We’re looking to him now to make to good on his commitment to move…
The era of coal is over. We must demand a just transition for impacted families and communities now. APS, having profited billions from the hardworking families and communities of northwestern New Mexico, has a responsibility to help fund that transition….
Zinke’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will hold a lease sale in Greater Chaco this December, despite failing to conduct tribal consultations they deemed necessary when cancelling the much smaller March 2018 lease in the region. Along with our partners,…
Photo: Ecoflight Northwestern New Mexico is at a crossroads. Like many communities throughout history, the foundation of our economy is based on a soon-to-be outdated industry. We can choose to become victims of change and progress or we can choose…
This. Is. Crazy. The developers of the would-be Village at Wolf Creek will stop at nothing. We know that. But we really do expect the Forest Service to manage public lands in the public interest and not cave to the…
Photo: Rob Zeigler There have been a lot of tears in the office lately. And it’s not because the Animas is running the color of charcoal, massacring our already vulnerable native fish populations. And it’s not because a billionaire developer…
Their tactics no longer surprise us, but they do still get us fired up! We recently discovered that the would-be developers of the Village at Wolf Creek, despite losing a sweeping court case on the issue last spring, sent a…
As most of you know, the Alliance has been working for over a decade to secure greater protections for Greater Chaco – it’s water, air, cultural resources and the health and safety of native communities living there today. We have…
Photo: Alex Pullen Wow, we weren’t really expecting this. We’ve been fighting the proposed Village at Wolf Creek for well over a decade now. As you likely know, in order to develop the 8,000-person city atop Wolf Creek Pass, the developers…
Photo: Jason Hatfield We’re thrilled to announce that Senator Bennet has introduced the San Juan Mountains Wilderness Act, a bill born from years of diverse stakeholder engagement to protect vulnerable high country regions of the San Juan Mountains. The bill,…
We’re celebrating! The Colorado state water court has upheld the instream water right instituted by the Colorado Water Conservation Board for the Dolores River in 2015. The standard was primarily intended to protect three struggling native fish populations, but will…
Over the past weekend, we had a partial win in our long fight to protect Chaco from unfettered oil and gas development. While the judge rejected our claim that the Bureau of Land Management violated the National Environmental Protection Act…
“Wilderness is not a luxury, but a necessity of the human spirit.” Edward Abbey It seems so obvious that we should preserve at least some small part of this planet to remain relatively untouched by humans and our destructive…
Photo: EcoFlight While other coal plants in the region are announcing early closures, due in large part to the low cost of renewables, the 55-year-old Four Corners Power Plant was issued a whopping 25-year permit extension in 2015. As you may remember,…
We’re taking the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to court over their March 2017 lease sale. In order to explain why the Tres Rios Field Office (TRFO) March 2017 lease sale is worthy of a lawsuit, we need to take a step…
You may have heard that back in May a federal judge ruled in our favor in our court case against the land exchange that would have allowed the Pillage at Wolf Creek to be finally built. Judge Matsch agreed with us…
It’s official! Marcel Gaztambide is your Animas Riverkeeper! We’re thrilled to have him on as a full time advocate for the Animas Riverkeeper. He’ll be harnessing the expertise of over 300 other waterkeepers around the globe through the Waterkeeper Alliance to…
Last week, along with millions of other Americans, we anxiously awaited Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke’s recommendation on the fate of over 2 dozen National Monuments. Although his recommendation reportedly made it to President Trump’s desk, the proposed future for some…
We just couldn’t let it slide. There were too many egregious, and frankly illegal, errors in the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) process that resulted in approval of Siverton Guide’s proposed heli-ski permit expansion. Despite hundreds of public comments against the…
Photo: Carlan Tapp Cue the third branch of government. When you have an administration willing to defy law in order to pursue industry’s agenda, checks and balances become increasingly important. That’s why when the BLM announced an illegal indefinite postponement of their…
What’s Happening with the Master Leasing Plan? You may remember that last December it was announced the Bureau of Land Management Will Pursue a Master Leasing Plan! San Juan Citizens Alliance staff and members worked hard last year to ensure that such…
WE WON! Judge Matsch’s decision validates nearly every complaint we had regarding the Forest Service’s botched attempt at an Environmental Impact Statement. They shirked their responsibility to assess the impacts of development and disregarded significant public input. Your input. In a…
Call Senator Gardner and tell him you want him to put his constituents above special interests. CALL: (202) 224-5941 Senator Cory Gardner’s vote this morning to roll back the BLM Methane Rule tells us a lot about his alliances. Unfortunately, Coloradans…
This is unprecedented. Here at the Alliance, we are not unused to setbacks. It’s part of the work we do. But right now the scale of setbacks is jarring. The President has initiated a process that could strip million of…
This being the last column I have the privilege to write for The Durango Herald, there’s a certain pressure I feel to pen a magnum opus of sorts. Let me pour some cold water on that thought. No brilliant summation…
We were forced to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) last week. Why? Because the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Gunnison Field Office refused to provide access to the public comments we requested. This is not normal by the way. We…
By: Chris Talbot-Heindl, Communications & Membership Manager, Rocky Mountain Wild Canada Lynx and Ski Resorts In late December, we all watched in awe as a Canada lynx lumbered across Purgatory Resort amid astonished skiers in broad daylight. For some, it was…
We submitted final arguments in our latest battle to protect Wolf Creek Pass last Friday. The lawsuit, filed together with Rocky Mountain Wild and San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council, seeks to reverse the Forest Service’s 2015 decision to approve a land exchange, providing…
Photo Attribution: Jeremiah LaRocco via Flickr (License) “It is, Pitch is most proud to say, the antithesis of the glitz and glamor he sees across Colorado’s ski country.” Seth Boster1 If you rely on sipping on a pumpkin latte…
The greatest concentration of methane in the country floats above us here in the Four Corners. Although we can’t see it, it’s not harmless. In addition to being a powerful greenhouse gas, over 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide, it’s released…
Oil and gas wastes are exempt from hazardous waste regulations. What? They shouldn’t be. Fracking and oil waste contain dangerous chemicals that are injected back into the grounds, stored in pits and even sprayed on roads. There are 13,379 oil and gas waste…
Photo: Alex Pullen By Chris Wilkins I’ve learned a lot of things serving on the SJCA board – how a non-profit budget works, how many acronyms there are in the government, how LONG everything takes in the environmental world. It…
By Chuck McAfee Thirty years for San Juan Citizens Alliance—this year we’re 30 years old and more effective than ever. That’s what comes to mind when I think about the Alliance. The reasons that we are here are so fundamental—air,…
Last night we hosted an event called Cookies for Calls: No Pruitt for EPA. We handed out homemade cookies to those of you who stopped by and made a call to your Senators. Many of you had never called an…
Although the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is tasked with managing our public lands for multiple use, fossil fuel extraction has long dominated public land use policy. Over the last couple of years we’ve worked hard to encourage the Tres Rios…
By Mark Pearson, Former SJCA Executive Director and Current Board Member Like you, I’ve been captivated by the wild landscapes of the San Juans and southwest Colorado for many years. That’s why I quickly gravitated to San Juan Citizens Alliance…
Photo: Alex Pullen If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Frederick Douglass There is no lack of struggle in our work. We constantly grapple to prioritize campaigns against myriad threats to our community, find creative solutions to roadblocks and are challenged…
Are they still trying to build that Village at Wolf Creek? Yes. And we’re still fighting it. In fact, we just filed an opening brief in the U.S District Court of Colorado as a part of our most recent lawsuit to…
Comments Due on the Hermosa Creek Watershed Management Plan Didn’t we already do that? Yes, yes we did! Dozens of stakeholders (including us) patiently and persistently carved out a proposal to protect the watershed that led to the Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection…
Collaboration key in fighting fires in the West It’s summer, it’s hot and dry, and forest fires will burn. Here’s the kicker: That may be a good thing. To unpack this claim, let’s look at two things legions of…
Need some levity? This is for you. When you’re ready to take on reality again, check out some information we put together about the Four Corners Power Plant. Warning: It’s not that funny.
Photo: Mark Pearson In mid-May the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) auctioned off rights to drill on the only remaining unleased parcels in the HD Mountains. The bidding companies, provided anonymity by the BLM, paid $5,200,000 for 10-year development rights…
We’re all pretty aware these days that fracking requires ludicrous amounts of water mixed with nasty chemicals. And that the huge boom in drilling over the last decade was largely fueled by new fracking technologies. There has been a lot…
Imagine an unlikely scenario with me. Donald Trump, the wildly successful, great, terrific business icon turned even terrific-er presidential candidate, finds himself unsure how to negotiate a business transaction. Who might he call for advice? After years of watching a…
So, you probably know we’re suing the Forest Service over their decision last year that paves the way for Red McCombs’ long-dreaded Village at Wolf Creek. Maybe you also know that our partners filed 2 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)…
It’s election time! No, not that one. There’s one here locally from which the presidential race could learn some lessons. Imagine if the national election were more like that of our local La Plata Electric Association (LPEA) Board of Directors: 2 months…
Apparently some decisions are more final than others. Along with our partners, we have long demanded the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) halt all fracking in the Greater Chaco region, at least until an adequate management plan is in place…
Durangoans demand more Superfund involvement, Durango Herald, February 3, 2016
It’s 3 weeks into January and here at the Alliance we’re finally taking a moment to clear the papers off our desks, breathe, and reflect on the past year. We started 2015 knowing there were thousands of people in the region…
Dan Olson, Executive Director of San Juan Citizens Alliance, was interviewed this morning on KDUR’s Off the Rim about the evidence of collusion and efforts to destroy and hide documents pertaining to the Wolf Creek development. Check it out. Read the…
This is a great short video by our friends at Backcountry Hunters and Anglers on the standoff at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. It’s an important sanctuary, particularly for birds, and belongs to each of us.
We just finished our latest newsletter and it’s heading to your mailbox this week! It covers our work on regional ozone, protecting Chaco from rampant oil and gas development and our commitment to ensuring permanent clean up of the Animas…
Responsible management of energy and water may be two of the biggest challenges we face this century, particularly in light of climate change. Colorado’s first-ever state water plan was a difficult but important step toward successfully meeting those challenges. The Alliance joins other…
A big win for public health and communities’ right-to-know! Astonishingly, the oil and gas extraction industry has never been required to report emissions to the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), a federally-managed public database detailing how, what and where toxic chemicals are…
The EPA just updated Bush-era ozone levels. While we commend strengthening of the standard, it is disappointing to see the agency apparently cave to industry lobbying efforts by establishing the weakest limit recommended by their scientific advisory panel. In the Four Corners,…
The Green Business Roundtable is one of the most innovative and successful lunchtime networking events in Durango and our 14th season is off to another great start. We’ve heard from world-renowned conservation biologist, Michael Soule, and Joe Minicozzi, a city planner hailing from…
For immediate release: Sept. 17, 2015 Media Contacts: Allyson Siwik, Gila Resources Information Project, 575-590-7619, allysonsiwik@gmail.com Mike Eisenfeld, San Juan Citizens Alliance, 505-360-8994, mike@sanjuancitizens.org Rachel Conn, Amigos Bravos, 575.770.8327, rconn@amigosbravos.org Eleanor Bravo, Food and Water Watch, 505-633-7366, ebravo@fwwatch.org Liliana Castillo,…
The toxic plume from the Gold King Mine release has passed. Our river is no longer orange. Where do we go from here? It is possible that this disaster, like so many horrors we hear about daily, will pass us…
The Alliance and our partners have been working for years to secure these instream protections for the Dolores vital to the native fish and overall health of the river. This is a big win! We were disappointed that our local Southwest…
The Alliance has been working to protect the Greater Chaco region from unchecked and unplanned oil and gas development for years. Our request to halt all drilling in the Greater Chaco region while our lawsuit makes its way through the courts was…
For Immediate Release: September 22, 2015 Media Contacts: Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, Western Environmental Law Center, 575-613-4197, eriksg@westernlaw.org Tom Singer, Western Environmental Law Center, 505-231-1070, singer@westernlaw.org Mike Eisenfeld, San Juan Citizens Alliance, 505-360-8994, mike@sanjuancitizens.org Carol Davis, Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment, 928-221-7859, caroljdavis.2004@gmail.com EPA Methane…
Photo Credit: Kathy Myrick The recent disaster on the Animas has earned national media attention. If you are following this or interested in the various perspectives or evolution the coverage has taken, below is a listing of the coverage we have tracked…
We’ve been getting a lot of compliments on our new and improved newsletter. The format is a little (OK, a lot) different than the last time we put one together (some two years ago…) and you’ll be proud to leave it on…
The problem with free market solutions to environmental problems is really quite simple: The free market does not exist. Let’s take a peek at the energy sector to see just how non-existent this free market is. In May, the International…
As many of you know, last month we filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the Forest Service’s decision to approve a land swap that facilitates the long-threatened Pillage at Wolf Creek. Although the land will likely be exchanged later this week, we’ve signed…
Renewable Energy? Yay! Clean Air? Of course! Resilient landscapes? Bring it on. Master Leasing Plans? Huh? The work we do isn’t often glamorous: it’s complex and technical, but really important. Master Leasing Plans (MLPs) fall squarely into that category….
We’ve been telling you that the process the Forest Service used to approve the land exchange, which paves the way for the Pillage at Wolf Creek, was highly flawed and illegal. After sifting through tens of thousands of documents released through…
Thank you to Danny Ledonne at Emberwilde Productions for this great video!
Feds to focus on oil, gas concerns, Durango Herald, June 17, 2015
Our very own Jimbo explains how the Forest Service limited it’s scope and violated policies in approving the land exchange. Dan Dallas tries to defend the process and his decision to approve the land exchange allowing for a 10,000-person city…
Is the fight for the future of Wolf Creek over? Has the community effort to protect this wild, unique and beloved landscape been in vain? After all, the U.S. Forest Service did just sign a Record of Decision (bureaucracy-speak for…
By law Environmental Impact Statements are intended to be robust and transparent. Very little in the nearly 30-year saga of the proposed Village at Wolf Creek Pass has met those expectations. Sadly, 2015 has been no different. Today the Forest Service amended and…
You may remember that back in March we filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to protect the Greater Chaco Region from illegal and rampant oil and gas development. As that works its way through the courts,…
A do-over. That’s what we and our partners asked the Department of Interior (DOI) for when they released their Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Four Corners Power Plant and Navajo Mine Energy Project last year. Did we get…
Where would the outdoor industry be without the public lands on which we explore, dream and play? The Conservation Alliance, comprised of such iconic companies as Patagonia, Osprey Packs and REI, actively protect the wild and protected landscapes on which…
The threat to Pillage Wolf Creek Pass with a jumbo development that simply doesn’t belong in a stunning, remote, high altitude environment has been relentless over the last couple decades. Unfortunately, the most recent decision to approve the land swap with billionaire…
Ever heard that little ditty: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me. Turns out to be a complete and utter lie. Heck, you don’t even need full names – acronyms will do – and…
Photo Credit: EcoFlight Busted. Again. A federal judge just denied a plan by the Office of Surface and Mining (OSM) to expand the Navajo Mine, which feeds the Four Corners Power Plant, based on the fact that the environmental analysis…
By Mike Eisenfeld, New Mexico Energy Coordinator [Not into reading? Check out this video for a good overview for what’s happening around Chaco.] If you’ve driven to Chaco Culture National Historical Park (Chaco) or Albuquerque recently, you’ve undoubtedly noticed a…
Durango Natural Foods Co-op was presented with the 13th annual Green Business Leadership Award for their 40 years of pioneering leadership as a member-owned cooperative committed to providing quality organic and local products and educating the community on the value…
Hallelujah! A true radical is born. If there is one thing I’ve learned in my 30-odd years on Earth, it is this: Do not disparage tradition lightly – no matter how incommensurable with evolving mores. We could, quite easily, lambaste…
Ever wonder what the Alliance has been up to? Or how we put your donations to work? If so, this blog is for you. As we head into 2015, we thought we’d take a moment to recap some of our…
Welcome to the Alliance’s new website, our completely overhauled home on the web designed to help folks stay abreast of Alliance campaigns and take action when public participation is needed. With all the bells and whistles of a 21st century…
Am I a hypocrite? Of all the responses I get to this column, by far the most common attack pertains to my supposed hypocrisy. They usually go a lot like this: “Well hello to all you liberal brain dead fools!!!!…
Time to break out the condolence cards – BP had a bad quarter. Earnings are down 18 percent, leaving this global behemoth with a paltry $3 billion in profits for the third quarter. Poor guys. Analysts say it has something…
