Earthjustice
“Because the earth needs a good lawyer.”
5 live lawsuits, 206 comments to the agencies, 81 cents of every dollar to the work.
The origin
How they started
Earthjustice is the largest nonprofit environmental law organization in the country, and it represents other groups in federal court for free. It works as the law firm for the environment, with more than 200 attorneys litigating public lands, clean air, and wildlife cases on behalf of clients who could never afford the fight. Its tagline says it plainly: “Because the earth needs a good lawyer.” If a conservation case is in front of a federal judge, Earthjustice lawyers are frequently the ones arguing it.
Every year they sign one sentence and file it with the federal government: “We use the power of the law to protect health, preserve ecosystems, and combat climate change.” as filed.
Where the money went, FY2025
The work, and what it cost
Provide Free Legal Representation
$90.7M, 54% of spendingWorking through the courts on behalf of citizen groups, scientists, environmental and other organizations to ensure that government agencies and private interests follow the law.
Including $2,109,242 granted onward.
Read it as they filed it
PROVIDE FREE LEGAL REPRESENTATION, WORKING THROUGH THE COURTS ON BEHALF OF CITIZEN GROUPS, SCIENTISTS, ENVIRONMENTAL AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS TO ENSURE THAT GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND PRIVATE INTERESTS FOLLOW THE LAW.
IRS Form 990 Part III for fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Provide Increased Public
$45.5M, 27% of spendingMedia, and policy maker awareness of environmental issues and the role of law in solving them.
Including $4,073,536 granted onward, most of it ($3,900,000) to Earthjustice Action.
Read it as they filed it
PROVIDE INCREASED PUBLIC, MEDIA, AND POLICY MAKER AWARENESS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND THE ROLE OF LAW IN SOLVING THEM.
IRS Form 990 Part III for fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Follow the dollar
81 cents of every dollar goes to the work
A good sign, not a scorecard: what matters is the extremes, and this is nowhere near one.
$136,206,276 programs, $16,612,297 management, $14,729,427 fundraising. Form 990, FY2025.
The backers
Backed, each with its source, by David and Lucile Packard Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Resources Legacy Fund and 78 others, latest filing FY26.
The people
Who does the work
Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. If it’s out of date, tell us. Work at Earthjustice? Claim this page.
Those 33 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If Earthjustice is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.
Find your way inThe record
The court record
And 54 more in our case database: a selection we track, not their full docket.
Fights alongside Center for Biological Diversity (12 shared cases), Natural Resources Defense Council (12 shared cases), Sierra Club (8 shared cases), The Wilderness Society (5 shared cases) and Defenders of Wildlife (4 shared cases) and 31 more. Same case, same side, on the federal docket.
The filings
14 years of filings
Total revenue by fiscal year as filed. Point at or tap the line for any year.
| Year | Revenue |
|---|---|
| 2011 | $34,546,225 |
| 2012 | $38,343,960 |
| 2013 | $37,964,755 |
| 2014 | $46,083,715 |
| 2015 | $48,137,000 |
| 2016 | $51,911,899 |
| 2017 | $93,930,788 |
| 2018 | $79,992,361 |
| 2019 | $102,807,555 |
| 2020 | $146,974,685 |
| 2021 | $114,892,586 |
| 2022 | $135,320,966 |
| 2023 | $125,960,142 |
| 2025 | $170,827,511 |
From $34.5M in 2011 to $170.8M in FY25, across 14 public filings (none on record for 2024).
The returns as e-filed with the IRS, 3 years:
- FY2025Download the return
- FY2024Download the return
- FY2023Download the return
Source: IRS Form 990 e-file data, each return by its IRS object id, served by ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. A year in the chart without a link here is read from a later return’s own history table; its return is on ProPublica’s page for the group.
On the Hill
Earthjustice files its own federal lobbying reports: 27 filings from 2019 to 2026, naming 237 bills. The filings at the Senate.
Most filed on clean air and water, government issues and chemicals.
The record
On the record with the agencies
206 comments on federal decisions since 2023, each filed under the group’s own name on regulations.gov. The latest on decisions we track:
Year by year
In order
- 1971Earthjustice is formed.the directory; the return’s own formation year is 1970
- 19971997 to 2026: 50 cases filed, all since closed: Friends of the Everglades, Inc. v. Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa v. United States Army Corps of Engineers and 48 more.the docket
The other 48
2025, Center for Biological Diversity v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, settled; 2025, Healthy Gulf v. Doug Burgum, closed; 2025, Friends of the Earth v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, closed; 2025, Village of Solomon v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pacific Ocean Division, closed; 2025, American Farm Bureau Federation v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, closed; 2022, Wilderness Society v. Burgum, closed; 2023, Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, closed; 2023, Sierra Club v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, closed; 2023, Center for Biological Diversity v. Bureau of Land Management, closed; 2023, Colorado Conservation Alliance v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, lost; 2020, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance v. Bernhardt, settled; 2020, State of California v. Council on Environmental Quality, closed; 2020, Alaska Community Action on Toxics v. Council on Environmental Quality, closed; 2018, Voyageur Outward Bound School v. United States of America, lost; 2018, State of California v. Zinke, closed; 2018, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council v. Stewart, closed; 2017, S. Utah Wilderness Alliance v. Burke, closed; 2017, Western Energy Alliance v. Zinke, closed; 2017, League of Conservation Voters v. Trump, closed; 2011, Organized Village of Kake v. United States Department of Agriculture, won; 2011, State of Alaska v. United States Department of Agriculture, closed; 2012, Federal Forest Resource Coalition v. Vilsack, closed; 2014, In re Big Thorne Project & 2008 Tongass Forest Plan, lost; 2008, Wyoming v. United States Department of Agriculture, closed; 1997, Wilderness Society v. Dombeck, closed; 2009, Wilderness Society v. United States Bureau of Land Management, closed; 2009, San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority v. Salazar, closed; 2009, Jayne v. Rey, closed; 2021, Defenders of Wildlife v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, on appeal; 2021, Friends of the Earth v. Haaland, lost; 2021, American Wild Horse Campaign v. Haaland, closed; 2016, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. United States Army Corps of Engineers, closed; 2016, Wildearth Guardians v. Jewell, closed; 2013, Solenex LLC v. Bernhardt, closed; 2007, American Forest Resource Council v. Hall, closed; 2001, Kootenai Tribe of ID v. Glickman, closed; 2024, State of Iowa v. Council on Environmental Quality, closed; 2024, State of Montana v. Haaland, closed; 2024, State of Montana v. Haaland, closed; 2024, Friends of the Bitterroot v. Haaland, closed; 2026, Miami Waterkeeper v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, closed; 2026, Center for Biological Diversity v. Burgum, closed; 2026, Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, closed; 2026, Healthy Gulf v. Burgum, closed; 2026, Western Watersheds Project v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, closed; 2026, Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians v. United States Army Corps of Engineers, closed; 2026, Montana Environmental Information Center v. Doug Burgum, closed; 2019, Montana Environmental Information Center v. Bernhardt, closed.
- 2017Wilderness Society v. Donald J. Trump: counsel, still in court.the docket
- 2020Natural Resources Defense Council v. Bureau of Land Management: counsel, still in court.the docket
- 2021First appears in the grants of John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Kendeda Fund.the funders’ returns
- 2022First appears in the grants of David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Resources Legacy Fund, Wilburforce Foundation and William & Flora Hewlett Foundation.the funders’ returns
- 2023State of Alaska v. The United States Department of Agriculture: counsel, still in court.the docket
- 23 comments, most to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- 20244 comments to federal agencies, NOAA among them, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- First appears in G O Forward Charitable Tr’s grants.the funder’s return
- 202565 comments to federal agencies, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management among them, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- First appears in T Rowe Price Program For Charitable Giving’s grants.the funder’s return
- 2026Ketchikan Indian Community v. United States Forest Service: counsel, still in court.the docket
- American Prairie Foundation v. United States Department of Interior: counsel, still in court.the docket
- 114 comments, most to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
Rust, a case still in court. Green, a funder’s return. Hollow, a filing. Every row comes from a public record: 59 federal cases with the group on the docket, 206 comments filed under its own name, 81 funders whose returns name it. Nothing here is written from memory.
Their ground
The places they defend
Has litigated the Tongass Roadless Rule fights for two decades
Who’s defending it On the record · Comments close Dec 9Pacific Remote Islands Marine National MonumentFiled the May 2025 lawsuit challenging the executive order opening the monument to commercial fishing.
Who’s defending it On the record · On this place: 1 case in federal court, filed 2017Bears Ears National MonumentCounsel in the federal litigation over the monument’s boundaries
Who’s defending it On the record · Critical threatCabinet Mountains WildernessCounsel in the long-running litigation against the Rock Creek and Montanore mines proposed beneath the wilderness
Who’s defending it On the record · Critical threatNPR-A Teshekpuk Lake Special AreaCounsel in back to back federal suits challenging the 2025 approval of ConocoPhillips exploration drilling and the 2026 lease sale that offered nearly all of the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area.
Who’s defending it On the record · Threat developingGreen Mountain National ForestWrote technical comments opposing the Telephone Gap timber sale and mobilized public opposition alongside Standing Trees
Who’s defending itMost urgent first: open comment windows, then live federal cases, then the threat level. See every threatened place on one map, and who stands for each.
Earthjustice files one related organization on its return: Earthjustice Action (501(c)(4)). A related organization shares people or purpose; it does not share the books.
Ways in
How to help
Straight to their own donation page. Your dollar never passes through us.
Give on their site ↗Show upVolunteer with themFind their volunteer door on their own site.
Find it on their site ↗SpeakComment and callOpen comment windows and call scripts for fights like these, ready to send.
Public Lands Action NetworkFollowFollow themBears Ears and Grand Staircase, tracked as they move. Alerts when it matters.
Monument WatchStand with Earthjustice
The mission is theirs. The backing is yours.