Earthworks
“Protect communities and the environment from the adverse impacts of mineral and energy development.”
26 funders on the record, 75 cents of every dollar to the work.
The origin
How they started
Earthworks takes on the mining, oil, and gas industries that scar public land, pushing to reform hardrock mining law and cut methane pollution from drilling on federal acres. It traces back to the Mineral Policy Center, founded in 1988 by former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall and others, which rebranded as Earthworks in 2004 and later combined with the Oil & Gas Accountability Project. It works alongside the communities living next to extraction sites, documenting pollution and pressing regulators to act. Based in Washington, DC.
Where the money went, FY2025
The work, and what it cost
The Energy Program includes our work on oil, gas and…
$3.4M, 37% of spendingThis program works to change federal, state, and local government policy and to support and empower communities impacted by existing and proposed energy extraction, to raise awareness about the impacts of unconventional…
Including $126,775 granted onward.
Read it as they filed it
The Energy Program includes our work on oil, gas and petrochemicals. This program works to change federal, state, and local government policy and to support and empower communities impacted by existing and proposed energy extraction, to raise awareness about the impacts of unconventional oil and methane gas, and to reduce the impacts of all forms of energy extraction. This program was formerly known as Oil & Gas Accountability Project.
IRS Form 990 Part III for fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
The Mining Program includes efforts in the U.S
$2.1M, 23% of spendingand internationally to reform mining policies and practices, including work to ensure that clean energy does not lead to more harmful mining.
Including $340,152 granted onward, the largest share ($62,800) to Batani Foundation.
Read it as they filed it
The Mining Program includes efforts in the U.S. and internationally to reform mining policies and practices, including work to ensure that clean energy does not lead to more harmful mining. This program supports communities and protects special places by stopping mining where it doesn't belong, reins in the riskiest mining practices, and reforms and defends state, federal and international policies that protect communities, water, wildlife, oceans and other natural resources.
IRS Form 990 Part III for fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
General Programming includes Media
$1.4M, 15% of spendingAnd Communications, Research and Publications and Digital Engagement and Advocacy.Media and Communications - Press outreach and storytelling to promote and publicize the work of Earthworks and its allies.
Including $1,000 granted onward.
Read it as they filed it
General Programming includes Media and Communications, Research and Publications and Digital Engagement and Advocacy.Media and Communications - Press outreach and storytelling to promote and publicize the work of Earthworks and its allies. Research and Publications - Analysis and development of policy proposals, research on impacts of mining and energy extraction, and publishing fact sheets, reports, and information.Digital Engagement and Advocacy - Outreach, engagement and advocacy using digital tools, providing information to the public and Earthworks members, and responding to inquiries.
IRS Form 990 Part III for fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Follow the dollar
75 cents of every dollar goes to the work
Read it as a snapshot, not a scorecard. Splits move year to year with grants and campaigns, and healthy shops live all across this range.
$6,868,915 programs, $1,391,648 management, $870,517 fundraising. Form 990, FY2025.
The backers
Backed, each with its source, by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Cloud Mountain Foundation, Common Counsel Foundation and 23 others, latest filing FY25.
The people
Who does the work
Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. The FY2025 filing lists two people as executive director, Jennifer Krill and Michelle Medeiros, usually a handover inside the year. If it’s out of date, tell us. Work at Earthworks? Claim this page.
Those 11 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If Earthworks is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.
Find your way inThe filings
14 years of filings
Total revenue by fiscal year as filed. Point at or tap the line for any year.
| Year | Revenue |
|---|---|
| 2011 | $1,376,880 |
| 2012 | $1,721,781 |
| 2013 | $2,223,490 |
| 2014 | $2,258,810 |
| 2015 | $2,402,549 |
| 2016 | $2,598,224 |
| 2017 | $4,538,420 |
| 2018 | $3,594,028 |
| 2019 | $4,935,966 |
| 2020 | $4,597,756 |
| 2021 | $7,742,890 |
| 2022 | $7,566,112 |
| 2023 | $12,529,855 |
| 2025 | $12,158,903 |
From $1.4M in 2011 to $12.2M in FY25, across 14 public filings (none on record for 2024). 2023, at $12.5M, stands well above the other years on file.
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.
In court
Fights alongside Center for Biological Diversity (2 shared cases), National Wildlife Federation (2 shared cases), Natural Resources Defense Council (2 shared cases), Sierra Club (2 shared cases) and Advocates for the West (1 shared case) and 11 more. Same case, same side, on the federal docket. Their dockets on CourtListener.
On the Hill
Earthworks files its own federal lobbying reports: 9 filings from 2024 to 2026, naming 15 bills. The filings at the Senate.
Most filed on natural resources and energy.
Their ground
The places they defend
Plaintiff in the coalition suit challenging the Resolution Copper land exchange
Who’s defending it On the record · Critical threatCabinet Mountains WildernessNamed plaintiff in the litigation over the copper-silver mine proposed beneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness
Who’s defending it On the record · Critical threatStibnite Mine / Boise National ForestPlaintiff in the federal Stibnite lawsuit and party to the June 2026 Ninth Circuit appeal seeking to stop construction of the mine.
Who’s defending it On the record · Critical threatMcDermitt CalderaCoalition partner opposing the McDermitt Exploration Project, criticizing the fast-tracked December 2025 BLM approval and pressing for 1872 Mining Law reform.
Who’s defending it On the record · Threat developingGates of the Arctic (Ambler Road)Plaintiff, represented by Trustees for Alaska, in the January 2026 filing challenging the federal reapproval of the Ambler mining road
Who’s defending it On the record · On watchBristol Bay WatershedA plaintiff in SalmonState v. Hladick, filed in 2019 in the District of Alaska. A filing in the case names Bristol Bay Watershed.
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.
The wire
What they’ve done lately
- Wed, Oct 14 · StatementAir Aware 101: Common Threats to Our Air Quality
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 NetworkFollowWatch the mapEvery threatened place in the country, tracked, with who stands for each.
Threatened Lands MapStand with Earthworks
The mission is theirs. The backing is yours.