Earthworks
“Protect communities and the environment from the adverse impacts of mineral and energy development.”
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.
Every year they sign one sentence and file it with the federal government: “Protect communities and the environment from the adverse impacts of mineral & energy development”
Where the money went, FY2025
The work, and what it cost
Reading every lease sale
$3.4MThe 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 energ...
Including $126,775 granted onward, most of it $62,800 to Batani Foundation.
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, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Reading every lease sale
$2.1MThe 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.
Including $340,152 granted onward.
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, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Reading every lease sale
$1.4MGeneral 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 Earthwo...
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, 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.
Backed on the record by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Resources Legacy Fund, latest filing FY24.
$6,868,915 programs, $1,391,648 management, $870,517 fundraising. Form 990, FY2025.
The people
Who does the work
Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. Orgs that claim their page can update it same-day. 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.
Make it 12The record
The court record
And 1 more in our case database: a selection we track, not their full docket.
14 years of filings
Total revenue by fiscal year, as filed. Point at 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. The 2023 peak of $12.5M reads like one-time gifts, so trust the line, not the peak.
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.
The record
On the Hill
Earthworks files its own federal lobbying reports: 8 filings from 2024 to 2026, naming 16 bills. The filings, at the Senate.
Most filed on natural resources and energy/nuclear.
Their ground
The places they defend
Named plaintiff in the litigation over the copper-silver mine proposed beneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness
Who’s defending it In the fightGates of the Arctic (Ambler Road)Mining watchdog and plaintiff in the Ambler road litigation
Who’s defending it In the fightOak Flat / Chi'chil BildagoteelPlaintiff in the coalition suit challenging the Resolution Copper land exchange
Who’s defending it In the fightMcDermitt 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 In the fightStibnite 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 itSee every threatened place on one map, and who stands for each.
Ways in
How to help
75 cents of your dollar goes straight to the work above.
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
38 years on the ground, 11 volunteers, 2 live lawsuits, 75 cents of every dollar on the line. That is who is holding it. There is room for one more.