Southern Environmental Law Center
“To protect the basic right to clean air, clean water, and a livable climate.”
The work
What they do
The South’s most effective environmental law organization.
Every year they sign one sentence and file it with the federal government: “SEE PART III LINE 1.”
Where the money went, FY2025
The work, and what it cost
Holding the line in court
$17.1MGOALS TO PROMOTE AND SECURE A SUSTAINABLE ENERGY POLICY ACROSS THE SOUTH THAT PROTECTS THE PEOPLE AND NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE REGION, ENHANCES THE ECONOMY, AND MINIMIZES THE HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND ECONOMIC HARM OF E...
Including $16,166 granted onward, most of it $23,750 to North Carolinians For Passenger Rail.
Read it as they filed it
ENERGY: GOALS TO PROMOTE AND SECURE A SUSTAINABLE ENERGY POLICY ACROSS THE SOUTH THAT PROTECTS THE PEOPLE AND NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE REGION, ENHANCES THE ECONOMY, AND MINIMIZES THE HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND ECONOMIC HARM OF ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AND AIR POLLUTION, INCLUDING GREENHOUSE GASES. IN PURSUIT OF THESE GOALS, SELC LITIGATES CASES TO REDUCE FOSSIL FUEL USE AND AIR POLLUTION, PROMOTE CLEAN ENERGY, AND REDUCE CONSUMERS' ENERGY BILLS AND TO ENFORCE EXISTING LAWS AND REGULATIONS.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Holding the line in court
$9.1MGOALS - TO PROTECT AND RESTORE WATER QUALITY AND WATER FLOW TO ENSURE SURFACE AND GROUND WATERS IN OUR REGION CAN MEET LONG-TERM HUMAN AND ECOLOGICAL NEEDS.
Read it as they filed it
WATER: GOALS - TO PROTECT AND RESTORE WATER QUALITY AND WATER FLOW TO ENSURE SURFACE AND GROUND WATERS IN OUR REGION CAN MEET LONG-TERM HUMAN AND ECOLOGICAL NEEDS. IN PURSUIT OF THESE GOALS, SELC LITIGATES CASES TO PROTECT DRINKING WATER AND WATERWAYS FROM POLLUTION AND TO ENFORCE EXISTING LAWS AND REGULATIONS.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Holding the line in court
$4.2MGOALS - TO PROMOTE VIBRANT COMMUNITIES, PROTECT NATURAL/RURAL AREAS, REDUCE REGIONAL GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS/POLLUTANTS THROUGH SMARTER GROWTH/SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS.
Including $57,250 granted onward.
Read it as they filed it
LAND AND COMMUNITY: GOALS - TO PROMOTE VIBRANT COMMUNITIES, PROTECT NATURAL/RURAL AREAS, REDUCE REGIONAL GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS/POLLUTANTS THROUGH SMARTER GROWTH/SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS. SELC LITIGATES CASES BENEFITING CITIZENS BY ENFORCING EXISTING LAWS.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Holding the line in court
$3.8MGOALS - TO PROTECT AND PRESERVE THE WETLANDS AND HIGH PRIORITY COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS IN THE SOUTH FOR THE BENEFIT OF WILDLIFE, MARINE LIFE, AND PEOPLE.
Read it as they filed it
WETLANDS AND COASTS: GOALS - TO PROTECT AND PRESERVE THE WETLANDS AND HIGH PRIORITY COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS IN THE SOUTH FOR THE BENEFIT OF WILDLIFE, MARINE LIFE, AND PEOPLE. IN PURSUIT OF THESE GOALS, SELC LITIGATES CASES TO PROTECT WETLANDS, WILDLIFE, AND MARINE LIFE, SAFEGUARD COMMUNITIES FROM FLOODING, AND ENFORCE EXISTING LAWS AND REGULATIONS.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Follow the dollar
83 cents of every dollar goes to the work
That ratio is a good sign, not a scorecard. Plenty of great groups run leaner and lumpier. What matters is the extremes, and Southern Environmental Law Center is nowhere near one.
Backed on the record by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts and Wilderness Society, latest filing FY24.
$41,800,174 programs, $3,263,692 management, $5,390,753 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 SELC? Claim this page.
Those 43 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If SELC is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.
Make it 44The 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 |
|---|---|
| 2012 | $13,810,182 |
| 2013 | $17,080,406 |
| 2014 | $23,854,021 |
| 2015 | $39,032,095 |
| 2016 | $35,398,817 |
| 2017 | $37,651,474 |
| 2018 | $47,016,574 |
| 2019 | $60,076,970 |
| 2020 | $39,889,386 |
| 2021 | $40,991,033 |
| 2022 | $82,818,237 |
| 2023 | $53,489,044 |
| 2024 | $62,847,748 |
| 2025 | $58,167,590 |
From $13.8M in 2012 to $58.2M in FY25, with no missed filing in 14 years. The 2022 peak of $82.8M reads like one-time gifts, so trust the line, not the peak.
Fights alongside Sierra Club (4 shared cases), Appalachian Voices (1 shared case), Defenders of Wildlife (1 shared case), National Trust for Historic Preservation (1 shared case) and The Wilderness Society (1 shared case) and 1 more. Same case, same side, on the federal docket.
The record
On the Hill
Southern Environmental Law Center files its own federal lobbying reports: 52 filings from 2019 to 2026, naming 89 bills. The filings, at the Senate.
Most filed on natural resources, clean air and water (quality) and government issues.
Their ground
The places they defend
Filed the 2022 lawsuit against the Army Corps over wetlands decisions enabling the Twin Pines mine on behalf of four national groups, and its senior attorney chaired the Okefenokee Protection Alliance executive committee.
Who’s defending it In the fightGulf Islands National SeashoreFiled the lawsuit for the coalition challenging the Gulf-wide exemption
Who’s defending it In the fightMark Twain National ForestIts February 2024 timber targets lawsuit charges the Forest Service with ignoring the cumulative climate impacts of logging projects including one on the Mark Twain National Forest.
Who’s defending it In the fightPadre Island National SeashoreFiled the D.C. Circuit challenge to the Gulf-wide exemption for the plaintiff coalition
Who’s defending itSee every threatened place on one map, and who stands for each.
Across the 6 states where they work, the congressional delegations average 35 of 100 on public lands. See the full scorecard
Help complete this profile. If you work here, claim it to add your current campaigns, recent wins, and the best way for supporters to get involved.
Ways in
How to help
83 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 Southern Environmental Law Center
40 years on the ground, 43 volunteers, 83 cents of every dollar on the line. That is who is holding it. There is room for one more.