WildEarth Guardians
“To protect and restore the wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and health of the American West.”
4 live lawsuits, 54 comments to the agencies, 78 cents of every dollar to the work.
The origin
How they started
WildEarth Guardians is a western organization that uses sharp, persistent litigation to protect wildlife, wild rivers, and the public lands of the interior West. It challenges fossil fuel leasing on BLM land, defends wolves and prairie dogs and other species the government would rather forget, and is a lead voice in the fight over drilling around Chaco Canyon. When a federal agency cuts a corner in the West, Guardians is often the group that makes it pay.
Where the money went, FY2024
The work, and what it cost
Wildlife
$4.1M, 78% of spendingWildEarth Guardians envisions a future where imperiled species across the American west not only survive but thrive, supported by strong legal protections, interconnected habitats, and a cultural shift that values…
Read it as they filed it
WILDLIFE: WILDEARTH GUARDIANS ENVISIONS A FUTURE WHERE IMPERILED SPECIES ACROSS THE AMERICAN WEST NOT ONLY SURVIVE BUT THRIVE, SUPPORTED BY STRONG LEGAL PROTECTIONS, INTERCONNECTED HABITATS, AND A CULTURAL SHIFT THAT VALUES BIODIVERSITY AS ESSENTIAL TO OUR COLLECTIVE WELL-BEING. IN 2024 WE HAD MAJOR WINS FOR SPECIES LARGE (WOLVES AND GRIZZLIES) AND SMALL (PUPFISH AND POLLINATORS). IN MONTANA, WE WORKED WITH PARTNERS TO CUT THE WOLF TRAPPING SEASON IN HALF, SAVING THE LIVES OF DOZENS OF WOLVES AND GRIZZLY BEARS (WHO ARE ALSO ATTRACTED TO TRAPS AND SNARES SET FOR WOLVES). WE ADVANCED ENDANGERED SPECIES PROTECTIONS FOR THE SILVERSPOT BUTTERFLY AND PECOS PUPFISH WHILE USING THE ESA TO BEAT BACK LETHAL MANAGEMENT PROPOSALS FOR PRAIRIE DOGS IN WYOMING AND THE HARMFUL IMPACTS OF PHOSPHATE MINING FOR SAGE GROUSE IN IDAHO.
IRS Form 990 Part III for fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.
Wild Places
Our wild places program protects and connects our national forests, wild watersheds and streams, and grasslands, while simultaneously countering the legacy of logging, road building, livestock grazing, and motorized…
Read it as they filed it
WILD PLACES: OUR WILD PLACES PROGRAM PROTECTS AND CONNECTS OUR NATIONAL FORESTS, WILD WATERSHEDS AND STREAMS, AND GRASSLANDS, WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY COUNTERING THE LEGACY OF LOGGING, ROAD BUILDING, LIVESTOCK GRAZING, AND MOTORIZED VEHICLE USE ON OUR PUBLIC LANDS. IN MARCH 2024, A JUDGE RULED IN FAVOR OF GUARDIANS AND OUR ALLIES TO KEEP LARGE TREE PROTECTIONS IN PLACE ACROSS MILLIONS OF ACRES IN EASTERN OREGON AND EASTERN WASHINGTON. IN NEW MEXICO, WE SUED THE FOREST SERVICE OVER LIVESTOCK GRAZING IMPACTS TO THE VALLES CALDERA NATIONAL PRESERVE. IN RESPONSE, THE AGENCY AGREED TO RESTORE KEY FENCING AND ROUND UP TRESPASS CATTLE TO BETTER PROTECT HABITAT FOR THE JEMEZ MOUNTAIN SALAMANDER, NEW MEXICO JUMPING MOUSE, AND OTHER THREATENED SPECIES.
IRS Form 990 Part III for fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.
Climate & Health
Wild earth guardians envisions a future free of fossil fuel extraction on public lands, replaced by just, sustainable community economies.
Read it as they filed it
CLIMATE & HEALTH: WILD EARTH GUARDIANS ENVISIONS A FUTURE FREE OF FOSSIL FUEL EXTRACTION ON PUBLIC LANDS, REPLACED BY JUST, SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY ECONOMIES. OUR COMMITMENT GOES BEYOND ENDING EXTRACTION; IT INCLUDES EMPOWERING IMPACTED COMMUNITIES, SAFEGUARDING ECOSYSTEMS, AND ENSURING POLLUTING INDUSTRIES BEAR FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR HARM. AFTER YEARS OF ADVOCACY AND LITIGATION BY GUARDIANS AND OUR PARTNERS, THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT (BLM) FINALIZED A RULE TO END FEDERAL COAL LEASING IN THE POWDER RIVER BASIN OF MONTANA AND WYOMING ONCE CURRENT COAL LEASES ARE EXHAUSTED. AFTER YEARS OF SETTLEMENT NEGOTIATIONS, GUARDIANS REACHED AN AGREEMENT WITH TWO FEDERAL AGENCIES AND A LARGE IRRIGATION DISTRICT THAT WILL HELP KEEP THE RIO GRANDE FLOWING THROUGH NEW MEXICO. IN COLORADO, IN RESPONSE TO A PETITION FROM GUARDIANS AND OUR PARTNERS, THE U.S.ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REJECTED THE AIR PERMIT FOR THE LARGEST COAL MINE IN THE STATE.
IRS Form 990 Part III for fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.
Follow the dollar
78 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.
$4,138,462 programs, $416,291 management, $728,181 fundraising. Form 990, FY2024.
The backers
Backed, each with its source, by 444S Foundation, Wilburforce Foundation, Clif Bar Family Foundation and 23 others, latest filing FY25.
The people
Who does the work
Took the helm from Hop Hopkins, who drew $178,506 in the final year on file.
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 WildEarth Guardians? Claim this page.
Those 20 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If WildEarth Guardians is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.
Find your way inThe record
The court record
And 29 more in our case database: a selection we track, not their full docket.
Fights alongside Center for Biological Diversity (10 shared cases), Sierra Club (8 shared cases), Western Watersheds Project (5 shared cases), Earthjustice (4 shared cases) and Natural Resources Defense Council (3 shared cases) and 18 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 | $1,782,977 |
| 2012 | $1,929,531 |
| 2013 | $3,043,253 |
| 2014 | $3,290,510 |
| 2015 | $2,975,042 |
| 2016 | $3,630,648 |
| 2017 | $3,914,745 |
| 2018 | $4,394,861 |
| 2019 | $4,988,777 |
| 2020 | $4,529,475 |
| 2021 | $4,580,150 |
| 2022 | $4,661,072 |
| 2023 | $3,989,393 |
| 2024 | $3,862,789 |
From $1.8M in 2011 to $3.9M in FY24, with no missed filing in 14 years.
The returns as e-filed with the IRS, 3 years:
- FY2024Download the return
- FY2023Download the return
- FY2022Download 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.
The record
On the record with the agencies
54 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
- 1996WildEarth Guardians is formed.the directory; the return’s own formation year is 1989
- 20122012 to 2026: 29 cases filed, all since closed: Center for Biological Diversity v. DOI; Wildearth Guardians v. United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspe and 27 more.the docket
The other 27
2023, Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Forest Service, closed; 2023, Colorado Conservation Alliance v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, lost; 2024, WildEarth Guardians v. U.S. Forest Service, closed; 2024, Friends of the Bitterroot v. Haaland, closed; 2022, Dakota Resource Council v. U.S. Department of the Interior, closed; 2022, Garfield County v. Biden, lost; 2022, Greater Hells Canyon Council v. Wilkes, closed; 2020, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance v. Bernhardt, settled; 2020, Citizens for a Healthy Community v. United States Bureau of Land Management, closed; 2017, Western Energy Alliance v. Zinke, closed; 2017, WildEarth Guardians v. Jeffries, closed; 2017, Citizens for Clean Energy v. U.S. Department of the Interior, closed; 2021, WildEarth Guardians v. U.S. Forest Service, closed; 2021, San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council v. Dallas, closed; 2015, WildEarth Guardians v. United States Bureau of Land Management, won; 2015, Dine Citizens Against Ruining our Environment v. Jewell, closed; 2012, WildEarth Guardians v. Montana Snowmobile Ass’n, closed; 2016, Wildearth Guardians v. Jewell, closed; 2019, WildEarth Guardians v. Bernhardt, closed; 2019, Montana Environmental Information Center v. Bernhardt, closed; 2018, State of California v. Zinke, closed; 2025, WildEarth Guardians v. Hoffman, closed; 2025, American Farm Bureau Federation v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, closed; 2026, Center for Biological Diversity v. Burgum, closed; 2026, Center for Biological Diversity v. Burgum, closed; 2026, Western Watersheds Project v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, closed; 2026, Montana Environmental Information Center v. Doug Burgum, closed.
- 2016Western Watersheds Project v. Schneider: plaintiff, still in court.the docket
- 2017Wilderness Society v. Donald J. Trump: plaintiff, still in court.the docket
- 2022First appears in the grants of 444S Foundation and Wilburforce Foundation.the funders’ returns
- 20231 comment to the Fish and Wildlife Service, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- First appears in the grants of Clif Bar Family Foundation, Pfizer Foundation, Weeden Foundation and Winslow Foundation.the funders’ returns
- 2024Oregon Wild v. Warnack: plaintiff, still in court.the docket
- 5 comments, all to the Fish and Wildlife Service, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- 2025Wildearth Guardians v. United States Forest Service: plaintiff, still in court.the docket
- 38 comments, most to the Fish and Wildlife Service, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- First appears in the grants of Chicago Community Trust and Emmett Foundation.the funders’ returns
- 202610 comments, all to the Fish and Wildlife Service, 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: 34 federal cases with the group on the docket, 54 comments filed under its own name, 26 funders whose returns name it. Nothing here is written from memory.
Their ground
The places they defend
Plaintiff with Diné CARE, San Juan Citizens Alliance and Sierra Club in Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment v. Bernhardt, filed against BLM in federal court in New Mexico on August 1, 2019
Who’s defending it On the record · On watchGreen River (Flaming Gorge to Colorado)Co-plaintiff in the Uinta Basin Railway challenge over the fourfold increase in basin oil production and up to ten two-mile-long oil trains a day.
Who’s defending it On the record · On watchDinosaur National MonumentNamed petitioner against the Uinta Basin Railway over habitat destruction in the basin
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.
Across the 8 states where they work, the congressional delegations average 43 of 100 on public lands. See the full scorecard
The wire
What they’ve done lately
- Wed, Nov 4 · Court filingMINUTE ORDER: Plaintiffs' 240 Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time to File Proposed Notice Order is GRANTED for good cause shown. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(b)(1)(A). The parties shall file a Joint Proposed Order by 11/13/2026. Signed by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan on 11/4/2026. (lcmk)Bears Ears National Monument
- Tue, Nov 3 · Court filingUnopposed MOTION for Extension of Time to File Proposed Notice Order by CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, CONSERVATION LANDS FOUNDATION, DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE, GRAND CANYON TRUST, GRAND STAIRCASE ESCALANTE PARTNERS, GREAT OLD BROADS FOR WILDERNESS, NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION...Bears Ears National Monument
- Wed, Oct 28 · Court filingMINUTE ORDER: Federal Defendants' 239 Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time is GRANTED. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(b)(1)(A). By 11/3/2026, the parties shall file a joint proposed order detailing the specifics of the notice Federal Defendants must provide relating to any...Bears Ears National Monument
- Sat, Oct 17 · Court filingTRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS before Judge Tanya S. Chutkan held on 10/15/2026; Page Numbers: 1-23. Date of Issuance:10/17/2026. Court Reporter Rebecca Monroe, email: rebecca_monroe@dcd.uscourts.gov, Transcripts may be ordered by submitting the Transcript Order FormBears Ears National Monument
- Thu, Oct 15 · Court filingMinute Entry for proceedings held before Judge Tanya S. Chutkan: Status Conference held on 10/15/2026. Parties update the Court on the posture of the case. Joint Proposed Briefing Schedule due by 11/16/2026. (Court Reporter Rebecca Monroe.) (zcll)Bears Ears National Monument
- Tue, Oct 13 · Court filingMOTION for Leave to File Second Amended Complaint by CONSERVATION LANDS FOUNDATION, GRAND STAIRCASE ESCALANTE PARTNERS, SOCIETY OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY. (Attachments: (1) Partners Plaintiffs' Proposed Second Amended and Supplemental Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive...Bears Ears National Monument
- Wed, Sep 2 · Court filingMOTION to Reopen Case, MOTION to Lift Stay by CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, GRAND CANYON TRUST, GREAT OLD BROADS FOR WILDERNESS, NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION, NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL, INC., SIERRA CLUB, SOUTHERN UTAH WILDERNESS ALLIANCE, WESTERN...Bears Ears National Monument
- Mon, Aug 24 · Court filingORDER:
- Thu, Aug 20 · Court filingFindings & Recommendation:
Ways in
How to help
Straight to their own donation page. Your dollar never passes through us.
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The mission is theirs. The backing is yours.