The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) mandates that federal land management agencies involve the public and conduct an environmental analysis, including the consideration of alternatives, before making a decision about a site-specific proposal. Click here for more information about NEPA and other laws that govern our federal public lands.
Forest Watch
Our Ecosystem Defense program is the most extensive in the region. We strive to follow every issue in the wild Clearwater region: the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests, portions of the Idaho Panhandle and Bitterroot National Forests, and portions of the Cottonwood and Coeur d’ Alene Field Offices of the Bureau of Land Management. For the wildlife in this region, this also entails following proposals from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the Idaho Department of Fish & Game. Water quality efforts involve public land managers and entities like the Environmental Protection Agency.
Our program is not limited to following agency proposals and policy analysis. It also includes advocating for species recovery, critiquing public land collaboratives, keeping Wilderness wild, field monitoring, and tracking other important issues. We also work with allies on proactive proposals for wildlands protection.
If all else fails, we may choose to exercise our constitutional rights of judicial redress if we feel the decision made by an agency is contrary to the law and public interest.