In our inaugural episode of the Clean and Healthful Montana Podcast, we sit down with Derf Johnson, Deputy Director of the Montana Environmental Information Center (MEIC), to unpack a recent district court ruling.

The Case: Mont. Dep’t of Env’tl Quality, MEIC, et al. v. Mont. Bd. of Env’tl Review, Teck Coal/EVR, Lincoln County — Cause No. DV-2023-21 (1st Jud. Dist., Lewis & Clark Cnty.)

The Decision: Order on Motions for Summary Judgment, Hon. Kathy Seeley, April 8, 2026

The ruling upheld Montana’s site-specific selenium standard for Lake Koocanusa– a transboundary reservoir on the Kootenai River where roughly 95% of the selenium pollution comes from open-pit coal mines just across the border in British Columbia.

Throughout the discussion, Derf walks us through how…

* a years-long, bi-national scientific process produced the 0.8 μg/L standard in 2020,

* the Montana Board of Environmental Review tried to undo its own work two years later, and

* Judge Seeley’s April 8 ruling put the standard back on solid legal ground.

We also explore what’s actually at stake for the bull trout, white sturgeon, and west slope cutthroat that depend on this watershed (plus the guides, anglers, and Lincoln County families who do too) and why MEIC, Clark Fork Coalition, Idaho Conservation League, and Idaho Rivers United joined Montana DEQ in court to defend the rule.

Whether you’ve fished the Kootenai a hundred times or you’ve never heard the word selenium before, this conversation is a window into how Montanans’ right to a clean and healthful environment actually gets defended– one technical rule, one courtroom, one watershed at a time.

Learn more about MEIC’s legal advocacy at meic.org, and stay updated with our work at the Western Environmental Law center on our website and social media.

If you have questions and or ideas for future episodes you’d like to see covering the latest in Montana climate justice work, share them with us in a comment below. Thanks again for tuning in, and until next time!

– Meridian Wappett

We’re back! After a break from sharing episodes, Stories of Kinship is returning with a timely conversation featuring WELC board member, Cliff Villa.

As professor and tenured faculty member at the University of New Mexico School of Law, Cliff provides clinical training to students in the Natural Resources and Environmental Law Clinic. Before joining UNM, Cliff spent more than 20 years as legal counsel for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where he focused on laws that you probably like very much, including the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.

He also provided policy direction for national programs, including Superfund cleanup efforts and emergency response. So, quite the resume, and a much needed perspective on the challenges America is facing right now.

We’ll talk about his new book, Environmental Justice: Law, Policy and Regulation (4th edition), explore examples from Cliff’s career exemplifying why environmental justice is for everyone, and learn about different pathways to winning people-powered progress in our communities, from Superfund successes to negotiating community benefits.

Final notes & resources:

* Find Cliff’s new book, Environmental Justice: Law, Policy and Regulation, the 4th edition, at environmentaljusticebook.org, along with even more resources like GIS tools, teaching materials for sharing this with your classroom or maybe less climate inclined pals, info on EPA policies, and more.

* To learn more about community benefits agreements, you can find the paper Cliff referenced by Dr. Seema Kakade, “A Contractual Relationship with Environmental Justice” 73 American U. Law Review 343 (2023), here.

* Lastly, New Mexico friends! Connect with folks over art, law, and ecology at Cliff’s upcoming event, “Shared Terrain”, hosted at the University of New Mexico School of Law, on April 3rd. More details and RSVP here.

Support the mission at Western Environmental Law Center and check out our latest cases and legislative wins at westernlaw.org.

Coming up on September 13-21, Latino Conservation Week (LCW) will bring together communities to connect with nature, take their first steps in advocacy training, and celebrate what it means to be Latino in conservation. Led by Hispanic Access Foundation and partner organizations across the country, LCW is a special moment to amplify the work of local leaders and create access points for whole families to find their space in the outdoors.

From nine events in 2014 to over 360 events in 2024, LCW has grown rapidly through collaboration between local grassroots efforts, nonprofits, faith-based groups, and government organizations and agencies. There’s truly a place for everyone to get involved, and you can learn more (and find an event near you!) at latinoconservationweek.com.

Joining WELC to talk more about this exciting week, the mission at Hispanic Access Foundation, and his journey into this work is Luis Cruz, Latino Conservation Week program coordinator at HAF. Together, we explore how this week started, challenges and amazing things happening in the Latino conservation community today, and how the climate movement can continue evolving as an intersectional force for change, justice, and restoration. You’ll also meet Frank the penguin!! and hear what’s keeping us hopeful right now despite the insanity of this moment. Thanks for tuning in, we hope you enjoy this episode, and see you out there September 13-21 to celebrate Latino Conservation Week.

P.S. Enjoy what you’re hearing at Stories of Kinship? Share it with a conservation pal in your life! You can now listen to our episodes on Apple Podcast and Spotify in addition to Substack. To hear updates on new episodes and what we’re up to, be sure and subscribe here, join our email list at westernlaw.org and follow us on socials (FB, IG, Bluesky).

Humpback whales. California condors. Island foxes. What do these species have in common? In addition to a shared characteristic of general awesomeness, these special creatures also escaped very near extinctions thanks to protections from the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

A core environmental law in the U.S., the ESA represents one of the best tools we have for safeguarding wildlife and critical habitat. Yet, as you may have heard back in May, aspects of this important law are being targeted by the current administration. Federal agencies (the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration) recently issued a proposed rule to change a key component of the ESA's functions: its definition of harm.

Folks across the conservation sector are examining what this could mean for wildlife and regulations, so to give some context, today’s episode discusses the history of the law, its current definitions, and what exactly this proposed rule is trying to alter. WELC Wildlands and Wildlife Staff Attorney Karli Uwaine, who worked on WELC’s public comments in response to this proposed rule, provides in-depth background for why the ESA's specific definitions matter and how to take action in the waiting period before official rule updates.

BTW, if you’re liking what we’ve put together so far on Stories of Kinship, please do share it with a climate pal or fellow wildlife nerd in your life! Every listen and comment on these early episodes helps us figure out whether to keep up this lil audio experiment and what topics to explore in the future. Lastly and most importantly, thank you for your dedicated support to our work here at the Western Environmental Law Center. It’s an insane time to be in environmental work (or just to be alive, for that matter), but our team is staying strong together in HUGE part because we get to be in this fight with you all.

P.S. To hear updates on new episodes and what we’re up to, be sure and subscribe here, join our email list at westernlaw.org and follow us on socials (FB, IG, Bluesky). See ya next time!

Whether you love creatures with a gift for ecological engineering or want to see more stunning overpasses and underpasses help highways everywhere become safer (for drivers and wildlife!), this one’s for you.

Our team could not be more excited to share this episode featuring WELC deputy director and incredible wildlife advocate, Sristi Kamal, along with our special guest, Ben Goldfarb. You may recognize Ben from his beloved books, Eager and Crossings — two works responsible for converting quite a lot of folks into Beaver Believers and road ecology enthusiasts— and it’s a treat to have him join us this week.

This conversation will also dive into the latest updates from the Oregon 2025 legislative session, where bills covering wildlife topics from coexistence training to water quality are currently making significant headway towards becoming law. Of course, we’ll close with some awesome (and much-needed!) ways you can take action and speak up for ecological justice today.*

Thanks so much for listening. If you enjoy the episode, consider sharing it with a wildlife nerd in your life! And be sure to check out Ben Goldfarb’s amazing books and upcoming projects over at www.bengoldfarb.com.

*One of those opportunities includes showing your support for HB 3932 on Beaver + Water Quality! Take action today by contacting your legislator and sharing why you want to help restore Oregon waterways through an incredibly effective (and free) solution: beavers.

“Are you failing with the doomscrolling as much as I am?” The past two months have been a lot on every level. For those of us trying to strike the balance between informed and overwhelmed, it’s hard to know where to focus. So in this conversation, WELC’s Erik Schlenker-Goodrich guides us through impacts from recent Executive Orders, DOGE projects, and attacks on foundational environmental laws like the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act. We discuss what this means from a broader national perspective (spoiler alert: it’s, uh, not amazing) and how we’re preparing to tackle these issues in the months ahead. Towards the end, we’ll provide a couple of quick updates on New Mexico and Oregon legislative session efforts, so stick it out for some good news there, and thanks so much for tuning in! P.S. Reach out to us with your questions or ideas for future episodes, we’d love to hear from you in the comments below! And if you’re enjoying Stories of Kinship so far, please do share with a friend you think might enjoy it, too.

Subscribe to WELC’s Stories of Kinship podcast for free and get updates in your inbox when we release new episodes (1-2x month).

In December 2024, 16 youth plaintiffs and the legal teams at WELC, Our Children’s Trust, and McGarvey Law made climate justice HISTORY! In a massive victory at the Montana Supreme Court after years of work, the court upheld a landmark decision in favor of youth climate activists. In a final 6-1 vote, the justices ruled that Montana was violating residents’ constitutional right to a clean environment. For Stories of Kinship: Episode 2, host Suze Wehr interviews WELC staff attorneys Barbara Chillcott and Melissa Hornbein for an in-depth account of the long road to victory and what it now means for climate justice in Montana (and beyond). Learn more and tune in to this 20-minute listen! And check out how you can support our work to defend the west at westernlaw.org !

What is it like to be advocating at the state level while trying to track and oppose the chaos we’re seeing at the federal level right now? What are WELC’s priorities for the 2025 New Mexico legislative session? What can people do to stay focused and fired up during this brutal period of attacks on climate justice and human rights? In this conversation with WELC’s Erik Schlenker-Goodrich and Brian Sweeney, we dive into these questions and more, exploring key bills to support in NM right now and strategies for making the most of our agency wherever we are.

Learn more and support our work to defend the west at westernlaw.org!