Western Resource Advocates Celebrating 25th Anniversary and History of Accomplishments
Protecting Western Land, Air and Water Since 1989
(Utah – September 30, 2014) Since Western Resource Advocates was founded in 1989, the non-profit conservation organization has won scores of victories protecting the West’s wild lands, clean air, free flowing rivers and majestic waters.
For example in 2001, WRA secured a 650% increase in annual funding in Utah for new energy efficiency programs by PacifiCorp. Over the last decade, WRA has won three separate cases that have helped prevent livestock grazing on federal lands from damaging and destroying ancient archeological sites in Southern Utah. In 2005, WRA defended a decision by Utah State Engineer that prevented diversion of 400,000 acre-feet of water from the Great Salt Lake, Utah Lake and Jordan River watersheds, water essential for recreation and ecosystems. In 2006, WRA won a precedent-setting Utah Supreme Court victory guaranteeing affected conservation groups assess to Utah courts to protect wildlife and air and water quality. In 2008, WRA won another case before Utah Supreme Court that required the State of Utah to release its records relating to purported highway rights-of-way over federal public lands. Access to these records have helped the U.S. government and conservation groups block unwarranted road construction through sensitive wildlands, such as Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. In 2009, WRA won another Utah Supreme Court case, ultimately stopping construction of a new coal-fired power plant in Sigurd, Utah. The proposed plant would have adversely impacted air quality in nearby communities and national parks, like Capitol Reef. Working with the State of Utah for the past several years, WRA has kept huge swaths of the shore of Utah Lake in public ownership, thereby protecting recreation and crucial habitat for the endangered June sucker fish and the American white pelican. Most recently, WRA’s efforts have ensured that the state plan to reduce wintertime air pollution along the Wasatch Front requires greater and more immediate emission reductions and so better protects public health.
“The west is worth protecting – to ensure residents and visitors alike can continue to experience the grandeur, diversity and wonder of this amazing region, stated Jon Goldin-Dubois, President of Western Resource Advocates. “We have made real progress and I am proud of the many victories and the legacy that we will leave. At the same time, there are real conservation challenges that we have to face in the next 25 years. We must rise to the challenges presented by climate change and the threats that a changing climate poses to wildlife, to our ability to meet our water needs in the arid West and to our quality of life. To do that, we have to revolutionize how we power our homes and our transportation system and we have to be creative and committed to working with utilities, renewable energy interests, water managers and municipalities and with others who want to protect the West from these threats.” Our hope and our goal is that, as President Johnson said when signing the Wilderness Act in 1964, we ensure that we are able to spur sufficient action that ‘future generations will look upon us with gratitude, rather than contempt.’”
Western Resource Advocates works throughout the interior west, to protect land, air and water. The organization works in including Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The organization’s pragmatic team of lawyers, scientists and economists craft innovative solutions for the most complex natural resource challenges in the region. To view the full list of WRA accomplishments go to http://westernresourceadvocates.org/about/accomplishments.php
