3 Attacks On Land Conservation That Are Probably Illegal
And how people are fighting back.
We all know Trump and his enablers often operate in the legally gray area, but it can be hard to keep up with all the corruption and to know how people are stopping it.
Here are a few hopeful legal challenges to get you inspired and keep you fighting.
1. The infamous park pass photo:
Park enthusiasts were bummed, to say the least, to see Trump’s ugly mug on next year’s national park pass. While many of us looked away in disgust, one environmental organization saw a blatant flaw in the move.
The Center for Biological Diversity announced on December 10th that they filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration. Turns out, there’s a federal law requiring the Department of the Interior to use the winning image from the National Parks Foundation’s annual public lands photo contest for the park pass.
And obviously, for 2026, this very clear requirement was ignored.
In their lawsuit, the organization states, “America the Beautiful means wild rivers and majestic mountains, not a headshot of a bloated, fragile, attention-seeking ego. There’s nothing beautiful about that.” Yes!
2. House GOP investigation of environmental orgs
Speaking of the Center for Biological Diversity, House Republicans are investigating them and two other environmental nonprofits for allegedly working with the Biden administration to stop a mining project near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters wilderness area.
Less than three years ago, residents and environmental groups worked hard to earn a 20 year protection for the untouched land and waters. Now, far right GOP Reps. are trying undo it. Part of that effort is to attack those who champion and legally protect the environment.
But as it turns out, Trump and the GOP Reps forging the investigation openly worked with the foreign mining company that is relentlessly pursuing a lease.
The Center calls this investigation a clear abuse of power and welcomes any chance to testify before Congress with their evidence of the lawmakers’ “shady dealings”. Likewise, residents, sportspeople, and local organizations are speaking out, showing up, and standing behind the attacked groups.
3. Not so subtly distorted staff reviews:
As our dedicated park staff are overworked and underpaid, National Park Service (NPS) officials are pressuring superintendents to give lower scores on performance reviews. Specifically, they want them rated a 3/5.
Critics and park staff see this move as a blatant attempt to lay the groundwork for more mass firings next year. They also say it’s illegal.
Advocates are organizing, providing standards for documentation of the skewed ratings, and prepping for legal challenges as slanted performance reviews come out and are possibly used against employees.
They won’t get away with it forever.
And they may not get away with it now.
This fall, panelists from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) were asked why legal work was still valuable, even when the Supreme Court is siding with the administration on most matters.
Executive Director Tim Whitehouse spoke about how decisions outside of the Court’s shadow docket will be coming down that redefine federal and executive power. And administration remedies being pursued through entities outside of the judicial branch that have not yet been destroyed by Trump.
“We need to stay very engaged at every single point in this process and not give up on it,” he said.
His General Counsel Joanna Citron Day, who used to be an environmental enforcement attorney for the government added her perspective:
Not everything’s going to go to the Supreme Court...I think it’s important to remember that there’s a whole federal judiciary, as well as State Courts, and administrative bodies. It’s not all Trump appointees…And groups like ours, and others, are being very strategic about where we pick our legal fights. There are certain forums that are going to be more open to these fights, and more favorable, and obviously, we are trying to find these forums. And we are doing it. And we’re seeing some victories.
She concluded that through these avenues—along with the pushback that we are beginning to see in Congress on both sides of the aisle—that “there is the opportunity to change things in every branch of government.”
Keep taking on battles, hold on to hope, and believe that with our community of passionate people, we can win.
With love and hope for the future,
Stephanie
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Is it just me, or is anyone else wishing they had an environmental law degree right about now??
Of course they are illegal. Would we expect otherwise?
Really solid breakdown of whats happening on the ground. The point about forum shopping being key is something that doesn't get talked about enough tbh. When Citron Day mentions finding favorable venues, she's basically describing how enviromental attorneys have to think like chess players now - not jsut about the merits, but about which judge or administrative body will actually give them a fair hearing. I've seen this play out in local zoning fights where the venue literally determined the outcome before any arguments were made. It's kinda depressing that justice depends so much on geography, but at least groups like PEER are being smart about it.