Four decades later, another win for the Boundary Waters
The Biden administration canceled mining leases near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness -- a place that our network first helped protect way back in 1978.
Rivers & lakes
Our country’s lakes, rivers and streams give life to ecosystems and people alike from coast to coast. Now it’s time we protect them as the life-giving resources they are.
The Latest on Rivers & lakes
Statement: Senate rejects amendment that would speed approval of polluting projects
Microplastics found in every sampled Oregon waterway
Updates
Update: Environmental law under threat
Washington Governor Inslee, Senator Murray commit to making dam breaching viable to save salmon, orcas
What You Can Do
Featured Resources
Wasting our Waterways
Safe for Swimming?
Safe for swimming?
Safe for swimming?
The Latest
All of America’s waters should be safe for swimming. Fixing our infrastructure is the first step
Congress is providing more funding for infrastructure to help keep our waters clean.
Pathogens pose risk at 18 Oregon beaches
With Oregonians returning to local beaches this summer, a new report warns that more work is needed to ensure that all waters are safe for swimming. In 2020, 18 Oregon beaches were potentially unsafe for swimming on at least one day, according to Safe for Swimming? - Environment Oregon Research & Policy Center's annual analysis of bacteria testing. The report comes as Congress considers investments in water infrastructure.
Statement: Bipartisan bill a big leap forward for America’s clean water infrastructure
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced the Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021 (H.R. 1915) on Wednesday. The bill would authorize $40 billion over five years for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program that provides communities with low-cost financing for clean water infrastructure projects. Additionally, H.R. 1915 includes provisions designed to both assist small or financially disadvantaged communities and dedicate 15 percent of the funding to state grants for green infrastructure improvements.
Plastic in the environment
Why, exactly, are plastics so bad for our environment and for the earth’s wildlife? Let's explore how plastics actually end up in the environment, where they ultimately end up, and what the impacts are on the earth’s wildlife and ecosystems.
Statement: U.S. House passes major public lands bill
"With today’s passage of this bill, we’re one step away from putting a lock and key on funding that has always been intended for conservation projects -- yet consistently diverted to other purposes. We’re closer to adopting a new consciousness for today’s world, that our lives are made richer if surrounded by more nature, rather than more extracted resources."