Looking to “root out waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars,” the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources launched an investigation into the activities of 19 litigant environmental organizations. It claims the groups use the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), National Environmental Policy Act and others to bolster their bottom lines by collecting taxpayer-funded reimbursements for their attorneys’ fees.

“Fee-shifting provisions currently permit...organizations to effectively function as law firms funded by taxpayer dollars, employing a simple but lucrative profit model: sue to block federal actions in friendly courts, collect taxpayer-funded attorney’s fees and costs whenever prevailing or able to settle in court, and fundraise on the back of courtroom victories,” according to committee letters forwarded to each of the serial litigant groups.

Below are three examples:

• Oregon Wild challenged the paperwork of a collaborative forest management and wildfire mitigation effort called the Grasshopper Restoration Project meant to improve 11,000 acres of forestland. The U.S. Forest Service settled the case by reducing the size and scope of the planned work. Oregon Wild also received $55,000 in taxpayer-funded attorney fees as per the EAJA. On July 7, the activist group joined Wild Earth Guardians to announce an intent to sue over four more projects in the Mt. Hood National Forest. Several weeks later, the Grasshopper Fire roared to life in the project area of northwest Oregon. It burned multiple homes, triggered evacuations, destroyed wildlife habitat and charred nearly 94,000 acres in Oregon’s worst wildfire year on record, which totals more than 2.3 million acres.

• Bloomberg Law reports the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) is one of the most active litigant environmental organizations since President Trump’s inauguration in January 2025. CBD’s executive director boasts his organizations has a goal of filing more than 300 lawsuits before Trump leaves office. CBD filed 266 during the first Trump administration. Capital Research Center Managing Editor Ken Braun testified on Capitol Hill that CBD received $23.4 million in taxpayer funding over the past five years, a total that equaled 13.6 percent of the organization’s total annual revenue over that same time.

• In 2017, the Alliance for Wild Rockies and Native Ecosystems Council cited ESA concerns and convinced a federal judge to grant an injunction stopping a collaborative forest project to mitigate wildfire risk and improve wildlife habitat in western Montana. Two months later, lightning sparked the high-intensity Park Creek Fire that triggered evacuation orders, closed the forest and burned the project area. A U.S. Forest Service report later showed the groups exploited the EAJA to receive $100,500 in attorney fees.

Seventeen congressional representatives from 15 different states signed letters sent to the activist organizations, which are the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Cascadia Wildlands, Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, High Country Conservation Advocates, Montana Environmental Information Center, Native Ecosystems Council, Natural Resources Defense Council, Oregon Wild, Rocky Mountain Wild, San Juan Citizens Alliance, Sierra Club, Western Watersheds Project, WildEarth Guardians, The Wilderness Society, Wilderness Watch and  Wilderness Workshop.

The committee asked the groups to send documents and other requested information by Sep. 18. It also requested in-person testimony in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 20.

Hunt 2 Conserve supports EAJA revisions to stop the continuing fiscal abuse carried out by extremist groups.

About Hunt 2 Conserve

Hunt 2 Conserve is a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization affiliated with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Its mission is to advance a legacy of hunting and conservation by educating, activating and developing stewards and defenders of these fundamentally American ideals. For more information, go to hunt2conserve.org.