Committee Investigates Radical Environmental Groups Profiting From Taxpayer Dollars

Today, House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) and fifteen Committee members launched an investigation into nineteen radical environmental groups' unscrupulous tactics to profit from taxpayer dollars. The members wrote in part:

"The House Committee on Natural Resources is conducting oversight related to the outsized influence preservationist environmental nonprofit organizations wield over the federal government, law, and natural resources policy. The Committee is particularly concerned with [the organizations'] coordinated capitalization on misleading and emotive messaging to build powerful and profitable litigation machines funded by taxpayer dollars through the exploitation of statutory fee-shifting provisions. In order to ensure compliance with Congress' legislative intent for statutes with fee-shifting provisions and inform legislative reforms to prevent abuse by radical environmental groups, Congressional oversight of [the organizations'] lawfare campaigns and subsequent fee awards is imperative."

Background

Today, most environmental litigation is brought under statutes with embedded fee-shifting provisions, like the Endangered Species Act, or statutes covered by the catch-all Equal Access to Justice Act, like the National Environmental Policy Act. Prominent environmental nonprofits already flush with cash exploit these laws to demand the U.S. taxpayer foot the bill for their radical lawfare campaigns.

These extremist environmental organizations function as taxpayer-funded law firms. They employ a simple yet lucrative profit model built on the backs of hardworking American families. They collect taxpayer-funded reimbursements for their attorneys' fees to fund litigation often brought before activist judges and aimed at blocking pro-growth and pro-natural resource management activities. After American taxpayers pay their legal bills, they use their tax-exempt status to turn their courtroom antics into fundraising appeals.

The Committee has held multiple hearings and heard testimony from witnesses who have made it clear that oversight of radical environmental organizations profiting off taxpayer funds is necessary. In December 2025, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing investigating environmental non-governmental organizations' abuse of the Equal Access to Justice Act. In May 2026, the Subcommittee again convened to examine how radical environmental groups have siphoned taxpayer dollars into their coffers and abused statutes intended to combat federal overreach.

Continuing its oversight work, today the Committee sent letters to the following nineteen organizations demanding written answers and in-person testimony regarding their business practices: 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.

Members signing the letters are: Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), Representatives Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Daniel Webster (R-Fla.), Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho), Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Cliff Bentz (R-Ore.), Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.), Mike Ezell (R-Miss.), Celeste Maloy (R-Utah), Addison McDowell (R-N.C.), Jeff Crank (R-Colo.), Nick Begich (R-Alaska), Mike Kennedy (R-Utah) and Troy Downing (R-Mont.).