Conservation wins and good news you may have missed in 2025

For many of us, 2025 felt like a year without a single piece of good news. It felt like we were drowning in bad headlines, and we were. Attacks on public lands, efforts to dismantle federal agencies, rollbacks of environmental protections and attempts to sideline science and community voices defined much of the year, and many of these challenges will continue in the year ahead. That on top of everything else.

However, even amid all of this, there were silver linings, moments that reminded us of what’s possible when people come together around a shared belief: that our public lands are worth defending, now and for generations to come.

Engagement and action grew throughout the year. More of you kept showing up, speaking out and taking tangible action—from submitting public comments to rallying in the streets to engaging with us online. Proving that when we stand together, we can create meaningful change.

Here are some of the conservation wins and bright spots from 2025: 

In January, then President Biden designated Chuckwalla National Monument and Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in California, safeguarding culturally and ecologically significant landscapes shaped by Tribal and community stewardship. Federal agencies also finalized resource management plans for three Southwestern national monuments: Grand Staircase-Escalante, Bears Ears and Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks.

News reports and the administration’s own communications suggest these new national monuments and management plans are under threat, but we will continue to partner with local communities in the fight for their protection. 

In January, the EXPLORE Act became law, a legislative package that improves access to the outdoors for youth, families, people with disabilities, veterans, active-duty service members and people who live in nature-deprived areas.

Historic investments moved forward in New Mexico and Colorado, expanding access to nature for youth, families, and communities historically excluded from outdoor experiences. Voters in the state of Washington approved the King County Parks Levy, reaffirming support for investing in close-to-home parks, trails and green spaces. 

One of the clearest threats to public lands this year was the push to sell them off. This took the form of a House rules package that made it easier to give public lands away, an effort by the state of Utah to “dispose” of BLM lands and, most infamously, a proposal by Sen. Mike Lee to sell off millions of acres to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy.

Communities across the West responded with rallies, public comments and grassroots organizing. Together, we mobilized thousands of advocates nationwide, including through an interactive map viewed by hundreds of thousands of people that made the threat impossible to ignore.

And we won. Following overwhelming backlash, Sen. Lee pulled his provision from the Senate budget reconciliation bill. We know there will be more threats to give away or sell off public lands in 2026, and we will be ready to stand up to them.

Despite the current administration's effort to purge rangers, wildlife biologists and wildland firefighters this year, science continues to play an important role in conservation. Our Science Team produced high-quality research, maps and analysis. Some include:

• New research, now in peer review, shows that from 1992-2024, wildfires were four times as likely to start in areas with roads than in roadless forest, challenging claims that building more roads in backcountry forests will decrease wildfire damage.
• New research found that caribou interacting with roads in the Arctic often experience slowed or altered migration, revealing how even minimal road infrastructure can disrupt one of North America’s most important wildlife movements.
• A comprehensive report assessed the ecological and cultural values of the Western Arctic, elevating the importance of protecting this area.

TWS Science also supported socially informed conservation mapping in the eastern U.S. and research on Maine forests and bird populations, highlighting how conservation decisions affect both ecosystems and communities. 

Our Native Lands Partnerships program partnered with our Washington State team to support meaningful Tribal engagement in the Northwest Forest Plan Amendment, well as supporting Tribal participation in the federal Roadless Rule process—two major efforts shaping management of millions of acres of National Forest lands across Tribal territories.

Working alongside Tribal partners, NLP facilitated information-sharing and developed Tribal resource hubs for both processes (found here: Tribal Roadless Rule hub and Tribal NWFP hub), offering educational materials, webinars and template comment letters to support informed and accessible engagement.