In one of the first opportunities three years ago to push back against the devastating on-the-ground impacts the Trump administration's fossil fuel agenda, nearly 45,000 people across the country spoke up to save pristine roadless forests in Colorado from coal mining.

The U.S. Forest Service persisted in carving out an exception to Colorado’s roadless area protections in order to pave the way for expansion of a destructive coal mine. Earthjustice filed a legal challenge later that year, on behalf of five conservation groups.

Now, a federal appeals court has ruled the agency acted illegally, giving new hope for the protection of these wild lands — and for the climate.

Our Clients High Country Conservation Advocates, WildEarth Guardians, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, Wilderness Workshop

“This is a victory for the remarkable wild forests of the North Fork Valley,” explained Robin Cooley, the Earthjustice attorney who argued this case on behalf of our clients. “As a result of the ruling, the Forest Service must go back to the drawing board and consider whether to protect more of the Valley’s irreplaceable roadless forests.”

The Forest Service attempted to give Arch Coal, the nation's second largest coal company, the right to expand its mining into 1,700 acres of the Sunset Roadless Area — lands that belong to all Americans.

A rolling landscape of aspen and spruce-fir forests and beaver ponds, the Sunset Roadless Area is within Gunnison National Forest, 40 miles from Aspen, Colorado. The lush, wild forest is public land — prime habitat for goshawk, black bear, elk, cutthroat trout and the imperiled lynx, and enjoyed by hikers and recreationists visiting from near and far. Some of the spruce may be centuries old.

Ted Zukoski / Earthjustice Sunset Roadless Area. Stands of spruce and aspen. Ted Zukoski / Earthjustice Sunset Roadless Area. Beaver pond and lodge, framed by autumn colors. Beaver pond and lodge, framed by autumn colors. See more photos

Arch Coal has repeatedly sought to mine this area. Legal and advocacy work over the past decade by Earthjustice, our partners and clients, and our supporters, has saved the Sunset Roadless Area from each of Arch Coal's attempts. (See timeline: The Long, Winding Road to Save The Sunset Roadless Area)

But with a fossil fuel-friendly administration, the Sunset Roadless Area — and the climate-polluting coal and methane gas under it — was again at risk.

Take Action: Defend Public Lands & Our Climate