Chambers Whitley is Colorado's leading environmental law firm — defending clean air, protecting water rights, and holding industry accountable to the natural world.
Since 1998, Chambers Whitley has represented environmental organizations, Indigenous tribes, municipalities, and private landowners in Colorado's most consequential environmental battles. We believe that legal advocacy for natural systems is among the most urgent work of our time.
Our attorneys bring deep technical fluency — in geology, hydrology, and ecology — alongside litigation experience that spans federal appellate courts to administrative hearings. We don't just know environmental law. We understand the land we're fighting to protect.
"The Colorado River doesn't hire a lawyer. We do that for it."
— Eleanor Chambers, Founding PartnerSix core disciplines that cover the full spectrum of environmental protection — from the atmosphere above to the aquifer below.
Representing communities and organizations challenging industrial emissions violations. From oil and gas operations on the Front Range to wildfire smoke mitigation policy — we hold polluters accountable under federal air quality standards.
Consult with us →Colorado's water law is among the most complex in the nation. We represent water districts, irrigation cooperatives, and conservation groups in prior appropriation disputes, compact compliance, and instream flow protection.
Consult with us →Ensuring federal agencies conduct thorough environmental impact analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act. We challenge inadequate EIS processes and represent clients during scoping, public comment, and judicial review phases.
Consult with us →Defending critical habitat designations and challenging federal decisions that threaten protected species. We have represented conservation groups in ESA listing petitions for Colorado River fish, prairie dogs, lynx, and wolverine populations.
Consult with us →Advising municipalities, landowners, and conservation organizations on development proposals that intersect with sensitive ecosystems. We navigate county land use codes, state statutes, and federal overlay regulations to protect open space and wildland corridors.
Consult with us →Guiding companies through ESG compliance, voluntary carbon programs, green bond issuance frameworks, and environmental due diligence for mergers and acquisitions. We help businesses build sustainability strategies that are legally defensible and genuinely impactful.
Consult with us →Numbers that represent real places, real species, and real communities protected under Colorado and federal law.
Represented a coalition of conservation organizations challenging a proposed water diversion that would have reduced San Juan River flows to critical habitat levels. The case established precedent for applying Colorado's instream flow doctrine to compact water allocations.
Outcome: Diversion denied. 14 miles of critical habitat preserved.Filed citizen suit under CAA against a consortium of upstream oil and gas operators contributing to chronic ozone nonattainment in the Denver-Boulder metro. Successfully negotiated a consent decree requiring LDAR programs and $18M in mitigation funding.
Outcome: $18M community mitigation fund established.Challenged the Forest Service's environmental assessment for a forest road expansion project in a roadless area. The court agreed that the EA's cumulative impact analysis was inadequate and remanded for a full EIS — halting the project for over two years.
Outcome: Full EIS ordered. Project redesigned to avoid roadless core.Co-counsel in a challenge to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's failure to designate adequate critical habitat for the Gunnison sage-grouse. The Tenth Circuit's ruling required FWS to reconsider exclusions of private ranch lands from the critical habitat designation.
Outcome: 190,000 acres of additional habitat under consideration.Water rights, NEPA litigation, and federal lands law. 30 years of environmental advocacy in Colorado and the Mountain West.
Clean Air Act enforcement, toxic tort defense, and corporate environmental compliance. Former EPA Regional Counsel.
Endangered Species Act, tribal environmental rights, and biodiversity conservation policy. Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.
Land use, zoning appeals, and conservation easements. Former Colorado DOLA policy analyst with deep municipal government experience.
Whether you're facing a permit dispute, documenting pollution impacts, or building a long-term conservation strategy — our attorneys are ready to listen. Initial consultations are free and confidential.