Working at SUWA
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) staff is made up of passionate advocates working together to defend Utah’s redrock wilderness. We value autonomy, persistence, collaboration, and a hands-on attitude from our fellow team members.
We act with integrity, transparency, loyalty, and respect to each other and our mission. We’re proud to work for SUWA in no small part because our work matters. It matters for the canyons and mesas we seek to protect, as part of addressing the loss of nature and the extinction crisis, and in mitigating the harm from climate change.
We are the best at what we do: defending and protecting the redrock wilderness. Where feasible, we offer flexible work hours and considerable paid leave. But we also step up to do what is necessary to protect the redrock.
Current Openings
If no openings are listed, please consider joining our email list to hear about opportunities in the future.
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah (on-site, full-time, exempt)
Salary Range: $70,000-$78,000, commensurate with experience
Application Deadline: June 15, 2026
About the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is the only nonprofit organization working full-time to protect Utah’s redrock wilderness—some of the most spectacular public lands in America. Since 1983, SUWA’s staff, board, and members have worked to defend this landscape from threats like fossil fuel development, unnecessary road construction, and destructive off-road vehicle use. With offices in Salt Lake City, Moab, and Washington, DC, and tens of thousands of supporters across the country, SUWA has secured lasting protections for more than 5.5 million acres of wild public lands.
Our mission is to preserve the outstanding wilderness at the heart of the Colorado Plateau and ensure these lands remain in their natural state for the benefit of all. We are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in our work and in our organization, knowing that the redrock is for everyone.
Position Summary
The legal fellow is a 2-year litigation position that will focus on defense of Utah’s wildest federal public lands. SUWA’s litigation docket includes cases involving national monuments, off-road vehicles, Quiet Title Act (R.S. 2477), energy development, and vegetation removal. The legal fellow works closely with other program staff in SUWA’s Salt Lake and Moab offices and is supervised by the legal director.
Qualifications
- 1-3 years of relevant experience, including familiarity with federal public land, environmental, and administrative law statutes and regulations.
- Demonstrated interest in environmentalism or conservation—passion for wilderness and public lands preferred.
- Excellent time management, analytical, legal research, and writing skills.
- Ability to handle a substantial workload that will, at times, require working nights and weekends.
- Commitment to wilderness preservation and SUWA’s mission.
- Utah Bar Licensure: (1) Utah bar membership, or (2) the ability to transfer UBE score; or (3) be admitted by motion
Location, Compensation & Benefits
- Location: SUWA’s Salt Lake City Office. We work a hybrid schedule with at least 3 days per week in the office.
- Salary range: $70,000-$78,000, commensurate with experience.
- Comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, vision, retirement contributions, and general leave policies; details can be found online at suwa.org/careers
Application Process
Please submit a cover letter, resume, law school transcript, 3-5 page writing sample, and 3 references to Steve Bloch, Legal Director, at hiring@suwa.org.
Application deadline: June 15, 2026
The lands SUWA works to protect are the ancestral homelands of many Tribes, including those that were forcibly removed at the hands of the U.S. government in an effort to exterminate their cultures, languages, and ways of life. These injustices are still felt today, but the quest to erase the Tribes failed: Indigenous communities continue their traditions and remain an integral part of the landscape and our community. We are committed to working toward understanding this history; to expanding present-day common ground, collaboration, and reconciliation with our Tribal neighbors; and to advocating that Tribes receive a seat at the table when others would exclude them.
SUWA is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.
Benefits (full-time employees only)
- 15 days of paid vacation time (with increases yearly with tenure up to 20 days)
- 12 paid sick days annually
- 14 paid holidays, including a year-end office closure
- Employer-paid medical, vision, and dental benefits
- 2-month paid sabbatical every 5 years
- Flexible work days, depending on position
- Parental, bereavement, jury duty, and other leave
- Cell phone subsidy and travel reimbursements
- Access to outdoor gear pro deals
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at SUWA
The mission of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance is to defend and protect the wilderness at the heart of the Colorado Plateau and in Utah’s West Desert.
We are committed to the idea that our commonalities greatly outweigh our differences, and that the redrock is for everyone. Our mission is to protect the redrock for the wonder and enjoyment of all future generations, both human and non-human alike.
The lands we work to protect are the ancestral homelands of many Tribes, including those that were forcibly removed at the hands of the U.S. government in an effort to exterminate their cultures, languages, and ways of life. These injustices are still felt today, but the quest to erase the Tribes failed: indigenous communities continue their traditions and remain an integral part of the landscape and our community. We are committed to working toward understanding this history; to expanding present-day common ground, collaboration, and reconciliation with our Tribal neighbors; and to advocating that Tribes receive a seat at the table when others would exclude them.
The environmental movement has a regrettable history of excluding and oppressing marginalized people. We know that the redrock, humanity, and the future of the planet itself depend on working together to solve our greatest common threat: the climate crisis. As we face the challenges of the 21st century head-on, we recognize we can only do so by including, involving, and elevating Tribes, communities of color, people of diverse economic backgrounds, faith communities, the LGBTQ+ community, and the tapestry of experience that weaves together our common humanity. We are committed to doing this both within our staff and through our daily work to protect the redrock.
