Environmental groups are gearing up to push back against the incoming Trump administration, which they expect will make sweeping policy changes faster than those seen when Donald Trump took office in 2017.

Based on Trump’s past actions as president and statements made during the recent campaign, experts, lawyers and advocates offered several predictions for his agenda in office. They expect him to focus on expanding oil and gas drilling, reducing the area of ​​preserved federal land and repealing or eliminating two of President Joe Biden’s signature pieces of legislation: the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.

Environmentalists see the cabinet picks Trump has announced so far as early steps toward that agenda — people who agree with the goal of “drilling, drilling, drilling” on day one, as Trump put it to Fox News host Sean Hannity in December. Trump has already named North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who has called for an increase in domestic oil production, as his election as Minister of the Interiorand the CEO of the oil industry Chris Wright as his preferred Energy Secretary.

The first Trump administration took at least 74 measures considered to weaken environmental policy, according to a tracker from the nonpartisan Brookings Institution. The number could be higher in the coming term, given Trump’s promises to significantly change the regulatory landscape.

“I think what we’re setting up for more is kind of potential aggressiveness and rule of law violations,” said Brett Hartl, government director of the Center for Biological Diversity. He added that his group will also look for changes or processes “that are simply illegal.”

The center and other environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, anticipate a high volume of legal battles ahead and are already asking for donations to fund those efforts. Pop-up ads on each website solicit support to counter anticipated environmental protection changes.

Trump’s transition team did not respond to a request for comment.

NRDC and the Center for Biological Diversity both have experience successfully challenging Trump’s agenda in court. While Trump was in office, the center filed 266 lawsuits against government actions it saw as threats to the environment, winning 87% of them, by its own count. Some of the group’s biggest victories included shutting down an offshore drilling project in the Alaskan Arctic and reversing the removal of grizzly bears from the endangered species list. NRDC, meanwhile, says it filed 163 lawsuits during that time period and won nearly 90% of those settled.

Despite Trump’s disavowal of Project 2025 during his campaign, several environmental groups said they still expect the incoming administration to follow through roadmap for conservative politicswhich was put together by the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank. They prepare accordingly.

“We’re already seeing people involved in Project 2025 being appointed to the administration,” said Andrew Wetzler, who directs NRDC’s wildlife programs. “And when you look at it, it’s actually quite alarming from the broadest climate perspective.”

The plan calls for achieving “American energy dominance” by partially ending what it calls a “war on oil and natural gas.” The recommends ending federal climate research and advocates repealing policies passed under Biden that provided billions of dollars in renewable energy funding.

Jillian Blanchard, who directs the climate change and environmental justice program at Lawyers for Good Government, a nonprofit legal advocacy group, said the group is working to ensure that dollars earmarked for clean energy projects under the Inflation Reduction Act cannot be easily redeemed. of a new administration.

“We worked with many of the federal grantees who have either received the money or who have been notified that they are receiving money,” Blanchard said, describing her group’s efforts to help those clients expedite the payment process and navigate any regulatory compliance issues that arise.

“We intend to continue that work to make sure the money goes out the door of the intended beneficiaries, whether it’s for climate justice, addressing the climate crisis, environmental justice, transit, etc.,” she added.

Conservation groups also expect a renewed fight for protected federal land, particularly in the Southwest. After President Barack Obama created Bears Ears National Monument in Utah in 2016, Trump reduced its size by more than 1 million acres after taking office the following year. A cadre of environmental groups petitioned, and the monument was fully restored by Biden in 2021.

Many expect Bears Ears to be targeted again, as is Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, also in Utah.

“We expect on day one that these national monuments can be dismantled,” said Ethan Aumack, executive director of the Grand Canyon Trust.

He said the group has done scenario planning to be able to respond quickly to such an attempt.

“I’m just saying this: We’re not operating from a blank slate. We saw what happened under President Trump in his first term,” Aumack said. “We believe it’s illegal for any president to dismantle national monuments, and we’re ready to take that matter to court if he tries the same thing again.”

While he expects tough battles ahead, Wetzler also pointed to some types of environmental policies that could be difficult for the new Trump administration to dismantle.

He pointed to the Biden administration’s infrastructure and clean energy investments, and said many elected Republicans may not want to lose the money going to their districts, including leaders in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina.

“The vast majority of funds going into clean energy — new battery technology, electric vehicle manufacturing plants, solar cell manufacturers — are in Republican districts around the country and in red states,” Wetzler said. “I think there’s going to be a lot of pressure on Congress, from the Republican Party, from their own constituents, not to disrupt these investments.”

Second, he said, clean water has emerged as an area of ​​relative bipartisan consensus.

“Some of the most ardent conservationists are actually Republicans and are actually people who live close to the land,” Wetzler added. “My experience tells me that when it comes to preserving access to water, fishable, swimmable lakes, places where people can hike and camp and hunt and fish, there would be a lot of opposition to that regardless of which political party is in power in Washington. “

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com