News

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the longstanding requirement that suction dredge miners must obtain a Clean Water Act permit before engaging in the destructive activity. The Supreme Court rejected a petition to review prior federal court rulings that found gold miner Shannon Poe, of California, violated the Clean Water Act when he dumped suction…

A lawsuit challenging decades of unlawful pollution discharges into the Snake River at a Grand View, Idaho Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) will move forward following a decision by a federal court judge. On June 24, 2024, Idaho Chief District Judge David C. Nye upheld the Clean Water Act (CWA) lawsuit, filed in May 2023,…

Advocates for the West filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for failing to protect shortgrass prairie in Colorado’s Pawnee National Grassland from continued oil and gas extraction. We’re representing the Center for Biological Diversity in the case. “Pawnee National Grassland is increasingly known not for its incredible bird watching, stargazing, and…

Advocates for the West filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) for determining that a Rivers and Harbors Act Section 14 permit was not required for NEXT Renewable Fuels’ proposed refinery and rail yard at Port Westward near Clatskanie, Oregon. Construction for NEXT’s proposed refinery and rail yard would involve…

Advocates for the West filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) for failing to ensure cattle grazing on the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana’s Centennial Valley does not harm wildlife. We are representing WildEarth Guardians and Western Watersheds Project in the case. Despite long-standing recognition of grazing’s harmful…

Today the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) released a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) to reconsider a right-of-way for the proposed four-lane Northern Corridor Highway through Red Cliffs National Conservation Area (NCA) in southwestern Utah near Zion National Park. The proposed Northern Corridor Highway route violates five…

The Idaho Board of Environmental Quality issued a decision invalidating Perpetua Resources’ air pollution permit for the proposed Stibnite Gold Mine in Valley County. Blasting and hauling operations at the proposed mine would emit massive amounts of arsenic-laden dust. The Board found that the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) failed to follow Idaho air pollution…

The Biden administration released a draft amendment today for 77 land-use plans across the western United States intended to protect the imperiled greater sage-grouse, an umbrella species whose survival is intricately linked to the health of the vast Sagebrush Sea ecosystem. The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) preferred alternative falls woefully short of what is needed to…

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that professional gold miner Shannon Poe violated the federal Clean Water Act when he dumped suction dredge mining waste into the South Fork of the Clearwater River without a required pollution permit.  The South Fork of the Clearwater is a State Protected River and provides…

The U.S. District Court issued an opinion and granted in part a motion by federal defendants, remanding the 2021 approval of the Northern Corridor Highway right-of-way through Red Cliffs National Conservation Area (NCA) in southwestern Utah. The court decision paves the way for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to reconsider their…