WE WORK WONDERS for NATURAL WONDERS
When an environmental plight calls for lean and hard-hitting legal muscle, conservation groups, Native American Tribes, and concerned citizens call on us. Advocates for the West boosts the strength of our partners by providing free legal representation in federal court—advancing the mission of every client by putting the power of law and science on the side of the West.
Since our founding in 2003, Advocates for the West has provided free legal support to our partners with an 85% record of success.
Smart and efficient, our attorneys work with partners to develop strategic cases aimed at enforcing the nation’s bedrock environmental laws. We handle an extensive caseload with an impressive win record.
We work wonders to perpetuate natural wonders. We win for the West.
Protecting Bighorn Sheep in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest
Case: WildEarth Guardians and Western Watersheds Project v. Kristin Bail and U.S. Forest Service
June 12, 2023 — Advocates for the West filed a settlement agreement in federal court requires the U.S. Forest Service to take action to protect nearly half of the wild bighorn sheep in Washington state from disease outbreaks originating from domestic sheep. Under the settlement, the Forest Service will complete a long-overdue environmental review in…
South Beaverhead Bighorn Sheep
Case: Western Watersheds Project and WildEarth Guardians v. U.S. Forest Service
Nov 20, 2017 — The Honorable Judge Dale granted our motion for Preliminary Injunction to stop fall/winter grazing of domestic sheep on the Snakey Canyon and Kelly Canyon allotments. You can read Judge Dale’s Memorandum Decision and Order below. November 15, 2017 — Advocates for the West attended court to stop controversial Sheep Station research that…
Protecting Idaho’s Bighorn Sheep
Case: Idaho Wool Growers Association, et al. v. Tom Vilsack and The Wilderness Society
March 2, 2016 — The Ninth Circuit court issued an opinion in our favor affirming the district court’s summary judgement. The opinion was written by Judge Berzon of the Ninth Circuit, and is the culmination of litigation that began in 2007. It affirms that domestic sheep pose a substantial risk of disease transmission to bighorn…
Medicine Bow Bighorn Sheep
Case: Biodiversity Conservation Alliance v. Butch Blazer, Ann Mills, USDA, and U.S. Forest Service
Advocates for the West filed suit against the U.S. Forest Service in Wyoming over the agency’s revised Forest Plan for the Medicine Bow National Forest. In the Medicine Bow Revised Forest Plan, the Forest Service provided measures to protect two bighorn sheep herds on the Forest, but admitted that a third herd on the Forest…
Bighorn Sheep — Hells Canyon and Salmon River
Case: Western Watersheds Project v. U.S. Forest Service
June 14, 2012 — In a court hearing, Judge Winmill ruled from the bench in favor of protecting bighorn sheep on the Payette National Forest. The Forest Service had decided in 2010 to close almost 70% of the Payette National Forest to domestic sheep grazing to protect the native bighorn populations in the area from…
Sheep Experiment Station Followup Case
Case: Western Watersheds Project, WildEarth Guardians, and Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Sheep Experiment Station, and USDA Agricultural Research Service
April 16, 2021 — A federal judge ruled in favor of Advocates for the West and against the reauthorization and expansion of domestic sheep grazing in and around the US Sheep Experiment Station in Idaho’s Centennial Mountains on the Idaho-Montana border. With this decision, the Sheep Station is not permitted to graze sheep on the summer…
Wishbone Bighorn Herd Protection
Case: WildEarth Guardians and Western Watersheds Project V. U.S. Forest Service
April 3, 2026 — A Colorado federal judge reinforced a major conservation victory for bighorn sheep conservation on the Rio Grande National Forest. The court granted a motion to remand the decision to create the Wishbone Allotment back to the U.S. Forest Service, requiring thorough assessment before domestic sheep grazing can be authorized on the allotment. In…
Bighorn National Forest Plan
Case: Western Watersheds Project v. U.S. Forest Service
The Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming has only a relic population of bighorn sheep, which die when they come into contact with domestic sheep grazing on the public lands. Yet the Forest Service continues to authorize sheep grazing in bighorn habitat, and did not evaluate grazing alternatives to the status quo when it recently revised…
Sawtooth North Sheep Allotments
Case: Western Watersheds Project and Randall Hermann, MD. v. U.S. Forest Service
In response to our victory in the SNRA wolves case, Forest Service prepared an EIS for new grazing management on North Sheep, Smiley Creek, and other allotments in the Sawtooth National Forest of central Idaho, which are home to wolves, bighorn sheep, and endangered salmon and other fish. These allotments are grazed by domestic sheep, which…
Owyhee Military Airspace Expansion
Case: Oregon Natural Desert Association, Friends of the Nevada Wilderness, and Idaho Conservation League v. U.S. Department of the Air Force
February 4, 2026 — Advocates for the West filed our motion for summary judgment, challenging the U.S. Air Force’s July 2023 Record of Decision (ROD) and March 2023 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to expand and intensify its military trainings using F-15 fighter jets over 7.5 million acres in the Owyhee Canyonlands. Our brief argues that…
