Case: Committee for the High Desert and Western Watersheds Project v. Robert V. Abbey Kathleen Clarke, and Bureau of Land Management

The 330,00-acre Soldier Meadows allotment lies adjacent to the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada; and includes parts of the recently-designated Black Rock wilderness and other new wilderness areas. Soldier Meadows also has numerous springs and streams occupied by endangered fish species, including the Lahontan cutthroat trout and desert dace. Yet BLM has allowed livestock grazing to…

Case: Western Watersheds Project v. Bureau of Land Management and Barrick Goldstrike Mines, Inc

This administrative appeal before the Office of Hearings and Appeals in the Department of Interior challenged BLM’s authorization of grazing on the Squaw Valley and Spanish Ranch allotments of northern Nevada, where Barrick Goldstrike — a major gold mining company — has purchased several ranches and is running livestock on them. Following an evidentiary hearing, the…

Case: American Lands Alliance, Western Watersheds Project, et al v. Kolkman

This case challenged BLM’s proposal to clearcut and mulch some 50 square miles of old growth pinyon-juniper forest around the Mt. Wilson area of central Nevada. BLM claimed that the logging was needed to reduce wildfire risks in the “urban/wildland interface,” even though there is no urban area in this remote part of Nevada — and…

Case: Western Watersheds Project v. Oke

BLM’s Elko field office approved three “multiple use decisions” (MUDs) authorizing grazing and fencing on 3 allotments in northern Nevada covering 1.5 million acres.  Despite the fact that this area is key sage grouse habitat and home to other imperiled species, BLM collected virtually no data on current conditions of these sensitive species populations or their habitats. …

Case: Snake River Basin Adjudication subcase 74-15051 et seq

We represent conservationist water right holders in the Snake River Basin Adjudication, who are objecting to 294 water right claims for “flood flows” (or “high flows”) by irrigators in the Lemhi River watershed. The Lemhi River and its tributaries are critical habitat for salmon, steelhead and bull trout; and the Lemhi River is historically dried…

Case: Western Watersheds Project and Oregon Natural Desert Association v. Massington

Over several years we have brought various administrative appeals and court cases seeking to force BLM to protect sage-grouse, redband trout and other sensitive resources from livestock grazing damage in the Bully Creek area of eastern Oregon. BLM adopted and promised to follow an improved grazing regime after our initial 2001 lawsuit; but monitoring showed that objectives…

Case: Snake River Basin Adjudication subcases 63-2446 et seq.

Atlanta, Idaho is a small town that once saw extensive mining operations; but all commercial mining stopped by 1963 when the ore played out.  Recently, a mining company has proposed to develop a large, cyanide heap-leach mine at the Atlanta site, which is located on the Middle Fork of the Boise River — the headwaters…

Case: Oregon Natural Desert Association and Western Watersheds Project v. Pat Ryan, Dave Henderson, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior

This case challenges BLM’s recent decision to continue allowing excessive livestock grazing on 237,000 acres of public lands in the North Fork Malheur watershed of eastern Oregon. BLM admits that grazing has harmed sage grouse, fish, and native plants; but rather than address the cause of the problem, BLM proposes to construct dozens of miles of new…

Case: Rio Grande Silvery Minnows v. Keys

We represent a coalition of national and state groups — including Wild Earth Guardians, National Audubon Society, Sierra Club, and New Mexico Audubon — in this long-standing litigation over the impacts of the federal Middle Rio Grande water project on the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow. Once abundant throughout the Rio Grande, the silvery minnow is now…

Case: Western Watersheds Project v. Bureau of Land Management

President Clinton designated the 500,000-acre Sonoran Desert National Monument in 2001 to protect its outstanding wildlife, plant and other natural resources.  The Monument proclamation ordered BLM to halt livestock grazing on part of the Monument, and to study whether grazing would be compatible with the Monument purposes on the remainder.   Yet eight years later, BLM still has not made that compatability…