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 over 50 partners on more than 150 cases—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. It’s how the West is won.
June 17, 2019
Sawtooth National Forest Water Diversions
Case: Idaho Conservation League v. U.S. Forest Service
August 25, 2021 — Advocates for the West secured a victory in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to protect threatened Idaho salmon, steelhead, and bull trout from irrigation water diversions in Idaho’s Sawtooth Valley. The Ninth Circuit decision upholds our lower court win that requires the U.S. Forest Service to consult with experts and protect…
July 15, 2021
Willamette Basin Water Reallocation
Case: Case 3:20-cv-00413
July 15, 2021 – Advocates for the West received a strong ruling in our favor when the court issued a draft order outlining the actions that the Army Corps must immediately take to protect threatened salmon and steelhead in the Willamette River. Judge Hernandez made clear he “has no patience for further delay or obfuscation in this…
Sonoran Desert National Monument Followup Case
Case: 2:13-cv-01028-PGR
On June 29, 2021, Advocates for the West filed suit against the Arizona Bureau of Land Management (Bureau) for failing to protect the native plants, wildlife, and cultural resources found within the Sonoran Desert National Monument from the devastating impacts of livestock grazing. This suit challenges the Bureau’s 2020 land management decision. The decision was…
Oil & Gas Leases in Sage-Grouse Habitat
Case: Western Watersheds Project and Center for Biological Diversity V. Ryan K. Zinke, David Bernhardt; and BLM
June 9, 2021 – Advocates for the West won a ruling from Magistrate Judge Ronald E. Bush that suspended new drilling and fracking on 605 federal oil and gas leases spanning 403,820 acres of greater sage-grouse habitat in Wyoming and Montana. The Court ruled that the BLM violated federal law by failing to justify its refusal…
June 4, 2021
Suction Dredge Clean Water Act Enforcement
Case: Idaho Conservation League v. Shannon Poe, No. 1:18-cv-353-REB (D. Idaho)
February 4, 2022 —In our long-running Clean Water Act case for the Idaho Conservation League against suction dredge miner Shannon Poe, Advocates for the West filed a brief asking the court to order Poe to pay $564,924 in penalties for his unpermitted gold mining on the South Fork Clearwater River. Additionally, it asks the Court…
Red Cliffs and Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Areas
Case: Case 1:21-cv-01506
February 27, 2023 — Advocates for the West filed our opening brief in support of a motion for summary judgment. June 3, 2021 – Advocates for the West filed suit against the Department of Interior and Bureau of Land management for a plan approved under the Trump Administration to move ahead with plans to punch…
Bonneville Power Administration: Ratemaking
Case: BP-22
February 3, 2023 — Advocates for the West filed our reply brief. October 21, 2022 — Advocates for the West filed an opening brief urging the Court to hold that BPA violated the Northwest Power Act in making its BP-22 rate decision, to remedy that violation by remanding BPA’s decision, and to order injunctive relief….
Caldwell Canyon Phosphate Mine
Case: Case 1:21-cv-00182-REB
February 8, 2023 — Advocates for the West filed our opening brief on remedies, urging the Court to vacate the Caldwell Canyon Record of Decision, Environmental Impact Statement, and all decisions relying on those documents. January 24, 2023 — A federal judge ruled that the Bureau of Land Management failed to adequately assess environmental harms,…
June 24, 2022
Logging in the Salmon-Clearwater Divide
Case: Case 3:21-cv-00189-CWD
January 3, 2023 — Advocates for the West received affirmation of our June 2022 victory on behalf of Friends of the Clearwater to protect old growth forests on Idaho’s Salmon-Clearwater Divide. The U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho denied the Forest Service’s motion to amend the prior decision ordering the agency to conduct…
April 16, 2021
Sheep Experiment Station Followup Case
Case: Case 1:19-cv-00065-REB
April 16, 2021 — A federal 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 pastures…
