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.
Logging in the Salmon-Clearwater Divide
Case: Friends of the Clearwater v. Cheryl F. Probert and U.S. Forest Service
February 21, 2025 — Advocates for the West filed a response in opposition to the Forest Service’s motion to dissolve the Court’s prior injunction in light of the agency’s new project approvals. On remand, the Forest Service updated its old growth analyses and issued new records of decision approving slightly modified versions of both the…
Bureau of Reclamation: FOIA Records Request
Case: WaterWatch of Oregon v. Bureau of Land Reclamation
August 25, 2020 — Advocates for the West filed suit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to compel the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) to release certain records that are vital to WaterWatch of Oregon’s ability to participate in its mission to protect Oregon rivers and the species that depend on those rivers. March 9, 2020…
Perpetua Resources (formerly Midas Gold) Clean Water Act Violations
Case: Nez Perce Tribe v. Perpetua Resources, Corp., et al.
October 2, 2023 — The Court approved settlement of the Stibnite Clean Water Act lawsuit with Nez Perce Tribe recovering $4 million for water quality improvement in the South Fork Salmon River and $1 million in attorney fees and litigation costs. August 8, 2023 — Mining company Perpetua Resources (formerly Midas Gold) will pay the…
Hells Canyon Complex Water Quality
Case: Nez Perce Tribe v. Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Petition for Judicial Review
August 31, 2021 – The Nez Perce Tribe reached a settlement agreement with the state of Oregon resolving a case that Advocates for the West filed—along with the Tribe’s Office of Legal Counsel—challenging the state of Oregon’s Clean Water Act section 401 water quality certification for the relicensing of the Hells Canyon Complex. The Hells Canyon Complex, owned…
Bonneville Power Administration Ratemaking
Case: Petition to Intervene with Bonneville Power Administration
December 14, 2018 – BPA granted our motion to intervene, which will give us a real opportunity to dig into the true cost of the Lower Snake River dams. December 11, 2018 – Advocates for the West filed a petition to intervene with the Bonneville Power Administration’s (BPA) Joint Power and Transmission Rate Proceeding for the 2020-2021…
BPA–Idaho Accord Extension
Case: Comments on the Draft BPA-Idaho Accord Extension Agreement
September 26, 2018 — Advocates for the West submitted comments on the draft Bonneville Power Administration’s Idaho Accord extension agreement on behalf of Idaho Conservation League, Idaho Rivers United, Idaho Wildlife Federation and Idaho Chapter of the Sierra Club. August 2018 — We sent a letter to BPA expressing concern over the lack of public notice…
Salmon River Suction Dredging
Case: Notice of Intent to Sue for Clean Water Act Violations
May 8, 2017 — Advocates for the West sent a notice of intent to sue to a suction dredge miner for discharging sediment and other pollutants in Idaho’s Salmon River without a Clean Water Act permit. Suction dredge miner Donald Smith has applied for a riverbed mineral lease from the Idaho Department of Lands (IDL). If…
Grazing on Idaho’s East Fork of the Salmon
Case: Western Watersheds Project v. U.S. Forest Service
July 7, 2017 — We entered into a settlement agreement with the Forest Service to close the allotments to grazing during 2017 and 2018 – and no livestock will be allowed to return until stream health standards for trout and salmon are fully met. October 12, 2016 — We filed suit challenging the Forest Service’s status…
Protecting Idaho Wild and Scenic Rivers
Case: Idaho Rivers United and Friends of the Clearwater v. Cheryl F. Probert, U.S. Forest Service, NOAA Fisheries, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
May 12th, 2016 — Advocates for the West won a federal court order blocking the U.S. Forest Service from moving forward with its plan to build roads and clear cut along Idaho’s Selway and Middle Fork Clearwater Wild and Scenic Rivers. The Forest Service’s plan was in response to the 2014 Johnson Bar fire, which burned…
Salmon-Challis Water Diversions
Case: Idaho Conservation League v. U.S. Forest Service and NOAA Fisheries
Advocates for the West is pleased to announce we settled this case against the Forest Service and NOAA Fisheries for failing to complete Endangered Species Act consultations for over 100 water diversions on streams in the Salmon-Challis National Forest in Idaho’s Upper Salmon River basin. The Salmon-Challis National Forest is home to important populations of threatened…
