WE WORK WONDERS for NATURAL WONDERS
When an environmental plight calls for lean and hard-hitting legal muscle, conservation groups call on us. Advocates for the West boosts the strength of environmental nonprofits and concerned citizens – advancing the mission of every partner 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 35 partners on more than 170 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 (link to wins list) record.
We work wonders to perpetuate natural wonders. It’s how the West is won.
August 2, 2016
Golden Hand Mining Exploration
Case: Idaho Conservation League et al vs. Lannom, Keith B., Payette National Forest Service Supervisor, and U.S. Forest Service
Advocates for the West is challenging a mining company’s plan to deploy bulldozers, dump trucks, and drill rigs inside the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. The Forest Service released a Draft Record of Decision in December 2014 approving a proposal by American Independence Mines and Minerals (AIMMCO) to perform the industrial-scale mining claim validation work…
Wildlife Services in Idaho
Case: Wildlife Services in Idaho
USDA APHIS WILDLIFE SERVICES (“Wildlife Services”) spends millions of dollars and thousands of person-hours to kill thousands of wolves, coyotes, foxes, beavers, cougars, birds, and other wildlife species across Idaho each year, using aerial and ground shooting, poisons, traps, explosives, and other methods. Yet, Wildlife Services has never prepared an Environmental Impact Statement for its…
Midas Gold Followup Case
Case: New Case Pending
January 7th, 2015 – For the third time now, the Forest Service has issued a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) and proposes to approve Midas Gold’s three-year exploration plan at Idaho’s historic Stibnite mining site. Twice – in response to our pressure – the Forest Service has withdrawn EAs for Midas’s exploration, citing the need for…
Idaho Water Quality: Fish Consumption Rate
Case: Notice of Intent to Sue
Advocates for the West secured a settlement for the Idaho Conservation League in this Clean Water Act action against EPA. The settlement ensures that inadequate water quality standards in Idaho will be revised to better protect people from exposure to dangerous toxins.In 2006, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ) adopted a new “fish consumption rate”, which estimated…
Idaho Water Quality: Antidegredation
Case: Notice of Intent to Sue
The Clean Water Act requires every state to adopt Antidegradation Rules to ensure water quality is maintained and not degraded by new discharges of pollution. A key component of each state’s Antidegradation Rules is to prohibit new pollution discharges into the state’s “high quality” lakes, rivers, and streams unless the state determines, after thorough analysis with…
Protecting Idaho’s Bighorn Sheep
Case: IWGA et al V. Tom Vilsack et al & TWS et al
On March 17th, 2014, Advocates for the West’s Senior Attorney Laurie Rule appeared in court as an intervenor on behalf of the US Forest Service. We backed the agency’s decision to restrict domestic sheep grazing on much of the Payette National Forest due to the likelihood of domestic and bighorn interaction. Such interactions lead to bighorn contracting a fatal disease from…
Gunnison sage-grouse more than “threatened”
Case: Gunnison sage-grouse
In 2014, Advocates for the West filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for backtracking on the agency’s previous proposal to list Gunnison sage-grouse as “endangered.” The Gunnison sage-grouse is found in seven populations scattered across SW Colorado and SE Utah. The bird is a separate species related…
Idaho Predator Hunt Derby
Case: Idaho Predator Derby
On November 13, 2014, Advocates for the West filed a complaint against the Bureau of Land Management challenging the authorization of the “Idaho Predator Hunt Derby” on public lands surrounding the town of Salmon, Idaho. This case is ongoing, however, the BLM rescinded the permit on over 3 million acres of land after initially granting a 5-year…
Salmon-Challis Water Diversions
Case: Idaho Conservation League v. U.S. Forest Service et al., Case No. 1:14-cv-00216-EJL (D.Idaho 2014).
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…
September 29, 2014
Great Basin sage-grouse
Case: WWP v. Kempthorne, No. 08-cv-435-BLW (D. Idaho)
This large case challenges several hundred grazing permits, oil and gas leases, and other land management decisions approved by BLM during the last years of the Bush Administration, which individually and together harm the Great Basin core population of greater sage-grouse in Idaho and Nevada. BLM violated basic federal environmental laws — including the National Environmental Policy…
