Chronology of Success 2013
‘Winning for the West’
February 2013
- U.S. Chief Judge Winmill issued a ruling in our long-standing Highway 12 mega-loads battle, agreeing with us the U.S. Forest Service has authority to enforce the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and other federal requirements to protect scenic and esthetic values from mega-loads impacts.
- U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Bush in Idaho issued a decision ruling in our favor on challenges to Forest Service grazing decisions in Idaho, Wyoming and Utah for failing to conduct environmental analysis of impacts on wilderness, sensitive species, and riparian areas.
- Following litigation by us and others, and substantial public outcry, Ada County Commissioners determined to withdraw from proposed Dynamis municipal garbage incinerator at Ada County landfill.
March 2013
- Senior Attorney Laurie Rule scored a major victory for our client Winter Wildlands Alliance when U.S. Magistrate Judge agreed with us that the Forest Service was arbitrary and capricious in excluding over-snow machines from travel planning requirements on all National Forests.
April 2013
- Just weeks after filing a new action to protect bull trout in the Little Lost River watershed in central Idaho, the Fish and Wildlife Service and Forest Service closed down nearly all allotments in question until further research is done to assess impacts of grazing on sensitive fish habitat.
- We reached a favorable settlement in a case protecting wild salmonoids in Camas Creek, a tributary of the Middle Fork Salmon River in Idaho. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries withdrew flawed ESA consultations and agreed to prepare a new assessment of livestock grazing damages on Camas Creek.
August 2013
- Partnering with the Nez Perce Tribe, we won a federal court injunction ordering Forest Service to close Highway 12 to Big Oil mega-loads through the Wild and Scenic River corridor along the Lochsa and Clearwater Rivers of central Idaho, after State of Idaho permitted a General Electric subsidiary to haul more massive loads without Forest Service approval.
September 2013
- In another of our cases seeking to protect quiet backcountry winter recreation from impacts of increasingly powerful snowmachines, we reached a settlement requiring the Forest Service to prepare environmental impact analysis of snowmobile trail grooming actions on Plumas, Tahoe, Eldorado, Stanislaus, and Lassen National Forests of California–all renowned recreation sites for snowshoers, cross country and backwoods skiers, as well as being key habitat for a wide variety of wildlife.
- Our legal pressure caused the collapse of a proposed wind development project on Steens Mountain in Oregon–a jewel of the West. The development would have compromised migratory routes and breeding areas for sensitive species such as bighorn sheep, golden eagles and greater sage-grouse.