LAND in the WEST
In the West, there is an unmistakable feeling of openness. That call of the wild. That sense that this belongs to all of us. As, in truth, it does. With over 350 million acres of public lands in the West, this land is our land.
The American West is home to some of the most biologically diverse and beautiful regions in the world. From the Northern Rockies, to the Sierras and Cascades, to the vast Sagebrush Sea, the singular nature of each place in the West’s public lands unfolds a boundless variety of wonder.
The inherent possibility in the wild nature of the West is limitless – we consider it our sacred trust to ensure public lands are here to benefit many generations to come.
Gold Mining on Conglomerate Mesa
Case: Petition Filed against Bureau of Land Management
June 15, 2018 – Advocates for the West challenged the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) approval of the Perdito Project – a gold mine exploration project that would drill mining holes on Conglomerate Mesa, which is located on California Desert Conservation Lands. Conglomerate Mesa is a spectacularly wild and remote area of the Inyo Mountains in…
Mogollon Rim Cattle Grazing
Case: Neighbors of the Mogollon Rim, Inc. v. U.S. Forest Service
October 11, 2018 — Advocates for the West just reached an agreement with the Forest Service to keep the beautiful forested area below the Mogollon Rim in the Tonto National Forest free from livestock grazing for the foreseeable future. The area will remain cattle-free while the agency assesses whether grazing is compatible with the landscape and how it may affect…
Hells Canyon Spalding’s Catchfly
Case: Greater Hells Canyon Council v. Kris Stein and United States Forest Service
January 10, 2018 — Advocates for the West partnered with Jennifer R. Schwartz to file suit against the U.S. Forest Service for failing to protect a unique and biologically diverse stretch of Oregon canyon country between the Imnaha and Snake Rivers from livestock grazing impacts. The Forest Service completed its Lower Imnaha Range Analysis (LIRA) —…
National Monuments FOIA Suit
Case: Advocates for the West v. United States Department of Justice
October 12, 2017 – Advocates for the West is representing itself in a suit filed today by Senior Attorney Todd Tucci against Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Department of Justice, seeking disclosure of unlawfully withheld documents demonstrating that President Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke lack authority to vacate or shrink Bears Ears National Monument, Grand Staircase Escalante…
Winter Travel Plan Follow-up Case
Case: Winter Wildlands Alliance and WildEarth Guardians v. U.S. Forest Service
March of 2018 — The Forest Service withdrew its winter travel maps and committed to conduct winter travel planning on each of the three forests listed in our case – the Boise and Payette National Forests in Idaho and a portion of the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. We agreed to dismiss the case based…
Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Defense
Case:
October 21, 2023 — The State of Utah and others appealed before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit a federal district court judge’s decision dismissing Utah’s lawsuit challenging President Biden’s use of the Antiquities Act to restore and expand Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. The Tenth Circuit heard oral argument…
Highway 12 Followup Case
Case: Nez Perce Tribe and Idaho Rivers United v. U.S. Forest Service
January 27, 2017 — Advocates for the West finalized a settlement agreement with the U.S. Forest Service restricting mega-load shipments on U.S. Highway 12 to protect the Lochsa and Middle Fork Clearwater Wild and Scenic Rivers. The settlement resolves a 2013 federal court lawsuit that we filed for Idaho Rivers United, along with the Nez Perce Tribe….
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…
Point Reyes National Seashore
Case: Resource Renewal Institute, Center for Biological Diversity, and Western Watersheds Project v. National Park Service & Cicely Muldoon
July 12, 2017 — Advocates for the West reached a settlement agreement with the National Park Service. Under the agreement, the NPS will prepare a General Management Plan Amendment and an Environmental Impact Statement “that, at a minimum, addresses the lands currently leased for ranching in Point Reyes and in the north district of Golden Gate…
East Boulder Creek Gold Mining
Case: Idaho Conservation League v. U.S. Forest Service
We are pleased that East Boulder Creek will be better put back together for fish and wildlife that depend on it and hope that this case was a wake up call to the Forest Service that similar mining projects cannot simply be exempted from environmental review. October 28 2015 — We favorably dismissed our lawsuit…
