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.
Antelope Allotment Grazing Followup
Case: Concerned Friends of the Winema, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Western Watersheds Project, Oregon Wild, and Central Oregon Bitterbrush Broads of the Great Old Broads for Wilderness v. Douglas C. McKay, Barry L. Imler, U.S. Forest Service, Laurie Sada, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
October 26, 2023 — Advocates for the West and our partners won a strong victory to protect Oregon spotted frogs on Jack Creek in the Fremont-Winema National Forest. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) fell short of its obligations under the Endangered Species Act when issuing a Biological Opinion…
Kilgore Mine Exploration in Centennial Mountains
Case: Idaho Conservation League and Greater Yellowstone Coalition v. U.S. Forest Service
May 4, 2020 — The U.S. District Court in Idaho revoked the Forest Service’s approval of the Kilgore Project and stopped Otis Gold Corp. (now Excellon Resources Inc.) from moving forward with its exploration project. This important decision follows Judge Winmill’s December 2019 ruling that the Forest Service failed to consider Otis’s underground drilling as a…
Little Colorado River Basin Fracking
Case: Center For Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, and WildEarth Guardians v. Raymond Suazo, BLM Arizona State Office, David Bernhardt, Bureau of Land Management
February 6, 2020 — Advocates for the West reached an agreement with the Trump administration suspending 4,200 acres of oil and gas leases on public land in Arizona’s Little Colorado River Valley as part of a joint motion filed in federal court. The federal government’s suspension of the leases prohibits any oil and gas activity…
Oil and Gas Lease Sales Near Bears Ears National Monument
Case: Friends of Cedar Mesa v. U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management, and Kent Hoffman
August 15, 2024 — Chief Administrative Judge Silvia Riechel Idziorek granted our motion to intervene in appeals the State of Utah, San Juan County, and Kirkwood Oil & Gas. July 12, 2024 — Advocates for the West filed a motion to intervene in appeals by the State of Utah, San Juan County, and Kirkwood Oil…
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…
