News
VICTORY! Federal agencies reject destructive highway through Utah’s Red Cliffs NCA
Advocates for the West and our partners won a major victory to protect Red Cliffs National Conservation Area (NCA) in southwest Utah from a destructive highway proposal. Yesterday, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) signed a Record of Decision to deny a right-of-way for the four-lane Northern Corridor…
Proposed Greater Sage-grouse Plan Amendments Will Continue Bird’s Extinction Spiral
Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its final Environmental Impact Statement and proposed plan amendments for Greater Sage-Grouse Rangewide Planning, laying out the blueprint of the agency’s intentions for 65 million acres of the bird’s public lands habitat but falling far short of what science says the birds need to avoid extinction. Conservation groups…
Advocates for the West, Partners Applaud Plan Signaling Denial of Northern Corridor Highway Right-of-Way
Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) released a final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) indicating BLM’s intent to deny a right-of-way for the proposed four-lane Northern Corridor Highway through Red Cliffs National Conservation Area (NCA) in southwestern Utah near Zion National Park. The Utah Department of Transportation’s proposed Northern Corridor Highway…
Objections Filed Against Stibnite Gold Mine, CuMo Exploration Project Environmental Reviews, Draft Approvals
In recent weeks, Advocates for the West and our partners compiled and submitted formal objections against two separate—and significantly flawed—environmental reviews and draft approvals of mining activity in Idaho. Stibnite Gold Mine On October 18, a coalition of Advocates for the West’s conservation partners submitted objections to the final Environmental Impact Statement and draft Record…
Advocates for the West, Partners move to intervene again to defend Public Lands Rule
After taking similar legal action in two other cases in recent months, Advocates for the West and our partners at the Conservation Lands Foundation and The Wilderness Society filed a motion to intervene to defend the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Public Lands Rule against a lawsuit brought this past summer by the State of…
Forest Service fails to address threats to Boise River watershed in draft approval of CuMo Mine Exploration
Advocates for the West and our conservation partners are speaking out against the U.S. Forest Service’s draft approval of the CuMo Mine Exploration Project in the headwaters of the Boise River. Idaho Copper Corporation is seeking approval from the Forest Service to construct up to eight miles of new roads, clear 122 drill pads, and…
Conservation Groups Seek to Defend Public Lands Rule from Misguided Legal Attack
Advocates for the West and our partners filed a motion to intervene to defend the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Public Lands Rule against a lawsuit brought this past summer by the States of North Dakota, Idaho, and Montana in North Dakota federal district court. The conservation groups—including Conservation Lands Foundation, The Wilderness Society, and…
Millions of Dollars to Benefit Sage-grouse, Other Wildlife from Caldwell Canyon Mine Agreement
Advocates for the West and our partners announced an agreement with mining company P4 that will result in millions of dollars in payments and other significant measures to benefit the conservation of sage-grouse and other wildlife. Under the agreement, P4—a subsidiary of Bayer AG—agrees to contribute more than $5 million to a trust fund for…
Victory! Court halts massive Wyoming oil and gas project, protecting wildlife and residents
A federal district court has ruled that the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) approval of the 5,000-well Converse County Oil and Gas Project in eastern Wyoming was illegal because the agency’s groundwater modeling contained major errors and grossly underestimated the depletion of groundwater by the massive oil and gas project. Drilling in this area has…
Stibnite Gold Mine Plan fails to address concerns about toxic mine pollution
On Friday, September 6, the U.S. Forest Service released the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and Draft Record of Decision (DROD) for the Stibnite Gold Project. The planned open-pit cyanide vat leach gold mine in Idaho’s Salmon River Mountains would jeopardize public health and clean water, harm threatened species, violate Indigenous treaty rights, and permanently…