News
Conservation Group Pressure Prompts Idaho DEQ to Sue Cities Polluting Snake and South Fork Teton Rivers
Last week, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) filed litigation against the cities of Burley and Rexburg over ongoing violations of the federal Clean Water Act at wastewater treatment plants they operate. This action comes after Snake River Waterkeeper (SRW) and the Idaho Conservation League (ICL), represented by attorneys at Advocates for the West,…
Court Sends Decision Authorizing Domestic Sheep Grazing in Bighorn Sheep Habitat in Colorado Back to the Forest Service
A Colorado federal judge reinforced a major conservation victory for bighorn sheep conservation on the Rio Grande National Forest. The court granted a motion to remand the decision to create the Wishbone Allotment back to the U.S. Forest Service, requiring thorough assessment before domestic sheep grazing can be authorized on the allotment. “Bighorn sheep are…
Federal Court Halts Construction of Highway Through Red Cliffs National Conservation Area in Utah
The U.S. District Court granted a motion by conservation organizations to block ground-disturbing activities associated with construction of the Northern Corridor Highway through the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area near St. George, Utah. The Court’s injunction prohibits the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) from starting construction-related activities that would cause irreparable harm to the threatened…
Lawsuit Challenges Trump’s Gutting of Greater Sage Grouse Protections in Nine Western States
GREAT FALLS, Mont.— Conservation groups sued the Bureau of Land Management today to challenge its final plans governing greater sage grouse management across 71 million acres of federal public lands in nine Western states. Today’s lawsuit covers the dwindling species’ habitat in Montana, Idaho, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nevada, California, Utah and Wyoming. The Trump administration finalized…
Conservation groups: Stibnite gold mine permit violates Clean Water Act, would harm Salmon River, threatened bull trout
Conservation groups filed a petition for review with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) challenging a permit the agency issued early this year to Perpetua Resources for the Stibnite Gold Project, a proposed mine 12 miles east of Yellow Pine, Idaho, on lands in the Boise and Payette National Forests and private holdings. DEQ…
Advocates for the West Sends Notices of Intent to Sue Idaho Cities over Pollution in Snake and South Fork Teton Rivers
Representing the Idaho Conservation League (ICL) and Snake River Waterkeeper (SRW), Advocates for the West informed the cities of Burley and Rexburg of the organizations’ intent to sue over ongoing violations of the federal Clean Water Act at each city’s wastewater treatment plant. In addition to Advocates for the West, the conservation groups are represented…
Lawsuit Challenges Illegal Highway Through Utah’s Red Cliffs National Conservation Area
Today, Advocates for the West and a coalition of six local, Utah-based, and national conservation organizations sued the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for illegally reapproving the four-lane Northern Corridor Highway through the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area near St. George, Utah. Conservation groups filed the lawsuit after receiving…
BLM Re-Approves Highway Through Utah’s Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, Abandons Own Scientific Findings
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) re-approved a proposal from the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT), at the behest of Washington County, for the construction of a four-lane Northern Corridor Highway through the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area near St. George, Utah. The decision reverses a December 2024 rejection of the same proposal by the…
Victory! Army Corps Permit Required for NEXT Refinery’s Levee Impacts
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined that NEXT Renewable Fuels, Inc.’s current proposal to construct a diesel refinery at Port Westward requires another major federal permit. Represented by Advocates for the West, Columbia Riverkeeper and 1000 Friends of Oregon in 2024 sued the Army Corps for failing to require this permit, which would protect levee infrastructure from NEXT’s…
Army Corps Halts Work on Marina, Luxury Development on Idaho’s Trestle Creek
In response to litigation from the Center for Biological Diversity, Idaho Conservation League, and Advocates for the West, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ordered the Idaho Club to stop construction on a commercial marina and lakeside housing development at the mouth of Trestle Creek on Lake Pend Oreille. The creek accounts for more than…
