News

Today, Advocates for the West completed briefing for a Preliminary Injunction to halt domestic sheep grazing in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in our latest effort to protect bighorn sheep in Washington. Pending the outcome of our lawsuit filed late last year representing WildEarth Guardians and Western Watersheds Project, the injunction cites the potential catastrophic outcomes to wild bighorn in Washington if grazing…

Advocates for the West won a resounding victory for sage-grouse when U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill overturned a Trump Administration decision to strip protections from 10 million acres, mostly in Nevada and Idaho, to allow mining in critical habitat for greater sage-grouse. This ruling is the latest in Advocates for the West’s series of victories against Trump’s efforts to…

Public Comment Period Open:Help Protect Idaho’s Centennial Mountains from Gold Mine Exploration! Last spring, Advocates for the West and the Western Mining Action Project successfully halted Canadian mining company Excellon Resources’ 3-5 year plan to explore for gold on National Forest land in the Centennial Mountains near Kilgore, Idaho. A federal court ruled in favor of our clients, Idaho Conservation…

WE ARE HIRING!Staff Attorney Advocates for the West seeks an experienced attorney to join our team of passionate environmental attorneys to protect the American West through strategic litigation and legal advocacy. The position will initially focus on assisting with existing litigation, and then expand to include a wide range of cases involving public lands, fish and…

Happy Holidays from Advocates for the West! As we look ahead to 2021, Advocates for the West is filled with gratitude for our supporters (you!), our partners, and each other. This year presented challenges we never could have imagined. But thanks to you, our conservation community, we are still fighting – and winning! – for the West. Advocates…

Advocates for the West recently filed a new lawsuit claiming the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest is placing bighorn sheep at high risk of disease outbreaks by authorizing domestic sheep grazing in the vicinity of bighorn herds. Senior Attorney Laurie Rule and Staff Attorney Lizzy Potter are representing WildEarth Guardians and Western Watersheds Project in this suit, which asserts that the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest has known of the high risk that…

The state of Wyoming recently released the framework for a system proposing that developers “offset” destroyed sage-grouse habitat if they cannot avoid disturbing the landscape. This plan effectively paves the way for the state to auction off oil and gas leases within sage-grouse habitat, so long as the developers commit to contributing to a slush…

Last week, U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy Dale issued a decision giving Advocates for the West a sweeping victory in our case challenging the U.S. Air Force’s plans to indefinitely conduct urban warfare training involving F-15 fighter jets and plain clothes ground teams in Boise and other southern Idaho cities and towns.  “I’m delighted with Judge Dale’s decision,”…

Advocates for the West is challenging the Trump Administration’s reckless land use plan for the Uncompahgre region of western Colorado in a new lawsuit. The plan opens vast areas – including the prized North Fork Valley – to oil and gas drilling and fails to protect wilderness-quality public lands, wildlife habitat and other valuable natural resources. …

Advocates for the West is working with Conservation Lands Foundation, Conserve Southwest Utah and other allies in an effort to stop the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from punching a four-lane highway through an area acquired for the purposes of conservation and recreation in southwest Utah’s Red Cliffs National Conservation Area (NCA). BLM’s own environmental review…