News

Advocates for the West is excited to introduce Kendra Kenyon, our new Director of Strategic Partnerships! An Idaho native, Kendra has an inborn passion for conservation and the outdoors – especially fishing, trekking around Idaho’s wilderness, and whitewater rafting with her son on the Salmon River where he is a professional guide. Kendra is a former…

Federal Court rules, for the second time, that approval of the CuMo Mine Exploration Project violates Federal Law. On Monday, July 11th, Advocates for the West secured a federal court victory for the second time in our ongoing battle to keep Canadian mining company “American CuMo” from developing in the Boise River watershed what it claims…

On Thursday, May 12th, 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…

IDAHO––  In an exciting win for bighorn sheep today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the Payette National Forest’s decision to close 70% of the Forest to domestic sheep grazing in order to protect bighorn sheep from contracting an often-fatal disease from the domestics. Bighorn sheep are gregarious animals and will commune with domestics if they…

Wednesday, February 10th – In a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers, Advocates for the West and a group of allies demand emergency measures to protect migrating salmon in 2016. In 2015, a staggering 96% of the 500,000 returning ESA listed Snake River sockeye died before reaching Lower Granite Dam due to unusually high water…

Advocates for the West is pleased to welcome John Lamson, Executive Vice President of the nonprofit PR firm Resource Media, to our Board of Directors! John is a seasoned communications strategist with 23 years of experience in advocacy, elections and higher education. He manages the senior staff that oversee all of Resource Media’s program work, and partners with the…

On Friday, October 23rd, the New York Times and Idaho Statesman ran an AP article with some great news for Idaho: the Department of Energy (DOE) decided to cancel its planned shipment of 25 spent nuclear fuel rods to Idaho National Laboratory from the Byron Nuclear Power Station in Illinois. We and our clients, former Idaho Governors Cecil D….

Our Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Linwood Laughy is the new Board President of Advocates for the West!  A long-time resident of Idaho’s Clearwater Valley, Lin has guided over 5,000 heritage travelers in north-central Idaho as an outfitter and through such organizations as Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic. Lin cherishes his rural lifestyle beside the Middlefork of the Clearwater River…

For Immediate Release: BOISE, ID –  Former Idaho Governors Cecil Andrus and Philip Batt submitted comments today heavily criticizing the Department of Energy for not disclosing information to the public about two proposed shipments of commercial spent nuclear fuel rods to Idaho National Laboratory. The two proposed shipments would require Idaho to “waive” the provision of Governor…

Our Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Laird Lucas is returning as Executive Director, as Wendy Wilson departs to re-engage in her lifelong passion for policy and advocacy work on water, climate and energy issues. “We are all thankful for Wendy’s leadership in taking Advocates for the West to a new level as an organization,” said Laird Lucas. “As…