News
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…
VICTORY! Court Rejects Federal Pesticide-Spraying Program on Millions of Acres of Western Rangelands
Advocates for the West and our partners at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation and the Center for Biological Diversity won a significant victory against the federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) over its program allowing pesticide spraying on millions of acres in 17 western states to kill native grasshoppers and crickets. U.S. District…
Defending BLM’s ability to manage for healthy landscapes, wildlife, clean water, cultural resources
Advocates for the West and our partners filed a motion to intervene in federal court to defend the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) recently finalized Public Lands Rule. The motion comes in response to a case and motion for preliminary injunction filed by the States of Utah and Wyoming that seeks to prevent the BLM…
VICTORY! Supreme Court decision ends saga of dredge miner who polluted Idaho river
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the longstanding requirement that suction dredge miners must obtain a Clean Water Act permit before engaging in the destructive activity. The Supreme Court rejected a petition to review prior federal court rulings that found gold miner Shannon Poe, of California, violated the Clean Water Act when he dumped suction…
VICTORY! Court denies Simplot’s motion to dismiss lawsuit over illegal feedlot pollution
A lawsuit challenging decades of unlawful pollution discharges into the Snake River at a Grand View, Idaho Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) will move forward following a decision by a federal court judge. On June 24, 2024, Idaho Chief District Judge David C. Nye upheld the Clean Water Act (CWA) lawsuit, filed in May 2023,…
