News

Advocates for the West and our partners won another major victory to protect sage-grouse in southeastern Idaho. On June 2, a federal judge fully vacated a set of approvals by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) authorizing development of the Caldwell Canyon phosphate mine. Phosphate from the mine was slated to be used by Bayer…

Advocates for the West filed a lawsuit against the J.R. Simplot Company and Simplot Livestock Company for years of unlawful pollution discharges from the Grand View Feedlot into the Snake River in violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA).  Simplot’s Grand View Feedlot, located in the Snake River canyon about a one-hour-drive south of Boise, is one of…

Advocates for the West won a significant victory in defense of a pristine corner of Arizona’s Tonto National Forest just below the scenic Mogollon Rim. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Forest Service made “serious errors” in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in approving a plan to expand grazing…

This week, a federal judge ruled that in approving the Caldwell Canyon phosphate mine in southeast Idaho, the Bureau of Land Management failed to adequately assess environmental harms, including harms to vital habitat for the imperiled sage-grouse. The ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho determined that the agency violated the…

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) today finalized its decision on how to distribute more than $500 million in surplus revenues gathered from power sales in 2022. The decision affirms the agency’s proposal to spend only 10% ($50 million) of these revenues on fish and wildlife projects. Most of the revenues (70%) will be returned to…

Advocates for the West recently filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit against the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) to compel the agency to produce certain records as required by law. The records concern BPA’s relationship with Canadian research company Kintama Research Services. Over the last decade, BPA has funded Kintama’s research, including studies on the…

This week, Advocates for the West reached a settlement requiring the Forest Service to develop an additional alternative with reduced road construction and commercial logging for the Sage Hen Restoration Project on Idaho’s Boise National Forest. The original project also included thinning and prescribed fire, along with some watershed restoration activities, on 68,000 acres of…

Advocates for the West is celebrating another sound victory for the protection of Idaho’s South Fork of the Clearwater River. The South Fork of the Clearwater is a State Protected River and provides critical habitat for salmon, steelhead, bull trout, and other sensitive species. This week, federal Magistrate Judge Raymond Patricco levied a $150,000 fine…

This week, Advocates for the West filed a lawsuit challenging the Converse County Oil & Gas Project in the southern Powder River Basin of Wyoming. The massive 5,000 oil well project, approved under the Trump Bureau of Land Management, is projected to have a major impact on air quality locally and regionally, including in treasured landscapes of…

Today, Advocates for the West filed a Petition for Environmental Review with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to protect scenic and historic values from a proposed 195-foot commercial cell tower on a ridge overlooking Idaho’s iconic Red Fish Lake. We filed the petition on behalf of the Sawtooth Interpretive & Historical Association and the Idaho…