YOU in the WEST
Advocates for the West firmly believes that when it comes to protecting and defending our environment, we’re all in this together.
We envision an American West where: citizens and their governments honor and protect our environment; decision-makers use science and the law to mitigate climate change; and caring for the Earth and all its creatures to benefit future generations is a sacred trust.
NEXT Refinery Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification
Case: Columbia Riverkeeper, Northwest Environmental Defense Center, Wendy Schmidt, and Haley Voekel vs. Oregon Department of Water Quality
January 6, 2025 — Advocates for the West presented oral argument in defense of our challenge. November 7, 2025 — Advocates for the West filed our reply brief in this case. August 22, 2025 — Advocates for the West filed our motion for summary judgment in this case. May 22, 2025 — Advocates for the…
Pawnee National Grassland Oil & Gas Drilling
Case: Center for Biological Diversity v. Keith E. Berger, in his official capacity as Field Manager for the U.S. Bureau of land Management's Royal Gorge Field Office, and Bureau of Land Management
August 22, 2025 — Advocates for the West filed briefs opposing renewed motions to dismiss filed by the Bureau of Land Management and industry intervenors. June 11, 2025 — Advocates for the West filed an amended petition for review of agency action in this case. September 27, 2024 — Advocates for the West filed our…
NEXT Refinery and Railyard Rivers and Harbors Act Violation
Case: Columbia Riverkeeper and 1000 Friends of Oregon v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
January 8, 2025 — In response to the lawsuit brought by Advocates for the West and our partners, 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. Construction for NEXT’s proposed refinery and rail yard would involve driving heavy…
Air Force Owyhee Airspace Optimization: FOIA Records Request
Case: Idaho Conservation League v. U.S. Air Force
May 16, 2025 — Advocates for the West favorably settled this case. October 10, 2023 — Advocates for the West filed suit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to compel Mountain Home Air Force Base to release public records as required by law. The records relate to the Air Force’s proposal to expand and intensify…
Stibnite Mine Air Quality Permit
Case: Idaho Conservation League and Save the South Fork Salmon v. Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and Idaho Board of Environmental Quality
November 7, 2025 — Advocates for the West and our partners filed our opening brief in our state court case challenging the air pollution permit issued for the Stibnite Gold Mine. September 18, 2025 — An Ada County judge ruled in favor of Advocates for the West and our partners, denying DEQ’s motion to dismiss…
Oil & Gas Drilling in the Uncompahgre Region
Case: Western Slope Conservation Center, The Wilderness Society, and Wilderness Workshop v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, David Bernhardt, and Jamie E. Connell
October 17, 2022 — Advocates for the West reached a settlement agreement with the BLM that prevents the issuance of new oil and gas leases for lands in the Uncompahgre planning area until the agency conducts a more thorough environmental analysis and develops an amended plan. Under the agreement, the BLM must reconsider the eligibility of lands open to oil and…
Air Force Urban Warfare Training
Case: Anne Hausrath, John Wheaton, Joanie Fauci, Meg Fereday, Roger Rosentretter, Kathryn Railsback, Dale Reynolds, and Great Old Broads for Wilderness v. United States Department of the Airforce
October 1, 2020 — The court ruled a sweeping victory for Advocates for the West in our case challenging Air Force urban military training exercises over Boise and other parts of Southern Idaho. March 27, 2020 — Advocates for the West filed our reply brief in this case, as well as our opposition to the Air Force’s…
Keeping Nuke Waste Out of Idaho
Case: Nuke Waste Notice Letter
July 13, 2015 — Advocates for the West submitted initial comments on behalf of Governors Andrus and Batt to the Department of Energy on its draft Supplemental Analysis for two proposed commercial spent nuclear fuel shipments to INL. Executive Director Laird Lucas slammed DOE for providing “false and misleading information to the public,” including by misrepresenting Idaho’s…
FOIA Suit Against DOE
Case: Cecil D. Andrus v. U.S. Department of Energy
August 8, 2016 — The Court ruled in our favor and agreed that DOE’s claims of privilege are not substantiated with regard to the documents they redacted. The Court faulted DOE for using blanket language to invoke deliberate process and attorney client privileges, and required DOE to submit all the documents – un-redacted – for the…
Idaho Wildlife Services FOIA Lawsuit
Case: Western Watersheds Project v. USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services
After Advocates for the West filed suit, Wildlife Services began releasing records that responded to Western Watersheds Project’s FOIA requests. Ultimately, Western Watersheds Project agreed to dismiss the case, in return for Wildlife Services’s agreement to release 1,800 pages of records every two weeks for the next 8 months. As the records are received, Advocates for the West and…
