WILDLIFE in the WEST
Threatened and endangered species in the West cover the gamut. They are bighorn sheep and wolves. They are sage-grouse and salmon. They are pygmy rabbits and spotted frogs.
Our wildlife cases wield the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and others to halt habitat destruction – unchecked grazing, industrial development, mining exploration, obsolete dams – wildlife in the West face these and many other threats daily.
As climate change and human activities cause the loss and fragmentation of habitats, our work becomes increasingly vital. We strive to protect and boost diminishing wildlife populations – from the mighty bighorn to the fragile frog.
Stanislaus Winter Travel
Case: Case No. 2:21-CV-01913-JAM-DB
January 21, 2022 — Advocates for the West filed a motion to intervene in an October 2021 lawsuit in the Eastern District of California federal district court. The lawsuit brought by snowmobiling groups objects to the U.S. Forest Service’s decision to place limits on over-snow vehicle use on the national forest in northern California. Advocates…
Sage Hen Project Logging
Case: Idaho Conservation League v. U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, No. 1:21-cv-00504-CWD
December 20, 2021 — Advocates for the West filed a lawsuit on behalf of Idaho Conservation League (ICL) against the U.S. Forest Service for failing to comply with environmental laws when it approved the 20-year Sage Hen Integrated Forest Restoration Project. The project includes extensive road construction, logging, thinning, and prescribed fire, plus some watershed restoration…
June 17, 2019
Sawtooth National Forest Water Diversions
Case: Idaho Conservation League v. U.S. Forest Service
August 25, 2021 — Advocates for the West secured a victory in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to protect threatened Idaho salmon, steelhead, and bull trout from irrigation water diversions in Idaho’s Sawtooth Valley. The Ninth Circuit decision upholds our lower court win that requires the U.S. Forest Service to consult with experts and protect…
July 15, 2021
Willamette Basin ESA Violations
Case: Case 3:20-cv-00413
July 15, 2021 – Advocates for the West received a strong ruling in our favor when the court issued a draft order outlining the actions that the Army Corps must immediately take to protect threatened salmon and steelhead in the Willamette River. Judge Hernandez made clear he “has no patience for further delay or obfuscation in this…
Sonoran Desert National Monument Followup Case
Case: 2:13-cv-01028-PGR
On June 29, 2021, Advocates for the West filed suit against the Arizona Bureau of Land Management (Bureau) for failing to protect the native plants, wildlife, and cultural resources found within the Sonoran Desert National Monument from the devastating impacts of livestock grazing. This suit challenges the Bureau’s 2020 land management decision. The decision was…
February 27, 2020
Oil & Gas Leases in Sage-Grouse Habitat
Case: Western Watersheds Project and Center for Biological Diversity V. Ryan K. Zinke, David Bernhardt; and BLM
June 9, 2021 – Advocates for the West won a ruling from Magistrate Judge Ronald E. Bush that suspended new drilling and fracking on 605 federal oil and gas leases spanning 403,820 acres of greater sage-grouse habitat in Wyoming and Montana. The Court ruled that the BLM violated federal law by failing to justify its refusal…
Caldwell Canyon Phosphate Mine
Case: Case 1:21-cv-00182-REB
May 13, 2022 — Advocates for the West filed a motion for summary judgment and accompanying memorandum over the Bureau of Land Management’s unlawful approval of the Caldwell Canyon open-pit phosphate mine in southeast Idaho. The mine would operate for more than 40 years, scarring the landscape with miles-long open pits, ore stockpiles, roads, railroads,…
Logging in the Salmon-Clearwater Divide
Case: Case 3:21-cv-00189-CWD
December 3, 2021 – Advocates for the West filed our reply brief in this case. October 1, 2021 – Advocates for the West filed our opening brief in this case. April 28, 2021 – Advocates for the West filed suit on behalf of Friends of the Clearwater to stop two massive logging projects in the Salmon-Clearwater Divide. The…
April 16, 2021
Sheep Experiment Station Followup Case
Case: Case 1:19-cv-00065-REB
April 16, 2021 — A federal ruled in favor of Advocates for the West and against the reauthorization and expansion of domestic sheep grazing in and around the US Sheep Experiment Station in Idaho’s Centennial Mountains on the Idaho-Montana border. With this decision, the Sheep Station is not permitted to graze sheep on the summer pastures…
Protecting Bighorn Sheep in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest
Case: Case 2:20-cv-00440
March 26, 2021: Advocates for the West completed briefing for a Preliminary Injunction to halt domestic sheep grazing in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest pending the outcome of our case. The Preliminary Injunction request cites the potential for catastrophic outcomes to nearly half of the wild bighorn in Washington state and that the Forest Service has failed…
