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.
Lemhi Endangered Fish
Case: Western Watersheds Project v. William Wood, U.S. Forest Service, Steve Hartmann, Bureau of Land Management, Jeffery Foss, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and David Mabe, and NOAA Fisheries
Advocates for the West filed three new cases in June and July 2009 for client Western Watersheds Project, suing the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management over their legal violations in managing public lands in the Pahsimeroi and Lemhi watersheds of central Idaho. The Pahsimeroi and Lemhi watersheds offer vital habitat for endangered fish –…
Grouse, Meadow, Rock, & Trail Creek grazing allotments
Case: Western Watersheds Project v. David Rosenkrance and Bureau of Land Management
The Court ordered BLM to develop a new Environmental Assessment (EA) and new grazing decisions within one year or grazing cannot continue. January 5, 2011 — Judge Lodge ruled in our favor on all three of our claims under the National Environmental Policy Act: that BLM failed to take a “hard look” at impacts to…
Burnt Creek Grazing Allotment
Case: Western Watersheds Project v. David Rosenkrance and Bureau of Land Management
July of 2010 — The U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho agreed that BLM’s new decision failed to take account of the wilderness values of the Burnt Creek Wilderness Study Area, and declared it to be in violation of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. We’ve received a victory in our challenge…
Pleasantview allotment
Case: Idaho Conservation League and Western Watersheds Projects v. Steele
The Pleasantview allotment covers 70,000 acres of mostly public lands near Malad City, in southeast Idaho. It offers habitat for greater sage-grouse, Columbia sharp-tail grouse, and other imperiled species; yet BLM has allowed excessive livestock grazing to badly damage the uplands and stream bottoms. Weeds and alien species are spreading, aided by livestock overgrazing of native…
Kemmerer sheep grazing
Case: Western Watersheds Project v. Bureau of Land Management, J.R. Broadbent Grazing Assoc., LLC
August 15, 2008 — An Administrative Law Judge with the Dept. of Interior’s Office of Hearings and Appeals agreed with us that BLM thus violated NEPA in approving the grazing permits; and ordered them reversed and remanded with instructions for BLM to prepare a full environmental analysis. The Granger and Carter Lease allotments encompass 720,000…
Bighorn National Forest Plan
Case: Western Watersheds Project v. U.S. Forest Service
The Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming has only a relic population of bighorn sheep, which die when they come into contact with domestic sheep grazing on the public lands. Yet the Forest Service continues to authorize sheep grazing in bighorn habitat, and did not evaluate grazing alternatives to the status quo when it recently revised…
Soldier Meadows
Case: Committee for the High Desert and Western Watersheds Project v. Robert V. Abbey Kathleen Clarke, and Bureau of Land Management
The 330,00-acre Soldier Meadows allotment lies adjacent to the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada; and includes parts of the recently-designated Black Rock wilderness and other new wilderness areas. Soldier Meadows also has numerous springs and streams occupied by endangered fish species, including the Lahontan cutthroat trout and desert dace. Yet BLM has allowed livestock grazing to…
Squaw Valley/Spanish Ranch
Case: Western Watersheds Project v. Bureau of Land Management and Barrick Goldstrike Mines, Inc
This administrative appeal before the Office of Hearings and Appeals in the Department of Interior challenged BLM’s authorization of grazing on the Squaw Valley and Spanish Ranch allotments of northern Nevada, where Barrick Goldstrike — a major gold mining company — has purchased several ranches and is running livestock on them. Following an evidentiary hearing, the…
Elko: multiple use decisions
Case: Western Watersheds Project v. Oke
BLM’s Elko field office approved three “multiple use decisions” (MUDs) authorizing grazing and fencing on 3 allotments in northern Nevada covering 1.5 million acres. Despite the fact that this area is key sage grouse habitat and home to other imperiled species, BLM collected virtually no data on current conditions of these sensitive species populations or their habitats. …
Lemhi Flood Flows
Case: Snake River Basin Adjudication subcase 74-15051 et seq
We represent conservationist water right holders in the Snake River Basin Adjudication, who are objecting to 294 water right claims for “flood flows” (or “high flows”) by irrigators in the Lemhi River watershed. The Lemhi River and its tributaries are critical habitat for salmon, steelhead and bull trout; and the Lemhi River is historically dried…
