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.
Logging in the Salmon-Clearwater Divide
Case: Friends of the Clearwater v. Cheryl F. Probert and U.S. Forest Service
February 21, 2025 — Advocates for the West filed a response in opposition to the Forest Service’s motion to dissolve the Court’s prior injunction in light of the agency’s new project approvals. On remand, the Forest Service updated its old growth analyses and issued new records of decision approving slightly modified versions of both the…
Sheep Experiment Station Followup Case
Case: Western Watersheds Project, WildEarth Guardians, and Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Sheep Experiment Station, and USDA Agricultural Research Service
April 16, 2021 — A federal judge 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…
Protecting Bighorn Sheep in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest
Case: WildEarth Guardians and Western Watersheds Project v. Kristin Bail and U.S. Forest Service
June 12, 2023 — Advocates for the West filed a settlement agreement in federal court requires the U.S. Forest Service to take action to protect nearly half of the wild bighorn sheep in Washington state from disease outbreaks originating from domestic sheep. Under the settlement, the Forest Service will complete a long-overdue environmental review in…
Willamette River Salmon and Steelhead
Case: Northwest Environmental Defense Center, WildEarth Guardians, and Native Fish Society v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and National Marine Fisheries Service
September 1, 2021 – U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez issued a final opinion and order directing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and National Marine Fisheries Service to immediately undertake new measures at dams in the Willamette basin to prevent the extinction of threatened Upper Willamette River wild spring Chinook salmon and winter steelhead. In the…
Bonneville Power Administration: FOIA Records Request
Case: Advocates for the West v. Bonneville Power Administration
October 5, 2020 – Advocates for the West filed a motion for partial summary judgment and we are now moving for a court order requiring BPA to disclose documents to us at an accelerated pace. June 26, 2020 — Advocates for the West filed suit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to compel the Bonneville…
Colville National Forest Wolves
Case: WildEarth Guardians, Western Watersheds Project, and Kettle Range Conservation Group V. US Forest Service
January 22, 2021 — Advocates for the West, in partnership with Jennifer Schwartz of WildEarth Guardians and Talasi Brooks of Western Watersheds Project, jointly filed a summary judgement brief, along with declarations from wolf expert Carter Niemeyer, Kettle Range Conservation Group executive director Timothy Coleman, and biologist Jocelyn Leroux. Our filing compels the court to find that…
Wishbone Bighorn Herd Protection
Case: WildEarth Guardians and Western Watersheds Project V. U.S. Forest Service
December 6, 2024 — Advocates for the West filed our reply brief on appeal. August 23, 2024 — Advocates for the West filed our opening brief on appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. July 20, 2020 — Advocates for the West filed our reply brief in this case. May 20, 2020…
Challenging Wildlife Killing Program in Idaho
Case: Western Watersheds Project, WildEarth Guardians, and Predator Defense v. USDA Aphis, USDA Aphis Wildlife Services, U.S. Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management
June 24, 2022 — Advocates for the West and our partners filed a settlement agreement in federal court that will help protect Idaho’s native carnivores through a number of measures. The settlement gives Wildlife Services until the end of 2024 to complete a new environmental review of its activities on federal lands, and mandates that…
San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area Grazing
Case: Western Watersheds Project, Center for Biological Diversity, and Sierra Club v. Anthony (Scott) Feldhausen, BLM Arizona State Director, and Bureau of Land Management
August 1, 2022 — Advocates for the West filed a settlement agreement sending the Bureau of Land Management back to its planning desk to reconsider the impacts of livestock grazing on the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area. The settlement compels the Bureau to reconsider the compatibility of grazing authorizations on four allotments within the…
Gas Drilling in Pronghorn Migration Path
Case: Upper Green River Alliance, Western Watersheds Project, and Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management and William Perry Pendley
March 14, 2023 — Advocates for the West filed our reply brief on appeal. October 28, 2022 — Advocates for the West filed our opening brief on appeal, requesting that the Court reverse the judgment of the district court and remand with instructions to vacate the NPL project’s record of decision and environmental impact statement. May 10,…
