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.
Salmon River Suction Dredging
Case: CVOC1218520
On October 12, 2012, Advocates for the West filed a Petition for Judicial Review on behalf of Idaho Conservation League challenging the State of Idaho’s approval of a riverbed mineral lease to Mike Conklin. The lease would have allowed Mr. Conklin to intensively suction dredge a half-mile segment of the bed of Idaho’s famed Salmon River approximately 13…
Camas Creek Fisheries
Case: 4:12-cv-00197-BLW
Advocates for the West, representing Western Watersheds Project, filed this suit to protect the wild salmonids of Camas Creek. Those who have rafted the Middle Fork Salmon River know that Camas Creek is a beautiful tributary of that river, flows in large part within the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, and is home to…
Medicine Bow Bighorn Sheep
Case: Biodiversity Conservation Alliance v. Blazer, case no. 12-cv-073 (D. Wyoming)
Advocates for the West filed suit against the U.S. Forest Service in Wyoming over the agency’s revised Forest Plan for the Medicine Bow National Forest. In the Medicine Bow Revised Forest Plan, the Forest Service provided measures to protect two bighorn sheep herds on the Forest, but admitted that a third herd on the Forest…
May 26, 2016
Steens Mountain Wind Development
Case: 3:12-cv-596-MO (D.Oregon)
On behalf of the Oregon Natural Desert Association and the Audubon Society of Portland, Advocates for the West challenged the BLM’s approval of a lengthy transmission line across southeastern Oregon’s Steens Mountain, one of the jewels of the West. The North Steens transmission line would facilitate construction of an industrial-scale wind power project on a private…
January 23, 2012
Fossil Creek
Case: Center for Biological Diversity v. Provencio & USFS, 10-cv-330 (D.Az)
Challenge to Forest Service grazing management in Fossil Creek Range allotment of the Coconino National Forest in central Arizona, which is harming habitat for the threatened Chiricahua leopard frog, Yuma clapper rail, Southwestern willow flycatcher and other imperiled species. The grazing also impairs wilderness values of the Fossil Springs and Mazatzal Wilderness Areas by causing…
Pygmy Rabbit Not Warranted for ESA Listing
Case: Pygmy Rabbit "Not Warranted for ESA Listing", 11-462
Advocates for the West sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over its refusal to protect the pygmy rabbit as an threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. The pygmy rabbit is a native rabbit once found throughout the Great Basin, in recent years rabbit populations and habitat have been eliminated or destroyed by…
March 29, 2013
US Forest Service Travel Management Plans Exclude Snowmobiles
Case: US Forest Service travel management plans exclude snowmobiles
On behalf of Winter Wildlands Alliance, Advocates for the West brought a case against the U.S. Forest Service for not managing and regulating snowmobiles as it does other off-road vehicles. In 2005, the Forest Service issued a new rule that requires every national forest to designate what trails and areas are open to off-road vehicle use and…
Snowmobile Use in California National Forests
Case: Snowlands Network et al Vs. US Forest Service
Advocates for the West is representing Snowlands Network, Winter Wildlands Alliance and Center for Biological Diversity in a case regarding better management of snowmobile use on National Forest land in California. Snowmobiles create air pollution through emissions that far surpass those of regular passenger cars, run over trees and shrubs, damaging the vegetation, and scare wildlife….
February 7, 2013
Idaho Rivers United v. United States Forest Service
Case: Idaho Rivers United v. U.S. Forest Service,
This case challenges the U.S. Forest Service’s violation of its duties to preserve and protect the Lochsa and Clearwater Wild and Scenic River corridor and the Clearwater National Forest from the oil industry’s “mega-loads” of industrial equipment. The Idaho Transportation Department has given Exxon Mobil permits to haul over 200 massive loads of industrial equipment bound for the Alberta…
Mono Basin Sage-Grouse
Case: WWP and WildEarth Guardians v. BLM, 10-CV-2896-KJM (E.D. Cal.)
The Mono Basin sage-grouse isn’t like other sage-grouse. He struts on leks the same way sage-grouse across the West have been doing for millenia, but the Mono Basin sage-grouse has unique genetic material that makes him uniquely important to the preservation of the species. Mono Basin sage-grouse (also called the “Bi-State” sage-grouse) live on the…
