We WIN for the WEST

The groundwork has been laid. Many wild spaces in the West remain rugged, varied, and open—largely because they have been designated to stay that way by presidential and congressional decree. A vast network of public lands stretch across the West, protected in theory—but not always in practice.

Managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, Fish & Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and other agencies, the federal government oversees hundreds of millions of acres of land—and the air, water and wildlife they hold—in the West.

But too often, the very agencies designated to protect the West’s natural treasures allow grazing, mining, energy development and other destructive practices to pollute, damage, and destroy. We step in to hold these agencies accountable to law and science.

Advocates for the West is the legal voice that speaks up when the environment calls for it. We partner pro bono with conservation groups to help enforce the bedrock environmental statutes now in place to protect our public lands.

We win or favorably settle over 85% of our cases. When we do, it advances the endeavors of every conservation group in the West.

We wield law and science to stand our ground. Nowadays, it’s how the West is won.

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…

Greenfire Grazing Permit

Case: Valley Sun, LLC and Western Watersheds Project v. Bureau of Land Management

Advocates for the West represents Valley Sun, LLC and Western Watersheds Project on their challenge to a decision by BLM to cancel the Greenfire Preserve’s grazing permit due to reasons related to lack of grazing. On June 11, 2010, an ALJ granted Valley Sun a stay of BLM’s cancellation decision, citing potential harm identified by…

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…

Jarbidge Sage-Grouse

Case: Western Watersheds Project v. Tom Dyer, Rick Vandervoet, Bureau of Land Management

April 14, 2011 — A federal judge has ordered BLM to close to livestock grazing 17 allotments in the Jarbidge Field Office in southwestern Idaho, and has given Simplot Livestock and other permittees about two weeks to remove all livestock from the closed areas.  Animating the court’s decision was the continuing collapse of sage-grouse populations…

Washington State Lands

Case: Western Watersheds Project v. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Jennifer Quan

The Thurston County Superior Court ruled that WDFW’s action in approving the latest Asotin grazing permit was arbitrary and capricious, noting that the agency had disregarded its own scientists’ concerns about wildlife. January of 2011 — We successfully settled our case challenging the Whiskey Dick EIS with an agreement that will close about 35,000 acres of…

Meadow Creek ORVs

Case: The Wilderness Society and Idaho Conservation League v. U.S. Forest Service

Meadow Creek is a major tributary to the Selway River in central Idaho which is a candidate Wild and Scenic river; and it offers some of the best habitat anywhere for endangered salmon, steelhead and bull trout.  The Idaho conservation community has long fought to protect Meadow Creek from logging, roads, and other human impacts. Working…

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…

North Fork Malheur Grazing

Case: Oregon Natural Desert Association and Western Watersheds Project v. Pat Ryan, Dave Henderson, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior

This case challenges BLM’s recent decision to continue allowing excessive livestock grazing on 237,000 acres of public lands in the North Fork Malheur watershed of eastern Oregon. BLM admits that grazing has harmed sage grouse, fish, and native plants; but rather than address the cause of the problem, BLM proposes to construct dozens of miles of new…

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. …

Sage-Grouse ESA Listing

Case: Western Watersheds Project, Center for Biological Diversity, and WildEarth Guardians v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

June 28, 2010 — WildEarth Guardians and Center for Biological Diversity joined Western Watershed Project as our clients challenging the decision. June 28, 2010 — Representing our client Western Watersheds Project, we filed a complaint in Idaho federal court on Monday, March 8, 2010 to challenge the decision by US Fish and Wildlife Service that…