As Congress continues to consider the “Big, Beautiful” reconciliation legislation, Advocates for the West has joined conservation allies nationwide in signing a unified position paper opposing any potential provisions within the bill to transfer or sell public lands. While western legislators in the House of Representatives successfully removed such provisions from the House version of […]
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Advocates for the West filed suit against the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on behalf of Columbia Riverkeeper, the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, and two local residents for issuing a water quality permit for the proposed NEXT refinery located adjacent to the Columbia River Estuary near Clatskanie, OR. “At a time when the federal […]
Advocates for the West recently joined Earthjustice and conservation organizations from across the country to raise objections to the Department of the Interior’s Emergency National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Procedures, announced on April 23, and to the Council on Environmental Quality letter of the same date authorizing those alternative arrangements. The Emergency Procedures are premised on […]
Lauren Block Summer Law Clerk Lauren (she/her) is a rising 3L at the University of Washington, where she serves as Co-President of the Environmental Law Society and is the incoming Executive Managing Editor of the Washington Law Review. She spent her 1L summer clerking for the Washington Attorney General’s Office in the Environmental Protection Division, assisting […]
The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a major conservation victory for bighorn sheep conservation on the Rio Grande National Forest. The Court ruled the U.S. Forest Service unlawfully disregarded scientific findings and arbitrarily altered the findings of its disease “Risk of Contact” modeling when it approved domestic sheep grazing on the Rio Grande […]
We’re joined by Kathleen George, Council Member for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde; Jennifer Fairbrother, Legislative & Policy Director at Native Fish Society; and Laurie Rule, Senior Attorney at Advocates for the West to discuss ongoing efforts to save native fish in Oregon’s Willamette River Basin from the threat of extinction. View the full […]
In response to conservation groups’ appeal of a water quality permit issued for the proposed Stibnite Gold Mine due to its inadequacy to protect water quality in the South Fork Salmon River watershed, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is seeking to revisit the permit to address multiple shortcomings. The Idaho Conservation League and […]
Agreement will increase public awareness of releases of excess emissions SODA SPRINGS, Idaho – The statewide environmental group Idaho Conservation League and the national group Environment America announced Tuesday that they have reached an agreement with P4 Production, LLC, a phosphate mining and processing company located in Soda Springs. Under the terms of the agreement, […]
Advocates for the West and our conservation partners are speaking out against a recently approved mine exploration project proposal in the headwaters of the Boise River. The U.S. Forest Service authorized a four-year plan by Idaho Copper Corporation to construct up to eight miles of new roads and clear 122 drill pads on National Forest […]