California

Sage-Grouse Land Use Plans

Sage-Grouse Land Use Plans

Case: Center for Biological Diversity, Gallatin Wildlife Association, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Rocky Mountain Wild, Sierra Club, Western Watersheds Project, and WildEarth Guardians vs. Bureau of Land Management

March 2, 2026 — Advocates for the West and our conservation partners sued the Bureau of Land Management to challenge its final plans governing greater sage-grouse management across 71 million acres of federal public lands in nine Western states. The lawsuit covers the dwindling species’ habitat in Montana, Idaho, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nevada, […]

Public Lands Sale FOIA Violations

Public Lands Sale FOIA Violations

Case: The Wilderness Society v. U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

January 6, 2026 — Representing The Wilderness Society, Advocates for the West filed a federal lawsuit seeking to compel the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to release records related to a joint federal initiative targeting the sale of public lands […]

Chuckwalla National Monument Defense

Chuckwalla National Monument Defense

Case: Daniel Torongo and BlueRibbon Coalition, Inc. v. Douglas Burgum; Bureau of Land Management; and the United States Department of the Interior

March 3, 2026 — A district court judge approved nine organizations’ request to intervene in a lawsuit to defend California’s Chuckwalla National Monument. The intervening organizations include CactusToCloud Institute, California Native Plant Society, CalWild, Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Lands Foundation, the National Parks Conservation Association, Sierra Club, Vet Voice Foundation, and The Wilderness Society. […]

Point Reyes Settlement Legal Attacks

Point Reyes Settlement Legal Attacks

Case: Nicolette Hahn Niman, William Niman, David Evans, and Claire Herminjard v. United States Deparment of the Interior, et al.

January 23, 2026 — Following a hearing at which Advocates for the West Staff Attorney Lizzy Potter and attorneys representing federal defendants and The Nature Conservancy argued for dismissal, a federal judge dismissed a complaint filed by filed by Marin attorney Andrew Giacomini. The lawsuit erroneously alleged that the Park Service conspired with The Nature […]

State and Industry Challenges to Public Lands Rule

State and Industry Challenges to Public Lands Rule

Case: States of Utah and Wyoming v. Deb Haaland, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Conservation Lands Foundation, and The Wilderness Society

October 1, 2024 — Advocates for the West and our partners at Conservation Lands Foundation, The Wilderness Society, and Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance filed a motion to intervene to defend BLM’s Public Lands Rule against yet another lawsuit brought this past summer by the American Farm Bureau and other industry trade associations representing the oil […]

Bureau of Land Management Rangeland Degradation

Bureau of Land Management Rangeland Degradation

Case: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and Western Watersheds Project v. Debra Haaland, Tracy Stone-Manning, and U.S. Bureau of Land Management

September 13, 2023 — Advocates for the West filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for its failure to abide by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act to determine the prioritization and timing of environmental analyses for livestock grazing allotments on public […]

Stanislaus Winter Travel

Stanislaus Winter Travel

Case: Motion to Intervene by WildEarth Guardians and California Wilderness Coalition

November 10, 2022 — Advocates for the West filed a reply brief arguing that the Forest Service failed to consider important information and offered conclusions inconsistent with facts in the record regarding over-snow vehicle impacts to Sierra Nevada red fox, Pacific marten, Sierra Nevada yellow- legged frog, and Yosemite toad. The brief also urges the […]

Point Reyes National Seashore Followup Case

Point Reyes National Seashore Followup Case

Case: Resource Renewal Institute, Center for Biological Diversity, and Western Watersheds Project v. National Park Service

August 28, 2026 — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed an appeal by Marin attorney Andrew Giacomini of the district court’s decision denying intervention to anonymous “Doe” ranching tenants. The tenants sought to intervene in our case against the National Park Service that resulted in a landmark agreement and all dairies […]

Gold Mining on Conglomerate Mesa

Gold Mining on Conglomerate Mesa

Case: Petition Filed against Bureau of Land Management

June 15, 2018 – Advocates for the West challenged the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) approval of the Perdito Project – a gold mine exploration project that would drill mining holes on Conglomerate Mesa, which is located on California Desert Conservation Lands. Conglomerate Mesa is a spectacularly wild and remote area of the Inyo Mountains in […]

National Monuments FOIA Suit

National Monuments FOIA Suit

Case: Advocates for the West v. United States Department of Justice

October 12, 2017 – Advocates for the West is representing itself in a suit filed today by Senior Attorney Todd Tucci against Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Department of Justice, seeking disclosure of unlawfully withheld documents demonstrating that President Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke lack authority to vacate or shrink Bears Ears National Monument, Grand Staircase Escalante […]