Case: Western Watersheds Project v. Daniel Ashe, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
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 […]
Case: Winter Wildlands Alliance v. U.S. Forest Service
March 29, 2013 — Senior Attorney Laurie Rule received word that U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald E. Bush had ruled in our favor. In his Court Decision, Judge Bush specifically calls out Executive Order 11644, stating that the Order – “requires an agency to promulgate regulations that provide for designation of areas of use and non-use […]
Case: Oregon Natural Desert Association and Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center v. David Sabo and U.S. Forest Service
This case challenges the Forest Service’s authorization of grazing on the Antelope Cattle and Horse allotment of Oregon’s Fremont-Winema National Forests thereby violating the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) and the National Forest Management Act (“NFMA”). A unique, large complex of fens and wetlands occurs on the allotment in the midst of surrounding dry forests. […]
Case: Western Watersheds Project, Oregon Natural Desert Association and Ruby Pipeline Agree to Establish Conservation Funds
Ruby settlement established new conservation fund. Advocates for the West recently helped broker an innovative settlement between WWP and El Paso Pipeline Corp. to establish a $15 million Sagebrush Habitat Conservation Fund. The Fund will work to retire grazing permits on a willing seller basis to mitigate for impacts of the 650-mile Ruby natural gas […]
Case: Western Watersheds Project and Oregon Natural Desert Association v. Massington
Over several years we have brought various administrative appeals and court cases seeking to force BLM to protect sage-grouse, redband trout and other sensitive resources from livestock grazing damage in the Bully Creek area of eastern Oregon. BLM adopted and promised to follow an improved grazing regime after our initial 2001 lawsuit; but monitoring showed that objectives […]
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 […]
Case: Western Watersheds Project v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
February 3, 2010 — Advocates for the West sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over its violation of the Endangered Species Act in refusing to determine if the pygmy rabbit warrants protection under the ESA. This case is now the third time we have had to sue the Service for its continued and repeated […]
Case: 9th Cir. 07-39577
Interior Mountain Quail were once abundant across the sagebrush-steppe, but are now reduced to a few populations in Oregon, Nevada and Idaho; and remaining populations are threatened by habitat destruction from grazing and other impacts. The US Fish and Wildlife Service rejected client Western Watersheds Project’s petition to list Interior Mountain Quail under the ESA, saying it is not a “distinct” population […]
Case: Western Watersheds Project, et al. v. U.S. Forest Service
November 11, 2010 — After the parties partially settled this case, the Forest Service still tried to move the remainder of Plaintiffs’ case from the Northern District of California to the Eastern District of California. In a short but sweet Order, the Court denied this motion and retained the case. May 30, 2008 — We […]