salmon

Willamette River Salmon and Steelhead Legal Attacks

Willamette River Salmon and Steelhead Legal Attacks

Case: Marion County and City of Salem v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

August 18, 2026 — The Oregon district court granted our motions to intervene in these cases, which have now been consolidated. July 30, 2026 — Advocates for the West filed motions to intervene in lawsuits brought by Marion County and the City of Salem, Oregon challenging the Army Corps of Engineers’ recent decision adopting operational […]

NEXT Refinery Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification

NEXT Refinery Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification

Case: Columbia Riverkeeper, Northwest Environmental Defense Center, Wendy Schmidt, and Haley Voekel vs. Oregon Department of Water Quality

January 6, 2025 — Advocates for the West presented oral argument in defense of our challenge. November 7, 2025 — Advocates for the West filed our reply brief in this case. August 22, 2025 — Advocates for the West filed our motion for summary judgment in this case. May 22, 2025 — Advocates for the […]

Stibnite Gold Project Approval

Stibnite Gold Project Approval

Case: Save the South Fork Salmon, Idaho Conservation League, Idaho Rivers United, Earthworks, Center for Biological Diversity, and American Rivers v. U.S. Forest Service, et al.

August 25, 2026 — Advocates for the West and our partners filed an appeal seeking to reverse federal agencies’ unlawful approval of the Stibnite Gold Project and halt Perpetua Resources’ initial mine construction. The proposed open-pit cyanide leach gold mine would jeopardize public health and clean water, harm threatened species and permanently scar thousands of […]

Bonneville Power Administration: Reserves Distribution

Bonneville Power Administration: Reserves Distribution

Case: Idaho Conservation League, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, and Idaho Rivers United v. Bonneville Power Administration

December 2, 2024 — Advocates for the West presented oral argument in both our FY2022 and FY2023 reserves distribution cases before a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit panel. September 6, 2024 — Advocates for the West filed a reply brief in our FY2023 reserves distribution case. June 28, 2024 — Advocates for […]

Bonneville Power Administration: FOIA Request for Kintama Records

Bonneville Power Administration: FOIA Request for Kintama Records

Case: Advocates for the West v. Bonneville Power Administration

December 15, 2022 — Advocates for the West filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit against the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) to compel the federal agency to produce certain records as required by law. The records concern BPA’s relationship with Canadian research company Kintama Research Services. Over the last decade, BPA has funded some of Kintama’s […]

Sawtooth National Forest Water Diversions

Sawtooth National Forest Water Diversions

Case: Idaho Conservation League v. U.S. Forest Service

August 25, 2021 — Advocates for the West secured a victory in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to protect threatened Idaho salmon, steelhead, and bull trout from irrigation water diversions in Idaho’s Sawtooth Valley. The Ninth Circuit decision upholds our lower court win that requires the U.S. Forest Service to consult with experts and protect […]

Willamette River Salmon and Steelhead

Willamette River Salmon and Steelhead

Case: Northwest Environmental Defense Center, WildEarth Guardians, and Native Fish Society v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and National Marine Fisheries Service

July 3, 2025 — We won a conclusive victory in our Oregon federal court case involving eight U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dams and reservoirs in the Upper Willamette River basin that cause severe harm to Chinook salmon and steelhead by cutting off upstream spawning habitat and impairing downstream water quality and quantity. The Court […]

Salmon and Steelhead Die-Offs in Columbia and Snake Rivers

Salmon and Steelhead Die-Offs in Columbia and Snake Rivers

Case: Columbia Riverkeeper v. Scott Pruitt, Administrator of EPA

May 19, 2020 — EPA released its TMDL to control heat pollution in the Columbia and Snake rivers. EPA’s plan is further evidence that removing the four Lower Snake River dams is necessary to restore salmon and orcas. March 30, 2020 – The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the EPA’s petition to rehear this case. […]

Perpetua Resources (formerly Midas Gold) Clean Water Act Violations

Perpetua Resources (formerly Midas Gold) Clean Water Act Violations

Case: Nez Perce Tribe v. Perpetua Resources, Corp., et al.

October 2, 2023 — The Court approved settlement of the Stibnite Clean Water Act lawsuit with Nez Perce Tribe recovering $4 million for water quality improvement in the South Fork Salmon River and $1 million in attorney fees and litigation costs. August 8, 2023 — Mining company Perpetua Resources (formerly Midas Gold) will pay the […]

Hells Canyon Complex Water Quality

Hells Canyon Complex Water Quality

Case: Nez Perce Tribe v. Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Petition for Judicial Review

August 31, 2021 – The Nez Perce Tribe reached a settlement agreement with the state of Oregon resolving a case that Advocates for the West filed—along with the Tribe’s Office of Legal Counsel—challenging the state of Oregon’s Clean Water Act section 401 water quality certification for the relicensing of the Hells Canyon Complex. The Hells Canyon Complex, owned […]