Court Agrees with Advocates, and Orders Disclosure of Information

On September 13, 2010, the District Court of Idaho granted Advocates for the West a victory in an important case under the Freedom of Information Act, and ordered the BLM to disclose to the public basic information on its grazing program – including the names of livestock permittee’s authorized to grazing the public lands.

 
For the past 10 years or so, BLM has repeatedly refused to disclosure the names of ranchers it allows to graze private livestock on the public lands across the west. BLM claimed that disclosing this basic information would cause an unwarranted invasion of privacy – even though these ranchers operate on the public lands. And without this information, the public was unable to determine who grazed the public lands, on which allotments, and with how many livestock.
 
In 2009, Advocates sued the BLM, claiming that it was violating FOIA by withholding this information, and Advocates argued that the public interest in BLM’s grazing program outweighed any nominal privacy interests. On September 13, 2010, the District Court of Idaho agreed with Advocates, and held that there was “substantial public interest in understanding the scope of the grazing and rangeland program, particularly in light of the environmental impacts associated with grazing and the amount of tax dollars spent on the grazing program itself.” This case is an important victory limiting BLM’s ability to hide information from conservation groups, and the general public as well. 
 
Advocates’ Senior Attorney Todd C. Tucci handled this case, and we represented WildEarth Guardians and Western Watersheds Project on this case. Advocates would like to thank everyone involved in this case, including, in particular, Mark Salvo of WildEarth Guardians, for all of his tireless work on this case. 

Files: 

SJ Order.pdf