Home ›

BLM Resource Management Plans

One of the largest environmental cases ever filed, this litigation challenges 18 land use plans -- called Resource Management Plans (RMPs) -- issued in the last years of the Bush Administration, which will determine BLM's long-term management of more than 34 million acres of public lands across the range of greater sage-grouse in six western states (Idaho, Nevada, California, Utah, Wyoming and Montana).

BLM adopted the RMPs without addressing the long-term prospects for sage-grouse, even though the RMPs allow extensive oil and gas development, widespread livestock grazing and other actions that are harmful to sage-grouse and their sagebrush habitats. The BLM plans will allow sage-grouse to continue spiralling downward, and thus contribute to the need for ESA listings.  This violates basic federal environmental laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA).

In September 2011, Chief Judge Lynn Winmill of the District of Idaho issued an initial summary judgment ruling in our favor, holding that two of the challenged RMPs -- Craters of the Moon ID and Pinedale WY -- violate NEPA and FLPMA.  In December 2011, we filed a motion for remedies seeking tighter protection of sage-grouse while BLM undertakes new plans.  That motion is now set for evidentiary hearing in April 2012.

See "Updates" below for more.

Current Status: 
Pending
Case Title and Number: 
WWP v. Kempthorne, No. 08-cv-516-BLW (D. Idaho)
Date Filed: 
12/17/2008
Staff Attorney(s): 
Laird Lucas
Todd Tucci
Natalie Havlina
Clients: 
Western Watersheds Project
Species: 
Greater Sage Grouse
Files: 
application/pdf icon
RMP complaint
application/pdf icon
Summary judgment order
application/pdf icon
Order denying BLM motion to dismiss or change venue
application/pdf icon
Motion for remedies

Updates

03/21/2012
Laird Lucas and Natalie Havlina go to court!

Laird Lucas and Natalie Havlina will be in court, representing our conservation partner, Western Watersheds Project, in one of the most important issues facing the West:  how to best protect sage-grouse on public lands.

Monday April 9 - Wednesday April 11

9:00am - 5:00pm

Boise Federal Court, 5th and Fort Streets, 6th floor.  U.S. District Judge Winmill will preside.

The court found in our favor last September that BLM violated the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by failing to address sage-grouse conservation in adopting long-term land use plans for both Pinedale, WY and Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID.   We are now asking the Court to order interim management protections for sage-grouse to prevent further irreparable harms over the next few years while BLM completes its new national sage-grouse planning process. 

Pinedale was historically one of the best sage-grouse habitats anywhere, but rampant oil and gas development during the Bush/Cheney era destroyed and fragmented habitat.  Whether new energy development should be limited in remaining habitats, and whether livestock grazing should be restricted to protect sage-grouse hens and chicks during the spring, are key issues for the hearing. 

The states of Idaho and Wyoming, along with the oil and gas and ranching industries are vociferously objecting to our motion for remedies.

We will call the world's leading sage-grouse expert, Dr. Clait Braun, who will testify for the bird. It is likely that Dr. Braun will testify on Monday April 9th.

Please take time to join us in court, and show your support for the West’s wildlife and public lands!

 
03/02/2012
Speak out for sage-grouse!

Now is the time to speak out in favor or sage-grouse protection! Bureau of Land Management is asking for public comment. Make your voice heard in favor of this iconic Western bird. Increased sage-grouse protection equals increased public lands protection!

Interested members of the public can send comments to sagewest@blm.gov, fax comments to 775-861-6747 or send by mail to Great Basin Region Project Manager, BLM Nevada State Office, 1340 Financial Boulevard, Reno, NV 89502.

Mt. Express article
12/14/2011
What's next for Craters of the Moon and Pinedale?

Laird Lucas, Todd Tucci, and Natalie Havlina, on behalf of Western Watersheds Project, just filed a Motion for Remedies in our two groundbreaking Resource Management Plan 'test cases'. Earlier in the fall, we won a ruling from District Judge Winmill that BLM violated federal law when adopting Resource Management Plans for the Pinedale Field Office in Wyoming and Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho without considering how energy development, livestock grazing, and other actions adversely impact greater sage-grouse.

The motion for remedies outlines the actions that Western Watersheds Project is asking for to restore the publc land, including ordering BLM to fully assess sage-grouse habitats while limiting adverse impacts of grazing and energy development in the interim.  We are using the momentum built by the victories of these two test cases to challenge more broadly BLM's failures to protect sage-grouse across the West.
09/28/2011
Victory in First Round of BLM RMP Litigation

Advocates for the West has won a groundbreaking victory in one of the largest environmental law cases ever filed, the BLM RMP case. This case challenges 18 Resource Management Plans that govern BLM’s management of over 25 million acres of public land around the West. The Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho and the Pinedale Field Office in western Wyoming were selected as “test cases” for the first round of briefing.   

Today, Judge Winmill ruled in our favor on these two test cases, holding that BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act in issuing the RMPs for Craters of Moon and Pinedale. Specifically, BLM violated NEPA in refusing to consider reductions in livestock grazing in the RMP for Craters of the Moon and in failing to consider how energy development will impact sage-grouse in combination with livestock grazing in the Pinedale Field Office. BLM also violated FLPMA by disregarding its own National Sage-Grouse Habitat Conservation Strategy and Sensitive Species Policy in issuing the new RMPs.

application/pdf icon
Motion for summary judgement
03/14/2011
Opening Brief filed in case challenging 18 RMPs on over 25 million acres across the west

Advocates for the West filed its opening brief in WWP v. Kempthorne, our case challenging 18 Resource Management Plans (RMPs) covering over 25 million acres of western public lands.  The brief explains how BLM's adoption of the two court-designated "test" RMPs, Craters of the Moon in Idaho and Pinedale in Wyoming, violated federal environmental laws.  It also shows how BLM bowed to political pressure and ignored its own scientists when deciding to adopt these Bush-era RMPs. 

Read the brief below.

application/pdf icon
Opening Brief 3/14/11
05/07/2009
Order denying BLM motion to dismiss

District court denied BLM motion to dismiss RMP case, or to sever "non-Idaho RMPs" and transfer them to five other states. 

application/pdf icon
Decision and Order
03/19/2009
New Case Targets 18 Land Use Plans Approved in Last Months of Bush Administration

The 18 land use plans that BLM approved in the waning months of the Bush Administration determine long-term management on more than 25 million acres of key sage-grouse habitat in Idaho, Nevada, California, Utah, Wyoming and Montana. As the lawsuit explains, BLM failed to study the harmful effects of grazing plus energy development and other actions on sagebrush habitat and sage-grouse populations; and it refused to take the steps its own 2004 Sage Grouse Habitat Conservation Strategy requires to prevent further declines in this imperiled species.

application/pdf icon
Read the complaint