Burnt Creek grazing allotment

Current Status:

Pending

Case Title and Number:

WWP v. Rosenkrance, No. 09-cv-365 (D. Idaho)

Date Filed:

09/28/2009

The Burnt Creek allotment is located in the Upper Pahsimeroi watershed, which is occupied by bull trout and sage grouse; and extends over much of the Burnt Creek Wilderness Study Area.

Our prior litigation in 2002-03 forced BLM to close the allotment to grazing for over 5 years, although repeated livestock "trespass" occurred during that time, continuing to harm bull trout habitat.

This latest case challenges BLM's decision to reopen the allotment to grazing despite the past management failures and legal violations; and threatens to impair Wilderness values while harming bull trout and sage grouse.

Files:

Burnt Creek Complaint - July, 2009

Motion for Summary Judgement - March, 2010

Area map, courtesy of IDFG.

Staff Attorney(s):

Laurie Rule

Kristin Ruether

Clients:

Western Watersheds Project

Species:

Bull Trout

Greater Sage Grouse

Updates

08/01/2009

Upper Salmon Litigation

THREE NEW CASES FILED TO PROTECT PAHSIMEROI AND LEMHI WATERSHEDS.

Advocates for the West filed three new cases in June and July 2009 for client Western Watersheds Project, suing the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management over their legal violations in managing public lands in the Pahsimeroi and Lemhi watersheds of central Idaho.

The Pahsimeroi and Lemhi watersheds offer vital habitat for endangered fish -- including salmon, steelhead and bull trout -- as well as sage grouse, pygmy rabbits, and other sagebrush species. Yet the federal agencies continue to authorize livestock grazing and grazing-related water developments and diversions without accounting for the harms they cause to these imperiled species and their habitats. These three cases are the first of a suite of lawsuits aimed at improving habitat conditions in the Upper Salmon basin.