Advocates for the West
“Protect the lands, waters, and wildlife of the American West through law.”
The origin
How they started
Advocates for the West is a nonprofit law firm that takes conservation cases other groups can’t afford. Five lawyers split off from the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies to launch it on January 1, 2003, under founder Laird Lucas, and it gives free legal muscle to grassroots groups fighting for public lands, fish, and clean water across the West. The firm reports winning or favorably settling roughly 85% of its cases, and now runs around 15 staff with a budget near 3 million dollars.
Every year they sign one sentence and file it with the federal government: “USE LAW AND SCIENCE TO RESTORE STREAMS AND WATERSHEDS, PROTECT PUBLIC LANDS AND WILDLIFE, AND ENSURE SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES IN IDAHO AND OTHER WESTERN STATES.”
Where the money went, FY2024
The work, and what it cost
Keeping the wild alive
$1.8MPROVIDED FREE LEGAL REPRESENTATION AND ADVICE TO NON-PROFIT CONSERVATION ORGANIZATION’S TO PROTECT PUBLIC LANDS, WATERS, AIR AND WILDLIFE OF PUBLIC INTEREST IN THE AMERICAN WEST.
Including $2,500 granted onward.
Read it as they filed it
PROVIDED FREE LEGAL REPRESENTATION AND ADVICE TO NON-PROFIT CONSERVATION ORGANIZATION'S TO PROTECT PUBLIC LANDS, WATERS, AIR AND WILDLIFE OF PUBLIC INTEREST IN THE AMERICAN WEST.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.
Guarding the water
$348KPUBLIC EDUCATION AND INFORMATION DISSEMINATION ON ISSUES RELATING TO CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION OF PUBLIC LANDS, RIVERS, AND OTHER ENVIROMENTAL MATTERS OF PUBLIC INTEREST IN THE AMERICAN WEST.
Including $500 granted onward.
Read it as they filed it
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND INFORMATION DISSEMINATION ON ISSUES RELATING TO CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION OF PUBLIC LANDS, RIVERS, AND OTHER ENVIROMENTAL MATTERS OF PUBLIC INTEREST IN THE AMERICAN WEST.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.
Follow the dollar
79 cents of every dollar goes to the work
Read it as a snapshot, not a scorecard. Splits move year to year with grants and campaigns, and healthy shops live all across this range.
Backed on the record by 444S Foundation, latest filing FY24.
$2,148,251 programs, $333,112 management, $244,248 fundraising. Form 990, FY2024.
The people
Who does the work
Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. Orgs that claim their page can update it same-day. Work at Advocates for the West? Claim this page.
Those 41 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If Advocates for the West is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.
Make it 42The record
The court record
And 5 more in our case database: a selection we track, not their full docket.
15 years of filings
Total revenue by fiscal year, as filed. Point at the line for any year.
| Year | Revenue |
|---|---|
| 2010 | $535,217 |
| 2011 | $902,271 |
| 2012 | $582,197 |
| 2013 | $1,453,990 |
| 2014 | $681,493 |
| 2015 | $934,068 |
| 2016 | $907,438 |
| 2017 | $1,371,770 |
| 2018 | $1,550,966 |
| 2019 | $1,461,633 |
| 2020 | $1,992,883 |
| 2021 | $2,131,294 |
| 2022 | $2,193,372 |
| 2023 | $1,967,865 |
| 2024 | $3,933,848 |
From $535K in 2010 to $3.9M in FY24, with no missed filing in 15 years. The 2024 peak of $3.9M reads like one-time gifts, so trust the line, not the peak.
Fights alongside Idaho Conservation League (5 shared cases), Center for Biological Diversity (3 shared cases), American Rivers (1 shared case), Conservation Lands Foundation (1 shared case) and Defenders of Wildlife (1 shared case) and 9 more. Same case, same side, on the federal docket.
Their ground
The places they defend
Represented Western Watersheds Project in the Jarbidge grazing litigation, winning 2004 and 2005 NEPA rulings, a 2009 injunction that grazing-as-usual must end, and a 2011 order closing 17 allotments across the 625,000-acre resource area.
Who’s defending it On the groundSonoran Desert National MonumentRepresented Western Watersheds Project and the Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter in the 2021 suit over grazing on 157,000 monument acres, winning the August 2023 ruling that halted BLM’s grazing authorizations.
Who’s defending it On the groundStibnite Mine / Boise National ForestLead counsel for the six-group coalition suing over the Stibnite Gold Project, filing the February 2025 complaint, a May 2026 preliminary injunction motion, and a June 2026 emergency appeal to halt construction.
Who’s defending it In the fightChuckwalla National MonumentCounsel to Conservation Lands Foundation in the suit seeking to overturn the monument
Who’s defending itSee every threatened place on one map, and who stands for each.
Across the 6 states where they work, the congressional delegations average 39 of 100 on public lands. See the full scorecard
Ways in
How to help
79 cents of your dollar goes straight to the work above.
Give on their site ↗Show upVolunteer with themFind their volunteer door on their own site.
Find it on their site ↗SpeakComment and callOpen comment windows and call scripts for fights like these, ready to send.
Public Lands Action NetworkFollowWatch the mapEvery threatened place in the country, tracked, with who stands for each.
Threatened Lands MapStand with Advocates for the West
23 years on the ground, 41 volunteers, 2 live lawsuits, 79 cents of every dollar on the line. That is who is holding it. There is room for one more.