March 2008
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In a Warmer Yellowstone Park, a Shifting Environmental Balance By Jim Robbins. New York Times. This is really about the spread in the Lamar Valley of what is usually regarded as a noxious weed (I certainly hate it) — the Canada thistle. It seems grizzly bears and pocket gophers love it, and the griz, ever…
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Story in the Seattle Times. Is cougar hunting breeding chaos? By Sandi Doughton. Seattle Times science reporter. Hunting large carnivores does not have easy, predictable effects; and a recent law passed and signed in Washington state due to increasing cougar attacks on livestock and pets in NE Washington appears to have had the opposite effect…
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The biggest significance of this story is that the federal judge is not buying the “Kempthorne doctrine” that the term “distinct population segment” of the ESA means almost nothing. Federal District Judge Mary Murguia thinks it does, and she reversed the FWS’s 2006 bald eagle delisting decision as applies to desert-nesting bald eagles, calling it…
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Here’s a real story. It’s about the poisoning of Idaho. Nevada and this mining company should be paying we Idahoans reparations. Nevada closes mine for mercury releases. Idaho officials say Jerritt Canyon has tainted Gem State waters and fish. The mine will have to fix its pollution control equipment. By Rocky Barker. Idaho Statesman. This…
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Talk about over-the-top bias . . . ! Would this story make any local news if the sheep were killed by something other than a wolf? Eight dead sheep is normally not news. The fact that the owner won’t seek reimbursement indicates this is not about economics, but social hostility, aided and abetted by the…
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Idaho wolves are moving into Oregon, but soon wolves in Eastern Oregon will no longer be a federally protected species (assuming delisting actually happens). However, Oregon has its own strict, but only partially completed state wolf plan. So wolves will remain legally protected in Eastern Oregon (but by the state). According to the Wallowa County…
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The President of Westland/Hallmark Meat testified to Congress that he got sick viewing the secret video of his employees maltreated sick cows so they could be slaughtered. He reluctantly said the sick meat got into the food supply. The video prompted the largest meat recall in U.S. History. Story in the New York Times. Meat…