August 2013
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It is time for a new “wildlife news” thread. Please put your news, links and comments below in comments (“Leave a reply”) Here is the link to the old thread now being retired (July 23, 2013).
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The recently released Department of Interior Fiscal Year 2012 Economic Report shows that Grazing on BLM Public Lands Accounts for only 0.41% of the nation’s livestock receipts and only 17,000 jobs. In contrast, recreation accounts for 372,000 jobs and contributes $45 billion to the economy. According to the report, the BLM permits 12.4 million animal unit…
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The Spectrum is reporting (be sure to read both pages) that Cliven Bundy has appealed the order to remove his trespass cattle from Federal lands in southern Nevada. Bundy says he intends to “keep on ranching, like [he’s] always done.” He claims that the federal government has no jurisdiction over federal lands because they really aren’t…
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A lightning storm that passed through the foothills of southern Idaho ignited a series of fires that have burned 298,384 acres of forest and sagebrush steppe. The McCan (23,860 acres), Beaver Creek (32,211 acres), Pony Complex (143,900 acres), and Elk Complex (98,413 acres) fires all started on Thursday, August 8 and quickly grew. They burned structures, closed Highway 20…
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After the California Wolf Center posted a YouTube video of a phone interview with Dr. John Vucetich, who was blacklisted from being part of the peer review because he signed a letter that opposed the nationwide delisting of wolves, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has halted the selection of peer reviewers. According to E&E…
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Former chair of the U of Montana Economics Department, Tom Power, often noted that most rural communities in the West see their economies in a rear view mirror. They have no idea of what is driving their current economy, and often continue to support economic activities that may be detrimental to the new unfolding economic…
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The Republican-led, House Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee has proposed eliminating funding for a variety of important fish and wildlife conservation programs. Specifically, the subcommittee proposed zeroing-out funding for the State & Tribal Wildlife Grants Program, North American Wetland Conservation Fund, Neotropical Migratory Bird Fund, Forest Legacy Program and Water Conservation Fund. These…
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When cougar incidents spike, a general hunt is not the answer, but what is? In the past in Washington State and other states too, the common solution to an increasing number of complaints about cougars around livestock or houses has been a hunt. This is a political response based on simple thinking that more incidents…