-
Congressional Bill Short-Circuits Public Process at Point Reyes National Seashore
By Laura Cunningham, California Director Western Watersheds Project An environmentally harmful bill is swiftly moving through the House of Representatives. HR 6687 would change the enabling legislation of Point Reyes National Seashore to extend the leases of commercial for-profit dairies and ranches, with no environmental review of cattle grazing impacts. The bill, introduced by Jared…
-
Reports of Record Wolf Depredations Based on Misinformation
By Scott Lake, Idaho Director Western Watersheds Project The Idaho Rangeland Resource Commission has been claiming that wolves killed a record number of livestock last year. But that’s misleading, because Wildlife Services, the secretive federal agency in charge of killing wolves in Idaho, is using a new method to verify wolf kills that is…
-
Testimony of Erik Molvar, Federal Lands Subcommittee Hearing, U.S. House of Representatives ~ July 12, 2018
My name is Erik Molvar, and I am Executive Director of Western Watersheds Project (WWP), a nonprofit conservation group that advocates for the protection and restoration of wildlife and watersheds throughout the western United States. WWP specializes in solving environmental problems caused by livestock grazing on public lands. I hold a Master of Science…
-
Bundy Court Decision Didn’t OK Illegal Grazing
LAS VEGAS— Conservation groups have called on Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to round up and remove the cattle of rancher Cliven Bundy, who has been illegally grazing his livestock on public lands for two and a half decades. U.S. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro on Monday dismissed all charges against Cliven Bundy and his sons…
-
Planning to Fail at Sage-grouse Conservation
by Erik Molvar, Western Watersheds Project The Trump administration has just launched a process to dismantle the greater sage-grouse land-use plan amendments that were put in place in 2015 to avert an Endangered Species listing for the bird. The emerging consensus is that this move undermines wildlife conservation, and represents yet another attack on science,…
-
Trump’s Looting of Our National Treasures
by Erik Molvar, Western Watersheds Project On Monday, President Trump took his first trip to Utah to sign a proclamation gutting the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments to make way for drilling, mining, and other commercial exploitation fundamentally incompatible with protecting fragile and priceless treasures. In his speech before an invitation-only crowd of…
-
Holding out Hope for the Arizona Game and Fish Commission
When members of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission’s recommendation board met last week, they interviewed four candidates for the commission’s open seat. All four were white males and most had strong ties to extractive industries on public lands, including mining and livestock. Not one had a wildlife conservation biology background and none reflected Arizona’s…
-
Lawsuit Filed Today to Protect Idaho Bighorn Sheep from Deadly Diseases
For immediate release 10/17/17 Media contacts: Scott Lake, Western Watersheds Project (208) 429-1679 Laurie Rule, Advocates for the West (503) 914-6388 Sarah McMillan, WildEarth Guardians (406) 549-3895 Lawsuit Filed Today to Protect Idaho Bighorn Sheep from Deadly Diseases Idaho’s bighorns threatened by government sheep grazing at experiment station Boise, ID – Environmental groups filed a lawsuit today against the Caribou-Targhee…