Press Release
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LARAMIE, Wyo. – The public lands management agencies announced the grazing fee for federal allotments today, which the federal government has decreased to a mere $1.87 per cow and her calf (or 5 sheep) per month, known as an Animal Unit Month, or AUM. “This has got to be the cheapest all-you-can-eat buffet deal in the…
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In Victory for Conservation Groups, Court Orders Better Protections Before Reinstating Grazing Permits PORTLAND, Ore.— Conservation groups scored a victory in federal court Tuesday on behalf of the Oregon spotted frog, which is protected as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. The court found that the U.S. Forest Service’s allowance of grazing on the 68,000-acre Chemult Pasture,…
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PORTLAND, Ore. – Western Watersheds Project, a nonprofit environmental group, has launched a legal challenge to a management plan for five National Wildlife Refuges in the Klamath Basin of Oregon and California. The lawsuit, filed last week in Oregon, cites failures by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect sage grouse and rare native…
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Idaho Must Destroy Data Obtained From Illegal Elk and Wolf Collaring POCATELLO, Idaho – A federal judge today ruled that the U.S. Forest Service illegally authorized the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) to conduct approximately 120 helicopter landings to place radio collars on elk in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness last…
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New Polling Data Underscores Public Support for Endangered Species Protections By Western Watersheds Project WASHINGTON – The American public supports the continued protection of endangered species and worries that the new Congress will undermine these majority values, according to a new poll of American voters conducted in the wake of the 2016 election that was…
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Hailey, IDAHO – Over two years after alleging that Western Watersheds Project trespassed on private property in order to collect water quality data on public lands, Wyoming ranchers dropped their lawsuit against the conservation group upon reaching a settlement that yields no new restrictions on the organization’s efforts to protect clean water on public lands. “This suit was…
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The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report last week detailing the extent to which the United States Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have failed to follow agency regulations in documenting and penalizing unauthorized or trespass livestock grazing on federal public lands. The report, entitled Unauthorized Grazing: Actions Needed to Improve Tracking and…
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Today, Western Watersheds Project, Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) and, Friends of Animals (FoA) took the first step to sue the Dept. of the Interior and U.S. Fish & Wildlife (USFWS) for failing to provide Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for the distinct population segment of bison in Yellowstone National Park in response to two citizen petitions.…