Grazing and Livestock
-
With all of the horrible things happening in Idaho’s wolf management, it is hard to focus on other, perhaps more, important issues facing Idaho wildlife. With a deadline of 2015 bearing down for the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to make a decision about whether the greater sage grouse should receive protection under the…
-
S.1337 goes far beyond criminalizing videos of Idaho CAFOs- It’s a threat to outdoor travel and recreation- By now readers might have received some alerts about S. 1337 which is before the Idaho legislature. It is being portrayed as a threat to documenting what goes on in concentrated animal feeding operations in Idaho. It is…
-
Controversial wildlife bills are only part of it- Most of the attention by those interested in wildlife in this year’s Idaho legislature have focused on Governor “Butch” Otter’s 2-million dollar wolf killing bill as it continues to advance toward law. Nonetheless, there are other wildlife bills and a host of additional scary, strange, and backwards…
-
Bozeman, Mont.—Conservation groups entered into a settlement agreement today that will require the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to prepare a new Biological Opinion before grazing domestic sheep this summer in southwest Montana. Cottonwood Environmental Law Center, Western Watersheds Project, Gallatin Wildlife Association, Native Ecosystems Council and Yellowstone Buffalo Foundation…
-
An article in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle today discusses several recent incidents where small farm flocks of domestic sheep and goats have come into close contact with bighorn sheep and, in some cases, have caused large die-offs of bighorn sheep due to the pneumonia caused by pathogens transmitted from the domestic animals. In other cases…
-
The USDA Wildlife Services Wildlife Specialist “Mistook” it for a Coyote The Endangered Species Act affords protection against unauthorized take of the Mexican gray wolves, and makes it a criminal offense to kill one. 16 U.S.C. §1540(b). The Final Rule for the reintroduction of Mexican gray wolves codifies the prohibition against killing the wolves and…
-
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is taking comments on the proposed listing of the Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Following the status review, the Service will either publish a proposed rule to protect the Arctic grayling under the ESA, or a withdrawal from candidate…
-
Provisions would increase rancher base property value solely by issuing longer grazing lease and waving public participation- An article in fiscally conservative Forbes Magazine looks at the real effects of the “Grazing Improvement Act.” It is yet more money for the elite (or just plain lucky) set of ranchers who hold a public grazing lease.…
