Grazing and Livestock
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In today’s Buffalo Field Campaign Update from the Field the depths that Montana’s livestock barons will stoop to protect livestock interests is revealed. Because the Montana Department of Livestock is limited by a temporary restraining order issued on Monday by a federal judge, they have decided to explicitly violate the property rights of a landowner who…
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Less than a year after Flat Top Ranch was awarded $600,000 for a conservation easement – half of which was paid for by a Blaine County levy assessed to protect wildlife – Flat Top Ranch has run into more conflicts with wolves: Jerome Hansen, supervisor of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s Magic Valley Region,…
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A new federal assessment of rangelands in the West finds a disturbingly large portion fails to meet range health standards principally due to commercial livestock operations. In the last decade as more land has been assessed, estimates of damaged lands have doubled in the 13-state Western area where the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM)…
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U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell has issued a 14-day restraining order against using helicopters to haze bison back into Yellowstone National Park because of well documented grizzly bear activity in the area. Last year the Judge Lovell denied a similar request citing technical issues related to the lawsuit but, after both the Buffalo Field Campaign…
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Recently we were informed of a new effort by two conservation groups, a Native American tribe and livestock interests “to secure $25 million from the upcoming 2012 Farm Bill to help livestock producers reduce the risk of livestock losses to grizzly bears, wolves, black bears and mountain lions.” This taxpayer money is meant to “reduce…
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Typical recent rancher activities underscores their extremism- Recently we reported on Arizona/Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy who thinks he doesn’t have to pay grazing fees because he thinks the federal government does not own the U.S. public lands where his grazing allotment (now rescinded) lies. He threatens force to prevent his illegal cattle from being impounded.…
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The headline story of the Idaho Statesman investigates the whining of Idaho’s elite about how they can’t get migrant workers through the H2A migrant visa program fast enough. There is a serious problem with the article, which features a woolgrower who complains that the process is too onerous. It doesn’t even mention the wages offered…
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Resource Management Plans Won’t Affect Already Permitted Activities With a decision by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) about whether sage grouse should receive Endangered Species Act protection due by 2015, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has begun a process to revise the Resource Management Plans (RMP’s) which dictate how resources are managed…