Grazing and Livestock
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No more hush, hush on who has grazing permits on your public lands- Most people are amazed that the BLM won’t tell them who holds the almost free grazing permits they issue on the public land of the United States, but Western Watersheds and Wild Earth Guardians, represented by Advocates for the West have just…
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It took a long time, but Western Watersheds and Advocates for the West seem to have a final victory As a note, I am pleased to have been a plaintiff for the National Wildlife Federation in fighting this Bush era effort to exclude the public from having influence in grazing decisions, improperly grant property rights…
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Defenders of Wildlife answers Butch Otter’s “political grandstanding”- The writer of the Defender’s response is Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife. Ranchers will still get money for livestock losses. Rodger Schlickeisen guest editorial in the Idaho Statesman. I can’t help but compare Otter’s red-faced response on this relatively small amount of money to his…
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As mega-dairies and feedlots make up more of Idaho’s dairy industry, the conflicts between people and cattle are increasing Guess what. There’s shit in the air and water around these facilities and people are getting sick. “High nitrate levels in water can cause brain damage in infants and has been associated with reproductive problems and…
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Don’t color outside the lines The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has released its Draft Bighorn Sheep Management Plan which essentially draws lines around existing bighorn sheep populations and prevents recovery to historical habitat. This is a big problem because the bighorn population has been in steep decline due to diseases spread by domestic…
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It’s been a bad year for bighorn sheep in Montana. Spread of Bighorn Sheep Pneumonia Continues – New West While we see an increasing amount of media attention that bighorns are dying of disease, unfortunately, with this article, there is a familiar omission of context regarding a likely source of disease for bighorns in general;…
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Herd lives close to site of previous die-offs After last winter’s disastrous die-off of bighorn sheep in Montana, Utah, Nevada, and Washington State it seemed the news couldn’t get any worse for bighorn sheep. Well, today comes news of another outbreak of pneumonia in a heard of 100 bighorn sheep east of Hamilton, Montana. Officials…
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The “capture” of wildlife agencies, both state and federal, by agricultural interests continues, this time in the state of Nevada where another ‘flat-earther’ has been appointed to a position of authority over wildlife management. Hank Vogler, a domestic sheep rancher who has actively denied the relationship between disease die-offs in bighorn sheep herds and contact…