Wildlife
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Grayling are one of the unique fish species found in Montana, and part of its natural heritage. Occupying less than 10% of its former historic habitat, the fish is in jeopardy of extinction. Political interference and agency intransigence are the major obstacles for reversing the fish’s fortune. As such, the grayling is case study in…
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On Sunday and Monday, February 14-15, 2016, USDA Wildlife Services took to the skies and shot the remaining 24 bighorn sheep in the Montana Mountains of northwest Nevada at the request of Nevada Department of Wildlife. These were important sheep because they were once healthy and over 60 had been translocated from there to areas in…
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Up to 900 to soon die- Today the annual cull of Yellowstone bison got underway. It is plenty contentious. I have been ranting about this nearly annual slaughter since 1996 on The Wildlife News and its previous incarnations. In recent years it has been mostly out of sight just north of the Park’s northern boundary.…
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The national wilderness preservation system would be strengthened- Taking a long trip into the backcountry during winter doesn’t appeal to some people. That’s understandable. But I enjoy it, and it’s something I try to do a few times a year. Winter backpacking is very different, and more challenging, compared to strapping on the pack during…
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MONTANA: Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) denied Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection for the iconic Yellowstone Bison, 14 months after Western Watersheds Project and Buffalo Field Campaign petitioned to list these bison as an endangered or threatened species. The conservation groups sought federal protection for the Yellowstone bison because they are harmed by inadequate…
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Judge Rejects State’s Attempts to Avoid Responsibility VICTOR, Idaho— A federal judge today ordered Idaho officials to develop trapping restrictions that prevent protected Canada lynx — one of the rarest cats in the United States — from being illegally hurt or killed across more than 20,000 square miles of the state’s Panhandle and Clearwater regions.…
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VICTOR, Idaho— In response to a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity and allies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that the Northern Rockies fisher, a rare and vanishing species, may warrant federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. Fishers are cat-like, medium-sized members of the weasel family with slender, brown bodies and long,…
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The standoff in Harney County Oregon highlights one of the great ironies of the rural West. More than any other people, western rural residents are more heavily dependent on government (read taxpayer) largesse than any other part of America. Yet the average rural resident sees himself/herself as a “rugged and independent” individual and by…
