Killing predators to “conserve” other more “desirable” wildlife has been a consistent topic of conversation on this forum. It’s ugly enough in it’s own right in my mind – single-species conservation runs into such ethical dilemmas, especially when most wildlife managers don’t see a problem at all. It appears one wildlife manager in Nevada doesn’t…
BLM Resource Management Litigation hits “World News” Update May 13: The Salt Lake Tribune publishes an important Editorial on the recent news: Saving sage grouse : A funny-looking bird that fluffs its feathers to dance an elaborate mating rite just might be able to accomplish what well-funded environmental groups have been struggling to do for…
Judge B Lynne Winmill ruled in favor of Western Watersheds Project ordering that the group’s comprehensive challenge of over 16 Resource Management Plans, directing management of over 30 million acres, can be litigated in his single court. Resource Management Plans (RMPs) guide management of livestock grazing, off road vehicles, energy development, and other potentially environmentally…
This morning arguments were heard in federal court concerning a Justice Department’s motion to split up WWP’s giant (over 25 million acre) BLM lawsuit into several district courts rather than to have one judge hear the case. Lawyers ask judge to split sweeping grazing suit – Todd Dvorak, Associated Press Laird Lucas, WWP’s lawyer and…
This is important news for management of public lands in sage-steppe country. Judge rules in southwest Idaho grazing case – AP A federal judge has directed the Bureau of Land Management to rethink the way it manages grazing across thousands of acres of southern Idaho, especially the impact livestock have on sage grouse and other threatened…
Thurston County Superior Court has ruled in favor of Dr. Steve Herman and Western Watersheds Project deciding that the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) violated the State Environmental Protection Act when issuing grazing permits on its state wildlife areas without undergoing environmental analysis. The state and Washington Cattleman’s Association had claimed that such…
End of year donations will keep Western Watersheds Project going strong ! WWP is funded by the financial contributions of our members, and without your help we could not carry out our critically important and successful work to protect and restore western watersheds and wildlife. Nothing speaks more clearly than a good photograph about why…
This is a revised version of an earlier story. Here is the news release from the Western Watersheds Project. Rocky Barker also discusses it in his recent blog. BLM Report On The Murphy Complex Wild Fire Shows That Grazing Has Little Effect On Fire Behavior. Idaho BLM has released a long awaited Report on the…