livestock
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Helicopter netting of elk as part of a brucellosis study Yesterday the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks was out using a helicopter to capture elk with nets so that they could test them for brucellosis, attach radio collars, and implant vaginal devices intended to drop out when the elk give birth or abort…
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It died of birthing problems Last week there was a big story about how wolves had killed a cow in the foothills above Eagle, Idaho, which most of you probably know is just west of Boise. Well, Carter Niemeyer, – the Montana western supervisor for Wildlife Services from 1975-1990 and the Wildlife Services Montana wolf…
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One of the problems with Christopher Columbus style ranching. You put them out in the spring then “discover” them in the winter. Poor animal husbandry in remote areas can lead to all kinds of problems for ranchers, cattle, wildlife, and habitat alike. It’s just one reason that these Great Basin desert areas are unsuitable for…
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An annual grass worse than cheatgrass Medusahead grass has the ability to take over a landscape like cheatgrass but nothing will eat it after it dies and dries out in the early summer months. It is becoming a huge problem in some areas and I’ve seen allotments with vast expanses where it is about the…
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Slow progress for Oregon’s wolves Oregon Field Guide recently broadcast a special about Oregon’s wolves and how they are dealing with people and how people are dealing with them. It has been a tough road for the wolves there and many wolves have been killed by the government on behalf of livestock interests and by…
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The EPA is considering lowering allowable particulate matter from 150 micrograms per cubic meter to the range of 65 to 85 micrograms. This would be a very good outcome for many reason ranging from health, soil erosion and snow melt runoff. Recently a study implicated dust, primarily from western livestock grazing, as a big cause…
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Don’t worry about the man behind the curtain. In so many ways the issue of brucellosis in bison and elk is similar to the issue of domestic sheep diseases and bighorn except the rationalization for killing wildlife is just the opposite. We now know that domestic sheep are responsible for disease issues in bighorn sheep…
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Lobbyists, It’s what’s for dinner You know those commercials that say “Beef. It’s what’s for dinner.” Well, the association that takes a dollar from the sale of each cow for those commercials is in trouble. It appears that they might have been spending some of the money on lobbying as well as travel expenses for…