Public Lands
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Two hundred fervently oppose Idaho gaining control of U.S. public lands- Saying that Idaho could not manage the national forests and BLM lands of the federal government, sportsmen who came to Boise on Feb. 12 were adamant they did not want the state to even try. Those rallying held that Idaho would have to sell off the lands, greatly reducing…
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WASHINGTON — The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) soon to be considered by the U.S. House of Representatives contains several provisions that would undermine current efforts to protect greater sage grouse on nearly 60 million acres of public lands, and would lead to listing greater sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act. The livestock lobby…
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Collaboratives have been initiated on many national forests across the West. The stated goal is to resolve controversial resource issues through cooperative discussions between various interests, Thus collaboratives typically include representatives of industry such as timber companies, ranchers, local tourist promotion, county commissioners, Forest Service, BLM, FWS, state and county government, and state wildlife agency…
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President Obama could do a lot here- Here are my suggestions for new national monuments which Obama could designate. I have visited every site I recommend here, so I’m personally familiar with the areas. I have tried to put together a list that I think deserve protection, but also have some substantial political momentum in…
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Two-hundred and fifty million acres of public lands need your help. The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resourcesis poised to move the so-calledGrazing Improvement Act of 2013 (S. 258) out to the floor, legitimizing this bad idea that is nothing more than an attempt to exclude conservation interests from public lands grazing management. If enacted, this…
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by George Wuerthner Introduction Livestock production is a contributing factor in the decline of many western species, including birds (Wuerthner and Matteson 2002). This is not surprising given the amount of land utilized for animal agriculture, including public and private lands. Approximately 578 million out of 1.9 billion acres in the West are grassland pasture…
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SAGE GROUSE: PROXIMATE AND ULTIMATE CAUSES When I was in college, one of my favorite courses was animal behavior. One of the more memorable lessons I learned was the difference between proximate and ultimate causes of behavior. Proximate and ultimate causes of events are important to distinguish. For instance, say a researcher finds that sedimentation…
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Meanwhile, the BLM sues rancher rather than remove trespass cattle from the Gold Butte allotment- Last month it was reported that the BLM cancelled a roundup of trespass cattle on the Gold Butte/Bunkerville Allotment because they perceived a threat from Cliven Bundy who wrote to the company contracted to roundup and remove the trespass cattle saying “Cliven…