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"Department of Interior"
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is taking comments on the proposed listing of the Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Following the status review, the Service will either publish a proposed rule to protect the Arctic grayling under the ESA, or a withdrawal from candidate [...]
Continue Reading →Survey reveals deep support for our national parks; So does the efforts to place blame for shutdown-
When the “non-essential” government programs were ended for a month during the recent government shutdown, one that was missed the most was the National Parks system — the national parks, monuments, recreation areas, heritage sites, battlefields.
The laying [...]
Continue Reading →On September 1, 2013, The Sagebrush Habitat Conservation Fund completed the permanent retirement from livestock grazing of over 130,000 acres of public land in the former 45 and Tent Creek grazing allotments in Owyhee County, Idaho.
This permanently closes over 200 square miles of public lands to livestock grazing, ensuring habitat improvements for sage-grouse, California bighorn [...]
Continue Reading →We’ve seen it numerous times before when a member of Congress votes against funding their local district or state relies on, but then turns in a posture that says someone else was responsible and their local project could be run for free.
Wyoming Republican Senator John Barasso and Wyoming’s lone U.S. House member Cynthia Lummis [...]
Continue Reading →Parks, wildlife refuges, national forests closed due to failure to pass a budget-
(This story has the shutdown rules for 4 land management agencies)
There was no last minute deal for a temporary budget extension passed at midnight. The federal government will now partially shut down. “Essential services” will continue without a budget. However, [...]
Continue Reading →The recently released Department of Interior Fiscal Year 2012 Economic Report shows that Grazing on BLM Public Lands Accounts for only 0.41% of the nation’s livestock receipts and only 17,000 jobs. In contrast, recreation accounts for 372,000 jobs and contributes $45 billion to the economy.
According to the report, the BLM permits [...]
Continue Reading →The Spectrum is reporting (be sure to read both pages) that Cliven Bundy has appealed the order to remove his trespass cattle from Federal lands in southern Nevada. Bundy says he intends to “keep on ranching, like [he's] always done.”
He claims that the federal government has no jurisdiction over federal lands [...]
Continue Reading →The long running battle between southern Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and the BLM may be coming to an end soon. On July 9th, Nevada District Judge Lloyd D. George ordered Bundy to remove his cattle from BLM and National Park System lands in the Gold Butte and Overton Arm areas of southern Nevada. He was [...]
Continue Reading →In early June, Katie Fite and I visited southeast Nevada to examine the results of past vegetation treatments meant to “restore” sage grouse habitat in the Schell Field Office of the Ely District BLM. What we found was quite astonishing. Rather than restoring sage grouse habitat, the BLM targeted the best sage grouse habitat, near [...]
Continue Reading →Rural Economic Vitalization Act reintroduced-
The Rural Economic Vitalization Act (REVA) would allow private parties to pay willing ranchers to relinquish their grazing permits on public lands, and then the grazing allotment would then be permanently closed to livestock grazing. U.S. Representative Adam Smith of Washington State has just reintroduced this legislation.
Conservationists and economists [...]
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