Domestic Sheep
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The killing of a wolf pup near Corral Creek by Sun Valley was done to protect John Peavy’s business Flat Top Sheep Company. Once again this raises the question of why public wildlife should be killed to increase the profitability of private enterprises operating on our public lands. It is especially disconcerting that Peavy did…
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“The grazing of livestock, where established prior to the effective date of this Act, shall be permitted to continue subject to such reasonable regulations as are deemed necessary by the Secretary of Agriculture.” The Wilderness Act of 1964, Section 4(d)(4)(2) Livestock grazing occurs on some 260 million acres of federal lands, including lands administered by the Forest…
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Federal Judge Dana Christensen threw out the Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) decision to delist the Yellowstone grizzly bear and returned the bear to Endangered Species Act protection. The decision effectively precluded (for now) the hunting of the bear in Idaho and Wyoming. The judge agreed with plaintiffs that the FWS had failed to consider…
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News Release Western Watersheds Project Wild Earth Guardians July 25, 2018 DUBOIS, ID. The USDA has released a long-awaited decision on the fate of the agency’s controversial Idaho Sheep Experiment Station, an aging facility that conducts research benefitting private domestic sheep producers at the expense of taxpayers and native wildlife. Under this decision, management of the facility…
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I wrote this letter to Dr. Naugle more than 10 days ago and have not received a response. It is worth noting that Dr. Naugle has gotten more than $4.5 million in grants to study sage grouse in the past few years. Could this influence his testimony? Dear Dr. Naugle: I just read your July…
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Recently Colorado U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton was quoted during a congressional hearing of the House Natural Resource Committee recommending the government enlist ranchers and farmers to better protect federal lands. “Some of the best custodians for public lands happen to be our ranchers,” Tipton, R- Cortez, said. Tipton is ignoring the full impacts of livestock…
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The Western Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies released a report declaring that invasive plants, especially cheatgrass, is an enormous threat to the sagebrush ecosystem and sage grouse. Ironically the report emphasized that invasive weeds are a threat to the livestock industry as well. The reason it is ironic is that across the West livestock…
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Wild bighorn sheep once were found throughout the West. Roaming high alpine ridges of the Rockies to the badlands of the Dakotas to the deserts of Arizona and California, bighorns were adapted to a wide variety of climates and terrain and some estimate they numbered in two million or more animals. But these iconic western…