October 2009

  • Is this a move away from Obama’s previous commitment to the Clinton Roadless Rule ? In May, the Obama administration announced its intention to give Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack top level oversight over incursions into roadless areas.  The move was said to be Obama’s re-commitment to the Clinton Roadless Rule. Obama administration inches away…

  • Results of the Yellowstone Grizzly Coordinating Committee meeting Jackson, WY- I think we see the real reason they are upset that the judge relisted the grizzly bear in this statement: “Fremont County [Wyoming] Commissioner Pat Hickerson echoed Schwartz and several other commissioners when he said grizzly bears have begun to expand into areas where their…

  • Bill includes funding to reimburse for wolf kills, but may also contain money for proactive measures- From what I’ve read, this sounds pretty good to me for wildlife and outdoors in Montana. Great Falls Tribune.

  • Ranch is between Ketchum and Hailey, Idaho- Here is something you don’t read about very often, especially in Idaho.  A predator kills an animal on a ranch, and the owner or manager is not drooling for revenge. Mountain lion kills 2 alpacas. Ranch manager declines offer to kill predator.  Idaho Mountain Express.

  • 27 % decline in 2008 will be followed by another decline in ’09- At the end of 2007 there were 171 wolves that lived primarily inside Yellowstone Park, but very high pup mortality due to disease (distemper) along with the natural attrition of adult and sub-adult wolves caused a 27% decline (124 wolves). Disease had…

  • The small population may be the cause of its own collapse without more females . . . STAT- There aren’t many French brown [ursus arctos] bears left. What are have a badly distorted ratio in favor of males.  This might be the result of chance, the result of inbreeding, or male bears competing with each…

  • Poached bear found on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of the Rocky Mountain Front- Another grizzly found clawless. By Karl Puckett. Great Falls Tribune Staff Writer Just for reference. This bear was part of the Northern Continental Divide ecosystem grizzly bear population, the largest grizzly population in the lower 48 states (more bears than greater Yellowstone).

  • SNWA loses right to suck 6- billlion gallons of water a year from under Nevada desert valleys- This is a blockbuster decision for the high desert of Nevada and western Utah and against the same old pattern of urban sprawl for Las Vegas. The state supreme court could yet rule for SNWA. It’s a big…

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