November 2011
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REVA (H.R. 3432) Would Provide Cash Option for Grazing Permittees Conservationists hailed the introduction of the Rural Economic Vitalization Act (H.R. 3432) in Congress, a bill that would allow federal grazing permittees to voluntarily relinquish their grazing permits back to the managing federal agency in exchange for compensation paid by a third party. The bill…
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Legal wolf trapping is now underway in northern Idaho- Idaho first legal wolf trapping season is underway. Trapping is controversial and there are many questions about it. Answers will come. Lessons might be learned. During this first season, wolves can be caught with leg-hold traps or by snares. Whether trapping is ethically or morally right,…
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Bridger-Teton National Forest sued for failure to analyze new projects blocking the path of the pronghorn- According to the Western Watersheds Project, the Bridger-Teton N.F. was talking up a good story how they were going the protect the “path of the pronghorn” which runs from the Wyoming desert, where they winter, northward to Jackson Hole…
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Unlike deer and pronghorn, are elk trapped forever in the high mountain valley? The big mountain valley of Jackson Hole, Wyoming is so high and cold that elk did not winter there before Euro-American settlement blocked the late fall migration routes out and settlers eventually began to feed elk at what became the National Elk…
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Once thought extinct, reintroduction to Utah just one of a growing number- The black-footed ferret, closely related to the weasel, but a predatory specialist that eats prairie dogs almost exclusively (about 92% of their diet), was thought to be extinct back in the 1970s. Amazingly a pet dog discovered a colony near Meeteetse, Wyoming in…
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Oregon Wild announces contest to name the wolf, now just “OR7”, that has crossed the state, maybe headed for California- The conservation group Oregon Wild just announced a two-part contest for Oregon children and teenagers to suggest names for “OR-7”. This lone wolf’s 300 journey across Oregon has captured the imagination of many. Here is…
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Law makes hash of the talk of superb state level wolf management? In the new Montana wolf hunt those who shoot a wolf can tag it and walk away, leaving the entire wolf on the ground. Nick Gevock of the Montana Standard just blew the whistle on this amendment that was sneaked into Montana’s game…
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Abundant grass in mountains and lack of snow keeps elk off of Refuge- The amazing wet spring and early summer continue to affect wildlife (and hunting) in NW Wyoming. Usually this time of year elk are moving onto the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole. This year, however, numbers are very low, with prized bulls…