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 sheep,…
Federal Court Decision Holds That Protecting Sage-Grouse Must Take Priority Over Livestock Grazing in Owyhee Canyonlands and beyond in Southwest Idaho Early last week the federal district court of Idaho affirmed Western Watersheds Project’s challenge to five Bureau of Land Management (BLM) grazing decisions in southwest Idaho’s Owyhee Canyonlands that harmed Greater sage-grouse. Judge rules…
Fee is only $1.35 to graze a calf cow pair for a month. Obama Administration Refuses to Reform Public-lands Grazing Fee For immediate release – January 18, 2011 Contacts: Greta Anderson, Western Watersheds Project, 520.623.1878 Mark Salvo, WildEarth Guardians, 503.757.4221 Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity, 928.310.6713 Brent Fenty, Oregon Natural Desert Association, 541.330.2638 Ronni…
New on Feb. 8. Rocky Barker. Low federal grazing fees lie at heart of calls for reform. Idaho Statesman. Feb. 6. This news release came from the Arizona Office of the Western Watersheds Project. The subsidy to cattle and sheep growers on our public lands just keeps getting worse. $1.35 an AUM is the lowest…
Lochsa River on the Nez Perce Clearwater NF, Idaho. Photo George Wuerthner The Nez Perce Clearwater National Forests in central-northern Idaho contain more wildlands than almost any other national forest in the lower 48 states. Recently, the Forest released its forest plan on November 28, 2023, which will determine the management for the next 10-30…
“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) Cattle grazing designaed wilderness in the Sonoran Desert National Monument, Arizona. Photo George Wuerthner No…
Cattle grazing in the Blue Range Wilderness of New Mexico. Photo George Wuerthner Anyone who has ever worked on public lands livestock issues knows that modifying the negative impacts of ranching operations, much less eliminating them, is nearly impossible. Domestic livestock grazing even occurs in national parks, national monuments, wilderness areas, and other public lands…
Ken Cole is a 5th generation Idahoan, an avid fly fisherman, wildlife enthusiast, and photographer. He is the interim Idaho Director for Western Watersheds Project.
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