Terry Tempest Williams writes “If the desert is holy, it is because it is a forgotten place that allows us to remember the sacred. Perhaps that is why every pilgrimage to the desert is a pilgrimage to the self. There is no place to hide, and so we are found.”
I remember kneeling on the wet ground, the reddish-brown earth painting circles on the knees of my favorite jeans. Dew was everywhere and the smell of wet sagebrush seemed to soak into every pore. We sat watching the sun slowly begin to rise, sending streams of orange and pink light cascading over the Lost River Range. Then we heard it, the first “boom.” I remember being so disappointed with that sound. There had been all of this hype over the ‘booming’ the night before at the dinner table, and now it just sounded like my brother had popped his knuckles.
Then my dad handed me the binoculars. As a ten year old somewhat prissy girl, even I was impressed. Three or four male sage grouse were strutting back and forth on the lek in the distance. They would puff up the sacs on their throats and chest, and I just knew that if they had arms they would start beating their chests like King Kong atop the Empire State Building. Instead, they would kind of bob their heads and a hollow sounding ‘Pop! Pop!’ could be heard. Their tail feathers were fanned out in a magnificent array, looking almost like black spears against their reddish bodies, the same color as the circles on my knees. I watched the hens peeking out of the sagebrush seeming to hide just like us, not wanting to interrupt the magnificent display. (more…)
While I appreciate that your article on Jon Marvel took a moment to give credit where credit is due— it is most certainly true that Marvel has done more than any other conservation group in the state to fix the flawed public lands grazing program– the bulk of the article’s argument hinges on a demonstrably false premise: that Marvel would be more effective if he would just play “nice.”
First of all, as anyone who’s ever spoken out against this state’s obscenely powerful cattle industry (dairy or beef) can easily attest: the cattlemen most certainly don’t play nice themselves. Implicit intimidation and outright threats are common. I suspect that even those with saintly dispositions would find it difficult, if not impossible, to continue to show “mercy” and/or “understanding” in the face of such harassment. (more…)
Sage-grouse require expanses of mature and old growth sagebrush habitats in gently sloping areas, tall residual grass cover with sagebrush overstory for nesting, and wet meadows for brood rearing. Their habitat has decreased about 60% over the last 100 years with acceleration in that decline in recent years.
Now, sage-grouse populations are facing high risks from new energy projects across their habitat. Industrial wind energy projects and huge utility corridor proposals are proposed for some of the West’s most remote and intact sagebrush landscapes.
Developers of these projects parrot the same fearbased talking points that have driven so many policies of the US in over the past decade, only with a climate twist: “If we can’t build the Windy Ridge kazillion megawatt wind farm on top of 20 sage-grouse leks, polar bears will die”.
Two current examples of destructive energy projects are the proposed China Mountain wind farm near Jackpot, Nevada on the Idaho-Nevada border, and the Ruby Natural Gas Pipeline that seeks to build a new energy corridor through critically important sage-steppe landscapes of northwestern Nevada.
The Western Watersheds Project first petitioned the Service to list the Big Lost River mountain whitefish in 2006. After reviewing the petition in 2007, the Service determined it did not present substantial information to indicate that listing was warranted. The Western Watersheds Project then filed a complaint in 2008 challenging the Service’s finding. In response to that lawsuit, the United States District Court in Boise, Idaho, directed the Service to conduct a status review of mountain whitefish in the Big Lost River and, within one year, issue a finding on whether the population should be protected as a threatened or endangered species. The court ordered the Service to make a final listing determination by March 31, 2010.
Bighorn frequently die of pneumonia after contact with domestic sheep, but domestic sheep don’t get sick. In response to lobbying by woolgrowers the Idaho legislature has passed a law that will require the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to certify that existing sheep operations are safe and possibly to kill any bighorn sheep that are found near domestic sheep on public or private land. This law is simply vengeance of the perpetrator on the victim. Use the strength and influence of the business community to send the perpetrators a message. Don’t vacation or recreate in Idaho until it’s again safe for bighorn sheep.
” All animals have Pasteurella bacteria in their upper respiratory tracts…” Dr. Marie Bulgin
Yes, it’s true, many species of mammals, including people do. And most have hair and two eyes. But most mammals don’t have the propensity to pass their Pasteurella respiratory flora on to another closely related species which then dies of the infection. Thirty years of field observations on free-ranging domestic and bighorn sheep, experimental inoculations and captive animal trials have shown this is exactly what happens. Washington State University researchers have recently again shown that otherwise healthy domestic sheep are the source of the lethal Pasteurella, this time uniquely (florescent) labeled, that kill bighorn if they are allowed nose to nose contact.
All cattle have Pasteurella bacteria in their upper respiratory tracts. But some have more deadly strains that others and will infect susceptible cattle causing outbreaks of “shipping fever” pneumonia, if they are not kept separate. What is happening when domestic sheep are mingled with bighorn is exactly what happens when stressed cattle shedding bad Pasteurella’s are allowed to mix with unprotected susceptible cattle. No stockman in his right mind would do this. Any veterinarian who allowed it would be a candidate for a malpractice suit. And who would propose killing the susceptible cattle to prevent spread of infection ? Why doesn’t the State of Idaho “get it” ? Maybe because the “experts” they listen to have serious conflicts of interest.
A recent article illustrating how Bush’s administration is taking pre-emptive, unilateral action to rewrite history on the environmental legacy of his Interior Department:
The Washington Post article demonstrates a few ’stretched’ accomplishment and the omission of some critical details.
Closer to home in Idaho, Interior under Dirk Kempthorne has the nerve to claim that the Bush administration was somehow responsible for the dramatic expansion of Craters of the Moon by a Clinton administration National Monument.
Federal Magistrate Judge Mikel Williams Grants Western Watersheds Project’s Motion For Summary Judgment And Overturns the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Decision Not To Protect Slickspot Peppergrass Under the Endangered Species Act.
Western Watersheds Project has won another round of federal court litigation over protection of the Slickspot peppergrass (Lepidium papilliferum).
Slickspot peppergrass is a rare annual or biennial Idaho endemic flower that grows in the sagebrush country of the Snake River Plain and portions of Owyhee County in the Jarbidge region.
Direct threats to slickspot peppergrass are cheatgrass invasion and fire. Cattle trampling and other disturbance to the fragile smooth desert “slickspot†soils in the sagebrush areas where this plant grows promote cheatgrass and weed invasion. For a complete photo essay on Slickspot peppergrass please visit WWP’s Slickspot peppergrass web page:
Over six weeks ago, I wrote an account of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s (IDFG) Public “Open House” in Hailey Idaho regarding the then released Idaho Wolf Population Management Plan.
Originally, IDFG had not intended to have a meeting in Hailey. But because of the insistence of a number of citizens, dozens of people in Blaine County were allowed to turn out for the event and voice their legitimate concern overwhelmingly against the state’s plan to kill wolves. This responsiveness was made possible given the Blaine County Commissions willingness to take official oral comments from the pubic, a willingness that the IDFG had not shown in any other of their “open house” formats around the state. The public outcry was inspirational, a community of people on a dark cold night civilly engaged in opposition to the state’s plan to kill wolves. At the end of the night:
Just before the last person left, a member of the public asked the IDFG commissioner in attendance, Wayne Wright, whether he would still support killing 600 wolves and what he thought of the public’s concern.
Idaho Deparment of Fish and Game’s commissioner Wayne Wright, representing the Magic Valley Region, responded:
“God gave us the ability to manage wildlife.â€
Just like that ~ Blaine county’s concern sloughed off the back of the commissioner’s conscience.
The South Idaho Press has published a two part story involving the state of Idaho’s reaction to domestic sheep transmitting a deadly pneumonia to bighorn sheep when domestic sheep are allowed to graze on federal public land for a minuscule 27 cents per month. The story involves a southern Idaho band of bighorn and the producer who’s pulling political favors to rid the area of pesky bighorn :
More illustrating context about domestic sheep producer’s line to the governor including the domestic sheep producer’s letter requesting removal of Big Cottonwood Creek bighorn and an agency email demonstrating this sheep producer’s already denuding effect on deer hunting opportunity below :
That places exist relatively free of human intervention remains too much for the Idaho Department of Fish & Game Commission. Even after efforts to capture and collar wolves in Idaho wilderness using helicopters have legally failed ~ Commissioner McDermott continues to “beat that dog†into sidestepping the law.
The need to manage – to control – above all else ~ and apparently behind closed doors.
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