Blog
Point Reyes National Feedlot
Today, of the 71,055 acres of federal public land within PRNS, about 18,000 acres are still fully dedicated to the industrial production of domestic livestock by thirty-five private operations.
House Votes to Undermine Environmental Laws at Point Reyes National Seashore to Prioritize Private Cattle Ranching
On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved legislation that would enshrine private cattle ranching on 28,000 acres of public lands without any environmental assessment or regard for public opinion. This bill flouts the National Park Service’s obligation to conserve Point Reyes National Seashore lands and protect habitat for endemic tule elk. H.R.6687, introduced…
Victory for public’s right to protest oil and gas lease sales
Advocates for the West Wins Ruling to Block Trump Policy Cutting Public Out of Oil and Gas Leasing Decisions on Public Lands A federal judge on Friday granted Advocates for the West’s request to halt a Trump administration policy that sharply restricts public participation in oil and gas leasing decisions on public lands. The ruling applies to future oil and gas lease sales…
Who Will Save our Wild Salmon and Steelhead?
Southern Resident Killer Whales are on the brink of extinction. Idaho’s sockeye salmon are on life support. The Clearwater River’s once famous wild B-run steelhead population is in a state of collapse. These are data-based facts, and anyone who denies them is ill informed, unable to accept reality, or running for re-election to Congress in…
Picture painted by Midas Gold at Stibnite not as rosy as it looks
By John Rygh, a retired geologist and longtime resident of McCall, Idaho. Opinion piece originally posted in McCall’s local paper, the Star News. Midas Gold has certainly been rolling out a persistent stream of deceptive fantasies about their proposed Stibnite mining project for the last couple years. Not exactly outright lies, but very carefully worded…
A Lesson on Human-Carnivore Conflict Resolution
By Mia Montoya Hammersley, Healthy Communities Legal Fellow at Earthjustice and 2016 Summer Law Clerk for Advocates for the West Before attending law school, I completed my undergraduate studies at Franklin University Switzerland, a small international liberal arts school located in the heart of the Southern Alps. When friends and colleagues learn of my time…
Couple Faces Prison Time for Closing a Cattle Gate on Public Land
Rose Chilcoat, former Associate Director of Great Old Broads for Wilderness, and her husband Mark Franklin face serious charges for a crime they didn’t know they’d committed. Last April, Mark Franklin closed a cattle gate on public land in a remote section of Utah desert. Now, he faces up to 16 years in prison on charges…
Idaho’s once famous wild Clearwater and Salmon River steelhead in a state of collapse
Fish & Game Still Allowing Angling. Time to Shut ‘Er Down Boys! APRIL 2, 2018 ~ THE CONSERVATION ANGLER, David Moskowitz Idaho, still famous for potatoes, used to be famous for big wild steelhead. How big? The biggest in the lower 48 States. How famous? Ted Trueblood among others became famous fishing for what are surely the most…
Trump and Zinke are “sowing the seeds for the legal attacks.”
A recent article published by the New York Times by reporter Coral Davenport: Trump’s Environmental Rollbacks Were Fast. It Could Get Messy in Court. As the head of the federal agency controlling billions of acres of public lands and waters, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has spent the past year making bold policy proclamations to advance President Trump’s…
Sage-Grouse Will Suffer from Policy Reversals
A blog from Steve Holmer, Vice President of Policy at American Bird Conservancy The administration’s recent decision to backtrack on the landmark 2015 Greater Sage-Grouse conservation plans is a disaster in the making for these fast-disappearing birds – and for the remaining sagebrush habitat on public lands. Under this backward-looking change, which would green-light new development on…
