ID BLM closes 3 sheep grazing areas

[katqanna]

BLM shuts down grazing areas

The Bureau of Land Management has formally barred sheep from three grazing allotments along the Salmon and Little Salmon rivers east and south of Riggins and reduced access to a fourth.

The move – made by BLM Idaho Director Timothy M. Murphy at Boise to protect wild bighorn sheep from a disease carried by domestic sheep – has been years in the making and follows action by the Payette National Forest in 2010 to close 70 percent of its sheep grazing allotments. The Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest also is in the process of closing sheep grazing allotments along the Salmon River...

The agency announced the record of decision Friday. It will close the 9,500-acre Partridge Creek and the 4,200-acre Marshal Mountain allotments on the south side of the Salmon River canyon and the 5,200-acre Hard Creek allotment along the Little Salmon River to sheep and goat grazing but leave them open to other livestock. The decision leaves 439 acres of the Big Creek allotment near New Meadows open to sheep grazing but requires herders to follow an extensive list of precautions to ensure the animals don’t mix with wild sheep.

All four allotments have been closed to sheep grazing for several years because of concern over disease transmission. In 2010, BLM officials updated the Cottonwood Field Office’s Resource Management Plan but left blank the section on domestic sheep grazing after environmental groups lodged formal protests. At the time, agency officials pledged to address the issue with a supplemental environmental impact statement. That document led to the decision to close the allotments.

Sheep ranchers have disputed the scientific reasoning behind the grazing reductions and filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the cutbacks made by the Payette Forest. The case was dismissed in March by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

 

[TheTone]

I was just driving through that country yesterday and thinking about how the river canyon and mountains from the confluence with the Snake River all the way upstream to the town of Salmon should be full of bighorns. Unfortunately it isn't; basically just a few scattered populations that don't really interact a ton and a few stragglers here and there. Hopefully that can change in the future. Unfortunately for sheep a lot of the lower salmon is in private ownership which would make reintroductions efforts challenging and maybe not in great public interest. Also I'm sure many of the ranches and homes in the area have small hobby herds of sheep and goats which could pose a problem as well for a sheep herd to expand.

 

[JLS]

Oh come on, it's not that great for sheep habitat. :W:

 

[theat]

That is good news for Idaho sheep. I have spent the past couple of months working with several state fish and game agencies on sheep capture and disease testing. It is pretty sad to hear their prognosis on the future of bighorn sheep. Every sheep herd in Montana, that has been tested, carries one or several of the diseases that result in pneumonia outbreaks.

 

[JoseCuervo]

Can anybody fill me in if this victory for hunters was lead by a Camo & Cigars hunting groups like the Wild Sheep Foundation, or was this victory lead by "environmental groups and drive-by serial litigators"?


Thanks.

 

[phutch30]

Can anybody fill me in if this victory for hunters was lead by a Camo & Cigars hunting groups like the Wild Sheep Foundation, or was this victory lead by "environmental groups and drive-by serial litigators"?

Its a win for sheep...Does it matter who lead it?

 

[brymoore]

IDWSF (Lloyd Oldenburg) was heavily involved with the Payette Decision.

 

[mtmiller]

Its a win for sheep...Does it matter who lead it?

Good to know if you want to financially support groups that protect bhs and habitat.

 

[Oak]

Can anybody fill me in if this victory for hunters was lead by a Camo & Cigars hunting groups like the Wild Sheep Foundation, or was this victory lead by "environmental groups and drive-by serial litigators"?


Thanks.

From the 2009 protest resolution report which precipitated the supplemental EIS and RMP amendment:



It should be noted that the protest listed by George Houston was from Oregon FNAWS, not national WSF.

 

[JoseCuervo]

View attachment 67111

It should be noted that the protest listed by George Houston was from Oregon FNAWS, not national WSF.

It looks like just one of the Camo & Cigar groups participated, while all the Conservation / Green groups, supported by "Drive-by serial litigators" were the ones who lead and affected this, and the Wild Sheep Foundation was impotent, as determined by the Judge.


Again, if you want your dollars to be effectively used, look at the organization. If their biggest accomplishments are banquets, national conventions, and Auction Tags, you might want to see if you can find a different organization that is an effective advocate for hunters.



semper vivat et in advocatos

 

[JoseCuervo]

Its a win for sheep...Does it matter who lead it?

Yes. It matters a lot. I have finite resources, and I want to fund those groups who are effective and leading my causes.

I don't care to fund groups who spend time deciding on which board members they send to the national convention on my charity $$$, and buy expensive bottles of Scotch with my $$$$ to stand around and pat each other on their Mossy Oak covered back's.

 

[LopeHunter]

Yes. It matters a lot. I have finite resources, and I want to fund those groups who are effective and leading my causes.

I don't care to fund groups who spend time deciding on which board members they send to the national convention on my charity $$$, and buy expensive bottles of Scotch with my $$$$ to stand around and pat each other on their Mossy Oak covered back's.

I am with Team Jose on this one. Not sure anyone but the waiters at the gala events are wearing Mossy Oak, though. That seems to be down-market threads. I wear summer-weight military surplus on early season hunts so am automatically disqualified. I do like me some high-end stuff for mountain hunts and shoot custom rifles so maybe get a bit of street cred though my SUV is 11 years old so here I am rubbing elbow with you guys.

 

[Oak]

It looks like just one of the Camo & Cigar groups participated, while all the Conservation / Green groups, supported by "Drive-by serial litigators" were the ones who lead and affected this, and the Wild Sheep Foundation was impotent, as determined by the Judge.

I would also point out that Neil Thagard left WSF after this. He is now Director of the Wildlife Division for the Nez Perce Tribe, and advocates for bighorn sheep on their behalf. He's a good guy on the right side of the issue.

 

[Elkmagnet]

From the 2009 protest resolution report which precipitated the supplemental EIS and RMP amendment:

View attachment 67111

.

Awesome work.
But how many auction tags did it cost us?

All kidding aside I'm hearing 30-40 rams are taken by natives in Idaho every year? If that's true we need to issue a few more "non native?" tags because we can't bank rams to build herd's.

 

[TheTone]

I would also point out that Neil Thagard left WSF after this. He is now Director of the Wildlife Division for the Nez Perce Tribe, and advocates for bighorn sheep on their behalf. He's a good guy on the right side of the issue.

Hopefully, his employers have really started killing a lot of rams in the last few years.

 

[JoseCuervo]

Just to follow up, for those who are interested in knowing who the real heroes were on this one..... This was a big win for Advocates for the West, Wilderness Society, Western Watersheds Project, and Hells Canyon Preservation Council.

If you want to throw some $$$ around, without having to go eat bad chicken at a banquet of guys in RealTree dress shirts, the above names deserve our support.

On March 17th, 2014, Advocates for the West’s Senior Attorney Laurie Rule appeared in court as an intervenor on behalf of the US Forest Service. We backed the agency’s decision to restrict domestic sheep grazing on much of the Payette National Forest due to the likelihood of domestic and bighorn interaction. Such interactions lead to bighorn contracting a fatal disease from the domestic sheep. This restriction was challenged by the Idaho Woolgrower’s Association.

Just eight days later, Judge Tashima issued his ruling – the Forest Service was correct in its decision and the science backing the restrictions is sound. The District Court held that none of IWGA’s NEPA or FACA claims had merit, and the Forest Service’s decision was rational and followed proper procedures. However, on May 22, 2014, IWGA appealed the Court’s decision.

On November 21, 2014, Advocates for the West filed a reply brief challenging IWGA’s appeal. We are representing The Wilderness Society, Western Watersheds Project, and Hells Canyon Preservation Council in this case.

January 2017 – BLM issued an amendment to the Cottonwood Resource Management Plan, closing over 18,000 acres to domestic sheep grazing for at least the next 15-20 years. This amendment expands the areas already closed in Idaho thanks to our litigation efforts, further protecting bighorn sheep from contracting deadly disease from domestic sheep.

March 2, 2016 – The Ninth Circuit court issued an opinion in our favor affirming the district court’s summary judgement. The opinion was written by Judge Berzon of the Ninth Circuit, and is the culmination of litigation that began in 2007. It affirms that domestic sheep pose a substantial risk of disease transmission to bighorn sheep, and approves the models used by the Forest Service to assess the risk of disease transmission. The decision soundly rejected all of the Idaho Wool Growers Association claims against the Forest Service’s analysis.

 

[sneakypete]

A great win for Wild Sheep! Keep the pasture rats away from the wild sheep!

 

[duckhunt]

Sounds like great news. Hopefully its only the beginning.