WWP Online Messenger #72
January 23, 2004
January News from WWP
This week federal Department of Agriculture investigators tracked one cow from the Canadian herd identified as the source of the Washington State mad cow to a dairy in Cassia County, Idaho near Burley.
The cow died last spring, apparently without evidence of the disease, the AG department is continuing its investigation of the dairy herd which may, according to reports, have two other cows from the same Canadian herd in the dairy.
Only 26 of the 81 cows shipped from Canada to the United
States have been located to date. The 5000 head dairy herd in Cassia county is
being monitored for any evidence of the presence of mad cow disease.
Slickspot Peppergrass
Listing denied By U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
This species is limited to a very few locations in the Snake River Plain in
southern Idaho and has diminished in number dramatically in the last twenty
years due to livestock grazing and trampling, exotic invading plant species,
fire, all-terrain vehicles and military training exercises. The Fish and Wildlife Service originally proposed listing this species
under the Endangered Species Act, but after much lobbying by vested interests
and opposition from Bush administration appointees, the agency has reversed
the earlier recommendation of its biologists. WWP anticipates litigating the rule denying this listing which was heavily
influenced by political pressure from public land ranchers,the Idaho
Congressional delegation, and the Office of Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne. "We have just
received word that the General Accounting Office (GAO) has agreed to conduct a
study scope and costs of grazing on our federal lands. This study will help
stir the debate over the federal grazing program and will add speed to the
passage of the Voluntary Grazing Permit Buyout bills now introduced in
Congress. The study -- which should begin in approximately three months -- would not
have been possible without the support of several honorable members of
Congress. Please take a minute to thank these offices for supporting the
request to the GAO. Special thanks should be directed to Congressman Shays (CT) and Congressman
Grijalva (AZ) who really took the initiative. Thanks should also go to Reps.
Rahall (WV), Blumenauer (WA), Holt (NJ) and McDermott (WA). These members can
be contacted as indicated below. Please take a few minutes to let them know
you appreciate their leadership.
WWP has learned of this study from the National Public Land Grazing Campaign's
Washington, D.C. representative Justin Baca. Thank you Justin!
http://www.house.gov/shays/contact/index.htm
http://www.house.gov/grijalva/contact.html
http://www.house.gov/rahall/contactnickrahall.htm
http://www.house.gov/blumenauer/contact.html
http://www.house.gov/mcdermott/contact.html
To celebrate this new and improved location WWP will be holding an Open House party from 5:00-7:30 P.M. Saturday February 28, 2004. There will be music, food, and drink.
Please consider stopping by to
celebrate the new WWP office and meet the staff and board.
Take a look at the article at this
web site:
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0401/feature3/index.html
The proposed new rules drastically alter and reduce public involvement, give title to installations and water rights on public lands to private ranchers, and ensure that necessary management changes are delayed almost indefinitely if the BLM determines that livestock grazing is causing a failure to comply with minimum standards for uplands and riparian areas on public lands across the West.
All in all these proposed rules represent an enormous roll back of environmental protection of our public lands, and are to be expected in the context of President Bush's environmental record.
Interested readers can review the proposed rules and the Draft
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) at these two URLs:
http://www.blm.gov/nhp/news/releases/pages/2003/pr031205_grazing.htm
http://www.blm.gov/nhp/news/releases/pages/2004/pr040102_grazing.htm
WWP will be providing extensive comments on these proposed rules and the DEIS by the March 2, 2004 deadline for comments, but at this time WWP does not recommend that readers send in comments to the BLM.
There are two reasons for not responding to these proposed rules: 1. WWP anticipates litigating these rules when they are finalized later this year, and 2. the Bush administration listens only to ranchers and their allies when it comes to public comment.
WWP suggests readers contact their Congressional Representatives and their
Senators (instead of the BLM) to object to these rule changes and to the Bush
administration's general attack on the environment and environmental law and
regulations put into place over the last 35 years by non-partisan agreement.
Mandy Loving of Hailey has been hired to do administrative tasks half-time. Mandy lives in Hailey with her husband, Tyler and their daughter, Trinity.
Bill McDorman, a native of Ketchum, Idaho, will be working half time on membership management and outreach. Bill is a Mac expert who owns and operates a wonderful garden seed supply business: High Altitude Gardens. His business web site is: http://www.seedstrust.com. Bill and Mandy began work January 12, 2004.
On February 3, 2004 Faith Wellman will begin work as WWP's Director of Fund Development. Faith is living in Hailey and has years of fundraising experience in many places in the west including Flagstaff, Eugene, Kemmerer, Bozeman and Reno. Her husband, Jan, was recently hired as the City Manager of Sun Valley, Idaho.
Welcome Faith, Mandy and Bill!