February 2006, Newsletter #7 Welcome to THE RED LODGE CLEARINGHOUSE, the full-service information source for collaborative groups throughout the Interior west committed to resolving resource-use conflicts. Science, generally the objective collection of data, had been considered the backbone tool in how to manage public lands and waters equitably. NEPA (The National Environmental Policy Act) was enacted to assure that public input play an important role in determining on-the-ground management plans and that the agency involved take a close, science-driven look at the ecological impact of the work to be done. NEPA, it now seems, is at a crossroads. Many consider the processes required cumbersome and too time-consuming. What persuasive role can science play in helping to shape on-the-ground practices? We start with some views on NEPA—what next? And follow with science and its application, or non-application on other issues—energy development, delisting grizzlies in Yellowstone, and the possible fate of up to 50 wolves in northeastern Idaho. Read about science and salvage logging on our home page. Make NEPA better, not weaker THE MISSOULIAN, 01/15/06 NEPA is a good law but far from perfect. It could be made better, more useful and much more efficient. Unfortunately, the strongest proponents for improving NEPA happen to be critics who often sound adversarial to the law's purpose. They provoke a defensive reaction from NEPA proponents who tend to resist any reform for fear they might open the door for wholesale changes that defeat the purpose of NEPA. The result is stalemate. SEE FULL STORY >> BLM seeks streamlining for salvage logging, grazing and petroleum projects BY DAN BERMAN, GREENWIRE, 01/26/06 The Bureau of Land Management yesterday proposed rule changes that would streamline the approval process for salvage logging, grazing permits, and oil and gas exploration on 261 million acres of public land. BLM issued its proposals for 11 new categorical exclusions that would bypass National Environmental Policy Act-mandated studies on certain projects as part of its plan to overhaul its NEPA manual. SEE FULL STORY >> Walden, Craig to map different routes to same goal BY DAN BERMAN, E&E DAILY, 01/26/06 Both Craig and Walden plan oversight hearings of the Forest Service and progress being made under the 2003 Healthy Forests Restoration Act. Yet Craig says action is necessary to address a court ruling last year that has slowed the Forest Service's ability to conduct thinning projects under Healthy Forests. "[Healthy Forests] was working very well until we ran afoul of a judge and his opinion of categorical exclusions," Craig said. "It's tied one hand behind the Forest Service's back." SEE FULL STORY >> Study blames drillers for grouse decline BY TODD HARTMAN, ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 01/20/06 Populations of sage grouse declined sharply in breeding habitat near oil and gas development, according to a new study paid for by the federal government and the industry. The study, which focused on exploration fields in western Wyoming, found that drilling activity cut male sage grouse populations at nearby mating grounds by an average of 51 percent, compared with only 3 percent drops at undisturbed sites. SEE FULL STORY >> Development effects upon wildlife studied BILLINGS GAZETTE (AP), 01/10/06 High oil prices drive industrial development, industrial development drives residential development - and both types of development might be driving out wildlife. That's what wildlife managers throughout Wyoming are trying to ascertain as booming oil and gas development - and the coinciding housing and retail booms - are putting people and wildlife into close contact in more places than ever. SEE FULL STORY >> Expert: Antelope need some quiet time BY BRODIE FARQUHAR, CASPER STAR-TRIBUNE, 01/17/06 New research on the antelope migration corridor between the Grand Tetons, through the Upper Green River to the Red Desert, suggests that the timing of energy development activities could save one of the great migration corridors of the world. Joel Berger of the Wildlife Conservation Society briefed board members of the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resources Trust last week about his research into the winter corridor stretching 400 miles from the Grand Tetons to the Rock Springs area. SEE FULL STORY >> Cody meeting draws comment on grizzly plan BY RUFFIN PREVOST, BILLINGS GAZETTE, 01/11/06 About 235 people gathered Tuesday evening in Cody for the only public hearing to be held on a draft plan to remove grizzly bears from the endangered species list. The hearing in Cody Auditorium was preceded by an open house during which people discussed details of a proposal by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to turn over grizzly bear management to state agencies in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. SEE FULL STORY >> U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE FAQs ON GRIZZLY DELISTING >> A Naturalist's Perspective BY DAVID QUAMMEN, NEW YORK TIMES, 01/18/06 The grizzly bears of Yellowstone Park are a national treasure, owned by nobody, preserved in trust for everybody, like the gold reserves of Fort Knox, the memory of Louis Armstrong and the clear air over western Nebraska on a breezy spring day. For 31 years, those bears have been listed as "threatened," and therefore protected from hunting and certain other tribulations under the Endangered Species Act. READ MORE >> A Scientist's Perspective BY CHRIS SERVHEEN, U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE, 01/23/06 The assumption that a delisting of the grizzly means a hands-off approach to their management is seriously mistaken. We consider the grizzly bear a conservation-reliant species, a species of ongoing concern whose future will always require some level of conservation effort and oversight. Should recovery be dependent on being able to successfully abandon the recovered species? Is the test of recovery to be that ongoing management is unnecessary? Of course not. READ MORE >> Idaho wants to kill wolves to help elk herds BY JOHN MILLER, ASSOCIATED PRESS, 01/13/06 Idaho wants to kill as many as 51 wolves in the north-central part of the state, according to a plan that state Department of Fish and Game managers say will help boost the region's elk herds. The killings would take place on the state's mountainous border with Montana, near State Highway 12. Biologists estimate there are between 43 and 69 wolves there, but too few elk for hunters. SEE FULL STORY >> IDAHO FISH & GAME WOLF CONTROL PAGE >> DOWNLOAD IDAHO'S WOLF CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN >> Agents shoot wolves in Idaho BY JOHN MILLER, ASSOCIATED PRESS, 01/29/06 Federal agents in an airplane shot two wolves from a pack believed to have been preying on livestock in central Idaho, the first kills since state officials took over management of the predators earlier this month. SEE FULL STORY >> Controversy, Helicopters Swirl Over Idaho Wolves NORTHWEST PUBLIC RADIO, 01/30/06 For years, wolf-counts have been done on foot and on horseback. Now Idaho wolf managers want to use helicopters to track the animals in the wild. The state says it’s an effective way to collect better data. But conservation groups worry the data will be used to kill more wolves. SEE FULL STORY >> HOME PAGE  |   CONTACT US