WWPBlog

The Yakima Herald Republic features an article about Western Watersheds Project intent to sue the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife if it continues to refuse to perform an Environmental Impact Statement before running livestock on one of the last intact sagebrush steppe ecosystems in Washington state, the Whisky Dick Wildlife Area, bought by the state to preserve wildlife habitat.

To view photographs of Whisky Dick Wildlife Area habitat and wildliflowers; CLICK HERE

Environmental group threatens lawsuit over Whisky Dick grazing
By SHANNON DININNY
Associated Press Writer

Press Release:

For Immediate Release, January 30, 2008

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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.”
Just like that ~ Blaine county’s concern sloughed off the back of the commissioner’s conscience.

Now, there’s more.

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I thought that I’d share a video I recently saw on the internet, The Story of Stuff is a 20 minute video that you can watch online.

I like it, because it succinctly and clearly describes the consumption based model at the heart of our economy and the environmental choices and alternative values that we frequently externalize to make the stuff that we buy seem less costly - only in terms of dollars and cents.

Annie describes it very clearly and I really encourage you to take the 20 minutes to watch this thought-provoking online video by clicking the photo or link above.

And consider the post below, Consequences of Overconsumption : Local & Global costs of livestock production, to think about how livestock production throughout the world, and even in our Western backyard, significantly contributes to this unsustainable model.

The New York Times features a piece about many of the environmental costs of the outlandish consumption of meat the world has seen increasing over time. Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler :

Consider: an estimated 30 percent of the earth’s ice-free land is directly or indirectly involved in livestock production, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, which also estimates that livestock production generates nearly a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases — more than transportation.

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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 :

Part One

Part Two

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 :

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