http://westinstenv.org/wildpeop Western Institute for Study of the Environment Commentary Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:06:18 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en by Tom Remington, Blackbear Blog, March 10, 2010 [here] Following is no doubt the most candid discussion you will find anywhere in North America today about predators and their diseases. The discussion surrounds the introduction of the gray wolf to the Greater Yellowstone area and the impact this has had on ... http://westinstenv.org/wildpeop/2010/03/11/panel-roundtable-canadian-gray-wolf-introduction-into-yellowstone/ By JAMES HALPIN, Alaska Daily News, March 10th, 2010 [here] Villagers in Chignik Lake were on patrol Wednesday, hunting for wolves they blame in the death of a 32-year-old school teacher who was found dead after she went running on an isolated road this week. Candice Berner was found Monday evening along ... http://westinstenv.org/wildpeop/2010/03/11/pack-thought-to-have-killed-teacher-in-chignik-lake-seen-close-to-village-again/ By Julie Kay Smithson,  Property Rights Research, March 7, 2010 [here] posted with permission Nine years after the historic call for help emanated from Klamath Falls, Oregon -- a call answered by Americans from all walks of life and places as distant as Ohio, over 2,200 miles east -- another crisis ... http://westinstenv.org/wildpeop/2010/03/08/we-still-need-you-klamath-farmers/ Bob Dreher, the General Counsel of the Defenders of Wildlife, a litigious lobbying group that has sued the US Government hundreds of times, has been appointed Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General to oversee the Natural Resources and Wildlife and Marine Resources sections of the US Dept. of Justice. Dreher has also ... http://westinstenv.org/wildpeop/2010/03/08/defenders-of-wildlife-general-counsel-appointed-to-us-justice-dept/ The Montana Environmental Quality Council, an interim legislative committee charged with oversight of the MT Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, became informed at a March 5th meeting concerning wolf-borne diseases such as Hydatid (tapeworm) disease and rabies. The DFWP attempted to defend their look-the-other-way unmanagement of wolf vector diseases, ... http://westinstenv.org/wildpeop/2010/03/07/mt-eqc-gets-earful-on-wolf-borne-diseases/ Full text [here] Selected Excerpts: By Ned N. Pence, Retired Forester Jan. 24, 2010 INTRODUCTION The Boise National Forest comprises nearly 1.68 million forested acres. A current Forest Plan was completed in 2003; however since 2000 the forest has experienced extensive wildfire, affecting about 380,000 acres (17% of the forest). The purpose of the project ... http://westinstenv.org/wildpeop/2010/03/06/analysis-of-the-deis-for-wildlife-conservation-strategy-phase-i-for-the-boise-national-forest/ In a long-awaited denouement, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that the greater sage-grouse will not be listed as threatened or endangered but instead will be placed on the candidate species list. That means the species will not receive statutory protection under the Endangered Species Act and ... http://westinstenv.org/wildpeop/2010/03/05/usfws-announces-greater-sage-grouse-as-candidate-species/ Sabrina McCormick, EPA Sociologist and IPCC committee member has suggested on her blog [here] that "old white men" scientists should be "passed up because there are new views on critical subjects." It's a bigotry triple play: racism, sexism, and ageism!!! Questions abound. For instance: * Why does the EPA hire sociologists? Is sociology ... http://westinstenv.org/wildpeop/2010/03/01/epa-sociologist-plays-race-sex-age-card/ Was it a conspiracy, a terrorist act or stupidity that introduced a diseased animal species to the Northwest? By Harvey Neese, The Eagle & Boomerang, March 1, 2010 [here] Was it some kind of a conspiracy involving various government agencies/organizations to introduce an animal species with potentially dangerous diseases to the Northwest ... http://westinstenv.org/wildpeop/2010/03/01/hydatid-disease-medical-reports/ The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has released the aerial elk counts for the Lolo Wildlife Management Zones 10 and 12 in the Clearwater River watershed in Idaho. The counts along with counts of prior years are graphed below: Lolo Zone 10 aerial elk counts 1989-2010. Lolo Zone 12 aerial elk ... http://westinstenv.org/wildpeop/2010/02/27/lolo-elk-decline/