Action Alerts

Speak for Wolves!

Submitted by foc on Thu, 07/22/2010 - 12:38pm
2010-07-22
Idaho Fish & Game Accepting Public Comments
For 2010-2011 Wolf Hunt Quotas


The Idaho Fish & Game Commission is preparing to set a quota for the proposed grey wolf hunt in 2010-2011. Comments need to be submitted before Friday August 13th. The commission will be meeting in Idaho Falls on Monday August 16th. The public may attend the afternoon session but is not allowed to testify.

As predators, wolves play a crucial role in wildland ecosystems by regulating ungulate populations, providing carrion for other species, and increasing biodiversity. Scientists refer to this phenomenon as a trophic cascade and the benefits have been recorded in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem over the past decade. Eliminating wolves for livestock depredation on public lands or for causing a change in behavior of elk herds in the Northern Rockies greatly compromises this however. An increase of the wolf quota may minimize the ecological footprint these keystone species have on the landscape even further.

The Idaho Fish & Game Department has reported that twenty-three of twenty-nine elk management units are currently at or above agency objectives. It has also been documented that elk populations in general across the Northern Rockies have increased, not decreased, since the re-introduction of wolves across the region. The same can be said for the elk hunter success rate across the region. And yet, Idaho Fish & Game just announced that electronic calls, snares, and traps would be permitted for the 2010-2011 wolf-hunting season so that populations can be further reduced in the state.

Wolves need to be permitted to exert their ecological footprint on the landscape. Furthermore, predator-prey relationships must be allowed to develop and take their course, as they always have for thousands of years. Allowing wolves to be wolves strengthens species resiliency, restores ecosystem processes, and brings a spirit of wildness to public lands. The 2010-2011 wolf hunts should be suspended because the species is not biologically recovered and populations across the Northern Rockies are isolated, as documented in the authoritative BioScience December 2009/Vol. 59 No.11 issue.

You can email your comment to the Idaho Fish & Game Department at:

idfginfo@idfg.idaho.gov or karla.corwin@idfg.idaho.gov

You can mail them to: Idaho Fish & Game Department, PO Box 25, Boise, ID 83707.

Please call our office at (208) 882-9755 if you have questions.

Oppose Conoco Phillips Shipments!

Submitted by foc on Thu, 07/08/2010 - 5:12pm
2010-07-08

conocologo


 

Conoco Phillips has just submitted it's revised transport travel plan to the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) for hauling four mega-sized oil drums up U.S. Route 12. Not to be confused with the well-documented and extremely controversial ExxonMobil/Imperial Oil Tar Sands transportation plan, this project would precede that one and is instead destined for an oil refinery plant in Billings, Montana.

With the updated travel plan submitted, a permit for these industrial loads could be granted within days. And because all the focus has been on the ExxonMobil/Imperial Oil project, this one has gone under the radar. Which is why we need you to email or make a phone call to 3 ITD staff members:

1. Doral Hoff Doral.Hoff@itd.idaho.gov

(On the CC line, type: mike.ponozzo@itd.idaho.gov)

2. Alan Frew alan.frew@itd.idaho.gov

3. Jim Carpenter jim.carpenter@itd.idaho.gov

You can call the Idaho Transportation Dept. at (208) 334-8000. You can also make an important phone call to State Representative JoAn Wood (R-Rigby), chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee. Her number is (208) 332-1179. You can reach State Senator John McGee (R-Caldwell), chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, at (208) 332-1332.

Please give strong consideration to this action alert. These modules are slightly larger than the monstrous ExxonMobil/Imperial oil modules and if they pass through Highway 12 without a hitch, it could help ITD justify that the fall 2010 shipment of ExxonMobil/Imperial Oil modules pose no danger.

Thank you!

 


 

Sign This On-Line Petition!

Submitted by foc on Thu, 06/24/2010 - 1:35pm
2010-06-24

This link will enable you to sign a petition that is against the Idaho Transportation Department issuing permits for ExxonMobil's proposed shipment of over two hundred Tar Sands oil processing modules on U.S. Route 12:

http://www.petitiononline.com/k12sfw/petition.html

 

 

U.S. Route 12 Meetings in Moscow, Lewiston and Kooskia

Submitted by foc on Wed, 06/23/2010 - 2:11pm
2010-06-23

Save the Clearwater from ExxonMobil/Imperial Oil

The ExxonMobil/Imperial Oil Corporation is proposing to ship over two hundred tar sands oil processing modules up U.S. Route 12 along the Clearwater and Lochsa Rivers beginning this fall. The dimensions of these industrial rigs are reported to be between 170’-210’ feet long, approximately 25’ feet wide, and up to 30’ feet tall. They weigh up to 550,000 pounds. The equipment is destined for the tar sands deposits in Alberta, Canada.

This year-long transportation project poses a serious threat to the Clearwater Basin and north-central Idaho communities. The Middle Fork of the Clearwater and the Lochsa Rivers are both designated as Wild & Scenic Rivers and are world-class fishery and recreation destinations. From Lewiston to Lolo Pass, U.S. Route 12 is a federally designated scenic byway for it’s outstanding scenic beauty and national heritage. The travel/tourism industry is absolutely vital to the economy of communities in the Clearwater valley. U.S. Route 12 is a narrow, two-lane corridor and is a very dangerous road to drive on already.

State law does not require the Idaho Transportation Department to conduct an environmental review when considering the issuance of permits and therefore none has been done. While Idaho Governor Butch Otter, the Idaho Transportation Department, and ExxonMobil/Imperial Oil have been working together the past two years, the public has been left in the dark with zero public involvement opportunities and little media coverage until now.

How You Can Help

Two open houses will occur in the Clearwater Valley and one in Moscow:

  • Moscow on Monday June 28th at Moscow City Hall from 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM.


  • Lewiston on Monday June 28th at the Red Lion Hotel from 4:00-7:00 PM.


  • Kooskia on Tuesday June 29th at the Kooskia City Hall from 4:00-7:00 PM.


For those in the Moscow area who can’t attend the Moscow meeting during the day, we will carpool to Lewiston at two separate times. The first departure will occur from the Rosauer’s parking lot in Moscow at 2:30 PM. The second departure will occur from the same lot at 5:00 PM. People are free to leave the meeting early and return to Moscow if they can make arrangements.

There is also a formal comment period which ends on Wednesday July 14th. . Write to the  Idaho Transportation Department and please send a copy to Governor Butch Otter:



Talking Points To Consider

  • Rt. 12 is a federally designated Scenic Byway (Northwest Passage Scenic Byway) and All-American Road
  • Rt. 12 runs through the heart of the Nez Perce Reservation and parallels portions of Lewis & Clark’s journey
  • Rt. 12 parallels 2 federally designated Wild & Scenic Rivers, the Middle Fork of the Clearwater and Lochsa Rivers
  • Rt. 12 is already a dangerous, narrow corridor and highway
  • The Travel/Tourism industry and local businesses of the Clearwater valley will be negatively impacted
  • Public safety and emergency response will be greatly impeded


If permits are issued for this project, there is a strong possibility that other corporations will seek to use U.S. Route 12 as a shipping route and the entire corridor could be widened and transformed into an industrial highway. Please consider coming to the meetings in Moscow, Lewiston or Kooskia and/or writing a letter to the Idaho Transportation Department. Again, the deadline for written comments is Wednesday July 14th. Even if you are not an Idaho resident, please write. Time is short and we must unite to protect our precious wildland corridor from big oil!

For more information visit the FOC website at www.friendsoftheclearwater.org or the excellent site by rural residents along the route at www.FightingGoliath.org.

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