Dear Wildlanders,
With 2014 off and running, we wanted to provide you with important wildland news. Please consider joining us on Thursday February 6, 4-7pm at the Garden Lounge in Moscow for a grassroots letter-writing party! We are teaming up with Palouse-Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Palouse-Sierra Club and Friends of the Palouse Ranger District to send letters to Idaho Senator Jim Risch to tell him that the public is opposed to a collaborative-legislative solution to the Upper Lochsa Land Exchange. Take action. Read the recent Op-Ed by local activist Marilyn Beckett.
Federal District Judge Lodge recently ruled against plaintiffs in their lawsuit against the Forest Service for the agency’s approval of allowing an Idaho Fish & Game Department bounty hunter to use an airstrip and cabin to kill two wolf packs in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. The case has since been appealed to the U.S. Ninth Circuit. Read the original news release from plaintiffs. Read the recent Op-Ed by local author Pat Peek.
In regional megaload news, Omega Morgan has begun using an alternative transportation route through Oregon, southern Idaho and eventually over Lost Trail Pass (near Salmon, ID) and into Montana before heading to the Alberta Tar Sands. After experience multiple delays due to citizen protests and winter weather, the 901,000lb. megaload most recently required 1,000 gallons of de-icer to begin moving again. Read the article about the potential impacts to threatened Chinook salmon populations.
It was reported a few weeks ago, that an 18-year old grizzly bear has dispersed from Montana into the St. Joe drainage of Idaho. The female grizzly, which is tracked by a GPS collar, apparently was able to cross Interstate 90, before continuing its journey south. It’s been six long years since a grizzly bear was killed by a hunter in the N. Fork Clearwater drainage.
FOC was able to raise $753.16 through the 2013 Alternative Giving Market of the Palouse. A big thank you to the organizers of this great community giving program, as well as all the individuals that participated. Learn more about the market.
Finally, circle your calendar for Saturday March 22, 7-11pm, as we prepare for the 2014 FOC Benefit Concert in the Great Room of the 1912 Center in Moscow. This year’s line-up includes Kelly Emo, Garrett Clevenger, Fiddlin’ Big Al, Matti Sand and the Smokin’ Mojos. We will have more details soon!
Play it loud and wild,
Brett Haverstick
Education & Outreach Director