Dear public land owners,
National forests across the West are facing dire threats from politicians, the timber industry and the U.S. Forest Service. The public is being misled into thinking that our forests are “unhealthy” and that they need to be “restored” due to “beetle infestations” and “insect and disease.” All of this is euphemism to drastically ramp up logging! Read more from our guest editorial that was recently printed in the Idaho Statesman.
Join us Thursday April 6 for a panel discussion at the University of Idaho Law School about the future of grizzly bear recovery in the Greater – Yellowstone Ecosystem. The event begins at 5:30pm with free sandwiches, and the discussion begins at 6:00pm. Panelists include large carnivore policy expert Louisa Willcox, Nez Perce tribal member Levi Holt, Wilderness Watch attorney Dana Johnson, University of Idaho Professor Emeritus of Wildlife Biology Dr. Jim Peek, and Idaho Department Fish & Game Regional Wildlife Manager Jim Hayden. Learn more about the history of grizzly bears in the Bitterroots.
FOC has joined a coalition of groups to petition the United States Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services, and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to cease all use of M-44 explosive cyanide devices in Idaho, and to immediately remove any and all M-44’s currently deployed on all land ownerships in Idaho. This follows the recent injury of a boy, and tragic death of a family dog in Idaho that were hiking not far from their house when a device exploded. Read the petition to the United States Department of Agriculture.
A federal court has ordered dam operators on the Columbia and Snake Rivers to increase water releases over spillways starting in 2018 in order to improve survival rates of juvenile salmon migrating to the ocean. District Judge Michael Simon concluded that current operation of the eight federal dams in the Basin are causing continued irreparable harm to both threatened salmon and steelhead, and that increased “spill” will provide safer passage for fish. Read the news release.
The Moscow Renaissance Fair is only a month away and FOC will be once again teaming up with Palouse – Sierra Club to sell huckleberry-blueberry crepes, as well as smoked wild salmon crepes. The annual two-day festival will take place on May 6 & 7 in East City Park, Moscow. Please contact us if you would like to volunteer in our booth and help on either day of the event. Volunteers are also needed to help make the crepes from scratch on Saturday April 29.
Everyone that volunteers a 3-hour shift on either weekend gets a free yummy crepe. Spring has sprung!
Sincerely,
Brett Haverstick
Education & Outreach Director