AP | Group: BLM Is Pushing Through Idaho Grazing Plans. According to E&E News, “U.S. officials are using the coronavirus pandemic to force through a long-delayed Idaho livestock grazing allotment decision in critical sage grouse habitat for a powerful agribusiness, an environmental group says. WildLands Defense is asking the Bureau of Land Management to delay its March 20 decision approving Idaho-based J.R. Simplot Co.’s permit on about 94 square miles in southwestern Idaho for at least 10,500 cattle until the virus abates. The director for the Idaho bureau, John Ruhs, has refused. It’s not clear when the agency will issue a final decision, which would start a 30-day appeals process. WildLands Defense said the bureau’s appeal process requiring in-person trips to U.S. Postal Service offices to send or acknowledge receipt of certified mail by dozens of people puts communities at risk. The group said the bureau’s requirements also violate Republican Gov. Brad Little’s March 25 stay-at-home order. ‘In the midst of a pandemic, they issue a proposed grazing decision,’ said Katie Fite, public lands director for WildLands Defense, noting the bureau had put the decision off for 20 years. ‘I’m deeply concerned about the timing of this decision. Clearly, Idaho BLM is not interested in the health of the public.’” [E&E News, 4/3/20 (=)]

 

'Tiger King' Generating Buzz For 'Big Cat' Legislation. According to E&E News, “But the documentary could give new life to the ‘Big Cat Public Safety Act,’ H.R. 1380, bipartisan and bicameral legislation that would ban the private ownership of numerous large feline species such as lions, tigers and jaguars. It also would restrict cub petting and other practices that animal rights activists oppose. ‘That would be a good thing,’ said Rep. Jared Huffman, who has watched ‘Tiger King.’ ‘But I don’t want this legislation to be colored by all the personal drama of that series,’ said the California Democrat in an interview with E&E News last week. ‘There weren’t very many redeeming characters in that show,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t want people to think that you have to like Carole Baskin in order to support this legislation.’ Huffman leads the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife and held a hearing on H.R. 1380 last year. The opening episode of ‘Tiger King’ features Huffman in a clip from that March 2019 hearing. The battle over the legislation, which has been introduced in previous Congresses, has lasted nearly a decade and features many of the prominent players from ‘Tiger King,’ including Baskin and Bhagavan ‘Doc’ Antle, whose South Carolina-based zoo and entertainment business served as inspiration for Exotic.” [E&E News, 4/6/20 (=)]

 

Right Whale Calving Season Ends Off Florida With 10 Births. According to The Daytona News-Journal, “The are now 10 more right whales in the Atlantic Ocean. Calving season for right whale mothers who come to visit the Florida coast to give birth has ended with 10 births and zero deaths. That’s a significantly better season than the past two years. North Atlantic Right Whales are a critically endangered species with a population of only 413 in the world, researchers believe. Their calving season is from the beginning of December to the end of March. During that time, the mammals make their way down from New England to the coasts of Georgia and Florida, Sometimes, they make it as far as the Gulf of Mexico. Julie Albert, right whale coordinator for the Marine Resources Council, said right whale #3560 and her calf were recently spotted in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s unusual for whales to swim that far down, but she said they should be headed back up north by now. ‘Mothers and calves down here need their space to bond,’ Albert said.” [The Daytona News-Journal, 4/6/20 (=)]

 

 

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