Watersheds MessengerVol. VIII, No. 1 Winter 2001

Working to protect and restore Western watersheds

Becoming Western Watersheds Projectby Jon Marvel, Executive Director

On February 9, 2001, The Board of Directors of IdahoWatersheds Project adopted a change in the name of ourorganization to Western Watersheds Project (WWP). TheBoard also adopted a slightly modified mission statementto reflect the change in geographic emphasis of WWP.The new mission statement is: “Working to protect andrestore Western watersheds by educational outreach,public policy initiatives, litigation, and by ending incom-patible uses of public lands.”

This change is a reflection of the public lands workWWP has taken on in states outside Idaho as well as abroader west wide focus on public policy related to theuse of public lands. As part of these efforts WWP isentering into long-term partnerships with the Southern

tftah WiI&ess AlliatiZ and- WilIow Creek Ecologyin Utah; Sinapu in Colorado, and the Gallatin WildlifeAssociation in Montana to influence and perhapslitigate the management of public lands ranching inthose states. WWP is assisting the Utah EnvironmentalCongress in their Utah State School Trust Land leaseacquisition initiative.

These initiatives along with our management ofGreenfire Ranch, on the East Fork of the Salmon River,our ongoing litigation actions in three states carried outby Laird Lucas and the Land and Water Fund of theRockies under the Endangered Species Act, the CleanWater Act, the Federal Land Policy Management Actand the Idaho Constitution as well as WWP’s assumptionof the RangeNet website as a special project of WWP area full plate of actions all of which are geared towardending public lands ranching and recovering the healthof all Western watersheds. Thanks to all our members andallies for supporting this remarkable work.

WWP is joining with several western regionalgroups including the Oregon Natural Desert Associa-tion headquartered in Bend, Oregon; Forest Guardiansof Santa Fe, New Mexico; the Center for BiologicalDiversity headquartered in Tucson, Arizona; the Com-mittee for Idaho’s High Desert of Boise, Idaho; theAmerican Lands Alliance of Washington, D.C; andAndy Kerr of Ashland, Oregon. With these groupsWWP is joining in a National Public Land GrazingCampaign to support federal legislation to permit thevoluntary retirement of grazing permits with federalfunding.

WWP is also assisting another coordinated effort toestablish a protocol for permanently retiring federalgrazing permits with private or public financing. Re-cently WWP has been contacted by several federalgrazing permittees who are willing to give up theirgrazing permits in return for a transition payment, andwe will be pursuing the successful retirement of thosepermits this year.

What WWP is all about! Ending cow caused destruction like

this: Jon Marvel at Boston Spring, Elko County, Nevada.October 2000

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True Confessions of a Conservationistby Miriam L. Austin

The favorite accusation of a districtranger I seem to particularly annoy isthat I somehow have “a hidden.agenda”. . . So in a departure fromthe technical I proffer to you thisconservationist’s confession:My passion for the living world

around me blossomed long ago - asa child growing up in the austerebeauty of the Mojave Desert and atthe feet of my beloved Sierra Nevada

Mountains. How I loved the ever-changing sunsets, the violentthunderstorms of summer, the silver storm clouds of winter. Iloved the birds that waxed and waned with the seasons,scurrying residents seen by moonlight, lizards dashing aboutunder summer sun. I gathered rocks, a dried bird cage bush,fossils, a coyote’s skull and packrat’s teeth on desert forays.Shoving most of my child’s things into shopping bags in acloset, I kept my treasures displayed on my bookshelves andwindowsills. I taped signs to my door announcing “NaturalHistory Museum” and charged 5 cents admission.

As a teen I roamed for miles over the desert below thecanyons and foothills of the Sierras on horseback. I knewwhere badgers lived and ravens nested. I followed the s-curvesof sidewinder’s tracks, discovered the dens of Desert Tortoises.While other students were cruising Main Street, I recordedthousands of pages of observations of resident and migratory birds and mammals - simply for the joy of learning moreabout the captivating world of wildlife. And yet, this isn’t tosay that the mainstream of life went one way and I another -oblivious.

I went to college and studied biology, range science, andeducation. I married and had children. I divorced a violent

man and traded my Sierra granitics for southeastern Idaho’svolcanics. I went back to school to fulfill a second childhooddream and became a nurse - only to lose the dream toMultiple Sclerosis. But the carefully woven strands of the landand plants and animals I love so dearly have always heldtogether whenever everything else came apart. Turning mypassion for the outdoor world into a “career,” I have been ableto provide services to the BLM and Forest Service. I became avolunteer rehabilitator for Idaho’s Department of Fish andGame - an opportunity to utilize extensive medical trainingfor the benefit of injured wildlife. In short - I have alwaysbeen a conservationist. . . I am still a conservationist. . andI will always be a conservationist. I don’t think that a loveand passion for our living world constitutes a hidden agenda. Ihave come to realize that what my ranger critic (or otherenvironmentally underprivileged folks) really means is simplythat they don’t agree with a conservationist/preservationistpoint of view and they are uncomfortable in the presence ofanother’s commitment.

It was this passion for wildlife and the search for assis-tance with a number of forest conservation issues that resultedin my acquaintance with Idaho Watersheds Project ExecutiveDirector Jon Marvel and other delightful; hard-workingmembers of Idaho Watersheds Project. And what wonderfulopportunities that chance meeting has brought. Thank you,Jon, and a thank you to everyone at IWP, for allowing me tobecome a part of Idaho Watersheds egj.d+

wue a lifelongesolution: I promiseto W%k eveti ---

harder to bring the plight of our native plants and animals tothe awareness of the American public and to do my part toprotect and preserve the watershed, fisheries, and wildlifevalues of Idaho and our neighboring west!

Bromus tectorum(An Ode to Cheat Grass) By Miriam L. Austin

Spread like tawny blankets across the valley floor . . .

Spilling over skylines . . . on beyond and more.

Spawned by drought . . . disturbance . . . hungry hoofs or fire.

Brought through ignorance . . . illogic . . . mastery. . . desire.

By accident. . . design . . . to manage or to tame.

For the loss of all that’s native - such causes bear the shame.

A word from the poet: I I penned this after a /ate afternoon trip to Boisenear the end of last summer - saddened by the price we’ve paid for

decades of greed and biologically unfounded livestock “management”

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Watersheds Messenger

We extend special gratitude to the following members whomade significant contributions this season:

Anonymous (2) Pete and Melissa deLisserKatelyn Ferguson Ginger HarmonElizabeth & Harry Poll Kathy TroutnerPaul & Linda Schutt Ralph & Shirley ShapiroKelley Weston Susan WensellJohanna & Michael Wald Susan GillilandJane Watkins Bob & Sharon PhillipsLen & Carol Harlig Fl Key FoundationRoger & Marilyn Browning Bob BartlettTed Chu Doug & Ann ChristensenHerb Beattie John CarterSheldon Bluestein & Mary HamerlyRoger Crist Jan EdelsteinRichard & Dawn Christensen Bill HeathRichard Kolbrener Don and Dolores ChapmanRich Howard Walt MinnickJames Johnston Ray & Carol NelsonMike Quigley & Bonnie OlinDoug Nilson Michael T. RaschMarty Lukes Joe & Trina McNealMary Sargent (for) Matt Wells and Tina ColeMark Snow Jim ShakeJohn Suria Jim and Emily SilverArthur Benson II Nick Cox

, Erik Storlie & ‘Fan-i&53 Kaiser DaGid Harrison -Ken &a Annie Jackson Bob and Barbara DargatzMike & Irene Healy Royce & Elaine WardJohn & Jocelyn Wasson Connelly FamilyDon & Paige FrancisDebra Ellers & Dale Grooms

Our Vanishing WildlifeBy Miriam Austin :w,

What will the world do SOme day

When all the wild animalsare gone away.

Will anyone wonder why they aren’t ;there?

Or will anyone even care?How will other generations

know the thrillof listening to a wolf’s howl or

mocking bird’s trill,or listen to a coyote’s yelp.

We can preserve our wildlifeIf everyone would

do their best to HELP!

News BriefsBabbitt Finally Gets It Right

Parting Words from outgoing Interior Secretary BruceBabbit, reported in the Wyoming Star-Tribune : Speaking atYellowstone National Park, Babbit stated that the Ameri-can public won’t stand for ranchers forcing wolves andbison from public lands where they graze their cattle. Andif the beef industry forces a confrontation, it will lose.

“Livestock will not have priority,” Babbit told a crowdof about 75 people at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel.“The grazing of livestock will and must be subordinated tothe natural values, including the bison and the predators,who will and must have first place in the ecosystem.”

IWP and CIHD File First ESA LawsuitsAgainst Ranchers Over Water Diver-sions in Upper Salmon River WatershedOn December 20, 2000 Idaho Watersheds Project and the

Committee for Idaho’s High Desert filed three lawsuits with thefederal district court in Boise challenging water diversions insa lmon, s tee lhead, and bul l t rout habi ta t near Chal l i s , Idaho. Thecases charge viola t ions of The Endangered Species Act and seeka halt to irrigation practices which trap fish in ditches, blockmigrat ion, and de-water sect ions of s t reams.

The groups sen t ou t over 50 no t ices o f in ten t to sue toirr igators , the Forest Service, BLM, and Idaho.Department ofLands in October. The groups are represented by Laird Lucas andthe Land and Water Fund of the Rockies .

Salmon, s tee lhead, and bul l t rout in Idaho are protec tedunder the Endangered Species Act . The Act prohib i t s “ take” ofprotec ted species , which inc ludes k i l l ing or harming them bymodify ing habi ta t .

In many Idaho s t reams, i r r igat ion divers ions are notscreened, and f ish become t rapped in di tches and ul t imately die .Some diversions dry up streams entirely, or pose impassablebarr iers to f i sh migrat ion.

“These are just the f i rs t three of many cases that we expectto f i le cha l lenging these an t iquated d ivers ion methods ,” sa id JonMarvel of Idaho Watersheds Project . “If ranchers and farmers arenot wi l l ing to begin protec t ing endangered f i sh f rom the impactsof their water diversions, they can expect to face s imilar ESAenforcement cases from us.”

The cases target d ivers ions on Mahogany Creek ( in thePahsimeroi River basin) , Lake Creek ( in the East Fork SalmonRiver dra inage) , and Ot ter Creek ( t r ibutary to Panther Creek andthe Main Salmon River) . In each case, individuals and corpora-t ions are named as defendants . One case a lso targets the ForestService for fa i l ing to protec t bul l t rout in Ot ter Creek.

“These three cases each involve very c lear v io la t ions of theEndangered Species Act,” said attorney Laird Lucas, “as well as‘problem ranchers’ who do not want to admit they are par t of theproblem. Our hope i s tha t o ther ranchers wi l l see tha t i t ’ s intheir best interest to work with us, not against us, and do what’sright for the fish.”

As par t of a cont inuing legal campaign to end dewater ing ofcritical habitat for listed fish species Idaho Watersheds Projectand the Committee for Idaho’s High Desert filed a motion for apre l iminary in junct ion today which , i f granted , could have far-reaching impacts in determining whether the Endangered SpeciesAct can t rump state water law.

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Major LossesLongtime IWP member Paul Fritz,

7 1, of Boise, died Sunday, December24 in Missoula of cancer.

After a distinguished career in theNational Park Service, Paul’s secondcareer began, as an environmentalactivist. He was instrumental in manygroups, including the Hells CanyonPreservation Council, the Alliance forthe Wild Rockies, GreaterYellowstone Coalition, Committee for

Paul Fritz Idaho’s High Desert and the Craters1929 - 2000 of the Moon Development Corp. He

attended numerous environmentalconferences every year. Paul also had a big hand in gettingHagerman Fossil Beds National Monument protected bysponsor Sen. James McClure. In 1997 Paul bought a secondhome in St. George, Utah, where be began spending thewinters.

Whether working for the National Park Service orvolunteering with conservation groups, Paul’s entire life wasdevoted to protecting the national treasures in the West. Hewill be missed by his many friends and everyone he workedwith on environmental issues.

Paul Fritz Memorial PotluckUnder the leadership of Ed Robertson of Boise, a memo-

riarotluck and remembrance of Paul Fritz will be held on.- I. . . . -. . . ,- .,... _,,-.~--Saturday, May 12, 2001. The memorial will be at Craters ofthe Moon National Monument. Readers interested in attend-ing should plan on meeting at the Monument Visitors Centersouth of U.S. Highway 20, at noon. The Monument is locatedabout 20 miles west of Arco, Idaho.

Ed Robertson is planning to charter a bus for the occasionwhich will leave Boise earlier that day. Readers interested insigning on for the bus transport to Craters from Boise should

contact Ed at: iwm30home.com.The memorial is a celebration of Paul’s active and remark-

ably varied life and his support and encouragement of dozensof groups working for positive change in the management ofall public lands but especially those administered by theNational Park Service. Everyone is invited to bring Paulstories and some healthy libations to help warm the day andour memories.

David Eugene Chism, 49, ofKetchum, Idaho and Taos, NewMexico, who piloted WWP’s PublicLand Air Force in the summer of2000 died November 30, 2000, in aplane crash in the mountains nearTaos. David was born December 6,1950, in Casper, Wyoming.

David loved the outdoors andhis passions were flying and skiing.He was also a fine, precisioncraftsman.

Most recently he ran a con- David Chismstruction crew in Ketchum and 1950 - 2000volunteered his time and plane forconservation groups including the Boulder-White CloudsCouncil and Idaho Watersheds Project.

David moved to Taos in early Nozm&&oraticm project and-~lannin&~n-r.o. Stanley,late spring to spend the summer flying for WWP in Idaho’sbackcountry.

He will be greatly missed by a wide circle of friends inNew Mexico, Idaho and Alaska. His energy, wonderful smile,spirit of adventure and love of life made him a magnificentfriend. His friends and especially the conservation communityof central Idaho grieve his loss.

Some “new verses” for an old song, Woody tiutnriex -- I nls Lana IS MY Land,”by writer Stephen Lyons of Pullman, Washington:

CHORUS Just guns and ammo and federal handouts,This land was our land, now this land is their land, This land is full of hypocrisy.from Bonners Ferry to the Treasure Valley. Mountains and rivers are her saving graces,From the ravaged forests to the silt-choked waters, And for the right price, you can buy them.This land was sold to industry. But we have Wal-Mart, Starbucks and Costco,

As I was walking in old growth cedars,Who needs sustainability?

I saw before me another clear-cut. CHORUSAnd all around me were slides and washouts, Welfare is working, the poor are leaving.This land’s become a tragedy.

Chain saws are singing, the trees are falling.Loaded on boats for the coast of China.Mills are closing, but malls are booming.Thank god for the world economy.

CHORUSOver in Salmon they don’t want grizzlies,Or wolves and owls or Earth First! hippies.

And if they don’t we will arrest them.We built more prisons to house them.That’s the way we’ve solved poverty.

I had a dream that I was livingIn a land of tolerance and forward thinking.Then I awoke to Larry speaking;This state scares the hell out of me.

CHORUS

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Co-Opted by Cowboysby Bob Phillips

Cooperation is normally a good thing, but not always.Not when you become a partner in practices harmful to theenvironment. That is what has happened to Trout Unlimited,The Izaak Walton League of America, and the WildlifeManagement Institute, organizations one usually thinks of asenvironmental or conservation groups. Those named havejoined with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, thePublic Lands Council, and the American Farm BureauFederation in a coalition called “Summit II.” Among SummitII’s guiding principles is: “Properly managed livestock grazingis a legitimate use of public lands.” Presumably, this willenable ranchers to thrive economically, thereby maintainingopen space by discouraging conversion of private lands toranchettes and condominiums.

First, one has to define “suitable” lands for grazing. Toranchers, every bit of forage - grass, forb and shrub - issuitable if it is accessible to livestock. Debra Donahue main-tains in her 1999 book “The Western Range Revisited”(University of Oklahoma Press, Norman) that lands averagingless than 12 inches of precipitation annually are unsuitablebecause of the impact on biodiversity. When one factors inadministrative and economic considerations, they are clearlyunsuitable. Here’s why. Arid lands have low capability ofgrowing vegetation. And.because of annual variation inprecipitation, forage production varies by a factor of 10, asdetermined by studies at the Northern Great Basin Research-~ -Station some 30 miles west-of Burns, Oregon.

Grazing levels are usually set for average forage produc-tion. What happens in a drought when forage is only 15% ofaverage? Currently, what usually happens is the BLM andForest Service land managers violate management plans andallow ranchers to abuse the land by excessive grazing. When aconscientious agency person tries to adhere to the plan, hesoon hears from Washington DC to “get along” with the

ranchers.Arid lands comprise much of the Intermountain West.

Cow-calf operations predominate where calves born in winterand spring are sold in the fall. Proper grazing is impossiblebecause herd numbers have to be set in the summer BEFOREthe next spring-summer grazing season begins. And forageproduction depends on precipitation during fall and wintermonths BEFORE grazing begins. Even if herds are sized forminimum forage levels, cattle congregate along streams duringthe hot summer months (July-September) thereby overgrazingstreambanks. Heavy additional taxpayer expenditures would beneeded to protect them. There is insufficient forage on thehome ranch, especially in a drought, and there are no reservelands for pasture. Of course the coalition could ask taxpayersto buy hay, but why should taxpayers increase their subsidy ofwelfare ranching?

A basic question: Are ranchers really preserving openspace, or waiting for the right price before selling? What aboutdevelopments like Black Butte Ranch west of Sisters, Oregon?These lands were once grazing lands, and now there is a golfcourse surrounded by condos. Was the owner trying to preserveopen space but was forced to sell against his wishes? Or wasthe price right?

Environmental and conservation groups that are seriousabout protecting arid public lands should avoid entanglementslike Summit II. This kind of cooperation means that you havelegitimized livestock grazing on lands that are unsuitable forsuch use. You’ve been diverted from your original objectiveand become a partner with ranchers in grazing public lands.When you join this kind of coalition, you’ve been had, mister.You’ve been co-opted.

IWP/WWP member Bob Phillips is a retired Forest Service fisheriesbiologist who has been trying to get the cows out of the creek formore than 30 years. He applauds and supports IWP's success in thisendeavor!

Conservation is Conservativeby Becca Wiegand

During the course of the winter I’ve spent a lot of time athome. And I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. I’ve noticed astrange turn in the political climate that is quite perplexing.And I’ve come to the conclusion that we democrats got a bumrap.

I’m getting ahead of myself. It all started on a trip toThunder Mountain last summer. Before I worked for IdahoWatersheds Project I was monitoring wolf packs in CentralIdaho. And gardening to pay the bills. The packs I wasinvestigating for the summer were the Landmark, Bear ValleyTrio, Jureano Mountain (who barely existed), Moyer Basin,and Thunder Mountain packs. Not just the packs themselves,but also the social factor. Humans living in areas where a wolffamily sets up a home. While planning my trip to the Thun-der Mountain area, the goals I had set for myself were mostlybiological.. . Where did the pack call home? What was thetopography? Flora ? Fauna? Had there been depredationproblems?

After I left the Cascade Ranger Station, I excitedly droveinto the mountains. Past Warm Lake, where, in 1935, MollyKessler lit a fire in the middle of the lake in order to helpguide a lost airplane into Cascade. Through Landmark, an oldCCC Camp, Forest Ranger Station, and now a Work Camp.Down Johnson Creek running clean, cold, and clear. Up OldThunder Mountain Road. Then an encounter with big rocksblocking the way, forcing a U-turn.

Down Old Thunder Mountain Road. Further up JohnsonCreek. Why is it that some of the most beautiful places arecursed with landing strips? Up the East Fork of the SouthFork of the Salmon through a tight, rugged, and rockycanyon. Past Stibnite, where nature is reclaiming what manhasn’t even cleaned up. And on, to Thunder Mountain,beautiful, perfect, cow-free, a worthy part of the WolfHolyland. A wolf sanctuary, as they say. My trip was a success.

But then, as I drove out, mulling all I had learned, thefinal lesson arrived. Around the corner, a couple of men with

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What Have We Lost: Memories of an Idaho ChildhoodPhotos by Veldon Lauder

Member Veldon Lauder is a former resi-dent and often visitor to Idaho. He is nowretired and spends his summers inYellowstone, Wyoming photographing

wildlife and his winters in Palm Springs,California, golfing. Veldon remembers hisyouthful visits to the St. Anthony sanddunes and occasional dips in Camas

qe.*,me= *.or~~g-Jyf~++~’

swim, as it meanders along the redroad between Parker and Kilgore,Idaho. His friend’s father was a big

sheep rancher in the area. He recallsCamas Creek at that time to be muchnarrower, deeper and cattle free - youngchildren could actually swim in the creek!!

Veldon’s recent photos shown here showthe disgraceful condition of Camas Creekin Clark County, Idaho in the summer of2000.

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Our Mismanaged Public Landsby Pat Casey important water isn’t around long enough to fill the water

I was hired as a summer intern totable.

help with the monitoring of riparian What are D eonle dome to curb this downward trend in_

areas by Idaho Watersheds Project..1the Challis National Forest’s rinarian areas? There are two

was in charge of three allotments withingroups that have the power to help right now - the ranchers

the Challis National Forest. Picturesand the agency people (BLM and Forest Service). The short

and notes were taken while I was in theanswer to the proposed question is easy. The people who can

field. Both close-up and overviewchange things are doing very little.

pictures were taken of the degradedThe ranchers can’t afford to curb their public grazing

numbers for one year, let alone the fifteen or infinite numberareas.

It quickly became apparent that allthat it might take to rejuvenate the area. The allotments that

of the degradation could not be photo-I looked at couldn’t possibly sustain the number of cows that

graphed. There is just too much. Contrary to popular agencyare presently allowed. There isn’t enough grass, or acreage, to

thought there are not just “hot spots,” instead the whole rangesustain them. The grazing has gone way past sustainable

is being pillaged by livestock. The only parts of the streamgrazing. There is little effort to keep the cows where they

that were not degraded were the inaccessible parts of theshould be. There are fences, but the fences do little to keep

streams. If the access to the stream was too hard then thethe cows where they are supposed to be. There were numerous

stream wasn’t degraded. In all other cases the stream showedinstances where I found cows where they weren’t supposed to

serious signs of overgrazing.be this summer. The fences are just expensive eyesores

Why p(taxpayer subsidy) that don’t really work when they aren’t

rotect the rinarian zones? The riparian zones in thewest are extremely important to the quality of life for most of

being constantly maintained.

the species in the area. It is estimated that around 90% of theThe other way to keep the cows where they should be is

species in the arid west are totally dependent on riparianto hire a rider. There are two riders that are designated for the

habitats. The aquatic life in the streams have an especiallyWildhorse Allotment. These two riders are supposed to be

hard time surviving when cows are overgrazing. The cowsable to keep the 1,780 cows with calves where they are

tend to congregate around riparian zones and feed until thesupposed to be. It just isn’t possible. Riders are also directly

grass and shrubs are too short to eat. This makes erosionsubsidized by the taxpayer. The ranchers don’t pay the whole

greater. The juvenile ovei%tory gets eaten and the shade coversalary of the rider, so the taxpayer gets stuck with yet another

of the stream decreases. The banks slough off and also getdirect subsidy to the livestock industry. The agencies help out

sheared off by the cows. This makes the stream wider, shal-the ranchers in more ways than just monetary ones.

lower and hotter.The agencies are the other group of people who could

The banks become laid back and the geomorphology ofgive immediate beneficial effects to the public lands. But,

the stream changes. The stream becomes less sinuous, whichthere are alot of problems with the ways that the agencies are

means that it becomes steeper and faster. (The water doesn’tmanaging their resources.

stay in the uplands as long.) In turn the stream loses its abilityFirst, the allotments contain different types of land. There

to retain its water table throughout the hot dry summerare BLM, National Forest, and State land on all of the

months.allotments that I monitored. That is not the problem; the

The stream also has more of a tendency to down-cut inproblem is that the agencies in this area do not have a

the channel due to the increased erosional forces. This meanscommon ground for regulations. Example: the BLM has

that the stream isn’t capable of reaching its natural floodplaindifferent stubble height regulations (6 inches) for key areas

in many places. When the stream isthan the Forest Service does (4 inches). Yet, there are very

reaching its floodplain the riparian areafew fences that separate the National

gets much needed sediment, nutrients andForest from the BLM land. This creates a

water. But when the stream is down-cut,problem because there is no way to

none of these benefits can occur. Many ofregulate cows differently on one side of an

the streams that I looked at were down-imaginary line than on the other side of

cut to the point where they had nothe line.

chance of reaching the floodplain.Second, the agencies that I dealt

In the spring the stream’s fast, steepwith didn’t have the staff or support to

and denuded features lead to runoffmonitor their rangeland. The Lost River

speeding over the compacted and bareRanger District (Forest Service), until this

riparian land, if it can reach the flood-year, had only one Range Conservationist.

plain, which adds to the erosional effects Now they have two. Two is better than

of the stream. The stream bottom gets Pinto Creek, Wildhorse Allotment 7/2/00. one, but it still isn’t even close to enough.

scrubbed free of fish habitat, the stream’s A grouse hangs on in shrinking habitat When I met with the range conservation-

banks get washed away, and the ever dedicated to livestock forage. ists they had a lot of excuses about theContinued on Page 8

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continued from Page 7quality of the degraded riparian area including their lack ofstaff. Since there is lack of staff within the agencies, some ofthe important work, like monitoring, gets overlooked.

Obviously, the shortage of people in the field leads to agreater chance of overgrazing. But the range conservationistsare so busy that they don’t have time to set up key areaswhere the riders can measure stubble height and decide whento move the cows. This means that the cows get movedwhenever the rider sees fit to do so. There is no objectivity inthe matter. What some ranchers see as “sustainable use”

others might see asovergrazing. This isjust another testa-ment to what theagencies are doing, ornot doing.

The lack of staff isstarting to mean thatthe ranchers havemore obligationswhen it comes tomeasuring stubbleheight too. Therewere many monitor-ing workshops giventhis year around thestate. The monitoring

Burnt Creek. Wildhorse Allotmentworkshop taught the

7/J/00. Upland spring / watering hole permlttees’ and- .~ - - - -riiiuddjl morass) on second western -zlrpl-re else -wtra rr-r

tributary of Burnt Creek. wanted to learn, howto measure stubble

My conclusion is that the agencies are unfit to carry outtheir obligations. The mixture of lack of staff, regulations anddedication leads to n ~rio~~q prohlc=m on our public lands.Our lands are being ruined by the overgrazing that is takingplace. The critical riparian areas are taking the brunt of theassault. The agency people are not protecting the wildlife,resources and riparian areas; they are protecting politics,people and the “western way of life.” The agencies are tryingto keep these marginal ranching operations afloat in order tosatisfy their superiors. At the same time the public lands andtheir natural inhabitants are not to matter, and they defi-nitely don’t seem as important as the cows. The public landdoesn’t vote, and therefore must not matter. Ho-wever, people

--:- are becoming U& to-the fact thafd<ergrazmg is pillaging QUJ

lands.

height. There are a plethora of problems with this approach.The monitoring is only on the greenline, and only on

hydric species. That means that sedges and rushes count, butKentucky bluegrass doesn’t get measured. This is a problembecause most of the greenlines that I saw in this area wereKentucky bluegrass. The less palatable sedges and rushes don’tget eaten with such vigor. The four inch stubble heightregulation is in place in order for the banks to trap sedimentand hold the banks in place during spring runoff. If theKentucky bluegrass doesn’t count when the stubble height isbeing measured then the majority of the streambank isn’tbeing measured for stubble height.

There is no way that a person can hike in the sameplaces that I did this summer without seeing how terrible ourlands are becoming. There are numerous examples of how ourlands are being destroyed by the current grazing practices. Itis easy to see that the land is being ruined in these areasbecause there are too many cows on the land for too long. Itshouldn’t be that hard to fix. Solution: Significantly reducethe number of cows and the time that they spend on therange. It’s not that hard; it can happen overnight.

Patrick Casey of Ketchurn, Idaho is one of the top nordicsprint ski racers in the country and is currently training in Utah forthe 2002 Winter Olympics.

Another problem with this approach to greenlinemonitoring is the way that the measuring takes place. Duringthe monitoring meeting in Fairfield, Idaho this summer theinstructor told the permittees that if there wasn’t a keyspecies at the front of the foot when a measurement wassupposed to be taken then nothing should be written down;another stride (two steps) should be taken and measuredthere instead. With this measurement technique it could bepossible to have a bank with one small clump of tall grass, saysix inch rushes, and a dirt bank everywhere else and it wouldstill be considered six inch stubble height. There must be abetter way to portray what the stream banks actually look andfunction like on paper.

The w problem with the agencies is that the agencies East Fork of the Big Lost River 8/3/00. Copper Basin Allotment -looking downstream at hid back banks, iris and grazed willows.

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would rather be friends with the ranchers than have to tellthem what to do. I had a case where I pointed out a violationof the permittees’ agreement. (The salt lick was placed tooclose to the stream, which leads to cattle congregation in thecritical riparian area.) There should have been a writtenwarning sent out to the permittees by the range conservation-ist. Instead he said that he would talk to the rancher. Fromwhat I understand this is common practice for the agencypeople. This way the range con doesn’t have to document inwriting what the ranchers are doing wrong.

Later in the summer I found a fence down, which isanother violation of the permittees’ agreement. In this case a“show-cause” letter should have been sent out. To the best ofmy knowledge nothing has been sent out. I wrote a FOIA(Freedom of Information request) letter to the Lost RiverRange District requesting a copy of the written letters thatshould have been sent out and I received nothing back.

News (continued)Conservationists Seek to Halt IrrigationDiversion to Protect Bull Trout

On February 16 , 2001 Idaho Watersheds Pro jec t and theCommittee for Idaho’s High Desert f i led for a prel iminary injunct ionin federa l cour t to bar i r r iga t ion d ivers ions on Mahogany Creek inthe Pahsimeroi Val ley under the Endangered Species Act .

The motion names Judd Whitworth, a rancher in thePahsimeroi area, as responsible for killing bull trout, a fish specieswhich is protected under the Endangered Species Act . The conser-va t ion i s t s s t a te tha t Whi twor th opera tes a d ive rs ion on MahoganyCreek tha t k i l l s f i sh both by dewater ing the s t ream and by having nof ish screen on the d ivers ion . The cour t f i l ings inc lude photographsshowing water running in to a road f rom a d i tch opera ted byWhitwor th , whi le the s t reambed is comple te ly dry .

“Bull trout and other fish are killed every year across centralIdaho by i r r iga t ion d ivers ions tha t a re no t sc reened and tha t d ry upstreams and r ivers . That v iola tes the Endangered Species Act , andcannot cont inue i f we are going to save these f i sh ,” sa id PamMarcum, chairperson of Committee for Idaho’s High Desert .

“ Judd Whi twor th and h i s pa r tne r s have been k i l l i ng bu l l t rou tfor years by taking al l the water out of Mahogany Creek,” said JonMarvel , execut ive d i rec tor of Idaho Watersheds Projec t . “Wast ingwater and not screening diversions violates Idaho laws; and killingb u l l trotit in the p rocess v io la tes the ESA. Our l awsu i t in tends tohold these private parties responsible for their flagrant disregard offederal and state law.”

The motion is the first in a series of lawsuits brought by theconserva t ion groups under the Endangered Species Act to improvestream f lows and f ish populat ions in the Upper Salmon basin . Thein junct ion mot ion wi l l be heard in Boise on May 3 by U.S . Dis t r ic tJu& B. Lynn Wmmill.

The groups are represented by attoiney Lai rd Lucas and the Land andWater Fund of the Rockies .

Bull Trout

A Virtual Thanks!WWP thanks Larry Walker,

the founder of the Range Net website:www.RangeNet.org for conveying that

website as a special project of WWP. Larrywill stay on as webmaster of RangeNet

WWP Wish Listl Beverage/Coffeemaker - $30l Digital Copier/Printer - $5,000l Slide Projector w/Screen - $300l Computer Upgrade - 2 computers

with network capability - $3,500l Office Chairs

WWP On The MoveThis year our restoration efforts at theranch on the East Fork of the Salmon Riverand the summer intern program will begreatly enhanced by the extremely gener-ous donation of a 1990 Ford F250, 3/4 ton,long bed truck by Bill and Jo Lowe ofHailey. A huge thank you from the WWPBoard and Staff!!

continued from Page 5 Conservationa teenage son were unloading horses. They flagged me downand asked if I could give one of them a lift into Yellow Pine.The other two could then keep the truck for when theyreturned from their pack trip. “No problem,” I said.

As we drove on, we started talking about the area.He was a visitor but knew the locale well. The conversationgot around to wolves and wolf re-introduction. I explained Iwas interested in the local’s perspective. Knowing the localtavern owner, he invited me in to repay me for the ride.While waiting for lunch we were joined by a middle-aged manand the tavern owner. A little later, a local woman, whohappened to write for the local paper, stopped in. Conversa-tion was lively about our friend Canis lupus. All parties werefrank about their opinions.

Then the moment arrived. The woman said that shehad always considered herself “conservative.” Well, at first, Iwas a little confused about what she meant. Then she wenton to say that she always recycled and bought used and such.And then came the brilliant epiphany, she said conservationwas conservative!

Well, let me tell you, this was &g. At first I didn’trealize just how big. Now, this was all during that greatelection we just had. And I was one of the few who waswatching the debates and paying attention to the issues. A n d ,lo and behold, the Democrats were being the fiscal conserva-tives - “lock box” for Social Security and paying down thenational debt. Sounds pretty conservative to me.And then this recent nonsense in the Middle East and therenewed interest in Star Wars. I wouldn’t say Bush is beingvery internationally conservative. How can we let theRepublicans get away with this? Environmentally, fiscally,and internationally more conservative.Why do they keep calling democrats“liberals?” Now, I know it takes somegetting used to. I even had chills downmy spine the first time I realized thetruth, but think about it. Conservationis conservative.

Biologist Becca Wiegand evurks on wildlifeand wildlands issues from her home inLowman, ID.

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