Federal judge in Montana asked to end Yellowstone bison kills

Suit asks federal judge to stop Forest Service and Park Service from participating in Montana’s annual bison slaughter-

As winter comes, Montana Department of Livestock and 4 other agencies are again gearing up to kill bison that wander from the confines of Yellowstone Park under the discredited argument these will spread brucellosis.

This year they are being hit with a big fat lawsuit. Federal judge asked to end Yellowstone bison kills. AP. By Matthew Brown in the Billings Gazette. Please notice the excellent links attached to the story in the Billings Gazette.

The plaintiffs bringing the suit are Western Watersheds Project, Buffalo Field Campaign, Tatanka Oyate, Gallatin Wildlife Association, Native Ecosystems Council, Yellowstone Buffalo Foundation, Meghan Gill, Charles Irestone, And Daniel Brister.

More Media on suit.

Groups file lawsuit over Yellowstone-area bison. By Cory Hatch. Jackson Hole Daily.

Putting wind and solar on formerly contaminated sites

Could the use of  “brownfields” reduce the conflicts over the placement of these land-expansive uses?

Contamination transformation. Contaminated sites being used to house wind farms, solar arrays and geothermal power plants. Mother Nature Network. By Jessica A. Knoblauch

It appears there is a lot of land in this category and many are near existing transmission lines.

More on Interior Appropriations as it applies to Montana

There are numerous items. The largest goes for complicated land transactions near the Blackfoot River-

One of the items we need to find more about is Jon Tester’s addition of $1-million to pay livestock owners for livestock killed for wolves. It also provides funds for  projects keeping wolves away from livestock. The later could be of great benefit, but is it just window dressing?

Story:  $8.4 million appropriated for Blackfoot Community Project, finalizing purchase of 89,000 acres. By Rob Chaney, Missoulian.

Several days ago. Stories on “goodies” in the Interior Appropriations bill

Second Idaho wolf hunting zone meets quota, closes

Fifteen wolves shot in McCall-Weiser zone in western Idaho-

First the Snake Rive zone in Eastern Idaho closed. The quota was five. Now the more wolf abundant McCall-Weiser zone on the other side of the state has met its quota of fifteen. In total 97 Idaho wolves have been tagged. 123 out of the total of 220 remain to be filled.

Another grizzly shot in Montana

Hunter shoots a rare Cabinet Mountains grizzly bear-

Man shoots Cabinet Mountains grizzly. Montana FWP says it was self-defense. AP