Category : Wildlife

Caribou Receive Only 10% of the Originally Proposed Critical Habitat

Caribou Receive Only 10% of the Originally Proposed Critical Habitat

A disappointing decision has been handed down by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) with regard to critical habitat designations for the Selkirk Woodland Caribou. Almost exactly one year ago, USFWS proposed ~375,562 acres be designated as critical habitat for the southern Selkirk Mountain population of woodland caribou. This acreage was decided by USFWS officials that had, “reviewed the available information pertaining to the more »

Bonner County – At it Again

Bonner County has filed a frivolous lawsuit in hopes of getting the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to respond to a petition to have the Selkirk Mountain Caribou removed from the Endangered Species list. This suit is represented by the Pacific Legal Counsel, Bonner County and the Idaho State Snowmobile Association (ISSA), who claim that there are thousands of Caribou in North America and more »

Idaho- NO on HJR2

Idaho- NO on HJR2

You should have received your Idaho Voter’s Pamphlet in the mail by now. The 43 pages of 12-pt font are a lot to wade through but please make sure that you thoroughly read through Page 4-  H.J.R. 2aa, which is a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment also know as the Idaho Hunting and Fishing (and Trapping) Amendment. The proposed measure would add “the right to hunt, fish more »

Toxic Blue Green Algae in Idaho Lakes this Summer

Toxic Blue Green Algae in Idaho Lakes this Summer

As summer is starting to fade into fall I am reminded and wishing for that amazing warm weather we saw this season. With that weather and current pollutants found in lakes, two documented blue green algae blooms exploded in Fernan and Hayden lakes causing health advisories and shutting down lake access. Why is Blue Green Algae showing up in our lakes? Blue Green Algae is more »

California Legal Foundation Asks: Are Caribou Really Endangered?

California Legal Foundation Asks: Are Caribou Really Endangered?

The short answer is: yes, in Idaho, of course they are — there were a grand total of four of them spotted this winter. But according to an industry and developer-funded California legal organization looking for loopholes, it isn’t that simple. The Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), a California-based law firm with a take-no-prisoners property rights ideology, has filed a petition on behalf of Idaho snowmobile groups more »

The Goose Story

The U of Idaho geese have been saved from further torment. At least for now. Some perspectives on the whole affair from the KEA Board of Directors who did the saving: At the end of March, the University of Idaho in Coeur d’Alene installed spikes driven through boards to deter nesting Canada geese.  It certainly worked, but it also injured geese that have nested there more »

Saving the U. of Idaho Geese

Saving the U. of Idaho Geese

At KEA, we are nothing if not all-purpose conservation problem-solvers. Of course, we’re busy with clean water, land use, and forest issues. But some days the phone rings and we’ll have a brand new issue to deal with — the dike road trees, for example. Last week, we were flooded with calls about geese. According to our callers, at least three geese were severely injured more »

Monitoring Flight Finds Selkirk Caribou in Idaho

Monitoring Flight Finds Selkirk Caribou in Idaho

We had heard through the grapevine that reporter Becky Kramer had taken a trip with our colleagues at Selkirk Conservation Alliance in their aerial caribou monitoring flight earlier in February. The result is a comprehensive look at the caribou issue in this past Sunday’s Spokesman-Review. An excellent explainer, her story also broke the significant news that the flight found four woodland caribou, hunkering down in more »

War on Wolves Worsens

War on Wolves Worsens

Idaho’s obsessive war on wolves got insanely more heated today as Idaho’s Senate Resources Committee approved a bill that would open up new methods to kill the legislatively de-listed endangered species. According to Spokesman reporter Besty Russell, “The bill would let livestock owners whose animals are molested by wolves shoot the wolves from motorized vehicles, powered parachutes, helicopters or fixed-wing planes, by night or day, more »

Save the Selkirk Caribou

Save the Selkirk Caribou

The uproar continues over the proposed critical habitat designation for woodland caribou in the Selkirk Mountains. Recently, more than 200 people turned out at an event orchestrated by the Bonner County Commissioners purporting to “coordinate” with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) over the proposal.  In an irony lost on the angry crowd, much of the heated argument against the proposal establishing critical habitat more »