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Groups sue over sagebrush
BOISE, Idaho (AP) _ Two conservation groups have sued the U.S. Forest Service, contending the agency's planned burning of sagebrush in the Targhee Forest is illegal.
The Alliance for the Wild Rockies and the Native Ecosystems Council filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Boise on Wednesday, asking a judge to stop the prescribed burn of a mosaic pattern across 1,200 acres of sagebrush habitat near Dubois. The Forest Service's plan states the burn is necessary to improve wildlife habitat in the Berry Creek area. But the conservation groups contend it will kill off the healthy sagebrush in the region, destroying the habitat used by sage grouse, Brewer's sparrows, pygmy rabbits and other wildlife. The conservation groups and the Forest Service have sparred in court before over other portions of the Targhee National Forest Revised Forest Plan. Nick Woychick with the U.S. attorney's office in Boise said he hadn't seen the lawsuit and that as of Thursday no attorney had been assigned to the case.
Sara Johnson, director of the Native Ecosystems Council, said sagebrush habitats are in jeopardy in the West, and that the loss of sagebrush is mainly from intentional burning on public lands to increase forage for livestock. "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has found that about half of fall sagebrush habitats have been eliminated, and the other half has already been altered," Johnson said in a prepared statement. "Once lost to a fire, it takes many decades for sagebrush habitat to return, if at all."
The groups are asking a judge to find that the Forest Service's plan is arbitrary and capricious and violates federal rules under the National Environmental Policy Act, and to ban the agency from taking any actions under the plan that could harm wildlife diversity. The Native Ecosystems Council is based in Three Forks, Mont., and the Alliance for the Wild Rockies is based in Helena, Mont.
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Bonny M wrote on Mar 22, 2008 5:39 PM: " Environmentalists are costing this country billions with their stupid exagerations. Idaho can burn up (and kill our lungs), destroying millions of trees, but we cannot log or clear vegetation to prevent it. Sagebrush is the same way. We burned our land and have more wildlife than ever. " Submit a CommentCommenting RulesWe encourage your feedback and dialog. All comments are subject to deletion by our Web staff.
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fjwoi wrote on Mar 21, 2008 9:30 PM:
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