[MCN] Senator Daines on the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station

[John Meyer]

In addition to Senator Daines currently trying to pass legislation to undo
Cottonwood's court win for Canada lynx, he has also passed two
Appropriations Riders after we won two consecutive Endangered Species Act
cases for grizzly bears.

Former USDA Secretary Vilsack tried to close the U.S. Sheep Experiment
Station in southwest Montana two times after Cottonwood won two Endangered
Species Act cases against the federal research facility. The Sheep Station
told the public in its environmental analysis that there had never been any
human/grizzly bear conflicts, but we obtained internal emails through
several FOIA requests that state the sheep herders were being chased by
grizzly bears to protect sheep they had killed. The collar of one grizzly
bear was found in a stream under a rock and a log on Sheep Station
property.

Former Secretary Vilsack tried to transfer the 20 or so jobs to another
federal research facility in Nebraska. The consolidation would have saved
millions of taxpayer dollars, protected human lives, protected grizzly bear
lives, and opened over 16,000 acres of federal land along the Continental
Divide Trail that is currently closed to the public for hiking, camping,
and hunting. Senator Daines passed two appropriations riders keeping the
federal land closed to the public.

To be clear: both the Obama and Trump Administrations have tried to stop
domestic sheep grazing in the Centennial Mountains to protect grizzly
bears, save millions of taxpayer dollars, and open the area along the CDT
to the public. Senator Daines has stopped that from happening.

Cottonwood is gearing up for its third lawsuit against the U.S. Sheep
Experiment Station. Check out the attached 30 second video to see the area
we have spent the last several years protecting with Gallatin Wildlife
Association. Cottonwood's website has additional information.

​
 October Sheep Station.mp4
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8BXBsjEi27fS25SYU1yc1BZZFU/view?usp=drive_web>
​






-- 

<http://www.cottonwoodlaw.org>

John Meyer
Executive Director & General Counsel
Cottonwood Environmental Law Center
P.O. Box 412 Bozeman, MT 59771
John at Cottonwoodlaw.org
(406) 546-0149

The information contained herein is privileged and confidential. If you are
not the intended recipient, you must delete this email and inform the
sender of the error.

www.cottonwoodlaw.org
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