Online Messenger #279
(view with pictures, as displayed in email)
Western Watersheds Project members know that the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station in the Centennial Mountains of Idaho and Montana has been an environmental problem for years. WWP asked, urged, sued, and pleaded with the USDA to close the Sheep Experiment Station because of impacts to grizzlies and bighorn sheep, and degradation to important wildlife habitat. WWP has been working to end Sheep Station grazing since 2007 and the most recent litigation effort was filed just last week.
It was great news when WWP learned that Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack proposed to close the Sheep Experiment Station at the end of the year! This was also met with swift resistance from the livestock industry, of course, but the economic and legal liabilities of the station make it clear that closure is a must.
Congress has three weeks to support the USDA’s decision and now is the time to tell your Senators and Representative that you want the sheep station closed… for good! Please call, write, or email your Congresspeople today and tell them not to cave to industry pressure and to support the smart decision of Secretary Vilsack.
But don’t stop there! Please also ask the government to transfer the Sheep Experiment Station lands to the tenure of Red Rocks Lake National Wildlife Refuge, expanding the habitat for native wildlife to roam outside of Yellowstone National Park.
