Grazing at the USDA’s Sheep Experiment Station near Dubois, ID, has been halted after environmental groups claimed the station harms grizzly bears, bighorn sheep and greater sage-grouse.
The USDA and American Sheep Industry filed notices in late June to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals after a judge’s April ruling prevented grazing in significant areas used by the station.
“It’s really good news for wildlife that the sheep experimental station is basically down to its headquarters area, and they’re not going to be grazing sheep in the Centennial Mountains,” said Erik Molvar, Western Watersheds Project’s executive director.
The sheep station supports research using sheep owned by the University of Idaho, but Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald E. Bush ruled the government did not sufficiently study the station’s impact on wildlife in the area.
The government must review the project again and until the review is finished, grazing is not allowed in certain allotments.
