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Yellowstone's grizzlies, now classified as a threatened species, were briefly removed from protected status by the federal government in 2007, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared that the outsized, hump-shouldered bears had made a healthy comeback. At the time, the number of grizzlies in the region had exceeded the government's recovery goal of 500 bears, the government said. But conservationists successfully challenged the de-listing in court, arguing that the government discounted climate changes ... On Wednesday, members of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee sought to reverse that decision, recommending a new de-listing after reviewing a report suggesting Yellowstone's...

MOSCOW, ID SNIPPET: "The Moscow Police initially offered a reward of up to $1,000 for information that leads to the arrest of the person who’s responsible, but the Idaho State Fire Marshall’s office is now offering an additional $5,000 reward to apprehend those responsible. The anonymous tip line for the Idaho State Fire Marshall’s office is 877.752.7766 or call Moscow Police at 208.882.2677."

A new plan to protect the sage grouse in eastern Oregon would disproportionately affect ranchers in certain designated areas. The proposal would cut grazing by about 118,000 acres in the region. Cattle grazing reductions likely in some areas under proposal. Some Oregon ranchers would be disproportionately harmed by grazing restrictions under a proposed plan to protect sage grouse, according to leaders of a state cattlemen’s group. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management recently offered a draft plan for managing the greater sage grouse, a candidate for federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Past experience in Idaho, northeastern Oregon and Washington state illustrate that it's time to take gray wolves completely off the federal list of endangered species. The West’s wolf problem started in 1995 and 1996. That’s when 66 wolves from Canada were reintroduced in Idaho and Yellowstone National Park. Those wolves multiplied and spread into Wyoming, Utah and Oregon. They also took up residence in Washington state and Montana, where other wolves from Canada already lived. Today at least 1,674 wolves live in 321 packs within the region, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. That’s in addition to the...

An example of the tension between Western Democrats and the Obama administration surfaced Monday when Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper told a rural audience that Washington bureaucrats are pushing a “slanted version” of the sage-grouse issue to political decision-makers. Mr. Hickenlooper, a Democrat who’s running for re-election in 2014, said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell is receiving one-sided advice from staff at the Fish and Wildlife Service over the issue of whether to place the Gunnison sage grouse on the endangered-species list. “She has an open mind, right, she’s not well-versed in this issue, and she recognizes that,” said Mr. Hickenlooper in...

Wildlife lovers clamoring to bring gray wolves to Colorado may want to pay attention to those wooden outhouse-style structures in rural Catron County, New Mexico. They’re called “kid cages,” and they’re built to protect children waiting at school bus stops–from wolves. “The wolf issue is an example, especially with the kid cages, about how you’re putting the interest of wildlife over the interests of human beings,” said filmmaker David Spady. “Every American should be concerned about seeing kids in cages and wolves out wandering around freely.” Spady’s remarks came during a Tuesday screening of his film, “Wolves in Government Clothing,”...

Police in eastern Idaho say they're investigating after vandals defaced three Mormon churches in the small town of Chubbuck. Gov. Butch Otter condemned the vandalism in a written statement released Sunday. Here is the governor's full statement: "Defiling or defacing houses of worship — of any faith or denomination — is an attack not just on religious beliefs or even our law, but also on our culture and our values. It disturbs the sanctuaries of our spiritual well-being. These are not merely the acts of misguided individuals. They speak to a more fundamental disregard for sacred places, social order and...

Nashville, TN – Today, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham introduced the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The legislation currently has 33 cosponsors – but Senator Alexander is not one of them. Conservative Senate candidate Joe Carr called on Senator Alexander to change his stance and add himself as a co-sponsor. “I’m strongly pro-life and believe it’s imperative the Senate pass this important piece of legislation. When Senator Graham announced his co-sponsors and Senator Alexander’s name was missing, I was disappointed. I am hoping Senator Alexander will change his stance and add himself as a co-sponsor. This legislation is too...

Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander (R) Montana Senator Max Baucus (D) Alaska Senator Mark Begich (D) Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss (R) Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran (R) Maine Senator Susan Collins (R) Texas Senator John Cornyn (R) Massachusetts Senator William "Mo" Cowan (D) Illinois Senator Dick Durbin (D) Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi (R) Minnesota Senator Al Franken (DFL) South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham (R) North Carolina Senator Kay Hagan (D) Iowa Senator Tom Harkin (D) Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe (R) Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns (R) South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson (D) Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu (D) Michigan Senator Carl Levin (D) Kentucky...

Idaho has become the latest state in which same-sex couples are seeking to have the right of marriage, after two couples that married elsewhere joined two couples who want to wed and filed suit against the state on Friday. The suit, supported by the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco, was filed in U.S. District Court against Idaho Gov. C.L "Butch" Otter and Chris Rich, the clerk in Ada County, where the couples were denied marriage licenses. Idaho’s constitution was amended in 2006 to include a provision that heterosexual marriage is the only legal form of the union....

**SNIP** CNN reports that insurers had nothing to do with it in at least three states, where the states themselves forced the cancellations in order to comply with ObamaCare: President Obama may have promised Americans that they can keep their insurance if they like it, but that’s not the case in at least three states where insurance companies are required to discontinue plans that don’t meet Obamacare’s new coverage standards. Virginia, Kentucky and Idaho have told insurance companies that they must scrap insurance plans that don’t meet the minimum coverage requirements laid out in the Affordable Care Act. Some states...

A Boise family is outraged over the death of their 5-year-old dog. Sunday afternoon, a Boise Police officer fired his weapon at the dog, killing it. For years, Gabrielle Stropkai found companionship in her dog, Kita, calling her a lover and a friend for her son Hayden to grow up with. “We have kids who run up and pull her tail and grab her by the back of the neck and get in her face and she does nothing but love on them,” said Stropkai. However, as two Boise patrol officers were investigating a theft that was reported in the...

Hundreds of advocates for immigration reform are protesting Idaho House representative Raul Labrador’s recent statement against reform by gathering at his office in Meridian today at 1:15 p.m for a press conference declaring, “We are not your pawns.” “They just feel like this is a game to him. That he is playing with thousands of people in Idaho that live here and are undocumented. He is playing with their lives because they are in hopes of immigration reform,” said Ruby Mendez, a spokesperson for the Idaho Community Action Network. “For him to come out and say that the immigration bill...

NORTH DAKOTA -- A former North Idaho man who battled the Environmental Protection Agency has been arrested and charged with sex trafficking in North Dakota. Michael Sackett, 47, made his first court appearance in federal court Tuesday. Sackett faces charges for attempting to entice an underage girl across state lines to engage in a commercial sex act. Sackett and his wife Chantell made headlines when they fought the EPA over some land they bought in Priest Lake that was later determined to be wetlands by the agency. The couple brought their fight all the way to the Supreme Court and...

All of the congressional Republicans with viable 2016 presidential ambitions voted against the bill enacted overnight to reopen the government and increase federal borrowing. So did two members of the Senate GOP leadership and three members of the party’s House leadership. The opponents also included a majority of the Republicans who are chairmen of House committees and most of the members of the House GOP caucus who aspire to election to the Senate next year. While the Democrats were unified in their support for the legislation, a review of Wednesday night’s back-to-back roll calls in Congress reveals just how divided...

With President Obama again pushing immigration reform, Idaho Republican Rep. Raul Labrador says it would be foolish for House Republicans to pass immigration reform and bring it to a conference committee with the Senate-passed immigration bill. “You know that I believe in immigration reform, and you know that you and I have disagreed on this issue a little bit, but I will tell you I have always been — at least over the last few months — against a conference and now more than ever,” Labrador said Thursday on “The Laura Ingraham Show.” “And the reason is because I have...

SPIRIT LAKE, Idaho - Spirit Lake City Council Member James "Jimmy" Brown is facing two misdemeanor charges of Indecent Exposure and Battery. The Kootenai County Sheriff's office is investigating the alleged incident between Brown and Eric Vangemert, a Spirit Lake resident. Court documents accuse Brown of having a physical confrontation with Vangemert and exposing himself to Vangemert's wife and saying, "This is what a real man looks like".

Redoubt: Northwest a Haven for Dismayed Americans By Chuck Holton CBN News Reporter Monday, October 14, 2013 NORTHERN IDAHO -- You don't hear the word "redoubt" used very much anymore. It means a "fortress" or a "safe, protected place." Some conservative American Christians are so dismayed with direction of the country that they're looking for a safe place for their families. They call it the "American Redoubt." Alarm over the future of America can be seen almost daily in the headlines and on cable news. The loss of privacy, constitutional freedoms, and out-of-control government spending are just a few of...

Idaho GOP Rep. Raul Labrador was back in front of the TV cameras this morning, this time appearing on ABC's This Week With George Stephanopoulos. "We're four days away from reaching the debt ceiling. We gave the president an offer where we would extend the debt ceiling without any requirements ... and I don't see why the president is not accepting that or working with us," said Labrador. "I think it's been very difficult to work with [Obama]. He wouldn't even come to the table to negotiate." And Labrador wasted no time to bring the debate surrounding the federal government...

Rubin rose before Chief U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in Portland, where she pleaded guilty to a dozen crimes – in Colorado, Oregon and California – as part of the underground Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front. ... Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen F. Peifer recounted Rubin's crimes as part of the largest group of eco-saboteurs ever taken down by the FBI. They called themselves The Family and committed an estimated $40 million in damage from 1996 to 2001. ... the terms of the highly structured plea agreement sets limits on the number of years Rubin will spend in prison....