Lyle McNeal, the professor who
helped restore churro sheep to the Navajo Reservation, won his suit
for $44,000 in back pay from Utah State University. The suit
highlighted the role of a land-grant college, with McNeal arguing
that he helped the tribe build community (HCN, 1/31/00: Searching
for pasture). University officials unsuccessfully defended their
position – that McNeal’s project was a money-loser and deserved to
end.
Ducks won a reprieve if not a victory,
thanks to a suit filed by Missoula, Mont., attorney Tom
France, representing the National Wildlife Federation and
several other groups. France sued the Natural Resources
Conservation Service in South Dakota for attempting to unilaterally
revise the definition of temporary wetlands. An out-of-court
settlement negates the relaxed rules, which would have drained
prairie potholes needed by birds on the wing.
In Idaho, five environmental groups won a federal court victory for
the Clearwater National Forest, where federal officials had planned
to log 500 acres of old-growth red cedar (HCN, 8/2/99: Old growth
by the numbers). In his 70-page ruling, Judge Leif
Erickson said logging on steep slopes of the Clearwater’s
North Fork could cause erosion and damage both fish and water
quality.
And in Montana, thanks to organizer
Gary Holmquist and hundreds of volunteers,
27,000 signatures were collected on petitions this summer, assuring
that voters will get the chance to vote on whether to ban new game
farms in the state (HCN, 1/31/00: Montana burns game farm elk). The
citizens’ effort was coordinated by the group MADCOW, Montanans
Against the Domestication and Commercialization of Wildlife.
Digging in their heels, 100 activists from
around the country have formed Environmentalists Against Gore.
Dave Brower, Jeff St. Clair, David Orr, Scott Silver, Sara
Folger, Tim Hermach, Janine Blaeloch and others say Gore
sounds good, but doesn’t deliver on green
issues.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline The Latest Bounce.
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