07/21/08 Judge orders CRP compromise

Cattlemen in Idaho and throughout the West are keeping an eye on this court case. US District Judge John Coughenour has kept in place a temporary restraining order he issued earlier this month after the National Wildlife Federation balked at USDA's decision to open up land now protected by the Conservation Reserve Program. The Seattle-based judge also told the federal government and the wildlife group to work out a compromise and do it by noon tomorrow. Colin Woodall of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association is hopeful that some haying and grazing can still take place. WOODALL "The judge very easily could have ruled in favor of the National Wildlife Federation and not worried about the economic harm so the fact that we have the opportunity to go in and plead our case yet once again and come up with a plan I think really is a victory and we need to consider it that." Coughenour is expected to make a final decision on this case by the end of the week. The so-called Critical Feed Use program was meant to help cattlemen suffering from high feed costs by allowing haying and grazing on CRP lands with the hope of boosting production. The National Wildlife Federation and a half dozen affiliates filed the federal court lawsuit saying such a program would harm birds and other wildlife in addition to the water and soil quality. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott