8-20 FB Pepper Grass

 Want to get a cattleman all wound up? Get him talking about slick spot pepper grass and grazing. A recent judges decision may unwind our cowboy.

 Is it possible that federal wildlife officials erred when they listed slick spot pepper grass as being threatened under the Endangered Species Act back in 2009? A Federal Judge certainly think so. U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy Dale  handed down a ruling that supports our Gov. Butch Otter and ranchers and landowners along the Snake River Plain where the plant is found. I called Idaho Farm Bureau range management specialist Walley Butler and I found a rather animated guy at the other end of the line: “give me a reaction to the fact that we made a mistake. We didn’t make a mistake, fish and wildlife service made the mistake by listing it. So what does that do for cattlemen? It’s a great thing for cattlemen because it takes all those restrictions off where they can’t graze within a quarter of a mile of the grass.”  In the words of the Idaho Statesman: “Otter sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2009 after federal biologists determined the plant deserved special protections. But Otter argued the decision to list the plant was not based on the best science and ignored the state's own conservation efforts.”