2-12 IAN Cattle and Sage Grouse 2

I don't know if you were listening yesterday, but at the risk of being repetitious, I received an interesting email from friend and bosses wife Susan Allen, who happens to be a full-blooded and very capable cowgirl. If that's politically incorrect, and I should refer to her as a cow person... ain't gonna happen because we've gone over the top with this PC bull manure. Getting back to the topic, Susan's email pointed out that there was actual evidence supporting the fact that cattle grazing may not be contributing to the struggles of the sage grouse. In Oregon Lake County's Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge has been cattle-free for 23 years, and sage grouse numbers have still declined. I had to resurrect my old buddy, Wally Butler, and when I say resurrect I mean that I had to bring him out of retirement for a few minutes. You listeners may recall that Wally as spent a lifetime as a very knowledgeable range management specialist. Here's the conversation: "Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge has been cattle-free for 23 years and sage grouse numbers have still declined. Does that surprise you? It does not surprise me at all. I am out on the range a lot and I experience more sage grouse and sage grouse broods on grazed allotments. I don't think that is rocket science at all. It doesn't surprise me a bit. You are saying you see a lot of sage grouse broods on property that is being raised? Yes. In fact the stronghold for sage grouse in Idaho is in the Owhyhee Mountains and the mountains to the north and east from Mountain Home and upper Snake. Those are all grazed areas. Getting down to the bottom line, those that accuse cattlemen of disrupting and threatening the sage grouse populations, that is unfounded science. It is not science, it is just plain unfounded.