08/10/05 Biologist changes his mind; grazing moves

Don Chapman has changed his mind. The renowned fisheries biologist now says global warming calls for drastic action if salmon are to recover. The 74 year old Chapman is telling a Boise newspaper that breaching four Snake River dams in eastern Washington is 'imperative.' For the past 25 years Chapman had defended the hydroelectric industry's collection and fish bypass system. Now a follow up to a couple of stories were reported on earlier. Ranchers now have until August 19th to remove livestock from 800 thousand acres of public land in the Jarbidge region. A federal judge in Boise has temporarily ended grazing on 28 allotments after a lawsuit from the Western Watersheds' Project. The BLM and producers like Simplot Livestock can still asked Judge Lynn Winmill for a stay or they can appeal his ruling. And the investigation into a July 6th incident in Canyon County has been completed. We still don't know what's in the report about 29 farmworkers exposed to three different pesticides while they worked in an onion field. State Department of Agriculture spokesman Wayne Hoffman says the report is under review to see if any pesticide rules were violated but he didn't know when the report will be made public. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott