09/08/06 Courtoom victory; BLM awards

A federal court in Washington DC has dismissed a lawsuit against various dairy branded manufacturers filed by an anti-meat, anti-dairy group closely aligned with PETA, the animal rights group. The US District Court said there was no safety issue and denied a request from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, PCRM, for warning labels on milk relative to lactose intolerance. The court said that to do so would be contrary to the Food and Drug Administration's labeling requirements. Doctor Greg Miller of the National Dairy Council says the legal action was another 'attempt by this animal rights group to grab headlines at the expense of sound health and nutrition information. 'The bottom line' says Doctor Miller 'when it comes to nutrition, people should listen to health and nutrition professionals, not an animal rights group.' The Bureau of Land Management's first annual Rangeland Stewardship Award goes to a pair of public land ranchers and an Idaho grazing association that have improvement rangeland conditions in the Shoshone Basin. The BLM recognized the rangeland stewardship work of Jim Baker of Filer, Charles Thompson of Twin Falls and the Pleasant Valley Grazing Association. The ranchers of the Shoshone Basin have been working to improve sage grouse habitat since 1994, well before the need to conserve the species was nationally recognized. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott