Free Republic

The United States Forest Service severely damaged a forest road and trail in Northwestern Idaho earlier this month, raising serious questions about the agency’s ability to care for federally-managed lands. During the first weekend in June, several members of Northwestern Gold Prospectors Association (NWGPA) planned to attend a gathering to prospect private claims in the Bedrock Gulch and Eagle Creek areas. When the prospectors arrived, Forest Road 152 was blocked with cement barricades and hundreds of felled trees. ... Photographs from that day show large logs laid crosswise and laterally on the trail, covered with hundreds of large pine branches...

Ellen DeGeneres may be a big Hillary Clinton supporter, but that doesn't mean Donald Trump has been banned from her show. "I don't know if we've formally asked him," DeGeneres told E! News' Will Marfuggi yesterday while she was promoting Finding Dory, the sequel to her 2003 box office hit Finding Nemo. "I mean, he's welcome to come if he wants to come on. I don't think I see that happening. I don't know that he would do that. But I wouldn't say no if he wanted to be on." Trump has been a guest on her show five times,...

A forestry company filed a civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) lawsuit against Greenpeace Tuesday for misrepresenting the company’s environmental record to raise funds and promote its agenda. Greenpeace knowingly and deliberately made false claims about the company while fundraising, and fabricated evidence of Resolute’s alleged environmental malfeasance, according to the forestry and paper company Resolute Forest Products. RICO is an anti-mafia law designed to combat organized crime. Greenpeace’ is a global fraud,” states the 124-page legal complaint. “For years, this international network of environmental groups collectively calling themselves ‘Greenpeace’ has fraudulently induced people throughout the United States and...

Video appears to show the Secret Service strike one of the barricade jumpers with a night stickAnimal rights protesters jumped barricades at a Bernie Sanders rally late Monday in Oakland, California, accusing the candidate of falling short in his efforts to fight "factory farming." The Democratic presidential hopeful was addressing supporters at Frank Ogawa Plaza at City Hall when five people in their 20s and 30s hopped over barricades and attempted to rush the podium before Secret Service agents escorted them away. Agents also surrounded Sanders. The group identified itself as the Bay Area-based "Direct Action Everywhere," or DXE. Spokesman...

At least five animal rights activists on Monday rushed the stage as presidential candidate Bernie Sanders spoke at a rally in Oakland, video posted online showed. The protesters were led away by several Secret Service agents before they were able to reach the Democrat, whose speech was briefly interrupted by the disturbance, a video posted by CNN showed. A Secret Service agent rushed to Sanders' side, grabbed him and wrapped his arms around the presidential candidate during the ruckus. "We don't get intimidated easily," said Sanders, as he resumed his speech. Animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere claimed responsibility for...

On Saturday a four-year old boy fell into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo. Sadly the gorilla, named Harambe, was shot and killed by zoo officials to save the life of the child, sparking outrage on social media. The most ludicrous of the objections came from those who actually believed the gorilla was killed because of racism. Conservative author and commentator Mark Dice uncovered some of the most outrageous tweets, including a slew that referred to the child as a “white boy” and one that called the killing an act of “white privilege.” As Dice pointed out in his...

The Guardian has been hit by a journalism ethics scandal after the newspaper admitted a reporter fabricated interviews and made up quotes in articles. Lee Glendinning, editor of Guardian US and a former Fairfax Media journalist, said reporter Joseph Mayton also falsely claimed to have been present at events he wrote about. The former deputy editor of Guardian Australia apologised to readers and to the “people whose words were misrepresented or falsified”. The newspaper, which was instrumental in campaigning for a British inquiry into press standards, has now removed 13 of contributor Mr Mayton’s articles from its website. Other articles...

Oil and gas industry groups on Thursday sued federal agencies over revisions to land management plans in Colorado and other western states to protect the greater sage-grouse. The Western Energy Alliance and the North Dakota Petroleum Council filed the suit in North Dakota, saying the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service failed to follow proper procedures for public involvement in adopting the land use plan amendments. They also say the plans ignore sound science and will hurt western economies. Plan revisions being challenged include ones in northwest Colorado, where greater sage-grouse habitat substantially overlaps with oil and gas...

Fresh off a victory over SeaWorld and its controversial orca program, animal rights groups are zeroing in on zoos, aquariums and circuses -- and one prominent expert warns your dog and cat could be next. A well-funded coalition of nonprofits finally broke SeaWorld, when the theme park chain announced in March it would phase out its popular killer whale program. Now the groups smell blood in the water – and on land. “The tide is turning against SeaWorld and other aquariums and zoos,” Ashley Bryne, a campaign specialist at PETA, told FoxNews.com. “I think this is a sign of what’s...

East Setauket [Long Island, NY] farmer, Bob Benner and his family have learned to live off their 15 acres of land since 1977. "We learned, made, and had our own heat. We made our own food. We made our own clothing. We raised a garden," he said. With six mouths to feed on a tight budget, Benner began raising certain farm animals as a source of food. Over the years, Benner's farm has evolved into a popular attraction for strawberry picking, birthday parties, and class trips for kids. Which is how Kimberly Sherriton, a mother from Commack, got involved with...

The Utah Attorney General's Office filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture, claiming the agencies' strategy to disallow new mining on or near greater sage grouse habitats is a breach of "numerous federal laws and regulations." The lawsuit in U.S. District Court seeks an order voiding the federal government's land-use plan amendments submitted last year that would directly prohibit new hard rock mining on 233,300 acres in Utah. "The state of Utah claims that the 2015 federal plan amendments disregarded the hallmark of federal land management -- multiple use and sustained yield --...

A Michigan-based pro-Palestinian activist has posted a video online defending the "stabbing of Jews by Palestinians," and comparing Jews to animals. Lina Allan posted the three-minute Arabic rant under the title "Is Stabbing Jews Haram [Forbidden]?" The monologue was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). Notably, throughout the video Allan uses the word "Jew", and only once makes any reference to Israel at all. ...

A growing number of state organizations seek to remedy what they consider negligent policies and shoddy oversight of public land on the part of federal agencies. Under the umbrella name Transfer of Public Lands, the movement offers a solution to the problem that is simple in concept: transfer ownership and management of public lands administered by federal agencies to equivalent state agencies. These agencies, being accountable to governors, state legislators and citizens, will manage the public lands in a more conscientious, cost-effective way. ... Unlike states east of the Continental Divide, public lands in Western states such as Washington and...

A U.S. judge on Friday approved a deal between conservationists and Montana officials to restrict road-building and logging in roughly 22,000 acres of state forest lands that make up core habitat for federally protected grizzlies. The agreement resolves a lawsuit brought by conservationists after the state had sought to open 37,000 acres , mostly in the Stillwater State Forest, to timber harvesting despite what environmentalists said would be the destruction of prime grizzly bear territory. ... U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy in a decision last year found the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Endangered Species Act by...

On September 24, 2015, the federal Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) published a Notice of Proposed Withdrawal (“BLM notice”), proposing to withdraw from mineral location and entry federal lands identified as “sagebrush focal areas” in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. The BLM notice commences a two-year temporary segregation period, prohibiting location and entry of new mining claims on BLM and U.S. Forest Service lands in these sagebrush focal areas. If the BLM decides to withdraw the area at the end of the segregation period, the withdrawal will last up to 20 years, but could be extended in the...

Barbara Paschke, 85, died as the result of injuries she suffered during a black bear attack inside her home ... from injuries she suffered during a black bear attack inside her Ashley Lake home last Sunday afternoon. The woman, Barbara Paschke, died at 10:30 a.m. while she was hospitalized at Kalispell Regional Medical Center. She died due to injuries from the attack ... The attack occurred inside Paschke’s home between Batavia Lane and Ashley Lake Road; although it’s not clear how the bear got inside Paschke’s home, it exited through a window, investigators said. The attack was severe, officials said,...

Despite a long process involving collaboration between local officials the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Western Colorado, the federal land agency is proceeding with the closure of roads that have been traveled for 50 or more years. The road closures comprise a portion of the BLM’s Resource Management Plan (RMP) for Mesa County, of which, 73 percent is controlled by the federal government . ... public roads, used by off-roaders, hunters, farmers, ranchers and, during wildfire season, firefighting crews. ... Jody Green, a member of Public Lands Access Association and long-time activist working to preserve access into federally-managed lands,...

The unfortunate drama surrounding the collision and sinking of the Ady Gil has finally reached a conclusion. An arbitrator last week ruled that the Sea Shepherd acted “wrongful” in their decision to scuttle the ship and not allow for proper salvage efforts. The trimaran, named for its benefactor and owner Ady Gil, a Hollywood TV businessman and animal activist, famously collided on January 7th, 2010 with a Japanese whaling vessel. The event, captured on film for Animal Planet’s “Whale Wars” reality series, drew international attention for both the conservation organization and its anti-whaling mission. While the Ady Gil was disabled...

GREENWOOD TOWNSHIP, MI — A 46-year-old man was injured in what the Michigan Department of Natural Resources suspects was a black bear attack. ... a black bear came from behind, knocked him over and attacked him. "Using his hunting knife, the man stabbed the bear, which scared it off. The bear is thought to be injured," the DNR said in a news release. "The DNR was informed about 45 minutes later." Sgt. Jon Wood spoke with the hunter and advised him to seek medical attention. The DNR's Law Enforcement Division is continuing to investigate the incident. The DNR plans to...

A Bellevue butcher is learning first hand that promoting your business through Facebook can make you vulnerable to more than bad reviews. The owner of Golden Steer Choice Meats just wanted to expand his presence on social media like so many other companies do. But the Facebook reviews became so vicious, he realized the problem was more than just a few angry customers. John Dick said when he updated the business' Facebook page a few weeks ago, the store was enjoying 5-star endorsements. This week, the business' rating plummeted. "I'm like 'Wow, what did I do?'" said Dick. "I must...