US Approves Sheep Grazing Research in Grizzly Bear Area

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A federally-run sheep experiment facility in Idaho long targeted by environmental groups will start grazing sheep again in the Centennial Mountains of Idaho and Montana.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the Sheep Experiment Station will resume grazing in 2019 on 25 square miles of sheep station land and 5 square miles of U.S. Forest Service land.

Tom France of the National Wildlife Federation said Thursday the department is ignoring information that the area is premier grizzly bear habitat.

Grazing was suspended in 2013 following lawsuits by environmental groups contending bears were killed due to the sheep station grazing an area that is a wildlife corridor between Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho.

But the Agriculture Department did an environmental analysis and approved grazing.