The greater sage grouse has become a poster child for a keystone species in decline across the West: a symbol of the sagebrush steppe being converted, degraded and fragmented. “When I was a kid, I remember seeing a lot more of them,” says rancher Richard Ward of Malta.

The Southern Idaho Livestock Hall of Fame recognizes the men and women who have made positive impacts on the livestock industry. The newest inductees were honored on April 8 during the organization’s 64th annual banquet in Twin Falls.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has approved the Lava Ridge Wind Project, a controversial clean energy development in Idaho's Magic Valley, despite significant opposition from local communities, lawmakers and advocacy groups.

Devastating damage for livestock owners across southwest Idaho is prompting land and fire managers from multiple agencies to declare this year’s fire season the worst in over two decades.

“It’s not a complete silver bullet, but nothing is,” says Jay Smith of the J Lazy S Angus Ranch of Carmen. He and his wife Chyenne are using virtual fencing to manage cattle grazing on their Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service (USFS) permits after the 130,000-acre Moose Fire scorched their USFS grazing allotment in 2022. “I think the proof’s in the pudding when I say we want to keep using it,” he says. “The cost and the work were worth it.”

The Public Lands Rule recently enacted by the BLM has the potential to be a positive step in the direction of flexible grazing management on public lands, or a significant challenge to the ranching industry in their ability to access affordable grazing options. It will be in livestock producers’ reaction, and subsequent forward action to this rule, that the outcome is written. 

The first line of fire defense in many rural areas are Rangeland Fire Protection Associations (RFPAs). These groups of volunteers, mainly farmers and ranchers, are trained and authorized to respond to fires and help protect 9 million acres of Idaho lands.

Last spring, the U.S. Department of the Interior published a proposal with the potential to shift priorities on 245 million acres of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. A public comment period yielded thousands of substantive comments for the BLM to consider.