 
"I have been lucky enough to make a career of facilitating outdoor recreation, primarily as a fly fishing guide. As a guide, water quality and overall quality of the environment is of paramount importance. Trout is the species of fish that we target most often, and trout require the cleanest and coldest water to thrive. Therefore, if the quality of the environment decreases, my profession and salary will decrease as well. I support full funding of the LWCF to ensure continued protection of the environment around sensitive trout streams and across North Carolina."
- Tim Holcomb, forester
Western North Carolina,
Fishing Guide
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- March 8, 2012 Coalition Applauds Senate for Dedicated Conservation Funding
- February 13, 2012 Coalition Applauds President's Continued Support for Conservation Funding
- December 17, 2011 Conservation, Business and Sportsmen Groups Applaud Congressional Efforts to Protect LWCF Funding in FY12 Budget
- July 25, 2011- New Bipartisan Poll Shows Overwhelming Support Across America for Land and Water Conservation Fund
- July 13, 2011- National Bipartisan Poll Memo
- May 31, 2011- Over One-Third of the U.S. House of Representatives Sign Letter Supporting Funding for LWCF
- April 14, 2011- Conrad Anchor Testimony Release
- December 20, 2010 - Senate Urged to Join House and Pass Bill with Full Funding for Conservation Program »
- August 3, 2010 - Senate Urged to Join House and Pass Bill with Full Funding for Conservation Program »
- July 15, 2010 - House Committee Passes Bill Securing Funding for Conservation and Recreation Program »
- April 16, 2010 - America's Great Outdoors Conference Focuses on Need for Vital Land, Recreation Funding »
- February 1, 2010 - Obama's Budget Includes Key Funding for Land & Water »
- November 6, 2009 - Senate Bill Would Fulfill Longstanding Promise for Conservation and Recreation Program »
- September 17 , 2009 - Coalition Supports Conservation at House Hearing »
BLM agrees to buy key habitat west of Cody
Story Discussion BLM agrees to buy key habitat west of Cody
By MARTIN KIDSTON The Billings Gazette trib.com
Unable to afford to keep 1,800 acres of wildlife habitat outside Yellowstone National Park, and unable to negotiate a land exchange, The Nature Conservancy hopes it has found a buyer in the Bureau of Land Management.
Katherine Thompson, northwest Wyoming program director for The Nature Conservancy, said the BLM has agreed to purchase the property, which sits atop Sheep Mountain in a wildlife migration corridor.
“We’ve been working since 2000 to try to complete a direct land exchange with the BLM, but it was just too difficult,” Thompson said. “We tried hard to exchange it, but there were too many obstacles to overcome.”
Unable to fulfill all the requirements of a land swap, the BLM opted to buy the property outright. The agency has applied for federal funding through the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
BLM spokeswoman Sarah Beckwith said she couldn’t say Thursday what the property valuation was, but the conservancy group bought the acreage for $1.3 million roughly 10 years ago.
“The BLM has always been interested in securing the top of Sheep Mountain,” Beckwith said. “We’re interested in making this happen, and we’re hopeful it will happen.”
Conservationists have long noted the area’s importance as a key migration corridor for wildlife moving out of Yellowstone National Park and the Shoshone National Forest.
During heavy snow years, the Sheep Mountain area provides critical winter range for elk, deer and other ungulates. Grizzly bear dens have been documented on the mountain, along with wolves and other wildlife.
The mountain also supports a collection of rare plants, including the shoshonea, the Absaroka biscuitroot and aromatic pussytoes.
“It’s important wildlife habit and it supports an important plant community,” Beckwith said. “Securing this is a priority for us, and it’s a priority for Wyoming. We just have no idea when this will happen.”
Beckwith was optimistic that the sale would go through within the next few years. It already has the support of the National Park Service, the BLM and other conservation groups.
Park County commissioners last week also put their support behind the sale, though one commissioner expressed reluctance in seeing more land in the county fall under federal control.
But selling the property to the BLM, advocates argue, guarantees continued public access. Access isn’t guaranteed if the property falls back into private ownership.
“While transferring the property from private to federal hands will remove it from the county tax rolls, we believe the benefits to the county far outweigh the costs,” Thompson said.
Beckwith said a draft of the BLM’s new resource management plan and environmental impact study was to be released Friday.
Under the proposed plan, the BLM is looking to designate much of Sheep Mountain as an area of Critical Environmental Concern. The designation would affect how the area is managed into the future.
“We’re looking for comments from the public on what management actions would go into effect on Sheep Mountain if the BLM purchased the land,” Beckwith said.
Contact Martin Kidston at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or 307-527-7250.
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