WINNEMUCCA — A Paradise Valley rancher seeking judicial review of actions taken by the government in canceling his grazing permits lost his five-year battle when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the US Forest Service.

Kenneth Buckingham’s grazing permits were cancelled in 2005 for non-compliance primarily because the rancher repeatedly grazed his cows in restricted allotments.

In the appeal Buckingham argued the forest service did not provide clearly defined allotment boundaries with either a description or a map, failed to give him notice to achieve compliance, unfairly used Buckingham’s previous record of non-compliance when considering new violations, and generally violated his right to due process under the US Constitution.

The U. S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Monday, July 12, signed a Record of Decision (ROD) and Right-of-Way Grant (ROW) for the Ruby Pipeline Project, a proposed 678 mile interstate natural gas pipeline that crosses 368 miles of Federal land beginning near Opal, Wyoming, through northern Utah and northern Nevada, and terminating near Malin, Oregon.  The BLM Nevada State Director, as the designated Federal official, signed the ROD and authorized the ROW for the construction, operation, maintenance, and termination of the pipeline and associated facilities across lands under jurisdiction of the BLM, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the four states.

ELKO.—Certain areas on public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in northwestern Elko County will be temporarily closed to public access, use and occupancy at varying times and locations from July 6 through July 31, 2010.  The temporary closure involves about 27,000 acres and is necessary to help ensure the safety of the public, contractors and government employees, and wild horses, and to ensure the orderly progress of the Tuscarora wild horse gather operations.  The public will have the opportunity to attend the gather on specifically scheduled and escorted visitation days.

Washington, DC – Nevada Senator Harry Reid today released the following statement after learning that two Nellis airmen were killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan on Wednesday: