ISTOCK, STEVEGEERUpdate (February 15): The US district judge who had ordered Idaho's Department of Fish and Game to destroy the illegally obtained data says the action can wait until the appeals court weighs in. According to the Associated Press, Judge B. Lynn Winmill maintains that the state cannot use the data in the meantime.
Officials from Idaho’s Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) are fighting a federal court order to destroy data collected from tracking collars on elks and wolves in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, a protected area.
In January, a US district court in Idaho ruled that that the US Forest Service had violated environmental laws by authorizing IDFG to land helicopters and collar animals in an area where engines are prohibited, the Associated Press reports. Officials had illegally collared around 60 elks and four wolves around two years ago.
Three environmental groups, including Western Watersheds Project, Friends of the Clearwater, and Wilderness Watch, filed the lawsuit in January 2016 after they found out about the helicopter flights.
US district judge Lynn Winmill had ...
