ELKO, Nev. (AP) — Nevada ranchers are upset about a deal between the builder of a 680-mile natural gas pipeline and two environmental groups that agreed to drop their opposition to the project stretching from Oregon to Wyoming.
El Paso Corp. agreed earlier this month to contribute $20 million over the next two years toward conservation efforts in the pipeline corridor to be overseen by the Idaho-based Western Watersheds Project and Oregon Natural Desert Foundation.
State Sen. Dean Rhoads is a rancher himself in Elko County, where part of the pipeline is planned. He says they are angry because the two groups intend to use some of the money to try to buy out livestock grazing permits from willing sellers and permanently retire them.
Rhoads says they intend to “fight it tooth and nail.”
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Information from: Elko Daily Free Press, http://www.elkodaily.com
