COOLIN, Idaho (AP) — Endangered woodland caribou are struggling to survive in the United States, occupying only one remote corner of the Pacific Northwest.
The federal government has proposed designating 600 square miles in Idaho and Washington as critical habitat in an effort to save this last U.S. herd of about 40 animals.
But the plan has touched a raw nerve in the deeply conservative region, where the federal government is already viewed as a job destroyer because of restrictions on logging and other activities.
A recent public meeting on the habitat proposal drew a crowd of 200 angry people, several of whom lambasted government officials for allegedly trying to destroy their local lifestyle.
