Commentary...Arizona environmental group found guilty of false accusation and libel.
Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 5:12 pm
Commentary...
Arizona environmental group found guilty of false accusation and libel
By Gretchen Randall
March 15, 2005
Recently a jury found the radical environmental group, Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), guilty of making "false, unfair, libelous, and defamatory statements" against an Arizona rancher, Jim Chilton.
The jury awarded Chilton $100,000 in actual damages and $500,000 in punitive damages for defaming him. CBD had posted a link on its website in 2002, to 21 photos of his grazing allotment, that the jury decided were false and misleading, in an effort to block renewal of Chilton's grazing permit. The jury also found CBD incorrectly described the condition of the allotment, northwest of Nogales.
Chilton said he filed the suit to challenge the way CBD does business. "They don't use science, they use scare tactics. They also use endangered species as surrogates to obtain their own goals and to raise money," according to Chilton, who says he will donate the money remaining after his expenses to the Arizona Cattle Growers Association.
Mr. Chilton and his wife are allowed to graze between 400 and 500 head of cattle on the "Montana allotment" on the border between Arizona and New Mexico. The 21,500 acre allotment is in the Coronado National Forest, and managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Comment 1: The table is turned on this group, which has destroyed many people's livelihoods and businesses over the years.
Comment 2: Exactly as Mr. Chilton has said, this group has used the Endangered Species Act to further its goals, and as a fundraising tool. It's time a jury has told them to stop using these tactics to put ranchers out of business.
Background and links:
The lawsuit named not only the Center for Biological Diversity, but also four of its current and former employees: Martin Taylor, Shane Jimerfield, A.J. Schneller, and Kieran Suckling.
In 1996, the CBD, then known as the Southwest Center for Biological Diversity, filed a lawsuit that virtually stopped timber harvesting in eleven national forests in the Southwest, claiming that the U.S. Forest Service was not sufficiently protecting the Mexican spotted owl.
CBD has an annual budget of $2.9 million and assets of $2.4 million. For more information about the case, you may contact Mr. Chilton's attorney, Kraig Marton at 602-570-3510.
Arizona environmental group found guilty of false accusation and libel
By Gretchen Randall
March 15, 2005
Recently a jury found the radical environmental group, Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), guilty of making "false, unfair, libelous, and defamatory statements" against an Arizona rancher, Jim Chilton.
The jury awarded Chilton $100,000 in actual damages and $500,000 in punitive damages for defaming him. CBD had posted a link on its website in 2002, to 21 photos of his grazing allotment, that the jury decided were false and misleading, in an effort to block renewal of Chilton's grazing permit. The jury also found CBD incorrectly described the condition of the allotment, northwest of Nogales.
Chilton said he filed the suit to challenge the way CBD does business. "They don't use science, they use scare tactics. They also use endangered species as surrogates to obtain their own goals and to raise money," according to Chilton, who says he will donate the money remaining after his expenses to the Arizona Cattle Growers Association.
Mr. Chilton and his wife are allowed to graze between 400 and 500 head of cattle on the "Montana allotment" on the border between Arizona and New Mexico. The 21,500 acre allotment is in the Coronado National Forest, and managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Comment 1: The table is turned on this group, which has destroyed many people's livelihoods and businesses over the years.
Comment 2: Exactly as Mr. Chilton has said, this group has used the Endangered Species Act to further its goals, and as a fundraising tool. It's time a jury has told them to stop using these tactics to put ranchers out of business.
Background and links:
The lawsuit named not only the Center for Biological Diversity, but also four of its current and former employees: Martin Taylor, Shane Jimerfield, A.J. Schneller, and Kieran Suckling.
In 1996, the CBD, then known as the Southwest Center for Biological Diversity, filed a lawsuit that virtually stopped timber harvesting in eleven national forests in the Southwest, claiming that the U.S. Forest Service was not sufficiently protecting the Mexican spotted owl.
CBD has an annual budget of $2.9 million and assets of $2.4 million. For more information about the case, you may contact Mr. Chilton's attorney, Kraig Marton at 602-570-3510.
