Martha Hahn: Eco-Warrior

As the Director of Idaho BLM early in the GW Bush administration, Martha worked to protect fragile resources from destructive overgrazing and was targeted for removal by then-U.S. Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho). Craig denounced BLM's decision to restrict grazing in Owyhee County, calling the BLM action "an affront" that he would try to reverse--and as a result, the agency transferred Martha to a non-job and she resigned rather than accept the transfer. 

Martha came to PEER and we publicized the purge. That effort made her a poster child for the new era of political controls inside Bush’s Interior Department.

Years later, Martha resumed federal employment, this time as Assoc. Superintendent at Grand Canyon National Park. She asked PEER to lead the charge in defeating a scheme to expand hunting of hybridized bison inside the park. The plan, outlined in a Park Service report, would permanently maintain a "cattalo" herd inside the park, turning a portion of the park into a game farm to be run in partnership with the Arizona game agency. PEER’s aggressive opposition helped bury that plan.

Support PEER's work defending courageous eco-champions like Martha. 

News releases

BLM IDAHO DIRECTOR FORCED TO RESIGN

GRAND CANYON TRANSFORMING INTO GAME FARM FOR HYBRID BISON