Sometimes a “win” is the fight you don’t have to have. Instead of victories proclaimed from the steps of the courthouse, some wins are the quiet kind which involve not having to go back to court at all.
Western Watersheds Project and our allies recently had such a win, in a […]
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Western Watersheds Project (the organization that I am the Executive Director of), WildEarth Guardians and the Center for Biological Diversity are fighting the reinstatement of grazing on four allotments in eastern Oregon that are permitted to Hammond Ranches. In part, we argue that the Hammonds don’t have a great track record and are thus undeserving […]
Continue Reading →I wrote this review of the potential for wolf restoration in Oregon back in 1998. It is interesting to see that many of the predictions I made have materialized.
Author: George Wuerthner
ABSTRACT: Wolves (Canis lupus) were native to Oregon, and reported from throughout the state. Like much of the West, wolves were persecuted and […]
Continue Reading →The Oregon spotted frog was originally found throughout wetlands in Oregon and Washington. It is the most aquatic of all native frogs. It is always located near perennial water sources.
Draining of these wetlands, livestock grazing, and dams have significantly reduced its habitat. For instance, 95% of the wetlands in the Willamette Valley and […]
Continue Reading →I sometimes feel like I am going back in time when I visit Idaho. The attitudes of Idaho lawmakers and some citizens seems like a time warp. A step backward to the “good old days” is represented by the Idaho Fish and Game Commission who voted to spend $23,069 to help fund a $1000 wolf […]
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Reprinted from Waco Tribune-Herald March 9, 2019
By Steve Holmer, American Bird Conservancy
Wildlife experts concluded in 2015 that the Greater Sage-Grouse, an iconic bird of the West, did not require listing under the Endangered Species Act, thanks to then-new federal management plans with added conservation requirements. Many conservation groups, including American Bird […]
Continue Reading →The killing of a wolf pup near Corral Creek by Sun Valley was done to protect John Peavy’s business Flat Top Sheep Company. Once again this raises the question of why public wildlife should be killed to increase the profitability of private enterprises operating on our public lands.
It is especially disconcerting that Peavy did […]
Continue Reading →WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House of Representatives voted 196 to 180 along heavily partisan lines to approve a bill (H.R. 6784) to de-list the gray wolf nationwide under the Endangered Species Act, and to block courts from considering violations of federal law for wolves under the Endangered Species […]
Continue Reading →Editor’s note: many articles were written about this back in 2015-16. It was one of the most serious attempts in Utah, Idaho or Wyoming commonly know as “ag-gag bills,” to make it very hard for public interest groups to collect data about possible illegal practices against consumers and the environment in the agricultural sector, especially […]
Continue Reading →Federal Judge Dana Christensen threw out the Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) decision to delist the Yellowstone grizzly bear and returned the bear to Endangered Species Act protection. The decision effectively precluded (for now) the hunting of the bear in Idaho and Wyoming.
The judge agreed with plaintiffs that the FWS […]
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