Currently viewing the tag: "ranching"

The once gin clear Deschutes River near Bend, Oregon  is now a pea-green or dirty blonde due to irrigation degradation of the river. Photo George Wuerthner 

This past week I hiked along the Upper Deschutes River. It was a pea-green color, or maybe you might say dirty blonde. Whatever adjective you like, […]

Continue Reading

 

Targeted grazing seeks to create vegetation free zones, which advocates suggest will assist firefighters in controlling blazes. However, the collateral damage from grazing vastly exceeds any benefits. Photo George Wuerthner 

A recent article in the Post Register described the research that the University of Idaho Range Department conducted on Continue Reading

 

Emigrant Peak and Yellowstone River Valley. Several of the East Paradise Allotments include the Six Mile drainage which lies to the right of the peak in this photo. Photo Georger Wuerthner 

The Custer Gallatin National Forest (CGNF) in Montana recently completed an evaluation of six grazing allotments known as the East […]

Continue Reading

Livestock grazing in the arid West has a disproportionate impact on ecosystems. but especially on public lands which are to be managed for other values.
Photo George Wuerthner 

Representatives Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) introduced the Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Act of 2022. The Act would […]

Continue Reading

Approximately 5700 cows graze national park lands at Point Reyes National Seashore. Photo George Wuerthner

A federal lawsuit against the National Park Service (NPS) at Point Reyes National Seashore was filed on January 10th by four environmental organizations. The lawsuit contends the National Park Service in a new management plan for the […]

Continue Reading

 

The Elk Ridge Complex grazing allotments were closed to livestock grazing in 2015. Now the BTNF wants to open them to cattle grazing. Photo George Wuerthner 

The Bridger Teton National Forest (BTNF) has recently issued an Environmental Assessment to restock four vacant grazing allotments in the Upper Green River drainage north […]

Continue Reading

 

The Mogollon Mountains of the Gila Wilderness, New Mexico is the heart of the Greater Gila Ecosystem. Photo George Wuerthner

 

I have spent most of my adult life living within, exploring, learning about, and trying to protect the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. It is one of the premier wildlands in the […]

Continue Reading

Chapter 3:
Rewilding on a Global Scale: a
Crucial Element in Addressing
the Biodiversity Crisis
George Wuerthner
30
Rewilding on a Global Scale
According to the report, the average abundance of native species
has declined by 20% since 1900. Other groups have suffered
significant declines, including […]

Continue Reading

Fleecer Mountain Wildlife Management Area is one of the places MDFWP proposes “emergency livestock grazing.” 

The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MDFWP) announced that due to the extreme drought conditions across Montana, it would open up some wildlife management areas (WMA) to livestock grazing and haying. And it will keep […]

Continue Reading

Black-tailed praire dog. Photo by George Wuerthner

Years ago, I went out of my way to visit the Thunder Basin National Grassland. With a name like “Thunder Basin,” how could I resist.

The Thunder Basin National Grassland is located in northeastern Wyoming in the Powder River Basin between the Big Horn Mountains and […]

Continue Reading

Calendar

June 2023
S M T W T F S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930  

Quote

‎"At some point we must draw a line across the ground of our home and our being, drive a spear into the land and say to the bulldozers, earthmovers, government and corporations, “thus far and no further.” If we do not, we shall later feel, instead of pride, the regret of Thoreau, that good but overly-bookish man, who wrote, near the end of his life, “If I repent of anything it is likely to be my good behaviour."

~ Edward Abbey