Rancher subsidy for using public grass reaches greatest amount allowed by law-
News from Western Watersheds Project
WASHINGTON―The U.S. Interior Department has reduced fees for grazing cattle and sheep on federal public lands to the minimum allowed under federal law, $1.35 an animal-month. Yesterday’s announcement applies to grazing in national […]
Continue Reading →The BLM just released its decision on its proposed Bruneau Owyhee Sage-grouse Habitat Project (BOSH Project) which will degrade 617,000 acres of southern Idaho by logging juniper, creating linear weed patches known as fire breaks, and using other questionable management strategies, all done, in the name of enhancing sage grouse habitat.
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The Gallatin Forest Partnership (GFP) proposal for the Gallatin Range promoted in a recent commentary by recreation advocacy groups like Livingston Bike Club is a good start in that it recognizes that the Gallatin Range unique wildlands deserve protection. However, it falls far short in providing the best protection for the range. https://etypeservices.com/oLivePubs/eTypesOlive.aspx?PubID=1671&IDT=263078&STRI=Livingston1
Basically, […]
Continue Reading →The threat from House Bill 132
By Jim Bailey
A proposed apparently minor addition to the legal definition of “wild bison” in Montana could eliminate all possibilities for restoring public, wild bison to the state. This seemingly innocent change exists in House Bill 132 which, as of this writing, has passed the Montana House and […]
Continue Reading →Recently Donald Trump used his executive authority to mandate increased logging of our public lands with the goal of reducing wildfire threat to communities. His order instructs land managers to treat (read log) 8.45 million acres of land and cut 4.4 million board feet of timber ostensibly to reduce fire hazard.
Unfortunately, the mandate ignores […]
Continue Reading →Newly approved vegetation “treatment” project is questionable, expensive
News release. Western Watersheds Project
BOISE, Idaho — Today, the Bureau of Land Management approved a plan to log off or tear out native juniper trees from 617,000 acres of public land in Idaho. The agency will cut, shred, and burn juniper trees under the guise […]
Continue Reading →Reader generated wildlife news-
It is time to create a new page of “Reader Generated Wildlife News.” Do not post copyrighted material.
Here is the link to the “old” wildlife news page that began on Nov. 25, 2018. From there you can access links to the many older pages of wildlife news readers created.
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Continue Reading →In his recent commentary “Stop the Blame Game” in the Reno Gazette-Journal, Dennis Golden reveals the dangers of pop culture solutions that lack scientific scrutiny. In his piece, Mr. Golden has many misleading or inaccurate assumptions about livestock production and climate change.
https://www.rgj.com/story/opinion/voices/2019/02/07/stop-blame-game-lets-find-climate-change-solutions-golden/2807017002/
First, he rhetorically asks if it really matters whether global heating is […]
Continue Reading →I’ve visited Wendell State Forest in Massachusetts to explore the area the state proposes logging for “forest health”. In a recent article in the Greenfield Recorder, Leo Roy, State Department of Conservation & Recreation has argued that he fears the forest will become too homogenous and healthiest in the long run.
As a forest ecologist, […]
Continue Reading →Recently the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission approved new smoke rules that relax air quality standards to permit more prescribed burning. The assumption behind the new standards is that greater prescribed burning in spring and fall will reduce smoke from wildfires in the summer.
Prior to the new regulations, agencies doing prescribed burning had minimal windows […]
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