From the monthly archives: May 2021

Post-fire logging (deceptively termed “salvage”)  after the Pole Creek Fire on Deschutes NF removes carbon, biomass and degrades forest ecosystems. Photo George Wuerthner

In a recent May 29 Bend Bulletin article, Senator Merkley asserted he “wants to boost spending on forest management by $1 billion annually through work, such as thinning and […]

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The Catron County fearmongers are at it again, complaining to the State Land Commissioner of New Mexico that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s cross-fostering of wolf pups somehow puts residents at risk and, “jeopardizes the lives” of New Mexicans.

Representative Yvette Herrell cried wolf to New Mexico State Land Commissioner in early May, […]

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Mount Jefferson in Alta Toquima Wilderness, Humboldt Toiyabe NF, Nevada. Photo George Wuerthner 

The Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest (HTNF), primarily in Nevada, has 40 vacant allotments. Vacant allotments mean they once were grazed, but for various reasons currently do not have any livestock grazing.

Rather than permanently closing allotments that are currently […]

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The aftermath of the Las Conchas  Blaze in 2011 in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico. Photo George Wuerthner 

 

An excellent overview of wildfire issues was published in the Revelator. https://therevelator.org/wildfire-archive/

I encourage folks to review it.

I especially appreciate the linkage of recent large fires to drought and […]

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Thinned lodgepole pine forest on Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest. As often is the case, thinning puts more “fine” fuels on the ground which can promote fire spread. Photo George Wuerthner 

Montana Senator Daines announced that he intends to reintroduce wildfire legislation co-sponsored by California Senator Diane Feinstein that, among other things, would […]

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Deep pools in Jack Creek on the Antelope Grazing Allotment is prime Oregon spotted frog habitat. Photo George Wuerthner 

It is not every day that one can claim success in fighting public land degradation from domestic livestock. But the Fremont Winema National Forest in Oregon finally responded to conservationists’ concerns (and […]

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Large blazes like the Camp Fire which leveled this McDonald’s in Paradise CA are driven by extreme fire weather, particularly wind. Active forest management including thinning and prescribe fire does nothing to prevent such blazes. Photo George Wuerthner 

Recently California Governor Newsom came out with a proposed fire budget of over […]

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Conservation groups have long been saying that cross-fostering of Mexican wolf pups into wild dens won’t work as the only tool for the necessary genetic rescue of the wild population. We want adult, well-bonded pairs released from captivity with their pups, if possible, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been balking at this […]

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Hoback Peak in the Wyoming Range, Bridger Teton NF, Wyoming. Photo George Wuerthner

A recent proposal by the Bridger Teton National Forest threatens the ability to retire grazing allotments on public lands through permit buyout.

Grazing on public lands is a privilege, not a right. Nevertheless, the political power of the livestock […]

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For the past decade, there has been a raging debate among conservationists over how best for humanity to interact with nature to create a better future. Here, I will argue that defining our current era as the Anthropocene epoch, in which the mark of human impact has reached every corner of the globe, has […]

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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