January 2023
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The Gallatin Range south of Bozeman deserves to be preserved as wilderness. Photo George Wuerthner Recently I skied into a Forest Service cabin in the Gallatin Range. Looking out on a meadow with glaciated peaks beyond gave me a chance to reflect on how lucky I was to have public lands available to enjoy. I’ve…
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In Bend in the fall, irrigators draw down of the Deschutes River to the point where fish and other wildlife die or are threatened GEORGE WUERTHNER JANUARY 27, 2023 5:50 AM The Deschutes River narrows after irrigators draw off water in Bend. (Courtesy of George Wuerthner) Many of Oregon’s rivers are drained every summer to…
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With the cultural appropriation of the horse, Indians became effective predators of the West’s bison herds. INTRODUCTION It’s often repeated over and over that commercial hunting by white sharp shooters led to the demise of the large western bison herds. However, there is plenty of evidence that Indian bison hunting led to the demise of…
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Sandstone outcrops and chaparral along Hurricane Deck, San Rafael Wilderness, Los Padres NF, California. Photo George Wuerthner Chaparral is one of California’s most widespread vegetation communities due to the state’s Mediterranean climate of winter precipitation and summer drought. Chaparral is particularly common in the Coast Range, Traverse Ranges, and western slopes of the Sierra Nevada.…
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New road was created for a forest thinning project. Roads are a major location for human ignition. Photo George Wuerthner The Biden administration announced it would spend nearly $930 million fighting wildfire in the West. While the plan includes money for everything from hardening homes to paying for more firefighters, the main thrust of the…
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High-severity blazes are critical to healthy forest ecosystems. Photo George Wuerthner I read yet another study circulated by UC Davis and doggedly promoted by the national media, encouraging more prescribed burning, thinning, and forest manipulation to reduce large high-severity blazes characterized as “bad.” The headline from UC Davis proclaims that scientists have documented, “Unprecedented…
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ABSTRACT: Livestock production occurs in all deserts (except polar deserts). In many desert areas, it is the single most significant human impact. Livestock production includes grazing plants and all associated activities to produce domestic animals. This consists of the dewatering rivers for irrigated forage crops, killing of predators and “pest” species, forage competition between native…
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Air view of Pedro Bay area on Illiamna Lake, Alaska. Photo George Wuerthner In December, the Pedro Bay Native Corporation (PBC) in Alaska placed 44,000 acres of its property under a $20 million conservation easement that may be the nail in the coffin for the proposed Pebble Gold and Copper Mine in Bristol Bay. The…