On May 31, 2023, the West lost one of its most ardent wildlife advocates, Dr. James (Jim) Bailey of Belgrade, Montana died peacefully at home. He was 89.
I saw Jim in Bozeman in mid-April. He attended a lecture I gave for Earth Day Celebrations and then, during the same week, gave a Continue Reading →
Remains of a home burned in the Camp Fire which destroyed 19,000 structures in the town of Paradise, California. Photo George Wuerthner
State Farm Insurance Company announced it would no longer take on new insurance clients in California due to the rising cost of fire-related losses.
The company cited “rapidly growing” catastrophe […]
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The Upper Green River alloment and Wind River Range beyond. Photo George Wuerthner
The Upper Green River near Pinedale, Wyoming under the administration of the Bridger Teton National Forest (BTNF) is one of the most biologically important areas of the entire Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Anyplace else, the Upper Green would be […]
Continue Reading →Heavily logged lands failed to preclude the 2007 Jocko Lake Fire near Seeley Lake, Montana. Photo George Wuerthner
Recently Senator Daines spoke at the Professional Fire Fighters conference in Bozeman. Daines advocated more management of our forests, believing that we can chainsaw our way to “forest health.”
Senator Daines can be forgiven […]
Continue Reading →The Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park. Photo George Wuerthner
New legislation, the Save Our Sequoias Act (SOSA) promoted by Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy seeks to increase “fuel reductions” such as logging and prescribed burns around California’s iconic sequoia groves.
Who isn’t for “saving” sequoias, the largest and some of […]
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Eagle Creek six years after the wildfire. Photo George Wuerthner
In September 2017, the Eagle Creek Wildfire scorched 50,000 acres in the Columbia River Gorge east of Portland. Numerous media accounts suggested the blaze “destroyed,” “damaged,” and devastated the forest communities.
Wildflowers are favored by wildfire. Photo George […]
Continue Reading →Livestock is one of the major factors in cheatgrass invasion across the West. Photo George Wuerthner
Wildfire is a big issue in Western states. As climate warming has increased temperatures, created severe drought, and increased winds, wildfire has become more challenging to control, and the annual acreage burned is growing over the […]
Continue Reading →The 1988 Fires burned approximately half of Yellowstone National Park and provided a significant natural laboratory to review the effects of wildfire on aquatic ecosystems. Photo George Wuerthner
Most people assume that wildfire harms aquatic ecosystems and fisheries. But such assumptions are being challenged by new research.
This narrative misleadingly portrays mixed-intensity […]
Continue Reading →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, […]
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