Recent news stories focus on how a conservation easement on a large ranch in northwest Colorado is blocking a major new transmission line, and therefore stalling the enormous Chokecherry-Sierra Madre wind farm in southcentral Wyoming. While these articles make some valid points about the need for renewable energy, they gloss over the reality that […]
Continue Reading →The Bighorn National Forest is one of the hidden gems of the West. With peaks towering to over 13,000 feet and spacious flower-studded meadows, the forest is an underappreciated scenic and wildlife haven of the West.
The Cloud Peak Wilderness on the Bighorn National Forest is a lake-studded area of granite basins. […]
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By Jocelyn Leroux, Washington and Montana Director, Western Watersheds Project
This year has proven deadly for many of Montana’s wildlife species. From outrageously regressive rules governing gray wolf management to opening numerous Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) to livestock operations free of charge, the priorities of Montana’s decision makers have been on full display. Wildlife […]
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*Post authored by Greta Anderson and Emily Renn
Photo courtesy of NY Wolf Conservation Center, https://nywolf.org
In the Arizona Republic article, “Anubis, a Mexican gray wolf found outside his territory, is relocated amid outcry from scientists, advocates,” (August 18, 2021), Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Jim deVos provided […]
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Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho. Photo George Wuerthner
Though most conservation groups focus on federal lands, a neglected area of concern are state properties. Throughout the West, most of these lands are either leased for timber cutting or livestock grazing.
Although there are limited ways that conservation groups can influence state management (or […]
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 […]
In July, the Bureau of Land Management rounded up the vast majority of Utah’s Onaqui wild horse herd. Pressed by a lawsuit, the Bureau’s Salt Lake Field Manager testified under oath that an emergency roundup was necessary because wild horses were in poor and declining health and would need to be euthanized if left […]
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** Guest post by Richard Spotts**
An open letter from a former Bureau of Land Management employee to Secretary Deb Haaland.
Dear Secretary Haaland:
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in your Interior Department is broken and I know how you can and should fix it.
BLM’s dominant management culture has long been (and […]
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**Guest post by Adam Bronstein, Oregon/Nevada Director for Western Watersheds Project
In the past year, the gray wolf has once again been in the national spotlight due to terrible changes in federal and state policies. Last October, wolves nationwide lost protections under the federal Endangered Species Act despite their low numbers or complete absence […]
Continue Reading →Restoration of wild bison will require large landscapes. Photo George Wuerthner
Bison were critical ecosystem influences on grasslands of North America, particularly in the Great Plains “bison belt.” They provided prey or carrion for wolves, grizzlies, other smaller predators and scavengers, and food for humans. In addition, bison grazing patterns influenced vegetation […]
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