Category: National Parks
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Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act Reintroduced
The Beartooth Mountains contain some of the most extensive alpine terrain in the Rockies. Photo by George Wuerthner The Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA) is the most comprehensive and ecologically defensible legislation currently before Congress. The Act was first introduced in 1993. NREPA was reintroduced by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Representative Madeleine Dean, who…
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Public Lands Are Part Of Our Nation’s Inheritance
America’s public lands are one of the Nation’s most outstanding achievements. Public lands are part of every citizen’s heritage and an essential part of the national inheritance. It is especially vital to the people living in the western states, where we enjoy an abundance of public land. The public domain is critical to our perception…
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Why Tribal Co-Management Is A Threat to Our Public Lands
Given the wrecking ball the Trump administration is taking to our public lands and public values, it might seem trivial to worry about tribal co-management. Our public lands are among the most democratic of American institutions. Every American has a right to voice their opinion about public lands management, but no group should be elevated…
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The Need For More Wilderness Preservation
Big W, or designated wilderness as prescribed under the 1964 Wilderness Act, is one of the most biocentric pieces of legislation ever passed by Congress. Under the Act’s mandate, federal lands that meet the essential criteria of roadless character and “untrammeled” by human influence will be protected from resource exploitation so that natural evolutionary and…
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Conservation Transfer Program Degrades Wild Bison
A recent article in the Bozeman Chronicle described the Yellowstone “Bison Conservation” Transfer Program. The federal government is transferring public bison that belong to all Americans to tribal reservations, which is essentially a privatization of public wildlife. In the process, they are accelerating the domestication of wild bison from Yellowstone National Park. Restoration and conservation…
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The Meaning of Virginia Park
NOTE: Written in 2018, I offer this as a response to a TWN reader curious about “fortress preservation”. Once a year the NPS offers a guided tour so you, too, can experience a preserved piece of public lands [w/o citation & monetary fine].) In the 1990s I worked at Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park. I…
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Conservation Efforts In The Trump Era
After Donald Trump’s election, many wildlands advocates have become depressed and disheartened and feel that conservation efforts are over. The Trump administration will no doubt try to eliminate, thwart, or dismantle conservation laws and policies. It is important to remember this is nothing new. The old phrase “two steps forward and one step back” often…
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Questions About Jemez Pueblo Lawsuit at Valles Caldera Preserve, New Mexico
Below is a news item from Caldera Action, an advocacy group for the Valles Caldera Preserve in New Mexico. The Jemez Pueblo won a lawsuit that, among other things, gives them “aboriginal title” to a portion of Valles Caldera Preserve. The suit essentially gives the tribe exclusive privileges to the Jemez Pueblo to hunt, gather…