Public Land Management
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Emigrant Peak and Yellowstone River in Paradise Valley. The East Paradise Grazing Decision will increase grazing by livestock on Emigrant Peak and adjacent areas of the Six Mile Creek drainage, an important area for wildlife. Photo George Wuerthner The Custer Gallatin National Forest (CGNF) recently released its decision on the future of six East…
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Yellowstone bison have been subject to evolutionary influences like harsh winters, predators, and other natural agents. Photo George Wuerthner The state, federal and tribal groups involved in the Interagency Bison Management recently announced they would slaughter up to 900 Yellowstone bison this winter. Yellowstone’s wild bison were declared our national mammal in 2016 and are…
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Comb Wash in Bears Ears National Monument is one of the roadless areas within America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act. Photo George Wuerthner The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance’s (SUWA) 8-million-acre wilderness proposal S. 1535 “America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act” just got an important endorsement from the Dine or Navajo Tribe. President Biden recently expanded the Bears…
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Clearcuts in Swan Range near Seeley Lake, Montana. Photo George Wuerthner Several editorials have been published widely in Montana papers and elsewhere by supporters Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act (BCSA) sponsored by Senator Tester. Many are attacking Senator Daines for his attempt to put a poison pill in the legislation that would remove Wilderness…
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Clearcut and thinning near Susanville, CA failed to halt the spread of the Dixie Fire. Photo George Wuerthner I recently got a message from Oregon Senator Merkley announcing that he supported more thinning and logging of our forests to reduce large wildfires. The irony is that logging/thinning is a primary source of Greenhouse Gas Emissions…
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North Fork of Pogo Agie River, Cirque of the Towers, Wind River Range, Shoshone National Forest, Wyoming. Photo George Wuerthner The Shoshone National Forest lies directly east and south of Yellowstone National Park. It contains some of the most important wildlife habitat in the country, including significant numbers of elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, moose,…
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Cattle tend to congregate in riparian zones because they provide food, water, and shade. Photo George Wuerthner One of the biggest problems in conservation is that people do not miss what they don’t know. How many people really miss the Ivory-Billed woodpecker or Stellar’s sea lion? And I’ve found that people living in the eastern…
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Subsidized logging in the name of fuel reductions on the Deschutes National Forest in Oregon. Logging accounts for 35% of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Oregon. Photo George Wuerthner Congress just passed the big infrastructure bill, and I expect President Biden will sign it—maybe before you read this commentary. Funding is for numerous projects including…