Senators Steve Daines of Montana and Diane Feinstein of California have once again introduced legislation, the “Emergency Wildfire and Public Safety Act of 2020” that is based upon misguided assumptions that fuel reductions will preclude the large blazes occurring as the West.
Never mind that climate change is the driving force in all these fires […]
Continue Reading →The recent article “Low Flows On Deschutes” highlights why irrigation is a significant threat to our river’s ecological integrity. https://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/environment/sudden-drops-in-deschutes-river-worries-biologists/article_c0f8df66-e3df-11ea-8d00-53d8f511683c.html
The majority of water removed from the Deschutes is used to grow irrigated pasture and hay for livestock not crops consumed directly by humans. Photo by George Wuerthner
According to […]
Continue Reading →Paradise Valley, Montana. Photo by George Wuerthner
Paradise Valley, Montana, is aptly named. The Yellowstone River flows north to Livingston, Montana, framed by the Absaroka Mountains on the east and the Gallatin Range on the West. It’s one of the most stunning landscapes in the entire West.
Due to its location […]
Continue Reading →Looking down Cache Creek from Republic Pass, Yellowstone NP, WY
One of the many excuses used to justify “thinning” and logging today is to preclude massive wildfires. Notwithstanding, there is considerable evidence that such actions do not impede large fires, which only occur during extreme fire weather; people still use this as an […]
Continue Reading →Endangered Oregon spotted frog habitat dried up by changes in river flow to accommodate the irrigation district. Photo George Wuerthner
I took a run along the Deschutes River in Bend’s Riverbend Park the other day. The one thing I noticed is that the river is nearly opaque. You can see down maybe […]
Continue Reading →The Deschutes River was once one of the gems of the West. Due to numerous springs, its flow was nearly constant throughout the year. Clean and cold, it supported huge numbers of native trout, and other associated wildlife like the river otter, mink, bald eagles, and Oregon spotted frog.
Sadly, the river has been degraded […]
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Photos courtesy of Escalante Watershed Partnership
Among the more egregious recent decisions of the Utah Bureau of Land Management is to open 50,000 acres of the Escalante River within the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument to renewed livestock grazing. The Escalante was so remote that it was the last major river to […]
Continue Reading →The Oregon spotted frog was originally found throughout wetlands in Oregon and Washington. It is the most aquatic of all native frogs. It is always located near perennial water sources.
Draining of these wetlands, livestock grazing, and dams have significantly reduced its habitat. For instance, 95% of the wetlands in the Willamette Valley and […]
Continue Reading →An article in the November 9th Bend Bulletin reported that due to low water reserves, the Bureau of Reclamation that controls water release from Prineville Reservoir may limit flows in the Crooked River to preserve water for irrigators to the detriment of fish and the Crooked River’s aquatic ecosystem. https://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/6666523-151/low-flows-dry-winter-could-spell-trouble-for
In a previous low […]
Continue Reading →The 55,990 acre San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (SPRNCA) south of Tucson, Arizona has one of the most intact riparian cottonwood gallery and mesquite bosque forests left in the Southwest. It is a precious gem threatened by the BLM’s new management proposal that would make 26,000 acres available to livestock grazing and […]
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