The Trump administration is stampeding ahead with a rewrite of the regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This landmark law requires federal agencies to study—and let the public weigh in on—the environmental impacts of federal actions. Ironically, given NEPA’s central purpose of including the public in environmental decision-making, the Trump administration is […]
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*This piece is authored by Talasi Brooks, Staff Attorney at Western Watersheds Project
President Trump’s proposed new rollbacks of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations will not only accelerate destructive infrastructure projects, they will also cut environmental concerns out of decision-making for livestock grazing on millions of acres of public lands. Where […]
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(Written by Talasi Brooks)
I recently testified before the Idaho Fish and Game Commission opposing proposals to increase wolf-killing and allow glorified wolf baiting in Idaho. I pointed out that since the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) does not have a wolf population estimate based on radio collar data and aerial surveys, increasing […]
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Wolves are smart, family-oriented animals and science demonstrates that problems with livestock increase following wolf removals. So why does the government keep removing wolves in response to conflict with livestock and hope that solves the same problem?
Right now, in the Gila National Forest, there is a wolf family that is facing a huge amount […]
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The Gallatin Valley from the air showing that Ag fields dominate the valley (George Wuerthner).
The recent commentary promoting agriculture by Brenden Weiner of the Gallatin Valley Land Trust was full of misinformation. https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/county/gallatin-county-open-lands-program-changes-with-shift-from-bond/article_a93eff24-eaec-5005-8b70-a442972d5627.html
Weiner suggested that “working farmlands grow our food, provide scenic open space, give wildlife […]
Continue Reading →The recent announcement of the Townsend RY Lumber Mill closure in Townsend, Montana continues a trend seen throughout the country. Although RY Lumber suggests this is due to environmental regulations or lawsuits, a broader context demonstrates this is a flawed argument.
The timber industry has been going through a transition for decades. The bulk […]
Continue Reading →Matt Shea (R-Spokane), a member of the Washington State House of Representatives, has been kicked out of the Republican caucus for planning, engaging in, or supporting Cliven Bundy domestic terrorism. It’s about time elected officials stood up to his family efforts to take away our public lands. . . Ralph Maughan, editor
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Continue Reading →Reader generated wildlife news beginning on Dec. 29, 2019
It is time to create a new page of “Reader Generated Wildlife News.” Do not post copyrighted material.
Here is the link to the “old” wildlife news page that began on July 25, 2019 From there you can access links to the many older pages […]
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Western Watersheds Project sued the Arizona Bureau of Land Management today for bringing a long-dead grazing permit back to life and handing it off to a new permittee without any public process. WWP’s press release with a link to the complaint is online here.
After nearly thirty years of no authorized grazing (but Continue Reading →
The recent commentary by Mark Nelson in the San Francisco Chronicle, who works for the Ag industry, suggesting that grazing by goats and other livestock can help reduce wildfire losses in California deserves qualification. https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/How-goats-can-help-prevent-California-wildfires-14871742.php
As a landscape response to large fires, grazing is no solution. In many ecosystems, particularly in the parts of the […]
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