Casual readers of news coverage of the recent armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge might reasonably assume that the Refuge is strictly protected from livestock grazing. After all, that’s one of the things the vigilantes were protesting, right? The big, bad federal government locked up the lands from grazing and they were there […]
Continue Reading →by George Wuerthner
Introduction
Livestock production is a contributing factor in the decline of many western species, including birds (Wuerthner and Matteson 2002). This is not surprising given the amount of land utilized for animal agriculture, including public and private lands. Approximately 578 million out of 1.9 billion acres in the West are grassland pasture […]
Continue Reading →Safeguards needed to prevent population declines in the Whooping Crane and Greater Sage-Grouse, and reduce mass mortality among eagles and songbirds
The American Bird Conservancy weighs in on wind farms and their concerns for many rare bird species.
Wind Development Threatens Iconic American Birds.
American Bird Conservancy Press Release
17,000 dead bats/year in Oregon before a proposed 15-fold increase in wind energy.
The drumbeat behind the “green energy” movement is beating louder for wind farms across the landscape, especially on public lands. At the rate that things are going there may be huge effects on bats and birds of many types. Oregon Field Guide […]
Continue Reading →Memorial Day Weekend Trip in Photos
My wife and I went to Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Southeastern Oregon for Memorial Day weekend to do some bird watching and a little fishing. I had intended to post this shortly afterwards but other stories and a trip to Massachusetts and Maine got in the way.
We […]
Continue Reading →Human activity is indirectly adding large birds to skies near airports-
Don’t Blame Mother Nature for the Crash. The editors. 2 articles. New York Times
Continue Reading →Wind turbines and birds-
“A recent study has concluded that wind turbines pose less of a risk to farmland birds than previously thought.”
Birds Not At Risk From Wind Turbines [misleading headline]. Red Orbit.
While the study on European farmland birds shows small effect — good news — the headline above overgeneralizes.
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