Eagle Creek six years after the wildfire. Photo George Wuerthner
In September 2017, the Eagle Creek Wildfire scorched 50,000 acres in the Columbia River Gorge east of Portland. Numerous media accounts suggested the blaze “destroyed,” “damaged,” and devastated the forest communities.
Wildflowers are favored by wildfire. Photo George […]
Continue Reading →The 1988 Fires burned approximately half of Yellowstone National Park and provided a significant natural laboratory to review the effects of wildfire on aquatic ecosystems. Photo George Wuerthner
Most people assume that wildfire harms aquatic ecosystems and fisheries. But such assumptions are being challenged by new research.
This narrative misleadingly portrays mixed-intensity […]
Continue Reading →Grayling are one of the unique fish species found in Montana, and part of its natural heritage. Occupying less than 10% of its former historic habitat, the fish is in jeopardy of extinction. Political interference and agency intransigence are the major obstacles for reversing the fish’s fortune. As such, the grayling is case study in […]
Continue Reading →The bull trout, a char, is listed under the Endangered Species Act as threatened in the lower 48 states. It has been extirpated from about 60 percent of its natural range. Worse, like many native salmonids, it is primarily found in headwater streams with little connectivity to larger river systems. The bull trout is a top apex predator, and as a […]
Continue Reading →Aasif Mandvi delivers the fake news about Idaho’s two-headed fish from a creek below Simplot’s Smokey Canyon Mine. Selenium has been a problem associated with the massive amount of phosphate mining that is taking place in eastern Idaho.
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Human evolutionary pressure has favored species that have short lifespans, begin to reproduce early, and are small-
The findings detailed in the article below are entirely predictable. By selectively killing (overfishing) the largest fish (and biggest animals) humans unintentionally guide the course of evolution to favor the small, quick reproducers. While human caused, this result […]
Continue Reading →The fish is in serious trouble due to dams on the Lower Snake and Columbia Rivers
The Pacific Lamprey had seen drastic declines in population over the last few decades and is quickly becoming a rare sight. Last year it was estimated that only 30,000 crossed Bonneville Dam, down from 350 million to 400 million […]
Continue Reading →Good or bad, they’re everywhere.
Introductions of rainbow trout have caused the extinction of many species and are one of the primary reasons that inland sub-species of cutthroat in the western US have declined, or in some cases become entirely extinct.
The Yellowfin, Waha Lake, and Alvord cutthroats, of Colarado Idaho, and Oregon respectively, have […]
Continue Reading →On Energy Development, Hunters and Anglers Push Back. By Chris Hunt. New West.
Hunt also introduces us to a new group, Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development.
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