Currently viewing the tag: "livestock"

The Real Cost of a Hamburger

On November 19, 2021 By

The cost of a hamburger does not reflect the cost of this cowbombed land in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Photo George Wuerthner 

Do you know what a Big Mac costs? If you say $4.50 or whatever the current price posted at the McDonald’s restaurant may be, you are vastly under-estimating the […]

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Audubon Society Promotes Livestock Propaganda

On November 16, 2021 By

Cattle grazing and production is one of the most destructive of human activities, if a full accounting of all the costs were considered. Photo George Wuerthner

I recently received a video titled Audubon Conservation Ranching: Hooves on the Ground, Wings in the Air from the Audubon Society. The video promotes beef […]

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A Response to NYT Keeping Cattle On The Move and Carbon In The Soil

On November 2, 2021 By

 

Concentration of cattle and moving them frequently has been proposed as a means of storing carbon in soils. Like other claims that seem to be too good to be true, such assertions fail to do a full accounting of the carbon cycle. Photo George Wuerthner 

A recent New York […]

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Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Proposes to Sell Out Wildlife During Drought

On August 3, 2021 By

Fleecer Mountain Wildlife Management Area is one of the places MDFWP proposes “emergency livestock grazing.” 

The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MDFWP) announced that due to the extreme drought conditions across Montana, it would open up some wildlife management areas (WMA) to livestock grazing and haying. And it will keep […]

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Groups Sue To Eliminate Elk Feedgrounds in Wyoming

On April 16, 2021 By

 

Concentrations of elk by artificial feeding at Wyoming Feedgrounds is spreading diseases like Chronic Wasting Disease. Photo George Wuerthner

Wyoming Fish and Game Department has 22 elk feed grounds scattered around the western part of the state and feeds as many as 17,000 elk every winter. The agency currently has eight […]

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Livestock Influence On Soil Carbon Storage

On April 6, 2021 By

Cattle congregating in the riparian area, Chama, New Mexico. Photo George Wuerthner

SOIL CARBON AND LIVESTOCK

Rangelands make up a large proportion of the Earth’s surface, and the soils hold a significant amount of sequestered carbon (Schuman,G.E et al.  2001). Rangelands are estimated to contain more than one-third of the world’s above […]

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Low Flows Due to Irrigation Destroying Deschutes River

On August 22, 2020 By

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 […]

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PERC and Elk Report on Paradise Valley

On July 31, 2020 By

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 […]

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Response to Upper Green River Allotment Rancher Complaints

On June 3, 2020 By

Pronghorn in Upper Green River Allotment, Bridger Teton NF, Wyoming. Photo by George Wuerthner

A recent article in Wyofile by Argus Thuermer was full of quotes from the ranchers grazing the Upper Green River allotment on the Bridger Teton National Forest in Wyoming.

https://www.wyofile.com/ranchers-grizzly-suit-imperils-rights-wildlife-migrations/

The Upper Green River grazing Allotment at 170,000 […]

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The Problem of Conservation Easements

On April 15, 2020 By

The Washington Post recently published an article that repeated the old and flawed idea that ranching will “protect” the land and suggesting conservation easements are the solution to sprawl. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/expanding-efforts-to-keep-cows-over-condos-are-protecting-land-across-the-west/2020/04/10/96ec2f80-79c6-11ea-9bee-c5bf9d2e3288_story.

If championing cows or hayfields is your conservation policy, one must rethink the strategy. Keep in mind that nearly all the development found along […]

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Quote

‎"At some point we must draw a line across the ground of our home and our being, drive a spear into the land and say to the bulldozers, earthmovers, government and corporations, “thus far and no further.” If we do not, we shall later feel, instead of pride, the regret of Thoreau, that good but overly-bookish man, who wrote, near the end of his life, “If I repent of anything it is likely to be my good behaviour."

~ Edward Abbey