ABSTRACT: Livestock production occurs in all deserts (except polar deserts). In many desert areas, it is the single most significant human impact. Livestock production includes grazing plants and all associated activities to produce domestic animals. This consists of the dewatering rivers for irrigated forage crops, killing of predators and “pest” species, forage competition between native […]
Continue Reading →The Rewilding the West proposal calls for the restoration of wolves across federal lands. Photo George Wuerthner
The current Farm Bill, which Congress passed in 2018, is set to expire in 2023. Congress will undoubtedly enact a new Farm Bill.
The Farm Bill provides an opportunity to incorporate the provisions of the […]
Continue Reading →Domestic sheep grazing in the Gravelly Range, Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, Montana. Photo George Wuerthner
A recent article on the Helle family and their domestic sheep grazing operations on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest was published In a November Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
The piece was a puff piece on the sheep grazing practices […]
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Colorado River inner gorge from Tuweep (Tonoweap) overlook, Grand Canyon NP, AZ. Photo George Wuerthner
Seven states utilize the Colorado River water for irrigation and domestic water supplies. It is the sixth longest river in the continental United States, and its watershed covers 8% of the lower 48 states.
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Continue Reading →Tribal hunting is the most significant source of mortality for Washington wolves. Photo George Wuerthner
It may surprise most conservationists and wolf advocates, but the single largest source of wolf mortality in Washington State is trapping and hunting on tribal reservations.
One wolf advocate I contacted who puts out a weekly wolf […]
Continue Reading →Restoration of wolves in the Western Rewilding Network would help “heal” the West. Photo George Wuerthner
A new study published in Bioscience proposes rewilding the West with a system of wildland reserves to restore the ecological integrity of the landscape. The proposal follows President Biden’s plan to manage 30 percent of […]
Continue Reading →The ecological impacts of livestock production is significant and there is seldom a full accounting of these costs. Photo George Wuerthner
Livestock is responsible for more ecological damage to the western landscape than any other human activity. However, few accounting of these impacts is ever compiled. One source is my book Continue Reading →
Yellowstone National Park brings out the best in society. Photo George Wuerthner
I spent the past week in Yellowstone National Park. I was grateful to the people who had the courage and foresight to establish Yellowstone in 1872.
It was with gratitude that I watched grizzly bears playing among the meadows. Gratitude […]
Continue Reading →Livestock grazing in the arid West has a disproportionate impact on ecosystems. but especially on public lands which are to be managed for other values.
Photo George Wuerthner
Representatives Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) introduced the Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Act of 2022. The Act would […]
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