Yellowstone
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Hardly a day goes by when we don’t hear in the media and from the Forest Service that fire suppression is responsible for the intensity and size of wildfires. According to proponents, a “hundred years of fire suppression” has permitted the build-up of fuels, and by their assertion, more fuel results in larger conflagrations. However,…
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Yellowstone bison have been subject to evolutionary influences like harsh winters, predators, and other natural agents. Photo George Wuerthner The state, federal and tribal groups involved in the Interagency Bison Management recently announced they would slaughter up to 900 Yellowstone bison this winter. Yellowstone’s wild bison were declared our national mammal in 2016 and are…
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Large blazes like the Camp Fire which leveled this McDonald’s in Paradise CA are driven by extreme fire weather, particularly wind. Active forest management including thinning and prescribe fire does nothing to prevent such blazes. Photo George Wuerthner Recently California Governor Newsom came out with a proposed fire budget of over a billon dollars.…
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We do not want those whose first impulse is to compromise. We want no straddlers, for, in the past, they have surrendered too much good wilderness and primeval areas which should never have been lost. – Bob Marshall on the founding of the Wilderness Society There is an unfortunate tendency on the part…
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State, federal and tribal representatives voted again to slaughter 600-900 Yellowstone Park bison this winter. The agencies and tribes use the less offensive sounding euphemism “cull”. But let’s be honest, what happens is nothing more than butchery done to appease the livestock industry. It is shameful that these agencies and tribes legitimize the annual butchery…
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As we ponder the future of public lands in Montana, including what areas deserve protection as Wilderness, it is worthwhile to look back in history to see how past protective measures were viewed. In 1872 with the establishment of Yellowstone National Park many Montana citizens were outraged. For example, the Helena Gazette opined: “We regard…
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The Louvre Museum in France houses some of the most famous art works in the world, including paintings by such well-known artists as Rembrandt and Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. What would you think if you heard the famous Louvre Museum began to throw out and burn in the streets these priceless masterpieces saying…
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In response to a guest editorial I published in the Missoulian on the shameful slaughter of Yellowstone’s bison, a group of three retired USDA range managers wrote a commentary that was published in the Missoulian on December 30th on Yellowstone’s bison. They argue that bison numbers must be reduced, and thus implicitly supporting the Dept.…