National Parks

  • The seminal work on public lands livestock grazing and its web of impacts, Welfare Ranching – The Subsidized Destruction of the American West is now available for download.

  • Giant Sequoia May Require High-severity Blazes for their surival. Photo George Wuerthner During the summer of 2020 and 2021, with one of the most severe droughts in California’s recent history, wildfires charred thousands of acres in the Sierra Nevada. Some of the mountain range’s magnificent sequoia groves were among the areas burned. I recently visited…

  • How many people know that in the state of Washington, more wolves are killed by Native people than any other group? You probably haven’t heard about this, even from wolf advocacy groups. How many conservationists know that Native people are among the staunchest advocates for oil development on Alaska’s North Slope, including in the Arctic…

  • Yellowstone was established in 1872 primarily to protect the unique geological thermal features of the park. Photo George Wuerthner  I see almost weekly repetitions of the myths or revisionist history about Yellowstone and critiquing conservation efforts in general, primarily coming from Anthropocene boosters which now include many in leftish politics. In the long run, I…

  • Approximately 5700 cows graze national park lands at Point Reyes National Seashore. Photo George Wuerthner A federal lawsuit against the National Park Service (NPS) at Point Reyes National Seashore was filed on January 10th by four environmental organizations. The lawsuit contends the National Park Service in a new management plan for the Park is putting…

  •   Emigrant Peak and Yellowstone River in Paradise Valley. The East Paradise Grazing Decision will increase grazing by livestock on Emigrant Peak and adjacent areas of the Six Mile Creek drainage, an important area for wildlife. Photo George Wuerthner  The Custer Gallatin National Forest (CGNF) recently released its decision on the future of six East…

  • 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…

  • Old Faithful is emblematic of Yellowstone National Park. Photo George Wuerthner A recent article Return the National Parks to the Tribes in Atlantic Magazine by David Treuer is worth a detailed review because it represents a common set of inaccurate assumptions and historical imprecision about the relationship of conservation, national parks and Native Americans. Rather…

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