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I studied geography in grad school. One of the basic premises of geography is that maps can show graphical concepts and ideas that might not be obvious with other forms of communication. The map of roads in Greater Yellowstone serves as a powerful tool, revealing a reality that many fail to grasp. Despite the protection…
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Cattle grazing, a practice that dates back to the creation of Grand Teton National Park and is also observed in a dozen other parks, is a part of the park’s historical legacy. However, that legacy is still creating conflicts between park values and livestock interests. A current controversy is over a $700,000 fence in the…
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Editor’s note: The following is republished from WyoFile, an excellent source of in-depth reporting on Wyoming issues. by Mike Koshmrl of www.WyoFile.com June 24, 2024 Preliminary findings have biologists worried for superinfected deer herd. There’s hope research could help guide chronic wasting disease management — if the public lets it happen. WIND RIVER VALLEY—Biologists Tucker…
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Yellowstone National Park recently released its Final Bison Management Plan. It arbitrarily limits bison numbers through tribal hunting outside of the park and the transfer of public Yellowstone bison to Indian reservations. The NPS Preferred Alternative 2 is better than the existing bison management but will continue the degradation of wild bison. Alt. 3 is…
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I had a few minutes to polish and varnish a group of new samples I had collected on my last trip down to southern Utah, so I though I would provide a few examples, for those of you who run around P-J habitat. These three examples are from San Juan County, UT. This little pinyon…
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A national chainsaw epidemic exists in America’s woodlands. A recent article in the New York Times titled “Plans for an Ailing Forest Include Logging” exemplifies this trend. In the article, officials in Oregon say that we must cut down the forests—including green trees to arrest the forest health crisis. Conveniently, precisely what constitutes a forest…
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The BOSH project in southern Idaho ultimately plans to destroy tens of thousands of acres of juniper woodlands on BLM lands. BOSH stands for Bruneau-Owyhee Sagebrush Habitat Project. The advocates of the BOSH project use pejorative language to characterize the Juniper clearing from the landscape. Terms like “restoring” the “natural” condition of the land assume…
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Back in 2017, the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, the supposed ‘crown jewel’ of the BLM’s National Landscape Conservation System proposed a massive pinyon-juniper (P-J) removal project in the Skutumpah area. The BLM announced that the project’s purpose was to remove post-European settlement ‘invading’ P-J and create sage grouse habitat. Given my experience that virtually…
