January 2009
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62,000 acres of land in 32 states- Actually that’s not a very large acreage, but the acres were generally quite exceptional. What the land trusts are doing is mostly quite beneficial, but what we need from Obama is a large government land acquisition program for wildlife habitat and other conservation purposes. Non-profits are going to…
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“The Conservation President?” That’s a joke, but he did do one good last-minute thing- A Monumental Decision. George W. Bush becomes the conservation president, at least at sea. Washington Post editorial. Bush has declared about 333,000 square miles of ocean, including scattered rocks and islets to be national monuments. This is an important innovation, especially…
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Department of Interior Secretarty Dirk Kempthorne swung into Boise, Idaho in a fleet of black Escalades yesterday to attend a luncheon in honor of his “public service”. While industry leaders met with Idaho’s politicos to celebrate Kempthorne’s ‘achievement’ Western Watersheds Project’s Katie Fite, Ken Cole and indie rock band Built to Spill bassist guitarist Brett…
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Next suit may not just be groups that support protecting wolves- The Casper Star Tribune has an article today saying that Wyoming government and Wyoming livestock groups might sue to halt the newest attempt to delist the wolf. Of course pro-wolf groups will sue. It’s interesting that the delisting hasn’t taken place yet. Folks thought…
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Lucas is one of the finest environmental lawyers in the country. He understands that MASSIVE alternative energy wind and solar farms are not the answer- We have discussed the problems with massive energy generation in remote locations with long transmission lines a lot in this forum. It’s good to see someone of Lucas’ caliber understands…
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Mark Rey set to hamstring Western national forests and counties allowing developers to pave Forest Service logging roads for remote subdivisions- The “Darth Vader” of the national forests is poised to strike again during the Administration’s deaththrows. Former timber lobbyist Rey, who bosses the Forest Service, will try to set in stone the plan to…
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Wolf watching good in cold and snowy Yellowstone- Once again Kathie Lynch has favored us with her detailed observations of the wolves on Yellowstone’s northern range. The redistribution of the much reduced wolf population continues, with the Druids providing a note of stability. Famous wolf 302M seems to now, finally, lead a pack, although mating…
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Opposition to restoration of genetically pure bison to Fort Peck once again shows the real agenda- Ranchers from nearly empty NE Montana are opposing the restoration of bison (derived from Yellowstone) to the remote Fort Peck area. Once again they cite brucellosis, even those these bison have been quarantined for three years. They obviously think…