George Wuerthner
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Forest on the Ochoco National Forest. Photo by George Wuerthner Hurray for Central Oregon Land Watch and Oregon Wild for suing the Ochoco National Forest over its proposed Black Mountain Vegetation Management Project near Big Prairie. As is typical of the Forest Service today, they use euphemisms to conceal what they always have been…
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https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/articles/entry/national-parks-were-one-of-americas-greatest-ideas.-lets-expand-on-that/ National Parks Were One of America’s Greatest Ideas. Let’s Expand on That. To fully protect the values for which they were established, we need to add new national parks and expand many existing ones. GEORGE WUERTHNER AND MICHAEL KELLETT April 23, 2020 One of United States’ greatest contributions to the global marketplace…
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An ineffective road closure–a plastic sign on the Custer Gallatin NF saying the road is “closed” Photo by George Wuerthner I recently had a representative of one of the “conservation groups” in the Greater Yellowstone area tell me that they supported logging/thinning on the Custer Gallatin National Forest because the agency was mostly accessing the…
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 21, 2020 Contacts: Gary Macfarlane, Friends of the Clearwater, (208) 835-5426 Adam Rissien, WildEarth Guardians, (406) 370-3147 Conservation groups call for more species protection, less logging and roadbuilding Request to get deadline extended due to COVID-19 falls on deaf ears Moscow- Despite the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping…
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The Washington Post recently published an article that repeated the old and flawed idea that ranching will “protect” the land and suggesting conservation easements are the solution to sprawl. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/expanding-efforts-to-keep-cows-over-condos-are-protecting-land-across-the-west/2020/04/10/96ec2f80-79c6-11ea-9bee-c5bf9d2e3288_story. If championing cows or hayfields is your conservation policy, one must rethink the strategy. Keep in mind that nearly all the development found along the…
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“Restoration” management on the Deschutes National Forest. Photo by George Wuerthner You can’t solve a problem if you don’t identify it correctly. When it comes to wildfire safety, the timber industry, the Forest Service, and many collaboratives are selling Snake Oil to the public. The problem for people is not with the forest—the problem…
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TRUMPING OUR PARKS The Trump Administration is on the warpath against the environment. From increasing oil and gas leasing on our public lands to decreasing national clean air standards for automobiles, eliminating environmental law enforcement, attacking the Endangered Species Act, removing the United States from the Global Climate Accord, and reducing oversight of livestock grazing…
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Caption: Above Cheatgrass invades fuel break cleared along road in Oregon. Bottom: Fuel break created in Idaho’s Snake River Plain. Photos by George Wuerthner The Department of Interior released a final decision to created 11,000 miles of linear cheatgrass corridors, which they are euphemistically calling “fuel breaks.” Think about that figure. Eleven thousand miles is…