George Wuerthner
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In the recent Public Lands legislation that was passed by Congress, Oregon got some new protected landscapes including the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness, 250 miles of new Wild and Scenic River segments on the Rogue and Molalla rivers and measures such as a mining ban on the Chetco River. This legislation was a good but a…
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I just visited the town of Paradise located on the slopes of the Cascade Range near Chico, California. The Camp Fire burned through Paradise last November (2018) killing 85 people, mostly older residents-plus destroying 14000 homes and another 4800 structures (like commercial buildings). Another 637 structures were “damaged” bringing the total estimate by CAL…
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The Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act or NREPA was once again introduced into Congress by Rep. Carolyn Malony from New York. NREPA would protect all the remaining roadless lands in the Northern Rockies by designation under the 1964 Wilderness Act. Conservation scientists recognize Wilderness as the “Gold Standard” for land protection. Iconic wild places that…
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The BLM just released its decision on its proposed Bruneau Owyhee Sage-grouse Habitat Project (BOSH Project) which will degrade 617,000 acres of southern Idaho by logging juniper, creating linear weed patches known as fire breaks, and using other questionable management strategies, all done, in the name of enhancing sage grouse habitat. Remarkably the BLM failed…
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The Gallatin Forest Partnership (GFP) proposal for the Gallatin Range promoted in a recent commentary by recreation advocacy groups like Livingston Bike Club is a good start in that it recognizes that the Gallatin Range unique wildlands deserve protection. However, it falls far short in providing the best protection for the range. https://etypeservices.com/oLivePubs/eTypesOlive.aspx?PubID=1671&IDT=263078&STRI=Livingston1 Basically, the…
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Recently Donald Trump used his executive authority to mandate increased logging of our public lands with the goal of reducing wildfire threat to communities. His order instructs land managers to treat (read log) 8.45 million acres of land and cut 4.4 million board feet of timber ostensibly to reduce fire hazard. Unfortunately, the mandate ignores…
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In his recent commentary “Stop the Blame Game” in the Reno Gazette-Journal, Dennis Golden reveals the dangers of pop culture solutions that lack scientific scrutiny. In his piece, Mr. Golden has many misleading or inaccurate assumptions about livestock production and climate change. https://www.rgj.com/story/opinion/voices/2019/02/07/stop-blame-game-lets-find-climate-change-solutions-golden/2807017002/ First, he rhetorically asks if it really matters whether global heating is…
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I’ve visited Wendell State Forest in Massachusetts to explore the area the state proposes logging for “forest health”. In a recent article in the Greenfield Recorder, Leo Roy, State Department of Conservation & Recreation has argued that he fears the forest will become too homogenous and healthiest in the long run. As a forest ecologist,…