George Wuerthner
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If the public really understood the illogic behind Forest Service management, including those endorsed by forest collaboratives, I am certain there would be more opposition to current Forest Service policies. First, most FS timber sales lose money. They are a net loss to taxpayers. After the costs of road construction, sale layout and environmental analyses,…
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This August the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) reversed an earlier 2010 ruling that Arctic Grayling in the Upper Missouri River system of Montana were endangered (but precluded from listing under the Endangered Species Act due to higher priority species). Instead the Service decided that as a result of cooperative efforts by ranchers in…
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Collaboratives have been initiated on many national forests across the West. The stated goal is to resolve controversial resource issues through cooperative discussions between various interests, Thus collaboratives typically include representatives of industry such as timber companies, ranchers, local tourist promotion, county commissioners, Forest Service, BLM, FWS, state and county government, and state wildlife agency…
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COWSPIRACY: THE SUSTAINABILITY SECRET VIDEO HITS A HOME RUN I recently had the pleasure of viewing new video of Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret. The basic question these two film makers ask is why the contribution of livestock to ecosystem degradation is missing from the world’s environmental agenda. To find the answer…
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This is a short email that Brian Horejsi sent me on mountain biking and bears. It is a thoughtful review of how mountain biking can have substantial impacts on wildlife. The basic science solidly supports the general claim that bikers and bikes are displacing bears, can contribute to their habituation and are consequently adding negative…
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A recent editorial in the New York Times by Christopher Solomon (7-5-14) suggested that America’s Wilderness System on its 50th birthday was facing a “midlife crisis” as he called it. Solomon suggested that the basic premise of the 1964 Wilderness Act—that we can maintain and protect wild country by leaving it alone–is questionable in an…
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I just got back from a mountain bike ride. The trails outside of Bend, Oregon where I reside have numerous loops and degrees of difficulty. Riding my mountain bike is a pleasant way to unwind, get some exercise, and enjoy pedaling without the fear of being hit by a car. The trails are located in…
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Recently I received an alert from the Greater Yellowstone Coalition (GYC) asking me to send a letter to the Montana Dept of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MDFWP) requesting a slight reduction in their wolf killing/trapping quota outside of Yellowstone Park. The main rationale of the alert was that wolves were important to the local economy…
