Ralph Maughan
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When it comes to wild carnivores these lawmakers look to their gut instead of their brain- A couple months ago I went to the Utah Capitol to oppose House Bill 228 (the brainchild of state Rep. Casey Snyder), otherwise known as the Livestock Predators Removal Amendments. The bill was one of two designed to do…
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The National Park Service recently released the public comments on how Point Reyes National Seashore should be managed and they show that the vast majority of the public wants beef and dairy operations booted off Park Service lands. Contrary to prevailing assumptions that local food culture overrides conservation concerns in the local area, some 91.4%…
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In an act of appalling hubris, the oil and gas industry is asking the federal government to loosen enforcement of federal regulations on public lands in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Kathleen Sgamma of the Western Energy Alliance, one of the petroleum industry’s primary lobbying groups, was quoted in EnergyWire as seeking one-year extensions for…
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The Trump administration is stampeding ahead with a rewrite of the regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This landmark law requires federal agencies to study—and let the public weigh in on—the environmental impacts of federal actions. Ironically, given NEPA’s central purpose of including the public in environmental decision-making, the Trump administration is already…
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Matt Shea (R-Spokane), a member of the Washington State House of Representatives, has been kicked out of the Republican caucus for planning, engaging in, or supporting Cliven Bundy domestic terrorism. It’s about time elected officials stood up to his family efforts to take away our public lands. . . Ralph Maughan, editor – – – Last…
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Reader generated wildlife news beginning on Dec. 29, 2019 It is time to create a new page of “Reader Generated Wildlife News.” Do not post copyrighted material. Here is the link to the “old” wildlife news page that began on July 25, 2019 From there you can access links to the many older pages of…
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Ranchers seeking to extend grazing leases at Point Reyes National Seashore have found a new ally in Donald Trump. At a signing ceremony for two Executive Orders at the White House earlier this month, Point Reyes rancher Kevin Lunny was a featured speaker. He used his 30 seconds of broadcast fame to complain about the…
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Collaboration on environmental issues is pushed by big funders and by consulting groups, but so far has borne only bitter fruit for conservationists. Favored by shrewd industrial interests who recognize collaboration as a means to greenwash environmentally harmful activities, this practice undermines the enforcement of environmental laws and regulations. Commercial interests often engage in…
