Conservation
-
Wyoming legislature considers a rancher grudge bill due to Western Watershed’s Jonathan Ratner- By Ralph Maughan (opinion) – – – – – Last year the Idaho Legislature passed an an overreaching “ag-gag” bill because an animal rights group had videoed some dairy workers abusing cattle. This came despite the the dairy ending up fined as…
-
“The Great Republican Land Heist: Cliven Bundy and the politicians who want to plunder the West” Christopher Ketcham details the rancher/Republican grab for our outdoor heritage- Cristopher Ketcham has been writing about the Western public lands now for a couple years. He is in the mold of Bernard DeVoto who wrote the influential column, “The…
-
Heather Tallis and Jane Lubchenco published a commentary titled “A Call for Inclusive Conservation” in the November 2014 issue of Nature. The essay sought to broker a truce or compromise between two philosophical positions in the conservation movement today that can be characterized as “new conservation” which promotes human utility as the primary goal of…
-
In a recent blog post, Defenders of Wildlife is grossly misleading the public claiming that they have “saved the last wild bison” by participating in and supporting the quarantine of buffalo that originated as wild calves from Yellowstone. Quarantine is a domestication process. There is no benefit from quarantine to bison as wildlife. Quarantine is…
-
Literature and Conservation in the West By Mark Bailey and Kirsten Allen Ten years ago I sat down and read Michael Crichton’s novel State of Fear. While far from his best work, it was his usual roller coaster of a techno-thriller. And, rather strangely, it was blatantly Ayn Rand-like in its political speeches that attempted…
-
In a recent editorial in the Jackson Hole Guide, Luther Propst of Jackson asserts that conservationists needed to keep in mind that many public lands recreationalists have a common interest in protecting the land. (see Propts piece here http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/opinion/guest_shot/fun-hogs-and-the-future-of-conservation/article_f98a41a3-6dd0-5915-b166-fe0a5b898138.html) Recreationists like mountain biking proponents could be allies in efforts to protect wildlands as designated wilderness for…
-
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,…
-
In an ongoing effort to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act, Friends of the Clearwater released a report today that critically examines the Clearwater Basin Collaborative (CBC) Agreement and Work Plan. If enacted by Congress, the agreement would put into place provisions that are incompatible with the Wilderness Act, potentially causing a ripple…