Advocacy
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Smith River, Little Belt Mountains, Helena Lewis and Clark NF. The FS could not find a single acre in the Little Belt Mountains worthy of wilderness recommendation. Photo by George Wuerthner The recently released Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest Service (HLCNF) plan is a huge disappointment by recommending only 153,000 acres out of 1,500,000…
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The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is America’s environmental charter. Signed into law by Richard Nixon, it has three central tenets. First, federal agencies must look before they leap and examine the full environmental impacts of most major actions that receive federal funding, including the direct, indirect, and cumulative effects those actions will have. Second,…
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The recently released Custer Gallatin National Forest Service plan shrinks interim wilderness protections for the 155,000-acre Hyalite Porcupine Buffalohorn Wilderness Study Area (HPBH WSA). The HPBH WSA was established by Senate bill S. 393 in 1977. Among the mandates in the Act: SEC. 3. (a) says: “Except as otherwise provided by this section, and subject…
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Relict “historic” cottonwood along Missouri River. Photo by George Wuerthner One hundred forty-nine miles of the Missouri River in Montana is a designated Wild and Scenic River. It is also within the 375,000 acres Missouri River Breaks National Monument, which includes the Lewis and Clark and Nez Perce National Historic Trails. It is part…
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Ed. note: An earlier draft version of this post was inadvertently posted before final review. Please replace all prior copies with this final draft. Last summer, in a remote corner of the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming, in the one spot with just a little cell reception, I sat in my car listening by phone to…
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Western Watersheds Project, Alliance for the Rockies, and the Yellowstone to Uintas Connection are seeking to block the killing of up to 72 grizzly bears over the next 10 years on national forest land in the headwaters of the Green River. With the Yellowstone grizzly listed as a ‘threatened species’ under the Endangered Species Act,…
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Pronghorn in Upper Green River Allotment, Bridger Teton NF, Wyoming. Photo by George Wuerthner A recent article in Wyofile by Argus Thuermer was full of quotes from the ranchers grazing the Upper Green River allotment on the Bridger Teton National Forest in Wyoming. https://www.wyofile.com/ranchers-grizzly-suit-imperils-rights-wildlife-migrations/ The Upper Green River grazing Allotment at 170,000 acres, is one…
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The Wilderness Society just teamed up with Yale University to release a report promoting renewable energy development on public lands, and like the recent Michael Moore documentary Planet of the Humans, it’s stirring up controversy. The report suggests we should ramp up utility-scale renewable production on federal public lands, with a particular focus on Nevada’s…
