National Parks
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Old Faithful is emblematic of Yellowstone National Park. Photo George Wuerthner A recent article Return the National Parks to the Tribes in Atlantic Magazine by David Treuer is worth a detailed review because it represents a common set of inaccurate assumptions and historical imprecision about the relationship of conservation, national parks and Native Americans. Rather…
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Thirteen ranchers won a sweeping victory this week, defeating the interests of three million annual visitors to Point Reyes National Seashore, by securing a plan amendment that extends their commercial livestock operations on Park lands for at least 20 years. The plan amendment – the first epic public lands fail by the nascent Biden administration…
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Is this kind of damage from private livestock the kind of impact the National Park Service should permit? Photo George Wuerthner The final Record of Decision (ROD) on livestock operations management at Point Reyes National Seashore was released this week. Unfortunately, and as feared, it not only maintains the ongoing degradation of this national park…
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Chapter 3: Rewilding on a Global Scale: a Crucial Element in Addressing the Biodiversity Crisis George Wuerthner 30 Rewilding on a Global Scale According to the report, the average abundance of native species has declined by 20% since 1900. Other groups have suffered significant declines, including more than 40% of amphibian species. At least 680…
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Bison herd. Photo George Wuerthner Many authors today suggest that Indigenous people somehow behaved differently from other humans, particularly western culture that now dominates the globe in their relationship and exploitation of natural lands. However, a review of tribal behavior when presented with the opportunity to earn a financial review, demonstrates that in most instance,…
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Dairy and beef cattle are grazed at Point Reyes National Seashore sixty years after the properties were purchased by American citizens. Photo George Wuerthner Fences. Everywhere I went during a recent trip to Point Reyes, I encountered fences. Why are there fences in a national park unit? They exist to facilitate the private use of…
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Concentrations of elk by artificial feeding at Wyoming Feedgrounds is spreading diseases like Chronic Wasting Disease. Photo George Wuerthner Wyoming Fish and Game Department has 22 elk feed grounds scattered around the western part of the state and feeds as many as 17,000 elk every winter. The agency currently has eight of its 22…
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“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.” What should we call the diverse, wild, inspiring but scarred peninsula sliding very slowly past us, jurisdictionally in West Marin County, California, but geologically across the San Andreas Fault, on the Pacific Plate, going steadily its own…
