The Wildlife News

Public Lands

  • Putting Our Public Forests Into Carbon Reserves

    George Wuerthner

    Old-growth forest like this on Admiralty Island, Tongass National Forest should be protected as a carbon reserve. Photo by George Wuerthner  The Biden Administration supports protecting 30% of US lands by 2030 or what is termed the 30 x 30 proposal.  One of the best ways to meet that 30 by 30 goals would be…

  • Biden climate policy could bring positive change to the West: Here’s how

    Ralph Maughan

    President Biden today issued an Executive Order outlining a broad and ambitious policy to tackle the climate crisis. It contains plenty of ambitious provisions, couched within an all-hands-on-deck approach to climate change, which will commit every federal bureau and department to doing its part to slow or even reverse the unfolding climate catastrophe. Decisive action…

  • Ambler Road A Threat to Alaska’s Wildlands

    George Wuerthner

    Peaks in the Gates of the Arctic National Park, Alaska. Photo George Wuerthner  While most Americans were focused on the seditious events in Washington DC, the Trump Administration approved the right of way for the 211 Mile Ambler road across Alaska’s Brooks Range southern edge. The route will access mineral deposits near the village of…

  • Protect the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Wildlands

    George Wuerthner

    The Buffalo Horn drainage in the Gallatin Range is one of the most important wildlife areas in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Photo George Wuerthner  The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is the last major relatively intact temperate-zone ecosystem in the world.  It is a global heritage. There are organizations like the Montana Wilderness Association (MWA), The Wilderness…

  • Scientists Critique BLM Tri-State Fuel Breaks Proposal

    George Wuerthner

    A week ago, eight prominent scientists sent a letter to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) declaring that the agency’s proposed Tri-State Fuel Break (TSFB) is flawed and will endanger sagebrush ecosystems. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (“FEIS”) and other project documents are available on the agency’s website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/42341/510. To quote the scientists: “If…

  • Critique of “Fire Suppression” Mythology

    George Wuerthner

      High elevation forests like the mountain hemlock seen here at Crater Lake have long intervals between fires. They only burn when there is the right combination of climate/weather. Fire suppression has had little influence on such forests. Photo George Wuerthner The recent piece published in the December 22 Guardian titled: Heat, wind, and a…

  • Wolverine ESA Listing Effort Demonstrates Political Influence

    George Wuerthner

      Glacier National Park is home to 30-40 wolverine. Photo George Wuerthner  On December 14, 2020, 24 organizations and one individual (me) filed two different lawsuits to challenge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) decision not to list the wolverine as a threatened Distinct Population Segment (DPS) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The…

  • Does Cattle Grazing Preclude Large Blazes?

    George Wuerthner

    If cattle graze to bare soil, it is true that fires are slowed under such conditions, but the ecological impacts are enormous. Photo George Wuerthner  When I worked for the BLM, us “ologists” (hydrologist, ecologists, biologists, archaeologists, geologists, and botanists) used to refer to Range Conservationists as Range “Cons” because they conned the public into…

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‎”At some point we must draw a line across the ground of our home and our being, drive a spear into the land and say to the bulldozers, earthmovers, government and corporations, “thus far and no further.” If we do not, we shall later feel, instead of pride, the regret of Thoreau, that good but overly-bookish man, who wrote, near the end of his life, “If I repent of anything it is likely to be my good behaviour.”

Edward Abbey

“The continued existence of wildlife and wilderness is important to the quality of life of humans.”

Jim Fowler

“Our forests offer much more than just beautiful landscapes and wildlife. Each one has a different story to tell.”

Raveena Tandon

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