Public Lands
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McMorris Rodgers pick for Interior Secretary Raises Major Environmental Red Flags Contact: Erik Molvar, Executive Director, Western Watersheds Project, (307) 399-7910 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today’s announcement that President-elect Donald Trump may tap Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) to lead the Department of the Interior has fed conservationists’ concerns that the next administration is likely…
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With much fanfare, as reported in the Great Falls Tribune, the Montana Sage Grouse Oversight Team announced that it will bequeath more than $1.5 million for a 18,033-acre conservation easement on the 44 Ranch west of Winnett in Fergus and Petroleum Counties. Ostensibly, the state money, as well as additional private and federal government…
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The Chief Joseph Highway that leads from Cody to the Northeast entrance of Yellowstone National Park is one of the most scenic drives in the West. I have camped, hiked, and skied the public lands along this ribbon of blacktop many times over the decades, including as recently as this past summer. Yet the Shoshone…
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Contact: WWP Statement on the Election of Donald Trump Erik Molvar, Executive Director, (307) 399-7910, emolvar@westernwatersheds.org LARAMIE, Wyo. – These are dark days for public lands and environmental conservation, with Donald Trump set to assume the presidency of the United States. President-elect Trump will have the power to assign political appointees to oversee all of…
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The Department of Interior recently released its Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy whose goal is to reduce range fires in sagebrush ecosystems critical to sage grouse. The plan correctly identifies that cheatgrass is a major threat to the bird, as well as the sagebrush ecosystems. Cheatgrass is an exotic annual plant that greens up early,…
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I want to respond to misinformation about wildfire by Nick Smith’s editorial on the proposed East Reservoir Project which appears in the Flathead Beacon November 3rd. In that piece, Smith promotes many misconceptions about wildfire. http://flatheadbeacon.com/2016/11/03/federal-forest-management-broken/ The proposed timber sale would create over 8000 acres of new clearcuts, miles of new logging roads, within a…
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The Bridger Teton National Forest (BTNF) missed a chance to promote the public interest over private businesses when it decided in its draft management plan for the Upper Green Allotment to continue to allow ranchers to run livestock without any significant changes to protect the public’s wildlife and other values. The Upper Green is…
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LARAMIE, Wyo. – In response to the “not guilty” verdict in the trial of the seven militants charged with federal conspiracy and weapons charges associated with the month-long takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Western Watersheds Project releases the following statement from Executive Director Erik Molvar: “Today’s verdict is a disappointment, and the failure…