Public Lands
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The northern end of the Bridger Range is proposed as wilderness by some organizations like the Gallatin Yellowstone Wilderness Alliance. Photo George Wuerthner I recently visited the North Bridger Timber sale (euphemistically called the North Bridger Forest Health Project) on the Custer Gallatin NF outside of Bozeman, Montana. Like so many timber sales today, the…
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Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho. Photo George Wuerthner Though most conservation groups focus on federal lands, a neglected area of concern are state properties. Throughout the West, most of these lands are either leased for timber cutting or livestock grazing. Although there are limited ways that conservation groups can influence state management (or lack thereof) of…
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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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In July, the Bureau of Land Management rounded up the vast majority of Utah’s Onaqui wild horse herd. Pressed by a lawsuit, the Bureau’s Salt Lake Field Manager testified under oath that an emergency roundup was necessary because wild horses were in poor and declining health and would need to be euthanized if left in…
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** Guest post by Richard Spotts** An open letter from a former Bureau of Land Management employee to Secretary Deb Haaland. Dear Secretary Haaland: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in your Interior Department is broken and I know how you can and should fix it. BLM’s dominant management culture has long been (and…
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Active forest management on private timberland just west of Chester, CA which was overrun by the Dixie Fire. Photo George Wuerthner There has been a spate of pronouncements from politicians as different politically as Montana Republican Senator Steve Daines to California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsome arguing that we need more “active forest management” to reduce…
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Restoration of wild bison will require large landscapes. Photo George Wuerthner Bison were critical ecosystem influences on grasslands of North America, particularly in the Great Plains “bison belt.” They provided prey or carrion for wolves, grizzlies, other smaller predators and scavengers, and food for humans. In addition, bison grazing patterns influenced vegetation growth and distribution…
