Species

  • Does Juniper Cause Grasses To Disappear?

    George Wuerthner

    One of the common myths perpetuated by the livestock industry is that fire supression has allowed juniper to increase across the West, though under natural conditions juniper has long fire rotations of hundreds of years, so not significantly impacted by fire supression. Some studies suggest juniper expansion may be a natural consequence of climate change.…

  • Climate Breakdown – Losing Aspen Forests in the West

    John Carter

    The Aspen Decline What will our forests in the west be like in fall without those golden yellow leaves shining in the sun?  Aspen forests in the Intermountain West support levels of biodiversity only exceeded by riparian (stream) communities.  In this time of Climate Breakdown, aspen have been declining due to drought and temperature stress,…

  • Stepping Lightly In The Sage — More Bovine Curtain Propaganda

    George Wuerthner

    If you pay attention to livestock grazing issues on public lands, you invariably will see research promoting cattle grazing as the magic elixir that can repair damaged riparian areas, eliminate cheatgrass and other weeds, reduce wildfires, increase soil carbon storage, and improve habitat for endangered species like sage grouse. If you think this is too…

  • Invasion of the Pinyon – Juniper: Part II

    Jonathan Ratner

    I had a few minutes to polish and varnish a group of new samples I had collected on my last trip down to southern Utah, so I though I would provide a few examples, for those of you who run around P-J habitat. These three examples are from San Juan County, UT. This little pinyon…

  • The Invasion of the Pinyon Juniper

    Jonathan Ratner

    Back in 2017, the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, the supposed ‘crown jewel’ of the BLM’s National Landscape Conservation System proposed a massive pinyon-juniper (P-J) removal project in the Skutumpah area. The BLM announced that the project’s purpose was to remove post-European settlement ‘invading’ P-J and create sage grouse habitat. Given my experience that virtually…

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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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