The Great Outdoors

  • Wildlife Need Habitat Off-Limits to Humans!

    George Wuerthner

    This is a provocative essay  by Michael Vandeman written almost two decades ago, but given the increasing demand that various recreationalists as well as industry is demanding of our wildlands, it is worth considering some of the ideas that he articulates. Wildlife Need Habitat Off-Limits to Humans! Michael J. Vandeman, Ph.D. October 12, 1997“Of what…

  • Wyoming Legislature would terminate bighorn sheep herd in reprisal for Forest Service protection

    Ralph Maughan

    “We’re basically playing chicken with the feds. It’s basically more like extortion, . . .” Rep. Dan Zwonitzer (R-Cheyenne)- This session of the Wyoming legislature has been one to nurse grudges when it comes to livestock and efforts to curb its harmful side effects. The legislature passed a bill to criminalize the gathering of data…

  • Wildlife, fear, and real life

    Ralph Maughan

    Politicians play to the incoherent fears of wimpy folks. This is bad for protecting the planet and its wildlife- Just two months ago many Americans feared they would soon be stricken by dread Ebola and those who survived would have their heads lopped off by ISIS. Fortunately a cure was deployed for both Ebola and…

  • Idaho’s Clearwater Country deserves better, needs your help

    Brett Haverstick

    The merging of the Nez Perce and Clearwater National Forests offers opportunity to plunder- Two very important national forests in north central Idaho were recently combined through administrative action. The Clearwater and the Nez Perce National Forests both operate under separate forest management plans, developed after years of analysis and public comment. There was even…

  • Drones: both a menace and savior to wildlife

    Ralph Maughan

    Drones for hunting and for harassment- Drones to stop and catch poachers- Drones for wildlife research- More and more stories appear featuring drones and wildlife. Recently it was revealed that private drones were in use in Zion National Park so that photographers could avoid scaling cliffs and get closeups of the wild sheep on top…

  • Federal public land equals freedom to roam

    Ralph Maughan

    Land transfer to states would mean less land access for typical American- The idea that the states are really the constitutional, legal, rightful owner of the U.S. public lands is without merit. Origin of U.S. public lands The United States owns 650-million acres of land. That is about 30 per cent of the land area of…

  • Monarch Butterflies are just about gone

    Ralph Maughan

    One of the most beautiful pollinators bites the dust- One of the fun things I remember from childhood is capturing the black, yellow and white monarch butterfly caterpillars. They were not hard to find. I would put them in a Mason jar and feed them milkweed which was commonplace. It was where I got the…

  • Great photos of grizzly, wolves, and others on bison carcass in YNP

    Ralph Maughan

    The solidity of nature, even of creatures competing to eat the raw meat of the dead bison, is edifying. It brings a feeling of hopefulness at a time when humans claw at each other over political abstractions in a confused, but hostile, unnatural way, to detriment of all of us. There is currently a debate…

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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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