Invasive Species

  • Yesterday begreen made a detailed post here about the U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing on wildfires in Las Vegas. Here is the first article I found about the testimony. Climate Change Likely to Increase Fires from Invasive weeds. Associated Press. By Kathleen Hennessey. Related story. Sagebrush recovery efforts under way. By Emily Simnitt. Idaho Statesman. Cheatgrass…

  • The Senate Public Lands and Forests Subcommittee is holding a hearing in Las Vegas today ~ Thursday, October 11 ~ to discuss threats to the Great Basin. From what I gather, fire and cheatgrass will be highlighted on the agenda. Subscription only article from E & E : The Senate Public Lands and Forests Subcommittee…

  • Invasive weed a fuel for West’s wildfires. By Patrick O’Driscoll, USA Today. This is a fine and an easy-to-understand article on the role cheatgrass plays in the range fires of today’s West. It wasn’t supposed to be this way — conservationists were to be held to blame for the fires and Larry Craig was to…

  • Some time ago, this web site posted the opinion of public lands rancher and state legislator Bert Brackett on the Murphy fire complex. Here again is Brackett’s opinion. Failed policy based on flawed science has gotten us here. Guest opinion in the Idaho Statesman. Brackett blamed the Western Watersheds Project because it won a lawsuit…

  • Gonzaga University biology professors Julie Beckstead and David L. Boose were recently awarded $247,000 in federal grants for a three-year study on pyrenophora semeniperda, a fungus that attacks the seeds of cheatgrass. Something like this could save the rangelands of the West.  Story in the New York Times. Associated Press.

  • While cheatgrass arrived in the West as an accident, African Buffelgrass was deliberately planted. It has changed the fire ecology of the Sonorian desert and has even become a severe fire threat inside cities such as Tuscon, AZ. “Buffelgrass is like taking a kiddie pool, filling it with gas, and putting it in your front…

  • 2007 fire conditions are off the charts Officials are finding it difficult to predict fire behavior because this year’s data don’t fit any model. Experts say climate change is a big part of this season’s extremes. By Rocky Barker, Idaho Statesman. Busy Week for Fires in Northern Rockies. Record-Breaking Fire Season? New West. By David…

  • Western Governors yesterday held a press conference to declare war on cheatgrass. I can’t help but think back to an article on NewWest describing the importance of words when considering conservation politics – politics in general. We’ve got a good idea how politicians in cowboy suits conduct their perpetual wars. Now it’s been declared in…

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