Wildlife
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Given the wrecking ball the Trump administration is taking to our public lands and public values, it might seem trivial to worry about tribal co-management. Our public lands are among the most democratic of American institutions. Every American has a right to voice their opinion about public lands management, but no group should be elevated…
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Tens of millions of wild bison once roamed across western North America. Today, wild bison occupy less than one percent of their former range. Yet in spite of this, the National Park Service’s new bison management plan does nothing to expand the range of the 5,000 wild bison that live almost exclusively in Yellowstone National Park. Instead,…
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You probably remember this photo from last year when Cody Roberts brought a wolf he had run over with his snowmobile into the bar in Daniel, WY. The story and photo went around the world and generated nearly universal disgust. Now, more than a year later, it is still legal. The new legislative session has…
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As many of you know, domestic sheep are the primary impediment to bighorn sheep recovery because the domestic sheep transmit disease to the bighorn sheep. PBS did a decent video on the issue: What the video fails to mention is that livestock permits on our public lands are a privilege, not a right, and can…
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One of the first Executive Orders from the Trump Whitehouse is to reverse environmental protections for federal lands in Alaska and hasten, expand, and encourage resource development. Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to: (a) fully avail itself of Alaska’s vast lands and resources for the benefit of the Nation…
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Let’s be clear: Gianforte’s lawsuit doesn’t represent Montanans, but rather Montana livestock interests. The vast majority of Montanans want wild, migratory buffalo restored in our state. The brucellosis boogey-man argument is old and is full of holes. The disease was brought to North America through invasive cattle. Brucellosis entered the Yellowstone buffalo herds by erroneous…
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A recent article in the Bozeman Chronicle described the Yellowstone “Bison Conservation” Transfer Program. The federal government is transferring public bison that belong to all Americans to tribal reservations, which is essentially a privatization of public wildlife. In the process, they are accelerating the domestication of wild bison from Yellowstone National Park. Restoration and conservation…
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Longtime habitat management techniques don’t stimulate vegetation growth in one sagebrush subspecies and may have detrimental effects on sage grouse and sagebrush-reliant songbirds, several studies show. The subtitle could be “No Sh#t Sherlock”. ts always nice when science is heard. For decades virtually all sage grouse experts were against killing sagebrush for sage grouse. The…
