Wildlife

  • South Cottonwood Proposed Wilderness Threatened

    George Wuerthner

    The South Cottonwood drainage in the northern Gallatin Range proposed wilderness lies immediately south of Bozeman, to the west of Hyalite Canyon. The Forest Service’s nearly 8,000-acre Hyalite Cottonwood Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project threatens some of the proposed wilderness. Keep in mind that one acre is approximately equal to a football field. So, imagine what…

  • Failure Of Conservation Groups To Criticize Tribal Wolf Slaughter

    George Wuerthner

    The state of Washington recently reported that its endangered wolf population had declined for the first time in 16 years. The state confirmed that it has 230 wolves, compared to 254 wolves in the previous year. According to figures released by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington’s overall wolf population in 2024 decreased…

  • PINYON JAY EXTINCTION PROJECTS RAGE ON

    Katie Fite

    BLM leaders never had the desire or will to do what it takes to preserve Sage grouse populations. Sage-grouse plans make major concessions to industries, and especially to the great destroyer of sagebrush habitat across the West, the public lands livestock industry. They chickened out rather than risk the buzzsaw of cattlemen resistance and western…

  • Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act Reintroduced

    George Wuerthner

    The Beartooth Mountains contain some of the most extensive alpine terrain in the Rockies. Photo by George Wuerthner The Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA) is the most comprehensive and ecologically defensible legislation currently before Congress. The Act was first introduced in 1993. NREPA was reintroduced by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Representative Madeleine Dean, who…

  • Upper Green River Allotment Grizzly Mortality Sink

    George Wuerthner

    The Upper Green River headwaters are in the Wind River Range. Photo by George Wuerthner The 170,000-acre Upper Green River Allotment, located on the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming, is the largest grazing allotment under Forest Service administration. It is also one of the best wildlife habitats in the West, and it is easily comparable…

  • The Last Wild Bison

    George Wuerthner

    The wild bison in Yellowstone National Park are the last major herd of buffalo, the least domesticated members of their genus left in the United States. When Yellowstone was established in 1872, an estimated 25 wild bison roamed the park, a relic of the great herds that once roamed the entire West. With protection, the…

  • Why Tribal Co-Management Is A Threat to Our Public Lands

    George Wuerthner

    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…

  • Why the Alliance for the Wild Rockies is Taking Yellowstone National Park to Court over Its Scientifically-Deficient Bison Management Plan

    Mike Garrity

    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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‎”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

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