Wildlife News

  • Blue Mountains Don’t Need Active Forest Management

    George Wuerthner

    Many foresters want to be able to cut large grand fir like the one in this photo. Photo George Wuerthner  Recently  Jim Petersen expressed in a March 1, 2023 Chieftain commentary that the Blue Mountains region needs more “active” forest management in the form of logging to preclude tree mortality due to drought, insects, disease…

  • Expansion and Restoration of Bison to Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

    George Wuerthner

      Yellowstone bison are a globally unique animal. Harsh winters can drive bison out of the park where they are often killed. Photo George Wuerthner  Yellowstone’s bison are unique, essentially influenced by natural evolutionary processes since the Park’s early days. Today the herd has grown to approximately 6,000 animals. Still, the ability of these bison…

  • Good News–Feral Cattle To Be Removed From Gila Wilderness (and Update 3-19-23)

    George Wuerthner

    Update: The aerial reduction was held. Only 19 feral cows were shot and killed. They were left where they fell so to return to the land they had been extracting nutrients from. As many as 150 feral cattle were said to live illegally in the Gila Wilderness. The Forest Service said all the cattle seen…

  • Theodore Roosevelt National Park Proposal To Remove Domestic Cattle and Feral Horses Runs Into Opposition

    George Wuerthner

    The wild beauty of the Little Missouri badlands within Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota. Photo George Wuerthner  Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) has proposed eliminating feral horses and domestic livestock from the Park. Unlike the fiasco at Point Reyes National Seashore, where the NPS appears to support maintaining domestic livestock within the park unit,…

  • Oregon’s Blue Mountains-Opportunities for Carbon Storage and Wildlands Preservation

    George Wuerthner

    Pondoersa pine forests dominate the lower elevations of the Blue Mountain Ecoregion. Photo George Wuerthner The Blue Mountains Complex of Oregon stretches east to west from the Snake River to the Cascades. The Blue Mountain Complex is made up of sub-ranges, including the Wallowa, Elkhorns, Strawberries, Aldrich, and Ochoco. The Wallowa Mountains near Enterprise, Oregon.…

  • Travesty of Tribal Slaughter of Yellowstone Bison

    George Wuerthner

    UPDATE: Since I wrote this piece, the number of bison killed near Gardiner and elsewhere from all sources has exceeded 1150 animals. You can read the report here.   Yellowstone bison are used to being photographed not shot.   Photo Bonnie Lynn As I write this essay, sources I trust estimate that at least 700 of…

  • Yellowstone and the Land of Hope

    George Wuerthner

    The Gallatin Range south of Bozeman deserves to be preserved as wilderness. Photo George Wuerthner Recently I skied into a Forest Service cabin in the Gallatin Range. Looking out on a meadow with glaciated peaks beyond gave me a chance to reflect on how lucky I was to have public lands available to enjoy. I’ve…

  • Time to Reevaluate Notion That Oregon’s Rivers Are A Faucet For Agriculture

    George Wuerthner

    In Bend in the fall, irrigators draw down of the Deschutes River to the point where fish and other wildlife die or are threatened GEORGE WUERTHNER JANUARY 27, 2023 5:50 AM        The Deschutes River narrows after irrigators draw off water in Bend. (Courtesy of George Wuerthner) Many of Oregon’s rivers are drained every summer to…

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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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