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An important question regarding sagebrush ecosystems, and species that rely upon them like sage grouse has to do with exactly what constitutes the fire rotation in sagebrush habitat? And a corrolary question is do current fire management policies emulate these historical conditions? William Baker’s paper, Scaling Landscape Fire History: Wildfires Not Historically Frequent in the…
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I previously wrote a piece about wolves killed by Gardiner, Montana. As I noted in my original post I was not able to independently confirm the details and have since learned more about the situation. Here’s the latest information I have been provided. Bison at Beatty Gulch just north of Yellowstone NP border. Photo George…
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Recently, Rep. Cliff Bentz discussed wolf management in a forum in Pendleton, Oregon. Bentz represents Oregon’s second district, which includes nearly all of eastern Oregon. During his presentation, Bentz is reported in an article in the East Oregonian to have made several misleading statements about wolves and their impact on game animals. For example, Bentz…
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Giant Sequoia May Require High-severity Blazes for their surival. Photo George Wuerthner During the summer of 2020 and 2021, with one of the most severe droughts in California’s recent history, wildfires charred thousands of acres in the Sierra Nevada. Some of the mountain range’s magnificent sequoia groves were among the areas burned. I recently visited…
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On August 16, 2020 record heat spread across California. In Death Valley the temperate reached 130 degrees. But even places on the coast, normally cool due to off shore currents, reached records seldom seen. In Santa Cruz, on Monterey Bay, the temperature rose for two days to 107 degrees. The rising temperatures gave rise to…
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American Prairie and the Restoration of Great Plains Wildlife Eastern Montana’s northern plains are what some disparagingly call fly-over country. Once you leave the beautiful, forested mountains for which Montana is named, two-thirds of the state’s eastern portion is plains. It’s the kind of place where you can see a storm coming 50 miles away.…
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The interview concerns a paper published about a plan to rewild the West that came out a year or so ago, putting back some of the pieces in the West, including beaver and wolves. The interview was recorded shortly after the publication, but is available recently. The introduction has one minor correction. I no longer work for…
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A previously thinned portion of the area charred by the Dixie Fire, which despite active forest management across much of the burn area, became one of California’s largest blazes. Photo George Wuerthner The Wilderness Society (TWS), founded to promote wildland preservation, has shifted its mission and focus to promoting logging and other activities that destroy…
