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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…
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Biden and Haaland’s Opportunity to Further Conservation President Biden and Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland could go down in history if they created additional National Monuments. Although Biden has created or enlarged seven National Monuments by executive proclamation so far in his Presidency, numerous other public lands should be given protection before the November…
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More than 1.24 million acres have charred a portion of the Texas panhandle and parts of adjacent Oklahoma. The Smokehouse Blaze is the largest in Texas history and the second-largest fire in the nation’s history. It is larger than the top 20 largest wildfires in California over the past 90 years. The Smokehouse Creek fire…
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Winter weather frequently drives wild Yellowstone bison out of the park seeking forage, where they are captured or killed at the park border. Photo George Wuerthner Recently news media announced the transfer of 141 of Yellowstone’s bison to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Most of the media and many conservation groups hailed this as…
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Yellowstone bison are part of the global wildlife heritage. Photo George Wuerthner A week ago, 116 bison captured in Yellowstone National Park were transferred to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation as part of the Bison Relocation Program. Since 2019, 414 Yellowstone bison have been transferred to the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes at Fort Peck. Many…
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Roberts Fire near Glacier National Park, Montana. Photo George Wuerthner A few weeks ago, I attended a panel discussion about wildfires. All the panelists and the moderator suggested that large mega fires resulted from fuels that had attained unnatural levels due to a “hundred years of fire suppression.” The idea that fire suppression is responsible…
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Attached is a Zoom talk I gave to the Massachusetts Sierra Club on the ecological costs of livestock grazing in the West, but I also provide evidence that livestock production has a serious global impact.
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Cattle congregating in the riparian area, Chama, New Mexico. Photo George Wuerthner SOIL CARBON AND LIVESTOCK Rangelands make up a large proportion of the Earth’s surface, and the soils hold a significant amount of sequestered carbon (Schuman,G.E et al. 2001). Rangelands are estimated to contain more than one-third of the world’s above and below ground…
