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Literature and Conservation in the West By Mark Bailey and Kirsten Allen Ten years ago I sat down and read Michael Crichton’s novel State of Fear. While far from his best work, it was his usual roller coaster of a techno-thriller. And, rather strangely, it was blatantly Ayn Rand-like in its political speeches that attempted…
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UPDATE 10/17/2014: Due to a request by Representative Peter DeFazio of Oregon, the comment period has been extended until Midnight Mountain Time, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2014. The BLM is asking for comments on an Environmental Assessment that examines the impacts of issuing a Special Recreation Permit (SRP) to conduct a predator killing contest on BLM lands.…
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The annual Frank Church Conference on Public Affairs this year, this weekend, will be in Boise, Idaho. This year the conference is entitled Wilderness, America’s Heritage.” The conference will discuss How did the Wilderness Act of 1964 become public law? What kind of framework did the Wilderness Act establish? How has the Wilderness Act functioned during the past fifty…
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I sent this into the Helena IR in response to an article that basically tried to portray the idea that environmental lawyers and groups were getting rich off of law suits that are often characterized as “frivolous”. In truth no one wins a law suit if it’s frivolous, and the fact that some groups win…
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The re-listing of wolves in Wyoming, prompted by law suits from a host of conservation groups has been celebrated as ‘righting’ what many have characterized as backwards and heavy-handed management policy Researcher Daniel Kinka provides an alternative perspective in a recent blog post. While acknowledging that Wyoming’s plan was “heavy-handed”, Kinka worries about how wolf…
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In a recent editorial in the Jackson Hole Guide, Luther Propst of Jackson asserts that conservationists needed to keep in mind that many public lands recreationalists have a common interest in protecting the land. (see Propts piece here http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/opinion/guest_shot/fun-hogs-and-the-future-of-conservation/article_f98a41a3-6dd0-5915-b166-fe0a5b898138.html) Recreationists like mountain biking proponents could be allies in efforts to protect wildlands as designated wilderness for…
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Only one person testifies in favor of Idaho taking the public lands from the United States- Recent months have seen a stall in efforts by right wing rural elites to transfer the public lands from their historic ownership by the Unites States and give them to the states. Public opinion surveys show the public doesn’t…
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Was demonization of wolves sort of a test case? Looking back after almost 20 years at organized attempts to terrify Americans into supporting policies that the right wing likes, it can be argued that demonization of wolves was sort of a test case, an experiment. Turning around the increasingly favorable public perception of wolves was…