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Giant sequoia in Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park. Photo George Wuerthner I visited Yosemite National Park recently. I was dismayed to see the logging of large trees in the valley. According to the Park Superintendent, the justification for logging is “to use every tool at our disposal to save the forests and to save the…
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Dried-up bed of the Deschutes River upstream of Bend, Oregon. Photo George Wuerthner This past month, irrigators began the annual drawing down of the Deschutes River to the point where fish and other wildlife die or are threatened. Good people have tried to save fish stranded in pools of water. I do not want to…
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Mount Boarh, Idaho’s highest peak rises above the riparian exclosure that is supposed to be ungrazed. Freighter Spring, Challis National Forest, Idaho. Photo George Wuerthner I recently spent some time hiking in Central Idaho. At the base of Mount Borah just off the Doublesprings Road, I decided to check out a large riparian enclosure surrounding…
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The Bridger Canyon Fire by Bozeman burned during a period of high winds and extreme drought. The resulting snag forest is considered by some to be an example of a “bad” fire. Photo George Wuerthner I continuously read articles by journalists and others who expound on fire issues that promotes several inaccuracies. Here’s just one…
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Colorado River inner gorge from Tuweep (Tonoweap) overlook, Grand Canyon NP, AZ. Photo George Wuerthner Seven states utilize the Colorado River water for irrigation and domestic water supplies. It is the sixth longest river in the continental United States, and its watershed covers 8% of the lower 48 states. The Colorado Rockies lie at…
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Previously logged Plum Creek Timber Company lands which didn’t stop 36,ooo acre plus Jocko Lakes Fires. Photo George Wuerthner Recently Governor Greg Gianforte praised forest management for limiting the spread of two fires near Helena. Gianforte suggested that active forest management (i.e., logging) helped firefighters to keep two blazes, the Grizzly Gulch and Mount…
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The Gravelly Range lies west of Ennis, Montana. Photo George Wuerthner The 17,000-acre plus Greenhorn “Vegetation” Project in the Gravelly Range of the Beaverhead Deer Lodge National Forest (BDNF) is yet another destructive proposal designed to provide wood for the timber industry and fodder for the livestock industry. Vegetation management is a euphemism for logging…
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The Maine Woods is the largest undeveloped (not untouched) region in the eastern United States and is part of RESTORE’s vision for a 3.2 million-acre national park. Photo George Wuerthner Recently, Maine’s U.S. Senators Angus King and Susan Collins introduced legislation in Congress to authorize the expansion of the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument…