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People upset by the actions of the federal wildlife control agency, Wildlife Services in the Dept. of Agriculture, usually don’t get any media attention. However, for over a year now the Sacramento Bee has had many stories about the Service, and they have done a lot of investigative reporting. Davis, Caifornia just responded to complaints…
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Reliable spring time snow appears to be vital for wolverine kits to survive- Wolverines are legendary for traveling huge distances and eating just about anything. However, a study in the recent Journal of Mammology shows that this is hardly true when it comes to baby wolverine and their mothers. Wolverine females den in the snow…
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First day of annual testing shows the dangerous disease in local mosquitoes- Throughout most of the 20th Century in the United States getting bitten by mosquitoes was an irritation, sometimes a major one, but something without lasting effects. This was never true in many other countries where Yellow Fever, Dengue Fever, malaria, and many more…
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Debate over immigration and enforcement attracts major effort to savage environmental laws within 100 miles of the borders- OPINION Americans are having a heated debate over illegal immigration, cross border drug smuggling and what to do about it. This has attracted some very contentious legislation at the state and federal levels. The President, various state…
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Understanding Montana’s Wolf Policy Decision George Wuerthner On July 12, 2012, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MDFWP) Commissioners voted 4-0 to increase wolf hunting in the state, expanding the hunting season and permitting the trapping of wolves for the first time as well. The goal is to reduce wolf numbers across the…
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Blacktail Fire was only 5 acres when suppression was ordered- Although Yellowstone has had several “spot” fires this year, lightning caused the first real (potentially) large fire today. The order to suppress it came when the fire was only about 5 acres in size. It is burning between the the gravel Blacktail Plateau Drive and…
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Wildlife Services has high average non-lethal record for all animals, but not for large carnivores- Lately there has been a lot of media critical of USDA-Wildlife Services; often called by its critics something like “the federal government’s wildlife killers.” In an effort to mount a defense the Service has pointed out that 80% of its…
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Do grizzly bears threaten chickens or do chicken owners threaten grizzly bears? Earlier today we wrote an article about people putting up a lot of new chicken coops in well known NW Montana grizzly bear country. The result of this is dead grizzly bears when bear “mangers” have the bears put down for eating a…