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The article “Rancher Promotes ‘New Paradigm’ On The Rangeland” appeared in the May 10 Mountain Express.https://www.mtexpress.com/news/environment/rancher-promotes-new-paradigm-on-the-rangeland/article_bd8c4ab2-728d-11e9-86c2-af41ed665afe.html The views expressed by rancher Glen Elzinga deserves some perspective. I acknowledge that rancher Glenn Elzinga is trying his best to improve his livestock grazing through intensive management of his cattle herd. However, there is no right way to…
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This past December 2018 the Bureau Field office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a final Environmental Assessment for the Battle Creek, East Castle Creek, and Owens Allotments Grazing Permit Renewal, at least partially within the Little Jacks Creek Wilderness, part of the stunningly beautiful Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness Complex in Idaho. The BLM…
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Across the West, livestock grazing is one of the most destructive land uses. Some 250 million acres of public lands are grazed by domestic livestock including those administered by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, as well as national wildlife refuges and even some national park units. This use is not benign.…
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The BLM just released its decision on its proposed Bruneau Owyhee Sage-grouse Habitat Project (BOSH Project) which will degrade 617,000 acres of southern Idaho by logging juniper, creating linear weed patches known as fire breaks, and using other questionable management strategies, all done, in the name of enhancing sage grouse habitat. Remarkably the BLM failed…
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The Upper Green River grazing allotment on the Bridger Teton National Forest (BTNF) lies between the Gros Ventre Range and Wind River Range. The allotment is one of the most important wildlife habitats outside of Yellowstone National Park. Indeed, the Upper Green’s wildlife habitat quality has been compared to Yellowstone’s famous Lamar Valley. Among…
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Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above Don’t fence me in Let me ride through the wide open country that I love Don’t fence me in Let me be by myself in the evenin’ breeze And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees Send me off forever but I ask…
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Massive Lease Sale Includes Public Land Near National Park, Wildlife Refuge RENO, Nev — The Trump administration plans to auction more than 900,000 acres for oil and gas extraction on the doorstep of Nevada’s only national park and other protected public lands. It would be the largest single lease sale of public lands in the…
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By Laura Cunningham, California Director, Western Watersheds Project A controversy has irrupted in a volcanic caldera used for livestock grazing in the scenic Eastern Sierra region of California. Ditch irrigation is a common use of wet meadows along the eastern front of the Sierra Nevada, where snowmelt streams pour into basins and connect to rivers…
Author
George Wuerthner is an ecologist and writer who has published 38 books on various topics related to environmental and natural history. He has visited over 400 designated wilderness areas and over 200 national park units.