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Cattle grazing in the Blue Range Wilderness of New Mexico. Photo George Wuerthner Anyone who has ever worked on public lands livestock issues knows that modifying the negative impacts of ranching operations, much less eliminating them, is nearly impossible. Domestic livestock grazing even occurs in national parks, national monuments, wilderness areas, and other public lands…
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Livestock grazing negatively impacts more public lands in the West than any other industry. Photo George Wuerhner Legislation that would have given the federal government authority to close grazing privileges on public lands was recently withdrawn. Grazing permit buyouts allow the federal government to close public lands to future livestock grazing permanently. New Mexico’s U.S.…
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Livestock grazing in the Great Basin has increased cheatgrass, a highly flammable annual grass. Livestock advocates allege targeted grazing can reduce large wildfires. Photo George Wuerthner A recent publication in the Journal of Rangeland Ecology and Management, “Evaluating the efficacy of targeted cattle grazing for fuel break creation and maintenance,” perpetuates the myth that livestock…
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Livestock is one of the major factors in cheatgrass invasion across the West. Photo George Wuerthner Wildfire is a big issue in Western states. As climate warming has increased temperatures, created severe drought, and increased winds, wildfire has become more challenging to control, and the annual acreage burned is growing over the recent past (…
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The once gin clear Deschutes River near Bend, Oregon is now a pea-green or dirty blonde due to irrigation degradation of the river. Photo George Wuerthner This past week I hiked along the Upper Deschutes River. It was a pea-green color, or maybe you might say dirty blonde. Whatever adjective you like, the Upper Deschutes…
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Domestic sheep grazing in the Gravelly Range, Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, Montana. Photo George Wuerthner A recent article on the Helle family and their domestic sheep grazing operations on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest was published In a November Bozeman Daily Chronicle. The piece was a puff piece on the sheep grazing practices of the Helle family…
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.