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Restoration of wolves in the Western Rewilding Network would help “heal” the West. Photo George Wuerthner A new study published in Bioscience proposes rewilding the West with a system of wildland reserves to restore the ecological integrity of the landscape. The proposal follows President Biden’s plan to manage 30 percent of the United States landscape…
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Michael Garrity, one of the best advocates for wild nature in the Northern Rockies. What do you call a fifth generation Montanan who was born, raised, and educated in the Big Sky state, and has dedicated his life to ensuring future generations will have the opportunity to experience the intact ecosystems and vast fish and…
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The Buffalohorn drainage in the Gallatin Range is part of a wilderness proposal opposed by mountain bikers. Photo George Wuerthner New wilderness designations in Montana is dead, declared conservationist Bill Schneider in a thought provoking editorial. Schneider suggests that to protect Montana’s wildlands, wilderness advocates need to support alternative land management designations which are less…
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Old Faithful erupting. Yellowstone National Park. Photo George Wuerthner Yellowstone National Park was established 150 years ago in 1872. The park’s creation marked a significant departure from public land policies of the time. Instead of promoting settlement, mining, logging, ranching, or other development, the park was designated to protect natural features like thermal features.…
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Agricultural interests bend the language to blame wolves for things they didn’t do. Whenever my life seems difficult, all I have to do is think about the challenges that predators face here in the American West and suddenly I don’t feel so bad anymore. Thanks in part to what Idaho Fish and Game describes as…
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The White Mountains contain the greatest amount of federally owned lands in the Northeast. Photo George Wuerthner The White Mountain National Forest (WMNF) is the largest federally owned tract in the Northeast. The WMNF lies in New Hampshire and Maine and covers 800,000 acres, with 135,000 acres as designated wilderness. A proposal to create an…
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Escudilla Mountain rises above the landscape and dominates the views in northern Arizona. Photo George Wuerthner “Life in Arizona was bounded underfoot by grama grass, overhead by the sky, and on the horizon by Escudilla.” So begins Aldo Leopold’s memorable essay Escudilla in Sand County Almanac, where he describes the killing of Bigfoot, one of…
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.