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The San Pedro River from the same viewpoint. What the river looked like with livestock grazing, and about a decade after the livestock were removed. The San Pedro River is a restored gem in southeast Arizona. The 47-mile-long San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (SPNCA) is one of the most intact riparian cottonwood gallery…
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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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The ecological impacts of livestock production is significant and there is seldom a full accounting of these costs. Photo George Wuerthner Livestock is responsible for more ecological damage to the western landscape than any other human activity. However, few accounting of these impacts is ever compiled. One source is my book Welfare Ranching–the Subsidized Destruction…
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No chance of fires here–remove all vegetation and your problem with wildfire is solved. Photo George Wuerthner A recent article in the Capitol Press titled: “New game plan: How targeted grazing on public lands is changing” describes how targeted grazing can fix any problems on public lands. Not unlike how logging is often described…
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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…
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.