When Deb Haaland was nominated for the position of Secretary of Interior, I received dozens of emails from nearly every large conservation organization to support her nomination. She was appointed without having any particular experience or background in public lands issues and limited executive experience in running major federal land management agencies such as…
Cattle grazing is the greatest threat to the Greater Gila Ecosystem in New Mexico. Photo George Wuerthner Livestock grazing is the biggest scourge to Southwestern ecosystems. No matter where they are found, domestic livestock poses a significant threat to wildlife and ecosystem function. Feral livestock currently roams the 558,065 Gila Wilderness, and the Gila National…
The granite summit of Spirit Mountain in the proposed Avi Kwa Ame National Monument, Nevada. Photo George Wuerthner President Biden appears ready to designate the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in southern Nevada. The monument will protect almost a half million acres of the Mohave Desert between the California border and the Colorado River. Stretching…
Protecting the Brooks Range of Alaska by giving some kind of permanent protection to the National Petroleum Reserve. Photo George Wuerthner The Center for American Progress (CAP) recently published a report on how President Biden could reach his goal of protecting 30 percent of America’s land and water by 2030. It is an ambitious goal…
Clearcuts below Grizzly Creek in the Upper Yaak Drainage. Photo George Wuerthner The Kootenai National Forest proposes a massive logging project in Northwest Montana known as the Black Ram “Vegetation” treatment. The Black Ram project area includes Northwest Yaak from the Canadian border west to the Idaho border, south to the ridge line between Pete…
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…
Scarface Mountain, Badger-Two Medicine Rocky Mountain Front, Montana, Photo George Wuerthner A recent article in the Missoulian described efforts by conservationists and some tribal members to stop oil drilling in the Badger-Two Medicine roadless area by the oil company Solenex. This Louisiana company holds leases for oil drilling in the Badger-Two Medicine Roadless area on…
Typical pole size of trees in the South Plateau “treatment” area. Photo George Wuerthner The Custer Gallatin National Forest (CGNF) proposal to log the South Plateau area bordering Yellowstone National Park near West Yellowstone is another example of the Forest Service’s quack chainsaw medicine policies. The CGNF says the goal of the logging is to…
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.