The Gallatin Range runs from Bozeman into Yellowstone National Park. The Custer Gallatin National Forest (CGNF) segment contains a 230,000-acre roadless area. Currently, the CGNF is considering which parts of the forest to recommend for wilderness in its Forest Plan. The FS recommends about 85,000 acres in two segments as wilderness. The Gallatin Forest Partnership…
For thousands of years, humans have been reliant and aware that we are all dependent upon other life to support us. If the caribou or bison herd didn’t come near the village or the salmon failed to materialize in the streams, people starved. We humans intuitively understood that we had an obligation and responsibility to…
A group of individuals known as the Gallatin Partnership has colluded to propose a future division of the Gallatin Range into different recreational zones to the detriment of wildlife and wildlands. http://missoulian.com/lifestyles/recreation/bozeman-group-proposes-forest-consider-more-wilderness-wildlife-management-areas/article_1fda14fc-d78c-536f-9688-25225fb21899.html?utm_source=Conservation+News+-+January+31%2C+2018&utm_campaign=CN+17+Jan%2F18&utm_medium=email The Gallatin Range is the largest unprotected wildlands left in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Stretching south 50 miles from Bozeman to Yellowstone National Park,…
The Custer Gallatin National Forest is revising its Forest Plan, and among other things, is reexamining its roadless lands and making recommendations for future wilderness. This is critical because lands deemed worthy of the potential wilderness by the Forest are managed to retain their wilderness qualities. Not surprisingly the Forest has produced an anemic recommendation given…
The shooting of the Profanity Pack last year and now a kill order for the Smackout Pack in Northeast Washington clearly demonstrated the failure of the current strategy of many conservation groups who are involved in wolf recovery efforts. In this case, a number of organizations, including Wolf Haven International, Conservation Northwest, Defenders of Wildlife,…
The Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to delist grizzlies from the protection of the Endangered Species Act in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The basic rationale for delisting is that the geographical distribution of bears has increased, particularly in areas south and east of Yellowstone Park, as well as population growth. But there is a…
The announcement by Senator John Tester that he would be introducing legislation to protect approximately 80,000 acres in the Blackfoot Clearwater area adjacent to the Bob Marshall Wilderness is to be commended. I have personally hiked all the areas included in this legislation and can attest to its important to the ecological integrity of the…
By Erik Molvar President Donald Trump has made a point of invoking Theodore Roosevelt, one of our nation’s leading conservation icons, as his guiding light on environmental issues. His Secretary of Interior designee, Ryan Zinke, has done the same. Those are pretty big boasts. Teddy Roosevelt was president around the turn of 20th Century, an era…
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.