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The article “Rancher Promotes ‘New Paradigm’ On The Rangeland” appeared in the May 10 Mountain Express.https://www.mtexpress.com/news/environment/rancher-promotes-new-paradigm-on-the-rangeland/article_bd8c4ab2-728d-11e9-86c2-af41ed665afe.html The views expressed by rancher Glen Elzinga deserves some perspective. I acknowledge that rancher Glenn Elzinga is trying his best to improve his livestock grazing through intensive management of his cattle herd. However, there is no right way to…
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In the recent Public Lands legislation that was passed by Congress, Oregon got some new protected landscapes including the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness, 250 miles of new Wild and Scenic River segments on the Rogue and Molalla rivers and measures such as a mining ban on the Chetco River. This legislation was a good but a…
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The Upper Green River grazing allotment on the Bridger Teton National Forest (BTNF) lies between the Gros Ventre Range and Wind River Range. The allotment is one of the most important wildlife habitats outside of Yellowstone National Park. Indeed, the Upper Green’s wildlife habitat quality has been compared to Yellowstone’s famous Lamar Valley. Among…
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When the Bureau of Land Management released its final analysis on sage grouse plan changes in early December, a flurry of media stories trumpeted the reduction of protected sage-grouse habitat from 10 million to 1.8 million acres of federal land. That sounds like a big bad deal, but the reality is even worse. The plan…
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The Challis and Salmon BLM of central Idaho appear to be ready to destroy much of the sage grouse habitat in the Lemhi, Pahsimeroi, and Lost River valleys, ironically in the name of protecting sage grouse. As an ecologist, and someone who has studied both sagebrush and sage-grouse ecology, I find the proposal to crush…
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In recent years it has become fashionable for conservationists to substitute and promote other land classification in place of wilderness designation. Wilderness is “passé” so we are told, even though it is the “gold standard” for land protection. In a recent white paper, The Wilderness Society outlined some of these alternatives such as National Recreation…
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By Laura Cunningham, California Director, Western Watersheds Project A controversy has irrupted in a volcanic caldera used for livestock grazing in the scenic Eastern Sierra region of California. Ditch irrigation is a common use of wet meadows along the eastern front of the Sierra Nevada, where snowmelt streams pour into basins and connect to rivers…
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By Erik Molvar Credit: Photo by Steve Stevens courtesy Flickr Creative Commons A federal court has ruled that a Wyoming statutes designed to suppress the collection of “resource data” by nonprofit environmental groups and other members of the public violates constitutional free speech rights, and consequently the court struck down the two state laws. sources…
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.