Stale data, failure to improve poor habitat conditions doom grazing project For immediate release, August 1, 2017 Media contact: Greta Anderson, Western Watersheds Project (520) 623-1878; greta@westernwatersheds.org BOISE, Ida. – Today, in a sharply worded rebuke to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), an administrative law judge granted Western Watersheds Project’s appeal of a 2013 grazing permit…
By Erik Molvar The newly-signed settlement between environmentalists, ranchers, and the National Park Service puts Point Reyes on the path to resolving conflicts between private livestock and public wildlife on the National Seashore. It requires a forthcoming planning process, during which the public can hold the Park Service to its obligation to manage these lands…
NASA just reported the drought in eastern Montana is so severe it is a once in a century event. Not surprisingly, despite livestock grazing that some suggest could preclude large blazes, the drought in eastern Montana has spawned some recent blazes including the 270,000-acre Lodgepole Fire. The fire raced across grazed public and private pasture…
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 4th Annual Speak for Wolves will take place on July 27-29, 2017 in the Historic Union Pacific Dining Lodge in West Yellowstone, Montana. This annual wildlife advocacy conference in the heart of Yellowstone is a family-friendly event featuring guest speakers, live music, food, poetry, book readings, panel discussions and a field trip. Registration is…
Dr. Hessburg’s wildfire presentation has some good points that are worth reiterating, however, he also misrepresents some finer points of fire ecology. Basically, he promotes the notion that fuels are what drives large wildfires which he pejoratively calls “mega-fires”. The pejorative language is found throughout his presentation with terms like “destructive wildfires” “unhealthy” forests,…
A recent article in Wood River Journal titled Wolf Project Enters 10th year detailed how private livestock producers have successfully harassed public wildlife on public lands to reduce losses to native predators. http://www.mtexpress.com/news/environment/wood-river-wolf-project-enters-th-year/article_1b4d8faa-629e-11e7-85c6-4339db44b9f9.html It details how Defenders of Wildlife, working with wealthy millionaire ranchers like the Lava Lake and Land Company, have joined together to…
Recently I drove up the Lostine River corridor and hiked the trail in the Eaglecap Wilderness giving me a good opportunity to review a Forest Service proposal to log the river corridor. The agency is using a stealth method of approving the proposed logging called a “Categorical Exclusion”. The CE allows the FS to proceed…