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I just visited the town of Paradise located on the slopes of the Cascade Range near Chico, California. The Camp Fire burned through Paradise last November (2018) killing 85 people, mostly older residents-plus destroying 14000 homes and another 4800 structures (like commercial buildings). Another 637 structures were “damaged” bringing the total estimate by CAL…
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Reprinted from Waco Tribune-Herald March 9, 2019 By Steve Holmer, American Bird Conservancy Wildlife experts concluded in 2015 that the Greater Sage-Grouse, an iconic bird of the West, did not require listing under the Endangered Species Act, thanks to then-new federal management plans with added conservation requirements. Many conservation groups, including American Bird Conservancy, supported…
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The Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act or NREPA was once again introduced into Congress by Rep. Carolyn Malony from New York. NREPA would protect all the remaining roadless lands in the Northern Rockies by designation under the 1964 Wilderness Act. Conservation scientists recognize Wilderness as the “Gold Standard” for land protection. Iconic wild places that…
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Rancher subsidy for using public grass reaches greatest amount allowed by law- News from Western Watersheds Project WASHINGTON―The U.S. Interior Department has reduced fees for grazing cattle and sheep on federal public lands to the minimum allowed under federal law, $1.35 an animal-month. Yesterday’s announcement applies to grazing in national forests and on public lands administered by…
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The BLM just released its decision on its proposed Bruneau Owyhee Sage-grouse Habitat Project (BOSH Project) which will degrade 617,000 acres of southern Idaho by logging juniper, creating linear weed patches known as fire breaks, and using other questionable management strategies, all done, in the name of enhancing sage grouse habitat. Remarkably the BLM failed…
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The Gallatin Forest Partnership (GFP) proposal for the Gallatin Range promoted in a recent commentary by recreation advocacy groups like Livingston Bike Club is a good start in that it recognizes that the Gallatin Range unique wildlands deserve protection. However, it falls far short in providing the best protection for the range. https://etypeservices.com/oLivePubs/eTypesOlive.aspx?PubID=1671&IDT=263078&STRI=Livingston1 Basically, the…
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The threat from House Bill 132 By Jim Bailey A proposed apparently minor addition to the legal definition of “wild bison” in Montana could eliminate all possibilities for restoring public, wild bison to the state. This seemingly innocent change exists in House Bill 132 which, as of this writing, has passed the Montana House and…
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Recently Donald Trump used his executive authority to mandate increased logging of our public lands with the goal of reducing wildfire threat to communities. His order instructs land managers to treat (read log) 8.45 million acres of land and cut 4.4 million board feet of timber ostensibly to reduce fire hazard. Unfortunately, the mandate ignores…
