-
Newly approved vegetation “treatment” project is questionable, expensive News release. Western Watersheds Project BOISE, Idaho — Today, the Bureau of Land Management approved a plan to log off or tear out native juniper trees from 617,000 acres of public land in Idaho. The agency will cut, shred, and burn juniper trees under the guise of…
-
Reader generated wildlife news- It is time to create a new page of “Reader Generated Wildlife News.” Do not post copyrighted material. Here is the link to the “old” wildlife news page that began on Nov. 25, 2018. From there you can access links to the many older pages of wildlife news readers created. Please…
-
In his recent commentary “Stop the Blame Game” in the Reno Gazette-Journal, Dennis Golden reveals the dangers of pop culture solutions that lack scientific scrutiny. In his piece, Mr. Golden has many misleading or inaccurate assumptions about livestock production and climate change. https://www.rgj.com/story/opinion/voices/2019/02/07/stop-blame-game-lets-find-climate-change-solutions-golden/2807017002/ First, he rhetorically asks if it really matters whether global heating is…
-
I’ve visited Wendell State Forest in Massachusetts to explore the area the state proposes logging for “forest health”. In a recent article in the Greenfield Recorder, Leo Roy, State Department of Conservation & Recreation has argued that he fears the forest will become too homogenous and healthiest in the long run. As a forest ecologist,…
-
Recently the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission approved new smoke rules that relax air quality standards to permit more prescribed burning. The assumption behind the new standards is that greater prescribed burning in spring and fall will reduce smoke from wildfires in the summer. Prior to the new regulations, agencies doing prescribed burning had minimal windows…
-
In a recent commentary “Working to Improve Forest Health” posted by James Cummings of the Boone and Crockett Club mistakenly assumes that current wildfires are somehow “abnormal” and a sign of unhealthy forests. Then, since he creates a problem where none exist, he prescribes more active management in the form of logging/thinning as the means…
-
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…
-
Wyoming Game and Fish’s Latest Attempt to Close the Book on the Mark Uptain Tragedy By Maximilian Werner [Ed. note] This story follows that of Oct. 30, 2018, “The Rhetoric and Reality of Death by Grizzly.” On January 22nd, Wyoming Game and Fish released its second official report on the tragic death of hunting guide…