livestock grazing
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Colorado River inner gorge from Tuweep (Tonoweap) overlook, Grand Canyon NP, AZ. Photo George Wuerthner Seven states utilize the Colorado River water for irrigation and domestic water supplies. It is the sixth longest river in the continental United States, and its watershed covers 8% of the lower 48 states. The Colorado Rockies lie at…
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Restoration of wolves in the Western Rewilding Network would help “heal” the West. Photo George Wuerthner A new study published in Bioscience proposes rewilding the West with a system of wildland reserves to restore the ecological integrity of the landscape. The proposal follows President Biden’s plan to manage 30 percent of the United States landscape…
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The ecological impacts of livestock production is significant and there is seldom a full accounting of these costs. Photo George Wuerthner Livestock is responsible for more ecological damage to the western landscape than any other human activity. However, few accounting of these impacts is ever compiled. One source is my book Welfare Ranching–the Subsidized Destruction…
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No chance of fires here–remove all vegetation and your problem with wildfire is solved. Photo George Wuerthner A recent article in the Capitol Press titled: “New game plan: How targeted grazing on public lands is changing” describes how targeted grazing can fix any problems on public lands. Not unlike how logging is often described…
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The Upper Green River flows through the center of the 170,000-acre grazing allotment on the Bridger Teton National Forest. Photo George Wuerthner A federal court recently dismissed the lawsuit initiated by The Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, Western Watersheds Project, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, and Yellowstone to Uintas Connection to protect…
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BLM lands in Oregon. This kind of abuse of public patrimony is legalized vandalism. Photo George Wuerthner Western Watershed Project (WWP) recently completed a review of Bureau of Land Management livestock grazing permits that are supposed to be regulated under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. With climate change and the West…
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Livestock grazing in the arid West has a disproportionate impact on ecosystems. but especially on public lands which are to be managed for other values. Photo George Wuerthner Representatives Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) introduced the Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Act of 2022. The Act would give federal grazing permit holders the chance…