livestock grazing
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Biocrusts are important in arid ecosystems. Photo George Wuerthner Biological soil crusts, known as biocrusts, are lichens, algae, mosses, fungi, and cyanobacteria common on the soil surface.[i]They are critical to arid ecosystems, where they help to reduce soil erosion and maintain stability. They assist in water retention and act like soil mulch. They also create…
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Lowery Ruins, part of the Canyon of the Ancients National Monument. Photo George Wuerthner Livestock grazing threatens the integrity of Colorado’s Canyon of the Ancients National Monument. Located in SW Colorado near Cortez, President Clinton established the 176,000 acre Monument in 2000 to protect one of the highest concentrations of archeological sites in the West…
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Emigrant Peak and Yellowstone River in Paradise Valley. The East Paradise Grazing Decision will increase grazing by livestock on Emigrant Peak and adjacent areas of the Six Mile Creek drainage, an important area for wildlife. Photo George Wuerthner The Custer Gallatin National Forest (CGNF) recently released its decision on the future of six East…
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The Mogollon Mountains of the Gila Wilderness, New Mexico is the heart of the Greater Gila Ecosystem. Photo George Wuerthner I have spent most of my adult life living within, exploring, learning about, and trying to protect the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. It is one of the premier wildlands in the nation and deserves…
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Cattle tend to congregate in riparian zones because they provide food, water, and shade. Photo George Wuerthner One of the biggest problems in conservation is that people do not miss what they don’t know. How many people really miss the Ivory-Billed woodpecker or Stellar’s sea lion? And I’ve found that people living in the eastern…
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The nearly complete annihilation of vegetation by livestock vandelism seen here should result in the termination of any grazing privileges. Photo George Wuerthner I recently spent a few days on the Dixie National Forest in southern Utah. One of the defining characteristics of the forest is that nearly all the acreage that is not…
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Is this kind of damage from private livestock the kind of impact the National Park Service should permit? Photo George Wuerthner The final Record of Decision (ROD) on livestock operations management at Point Reyes National Seashore was released this week. Unfortunately, and as feared, it not only maintains the ongoing degradation of this national park…
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The Bighorn National Forest is one of the hidden gems of the West. With peaks towering to over 13,000 feet and spacious flower-studded meadows, the forest is an underappreciated scenic and wildlife haven of the West. The Cloud Peak Wilderness on the Bighorn National Forest is a lake-studded area of granite basins. Photo George Wuerthner …