The Wildlife News

riparian areas

  • The Social Carbon Cost of Public Land Livestock Grazing

    George Wuerthner

    Public land livestock grazing has a significant social cost in terms of carbon emissions contributing to climate warming. Grand Staircase-Escalante NM Utah.  Photo George Wuerthner  An important paper was published in Environmental Management about the social carbon costs of public land livestock grazing. The paper Climate, Ecological, and Social Costs of Livestock Grazing on Western…

  • Livestock Impacts To Desert Regions

    George Wuerthner

    ABSTRACT: Livestock production occurs in all deserts (except polar deserts). In many desert areas, it is the single most significant human impact. Livestock production includes grazing plants and all associated activities to produce domestic animals. This consists of the dewatering rivers for irrigated forage crops, killing of predators and “pest” species, forage competition between native…

  • BLM To Continue To Permit Livestock Degradation to San Pedro National Conservation Area

    George Wuerthner

    Changes in the riparian vegetation along the San Pedro River before and after livestock removal from the main river corridor.  The Bureau of Land Management released its Environmental Assessment for livestock grazing in the San Pedro National Conservation Area (SPNCA) in Arizona. The BLM has decided that the rancher’s interests trump the public interest in…

  • Rewilding the West and the 2023 Farm Bill

    George Wuerthner

    The Rewilding the West proposal calls for the restoration of wolves across federal lands. Photo George Wuerthner  The current Farm Bill, which Congress passed in 2018, is set to expire in 2023. Congress will undoubtedly enact a new Farm Bill. The Farm Bill provides an opportunity to incorporate the provisions of the Rewilding the West…

  • How Rewilding Could Restore The Colorado River Flows

    George Wuerthner

      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…

  • Western Rewilding Network Proposal

    George Wuerthner

    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…

  • Key Impacts of Livestock Production (not just grazing) Upon the Land.

    George Wuerthner

    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…

  • Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Legislation Introduced

    George Wuerthner

    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…

Subscribe to get new posts right in your Inbox

‎”At some point we must draw a line across the ground of our home and our being, drive a spear into the land and say to the bulldozers, earthmovers, government and corporations, “thus far and no further.” If we do not, we shall later feel, instead of pride, the regret of Thoreau, that good but overly-bookish man, who wrote, near the end of his life, “If I repent of anything it is likely to be my good behaviour.”

Edward Abbey

“The continued existence of wildlife and wilderness is important to the quality of life of humans.”

Jim Fowler

“Our forests offer much more than just beautiful landscapes and wildlife. Each one has a different story to tell.”

Raveena Tandon

Latest Posts

×