Scientists have identified seventeen areas in the eastern US suitable for the recolonization of Puma concolor. Will humans allow it?
Read MoreWelcoming Back Pumas to the Eastern United States
Livestock Grazing
Retiring Grazing Permits, Part 3: Future of the Voluntary Retirement Option
The future of the voluntary federal land grazing permit retirement option.
Read MoreRetiring Grazing Permits, Part 2: History of the Voluntary Retirement Option
The history of congressional and other actions to facilitate retirement of federal grazing permits
Read MoreRetiring Grazing Permits, Part 1: Context and Case for the Voluntary Retirement Option
The option to voluntarily retire federal grazing permits is progressing, albeit in fits and starts.
Read MoreMalheur County Federal Land Legislation Take 4, Part 2: The Ugly, the Missing, and the Alternative
If the recommended critical tweaks are made to remove the ugly parts (grazing “rights” and further exaltation of livestock grazing in wilderness areas) of S.1890, the Senate and the House of Representatives should pass the bill and the president should sign it into law.
Read MoreMalheur County Federal Land Legislation Take 4, Part 1: The Good, the Whatever, and the Bad
With a few critical tweaks, Senator Wyden’s legislation could be a net gain for the conservation of nature for the benefit of this and future generations. Without those tweaks, the bill as drafted is an existential threat to the conservation of federal public lands and should not be enacted into law.
Read MoreThe BLM’s Proposed “Conservation” Rule: Open for Comments
The nation’s largest land manager is proposing a new “conservation” rule that might result in improved land management but more likely will serve as a shield for the agency to continue to degrade public lands at the expense of this and future generations.
Read MoreBook Review: Our Common Ground: A History of America’s Public Lands
in Book Reviews, Bureau of Land Management, Congress, Counties & Federal Lands, Courts, Department of Agriculture, Department of Interior, Deserts, Ecological Reserves, Ecosystems, Elections, Endangered Species, Energy, Federal Lands, Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service, Forests, Grasslands, Legislation, LItigation, Livestock Grazing, Mining, Nat'l Conservation Lands, National Forest System, National Monuments, National Monuments Act, National Park Service, National Park System, National Parks, National Recreation Area, National Scenic Area, National Trails System, National Wildlife Refuges, Presidents, Public Land Law, Recreation, Wild and Scenic Rivers, Wilderness, Wildlife
Understanding the history of public lands is useful if one is to be the best advocate for the conservation of public lands.
Read MoreSenator Wyden’s Owyhee Wilderness, and More, Legislation
third try may be the charm in Senator Wyden’s long effort to enact public lands legislation to conserve wildlands in the Owyhee and lower Malheur Basins in Oregon.
Read MoreUdall-Heinrich Bill Would Emasculate the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
Legislation introduced by New Mexico’s two Democratic US senators would severely undermine the integrity of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
Read MoreL’Affaire Malheur, Part 2: Backstory and Analysis
L’Affaire Malheur, Part 1: The Proposed Legislation
Malheur is the French word for adversity, misfortune, and/or tragedy. It is also, among other things, a name for a county in Oregon, a national forest, a national wildlife refuge, and a river. Senator Ron Wyden’s proposed Malheur Community Empowerment for the Owyhee Act is indeed a misfortune and a tragedy.
Read MoreCow-Bombing the World’s Largest Organism
The largest organism on Earth is one quaking aspen clone with more than forty-seven thousand stems (trees). This organism is being cow-bombed and otherwise abused.
Read MoreWhere the Buffalo Roam
Grasslands get little respect. So easily are they converted to agriculture that grasslands are the least protected biome on Earth.
Read MoreLessons from Salem: Protecting Local Drinking Water Supplies
Alas, a full-on Bull Run solution is not possible for every other municipal water supply in Oregon, but more could be done.
Read MoreTrump Pardons Abusers—Of Public Lands, Public Officials, and a Child
The Hammonds, Mr. President, are not persons of generally good character. “Devoted family men” do not abuse minor children in their family.
Read MoreLeave It to Beavers: Good for the Climate, Ecosystems, Watersheds, Ratepayers, and Taxpayers (Part 1)
Beavers, by damming streams and creating wetlands, greatly enrich their ecosystem and watershed far out of proportion to their numbers.
Read MoreUsing the Bundys for Good: Finding the Silver Lining for Public Lands
Don’t tell anyone, but the more the Bundys—especially the patriarch, Cliven—talk, the better off are America’s public lands. This is true even if Cliven doesn’t again go off-script and full-on racist...
Read MoreAbuse of Process by the Bundys: Trying to Make the Law Fit Their Beliefs
Fresh on the heels of the dismissal of federal charges, Cliven Bundy has filed a new lawsuit against the federal government. The suit was filed on January 25, 2018, in the eighth judicial district in and for Clark County, Nevada.
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