My Page: George Wuerthner
GUEST COMMENTARY: QUID PRO QUO HAS DOWNSIDE
Wilderness Strategy Questioned
"Compromise is often necessary, but it ought not to originate with environmental leaders. Our role is to hold fast to what we believe is right, to fight for it, to find allies, and to adduce all possible arguments for our cause."'-- David Brower
Dapine Herling, President of the Montana Wilderness Association (MWA), recently submitted a guest commentary to NewWest.Net titled "Opportunity Knocks for Protection of Montana’s Forests and Water."
[more]
On the Range with George Wuerthner
Who Will Speak For the Forests?
Is it unreasonable to ask that anyone using public forests for profit leave them unimpaired? [more]
Commentary
Speculation on Salazar Nomination
Many of my friends in the environmental communities were disappointed with the recent pick by President Elect Obama of Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado for the position of Secretary of Interior. The Secretary of Interior overseas the BLM, National Park Service, Minerals Management Services, Fish and Wildlife Service, that collectively administer management on about 1/3 of the land in America. Some groups, including myself, favored the appointment of Congressman Raul Grijalva of Arizona, a well known progressive from Tucson, Arizona, as Secretary of Interior. I’ve worked with Grijalva on several issues, and I know he is well informed, and more importantly, cares about protecting our public lands. So why would Obama select someone who is considered at best middle of the road for Secretary of Interior? [more]
Wuerthner On the Range
Questions About Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship
The Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Proposal on the Seeley Lake Ranger District of the Lolo National Forest has gotten a lot of positive praise from all involved, including many environmental organization. However, in their rush to reach consensus, many fundamental underlying assumptions about the need for forest restoration, whether logging can achieve the goals, the effectiveness of fuels thinning, as well as the environmental and economic viability of the proposal are not critically evaluated by plan proponents. [more]
Guest Commentary: George Wuerthner's "On the Range"
Context Needed in Beetle DiscussionIn the November 17th Science Section of The New York Times there was an article by Jim Robbins about the current pine beetle event occurring in the West.
There was a lot of good factual information in the piece about pine beetles and their basic ecology, and on the whole, Robbins did a good job of describing some of the concerns that people have about the beetle situation. Nevertheless, the tone and implied message conveyed an overly pessimistic and negative picture of beetles as well as wildfires. It was not so much that it had a lot of false statements as much as the way it was written. Taken together the various quotes, and background in the article leaves one with the perception that somehow beetles, as well as wildfires are “out of control” in the West's ecosystems.
[more]
Guest Column: George Wuerthner's "On the Range"
Wilderness—A Great HealingThere are many good reasons given for establishing more designated wilderness in the United States. Wilderness designation preserves important ecological features and ecological processes. They can serve as fountainheads for our rivers and drinking supplies. Wilderness lands can provide us a place to recreation, relax, reflect, physically and mentally challenge ourselves. These are all valid reasons for preserving wilderness, and any of them alone would be sufficient reason to support wildlands preservation.
But there is yet another reason to support wilderness designation for the country.
[more]
Guest Commentary: George Wuerthner's "On the Range"
Notes on the ‘88 Yellowstone Fire Conference
I attended The '88 fires: Yellowstone and Beyond fire conference in Jackson, Wyoming. The conference went on for five days and had many simultaneous presentations, featuring some of the latest insights into wildfire ecology and fire behavior. The following are some of the highlights.
Weather and climate figured into many presentations for a variety of reasons. Speakers like Tony Wsesterling of the University of California and Tom Swetnam of the University of Arizona spoke about long term global climate change which will likely increase the severity and number of large wildfires in the future.
Many speakers from agency managers to wildfire ecologists emphasized over and over again the influence of drought, low humidity and wind on fire spread and behavior. The conclusion of speakers is that under severe weather conditions, some fires are unstoppable and we are already seeing such a trend in fires today.
[more]
Guest Commentary: George Wuerthner's "On the Range"
Guzzling the West’s Water
When people think of California and water, they often imagine sprawling cities dotted liberally with swimming pools and watered lawns; legions of vain auto owners washing their SUVs, sports cars, and minivans; and endless acres of verdant golf courses - all sucking down rivers both near and far. This image is partly correct - rivers are going dry. But the major reason is not direct consumption by humans - urbanites running sprinklers on their front yards and the like. In California, the major user of water is agriculture, and within agriculture, the thirstiest commodity is the cow.
Overall, agriculture accounts for 83 percent of all water used in California. It's true that California grows the majority of America's fruits and vegetables, so liberal use of water by its agricultural sector would not be unexpected. However, few people would suspect that growing feed for cattle are the predominant agricultural use of water in California. In 1997, 1.7 million acres of the state were planted to alfalfa alone. Irrigated pasture and hayfields consume more water than any other single crop in California - more than a third of all irrigation water. Together, alfalfa and hay and pasturage account for approximately half of all water used in the state.
[more]
