My Page: Lance Olsen
Johnny’s WolfMy grandfather had died not long before I climbed to the seat of an old wagon. My mission? To sit where he'd sat when he saw the last of the wolves that anyone would see on that little Montana ranch. When climbing back down from the weathered wagon's seat, I was occupied territory, inhabited by wolves. [more]
Climate Combinations in the Northern Plains/RockiesThe Northern Plains and Northern Rockies are susceptible to the same general climate combinations that can affect the world as a whole, including a scenario of extensive forest death. [more]
Finding Hope in the New Climate: Part IIOn the prairies and in the mountains, familar and beloved plant-animal communities are in the process of potent change. And more lies ahead. The prospect of protecting unfamiliar new ecosystems where we have seen old ones will pose emotional as well as intellectual challenges for the conservation community. Our hopes must be modified to match the realities of rising global temperatures. [more]
Finding Hope in a New ClimateClimate-driven extinction of significant and even massive scale has been looking increasingly plausible for at least the past couple decades. Within just the past decade, scenarios of significant extinction have been looking increasingly inevitable. To avoid scenarios out toward the worst case end of the spectrum, we must effect drastic changes in energy consumption. But we are fools if we think we can respond only on the energy side of the equation. To retain real hope of avoiding mass extinctions in terrestrial environments, we also have to effect crucial changes that permit wild species to move freely across the land surface. Environmentalists in the Northern Rockies have urged such policy for the past two decades. [more]
The Next Real RevolutionWe humans live hand-to-mouth in many more ways than one, often leaving us unable to think beyond the next day, or the next election. This has always left us unprepared for transitions of truly revolutionary scale. [more]
At Home in AmericaThree decades of a combined logging-building boom have overturned traditional American values. And have played a role in diminishing the nation's standing in the world community. [more]
SILENT ‘TIL THEY KILLI’m pretty sure that the recriminations will be buzzing right along by the time citizens in boats start picking bodies out of Flathead Lake. [more]
New West Unfiltered
The Rockies’ New Diaspora , Boom and BustAll up and down the Rocky Mountain chain, the influx of a new diaspora is sending sprawl across valley floors, up the neighboring drainages, and into the forests. Lenders line up fresh, new loans. Builders put up homes. Realtors rejoice over the rising tide of sales.
While many promote this as a wonderful economic boon, others warn that it's a dangerous ecological bane, creating jeopardy for everything from mice to bears. Ergo, many of us are under the impression that there is a mounting conflict between the economy and the environment.
In momentary terms, that conflict seems quite real. But a longer view reveals rising risk that the Rockies' new boom is setting the stage for troubles of the economic and ecological kinds.
[more]
