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The South Cottonwood drainage in the northern Gallatin Range proposed wilderness lies immediately south of Bozeman, to the west of Hyalite Canyon. The Forest Service’s nearly 8,000-acre Hyalite Cottonwood Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project threatens some of the proposed wilderness. Keep in mind that one acre is approximately equal to a football field. So, imagine what…
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This is the second in a series of two Public Lands Blog posts on big old trees. Part 1 exploded the myth that big old trees slow in their rate of growth as they age and also introduced the concept of tree-related microhabitats. Part 2 examines a new scientific paper on the state of medium-sized and large…
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In the late 1990s, I was traveling across the Blue Mountains of Oregon with my wife, Mollie, and my children en route to Montana. Both Mollie and I had been involved in wolf restoration politics in Montana. At the time, there were no wolves in Oregon. However, as we passed mile upon mile of rolling…
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Top Line: Big old trees play out-sized roles in a forest stand in terms of biodiversity, carbon storage, and carbon sequestration. This is the first in a series of two Public Lands Blog posts on big old trees. Part 1 explodes the myth that their rate of growth slows as they age and also introduces the concept…
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The state of Washington recently reported that its endangered wolf population had declined for the first time in 16 years. The state confirmed that it has 230 wolves, compared to 254 wolves in the previous year. According to figures released by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington’s overall wolf population in 2024 decreased…
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BLM leaders never had the desire or will to do what it takes to preserve Sage grouse populations. Sage-grouse plans make major concessions to industries, and especially to the great destroyer of sagebrush habitat across the West, the public lands livestock industry. They chickened out rather than risk the buzzsaw of cattlemen resistance and western…
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On April 3rd, the Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, issued an Emergency Order (EO) to accelerate logging on national forest lands. The alleged emergency is the presumed increase in wildfires across the West. Unfortunately, most of the rationales for this “emergency” are based on flawed assumptions about “active” management (better known as logging) and wildfires.…
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Top Line: The excesses of the executive branch will need to be checked by the judicial branch, the legislative branch, and/or the people. Figure 1. The official 2025 portrait of Donald J. Trump, 47th president of the United States of America. Note the striking similarity to the official mugshot in Figure 6. Source: The White House (Wikipedia).…
