In his new book, Predatory Bureaucracy, conservationist Michael J. Robinson leads readers through the 120-year-history of the U.S. Biological Survey. When it began in the late 1800s, it was run by biologists mostly interested in studying stuffed birds. However, political pressure from cattle- and sheep-growers transformed the benign agency into a powerhouse dedicated to predator […]
Wildlife
Posted inDecember 26, 2005: A New Green Revolution
Roadless forest plans draw crowds — and lawsuits
As a crucial deadline approaches, Coloradans turn out to speak their minds
Posted inDecember 26, 2005: A New Green Revolution
A desperate move to protect cattle ranchers
Wyoming’s plan to kill suspect elk could become a ‘political disaster’
Posted inDecember 26, 2005: A New Green Revolution
Where have all the rangers gone?
Forest Service tries to crack down on rogue off-roaders, but lacks staff to enforce rules
Posted inDecember 26, 2005: A New Green Revolution
Backcountry Ranger
Backcountry Ranger A Photo Essay (click through photos on slider above). This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Backcountry Ranger.
Posted inDecember 12, 2005: The Final Energy Frontier
‘Green’ seal of approval considered for national forests
The Forest Service is considering “green” certification for timber produced on the national forests. And though environmental groups have long touted such certification as a way to improve the management of privately owned forests, they have misgivings about using it for the public lands. Green certification for lumber is something like organic certification for food; […]
Posted inWotr
The trouble with the Endangered Species Act is us
With House approval of his “Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act” last September, Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., got a step closer to his career goal of eradicating the Endangered Species Act. Pombo, a developer posing as a rancher posing as an advocate of the public good, proclaims that the 32-year-old law is “broken” and a […]
Posted inDecember 12, 2005: The Final Energy Frontier
Bear
Bear Robert E. Bieder 286 pages, softcover: $19.95 Reaktion Books, 2005. From cave bears to dancing bears, totemic bears to teddy bears, this elegant little book comes lavishly illustrated with bear photos, drawings and paintings. Author Robert E. Bieder tells the history of this fascinating animal through time and across cultures; there’s a treat on […]
Posted inDecember 12, 2005: The Final Energy Frontier
A bullet for the bearer of bad news
Biologists support salmon protection, and Congress yanks their funding
Posted inDecember 12, 2005: The Final Energy Frontier
Wheelchairs and wilderness can coexist
Life can change dramatically, in the blink of an eye. Seven years ago, I went backcountry skiing in the Hoover Wilderness near Yosemite. I missed a turn on a steep icy slope and fell into a rocky gully. In that ugly tumble, I crushed my spinal cord. Suddenly, I was a paraplegic. Every able-bodied person […]
Posted inWotr
When hungry bears drop in for lunch
It was a few falls ago when I came home one late afternoon, only to find the floor covered in broken glass and pieces of pottery. It looked like a serious and not untalented artist had been at work. The pieces lay arranged in grotesque fashion, jutting up like mountaintops above a valley floor of […]
Posted inWotr
Wheelchairs and wilderness can coexist
Sometimes, life can change dramatically in the blink of an eye. The biggest change in my life came seven years ago, when I was backcountry skiing in the Hoover Wilderness near Yosemite. I missed a turn on a steep icy slope and fell into a rocky gully. In that ugly tumble I crushed my spinal […]
Posted inNovember 28, 2005: Gold from the Gas Fields
Yellowstone fires still ignite controversy
On Sept. 7, 1988, author Rocky Barker stood with a fellow journalist near Old Faithful and witnessed this scene: “Coals were pelting his back and I could see fist-sized firebrands by my head. We jumped a small stream and stumbled through the forest toward safety. The entire area turned black as night and the howling […]
Posted inNovember 28, 2005: Gold from the Gas Fields
Life — and death — in grizzly country
The popular impression of Timothy Treadwell, who died in Alaska just over two years ago, is that he was a delusional crackpot who deserved his fate: to be killed and eaten by a bear. News coverage painted him as a foolish amateur bear biologist — well-intentioned but not very bright — who paid with his […]
Posted inNovember 28, 2005: Gold from the Gas Fields
The Ardent Birder
The Ardent Birder Todd Newberry and Gene Holtan 214 pages, softcover: $14.95 Ten Speed Press, 2005. Professor Todd Newberry and artist Gene Holtan have produced a whimsical, fun book about the “lovely madness” that possesses bird watchers. Useful tips abound: how to host a birding field trip, what gear to bring, ways to identify a […]
Posted inNovember 28, 2005: Gold from the Gas Fields
Hear Him Roar
Hear Him Roar Andrew Wingfield 240 pages, softcover: $19.95 Utah State University Press, 2005. Puma concolor, the mountain lion, meets Homo dingus dongus, the urban dweller who is all for wild nature — as long as it’s predator-free. Set in Sacramento, Calif., this is a tensely told novel about the inevitable conflict between humans and […]
Posted inNovember 28, 2005: Gold from the Gas Fields
The little wilderness that could
New Mexico conservationists build support from the ground up, and win one
Posted inNovember 14, 2005: Back On Track
Declining seabird may drop off the endangered list
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced in October that it will move forward with plans to remove the marbled murrelet, a small seabird, from under the protective wing of the Endangered Species Act. The robin-sized bird, which lays its eggs on the moss-covered branches of old-growth trees, has hampered Northwest logging for more than […]
Posted inNovember 14, 2005: Back On Track
Imperfect Pasture: A Century of Change at the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Imperfect Pasture: A Century of Change at the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole, Wyoming Bruce Smith, Eric Cole and David Dobkin 156 pages, softcover: $14.95 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Grand Teton Natural History Association, 2004. The National Elk Refuge near Jackson, Wyo., is either a conservation success, or, as the scientist-authors of […]
Posted inWotr
Lessons from a porcupine
Nights were frosting already when the porcupine came down the hill and started nosing around our yard. This year, I started explaining to the porcupine how my mood generally follows the trend of the season. I told him I’d like him to understand a little about the condition of the world and how that relates […]