Salmon-lovers think there’s something fishy about a recent NOAA Fisheries’ decision to strip protection from four-fifths of the salmon’s designated critical habitat. The change eases the way for development along 134,200 miles of previously off-limits rivers and streams. The agency says that the habitat’s biological importance to salmon is outweighed by the potential economic gain […]
Wildlife
Posted inSeptember 19, 2005: Squeezing Water from a Stone
To Save the Wild Bison
To Save the Wild Bison Mary Ann Franke309 pages, hardcover: $29.95University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. Mary Ann Franke traces the controversial history of Yellowstone National Park’s bison, the only wild bison herd that’s persisted since pre-Columbus days. Praised as a potent restorer of biodiversity, the animals have also been persecuted as transmitters of disease; dozens […]
Posted inSeptember 19, 2005: Squeezing Water from a Stone
Yellowstone’s Grizzlies: A success story
The federal government’s proposal to take grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem off the Endangered Species Act’s threatened species list represents a tremendous achievement. It also demonstrates America’s enduring commitment to wildlife conservation. The National Wildlife Federation — one of the nation’s largest conservation groups at 4 million members and supporters — has decided […]
Posted inSeptember 19, 2005: Squeezing Water from a Stone
Yellowstone’s Grizzlies: Not out of the woods yet
Yellowstone: Grizzly bears and geysers. People have been coming from around the world to see the national park’s main attractions for decades. But the grizzly’s future is by no means assured: The Bush administration wants to remove the Yellowstone grizzly from the list of species protected by the Endangered Species Act. Such delisting is premature. […]
Posted inSeptember 19, 2005: Squeezing Water from a Stone
Dam breaching gets a surprise endorsement
When a longtime consultant for the hydropower industry suddenly announced that four dams in Washington needed to be breached to save Idaho’s salmon, he shook the region. For decades, Don Chapman, the “guru” of fisheries biologists, had staunchly defended technological fixes for the imperiled fish, recommending hauling salmon past the dams from their spawning grounds […]
Posted inWotr
The Endangered Species Act is a roaring success
The Endangered Species Act — which is being reviewed by Congress this week — is a soaring success. Just look up. Look skyward for a while and you might spy an American bald eagle. Hundreds of them live in my home state of Montana. Across the United States, the bald eagle is a living, flying […]
Posted inSeptember 5, 2005: Rangeland Revival
Lawsuit spurs endangered species reviews
Dozens of endangered species are finally getting their five-year checkups. But some property-rights proponents want even more done. In July, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began working through its backlog of five-year reviews for flora and fauna protected by the Endangered Species Act. The mandatory reviews assess the health of a species, and can […]
Posted inSeptember 5, 2005: Rangeland Revival
The harder they spawn, the quicker they die
After three years of stocking efforts — and an unusually wet start to 2005 — silvery minnows had a good run this spring in the Middle Rio Grande. Now, as the river recedes, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says that more of the endangered fish can legally be allowed to die. Biologists found millions […]
Posted inSeptember 5, 2005: Rangeland Revival
Aliens in the Backyard: Plant and Animal Imports to America
Aliens in the Backyard: Plant and Animal Imports to America John Leland 248 pages, hardcover: $29.95 University of South Carolina Press, 2005. We know by now that exotic species often wreak havoc: Asian tiger mosquitoes spread West Nile virus, Australian eucalyptus trees increase California’s fire risk. But Leland shows us that they can bring benefits, […]
Posted inSeptember 5, 2005: Rangeland Revival
Atlas of Pacific Salmon
Atlas of Pacific Salmon Xanthippe Augerot 150 pages, hardcover: $34.95 University of California Press and State of the Salmon, 2005. As far-ranging as the salmon itself, this book examines the state of Oncorhynchus species on both sides of the North Pacific. Packed with colorful maps, photos and graphics, the work is science-based but readable and […]
Posted inSeptember 5, 2005: Rangeland Revival
Judge rejects old-growth forest rollbacks
A federal judge in Seattle has rejected the Bush administration’s elimination of the Northwest Forest Plan’s “survey and manage” rules. The rules required government agencies to survey for hundreds of rare species in the Pacific Northwest’s old-growth forests, logging only where those species wouldn’t be disturbed. In August, Judge Marsha Pechman sided with conservationists, saying […]
Posted inSeptember 5, 2005: Rangeland Revival
The Snake River, unplugged
Salmon-killing dams may amount to ‘takings’ of tribal fishing rights
Posted inWotr
Yellowstone grizzlies are a success story
The federal government’s proposal to take grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem off the Endangered Species Act’s threatened species list represents a tremendous achievement. It also demonstrates America’s enduring commitment to wildlife conservation. The National Wildlife Federation — one of the nation’s largest conservation groups at 4 million members and supporters — has reached […]
Posted inWotr
Yellowstone grizzlies aren’t out of the woods yet
Grizzlies and Yellowstone — bears and geysers. People have been coming from around the world to see the national park’s main attractions for decades. Now, the Bush administration wants to remove the Yellowstone grizzlies from the list of species protected by the Endangered Species Act. I think delisting is premature, because we need more bears, […]
Posted inAugust 22, 2005: A Military Town Fights for its Life
Ferret recovery pioneer moves on
In his 18 years as Wall District ranger in Buffalo Gap National Grassland, Bill Perry led the effort to restore endangered black-footed ferrets. He helped write the plan to bring in captive-bred ferrets, engineered land swaps to consolidate habitat, and helped manage the pens where the animals were acclimated before being released. Perry built the […]
Posted inAugust 22, 2005: A Military Town Fights for its Life
Island’s pig problem pits animal-rights activists against conservationists
An animal rights group is trying to stop the killing of thousands of feral pigs on Southern California’s Santa Cruz Island. But the National Park Service says the hunt, which started in April, is necessary to put an end to the pigs’ destruction of native plants and animals. Channel Islands National Park occupies the eastern […]
Posted inWotr
Dead birds off the coast tell us what we don’t know
Just 26 miles from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, Northern California’s rugged Farallon Islands are a perfect backdrop for a mystery. Home to the largest seabird colony in the continental United States with about 250,000 birds, the islands are the Manhattan of the bird world. Yet things are far from normal in this avian city: […]
Posted inAugust 8, 2005: The Gangs of Zion
Horn hunters face hard times
For centuries, Asian men have consumed powdered antlers to try to boost their sexual performance, a tradition that’s helped fuel today’s demand for deer and elk antlers. Recently, though, the rising popularity of Viagra has “just about finished off” the Asian market, says Mike Aldrich, of Pinedale, Wyo., who buys and sells antlers. But more […]
Posted inAugust 8, 2005: The Gangs of Zion
Birds get a break from blades
This winter, the whirling blades of half of the more than 5,000 windmills perched atop Altamont Pass will grind to a halt for two months. That plan will allow migrating birds to fly safely through the area. Under new county permitting rules, the windmill companies, which supply power for 120,000 homes, will halt their turbines […]
Posted inAugust 8, 2005: The Gangs of Zion
Crazy like a fox, or a fish, or a bat…
Field biologists are a rare breed. If you have any doubt about this, Jennifer Bové’s book, The Back Road to Crazy, will change your mind. Field biologists find pleasure in wading, chest-deep, against a fast current of sub-zero water before the sun has even considered rising — all to net and count tiny fish no […]