Newsletter Restoring Biodiversity - 3/30/2021 Articles Here is an ecological idea on salmon restoration that gives environmental, social and economic factors equal weight. Congratulations and thanks to U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson. Park user fees are absurdly low. Using those fees on unwinnable battles to eradicate so-called invasive species, some introduced by the agencies themselves,
Elk The Grand Prize - An RMEF Film Growing up in a hunting family, Rafe Nielsen of Browning Firearms says the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation played a large role in shaping his views of hunting from an early age.
fishing Yellowstone Fishing License Cost Doubles “Park user fees are absurdly low. Using those fees on unwinnable battles to eradicate so-called invasive species, some introduced by the agencies themselves, wastes money badly needed for neglected infrastructure and forest management. NOTE: this article was originally published to JHNewsandGuide.com on March 25, 2021. It was written by
dams An Idaho Congressman Aims to Dump Dams “Here is an ecological idea on salmon restoration that gives environmental, social and economic factors equal weight. Congratulations and thanks to U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson. NOTE: this article was originally published to JHNewsandGuide.com on March 24, 2021. It was written by Rocky Barker – Writers on the Range. U.
Newsletter Restoring Biodiversity - 3/23/2021 Articles The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is paying people to engage in innovative forestry practices on private land. USDA says these practices reduce fire hazards, increase water retention in soil, and benefit habitat and the wildlife it supports. Meanwhile, next to Pitchstone Waters in Idaho, the U.S.
Cattle Stocking Rates vs. Grazing Days, Recovery Rates and Necessary Impact Below is an excellent piece by our friend “Cowboy Bob” Kinford. For several years, he helped us manage cattle herds on the high deserts of far-West Texas. Paraphrasing Bob: Many holistic/regenerative grazers think that ultra-high densities, by definition, mimic wild herds. These grazers oversimplify by ignoring, forgetting or not
forests USDA Offers New Forest Management Incentive for Conservation Reserve Program As reported below, The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is paying people to engage in innovative forestry practices on private land. USDA says these practices reduce fire hazards, increase water retention in soil, and benefit habitat and the wildlife it supports. Meanwhile, next to Pitchstone Waters in Idaho, the
Newsletter Restoring Biodiversity - 3/10/2021 Articles Pronghorn and mule deer alter their natural movement nearly 40% of the times they encounter fences, according to a Wyoming study. A branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture tasked with killing coyotes, foxes, jackrabbits and other “nuisance wildlife” in the Equality State has completed a years long
USDA rule Feds Finalize Wyoming Wildlife Killing Plans The 2021 campaign of the feds’ seemingly endless war on wildlife is described in the article below. 100-plus years into the misadventure of government funded predator removals the historian’s observation seems appropriate: “They had learnt nothing and forgotten nothing.“ The managers quoted below say their eradications help ranchers. While
Pronghorn New Study Reframes Fence Impacts on Deer, Pronghorn According to the article below, “More than 600,000 miles of fence crisscross the West, possibly making fence modification for conservation “more urgent than currently recognized.” The lead author’s insights which led her to study fences’ effects on wildlife movements were based on observations she made on a field
Newsletter Restoring Biodiversity - 3/9/2021 Articles In 2019 Pitchstone Waters began efforts to reestablish beaver and the habitat they create. And we got involved with Idaho Fish & Game's program to trap and relocate beaver. “According to the article, “La Niña 2020 has evolved quicker and with stronger intensity than many leading climate
Cascades Mountains Enviro Group Wants Grizzlies in Cascade Mountains, Files Lawsuit “By resorting to strong-arm tactics such as those described in the article below, wildlife ideologues continue harm grizzly bear recovery. By ignoring the social and economic costs of their demands, the ideologues make dedicated enemies of essential allies who – ironically – want much the same outcomes as themselves. The result is
Agri-business The Environmental Upside of Modern Farming “The article below offers thoughts on how to make industrial farming less harmful to the environment. NOTE: this article was originally published to WSJ.com on February 5, 2021. It was written by Robert Paarlberg. New methods rooted in low-impact, precision techniques require less land, less energy and fewer chemicals
Newsletter Restoring Biodiversity. - Issue #2 Articles “According to the article, “La Niña 2020 has evolved quicker and with stronger intensity than many leading climate models predicted.” According to the article below, a chemical used to stabilize automobile tires is washing into streams where silver salmon spawn, and killing them. Many of the chemicals, fertilizers, hormones
Artificial Beaver Dams Pitchstone Waters Beaver Report “As reported below, we successfully released beaver at Pitchstone Waters in the summer of 2020. We will see if and where they show up this spring, 2021.
Fish Crossing Fish Crossing - Sweetwater Texas (?!) Someone is pulling our leg about the location. You have to love his comment however: “Now we know something besides chickens and crawdads cross the road to get to the other side.” <
coho salmon Why Do at Least Half of All Adult Coho Salmon Returning to Urban Streams in the Seattle Area Die Each Fall Before Spawning? According to the article below, a chemical used to stabilize automobile tires is washing into streams where silver salmon spawn, and killing them. Many of the chemicals, fertilizers, hormones and other additives that are routinely used in food production also wind up in these marine systems, where they also cause
Conservation Weather-Upending La Niña Is Headache for Farmers World-Wide “According to the article below, “La Niña 2020 has evolved quicker and with stronger intensity than many leading climate models predicted.” NOTE: this article was originally published to WSJ.com on December 4, 2020. It was written by Lucy Craymer. Feature photo via: David Gray / Bloomberg News. Characterized by cooler-than-normal
Newsletter Restoring Biodiversity - 2/23/2021 Articles Here is the history of Albert Bierstadt’s majestic “A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie” (1866). The 7-by-12-foot magnum opus was a sensation when first exhibited. But by 26-years later the work and the artist were out of fashion. The painting disappeared into storage where it remained
Albert Bierstadt Meteorological Majesty The article below gives the history of Albert Bierstadt’s majestic “A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie” (1866). The 7-by-12-foot magnum opus was a sensation when first exhibited. But by 26-years later the work and the artist were out of fashion. The painting disappeared into storage where it
dogs When Were Dogs Domesticated? “How long have dogs lived with humans? According to the article below, “In Central Asia a 33,000-year-old dog’s skull was unearthed in a cave in the Razboinichya Cave in the Altai Mountains and three slightly later examples of dog remains were unearthed in other sites in Russia.” NOTE:
Hunting One of the Pandemic’s Big Winners: Hunting “According to the article below, hunting has surged during the Covid pandemic. Reversing decades of decline, hunting license sales have increased 12 percent nationwide, as 1,000,000 new hunters took up the sport. NOTE: this article was originally published to WSJ.com on December 13, 2020. It was written
Glaciers The North Atlantic Ice-edge Corridor: A Possible Palaeolithic Route to the New World “For several decades, evidence has been accumulating to support a different theory for the peopling of North America. In this theory, early humans entered America from Europe not Siberia. It happened much earlier than previously believed. NOTE: this paper was originally published to academia.edu. It was written by Bruce
carbon Carbon Credits: Environmental Boon or Boondoggle? As discussed in the article below, the new “green” climate initiatives will probably include carbon credits. If the past predicts the future, proponents of these subsides will claim they are for small operators, but in practice, payments will wind up benefiting a handful of politically connected agro-giants. Subsidies will not
Chronic Wasting Disease First Feedground-Region Elk Contracts CWD Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a rapidly spreading, invariably-fatal brain disease which is decimating North American deer and elk. It is now found in Yellowstone and Grand Teton’s elk. In addition, the herds of elk, bison and cattle in and around Yellowstone exist in close proximity and infect each
