drinking water Nesting Sandhill Crane at Pitchstone Waters Here is a nesting Sandhill Crane at Pitchstone Waters. Tens of thousands of these birds winter on the Llano Estacado and parts of the Trans-Pecos, each year. The cranes have been making this annual journey for hundreds of thousands of years. The cranes travel at great elevations – of up to
Conservation Who Gets to Own the West? This article complains that private landowners won’t open their land to the public in Idaho, a state in which about 70 percent of all land already belongs to the public, but is mostly controlled by Washington. Idaho has the fourth highest percent of such land of all 50 states.
Brush Judge Cuts $55 Million From $80 Million Roundup Verdict This is not a “victory” for Monsanto/Bayer. There isn’t enough money in the whole stock market to pay $25 million to every person Roundup has made sick. NOTE: this article was originally published to WSJ.com on July 15, 2019 6:03 pm ET. It was written by
Bears Bear Highway “Pitchstone Waters and the Fall River valley is a bear highway. We estimate this one at 350 pounds. (View more amazing pictures on Pitchstone’s Facebook page.)”
Conservation A Beginner’s Guide to Buying a US Ranch Here is a British financial analyst’s take on U.S. ranch ownership, which gets it partly right. While most ranches don’t produce annual cash returns that remotely reflect their market value, that doesn’t make them poor investments. This is also true of many kinds of commercial and
Fierce The Hummingbird as Warrior: Evolution of a Fierce and Furious Beak One of the great treats in far-West Texas is the summer population of beautiful and feisty hummingbirds. At least 17 species are known to visit the region. They build their tiny nests in our trees where we sometimes find them after leaves fall. NOTE: this article was originally published to
Fisheries Fall River Trout. 32 Pounds - not Inches Just kidding. This is an early-run king salmon taken June 6, 2019, way out on the Alaska Peninsula, Caught on a barbless single-hook, then, released to make babies. There’s nothing better than swinging a fly on dime-bright kings.
coyotes in America The Relentless Slaughter of Wolves Paved the Way for a Predator that Refuses to Die Historically, most landowners and wildlife managers have thought that killing wolves and coyotes is a good practice. But whereas wolf eradications have ‘succeeded’ – albeit with enormous unintended consequences – coyote ‘control’ is impossible. The more coyotes we kill, the faster coyotes breed. Biologists say we would need to kill 75% of
"Invasion Biology" ‘Earthworm Dilemma’ Has Climate Scientists Racing to Keep Up Now we are adding earthworms to the list of invasive species. After climate change, the most discussed environmental issue is the so-called invasive species crisis. Invasive species biology rests on the mistaken belief that the animals, plants and soil life found on our planet about 500 years ago represented a
Conservation A Navy Veteran Went to Prison for Digging Ponds in the Mountains “Range practices we take for granted in Texas can land you in prison out West. Notwithstanding the many fine things accomplished by EPA, actions like these really hurt public attitudes about conservation – and harm outcomes by inhibiting private citizens’ conservation efforts. For lots of reasons, these matters are better handled
Bio-Diversity How Pesticides Can Actually Increase Mosquito Numbers Over long periods, many if not most of our attempts to alter nature backfire. The lesson: do these things holistically. Work with nature, not against nature. NOTE: this article was originally published to NationalGeographic.com on May 31, 2019. It was written by Jake Buehler. The blood suckers evolve resistance,
Bayer Bayer’s Roundup Problem Slashes Its Market Value Many of the mergers and acquisitions that harm companies, workers and customers are motivated by bonuses—the ones that managers and boards pay themselves for putting these deals together. Even so, Bayer’s acquisition of Monsanto seems suicidal given the well-known harm caused by Roundup® (glyphosate). The notion that Bayer’
idaho Moose and Wolf at Pitchstone Waters This image is taken next door to Pitchstone Waters, in southeastern Idaho. These animals move nomadically through the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, and the national forests and wilderness areas that surround them. (See huge early-run king salmon caught in Alaska.
"Invasion Biology" Liquid Blood Is Extracted from 42,000-Year-Old Foal Found Frozen in Siberia The intriguing possibility of resurrecting an extinct horse highlights difficult questions and contradictions of modern wildlife thinking. Would a horse cloned from a species extinct for more than 10,000 years, be a “native” if returned to its original home? If the ancient horse species were “native”, would that mean
Conservation Ranching as a Conservation Strategy: Can Old Ranchers Save the New West? Ranching, when properly conducted, is essential to conservation. The greatest value of any ranch lies in its recreational and ecological value, not its production value for ranching. While it is true that rural land in the path of urban development is most economically valuable when it is subdivided or otherwise
Animal Development Learning to Migrate Animals are much smarter than most people realize and they share enormous group knowledge. Ranchers know their old cows teach the youngsters where to find feed, water, shade and shelter from bad weather. This, and much more, is true of wildlife. Wildlife “management” often ignores individual and group intelligence of
Bio-Diversity Moose, Elk, or Both? This species—Alces alces—is called “moose” in America and “elk” in Europe. Moose are the largest and heaviest members the deer family. Unlike other deer, males, known as bulls, have open, hand-shaped antlers. American moose are found in northern forests dominated by birch and conifers like pine. (Wondering if
cocaine hippos Could Pablo Escobar's Escaped Hippos Help the Environment? Just 10,000 years ago there was a mind-boggling variety of wildlife on the American continent. There may not have been hippos literally, but there were most definitely animals that occupied their ecological niche. 10,000-years before Columbus, 80% of America’s large animal “types” (genera) – consisting of countless species
American Prairie Reserve Shooting Sportsman: The American Prairie Reserve A visionary conservation success is taking shape on the high plains surrounding the Missouri River in northeastern Montana. Texas could – and should – have its own version. NOTE: this article was originally published to ShootingSportsman.com and was written by Ed Carroll. The landscape-scale conservation goals of the American Prairie Reserve
Hunting Andy Renowned photographer Andy Anderson has lived a life of passion, traveling the world to shoot outdoor adventures including fly fishing and wing-shooting. He shares his thoughts and philosophies about the art form to which he has dedicated his life.
climate change An Icy Superhighway Once Carried Glaciers from Namibia to Brazil More proof that “Climate Change” is as old as the Earth. NOTE: this article initially appeared at NYTimes.com on February 14, 2019. It was written by Robin George Andrews. Researchers matched up a jigsaw puzzle of ice that once flowed between two landmasses now separated by an ocean. Namibia
bird dogs Sam A viewer remarked, “Nothing is more beautiful than a good dog – one that wants to retrieve and flush birds. The natural instincts are always the driving factor in the best gun dogs. Unfortunately, they can’t live forever. But, they always live in the hearts of those who love them.
Bayer 2nd Federal Jury Says Roundup Contributes to Causing Cancer Roundup’s reckoning approaches. NOTE: the content below was published to the The Epoch Times eEdition Article on March 21, 2019. 2nd Federal Jury Says Roundup Contributes to Causing Cancer ENVIRONMENT – BOWEN XIAO A U.S. jury ruled March 19 that agrochemical company Monsanto’s weed killer product, Roundup, was
cultural Do Bighorn and Deer Teach Each Other? Although the answer to this question might seem to be an obvious “yes”, many wildlife management practices assume the opposite. This paper studies bighorn and moose migrations, but its conclusions apply to many other wild species. For example many wildlife managers believe they can shoot (“manage”) wildlife from the same
American Antelope Did the American Cheetah Make the Pronghorn Fast? The pronghorn antelope got fast trying to outrun the American Cheetah.
