Items by Hal Herring

Cliven Bundy’s victory lap
Cliven Bundy’s victory lap
In Montana, Bundy and his followers celebrate a sound defeat of federal prosecutors.
The changing politics of woods work
The changing politics of woods work
Cash-strapped agencies use private contractors to the detriment of local communities.
Taking water’s measure
Taking water’s measure
A three-day trip to measure Montana’s snowpack follows a century of tradition.
The darkness at the heart of Malheur
The darkness at the heart of Malheur
A Westerner traces the roots – and meaning – of the Oregon occupation.
Can we make sense of the Malheur mess?
Can we make sense of the Malheur mess?
A writer finds camaraderie and despair inside the Oregon standoff.
The Rocky Mountain Front blues
The Rocky Mountain Front blues
A journalist reflects on energy development on his home turf.
The violent story of our first national park: A review of Empire of Shadows
The violent story of our first national park: A review of Empire of Shadows
George Black's book details the violent history surrounding Yellowstone National Park.
A tree-climber's tale of harvesting cones to save whitebark pines
A tree-climber's tale of harvesting cones to save whitebark pines
As whitebark pines in the Northern Rockies succumb to pine beetles and blister rust, hardworking climbers defy gravity to collect pine cones from canopies to supply efforts to breed more resilient and resistant trees.
A life in the wild
A life in the wild
Carter Niemeyer's memoir Wolfer is the entertaining story of a government trapper who loves wildlife - especially serious predators like wolves.
How the gray wolf lost its endangered status — and how enviros helped
How the gray wolf lost its endangered status — and how enviros helped
A strategic miscalculation by environmental groups helped spur the delisting of gray wolves in Montana and Idaho.
U.S. Northern Rockies wolf graph
One Way to Save the Wolf? Hunt It.
One Way to Save the Wolf? Hunt It.
Montana wildlife managers say the state's first wolf hunt has been a success -- for both the hunters and their prey.
Put your money where your mouth is
Hunters and anglers fork out millions each year to support habitat. Isn't it time other green groups did the same?
Trashing the earth, and the truth
Hal Herring relates the ugly story of how the Bush administration used its influence to try to kill a story about the impacts of energy development.
It's time for a ceasefire on guns
Hal Herring believes that Democrats should give up on gun control, not just for the sake of politics but because it’s the right thing to do.
Why we all need the Democrats to abandon gun control
Hal Herring believes that Democrats should give up on gun control –– in order to win in the West and because it’s the right thing to do.
Predator hunters for the environment
The group Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife has helped to protect a lot of Western land and wildlife – while doing its best to kill off as many predators as possible
Idaho's permissiveness leads to elk on the lam
The escape of 100 domestic elk from self-styled mountain man Rex Rammell’s Idaho game farm shows up the foolishness of the state’s permissive attitude toward the industry
Idaho's permissiveness leads to elk on the lam
The writer says the state's permissiveness toward game farms led to the current mess: Escaped elk threaten wild elk herds
The Killing Fields
The first bison hunt in 15 years was supposed to offer hope for a reasonable solution to Yellowstone’s ‘buffalo problem,’ but a lifelong hunter who watched it says the senseless slaughter continues.
A bold, if impractical, new plan for Yellowstone bison
New Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer has a wildly ambitious plan to solve Yellowstone’s problems with wandering bison and the brucellosis threat
How to make your own Yellowstone, Mexican style
In Coahuila, Mexico, the corporate colossus CEMEX is working to create a "Mexican Yellowstone" that would preserve the rich wildlife and wild country of the Sierra El Carmen.
Wasting disease spreads in Colorado
In Colorado, Chronic Wasting Disease has spread from infected elk at the Elk Echo Ranch to seven elk ranch herds around the state, and some are afraid it could spread further and infect wild deer and elk.
Cease-fire on the Tonto Forest
In Arizona, Tonto National Forest bans recreational shooting on 81,000 acres of "urban interface," where the forest meets the burgeoning Phoenix-like cities.
Cure or curse?
With Chronic Wasting Disease appearing on elk farms, some have begun to question whether the unregulated trade in velvet antlers, used for Oriental and folk medicine, might expose people to a variant form of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease.
Montana hunters blast game farms
In Montana, the sportsmen's group MADCOW - Montanans Against the Domestication and Commercialization of Wildlife - has put Initiative 143 on the ballot to end "canned hunting" on the state's elk ranches.
Killing Coyote
Doug Hawes-Davis' new video documentary, "Killing Coyote," goes inside the battle waged by humans against one of the most resilient predators, the coyote.
Montana burns game farm elk
At the Kesler Game Farm near Philipsburg, Mont., 89 elk are destroyed because they have chronic wasting disease, and some Montana authorities fear game farms are helping to spread the deadly, mysterious disease.
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