The Ansel Adams WildernessPeter Essick, foreward by Jamie Williams112 pages, hardcover:$22.95.National Geographic Society, 2014. For 25 years, Peter Essick traveled the globe as a National Geographic photographer, and recently he was named one of the world’s 40 most influential nature photographers. In 2010, Essick began “a potentially controversial” project in his native California: shooting in […]
Wildlife
Posted inJuly 21, 2014: On the Wild Edge
Are we smart enough to solve our raven problem?
As ravens spread, they’re finding friends and foes in Western states.
Posted inGoat
In Southcentral Alaska, salmon declines are pinned on a toothy invader
Earlier this month, I wrote about the Yukon River’s chinook salmon runs, which have lately plummeted for reasons that remain murky. While researchers are years from cracking that mystery, the Yukon isn’t the only Alaskan river losing its salmon. In the state’s Susitna River basin, which courses through Southcentral Alaska near Anchorage, the mighty fish […]
Posted inGoat
Of packrat poop, creosote bush and juniper-fed lamb
Scientists find that gut bacteria can help animals digest toxic plants.
Posted inGoat
A bison boost for Native economies
“Buffalo is better for you than skinless chicken,” Karlene Hunter will tell you. “It has more omega-3s than an avocado.” Hunter is a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and CEO of Native American Natural Foods. The company, which she cofounded in 2007, makes all-natural, low-calorie buffalo […]
Posted inJuly 21, 2014: On the Wild Edge
Mustang modification
The Horse Lover: A Cowboy’s Quest to Save the Wild MustangsH. Alan Day with Lynn Wiese Sneyd, Foreword by Sandra Day O’Connor264 pages, hardcover:$24.95.University of Nebraska Press, 2014. You’ve heard of The Horse Whisperer. Now, meet The Horse Lover, a cowboy on a mission to save wild mustangs – 1,500 of them, all nickering and […]
Posted inGoat
This hummingbird’s survival hinges on precipitation, new study shows
Every year, the rufous hummingbird – a tiny fire-colored ball of feathers that weighs just three grams – flies up to 3,900 miles from its winter home in Mexico all the way to Alaska. At about three inches long, the rufous takes one of the longest migratory journeys of any bird its size. Over the past several […]
Posted inGoat
Grasshopper plagues: agricultural nightmare or ecological boon?
In early June, meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, New Mexico, were puzzled: There was a big splotch on the radar that didn’t look like any weather system they’d ever seen. Maybe their software had a bug? Turns out, the dark green blob hovering over Albuquerque wasn’t a software glitch at all but […]
Posted inJuly 21, 2014: On the Wild Edge
The Latest: Interior commits to restoring bison on select lands
BackstoryJust a few free-roaming bison herds remain in the West. Roughly 4,000 bison inhabit Yellowstone, but they are hindered by ranchers who fear they spread brucellosis, which can cause cattle miscarriages. The park and state agencies limit the herd’s roaming and remove “excess” animals by hunting, slaughter and transplanting to other areas (“The Killing Fields,” […]
Posted inArticles
New BLM plan weighs sage grouse and oil in Wyoming
Governor Mead hopes the plan will keep the bird off the endangered species list.
Posted inGoat
Interior commits to bison restoration – but offers few specifics
Bison have pretty much been “odd ungulate out” when it comes to restoration efforts. Deer and elk are found throughout the West, and bighorn sheep and mountain goats are relatively widespread as well. But there are just a handful of free-roaming, genetically pure herds of bison in North America – today most of the gigantic, […]
Posted inArticles
What’s killing the Yukon’s salmon?
An ecological mystery in Alaska has scientists and fishermen baffled and alarmed.
Posted inJune 23, 2014: River of No Return
Salmon go down the tubes – literally
Washington biologists test pressurized tubes to transport salmon over dams.
Posted inJune 23, 2014: River of No Return
A better way to save
High Country News has an ad stating, “Together, we can save a forest” (HCN, 4/14/14), encouraging subscribers to elect email over snail mail and suggesting this could save a forest. Ads like this perpetuate the myth that paper use is leading to the loss of forestland. This takes the spotlight off the real threats to […]
Posted inJune 23, 2014: River of No Return
A new mapping tool shows how states value wildlife
Habitat seen as a crucial resource in some states more than others.
Posted inJune 23, 2014: River of No Return
Hooligans etch on a petroglyph, a cow breaks a natural gas line and a new website helps ranchers navigate drought.
NORTH DAKOTAEveryone knows that ravens can manipulate sticks as tools, and that squawking magpies enjoy teasing dogs and cats, but who knew that cows – with their bodies alone – could make pipes spill natural gas? In Bismarck, North Dakota, one cow apparently did just that, simply by trying to satisfy an itch or maybe […]
Posted inJune 9, 2014: Border Out of Control
Snowmobiling for science in Idaho
Scientists and snowmobilers team up for smarter wolverine management.
Posted inGoat
Reasons for massive starfish dieoff still unknown
Here’s some shocking news: Since last fall, when I first wrote about Pacific sea stars falling victim to a mysterious disease, turning into goo and dying, the aptly-named “starfish wasting syndrome” has not – as scientists hoped – subsided on its own. It’s gotten much, much worse. How much worse, you ask? Well, from the […]
Posted inWotr
Let bears eat those messy moths
Last year, I wrote a column for the Casper Citizen touting the annual migration of lowly miller moths (the army cutworm, Euxoa auxiliaris) through central Wyoming as something to be celebrated. I said it was a lot like other great migrations made over hundreds of miles by creatures such as African wildebeests or monarch butterflies. […]
Posted inGoat
Infographic: Hey, Wildlife Services — what did you kill?
Earlier this month, Wildlife Services, the U.S. Department of Agriculture division responsible for animal control, released data indicating that it killed over four million creatures in 2013 — a million more than it did the previous year. The agency, whose stated mission is to provide “leadership and expertise to resolve wildlife conflicts,” undertakes plenty of […]