Below is a sampling of recent news articles feautring Wilderness Watch and the Wilderness issues we're working on. Click here for a sampling of recent op-ed by Wilderness Watch.
- Wildfires are killing California's ancient giants. Can seedlings save the species? (NPR, 2/26/2024)
- Groups to Sue Feds for Refusing to Protect Wolves in Western US (Common Dreams, 2/7/2024)
- Conservationists signal intent to sue over decision not to restore wolves’ federal protections (Montana Free Press, 2/7/2024)
- Groups to sue feds over decision not to list wolves (Missoula Current, 2/7/2024)
- New proposed federal rock climbing guidence for Wilderness draws skepticism from climbers and conservationists (KUOW, 2/6/2024)
- Feds: Protection not needed for Northern Rockies gray wolves (Missoula Current, 2/2/2024)
- Environmentalists are suing because national parks are… planting trees? Here’s what’s going on (The Manual, 12/30/2023)
- Lethal Rotenone Plan Aims to Trade Wilderness Rainbows for Cutthroat (Mountain Journal, 12/5/2023)
- NPS wants to plant sequoias. Environmentalists sue, say there’s no need to butt in (Los Angeles Times, 11/28/2023)
- Wilderness Watch files lawsuit to stop efforts to relocate cutthroat trout to a formerly fishless creek (Hatch Magazine, 11/28/2023)
- Enviros sue Park Service over planting sequoias (Wildfire Today, 11/28/2023)
- Forest Service OKs some motorized use for Rattlesnake dam removal (Missoulian, 11/28/2023)
- Why environmentalists are suing the National Park Service to prevent it from planting trees (CNN, 11/27/2023)
- Federal climbing proposals spark debate in wilderness areas (Wyoming Public Radio, 11/22/2023)
- Some motorized tools approved for Rattlesnake Wilderness dam breach (Missoula Current, 11/21/2023)
- California environmentalists sue to stop replanting of sequoia groves (San Francisco Chronicle, 11/20/2023)
- Forest Service, Park Service rock climbing proposals worry both climbers and wilderness advocates (Colorado Sun, 11/17/2023)
- Group sues the Forest Service to halt trout replacement project in wilderness area (Montana Free Press, 11/13/2023)
- Giant Sequoias Are in Big Trouble. How Best to Save Them? (Yale Environment 360, 11/9/2023)
- Lawsuit challenges Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness fish poisoning project (Billings Gazette, 11/8/2023)
- Wilderness Watch sues Forest Service over Buffalo Creek trout poison project (Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 11/8/2023)
- Group sues in attempt to block Absaroka-Beartooth trout poisoning, restoration project (Daily Montanan, 11/8/2023)
- Conservationists sue over lethal plans to swap trout in Montana waterways (Courthouse News, 11/8/2023)
- Returning grizzly bears to the North Cascades (Salish-Current, 11/3/2023)
- E-bikes: A menace or a vehicle giving access for the disabled, elderly? (Deseret News, 10/28/2023)
- Science Says What? How an airlift of wolves saved Isle Royale’s ecosystem and sparked a conservation controversy (Great Lakes Now, 9/30/2023)
- No pipeline for grayling: Feds abandon project proposed for wilderness area east of Lima (Montana Standard, 9/27/2023)
- Should the feds cut trees in California’s wilderness to reduce fire risk? New lawsuit says no (San Francisco Chronicle, 9/26/2023)
- Conservation Groups Condemn Park Service Forest-Thinning Project (Bloomberg Law, 9/26/2023)
- Conservation Groups Sue National Park Service to Protect Wilderness in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (SnowBrains, 9/26/2023)
- Conservationists sue to stop feds from razing trees, burning land in two California parks (Courthouse News Service, 9/25/2023)
- Wildlife officials abandon Arctic grayling pipeline plan (Montana Public Radio, 9/20/2023)
- Feds withdraw pipeline plan for Arctic grayling in Red Rock Lakes Refuge (Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 9/19/2023)
- Feds drop plan for pipeline in Upper Red Rocks Lake (Daily Montanan, 9/18/2023)
- Park Service narrowing plan for future of historic Isle Royale cabins (Duluth News Tribune, 9/8/2023)
- National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 236 | Wilderness Watch (National Parks Traveler, 8/20/2023)
- Yellowstone, Montana fight trout for territory in Lamar River drainage (Jackson Hole News & Guide, 8/17/2023)
- National Park Services approves Gunsight Lake native trout preservation project (Kalispell Daily Interlake, 8/16/2023)
- Power tools or pack mules: Wilderness dam destruction debated (Missoulian, 8/9/2023)
- Hitting reset: Forest Service approves rainbow trout removal project in Buffalo Creek (Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 8/7/2023)
- Court upholds Interior’s authority to suspend oil and gas leases in the Arctic Refuge (YubaNet, 8/7/2023)
- California’s iconic sequoias are being incinerated by wildfires. Should we save them? (San Francisco Chronicle, 8/5/2023)
- US judge blocks water pipeline in Montana that was meant to boost rare fish (Associated Press, 8/3/2023)
- Judge blocks plan to build pipeline into Montana Wilderness lake (Missoula Current, 8/3/2023)
- Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness fish poisoning project OK'd (Billings Gazette, 8/3/2023)
- Judge halts water pipeline project meant to aid Arctic grayling in SW Montana (Helena Independent Record, 8/2/2023)
- Judge blocks plan to build pipeline into Montana wilderness lake (Courthouse News Service, 8/2/2023)
- Federal judge halts U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Arctic grayling plans in southwestern Montana (Daily Montanan, 8/2/2023)
- Conservation groups sue U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over controversial pipeline project (NBC Montana, 7/28/2023)
- Yellowstone proposed nonative trout removal to restore native cutthroat trout (Montana Standard, 7/28/2023)
- Groups object to Gunsight Lake fish project (Hungry Horse News, 7/26/2023)
- Untrammeled: How a plan to replant giant sequoias unearths questions about the meaning of wilderness (KALW, 7/24/2023)
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Conservation groups call for BLM to better address livestock grazing (Buckrail, 7/7/2023)
- Outdoor groups challenge plans to build diversion pipeline in Red Rocks Wilderness (Daily Montanan, 6/28/2023)
- Group's lawsuit hopes to stop grayling project in Red Rock Lakes Wilderness (Montana Standard, 6/26/2023)
- Groups sue to block grayling project in Red Rock Lakes wilderness area (Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 6/26/2023)
- Conservationists claim Fish and Wildlife will illegally manipulate arctic grayling habitat in Montana (Courthouse News, 6/26/2023)
- Forest Service denies pleas to chainsaw logjams in Pasayten Wilderness (The Spokesman-Review, 6/23/2023)
- Lawsuit: Frank Church wilderness airstrips fly in face of law (Missoulian, 6/21/2023)
- Ignored by feds, aircraft continued ‘illegal landings’ in Idaho wilderness, lawsuit says (Idaho Statesman, 6/21/2023)
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Preservation or ‘Playing God?’ (Flathead Beacon, 6/21/2023)
- Advocates sue Forest Service over Frank Church wilderness airstrips (Idaho Reports, 6/20/2023)
- Wolves that nearly died out from inbreeding recovered, now helping a remote island’s ecosystem (Associated Press, 6/14/2023)
- Judge declines to halt BWCA motorized towboat usage, rules against environmental group's request (Minneapolis Star Tribune, 6/7/2023)
- Judge allows towboats to continue, for now, in Boundary Waters (Duluth News Tribune, 6/7/2023)
- Boundary water motors back in court (Duluth News Tribune, 4/28/2023)
- Federal judge considers motorized towboat ban in Boundary Waters (Quetico Superior Wilderness News, 4/26/2023)
- Proposal intended to help grayling in wilderness area stirs opposition (Montana Standard, 4/20/2023)
- Judge to decide fate of motorized towboats in the BWCA for 2023 (Minneapolis Star Tribune, 4/9/2023)
- Idaho wins lawsuit to preserve black bear hunting practices in the Gem State (KMVT, 3/31/2023)
- Wilderness group back in court to cut motorized towboats in BWCA (Minneapolis Star Tribune, 2/9/2023)
Below is an archive featuring pre-2023 news articles about some Wilderness and wildlife issues we're working on:
Wildlife guzzlers
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Glacier National Park fish poisoning
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Mystery Lake fish restocking
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Glacier Peak seismic monitoring
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Lolo and Bitterroot Forest Plans
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Izembek Road Lawsuit:
"Exhaustive studies have shown that a road through the Izembek Wilderness would severely impact wildlife and destroy the wilderness character of one of our nation's most diverse and biologically productive national wildlife refuges."
- Carter Asks Court to Defend Alaska's 'Unrivaled Wilderness', 5/9/22 (Also ran in
- New lawsuit filed over King Cove Road, 8/15/19
- New Alaskan Land Swap Called Just as Illegal as the First One, 8/8/19
- Environmental groups file new lawsuit to block new Izembek land swap deal, 8/7/19 (Also ran in Law360, The Middletown Press, U.S. News & World Report, CNBC, Alaska Public Media News, KTUU, and Anchorage Daily News.)
- Foes of Alaska refuge road return to court (EE News), 8/7/19
- Izembek Wilderness Threatened by Road, 4/27/18
- Environmental groups sue to block road through Alaska refuge, 1/31/18
- Zinke Moves to Build Road Through an Alaskan Wilderness Area, 1/31/18
- Environmental groups sue to block road through Alaska refuge, 1/31/18
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Bitterroot Climbing Management Plan:
“Climbing in Wilderness requires that we accept the Wilderness on its own terms. Modifying the Wilderness to suit our personal demands not only is inappropriate and unlawful, but it also cheapens the climbing experience.”
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Wolf ESA-Listing/Notice of Intent to Sue ID and MT/Petition to U.S. Forest Service:
“These wolves are at risk of extinction throughout all of their range, and unquestionably are at risk of immediate extinction in significant portions of their range.”
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Reduce Harmful Livestock Grazing in Drought-stricken West
"Despite the extreme conditions on the ground, the Forest Service is even trying to pack commercial livestock into Wilderness areas where they haven’t grazed for decades. Wildlife will be the big losers if the agency doesn’t rethink what it’s doing.”
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Gros Ventre Grazing
“Grazing is an exception to normal wilderness protections. It is a use that, by definition and practice, degrades Wilderness. The Wilderness Act does not grant special privileges to those that graze their cattle or sheep in Wilderness.”
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Absaroka-Beartooth Buffalo Creek Poisoning:
“We appreciate concern for the long-term viability of Yellowstone cutthroat trout, and we appreciate that it and many other species have been and will be greatly impacted by human influence, including climate change. But intensive intervention and manipulation projects such as the one here raise concerning questions over the long-term viability of Wilderness as well.”
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Scapegoat Wilderness Stream Poisoning:
"This proposal to poison 67 miles of the North Fork Blackfoot River and its headwater tributaries and three small lakes in the Scapegoat Wilderness is fatally flawed and should be scrapped. Since the Forest Service did not prepare the EA, there is no analysis of impacts to Wilderness or wilderness character."
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Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Drilling Lawsuit:
"The Gwitch’in Nation, together with a coalition of conservation organizations including Wilderness Watch, filed a lawsuit to stop the Administration’s decision to lease the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge to oil and gas companies, and to turn America’s wildest landscape into another industrial wasteland."
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NPS Predator Killing Rules for National Preserves in Alaska Lawsuit:
"If these new National Park Service regulations are allowed to stand, our Alaska National Park Preserves will be transformed by hunting methods such as the baiting of bears for easy killing, and the extermination of entire wolf families during their denning season when they are most vulnerable."
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Kenai Rule, Alaska:
"We are pleased the court has reaffirmed that the US Fish and Wildlife Service acted in a lawful manner in carrying out its responsibility to conserve wildlife in their natural diversity on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge by prohibiting brown bear baiting, and maintaining the Skilak area for wildlife viewing."
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Illegal Helicopter Landing in the Bob Marshall Wilderness:
"Wilderness advocates are seeking a stiff penalty for a wealthy Bozeman couple that admitted they landed their helicopter in the Bob Marshall Wilderness on opening day of trout season. 'The egregiousness of the action, the disdain it shows for the sanctity of wilderness, and the sense of privilege and entitlement displayed by the helicoptering couple argues for the strongest possible punishment.'"
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BLM Grazing Regulations:
“Changes to the grazing regulations could affect nearly 5 million acres of America’s most protected wilderness lands. The public needs and deserves more than a few weeks to review the proposal and provide meaningful recommendations to ensure these extraordinary lands are not harmed.”
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River of No Return Wilderness Elk Collaring Lawsuit:
"This is an important victory for one of the wildest Wildernesses in the lower 48. It sends an important message that intensive, helicopter-assisted manipulations of wildlife to appease the objectives of state managers will not go unchecked.”
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Bear Baiting Lawsuit:
"Grizzlies are making their way to the vast, wild country of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, and they'll get there if we let them. Unfortunately, the many bait stations scattered along that path are death-magnets for dispersing bears. It's past time for the Forest Service to do something about it."
- Bear baiting jeopardizes grizzlies, Hailey nonprofit says, 7/24/20
- Judge allows lawsuit to ban bear baiting in Wyoming, Idaho, 5/11/20
- Suit That Says Bear Baiting Harms Grizzlies Advances, 5/7/20
- Grizzly tracks spotted near Grangeville, 3/23/20
- Federal government rejects effort to ban bear baiting on federal lands in Idaho and Wyoming, 1/11/20
- Forest Service opposes bear-baiting ban in Idaho, Wyoming, 11/18/19
- Wandering griz still in Selway-Bitterroot, 9/6/19
- 'Garbaging for bears' on federal land endangers grizzlies, wolves, 7/16/19
- Kelly Creek grizzly remains in Cayuse Creek area, 6/28/19
- Bear managers criticized over baiting rules, 6/25/19
- Bear baits hot topic among IDFG opponents, 6/12/19
- Lawsuit seeks to end ‘bear baiting’, 6/11/19
- Feds Sued to Stop Use of Bear Bait by Hunters in Idaho and Wyoming, 6/5/19
- Groups seek ban on bear-baiting in Idaho, Wyoming forests, 6/6/19 (This also ran in: Idaho Press, Wichita Eagle, Idaho News, The Washington Times, SVI News, Albany Times-Union, EE News)
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NPS E-bikes Lawsuit:
"The exploding popularity of mountain bikes was already creating a serious problem for wildlife and non-mechanized recreationists, and in one fell swoop the National Park Service increased the problem many-fold by turning all bike trails into motor vehicle trails."
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Weminuche/South San Juan Wildernesses Chainsaw Lawsuit:
"The Forest Service has withdrawn its decision to use chainsaws in the Weminuche and South San Juan Wildernesses in southern Colorado. This was an unprecedented decision because it was the first time the Forest Service approved motorized chainsaw use for the entire trail system within two entire Wilderness areas, all done with no public input."
- Tree daggers and the meaning of wilderness, 6/14/19
- Forest Service rescinds chain saw use in Colorado wilderness, 6/12/19 (This also ran in the Denver Post, KUNC.)
- Forest Services axes decision to use chain saws in wilderness, for now, 6/11/19
- Preliminary injunction seeks to halt chain saws in wilderness, 6/4/19
- Behind the decision to allow chain saws in Southwest Colorado wilderness areas, 5/29/19
- Forest Service sued over decision to use chain saws in wilderness areas, 5/22/19
- Forest Service to allow chain saws in two Southwest Colorado wilderness areas, 5/14/19 (This also ran in The Journal)
- Forest Service allows chain saw use in Colorado wilderness, 5/13/19 (This also ran in The Denver Channel)
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Strip Mine Threatens Okefenokee Wilderness:
A proposed strip mine on thousands of acres next to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and Wilderness in southern Georgia could impact thousands of acres of wetlands, which would forever change the unique ecosystem of the Swamp. Wilderness values like solitude, silence, and remoteness could be impacted by the close proximity of industrial mining activity and associated development.
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Public Lands Omnibus Bill:
"As they say, the devil is in the details, and when the likes of anti-public lands legislators Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Representative Rob Bishop (R-UT) stamp their approval on a massive 698-page public lands omnibus bill, we'd best dig deep...it is full of harmful provisions that would never see the light of day were they not tucked quietly into the omnibus."
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Wasatch Wildernesses Mountain Goat Capture/Collaring Objection:
"We believe the study can be done in a way that is more compatible with wilderness management. The Forest Service's proposed action is an unnecessary intrusion into some of our most treasured lands that see far too many impacts already."
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H.R. 1349/S. 2877—Mountain Biking in Wilderness bill:
“Wilderness says there is value beyond us out there...The inherent sense that some places should be left alone, that restraint and respect for nature, is what the human species has to embrace for nature to flourish, and ultimately for humans to flourish, on this planet. We can overrun Wildernesses if we want, but we’ve chosen not to. Building that sense of restraint and respect, having the human species develop that, is essential to the preservation of the world.”
- Keep mountain bikes out of wilderness areas, 1/3/19
- More groups oppose bikes in wilderness, 6/13/18 (This also ran in the Bitterroot Star)
- Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks Opposes Legislation to Allow Bikes in Wilderness, 6/8/19
- Friends Of Allegheny Wilderness Join Conservation Groups In Telling Congress: Keep Bikes Out Of Wilderness Areas, 6/7/18
- Wilderness under assault, 4/18/18
- Extreme Mountain Bikers fight for wilderness access, 5/14/18
- Wilderness: Legislation in Congress presses for a fundamental change in the rules, 1/20/18)
- Keep mountain bikes out of wilderness areas, 1/3/18 (This editorial also ran in The Missoulian, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Arizona Daily Sun, Napa Valley Register, and on Star2.com.)
- Do Bikes Belong in Wilderness Areas?, 12/20/17
- Bill would allow mountain biking in wilderness areas, 12/18/17
- Bikes in Boundary Waters bill passes House committee,12/13/17 (This also ran in the West Central Tribune, Bemidji Pioneer, and Grand Forks Herald.)
- Conservation groups oppose bikes in wilderness, 12/13/17
- McClintock steers biking bill as others pump the brakes (E&E Daily), 12/8/17
- Congress considers opening wilderness areas to bicycles, 12/8/17
- Mountain biking bill to go before Congressional subcommittee, 12/6/17
- Congress considers allowing bikes, other wheeled devices in wilderness areas, 12/5/17
- Bikes in the Boundary Waters Wilderness? Bill in Congress would allow it, 12/5/17 (This also ran in the Bemidji Pioneer, Duluth News Tribune, West Central Tribune, and Grand Forks Herald.)
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Isle Royale Wolf Reintroduction:
"Moose lived and survived and thrived on Isle Royale for several decades, at least, before wolves ever arrived. Once an area is designated as wilderness we humans have to have the humility and restraint to allow those areas to exist and evolve and thrive on their own without imposing human desires on the landscape."
- Wilderness Watch: National Park Service’s inhumane plan to capture and exile mainland wolves to Isle Royale, 9/24/18
- Park Service details Isle Royale wolf transplant(Park Service details Isle Royale wolf transplant, 9/21/18
- Editorial: A Great Lakes rescue: Restoring wolves on Isle Royale, 7/2/18
- With a human assist, wolves will return to Isle Royale National Park this year, 6/7/18
- Wolves restoration moves a step closer on Isle Royale, 3/16/18
- Fading wolf population to be restored at Lake Superior park, 3/16/18 (This also ran online at wtop, wtip, Federal News Radio, ABC News, and Iron Mountain Daily News.)
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Pemigewasset Wilderness Thoreau Falls Bridge:
"Wilderness is intended to be protected and managed to preserve its natural conditions, where you have to accept nature entirely on its own terms, with the imprint of man’s work substantially unnoticeable. Removing the Thoreau Falls Bridge will assure all of us that this opportunity is available, here in the largest wilderness area in the Northeast United States."
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Border Wall Impacts:
" In areas such as the Cabeza Prieta Wilderness Refuge on the Arizona and Sonora border, species have their habitats fragmented and migration routes disrupted."
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Commercial Rocket Launches Threaten Cumberland Island Wilderness:
"The launches would shatter the area’s natural sounds, stress native wildlife including threatened and endangered species, create major safety concerns from rocket fuel and ignited debris falling from exploding rockets, and could force the Park Service to close and evacuate the Wilderness and National Seashore multiple times per year."
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