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As Feds Delay Decision on Grizzly Protections, Montana and Wyoming Threaten Lawsuits

August 8, 2024 // NEWS: In Short

The grizzly bear was placed under protection of the Endangered Species Act in 1975
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pushed its decision timeline to January 2025. States want an update by the end of October.
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Wyoming Legislative Session Brings Conservation ‘Wins and Losses’

March 21, 2024 // NEWS: Dispatch

The 640-acre Kelly Parcel was slated for public auction before the action was postponed in December amid public outcry
Conservation organizations celebrated an amendment to the state budget authorizing land managers to sell the Kelly Parcel to the National Park Service for $100 million. Some bills are more worrisome.
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Who Really Is Footing The Tab For Wildlife Conservation In The West?

July 25, 2023

Who should have biggest sway in determining fate of species
For decades, hunters and anglers have claimed they're the economic bulwarks for protecting species. But is it true? Also: Is it time that outdoor recreation users be asked to pay taxes on gear?
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This ‘Bearish’ Economy Is One Most States Would Love To Have

July 14, 2023

Totems of Greater Yellowstone's "bearish" economy
Often cast as liabilities and villains by politicians, grizzlies and wolves in Yellowstone region are bullish assets that keep delivering dividends—as long as they remain alive
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Famous Jackson Hole Grizzly 399 Wows Again, But Now What?

May 18, 2023

Model of Motherhood: 399 and her new cub out of hibernation
Emerging with her 18th cub as part of a historic legendary life, 399 is 27, long in the tooth and still transforming our perceptions of grizzlies. Now it's our turn to be on best behavior
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Has Wildlife Watching Been Getting A Free Ride?

December 14, 2022

In Wyoming, wildlife watching alone accounts for almost half a billion dollars in state revenue.
In this Writers on the Range essay, Kelsey Wellington touts a Wyoming nonprofit trying to address crisis in wildlife conservation funding  

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Why 'Yellowstone' Rancher John Dutton Says 'Progress' Is Destroying The Wild Rural West

October 27, 2022

The "balance" between private land development and conservation is landing hard on some of America's most famous wildlife populations
The only way Greater Yellowstone, America's most iconic wildlife ecosystem, stands a chance of being saved is if there's a game plan. Glaringly, none now exists
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Win Or Lose, Liz Cheney's Legacy In American History Will Be Non Sibi Sed Patriae

August 16, 2022

Not so long ago, prior to Jan. 6, 2021, Liz Cheney defended Trump
In this op-ed, Tom Sadler reflects on Wyoming's Republican primary and what Lincoln, Roosevelt, Ike and Reagan would make of Harriet Hageman
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Prominent Scientists Push Back Against Delisting Grizzly Bears: Op-Ed

January 13, 2022

Grizzly 399 and one of her recent cubs
When it comes to assessing biological recovery of grizzlies, who is better informed—people who study wildlife for a living or governors and legislators who dislike grizzlies and wolves?
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Protecting Tranquility One Square Inch At A Time

August 2, 2021

Steadily, we're losing last best refuges of 'natural sounds'
Escaping the noisy human cacophony: Gordon Hempton is called  'the sound tracker' but he's really a maestro who reminds that natural  harmonic bliss exists in the quietest spots of the Lower 48 
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Soulé's Last Warning: We'll Never 'Develop Our Way' To Better Conservation Outcomes

August 30, 2020

Is this the kind of wildness we want?
The late Michael Soulé, godfather of conservation biology, offered this critique of 'New Conservation" and its consequences for regions like Greater Yellowstone
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Of God And Guns: How The Sagebrush Rebellion Turned Into A Hotbed Of Armed Modern Radicals

March 24, 2020

A cowboy petroglyph?
In this excerpt from Betsy Gaines Quammen's new book 'American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God & Public Lands in the West,' the author explores how Utah became the center of anti-federalism
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Making Contact With Richard Louv: How Animals Save And Heal Us

November 10, 2019

Grizzly clan fording a stream
"Our Wild Calling," the new "game-changing" book by Richard Louv, explores why our connection with other species is good for society, our mental health and the wild places that matter to us
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Wyoming Keeps Falling Behind While Jackson Hole Thrives—Why?

October 17, 2019

Jackson Hole's success  is about more than the Tetons
Compared to her Rocky Mountain neighbors, the state is the only one losing people. Wyoming's leaders have some soul-searching to do
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