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Louisa Willcox's Blog

Issues: Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Does Agency Cynicism Serve Wolves, Science, or the Public Interest?

November 20, 2009

Posted by Louisa Willcox in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:
wolf, wolfmanagement, wolves, yellowstonewolfdelisting, yellowstonewolves

A recent meeting of the Montana Chapter of the Society of Conservation Biology showcased talks by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Western Gray Wolf Recovery Coordinator, Ed Bangs, and the Montana Wolf Project Manager, Carolyn Sime. What struck...

Yellowstone grizzly prospects improve as relisting ruling is upheld

November 18, 2009

Posted by Louisa Willcox in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:
endangeredspeciesact, ESA, esagrizzlyprotections, grizzlydelisting, yellowstonegrizzlies, yellowstonegrizzlydelisting, yellowstonegrizzlyrelisting

Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy wisely denied the Department of Justice's efforts to reverse his September 21st decision that restored endangered species protections to the Yellowstone grizzly bear population. The Yellowstone grizzly is still at risk: global warming poses...

Are the Hills Alive?

November 2, 2009

Posted by Louisa Willcox in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:
greaterrockies, greateryellowstone, greateryellowstoneecoystem, grizzlybears, mountainpinebeetle, northerrockies, pinebeetle, whitebarkpine, yellowstone

This article originally appeared as a guest editorial in the Jackson Hole News and Guide on Ocotober 28, 2009. It's impossible to drive over Togwotee Pass or hike in the wilds of the Gros Ventres or Absarokas these days without...

Meet The Beetles and Folks Who Study Them

October 8, 2009

Posted by Louisa Willcox in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:
biogems, endangeredspeciesact, grizzlies, grizzly, grizzlybears, whitebarkpine, yellowstone, yellowstonegrizzlies

(Left to right:  Wally Macfarlane, Yours Truly, Liz Davy, and Willie Kern) They flew in from all over the world: Switzerland, Finland, Greece, Italy, Austria, Slovakia, and Canada, as well as many parts of the U.S.  Like the beetles...

Relisting Yellowstone grizzlies: breaking old ways, creating new possibilities

September 29, 2009

Posted by Louisa Willcox in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:
endangeredspeciesact, ESA, esagrizzlyprotections, grizzlies, grizzly, grizzlybears, grizzlydelisting, grizzlyrelisting, yellowstone, yellowstonegrizzlies

The victory celebration piece I started last week on the relisting of the Yellowstone grizzly bear — a centerpiece of my work over the last 20 years — looks nothing like what you read now.  After 2 ½ years of...

Yellowstone Grizzlies Need Federal Protection

September 16, 2009

Posted by Louisa Willcox in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:
endangeredspeciesact, ESA, grizzlies, grizzly, grizzlydelisting, yellowstonegrizzlies

The article below appeared originally in the Missoulian August 10th and has been slightly revised.  A July 17 Missoulian article on settlement discussions about lawsuits over the government's Yellowstone grizzly bear delisting decision included a statement by Hank Fischer of...

Wolf-Watching in Yellowstone: Small World in a Big Park

September 11, 2009

Posted by Louisa Willcox in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:
wolf, wolflawsuit, wolflitigation, wolfprotection, wolfwatchers, wolves, yellowstonewolfdelisting, yellowstonewolves

On Labor Day, my husband, Doug Honnold, and I drove through the northern part of Yellowstone Park on our way home from a hiking trip in the Beartooths.  The hillsides had turned tan, and some willows in the bottoms were...

Wolf delisting court battle 2.0

August 31, 2009

Posted by Louisa Willcox in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:
delisting, ESA, idaho, montana, montanawolves, northernrockies, wolfdelisting, wolfhunt, wolflitigation, wolves

Right now, the NRDC Montana staff (Janet, Matt, and me) is driving back to Livingston from Missoula, after the federal court hearing on our wolf injunction wrapped up in front of Judge Molloy today. Matt's driving, so Janet is trying not to look out the...

Anniversary, defending wolves

August 29, 2009

Posted by Louisa Willcox in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:
northernrockieswolves, wolfdelisting, wolfhunt, wolflitigation, wolves, yellowstonewolves

Today, Saturday, August 29, is the 17th anniversary of my husband Doug Honnold and I, and what are we doing? We are both in our offices working to stop the wolf hunt, slated to begin in Idaho next Tuesday. In...

The rush to hunt wolves: what is this about?

August 25, 2009

Posted by Louisa Willcox in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:
hunting, northernrockieswolves, wolfdelisting, wolflawsuit, wolves, yellowstonewolves

 3,500 wolf tags sold in Idaho in three hours yesterday (that's nearly 20 every second) after the Idaho Fish and Game Department began issuing permits.  At $11.75 a pop, that tells volumes about what wolves are worth to the state. ...

Northern Rockies Wolves: They Coulda Been Contenders

August 20, 2009

Posted by Louisa Willcox in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:
northernrockieswolves, northerrockies, statewolfmanagement, wolf, wolfdelisting, wolves, yellowstonewolfdelisting, yellowstonewolves

 "I coulda been a contenda."  I was reminded of this famous Marlon Brando line from the film, On the Waterfront, upon reading that the author of the screenplay, Budd Schulberg, died last week.  The line is particularly pertinent to the...

Shout Out to the Forest Service on Whitebark Pine

July 13, 2009

Posted by Louisa Willcox in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:
forestprotection, greaterrockies, greateryellowstone, greateryellowstoneecoystem, grizzly, grizzlydelisting, gye, mountainpinebeetle, usforestservicecollaboration, whitebarkpine, yellowstone, yellowstonegrizzlies

 It's official: last week, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) approved a grant of $150,000 for a comprehensive assessment of beetle damage of whitebark pine in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), using global positioning system technology.  This is important because the...

The Siege of Beetles

July 10, 2009

Posted by Louisa Willcox in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:
bears, biogems, globalwarming, greateryellowstone, grizzly, grizzlybears, mountainpinebeetle, whitebarkpine, yellowstonegrizzlies, yellowstonenationalpark

                The beetle attack of whitebark pine I saw near Yellowstone National Park in Tom Miner Basin last week was worse than it was when I was here a year ago.  Even just two years ago, you would find a...

The March of the Liberty Belles

July 6, 2009

Posted by Louisa Willcox in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:
bearspray, fourthofjuly, grizzly, livingstonfourthofjuly, margotkidder, yellowstonegrizzlies

 I did not stick out at Livingston's Fourth of July parade in my Statue of Liberty costume, with its glittery green crown.  Because there were about sixty of us Liberty Belles, wearing matching statuesque green, marching with banners stating our...

Wolves in the Crossfire, Again

June 5, 2009

Posted by Louisa Willcox in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:
greateryellowstone, wolfcontrovery, wolfdelisting, wolflawsuit, wolves, yellowstone, yellowstonewolves

 On Monday, June 1st, the Billings Gazette published a piece I wrote on the problems of prematurely removing endangered species protections from Northern Rockies gray wolves.  I shouldn't have been surprised at the number of comments (28 total) posted in...