News
How the COVID-19 relief package can help western landowners
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act includes specific provisions for critical sectors of the economy, with particular assistance for agricultural businesses and land managers. In the following, we lay out these provisions and, where appropriate, how to avail yourself of them.
Read More...Working Wild Challenge connects ranchers remotely
Human society may be slowing down at the moment, but in the working wild where people, wildlife and livestock share a common landscape, life is in full swing. The Working Wild Challenge kicked off its practitioners call this week, bringing ranchers together from communities across the West. The call, which will continue on the first and third Tuesdays of the month at 7am MT, is a place where ranchers can share their experiences trying to ranch alongside grizzly bears, wolves and elk.
Read More...Vital connections in challenging times
Strengthening human health and resilience from the ground up. The profound challenges we face today underscore that we are all part of a living community. Individual human health is dependent…
Read More...My role on Montana’s Grizzly Bear Advisory Council
The 18-member Grizzly Bear Conservation and Management Advisory Council of Montana citizens has a big job between now and its August 2020 deadline. With four the eight scheduled council meetings have now taken place, this a good time to share my impressions of the work so far, and the important tasks that lie before us.
Read More...Waterton Biosphere Reserve’s Carnivores and Communities Program
The Waterton Biosphere Reserve’s (WBR’s) Carnivores and Communities program operates in four municipalities, two of which are within the boundaries of the Waterton Biosphere Reserve in Canada. The program focuses on proactive management to decrease conflict between people and carnivores, especially bears and wolves, within the agricultural community of Southwestern Alberta. It is well funded and effective, and it is a major WBR program.
Read More...Hunters Helping with Wildlife Management on Private Lands
In its third year, the Master Hunter Program educates and certifies qualified hunters, and provides landowners with a pool of competent, ethical and responsible hunters to draw from when weighing options to manage wildlife populations on their land, and considering who to allow on their property to hunt.
Read More...An Old Tool Protecting New Calves
A tool originally developed for hunting wolves is a non-lethal option for protecting livestock from them, through a public-private partnership in big sky country.
Read More...Seeking Solutions for Grizzlies in the Gravelly Mountains
Livestock producers in the Northern Rockies face the growing challenge of increasing numbers of grizzly bears. That challenge has come to a critical point in the Gravelly Mountains in southwest Montana, where the population of grizzlies has expanded in recent years onto public lands grazing allotments on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. The number of livestock lost to grizzly predation on these rangelands consequently increased dramatically over the last several years.
Read More...Western Digest – December 2019
Monthly digest of news and opportunities on working lands, water and wildlife.
Read More...NRCS and the 2018 Farm Bill: What’s New
When a new farm bill comes out, there is often a sinking feeling that it’s going to be a lot to swallow and maybe not all of it will be great tasting. Will the same programs be available? And if so, what will be different about them, if anything? What exactly are the programs again?
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