Post by FWS on Mar 29, 2014 0:17:18 GMT -6
It's been 20 years since the last big fight in Congress on public lands grazing and livestock. Guess they thought it was time to throw it out there again.....................
How Your Love Of Burgers May Be Helping To Drive Wildlife Extinct
by Eliza Barclay
NPR
March 21, 2014
Rancher Denny Johnson looks over his cattle in Joseph, Ore., in 2011. Conservationists say ranchers raising beef cattle are responsible for the decline of some wildlife.
Many animal lovers have made peace with their decision to eat meat.
But the Center for Biological Diversity has a new that hopes to convince them that a hamburger habit does wildlife a disservice.
"We need to see a drastic reduction in meat consumption to protect land, water and wildlife," , population and sustainability director for the Center for Biological Diversity, tells The Salt.
The conservation group says that some populations of grizzly bears and wolves have already been driven extinct by the livestock industry, and an additional 175 threatened or endangered species, like the prairie dog, could be next. Most of this drama is playing out on federal lands, where the needs of wildlife conflict with the needs of grazing cattle, she says.
The federal government has for decades promoted and subsidized cattle grazing on 270 million acres of public lands in 11 Western states. According to Feldstein, one of the hot spots of livestock-wildlife conflict is predator species like wolves and bears preying on cattle.
The California grizzly subspecies, for example, in the 1920s by hunters assisting farmers and ranchers, according to historical documents at the University of California, Berkeley.
Ranchers also all but wiped out the Mexican gray wolf, the most endangered wolf species in the world, in the U.S. (A few survived in Mexico and in zoos, and scientists have been trying to bring them back through breeding, the group Defenders of Wildlife .)
"The anti-wolf policies we've seen are heavily driven by ranching interests, and while some populations of wolves are being rebuilt, they're still highly endangered," says Feldstein.
Environmental activists aren't the only ones who've pinned the demise of some species on the livestock industry. A published in January in the journal Science linked the population declines of large carnivores — think pumas, lions and sea otters — around the world to our growing demand for meat.
The cattle industry has vigorously defended its right to kill wolves to protect the business interests of ranchers. As NPR's Nathan Rott in February, Montana state officials say wolves killed at least 67 cattle and 37 sheep in 2012, and many more elk. Losing those animals can be costly for ranchers: One calf can be worth $1,000 or more.
"The main reason I hunt wolves is because I've seen what they do to other animals," Bruce Stell, a Montana outdoorsman and hunter, told Rott. "They're killers. I want to do my part in managing them."
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Feldstein says grazing cattle also degrade grassland habitat for prairie dogs, elk and many other threatened and endangered species. Grazing destroys vegetation and damages soils and stream banks, the CBD . (As we've , the livestock industry has been implicated in a number of other troubling ecological trends: greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change, water pollution and excessive waste, to name a few.)
And if you think beef is a more "sustainable" choice, think again, says the CBD. Grazing cattle on grass has more negative impacts on the land than any other land use, the group .
Instead, we could replace meat with plants, even one day a week. , perhaps?
Can The Meat Industry Help Protect Wildlife? Some Say Yes
by Eliza Barclay
NPR
March 27, 2014
Fox Ranch, outside Yuma County, Colo., is a 14,000-acre nature preserve and working cattle ranch owned by The Nature Conservancy. The ranch is an experiment in planned grazing, which aims to improve soil health and help ranchers' bottom lines.
Last week we on a new campaign from the Center for Biological Diversity that hopes to persuade Americans to cut back on their meat consumption. Their pitch? Eat less meat and you will help save wildlife.
argues that the livestock industry has been responsible for the near extinction of iconic species like the Mexican gray wolf and the California grizzly bear. And that, combined with the industry's other significant contributions to and , warrants a movement to replace at least some of the meat in the American diet with plants, the group says.
Rancher Denny Johnson looks over his cattle in Joseph, Ore., in 2011. Conservationists say ranchers raising beef cattle are responsible for the decline of some wildlife.
The story generated quite a bit of discussion in our comments section. And several people who work on land issues in the West wrote in to tell us that the Center for Biological Diversity's hard-line views on the impacts of meat production aren't shared by all environmentalists.
These commenters noted we'd completely overlooked something: the many partnerships between conservation groups and ranchers to conserve grasslands and protect wildlife.
It turns out, they're right. While ranching and farming have hurt wildlife and their habitats throughout the West, ranchers are working with Defenders of Wildlife, The Nature Conservancy and other environmental organizations, demonstrating that raising livestock and protecting wildlife can be compatible.
In states like Montana, where there's a long history of conflict between ranchers and grizzlies, The Nature Conservancy says it has taught ranchers how to avoid tempting them with food. According to the conservation organization, some ranchers have installed electrified fencing around feed storage sheds to deter the bears. And instead of the standard practice of leaving carcasses of cattle or sheep that die naturally out in the open, The Nature Conservancy moves them to a preserve where the bears can eat them in peace.
Fox Ranch, outside Yuma County, Colo., is a 14,000-acre nature preserve and working commercial cattle ranch. The ranch is used by the Nature Conservancy to put into practice its panned grazing technique.
, a senior conservation ecologist for The Nature Conservancy in Colorado, says that in his 22 years working on land issues in the West, he's seen a lot of improvement in the ways ranchers manage their land.
"I know many ranchers who are excellent — they want to know how to manage lands to improve the chances of many of these species with high conservation value," says Pague. "I would say fully a third of land out there is in pretty good condition, supporting wildlife and plant communities."
And Pague notes that the conversation around how to produce beef in a "sustainable" way is evolving fast. "Meat buyers and packers, land managers, government agencies, McDonald's — a lot of people are interested. This topic is really hot." (See Dan Charles' from earlier this week on how this conversation is playing out globally, too.)
Stephanie Feldstein of the Center for Biological Diversity, who has been leading the Take Extinction Off Your Plate campaign, acknowledges that "some forms of livestock are less damaging, and some ranchers are more sensitive to wildlife."
But, she contends, "our primary focus is that there are too many people eating too much meat. While there are better and worse ways of raising meat for wildlife, overall we still need to see a reduction."
How Your Love Of Burgers May Be Helping To Drive Wildlife Extinct
by Eliza Barclay
NPR
March 21, 2014
Rancher Denny Johnson looks over his cattle in Joseph, Ore., in 2011. Conservationists say ranchers raising beef cattle are responsible for the decline of some wildlife.
Many animal lovers have made peace with their decision to eat meat.
But the Center for Biological Diversity has a new that hopes to convince them that a hamburger habit does wildlife a disservice.
"We need to see a drastic reduction in meat consumption to protect land, water and wildlife," , population and sustainability director for the Center for Biological Diversity, tells The Salt.
The conservation group says that some populations of grizzly bears and wolves have already been driven extinct by the livestock industry, and an additional 175 threatened or endangered species, like the prairie dog, could be next. Most of this drama is playing out on federal lands, where the needs of wildlife conflict with the needs of grazing cattle, she says.
The federal government has for decades promoted and subsidized cattle grazing on 270 million acres of public lands in 11 Western states. According to Feldstein, one of the hot spots of livestock-wildlife conflict is predator species like wolves and bears preying on cattle.
The California grizzly subspecies, for example, in the 1920s by hunters assisting farmers and ranchers, according to historical documents at the University of California, Berkeley.
Ranchers also all but wiped out the Mexican gray wolf, the most endangered wolf species in the world, in the U.S. (A few survived in Mexico and in zoos, and scientists have been trying to bring them back through breeding, the group Defenders of Wildlife .)
"The anti-wolf policies we've seen are heavily driven by ranching interests, and while some populations of wolves are being rebuilt, they're still highly endangered," says Feldstein.
Environmental activists aren't the only ones who've pinned the demise of some species on the livestock industry. A published in January in the journal Science linked the population declines of large carnivores — think pumas, lions and sea otters — around the world to our growing demand for meat.
The cattle industry has vigorously defended its right to kill wolves to protect the business interests of ranchers. As NPR's Nathan Rott in February, Montana state officials say wolves killed at least 67 cattle and 37 sheep in 2012, and many more elk. Losing those animals can be costly for ranchers: One calf can be worth $1,000 or more.
"The main reason I hunt wolves is because I've seen what they do to other animals," Bruce Stell, a Montana outdoorsman and hunter, told Rott. "They're killers. I want to do my part in managing them."
thumbnail
Feldstein says grazing cattle also degrade grassland habitat for prairie dogs, elk and many other threatened and endangered species. Grazing destroys vegetation and damages soils and stream banks, the CBD . (As we've , the livestock industry has been implicated in a number of other troubling ecological trends: greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change, water pollution and excessive waste, to name a few.)
And if you think beef is a more "sustainable" choice, think again, says the CBD. Grazing cattle on grass has more negative impacts on the land than any other land use, the group .
Instead, we could replace meat with plants, even one day a week. , perhaps?
Can The Meat Industry Help Protect Wildlife? Some Say Yes
by Eliza Barclay
NPR
March 27, 2014
Fox Ranch, outside Yuma County, Colo., is a 14,000-acre nature preserve and working cattle ranch owned by The Nature Conservancy. The ranch is an experiment in planned grazing, which aims to improve soil health and help ranchers' bottom lines.
Last week we on a new campaign from the Center for Biological Diversity that hopes to persuade Americans to cut back on their meat consumption. Their pitch? Eat less meat and you will help save wildlife.
argues that the livestock industry has been responsible for the near extinction of iconic species like the Mexican gray wolf and the California grizzly bear. And that, combined with the industry's other significant contributions to and , warrants a movement to replace at least some of the meat in the American diet with plants, the group says.
Rancher Denny Johnson looks over his cattle in Joseph, Ore., in 2011. Conservationists say ranchers raising beef cattle are responsible for the decline of some wildlife.
The story generated quite a bit of discussion in our comments section. And several people who work on land issues in the West wrote in to tell us that the Center for Biological Diversity's hard-line views on the impacts of meat production aren't shared by all environmentalists.
These commenters noted we'd completely overlooked something: the many partnerships between conservation groups and ranchers to conserve grasslands and protect wildlife.
It turns out, they're right. While ranching and farming have hurt wildlife and their habitats throughout the West, ranchers are working with Defenders of Wildlife, The Nature Conservancy and other environmental organizations, demonstrating that raising livestock and protecting wildlife can be compatible.
In states like Montana, where there's a long history of conflict between ranchers and grizzlies, The Nature Conservancy says it has taught ranchers how to avoid tempting them with food. According to the conservation organization, some ranchers have installed electrified fencing around feed storage sheds to deter the bears. And instead of the standard practice of leaving carcasses of cattle or sheep that die naturally out in the open, The Nature Conservancy moves them to a preserve where the bears can eat them in peace.
Fox Ranch, outside Yuma County, Colo., is a 14,000-acre nature preserve and working commercial cattle ranch. The ranch is used by the Nature Conservancy to put into practice its panned grazing technique.
, a senior conservation ecologist for The Nature Conservancy in Colorado, says that in his 22 years working on land issues in the West, he's seen a lot of improvement in the ways ranchers manage their land.
"I know many ranchers who are excellent — they want to know how to manage lands to improve the chances of many of these species with high conservation value," says Pague. "I would say fully a third of land out there is in pretty good condition, supporting wildlife and plant communities."
And Pague notes that the conversation around how to produce beef in a "sustainable" way is evolving fast. "Meat buyers and packers, land managers, government agencies, McDonald's — a lot of people are interested. This topic is really hot." (See Dan Charles' from earlier this week on how this conversation is playing out globally, too.)
Stephanie Feldstein of the Center for Biological Diversity, who has been leading the Take Extinction Off Your Plate campaign, acknowledges that "some forms of livestock are less damaging, and some ranchers are more sensitive to wildlife."
But, she contends, "our primary focus is that there are too many people eating too much meat. While there are better and worse ways of raising meat for wildlife, overall we still need to see a reduction."
