Coyote Crossing

Liars

Is there another group of animals that lies as persistently, as deliberately, as primates? Other animals and plants certainly use deception: the non-toxic Viceroy butterfly mimics the toxic monarch, anglerfish use bait and leopards’ coats fool the

Mono Basin Sage Grouse Is Endangered, But Protection Once Again Delayed

From the Center for Biological Diversity:

LAS VEGAS— In response to a petition and lawsuit from the Center for Biological Diversity and other environmental and faith-based groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that a

The Internet just got less funny

I’d heard something about this earlier today, and couldn’t bring myself to go look until just now.

Al Weisel, the brilliant writer behind the purportedly eponymous blog Jon Swift, has died.

“Jon” was consistently one of the kindest, most humane

Speaking of dogs

Embedded in this remarkable story, part of a documentary in progress by my writers’ group colleague Martin Kent, is a stunning detail — almost a throwaway anecdote — of the true, generous, honorable nature of our companion species, shining out in

Obama, SOTU and the environment

I should know better than to compose posts in a browser window: Safari just crashed and took with it about 20 minutes worth of writing on Obama’s miserable-from-an-environmentalist-POV State of The Union address on Wednesday.

Fortunately, Rana

California Desert Protection Act Maps

FURTHER UPDATED: Laurel Williams of the California Wilderness Coalition reminds me that many photos and descriptions of the land involved can be found at californiadesert.org.

UPDATED! Ryan has sent along maps for the National Park properties, and

Haïti in context

This week we’ve seen Pat Robertson’s pronouncements that Haïti’s woes are the result of a “pact with the devil,” and smarmy, decontextualized smugness from farther left that amounts to basically the same point of view as Robertson’s. The fact is,

Arnold ties CA State Parks budgets to offshore drilling

From Audublog — California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is trying to force new offshore drilling down the metaphorical throats of California’s park-lovers:

Fund State Parks from Tranquillon Ridge Oil Revenues — A reduction of $140 million in

Coyote-killing “tournament” in Fallon, NV

What is wrong with the state of Nevada this week? Why are some people there so goddamned afraid of coyotes that they’ll not only commit random killings for me to find on my birthday hike, but sponsor sociopathic “contests” to see who can commit

Castle Peaks area would be added to Mojave Preserve

From the California Desert Protection Act of 2010:

‘‘SEC. 1702. MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The boundary of the Mojave National Preserve is adjusted to include—
‘‘(1) the 29,221 acres of Bureau of Land Management land that is

First take on the California Desert Protection Act of 2010

Dianne Feinstein introduces her much-ballyhooed desert protection bill in the Senate today. Some desert activists have been working with her staff to craft the bill, working under a pledge of confidentiality. Other activists (myself included) have

It all makes perfect sense when you realize that Lake Wobegon is a dystopia

I actually wrote and sent a response to Garrison Keillor’s anti-Semitic Xmas column, in which he says, among other things,

If you don’t believe Jesus was God, OK, go write your own damn “Silent Night” and leave ours alone. This is spiritual

Protecting the Mojave Preserve

I’ve joined the Board of Directors of the Mojave National Preserve Conservancy, a “friends of” group whose mission is to “preserve, protect, and promote the unique natural beauty, ecological integrity, and rich cultural history” of the

Continental Divide

Borderlands, Continental Divide produced by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology from iLCP on Vimeo.

[Cut-n-pasted from the originating site:]

The International League of Conservation Photographers sent a team of world-renowned photographers, with

Unpacking the Central Valley “dust bowl” lies

The last few months have seen a flurry of astroturf protests of federal court decisions to protect the critically endangered Delta Smelt, and California’s marginally less-threatened salmon runs.

Some of the wealthiest individuals in the country,

Ich bin ein Sonoreño

This week marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

I remember that event very well. (Even then I was older than most bloggers are today.) It was a watershed event. It was stirring.

And thus I understand why there was a bit of

Tell BLM to protect the Red Rock country

[As long as I’m pasting in activist alerts today, here’s an important one from the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA).]

Please tell BLM Director Bob Abbey to overturn the Bush administration’s anti-wilderness legacy!

One year ago it seemed

Stop the NRA’s assault on condors

Photo by Just Chaos

[Cut and pasted from the Center for Biological Diversity’s press release]

The National Rifle Association is gunning for America’s largest and most endangered bird—the condor.

Calling us “extremists” for trying to stop the

Paiutes and the Ghost Dance

For Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a short video on the Paiute religious figure Wovoka, originator of the Ghost Dance movement.

A treat within the video: one of the locals interviewed is the late Judy Trejo, a marvelous Paiute singer whose two CDs are

Keillor Crosses Chris

It’s not all that often you see your favorite desert campsite being discussed by the Supreme Court and the nation’s media. But mine is, this week, if for reasons not directly related to desert conservation.

In other words, the case of the