Anyone who loves wildlife in the West should pay attention to what has been going on around Yellowstone National Park. Montana’s position on wolves has, to put it delicately, taken a ‘hard turn.’ This needs to change. The 2021 Montana state legislature crafted aggressive laws to reduce the state’s wolf population. Wolves can now be …
A Transatlantic Wild
The news caught my eye. The European Bison, or 'wisent,' will be reintroduced to Southern England. The Wilder Blean Project plans to use a small herd of bison to regenerate a former pine plantation. They will be the first bison to browse an English forest in six thousand years. Together with some wild ponies and …
Salmon in the Mountains
I knew my chances were slim. Only a handful of salmon make it into the Idaho mountains this close to the Montana border. The fact any do at all is remarkable. I was standing six hundred and twenty-four river miles from the Pacific, upstream from eight major dams, three and a half thousand feet above …
How to Keep Returning Wildlife Wild
For the latest post on the Plastocene, I'm linking to a piece I published yesterday in The Atlantic on the complicated question of how to keep wildlife wild on a crowded planet. We go to restoration sites in Italy and the UK, before bringing the lessons back to Montana. Saving nature clearly ain't what it used to …
Wolf Seekers
“I’m just a nobody.” I won’t say this man’s name but if you have stood on the side of the road in Yellowstone during the winter searching through a spotting scope for distant wolves, you have probably met him. He claims to be “just a nobody” because he does not have “advanced degrees” or a …
The Silent Swoop
A single moment can make everything so vivid. The huge parking lot at the cross-country ski area south of Anaconda, Montana was plowed for about fifty cars. When we pulled in on Christmas Eve morning, we were the only ones there. Most people were sitting cozily at home with family, getting into the festive mood. …
Christopher J. Preston 