Grass-fed Beef: Climate Destroyer
George Wuerthner March 20, 2025 For many years, I’ve been a critic of cattle production. I have mainly focused on public land grazing because that is one area where citizens can have a voice in management. More recently, concern about livestock’s contribution to climate warming has garnered more attention. The punch line is that any kind of beef is bad for our climate, and one should avoid red meat whenever possible. The average cow produces about 220 pounds of methane per year, or about half the emissions of an average car! Many liberal, ecologically oriented folks prefer to buy “grass-fed” beef, believing that somehow this is environmentally friendly. Most land trusts and many conservation groups promote ranching as a “benign” or even good thing for the environment. Yet the overwhelming evidence suggests that, from a climate-warming perspective, grass-fed beef is far worse than CAFO (Confined Animal Feed Operation), A study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that grass-fed beef produces more methane than other livestock operations. We know that CO2 and methane trap heat. In the most recent estimates, the atmospheric CO2 level was [...]
1,100 Communities at Risk of Urban Wildfire
George Wuerthner March 19, 2025 A new report from Headwaters Economics concludes that 1,100 communities scattered across the country are vulnerable to urban wildfires, such as the recent Altadena and Pacific Palisades blazes in California. While the origins of these blazes were on public lands, wind-tossed embers soon ignited homes, setting up an uncontrollable chain reaction in which one burning home ignited adjacent homes, which overwhelmed firefighting capabilities. While most people tend to believe wildfire risk is greatest in the West, the new analysis concluded that 52% of the communities vulnerable to such blazes are outside the West, with Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, and Alabama having some of the highest risk of urban blazes. One interesting statistic that calls into question current Forest Service policies of extensive logging as a measure to protect communities is that many of the most destructive wildfires have occurred in non-forested areas with shrubs or grasslands. The Marshall Fire in Colorado, the Maui Fire in Hawaii, the Smokehouse Fire in Texas, and many of the recent blazes in California were all ignited in non-forested vegetation. A recent analysis found that the annual burned area was higher on non-forest [...]
The “Energy Transition” Delusion
Jonathan Ratner March 18, 2025 From our friends at Population Balance, comes their latest podcast with historian and author Jean-Baptiste Fressor. To get all the ways to listen, click here. There is no energy transition – only ongoing and symbiotic energy addition. Historian Jean-Baptiste Fressoz, author of More and More and More: An All-Consuming History of Energy, joins us. Highlights include: How the symbiotic relationships between wood, coal, and oil have led to increased use of all of them; Why decoupling economic growth from energy and materials use is a delusional myth; How the energy transition narrative evolved and why it’s an “intellectual scandal” used to delay climate action through faith in techno-driven growth; How the IPCC’s focus on economic growth drives the energy transition narrative, downplays degrowth and sufficiency, and relies on unproven techno-fixes, such as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS); How safety norms were invented to secure industrial capital, and how criticisms and objections around technological risks were silenced or overcome to establish technological modernity. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Book: More and More and More: An All-Consuming History of Energy by Jean-Baptiste Fressoz Book: Happy Apocalypse: A History of [...]
The Demise of the Northwest Forest Plan
Andy Kerr March 17, 2025 Top Line: Like bankruptcy, the death of the Northwest Forest Plan has proceeded slowly and might end quickly. Figure 1. An old-growth forest of Douglas-fir and western redcedar. Source: Sandy Lonsdale (first appeared in Oregon Wild: Endangered Forest Wilderness). Note: I wrote the following without considering President Trump’s recent executive order pertaining to federal forestlands. I didn’t want the Trumpian chaos to interfere with an examination of the demise of the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP), which was under way well before Trump 2.0. Fear not, I will examine what the second reign of Donald John Trump might mean for federal public forestlands in the next The Wildlife News post. When is the Northwest Forest Plan no longer the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP)? After the Forest Service has removed the skeleton, meat, and blood, leaving only the dermis. Any resemblance the proposed NWFP bears to the original NWFP is only skin deep. The Northwest Forest Plan is likely a dead plan walking. The Forest Service began its long campaign to emasculate the NWFP as soon as President Clinton left office. The unraveling began during and was aided by the presidency of George [...]
Wild Bison, Victim of Politics and Political Correctness
George Wuerthner March 16, 2025 I watched Ghost Bull grazing just outside of Yellowstone National Park’s northern border. Ghost Bull is a name given to the bison by wildlife advocates because he seems to come and go, eluding tribal shooters who sought to kill him. The big bull continued to graze contently near some private homes, which created a “no-shooting” zone, and afforded Ghost Bull protection from the tribal members who sought to end his life. After a while, I noticed a pickup down the road and learned what it contained from another bison advocate. I later learned that some Blackfeet tribal members were there. If Ghost Bull walked just 100 yards from where he was grazing, he would be dead meat. He would then be “legal” to kill. I just sat in my car for over an hour, occasionally getting out to flourish my camera to appear like a tourist photographing the bison. Eventually, it grew so dark that I knew that the shooters (I do not call them hunters) could not legally kill Ghost Bull. I drove away, but in my rearview mirror, I saw the pickup driving down [...]
Houston Chronicle: Wildernex LLC Wildlife Control Ranked #13 in 2019 Aggie 100
BUSINESS // BIZFEED 28 Houston area companies make Aggie 100 list Hundreds of guests attend the annual Aggie 100 awards ceremony hosted by the McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship, Mays Business School, at Texas A&M University each year.Photo: Mays Business School at Texas A&M University Eli Jones, dean of Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, at a previous Aggie 100 awards ceremony.Photo: Mays Business School at Texas A&M University Houston made a strong showing on the Aggie 100 list of fastest-growing Aggie-owned or Aggie-led businesses in 2019, with SIA Solutions earning the top spot. The McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship, part of Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, presented the winners Friday at a private ceremony and dinner at the Hall of Champions on campus in College Station. The 15th annual global Aggie 100 contest acknowledged 94 Texas companies, including 28 in the Houston metro area. Companies were ranked by compound annual revenue growth from 2016 to 2018. LJA Engineering and Escondido Resources were also in the top 10 and among Houston-area companies to make the list. SIA Solutions, an environmental services founded in 2012 and owned by Srini Neralla, saw revenue growth of 285 percent during the [...]
Rattlesnake selfie lands man $150K doctor bill
SAN DIEGO — A local man who was nearly killed while trying to take a selfie with a rattlesnake racked up a whopping $150,000 hospital bill. Doctors depleted the anti-venom stash at two different hospitals to treat Todd Fassler, who as it turns out once had a pet rattlesnake of his own. He sent us video he says shows him setting his snake free. Fassler said he had the rattlesnake for more than a year but let it go because he thinks animal services would appreciate it.
RACCOON JUMPS ON ALLIGATOR FOR ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME PHOTO
Monday, June 15, 2015 SILVER SPRINGS, FL — It looks like this intrepid raccoon is using an alligator as his own personal water taxi, but there’s more to the story than meets the eye. Richard Jones took this incredible photo Saturday while visiting the Ocala National Forest in central Florida with his family. Jones’ son apparently spooked the raccoon, which jumped on the gator just moments before the photo was snapped, according to ABC News. Jones says he took the photo just in time – the raccoon didn’t stick around for very long. “Without the context you’d think the raccoon was hitching a ride across the river. Pretty amazing,” Jones said. “Definitely the photo of a lifetime.”
ALLIGATOR KILLS 28-YEAR-OLD TEXAS MAN DURING LATE-NIGHT SWIM
A man died after a vicious alligator attack in Orange, Texas. John Fenoglio reports. ABC 13 – Houston July 3, 2015 ORANGE, TX — A man was killed early Friday when an alligator attacked him during a late-night swim at a Southeast Texas marina, according to police. Orange police Capt. Robert Enmon said Tommie Woodward, 28, suffered severe trauma to a limb when he was attacked early Friday morning at the private marina, which is along a bayou extending from the Sabine River near the Louisiana line. Orange County sheriff’s deputies and a Texas game warden found his body nearby about two hours later. Police said Woodward, who lived near the marina in Orange, was swimming with a woman, but Justice of the Peace Rodney Price told KFDM-TV in Beaumont that she only jumped from a dock after he screamed for help. The woman was not hurt. Price said it appears Woodward was bitten soon after he jumped in. The owners of the marina recently had spotted a large alligator on a few occasions, and put up a sign warning people to stay out of the water, Enmon said. They [...]
BOY & FATHER ATTACKED BY ALLIGATOR IN CHAMBERS COUNTY LAKE
The hunt is on for an alligator that attacked a man and his 13-year-old son Sunday, June 28, 2015 11:07PM WALLISVILLE, TX (KTRK) — It was a terrifying day at a Chambers County park Sunday for a father and his son. They were both attacked by an alligator. It happened at Cedar Hill Park at Lake Charlotte off FM 563 just north of I-10. According to the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office, 13-year-old Kaleb Hurley was swimming near the bank when witnesses say an alligator came up and bit his arm, pulling him under. The boy’s father, 42-year-old James Hurley, ran into the water and was able to save his son, but the gator reportedly went after him, biting him on the leg. James Hurley was able to kick the alligator until it released him. Both father and son were flown by Life Flight to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where they’re listed in fair condition. The incident is being investigated by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Displaced Wildlife Show Up as Flood Waters Recede
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department: News Release If you encounter wildlife, do not approach, disturb, feed, or harass in any way. Contact a wildlife professional to resolve the situation. Wildernex LLC is available by phone at 832-312-5595 Media Contact: Steve Lightfoot, 512-389-4701, steve.lightfoot@tpwd.texas.gov June 3, 2015 Use Extreme Caution When Removing Debris AUSTIN – Things that live on the ground typically aren’t adept at treading water for long. In the aftermath of flood events that have hammered much of the state recently, biologists with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department say encounters with various wildlife will not be uncommon. Recent storms also coincided with the time of year when newborn wildlife start showing up on the landscape. As flood waters recede, wildlife officials anticipate seeing more young wild animals unnecessarily being picked up by the general public and referred to game wardens or wildlife rehabilitators for treatment and rearing. According to the National Weather Service, during the month of May Texas received 35 trillion gallons of rain, enough to cover the entire state in eight inches of water. “It is not uncommon for wildlife encounters to increase after flood events,” says Andy Gluesenkamp, [...]
RAIN AND FLOODWATER MEANS ALL KINDS OF CRITTERS ARE ON THE MOVE
HOUSTON (KTRK) –Birds, mammals, and reptiles are all on the move, thanks to the heavy rain and flooding this week. And this is just the first wave of what wildlife experts expect to see. Animal rescuers are seeing a huge spike in calls and they say it will not slack up once the water goes away. A wide variety of misplaced critters are now at the Texas Wildlife Rehabilitation Centers A wide variety of misplaced critters are now at the Texas Wildlife Rehabilitation Centers. Executive Director Roslyn Evan says the weather is keeping her staff very busy. “They’re injured,” she said. “They’re coming in with maggots, wounds. They’re wet, they’re cold, they’re hungry, they’re starving — lots of problems. We got slammed starting earlier this week, and it really didn’t let up.”
