Naping Brown Bears

Sow and Cubs Brown Bear naping at stream side during our recent Alaska Bear Photo Tour.

I was recently ask  by one of our friends “What is wrong with the west?”  It is a great question.

What is wrong is that, “out west” is  what  is  left of America and the American ideal.  This doesn’t fit the pocket books of many in Washington DC and they want to turn the West in a corporate entity like the rest of USA inc.

The trouble is out west  and can been seen  most recently by the vast round ups of our Wild Horses currently underway. The same horses declared by Congress as a free roaming symbol of the sprit of the American west and given sanctuary on our public lands. This land is being cleared of horses so that big business can bring in more cattle to suport that failing industry and more gas and oil production  to be done in part by foreign business so they can sell our own resources back to us.

Did you know the US EXPORTS over a million barrels of oil a day? More than the most optimistic production figure for the total output of ANWR. ( http://tinyurl.com/23gbpan)

Yes the trouble is out west but the root is with the rascals in Washington who have sold out the American people by outsourcing jobs and selling technology to the highest bidder. When we think about it, it has become obvious that our government will go to any level no matter how vile to make a buck for big business. Off shore drilling with no real safety measures,  the remove of vast areas of old growth forrest and mining pristine wilderness areas in remote Alaska.  All recently under the guise of “we need jobs”. With over 12,000 jobs being outsourced monthly and upwards of 12 million illegal ’s in America  how can this be taken seriously?

WE need to wake up to the fact that it is not one political party or another that is to blame.  It is us!. WE need to do more that write a letter and send emails. WE need to protest in the street, in the “letters to the editor” columns of local newspapers and in front of the media. Contact not only the government, but the media asking for both national and local investigations of what is going on.

Now is the time to take a stand. America is in deep trouble and this is when we need to push for great change. We need to take our country back from the corporations and bureaucrats.

Swan Take off

It was a cold November morning last fall when I captured these Trumpeter swans taking off from the Snake River

Limited edition Print

Copy and past the link for the news on re listing Wolves

Good news for all.

Maybe this will get some action of good management for the wolves.

It is not popular but my view is that, in some places wolves need more protection and in some places there are too many wolves. It is very simple, we have screwed up most eco systems so bad that they generally need more management than they get. There are very few places left where nature can take is course.

Wyoming mustangs

This little one feels safe and secure while its mom feeds. I hope it doesn’t learn that Mom is not enough since the BLM’s policies can be harmful to all of the Mustanges unless we the public step in and forces good management.

Keep the pressure on so these beauties can stay safe.

Grand Teton Autumn

Even though summer has just begun and the days are what passes for hot here in Yellowstone country there was a certain feel in the air  this morning of things to come in the next 5 or 6 weeks. I am already starting to morn the loss of summer and happily anticipate Autumn in the Rockies

Mare and Colt bonding

This colt had been acting up playing with his mom> Like a good mom she had just corrected him with a little hoof in his butt.

I think he found the error in his ways and mom seems to be looking like “she how it is done”

Sow Grizzly and cubs

Sow Grizzly and cubs from Silver Salmon Creek Photo workshop last month.

Wild Mustang overlooking the Red Desert

The Red Desert in Wyoming can be a very difficult place to survive if you are not prepared. It can be a long way to even get to a place to call for help. Winter can be well below zero and Summer  reaches over 100. There is not much water for fragile animals like us. I have camped in places in the Red Desert and not seen even a distant vehicle for days. It is one of my favorite places because much of it is empty and it is a place worth being alone with the Pronghorn, Elk (yes Elk), coyotes, Wild Horses and the occasional cougar.

Like most things the Red Desert is changing and all too fast. As most people know gas and oil production has come to the Red Desert. For better or worse it is here. Right now there are many large tracks without petro production but it is changing  fast.

How the wild inhabitants of this great land will fair and the hands of there stewards the BLM remains to be seen. But like this Stallion over looking a piece of unbroken wildlife heaven we will watch this fragile land.

I hope you all get a chance to see this great place before it is gone.