skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, April 18, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A new study shows health disparities cost Texas billions of dollars; Senate rejects impeachment articles against Mayorkas, ending trial against Cabinet secretary; Iowa cuts historical rural school groups.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The Senate dismisses the Mayorkas impeachment. Maryland Lawmakers fail to increase voting access. Texas Democrats call for better Black maternal health. And polling confirms strong support for access to reproductive care, including abortion.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural Wyoming needs more vocational teachers to sustain its workforce pipeline, Ohio environmental advocates fear harm from a proposal to open 40-thousand forest acres to fracking and rural communities build bike trail systems to promote nature, boost the economy.

Hart Mountain Fence Pull Benefits Wildlife

play audio
Play

Thursday, July 26, 2012   

PLUSH, Ore. - Some hardy volunteers are working in a remote part of southeast Oregon to make life easier for the four-legged residents of the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge.

For about two decades, people have been working in the summer months on Hart Mountain to remove a few hundred miles of barbed-wire fence - and this weekend, they think they'll finally be done.

The wires and posts are left over from days when cattle grazed in the area, but refuge manager Jeff Mackay says it's been a hazard to antelope.

"They're here on the summer range, so they need to be able to move off the refuge in winter when our conditions up here are just much too harsh for them. We remove the fences to allow these animals to move freely across the refuge, where they want to, for feed and water."

As nimble as antelope are, they don't jump over fences - they go under them, and sometimes get caught.

Mackay says the fence removal also will help people enjoy the area. Hart Mountain is one of the only wildlife refuges that welcomes overnight camping.

For the volunteers, it's hard work in hot weather - but David Eddleston of Bend says he wouldn't miss it. He's helped with the fence-pulls for several years with the Oregon Natural Desert Association. He says the area reminds him of the Serengeti, the east African desert where he spent time as a child.

"Probably 90 percent of the time that we have been doing the work there, we will see herds of pronghorn. It's a wonderful sight to see them, dashing in front of the vehicles doing 60 miles an hour, maybe 30, 40, 50 of them at a time. It's a wonderful sight."

Mackay says the years of fence-pulling seem to have paid off. This spring's antelope count was the highest since the 1950s - and he says there are a couple of other key reasons for that, as well.

"One, we're having a very dry year, so there's a lot more animals on the refuge because of all the water we have here in our creeks and dugouts and playas. But two, we had a wet spring in 2011, spring and summer, and that produced excellent habitat conditions."

The refuge covers about 280,000 rugged acres. Only about 50 of the 160 miles of roads are suitable for a typical passenger car.

Information about the refuge, including directions and camping rules, is online at fws.gov.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Environmental advocates are asking California's next state budget to prioritize climate mitigation and cut tax breaks for fossil fuel companies. (The Climate Center)

Environment

play sound

As state budget negotiations continue, groups fighting climate change are asking California lawmakers to cut subsidies for oil and gas companies …


Health and Wellness

play sound

Health disparities in Texas are not only making some people sick, but affecting the state's economy. A new study shows Texas is losing $7 billion a …

Environment

play sound

City and county governments are feeling the pinch of rising operating costs but in Wisconsin, federal incentives are driving a range of local …


Each year since 2018, there have been more than 1 million online ads for guns which could be sold without a background check. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Well over three-fourths of Americans support universal background checks for gun purchases, but federal law allows unlicensed people to sell guns at …

Environment

play sound

By Max Graham for Grist.Broadcast version by Alex Gonzalez for Arizona News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Serv…

During what is known as the Medicaid post-pandemic "unwinding" process, South Dakota saw the largest drop in children's enrollment in the country, with a 27% reduction in the first six months. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Last year's Medicaid expansion in South Dakota increased eligibility to another 51,000 adults but a new report showed among people across the state wh…

Health and Wellness

play sound

There is light at the end of the tunnel for Tennesseans struggling with opioid addiction, as a bill has been passed to increase access to treatment …

Environment

play sound

The New York HEAT Act might not make the final budget. The bill reduces the state's reliance on natural gas and cuts ratepayer costs by eliminating …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021