Guzzling the West’s Water

It’s all those golf courses, green lawns, and fountains wasting water in an arid region; right?

No!

A brief look at the statistics on water use in the West tell that it is agriculture, not western cities that consume the water. Within agriculture one water use stands out. Growing feed for cattle!

Cattle are the primary reason the West is short on water. It’s almost a crime that few people realize this fact.

Guzzling the West’s Water. By George Wuerthner. Writers on the Range in New West.

Flathead County, Montana to consider large bond to conserve open space

Scenic Montana county with exploding population seeks $10-million from voters-

Whenever I visit the area, I try to take a few photos of the disappearing rural countryside.

Story: Flathead open space bond on ballot. By Michael Jamison of the Missoulian

The disappearing rural landscape of Flathead County. Photo taken Sept. 2008 a few miles south of Kalispell, Montana. Copyright Ralph Maughan

The disappearing rural landscape of Flathead County. Photo taken Sept. 2008 a few miles south of Kalispell, Montana. Copyright Ralph Maughan