<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Bruce Smith Wildlife]]></title><description><![CDATA[Bruce Smith Wildlife]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Fri, 15 May 2026 11:17:00 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[What about insects?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Over the years, Diana and I have noticed the steady decline of insects where we live in southwest Montana.  Bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, and even flies (we don't get to pick and choose), are all far scarcer.  Some of the more charismatic species, like butterflies, are finally receiving research attention.  And the findings are truly discouraging.       Researchers investigating the status of 114 species of butterflies in the United States found that populations are declining at a rate...]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/post/what-about-insects</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69fb49d83587ab080fb7d994</guid><category><![CDATA[insects]]></category><category><![CDATA[biodiversity]]></category><category><![CDATA[birds]]></category><category><![CDATA[environmental education]]></category><category><![CDATA[wildlife conservation]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 07 May 2026 19:28:42 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ca9a6_9410ab1f0c114188a8b4a02c635139f2~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_976,h_549,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Bruce Smith</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Wildfires and the Roadless Rule]]></title><description><![CDATA[One of the excuses the Trump administration offered for moving to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule that protects over 60 million acres of US Forest Service lands -- our lands -- was to provide more road access to fight wildfires.  But a new study published in the journal  Fire Ecology , and summarized in Inside Climate News , reviewed the history of wildfire ignitions from 1992 to 2024 and found that wildfires were four times more likely to ignite within 50 meters of a road than in a forest...]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/post/wildfires-and-the-roadless-rule</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69ced6e02a4608ae001d96b8</guid><category><![CDATA[forests and fires]]></category><category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category><category><![CDATA[public lands]]></category><category><![CDATA[habitat conservation]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 02 Apr 2026 22:21:48 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ca9a6_37cdb8750d48462dbc7e1e2e89beb7b3~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Bruce Smith</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Mountain Goats in Jeopardy]]></title><description><![CDATA[A mountain goat in Montana In a status review  of Montana's mountain goats that a colleague and I completed in 2017, we found that Montana's native mountain goat populations had declined 70% since the previous statewide assessment 70 years earlier.  Yes, 70%!      We attributed much of the decline to excessive sport harvest of the species  during the mid-1900s.  A lack of reliable population management data, limited knowledge of the species' population biology, human habitat impacts, and...]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/post/mountain-goats-in-jeopardy</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69ac85cd7922a57a9d4c4b84</guid><category><![CDATA[mountain goats]]></category><category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category><category><![CDATA[public lands]]></category><category><![CDATA[wildlife conservation]]></category><category><![CDATA[wilderness]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 08 Mar 2026 16:13:54 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ca9a6_9d3348caf0bd41a58128d366b3e8468a~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Bruce Smith</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ocean Warming Drives Climate Impacts]]></title><description><![CDATA[Every second last year, the Earth's oceans absorbed the energy equivalent of 12 Hiroshima-sized bombs.  This is according to a report just released in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences , compiled by 31 international institutions.  So what's the significance of this?       When most of us think about the effects of global warming -- and read what's largely reported in popular media -- we think about terrestrial impacts: drought, wildfires, water shortages, crop failures, more severe weather...]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/post/ocean-warming-drives-climate-impacts</link><guid isPermaLink="false">696d3cf7d122d90ed9684fa5</guid><category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category><category><![CDATA[fossil fuels]]></category><category><![CDATA[environmental education]]></category><category><![CDATA[fisheries]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 29 Jan 2026 22:26:08 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ca9a6_5f3973ffa8ef437c881b2bb47d4ea947~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_700,h_481,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Bruce Smith</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Kestrel: The Farmer's Friend]]></title><description><![CDATA[I was once asked by an interviewer, "If you could come back as an animal, what would you be?"       " If a bird," I replied, "I’d want to be an American kestrel. Why? Just watch one for a while!"      Swift fliers (and they can hover!), resourceful, and spectacular in form and color, kestrels are a delight to behold. They also take well to artificial breeding sites.  So if you have the right habitat, put up a nest box  designed for this smallest of American falcons and you may be rewarded...]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/post/kestrel-the-farmer-s-friend</link><guid isPermaLink="false">695ad781564ad52a9595895f</guid><category><![CDATA[birds]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 05 Jan 2026 02:02:21 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ca9a6_6fb65eb8f65247198f3f53465e1a8e1c~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_678,h_718,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Bruce Smith</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Montana Climate Justice]]></title><description><![CDATA[A Montana coal power plant Montana state lawmakers passed three bills during the 2025 legislative session that essentially block the intent of the state Supreme Court's 2024 ruling that found in favor of 16 young plaintiffs who sued to protect their rights to a "clean and healthful evironment," as codified in the state's constitution.  The case was titled Held v. Montana (so named for Rikki Held, the lead plaintiff).  This past week, these plaintiffs alledged in a new complaint that the...]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/post/montana-climate-justice</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6941c8d97aecebf9ca3de232</guid><category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category><category><![CDATA[environmental education]]></category><category><![CDATA[public lands]]></category><category><![CDATA[environmental law]]></category><category><![CDATA[fossil fuels]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 16 Dec 2025 21:54:46 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ca9a6_a7d49f7303c34b31bfbc90c44c2a9628~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_533,h_800,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Bruce Smith</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Teens' robot plants trees]]></title><description><![CDATA[Can technology help solve environmental problems facing our planet?  Sometimes.  And sometimes those solutions come from the youngest among us.      This inspiring article  in Smithsonian  magazine about two teenagers in Portugal is bound to lift your spirits.  Not only because of the utility of the invention they developed, but because at such a young age they did this.       Since the early 2000s, Portugal has lost over half  of its forest cover, triggering erosion, water loss, and...]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/post/our-bright-youth</link><guid isPermaLink="false">692dfbddbdf3aa731710fb30</guid><category><![CDATA[forests and fires]]></category><category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category><category><![CDATA[biodiversity]]></category><category><![CDATA[public lands]]></category><category><![CDATA[habitat conservation]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 01 Dec 2025 21:15:39 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ca9a6_aad6613640ca461fbcba9fc59c7f5b6d~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_621,h_684,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Bruce Smith</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bird flu strikes elephant seals]]></title><description><![CDATA[Dead elephant seals Do you know what's happening to plant and animal species that Indigenous peoples rely on in Amazonia?  How about Siberian tigers in the taiga?  Or the miniscule Macaya breast-spot frog of Haiti?       Because there are so many consequential environmental and conservation issues, taking in the full scope of the challenges facing nature can feel overwhelming to me.  But if we don't know about them, we won't care.  And if we don't care, we aren't spurred to action.  So, from...]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/post/bird-flu-strikes-elephant-seals</link><guid isPermaLink="false">691507bf4a97ee846600a741</guid><category><![CDATA[wildlife disease]]></category><category><![CDATA[biodiversity]]></category><category><![CDATA[birds]]></category><category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category><category><![CDATA[zoonotic disease]]></category><category><![CDATA[Indigenous peoples]]></category><category><![CDATA[wildlife conservation]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 14 Nov 2025 16:32:27 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ca9a6_6e942a680bf54330aa6cd3ad31dd7f54~mv2.webp/v1/fit/w_1000,h_576,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Bruce Smith</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Congress nullifies resource plans]]></title><description><![CDATA[Congress has begun nullifying resource management plans that were developed and implemented to guide long-term stewardship of federal lands.  Plans cooperatively developed by the federal Bureau of Land Management in Montana, North Dakota, and Alaska -- in consultation with scientists, conservation groups, indigenous peoples, industry, and other users of these tracts of federal lands -- are the first on the chopping block.  These Resource Management Plans (RMPs) provide stability for...]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/post/congress-nullifies-resource-plans</link><guid isPermaLink="false">690778de07f57e48208c743b</guid><category><![CDATA[public lands]]></category><category><![CDATA[habitat conservation]]></category><category><![CDATA[wildlife conservation]]></category><category><![CDATA[environmental law]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 04 Nov 2025 02:08:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ca9a6_db48e16773bb41bfb5aa4fd6aa8e0d39~mv2.avif/v1/fit/w_600,h_900,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Bruce Smith</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[History Found in Bearded Vulture Nests]]></title><description><![CDATA[Bearded vulture Investigation  of human history includes many disciplines.  Of these, ethnobiology -- the study of dynamic relationships...]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/post/history-in-bearded-vulture-nests</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68e29a1d05a392fd223327a5</guid><category><![CDATA[birds]]></category><category><![CDATA[environmental education]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 05 Oct 2025 19:16:57 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ca9a6_bdacf51e849e4233a4dad82e608d8abe~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_221,h_228,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Bruce Smith</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Conservation threatened by Trump administration]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Trump administration seeks to weaken conservation by rescinding a rule that governs public land use.  The Conservation and Landscape...]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/post/conservation-threatened-by-trump-administration</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68daa4ada9706ca89319dd5c</guid><category><![CDATA[public lands]]></category><category><![CDATA[wildlife conservation]]></category><category><![CDATA[habitat conservation]]></category><category><![CDATA[watch or listen]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 29 Sep 2025 20:11:50 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ca9a6_01506281f866403a87c062bd475c0179~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_398,h_400,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Bruce Smith</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Restoring the Klamath River]]></title><description><![CDATA[The undammed Klamath In a previous  pos t  on April 15, 2024, I shared a story about removal of four dams on California and Oregon's...]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/post/restoring-the-klamath-river</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68c86060d424f0454cbffe95</guid><category><![CDATA[fisheries]]></category><category><![CDATA[migration]]></category><category><![CDATA[Indigenous peoples]]></category><category><![CDATA[environmental education]]></category><category><![CDATA[conservation success]]></category><category><![CDATA[habitat conservation]]></category><category><![CDATA[wildlife conservation]]></category><category><![CDATA[watch or listen]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 15 Sep 2025 19:57:01 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ca9a6_816b6812792c48dfa7616fc5146aa34f~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Bruce Smith</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Honeybees vs. Native Bees]]></title><description><![CDATA[Honeybee In one of the world's hot spots of bee biodiversity, scientists are finding that one species overwhelms total numbers of all...]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/post/bees-vs-bees</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68ab18ec855527eea2cd2796</guid><category><![CDATA[insects]]></category><category><![CDATA[biodiversity]]></category><category><![CDATA[wildlife conservation]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 26 Aug 2025 13:41:09 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ca9a6_df43afb339ef4588b378ed24ee60cfc1~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Bruce Smith</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[How Big Was It?]]></title><description><![CDATA[New spider discovered Okay, you arachnophobes, prepare to be freaked out.        An article  in Smithsonian  magazine reports on a new...]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/post/how-big-was-it</link><guid isPermaLink="false">688e760fa5b0119cd167a2fb</guid><category><![CDATA[new species]]></category><category><![CDATA[biodiversity]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 16 Aug 2025 19:58:19 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ca9a6_e195897620564cf1b962afc1ab0f8560~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_775,h_775,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Bruce Smith</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Facilitating Animal Movements; Reducing Roadkill]]></title><description><![CDATA[Highway underpass for wildlife I spent 4 days last week engaged in a favorite pastime -- fly fishing for trout.  But fishing isn't what I...]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/post/facilitating-animal-movements-reducing-roadkill</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6887e6013f524736c9e3095b</guid><category><![CDATA[birds]]></category><category><![CDATA[migration]]></category><category><![CDATA[conservation success]]></category><category><![CDATA[insects]]></category><category><![CDATA[wildlife conservation]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 31 Jul 2025 21:43:26 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ca9a6_f969b23a77354586bb5092af206596b9~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_677,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Bruce Smith</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Legend Keepers wins awards]]></title><description><![CDATA[Nature Generation recommended book The third novel in the  Legend Keepers  eco-fiction trilogy has been recognized in three national book...]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/post/legend-keepers-wins-awards</link><guid isPermaLink="false">688692a63f524736c9dfcc94</guid><category><![CDATA[book awards]]></category><category><![CDATA[Legend Keepers]]></category><category><![CDATA[kids' books]]></category><category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category><category><![CDATA[mountain goats]]></category><category><![CDATA[environmental education]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 27 Jul 2025 22:43:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ca9a6_bc9fb5c3ff0140ca939b9a2df3c939ed~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_576,h_577,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Bruce Smith</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[More for the Have Mores]]></title><description><![CDATA[At an annual Al Smith dinner in New York City, then President George W. Bush joked that the crowd included his voting base, the "have...]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/post/more-for-the-have-mores</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6871793327eef2b833ab78d0</guid><category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category><category><![CDATA[public lands]]></category><category><![CDATA[fossil fuels]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 11 Jul 2025 21:51:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ca9a6_234729770264406fa7c4840a6b10feaf~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Bruce Smith</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Youth Climate Warriors ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Wildland fire Fresh off 2023's historic court decision in Montana, twenty-two  plaintiffs aged 7 to 25 have filed suit against the Trump...]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/post/kid-climate-warriors</link><guid isPermaLink="false">683a66cb3d73f5a7d17e7717</guid><category><![CDATA[environmental law]]></category><category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category><category><![CDATA[forests and fires]]></category><category><![CDATA[public lands]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 31 May 2025 03:06:05 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ca9a6_2b30e4b3f21a4297abd9fbc5b0aa9334~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_275,h_183,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Bruce Smith</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Carnivorous Caterpillar, Really?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Bone collector caterpillar Seems if we look closely enough in nature--sleuthing every habitat nook and cranny, every possible niche and...]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/post/carnivorous-caterpillar-really</link><guid isPermaLink="false">681a1b685ed1e301b2219e70</guid><category><![CDATA[insects]]></category><category><![CDATA[watch or listen]]></category><category><![CDATA[biodiversity]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 06 May 2025 15:44:21 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ca9a6_00ba00cb0a404806a9298be34ded9f86~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_642,h_396,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Bruce Smith</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Tortoise Engineers]]></title><description><![CDATA[Aldabra tortoise It's easy to become overwhelmed by the distressing news coming from Washington, D.C. day after day.  And in a recent...]]></description><link>https://www.brucesmithwildlife.com/post/the-tortoise-engineers</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6806940727df0721601ba9b3</guid><category><![CDATA[biodiversity]]></category><category><![CDATA[conservation success]]></category><category><![CDATA[habitat conservation]]></category><category><![CDATA[wildlife conservation]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 21 Apr 2025 20:51:15 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ca9a6_d3241b0620bb495ab3ee1fe3f050b18c~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_750,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Bruce Smith</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>