This week's Restoring Biodiversity explores the growing connection between wildfire resilience and the ecological role of large herbivores.

Featured articles examine proposals to use federally managed wild horses to reduce wildfire fuels, the consequences of losing native grazers such as deer and wild horses from western landscapes, and the importance of shifting wildfire strategy from suppression to prevention.

The edition also highlights National Geographic features on helping bees cope with extreme heat and documenting the recent total solar eclipse, along with an Outside article examining the world's eight bear species through the perspective of a wildlife biologist.

Here is what we’ve been reading, watching and writing about over the past week…

Articles

Exigent Public Health Crisis from Wildfire Smoke — Immediate, Cost-Negative Remedy via Targeted Relocation of Excess Wild Horses under Existing Federal Authorities

A new executive briefing to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., William E. Simpson II argues that toxic wildfire smoke has become a national public health emergency and proposes an unconventional solution: using excess federally managed wild horses to reduce wildfire fuels in remote forests.

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When Native Grazers Disappear, The Land Burns: How the Collapse of Deer and Wild Horses Turned Small Fires into Megafires — and Why Livestock Alone Cannot Fix It

Siskiyou County's wildfire crisis raises a fundamental question: what happens when a landscape loses the large herbivores that once helped shape it?

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Videos

Initial Attack Failure: The East Evans Creek Fire and a Familiar Pattern

With wildfire, the conversation is shifting from suppression to prevention. This opinion piece argues that reducing fine fuels before ignition—rather than relying solely on firefighting after the fact—may be one of the most important challenges facing land managers in the American West.

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What We've Been Reading

Hot Days Are Hard on Bees. Here’s How You Can Help Them Cool Off. — National Geographic

Bees play a crucial role in pollinating plants, but soaring temperatures can put them under stress. Here’s how to make your backyard a cooling bee-friendly oasis.

See Stunning Images of the Total Solar Eclipse From Nat Geo Photographers — National Geographic

National Geographic photographers were stationed from Iceland to Spain to document one of the year’s most anticipated celestial events.

A Bear Biologist Ranks the 8 Bear Species From Least to Most Dangerous. The Results Might Surprise You. — Outside

Grizzlies get the reputation, but a bear biologist who’s studied four of the eight living species says the real danger ranking looks nothing like you’d expect. One small Indian bear attacks roughly 150 people a year in a single state—far more than polar bears or grizzlies combined.

And that’s it - as always thank you..

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