Contributor
View AllSam Lungren
Sam Lungren is MeatEater's Fishing Editor and a former freelance writer/photographer, commercial fisherman, and editor of BHA's Backcountry Journal. Though originally from Whidbey Island, Washington, he's been in Montana for almost a decade and probably isn't leaving—except during steelhead season. Follow him @samlungrenmedia.
Latest
Wildlife Management
Interior Secretary Halts Aerial Gunning of Mountain Goats in Grand Teton
Sam Lungren
Feb 24, 2020
Correction: This story was edited on Feb. 24 at 7:00 p.m. to reflect recent developments
Responding to calls from Wyoming’s governor and other officials, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt halted Grand Teton National Park’s use of aerial gunners to cull mountain goats.
Despite state management agency and public opposition, Grand Teton National Park contracted helicopter crews with shotguns to kill nonnative mountain goats today. The...
Responding to calls from Wyoming’s governor and other officials, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt halted Grand Teton National Park’s use of aerial gunners to cull mountain goats.
Despite state management agency and public opposition, Grand Teton National Park contracted helicopter crews with shotguns to kill nonnative mountain goats today. The...
Endangered Species
New Coronavirus DNA Test Reveals Which Animal May Be Source
Sam Lungren
Feb 12, 2020
The deadly disease that has now killed more than 1,000 people in China and across the world likely jumped to humans from wildlife, most scientists agree. Exactly how or what animals involved are less than clear at this point, however.
Many of the early cases of coronavirus appeared in proximity to the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China, and investigators have found traces of the disease in samples from 22 market stalls and a garbage truck. All...
Many of the early cases of coronavirus appeared in proximity to the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China, and investigators have found traces of the disease in samples from 22 market stalls and a garbage truck. All...
Policy & Legislation
EPA Removes Clean Water Act Protections from Many Wetlands and Streams
Sam Lungren
Feb 5, 2020
This article was originally published in September, 2019, and has been updated to reflected current events.
On Jan. 23, the Trump Administration’s EPA and Army Corps announced new, weaker regulations regarding enforcement of the 1972 Clean Water Act. The federal agencies say it was necessary to repeal Obama-era rules that limited filling and pollution of wetlands and ephemeral streams, but the conservation community is gravely concerned about...
On Jan. 23, the Trump Administration’s EPA and Army Corps announced new, weaker regulations regarding enforcement of the 1972 Clean Water Act. The federal agencies say it was necessary to repeal Obama-era rules that limited filling and pollution of wetlands and ephemeral streams, but the conservation community is gravely concerned about...
Policy & Legislation
Interior Department to Weaken Protections for Waterfowl and Other Migratory Birds
Sam Lungren
Jan 31, 2020
On Thursday, the Trump Administration announced new regulations that would remove penalties for construction, oil, gas, and other industries that incidentally kill birds listed under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. If approved, the new set of rules would only punish companies that deliberately kill birds, making many in the conservation community wonder what purpose the century-old conservation law now serves.
The Deepwater Horizon oil...
The Deepwater Horizon oil...
Environmental Issues
Washington State Advances New Aquaculture Despite Recent Escapes
Sam Lungren
Jan 24, 2020
Remember a couple years ago when a quarter million Atlantic salmon broke free from net pens into Washington’s Puget Sound? The estimated 263,000 non-native farmed fish escaped from a dilapidated Cooke Aquaculture facility on August 19, 2017, near Cypress Island after the pens collapsed under the weight of millions of pounds of unmitigated mussels, barnacles, and fish waste.
Two-hundred thousand Atlantic salmon were never recovered, even after...
Two-hundred thousand Atlantic salmon were never recovered, even after...
Public Lands & Waters
Legislation Would Protect the Boundary Waters from Sulfide Mining
Sam Lungren
Jan 17, 2020
This week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation in the House that would permanently protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area from sulfide mines proposed to be sited upstream of the famed Northern Minnesota wilderness. If enacted, H.R. 5598, the Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act, would withdraw more than 200,000 acres of the Superior National Forest within the Rainy River Watershed from current and...