The resurgence of a frontier tradition – commercial fur trapping – is taking a toll on wildlife. The activity is legal, but it’s carried out in ways that often inflict prolonged suffering and capture many species by mistake.
Tom Knudson
Senior Reporter
Tom Knudson is a reporter for Reveal, covering the environment. He is the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes and a 2004 award for global environmental reporting from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Reuters. Over the years, he has reported on a wide range of subjects, including the abuse of migrant forest workers in the American West, overfishing in Mexico's Sea of Cortez and the environmental degradation of California's Sierra Nevada mountain range. Knudson is based in Reveal's Emeryville, California, office.
Posted inEnvironment
US government killed coyotes from the air for Hammond Ranch
While Oregon ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond have been battling the U.S. government over arson charges, another federal agency quietly has helped them kill predators.
Posted inThe Secrets of the Drought
‘We’re using our groundwater resources too fast’
Only a small portion of the world’s groundwater has accumulated over the past 50 to 100 years, meaning most of it is so old – from centuries to millennia – that it isn’t sustainable to keep pulling it out at this rate.
Posted inEnvironment
Lion hunting is booming, and Americans do most of the killing
Trophy lion hunting is a booming business that has taken the lives of more than 10,000 animals over the past two decades. And most of that killing has been carried out by Americans.
Posted inEnvironment
The other Audubon: The one that allows golf courses to kill birds
Audubon International, a third-party organization that certifies golf courses, allows the killing of nuisance birds. It has no ties to the bird-friendly National Audubon Society, which often opposes the very developments that Audubon International approves
Posted inEnvironment
Shot and gassed: Thousands of protected birds killed annually
More than 300 species of migratory birds have been killed legally across the U.S. since 2011 to protect a wide range of business activities and public facilities under what’s called the “depredation permit” program, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service data.
Posted inEnvironment, The Secrets of the Drought
As water dwindles, lawmakers seek access to confidential well logs
In California, well completion reports are considered confidential under a 64-year-old state law. A hearing will consider new legislation that would make these well logs public.
Posted inClimate Change, Environment, The Secrets of the Drought
Overpumping of groundwater is contributing to global sea level rise
So much water is being pumped out of the ground worldwide that it is contributing to global sea level rise, a phenomenon tied largely to warming temperatures and climate change.
Posted inEnvironment, The Secrets of the Drought
California is pumping water that fell to Earth 20,000 years ago
As California farms and cities drill deeper for groundwater in a time of drought and climate change, they are tapping reserves from the prehistoric er
Posted inEnvironment
There’s a reason you’ve never heard of this wildlife-killing agency
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General has yet to release a promised audit of Wildlife Services, a secretive agency that specializes in killing wild animals that threaten agriculture.