Sunset at Red Rock Lakes NWR – Nikon D300, handheld, f5.6, 1/50, ISO 400, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 18mm, natural light
I spend a lot of time at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge during the warmer months of the year photographing the birds, wildlife, wildflowers and scenery of this national treasure in southwestern Montana. This land, our land, is held in trust for future generations but in the present it offers a home for the birds and wildlife which they need to continue to survive and a place for us to go when we need to touch, see, and relish the natural world.
This image shows a sunset at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge from September 9, 2015 but every sunrise and sunset on our national lands is a treasure.
The horrible situation at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has me thinking of all the “national” treasures” we have in National Wildlife Refuges, National Recreation Areas, National Forests, National Historic Sites, National Monuments, National Parks and Bureau of Land Management lands.
They should never be held hostage.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Red Rock Lakes NWR photos.
Seems to me if one abuses the land then he has to find new land to “make” a living, possibly because one does not know how to take care of the land and be a good steward to it; or perhaps one doesn’t want to work that hard. You know, just move on to greener pastures and leave the mess behind.
Seriously, that land belongs to ALL and angry, hate filled men have no more to say about it than I do here in Virginia. Will they fight the forest fires when they come, or will that be left to some government to handle? Sigh….
You are making e homesick here. I got pictures of a sunset at Lower Lake in August, 2012, when I stopped by to check out my next year’s home.
Marilyn, I am homesick for Red Rock Lakes too.
I am with you. About 1000000 percent. Conservatively speaking. It ISN’T (and shouldn’t be) all about us. And particularly not about what we want as opposed to what we need.
Well said. Very nice sunset photo as well.
Beautiful, serene image! (I think about Bundy, and his ilk a lot, but you couldn’t print WHAT I think here)…
Lovely capture of the sunset Mia!
Absolutely beautiful image, Mia. Cannot agree more. The thugs think they are owed the land, but for what reason????
So they can ruin it Bobby, run as many cattle as they want on fragile lands. Tear up the earth to extract minerals, oil and gas. Hunt without regulation.
Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge does have cattle grazing on it but it is done in such a manner that by limiting the number of head and time spent on a particular part of the range that it does not destroy the natural landscape and essentially the cattle take the place of the bison that were extirpated from the Centennial Valley by the pioneers.
Ranchers like the Bundy’s run too many head on the land and they destroy it for years to come.
There are ranchers here in the west that run their cattle in a sustainable manner, many of the ranchers in the Centennial Valley are great stewards of the land. And they don’t think much of the Bundy’s at all.
Very pleasing image. Thanks for pointing out the differences in public land use.