Jim Macdonald


Biography

As you could find on my blog., Jim's Eclectic World, I have diverse passions ranging from philosophy to Yellowstone National Park to anti-authoritarian organizing and activism. What you might not get from the blog is a sense of my actual biography. I was born in Bowling Green, Ohio, on October 10, 1973, the day that Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned from office. Agnew was Greek, and I am half-Greek, and so you can imagine I had to compete with some other news the day I was born. I grew up all over Ohio as my dad bounced around with a career in retail store management and then dramatically into the ministry of the United Methodist Church. They were all from the Cleveland area, but as a kid I also had stints in the Columbus area, Morrow County, Youngstown, and finally in Cambridge where I grew up. I went to Ohio Northern University and received a degree in philosophy and history, moved to Seattle a couple of years, got married, moved back to Ohio to Toledo where I received a master's in philosophy, and then in 2000 moved to Washington, DC, where I've been living and moving ever since (I'm now in my 8th different home in DC and the DC area). In 2005, I pointed the organizing with the DC Anti-War Network on a counter-inaugural march against President Bush that drew 15,000 people (on a budget of less than $2,000 - a true grassroots effort organized in a de-centralized manner with dozens of other organizations). I've since been divorced, but fret not, I've been with a wonderful partner for the past 4 years. We had a beautiful boy born in October 2007. Where does Yellowstone fit in this? During my time in college, I worked for the now defunct Hamilton Stores in Yellowstone National Park. I worked there from 1993-6 and 1998 doing nothing more glamorous than wrapping bull horns. However, the obsession grew in the most amazing place I have ever known. One day, hopefully soon, we will move out there (update - moving to Bozeman the week of Christmas!)

Too much information? Perhaps! Not enough of my soul. I'd encourage you to check out a lot of stuff on the aforementioned blog, as well as my Web site listed below. Another way to get a sense of the things I think about is to see the news compilation project on Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and the surrounding ecosystem that I update all the time called the Yellowstone Newspaper. Sometimes, you can get a sense of me just by reading about the place I live for.



Jim's Most Recent Comments (view all)
  • 5/16/2008 2:32 pm - Montana Governor Asked to "Provide Leadership" In Yellowstone Bison Controversy : In this case, the agencies involved in the IBMP are the National Park Service, the United States Forest Service, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Montana Department of Livestock, and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. What we are hearing from the field is that compared with years past, ...
  • 5/13/2008 6:37 pm - Bison Slaughter In Yellowstone National Park Draws Protest Against Park Service : Yes, very sad. I'm still hearing reports of winter kill in the Lamar Valley. NPS announced today that the bison haze in West Yellowstone will be starting tomorrow (interestingly coinciding with a Buffalo Field Campaign rally at the state capitol in Helena). According to a resident near the buffalo at ...
  • 5/01/2008 12:42 pm - Congressman Calls for Full EIS of Proposal to Allow Concealed Carry in America's National Parks : Got to speak out for my gang back in DC. Please stop confusing the politicians with the people of the city; they already don't have any representation from those bozos (whatever way the saw cuts). There are almost 600,000 people in the city, many of them who have plenty of ...
  • 4/29/2008 10:53 am - Yellowstone pictures : It felt warm for Yellowstone, but I guess it wasn't for people who don't experience winters out here. It was 26 degrees at Canyon; it was about 34 at Norris; it was about 36 at Old Faithful when those shots were taken. In Bozeman, we expect perhaps some snow showers ...
  • 4/29/2008 10:07 am - Bison, Elk and Bears Might Be Cute, But These Videos and Statistics From National Parks Suggest Caution : So true, Dorothy, if only that could compete with the lack of respect the National Park Service has shown these animals - specifically the bison - every winter and spring. Sigh. Jim Macdonald [url=http://www.yellowstone-online.com]The Magic of Yellowstone[/url] [url=http://www.yellowstone-online.com/newspaper.html]Yellowstone Newspaper[/url] [url=http://www.yellowstone-online.com/eclecticworld.html]Jim's Eclectic World[/url]
  • 4/28/2008 1:17 pm - Yellowstone pictures : The road to Canyon from Norris is open right now, though Artist Point isn't open (just to Uncle Tom's Trail). Inspiration Point is also not open. Still a lot of snow everywhere; at places the snow was higher than the highest rail of the boardwalks, especially at Norris. However, it's ...
  • 4/27/2008 9:27 am - Yellowstone National Park Bison Agreement: How Big A Step Forward Is It? : There is a hunting season in Montana for buffalo, but there is no wild buffalo population in Montana. One step toward there being a viable hunting season is expanding the range of the buffalo so that they have a permanent presence in Montana. Right now, for a large licensing fee, ...
  • 4/23/2008 10:40 am - GYC Explains Value of Latest Agreement for Yellowstone National Park Bison : I cannot agree that there is any value to the latest agreement and argued as much in a recent essay on my blog (see link for Jim's Eclectic World) below. Let's look at Amy's response more closely: She writes [quote] This agreement signifies the first time since federal and state ...
  • 4/20/2008 10:40 pm - Yellowstone National Park Bison Agreement: How Big A Step Forward Is It? : I know I seem to be the only one commenting here, but I wanted to point you to an essay I just wrote, which is in part a criticism of the CUT deal and the rationale cited here by those mainstream environmental groups who support it. It's also in part ...
  • 4/19/2008 6:28 am - Yellowstone National Park Bison Agreement: How Big A Step Forward Is It? : By the way, there has been independent confirmation on the NPS claims of 2,300 bison alive (that is, 2,400 dead). The biggest came out today in the [url=http://www.jhguide.com/article.php?art_id=2971]Jackson Hole News & Guide[/url]. Now, according to [url=http://wolves.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/deal-with-cut/#comment-58558]Darrell Geist of Buffalo Field Campaign on Ralph Maughan's site[/url], the NPS has counted 1,950, ...


Jim's Most Recent Articles (view all)
This Saturday, in West Yellowstone, Montana, members of the Buffalo Field Campaign rallied outside of Yellowstone National Park's West Entrance to call attention to and protest the ongoing hazing and killing of Yellowstone bison by the National Park Service and Montana's Department of Livestock.