It is time to create a new page of “Interesting Wildlife News.”
It has been a long time since we have had a new page. The page and comment loading time has become very slow. Please put your wildlife news in the comments below. Do not post copyrighted material.
Here is the link to the “old” wildlife news of Dec. 5, 2017. From there you can access links to older pages still.
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Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
Comments
APHIS USDA CFIA CWD TSE Prion Herd Certifications Update
FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2018
Docket No. APHIS-2018-0011 Chronic Wasting Disease Herd Certification Program Standards Singeltary Submission March 30, 2018
Terry S. Singeltary Sr., Bacliff, Texas USA 77518 flounder9@verizon.net Attachments (1) Docket No. APHIS-2018-0011 Chronic Wasting Disease Herd Certification Program Standards Singeltary View Attachment:View as format pdf
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=APHIS-2018-0011-0003
https://www.regulations.gov/contentStreamer?documentId=APHIS-2018-0011-0003&attachmentNumber=1&contentType=pdf
https://www.regulations.gov/docketBrowser?rpp=25&so=DESC&sb=commentDueDate&po=0&dct=PS&D=APHIS-2018-0011
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2018/03/docket-no-aphis-2018-0011-chronic.html
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 04, 2018
Canada Chronic Wasting Disease Voluntary Herd Certification Program Updated
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2018/04/canada-chronic-wasting-disease.html
THURSDAY, APRIL 05, 2018
Boone and Crocket Club B&C News Release CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE TSE Prion
http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2018/04/boone-and-crocket-club-b-news-release.html
kind regards, terry
Prion Disease in Dromedary Camels, Algeria
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/24/6/17-2007_article
Subject: Prion Disease in Dromedary Camels, Algeria
Saturday, April 14, 2018
TSE Prion Disease in Dromedary Camels, Algeria (Mad Camel Disease)
Camelus dromedarius spongiform encephalopathy
Volume 24, Number 6—June 2018
Research
Prion Disease in Dromedary Camels, Algeria
http://camelusprp.blogspot.com/2018/04/tse-prion-disease-in-dromedary-camels.html
Saturday, April 14, 2018
Dromedary Camels Algeria Prion (Mad Camel Disease) TSE BSE MRR Import Export Risk Factors Excluding Grains and Plants
http://camelusprp.blogspot.com/2018/04/dromedary-camels-algeria-prion-mad.html
Terry S. Singeltary Sr.
http://siberiantimes.com/ecology/others/news/rarest-big-cats-in-the-world-reach-key-milestone-in-evading-extinction/
“The cats remain highly endangered in eastern Russia but the latest population estimates for the species are encouraging.
Twenty years ago there were a mere 30 Amur leopards living in the wild, and scientists feared they were on the brink of extinction.
But now there are celebrations in the Land of the Leopard Nature Reserve, as results of the 2017 monitoring showed a significant growth in number of predators.
It is now believed there are 84 adult Amur leopards in the wild.
In addition, there are seven adolescent big cats and 12 cubs”
I find it more than sad that celebrating these numbers only gives rise to those who are ever hopeful in the future, to HUNT their numbers, BECAUSE of those increase in numbers.
Wolves, grizzlies come to mind here in the US (in what’s left of wilderness areas) Wolves have been targets since delisting, grizzlies are soon to be targets because some humans just aren’t capable of understanding how complex life is beyond our own selfish lifestyles, interests, and forgive me for repeating this “in what’s left of wilderness areas”
Nonhuman animals can’t get a break from human harassment even at the far, frozen end of the frickin’ planet.
“Snowmobilers get unbearably close to beast in outrageous stalking of animal just up from hibernation”
By The Siberian Times 09 April 2018
“Video from Kuril Islands shows hungry brown bear chased by locals – prompting severe criticism and almost leading to a fatal attack.”
http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/snowmobilers-get-unbearably-close-to-beast-in-outrageous-stalking-of-animal-just-woken-from-hibernation/
“What will Zinke do with the extra $2.5 billion in his budget?”
“Congress rejected the deep budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration.”
Excerpt: “…in the appropriations bill signed March 23, the Fish and Wildlife Service and BLM each received more than a quarter billion dollars more than requested, and the National Park Service got almost $650 million more than the secretary asked for. Still, Zinke and the administration have other ways to cut back and redirect spending to bring it in line with their vision of budget cuts and bureaucratic reshuffling.”
https://www.hcn.org/articles/department-of-interior-what-will-zinke-do-with-the-extra-2.5-billion-in-his-budget
if the newly forming hunting commission and updated USFWS website, making it look like a hunting club, are any indication they will use the money to recruit more hunters….
I’d like to share an excellent letter by another wildlife advocate sick of the status quo and the influence of hunters for “conservation”
I think this letter summarizes the biggest problem with “wildlife management” regionally and nationally.
Thank you Kiley
“Let’s Address a Little-Known Law that Promotes Hunters
As the war of words rages stronger than ever over gun violence and how to deal with it, there is one little-examined contributing factor that needs attention: The role of the overwhelming hunting culture going on all across this country.
Where does it start? All “environmental conservation” agencies, including the Department of Environmental Conservation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and APHIS, have a requirement that, by law, only hunters can serve on their advisory boards. These laws, established almost 100 years ago, guarantee a deckstacked, lethal outcome for the wildlife they are intended to protect – by deliberately banning non-hunters from decision-making about wildlife, while encouraging all forms of hunting as the “norm” for wildlife “conservation.”
At a time of calls across the country for gun control, these arbitrary, discriminatory laws that baselessly promote hunting need to be examined, as well. In fact, breaking the hunter/National Rifle Association stranglehold on our laws must be finally be addressed.
Such laws are being challenged all over the country: “Pro-wildlife citizens demand seat at DNR table” (Madison, Wisc.), “Fish and Game commission needs greater diversity” (New Hampshire), “Hunting foes want to snare seats on Vermont’s fish and wildlife board” (Vermont). The public needs to be made aware of these facts – and that there is finally a bill to correct this injustice in New York State: Sen. Tony Avella, champion of several other animal protection issues, has introduced S3327 (companion bill A6519), currently in the Environmental Conservation Committee, which abolishes the unfair “hunters only” requirement of the NYS DEC. We don’t want to take your guns; we just want our right to contribute our voice – yet, hunters vociferously fight such change.
Hunters indignantly insist they are the only ones “qualified” to oversee these directives – and claim their license fees entitle them to a special, exclusive position on the DEC advisory board. But the fact is, “non-consumptive” users of NYS parks (defined as bird watchers, wildlife photographers, etc.) are at a record high, with almost 72 million visitors in 2017, yet they have no voice in DEC policy making. This is an outrageous injustice, with hunters stridently objecting to each and every suggestion for modifying this slanted system.
The DEC homepage states, “One of DEC’s main responsibilities is to protect New York State’s wild animal and plant populations,” yet it’s next to impossible to find anything on their website except pro-hunting advice, lists of wildlife killing contests, where to kill animals, fairs and other public events that are “admission free” for hunters, etc..
As the national movement and demand for gun control and banning assault rifles – both of which hunters fight against passing – steamrolls across the country, the effort to pry their undemocratic monopoly of wildlife management away from them is hard fought, as hunters – who supposedly stand for America, democracy and the Flag – attempt to deny us our rights. Hunting is in decline, and the hunters know it, yet they hold all the cards; their suppression of democracy just adds more taint to this questionable, antiquated and cruel activity.
An innocent woman walking her dogs upstate is dead because of hunters, and it’s not the first time that has happened. With the DEC’s excessively-promoted hunting culture in place, upstate New York residents fear going out to their own backyards during hunting season, and children at the tender age of 12 have been empowered and encouraged by the DEC to slaughter animals for sport. In Syracuse, the DEC confiscated a pet squirrel they deemed “illegal,” but they promote and encourage squirrel killing contests. Despite nationwide marches for gun control, a NYS bill awaits votes that would allow hunting in densely populated cities. Although studies have been done on the strong correlation between animal cruelty and violence toward human beings, a current NYS bill would permanently lower the age for universal hunting licenses from 14 to 12 years old; while Florida officials answer the call for gun safety by raising the age for gun purchases from 18 to 21, our senators and the DEC want to put more guns into the hands of children. The “hunters only” DEC law must change: In 2018, we expect all our voices to be enabled; we expect kindness, respect and saner, more measured input to prevail for all. Until the Avella bill passes, suppression and denial of our civil rights to participation in government process will define the DEC. This is not the American way – and it certainly isn’t democracy.
Kiley Blackman
Founder, Animal Defenders of Westchester”
Trying to confuse gun violence with hunting, just like madraven. Some anti-hunters will use any argument they can manufacture, and are now trying to leverage mass shootings in their anti-hunting spewings.
I advocate a very different tactic if the subject is really about gun violence. Drive the wedge between hunters and the gun rights nuts. Support hunters like me who despise the NRA. Many of us advocate universal background checks, and universal gun registration. That’s just for starters.
I fully agree that being a hunter should not be a prerequisite to being members of these boards. But don’t use gun violence arguments.
I’m not confused Rork. I don’t believe all hunters fall into the same categories but denying a nexus between some hunters, gun rights extremists, NRA members and violence against wildlife is like putting your fingers in your ears. just recently a story emerged about ten wolves being slaughtered in Alaska by a semi automatic weapon. what would you call that, a peaceful exchange?
one of the most despicable arguments some gun rights and NRA members use for suppressors and semi automatic weapons is that they are used in hunting.
many like myself are tired of hunter centric state and other wildlife agencies that typically ignore non-hunter constituent and independent scientists concerns for wildlife policy ,especially carnivore reform
I wonder what is the definition of “gun violence”?
Growing up in Idaho I used to be a hunter. I remember times that after jumping game and I fired, then followed the blood trail to find the animal. Each time that I found the animal not yet dead a near panic swept over me that it was still alive, laying there unable to get up. Gasping for breath and eyes wild, maybe flopping a leg or two in an fruitless effort to rise. In a panic I shot the animal one or more times in the head trying to erase that plea for life that I had taken in the name of sport.
I came to my senses (I think) later in life and had a talk with myself. I loved the thrill of the high alpine country, fresh snow, cold mornings in a wall tent and companionship. But inside I hated the killing I was supposed to enjoy because that was what wildlife student wannabe’s do in the west. I didn’t have that panic feel when the killing was instant from a couple of hundred yards. Because the gasping scene with the legs flailing and eyes wild and scared was all over by the time I arrived. Then it was just a butcher shop commodity no more emotion than buying a round steak.
My life became fuller after I stoped hunting. I still hiked the alpine and the deserts but my vision was wider. It also enhanced satisfaction with my career. Apprehension of illegal hunters had more meaning. It was more for the life that was snuffed at the violent end of the gun.
So I have to ask, what is the definition of gun violence?
I’ve run into a handful of ex hunters over the past couple of decades that have had the same epiphany.
Appreciate your thoughts on the subject, Larry.
One elderly gentleman comes to mind who could no longer sit and watch nature specials because they might be too “graphic” But he still had a coyote skin hanging on a wall and a male Pronghorn head (he’d shot) also hanging on a wall, because it made a good hat rack….
Personally I feel the number of hunters in the US has dropped to record lows because of a few factors; its gotten rather expensive to go out anymore and hunt for a source of protein that is now readily available in most grocery store outlets and…… and the internet also brings to light, in detail (via Facebook & YouTube) that too many hunters are in it now for “the thrill of the kill” bragging rights, etc. in the various Big Game clubs they belong to or part of their backyard gatherings. How sad is that?
I guess I don’t run across enough articles anymore, hoping to just keep wildlife numbers safe and steady, in a human dominated world that continues to munch up wilderness areas and the wildlife in them.
Training and forcing dogs to go after wildlife, baiting stations in hopes of attracting wildlife, so you can make a kill? How sick is that?
Do these people ever stop and take a breath? Or do they just naturally excuse the killing of other, living beings as some part of their rightful DNA?
And do forgive me for ranting, society seldom sees anymore the injustices perpetrated on others, unless it happens to occur, right in front of their jaded faces.
“We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then and have known ever since that there was something new to me in those eyes, something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.” Thinking Like a Mountain, A Sand County Almanac.
Timz,
I think about his writings a lot and re-read the Almanac often. I really wonder what Aldo would think about sport hunting now as a management tool.
Larry Keeney, thank you for that.
Louise, hear, hear!
Of *course* hunting is violence, whether legal or illegal. It’s the violent taking of someone’s life–someone who wanted to live.
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MIDNR/bulletins/1e8c7de
is about the proposal to remove Kirtland’s Warbler from endangered species list. “Cowbird control” means killing them in case that’s not clear, and I approve and so do all the birders I know. The feds and the state have both done great work. Mostly it means starting fires in jackpine forests. My favorite spot is north of Au Sable river as you go up M65. Otherworldly landscape – nearly sand dunes. Land around that river has almost no runoff, which is why it’s so cold. A giant spring creek.
Oops. I meant M32, N of Mio. I suggest canoeing that reach if you can – no houses, giant trout, spectacular scenery, abundant shrooms.
Breaking, local news:
http://nbcmontana.com/news/local/wyoming-counts-at-least-347-wolves-in-the-state
But these numbers pale in comparison to the “real” predators, roaming the state of Wyoming:
“There are currently 1,441 criminal sex offenders in Wyoming, and only 143 of these sex offenders are currently behind bars. To make things worse, the central state registry can not account for 31 sex offenders who live in this state. If you are worried about the sex offenders who are out there in Wyoming, then you may want to sign up for Kids Live Safe. This notification system will keep you updated on the movements of the sex offenders and predators in your area, which can make it easier for you to protect your family from one of the most dangerous aspects of society”
http://sexoffendermap.org/wyoming/
347? Is that all? I wonder how many were killed during the hunting season? Here’s a report, but I can’t for the life of me figure out how many were killed during last year’s hunting season. Apparently it wasn’t enough to suit the F&W dept:
http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/jackson_hole_daily/local/wolf-numbers-curbed-by-hunting/article_115fcbb8-ae43-5952-900f-7fed4cf35dd2.html
And for rork, you mentioned that things had changed from the old days when wolves could be shot on sight and poisoned? The more things change, the more things stay the same, I guess. From the above article:
“Another 40 of the large canines roamed the remainder of Wyoming, where wolves are managed as pests and can be killed indiscriminately. In both areas combined, 77 wolves were killed last year.”
Just appalling that wolves are still considered pests!
That’s just in part of the state and you know it.
I rather doubt we will easily live with wolves in Washtenaw county, MI, either, but you may be more optimistic, or unrealistic.
In the part of Wyoming that I care about most there are about 350 wolves, which is much better than zero. You seem to be ignoring that.
It shouldn’t be in any part of the state. It’s regression, and it shows the mindset against wolves hasn’t changed in centuries. The article says also that WY wants to get the total number of wolves in the state down to 100, that emotional number that they felt was put upon them and that they never wanted. So they are trying for zero, if they had their way.
It just proves the danger of delisting, and that hunting automatically follows.
I also hope that Democrats in MN and WI will not revive any delisting efforts with no judicial review stunts either, because they are handing their wolves over to hunting, and with dog hunting, and on the taxpayer dime as well. I fear that the Democrats will be so concerned about losing political ground that they will approve this.
And the National Park fees are going to be raised, just not as much as originally planned (with another increase planned for 2020). For example, $5 a carload for the Grand Canyon shouldn’t be too much to cough up if you supposedly love your Parks:
https://www.npr.org/2018/04/13/601980212/national-park-service-to-modestly-raise-entrance-fees-in-plan-to-cut-repair-back
or $5 more a carload, I should say.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/14/science/gray-ghost-caribou-extinct.html
Food for thought:
“It’s opportune that the field of cultural evolution has achieved a state of maturity now, as widespread concerns about population growth, the ecological crisis, and a host of problems in our political and economic systems arose through the mechanisms of gene-culture coevolution. The interplay of social norms, institutions that incentivize or suppress specific behaviors, and the rapid explosion of new technologies both create and exacerbate these problems. And so it will be an understanding of cultural evolution that is necessary to get a handle on them, if indeed we prove capable of doing so at all”
https://evolution-institute.org/are-humans-really-that-smart-a-new-book-says-its-complicated/
“Made In America”: Ryan Zinke’s New Committee With Myriad Hidden Agendas”
“… TIME AND AGAIN, THE INTERIOR SECRETARY GIVES CONSERVATION SHORT-SHRIFT”
Excerpt: “While RVs were given the limelight, neither the words “conservation” nor “environment” made the press release. What did was Zinke’s call for “continued exponential growth.” But does he understand what exponential means? Our public lands are not exponential. They are finite, and those which still possess ecological function are under serious pressure to be reduced. Our parks, refuges, wildlife, lakeshores, and meandering rivers cannot endure exponential.
“To be clear, this committee has been tasked to privatize aspects of our public lands in the implicit interest of economic gain for specific individuals and industries.”
http://mountainjournal.org/zinke-promotes-use-of-natural-resources-in-way-that-uses-them-up
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/04/15/black-bear-cubs-rescued-by-virginia-trooper-after-mother-killed-in-crash.html
Heart warming story, Timz.
But I’m guessing you also read the comments?
Seems there are those out there in this world today, so lacking, needy, that can’t allow even a “moment” of compassion, with out immediately dumping and dishing, on anything connect to this kind of story?
One of the great Wilderness champions has passed on. He was a wilderness warrior to the end. Thank you, Brandy.
“Wilderness champion Brandborg dead at 93”
Excerpt: “Brandborg worked as a special assistant to Zahniser while the Wilderness Act was working its way through Congress in the early 1960s. He traveled the nation encouraging local environmental and conservation groups to support the act, which was passed in 1964.”
This appears to be just a brief, preliminary article.
http://missoulian.com/news/local/wilderness-champion-brandborg-dead-at/article_4b778a11-5036-5da7-8e42-23fcb1bd4ba1.html
https://www.seeker.com/legal-hunting-fuels-poaching-1789475405.html
Strange, isn’t it? I wonder if this has even been factored in to the grizzly hunt.
https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/15/politics/interior-expand-hunting-access-on-public-lands/index.html
Ryan Zinke
Donald Trump
Trump JR
Scott Pruitt
corrupt environmental and wildlife terrorists. They will be remembered as they deserve to be. Monsters
https://idfg.idaho.gov/node/47859/done?sid=74549&token=5daedf2855e1daf3ed6f49e781a36320
want to make a comment on Idahos proposals to hunt Grizzlies here is a link…
also if you care to, they are proposing to hunt wolves in April during their denning and pup rearing time. how low can they go….
It’s just so bad:
“What we’ve heard from all the states, including Wyoming, is that if the states decided to have a hunt we would be talking about a few bears — a small handful, single digits,” the Sierra Club’s Bonnie Rice said at the National Museum for Wildlife Art gathering.
“We were assured that over and over and over again, but what we see with this proposal from Wyoming is two dozen bears, and up to 14 females that can be killed,” she said. “How do you reconcile those earlier assurances to the public of just talking about a few bears with this really aggressive proposal?”
http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/environmental/anti-grizzly-hunters-still-ask-for-answers/article_f9563dde-22ed-5b79-b127-66816dfb6dab.html
It’s shocking. The gentleman in the photo is asking for a buffer zone around roads and Yellowstone, for which I thank him. It is outrageous.
I hope it’s a matter of going for what they can until they are hammered down to something more reasonable? Like zero.
Liars, thugs and cheats. I hope their ahem are hauled into court for lying and misleading the public.
“First Bat Removed From U.S. Endangered Species List”
“Just thirty years ago, only a thousand of the bats remained—but after decades of work, the species is thriving.”
Includes a short, embedded video on bats and tequila.
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/04/lesser-long-nosed-bats-conservation-delisted-endangered-animals-spd/
🙂 Good news.
Long but interesting read:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/18/magazine/dirt-save-earth-carbon-farming-climate-change.html
http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/news/science-and-nature/4430661-deer-wolf-population-dynamics-offer-fodder-debate-minnesota
had some common sense words about wolves not extirpating deer. They think they’ve had a wolf increase lately thanks to deer increase. We await news of that in MI any day (wolves have been flat or declining since 2011).
There are many articles about the weather near me. After looking promising around Mar 1, it has been winter until about today. 10-30 degrees below average has been the norm. Upper MI is still buried in snow. I now expect pretty bad winterkill of the one-year-olds in places. Loss of deer due to harsh winters means deer hunters will complain about wolves. It is already happening. Blaming the weather is just not satisfying apparently.
More on the complaints about a grizzly bear hunt from Wyoming residents. Unsportsmanlike baiting should never ever be allowed around the National Parks:
http://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/news/wyoming/article_31dacc8e-bd71-53bf-8122-0edfecabec88.html
https://www.nrdc.org/stories/wyoming-might-make-it-legal-hunt-yellowstones-struggling-grizzlies
And an official (I guess, or maybe it was an outfitter whose opinions seem to carry equal weight) from WY is on record about input from indigenous people (the words ’round file’ were used), but they still have not been included in any decision-making (but the Interior Dept. sent an email, they say):
https://www.indianz.com/News/2018/04/17/native-sun-news-today-tribes-continue-fi.asp
How frickin’ outrageous is this…
“Top Interior official key to delaying protection for an endangered species”
Excerpt: “A top Interior Department employee with ties to the energy industry took credit for delaying the endangered species designation for a species of mussel, internal emails between the official and an industry trade group show.”
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/384111-top-interior-official-key-to-delaying-protection-for-an-endangered
More coyote hysteria…guy’s chickens are still loose after dark, but guy claims “monster coyote” wanted to kill HIM. *sigh* Video.
https://www.fox25boston.com/news/rutland-man-fights-off-coyote-in-his-backyard-1/734885749
A 70-80lb coyote, eh. [rolls eyes]
Me thinks “someone” was looking for attention?
https://www.gofundme.com/we-loss-everything
Kathleen – A local? Poking holes in this guy’s story:
https://turtleboysports.com/rowdy-rutland-piper-story-that-he-was-attacked-by-80-pound-mega-coyote-is-the-worst-lie-ever-and-the-greatest-mainstream-media-fail-of-all-time/
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/20/vincent-devito-trump-interior-department-endangered-species-delay-oil-industry
http://www.wral.com/museum-of-life-and-science-in-durham-welcomes-litter-of-red-wolf-puppies/17502517/
“Wyoming was allowed to hunt 1.5 female grizzlies and 9.8 males in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, according to an agreement with Montana and Idaho. But its wildlife officials announced a hunting season with two females and 10 males for 2018. The hunt opponents claim Wyoming officials said they were able to round up the numbers by using a fraction of Montana’s quota.”
I knew something seemed a little ‘off’ about the high grizzly kill quota:
http://missoulian.com/hunt-opponents-accuse-wyoming-of-dipping-into-montana-grizzly-kill/article_39ef3671-e914-54dc-bc58-ffc2cc066c2a.html
Comments are needed by May 9, 2018 to the BLM, to allow American Prairie Reserve (APR) to graze bison instead of cattle on about 265,000 acres of BLM and State land in Montana! Info and comment form at this link:
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/help-restore-bison
Further info at https://www.americanprairie.org/take-action.
This is a fantastic opportunity to support ecosystem restoration and wild bison returning to the Great Plains. Positive comments to the Malta Field Office in support of APR’s proposal to allow bison grazing in lieu of cattle are especially critical, in light of local opposition to change.
I volunteered with APR last fall to remove harmful fencing for wildlife on their private lands, and was impressed with their staff and operations. Seeing bison roaming wild on their private lands was a very compelling and moving experience.
Sheesh. More on the WY grizzly hunt. How bloodthirsty to you have to be to try to get what other states aren’t hunting, or to quibble about who gets to kill .45 of a female bear:
http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/environmental/experts-debate-grizzly-math/article_9501eb3a-56bd-5a29-8866-645b44aa88de.html
F&W says that if hunters go over quota or kill more females than allowed, then the hunt would immediately be stopped. But how would anyone even know if the hunter(s) doesn’t report it, or if bears are poached?
Do they really expect to be taken at their word? I don’t understand why a hunt has to be held at all so soon after a delisting, especially with poaching or natural mortality.
Center for Biological Diversity attorney Andrea Santarsiere, a Victor, Idaho, resident, said the loss of two bears isn’t trivial.
“That female bear could be carrying cubs,” she said. “So taking that female could actually be taking five bears out of the population.”
I just don’t understand, I truly don’t, why killing these bears is so important to these people.
Nevermind the .45 bear, just accept what they were allocated in the first place! Greedy.
With a living creature, you can’t ’round up'(they should be rounding down). F&W ought to be conservative in their quotas the first year after a delisting. Meaning one.
Here’s an article from the HSUS from 2016 with poaching stats (speaking of going by the numbers):
http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2016/12/reward-offered-in-idaho.html
“The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bears are already in jeopardy. Their primary foods, white bark pine and cutthroat trout, have been nearly wiped out because of human causes. This drives more bears out of the safety of national parks in search of food. As a result, record numbers of bears have been killed in the last two years alone, with 61 confirmed in 2015 and 55 confirmed so far in 2016. Even more alarming, biologists believe that approximately one-half to two-thirds of grizzly bears killed by humans go unreported.”
If the population of grizzlies can only withstand one female and very few males be hunted, you have to wonder why a hunt is necessary at all, especially so soon after a delisting.
What bizarre human need must come first in this case? Money, states rights vs. the Feds? It stinks.
Good! Thank you, National Parks:
https://www.npca.org/articles/1821-park-advocates-fire-back-on-wyoming-s-grizzly-hunting-plan
http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/environment/article209853664.html
http://nwsportsmanmag.com/u-s-house-vote-against-spill-a-hard-pill-for-businesses-to-swallow-nsia/
About spilling water in the Snake/Columbia to help salmon, and somewhat about Snake river dams. About three weeks ago a court upheld a complicated verdict about more spilling. Now US House has passed legislation trying to reverse that. Get your BS meter tuned up before reading some of the comments from legislators, particularly Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers: something, something, the goal, something. PS: Electricity is extremely cheap in this area. Sun, wind, water, and reactors.
Mexican Gray Wolf hysteria……oh the horror.
http://www.wmicentral.com/news/latest_news/ranchers-and-residents-say-they-fear-wolves/article_0ceefedb-2556-51c9-a48c-05a52b7cb1dd.html
Good grief. The stories and wolf mythology has not changed since the founding of Jamestown in 1607.
Really? A 114 Lobos are terrorizing and entire region?
BS. I’m calling this kid a little liar.
🙂 It does sound suspiciously familiar, the first paragraph. I seem to recall another young woman riding a horse in the Southwest and a wolf or wolves story? I’ll bet they roll out these same old stories, slightly edited, all the time.
Traumatized for life *eyeroll*
And so it goes for iconic wildlife, in what’s left of wilderness areas…..
http://nbcmontana.com/news/local/us-wont-restore-yellowstone-grizzly-bear-protections
When I read these articles, it just seems so greedy. “Tri-state agreement” (according to whom?) to gang up on the wildlife, divving them up like they were playing poker, rounding up fractions of bears like they were inanimate.
Well, we all know that Montana’s .1 female grizzly amounts to none, thank goodness! 🙂
or Idaho’s, sorry. Absolutely absurd.
It ought to be interesting to see what happens when it goes to court. Unless the NRA and the SCI can put the arm on one of their favorite politicians.
I should say that I read this article earlier, and now that I think of it, it seems vague and missing information. What were the findings by these ‘US officials’ that the court ordered, about how removing protections for one distinct population segment affects the others?
This may have been posted here already, but here’s the gist of it:
“And he [Judge Christensen] ordered all parties to put their sprawling arguments into a single set of briefs for a hearing in August.”
http://missoulian.com/news/local/federal-judge-in-missoula-speeds-up-grizzly-lawsuit-ahead-of/article_91609760-cab2-502c-b88e-e4e543d39814.html
After a long and brutal winter, with record snowfalls around the state, the floods have started. The Hi-Line in Montana has been hit hard. In one county, Phillips, they estimate they’ve lost about 7,000 livestock animals. Now that’s due to natural events – could you imagine if predators took that many animals?
http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/along-montana-s-hi-line-life-on-the-river-s/article_27170abc-1ae6-5cda-a286-e79056ad2374.html#tracking-source=home-top-story
🙁 Sad.
Hi MAD!
Good to see you back commenting on TWN.
Predators from beetles to magpies to bears, will end up reaping the benefits, due to these “natural events” and poor planning over and over again by humans, who feel they conquered and then dominate, landscapes yet still flounder around (a century later) trying to rein it in.
http://nbcmontana.com/news/local/blackfeet-ranchers-recover-after-historic-winter-kills-cattle
Interesting to note that those mostly effected (according to this news report) aren’t a part of the reservation of Native Americans, but those that lease from the reservation.
A dated but interesting read:
https://www.hcn.org/issues/279/14896
I look at the land flooded in those photos and wonder how much of it might of been chemically treated – to increase hay production – and what of those chemicals are now washing down the Milk River?
BREAKING: One of the three Florida shark-draggers is off the hook–“no evidence” that he broke the law, and he has agreed to testify against the other two. Shark experts claim there was a “high probability” that the shark was alive at the time of the heinous incident, but the defense will argue the shark was dead before it was filmed behind the boat.
http://www.bradenton.com/news/local/crime/article210198364.html
Here’s more info on the one who got away: https://everipedia.org/wiki/spencer-heintz/
Another article on today’s court action–with video–is here: http://www.wfla.com/news/hillsborough-county/manatee-shark-dragging-suspects-scheduled-to-appear-in-court/1152711482
scum, all of them
A plea bargain is good enough for me. There was a time when nothing would have been done about this. I wonder what he has told authorities.
You never know, the tide of public opinion is turning for incidents like this, and legitimate fishermen spoke up loud and clear too.
“Groups halt lawsuit over Gunnison sage grouse”
Excerpt: “The groups sued to have the bird classified as endangered rather than threatened, but the new agreement stays that legal action and instead requires the federal agency to come up with a recovery plan within 30 months.”
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900017474/groups-halt-lawsuit-over-gunnison-sage-grouse.html
Hmmmmm….we saw what happened with the greater sage grouse. I hope this won’t go the same way. Industry didn’t like the recovery plan?
New CWD paper in Journal of Virology: http://jvi.asm.org/content/early/2018/04/19/JVI.00550-18.abstract.
These are Montana folks, not the Canadian group, and they failed to transmit CWD to macaques, but succeed with squirrel monkey. I see several lay press reviews, including by a blogger who sometimes comments here, but not a single one is worth reading, and several have errors (like that the Canadians have published anything since their June 2017 announcements at a meeting).
What every (good) reader wants to know is how the PRNP protein is similar and different between the three primates and the ungulate versions, but I don’t have time to study it now. It’s not the only factor, but it’s the first thing to think about.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-nra-and-the-safari-club-are-gunning-for-grizzlies?ref=scroll
A must read by Doug Peacock…
An eloquent piece on grizzly hunting, public lands and the NRA. Hard to do any better than this, on the subject of grizzly or carnivore trophy hunting!
Very good/comprehensive essay.
“There is essentially no evidence that a sport hunt instills fear in grizzlies. The proposition also defies logic and everything that we otherwise know about grizzly bears. If nothing else, how can a dead bear learn anything?”
I’ve said the same for years. Tough to learn anything when your f’n dead.
I’ve held my tongue but will finally call BS on what you have been saying for years,but more for wolves than bears, who are more solitary.
Even deer learn to fear people when they are hunted more. When I shoot a doe, the fawns scout the place later that day or the next and appear concerned. When I shoot a fawn, the mom definitely checks out the area. In both cases they can smell the lost relative, deer blood, and the smell of a human. They sometimes see me going to gut and drag away the dead body of their relative. There’s a gut pile. Perhaps wolves and bears are dumber than deer is one possible theory, but I doubt that. It’s true the dead learn nothing, but if animals travel in groups, they learn. Lone bears may learn nothing.
If you don’t know the human is present, and the bullet hits you prior to the sound of the rifle, your dead, and learn nothing.
You can’t fear something when you don’t know it is there, unless your into the supernatural hocus pocus. You usually post intelligently, in this case not so.
And whether some learn avoidance tactics or not, it’s not like these animals have an where else to go! They must figure out a way to live in their habitats regardless of the humans making their lives a living hell
Some become nocturnal coming out at dusk and restricting movement during the day. And because they must eat
Hunt and raise their young they must expose themselves to the sorry sobs that get their kicks killing them
There is no valid management reason to sport hunt carnivores
None
Zilch
Nada
We have does that are immune to being killed by arrows and even bullets. Perhaps you haven’t experienced it personally, but I think they know exactly the threat I present.
I agreed that the lone animal who gets killed without others observing any aspect of it learned nothing. That’s your only point.
I have experienced it directly, perhaps not to your extent, in particular with the bow. Most shots where I live are 50-60 yard shots or less.
100’s of thousands of points each year for deer.
One more effort to return to a more civil exchange. My original comment was in regard to bears, and wolves. Bears more solitary, wolves have their pack structure, but the pack is not always together, and I stand by my point, contention, or whatever you deem it to be, you can’t learn if you’re dead, and even if “fear” exists, what good does it do when the wind is working against you. I believe that most wolf kills are done by deer hunters, and thus are incidental.
Wildlife are wary by nature, and that’s how it should be. I don’t understand the concept of instilling fear in wild animals, but at the same time, I disagree with their habituation by people.
Walk in the woods at night when does have their fawns with them, and they “blow” at your presence never fails to accelerate my heart rate.
When I have observed wolves up here, younger ones have a tendency to take off like a bat out of hell. Older wolves seem to just continue on their way, trotting by, not looking at me as a “threat”.It’s one of the reasons why I choose to live where I do.
And that’s why hundreds of thousands of deer get shot every year. They learn well, don’t they?
How about collective hunts with beaters when they drive scared wildlife towards shooter line? Learn nothing?
And when the hunting season ends the wildlife somehow get impression that they can move more freely around the area.
And not all shots are lethal ones.
And yes, the smell – SMELL: excellent, although unmeasured. Estimated to be thousands of times better than humans
https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/ys-24-1-yellowstone-wolf-facts.htm
Why don’t you throw in helicopters and fixed winged aircraft.
I believe Nancy posted this a couple years ago. Two wolves one shot. Heck, they really learned, didn’t they?
https://www.grandviewoutdoors.com/predator-hunting/video-two-wolves-with-one-shot/
Throw in wolves visiting gut piles. The one thing they might be learning is to associate rifle shot with gut piles/food.
Sense of smell doesn’t help when wind not in your favor.
we had this discussion before (with the very same video) – as I asked: how long Immer would avoid Special Forces operation in that landscape (knowing he is hunted down)?
And how many of the killed ones are pups who are curious and naive?
From MN first season, I believe ~ 55% were pups of the year, yet, there were more of them and fewer of later age cohorts in the general population.
Also, many to most hunters up here use some sort of cammoflage, smell like doe scent, and have been known to attract wolves.
Most hunters up here use tree stands, or work the ground, both with the wind in their favor. Doesn’t matter how old the wolves are, and the deer apparently never learn
As the crux of the above piece dealt with grizzly bears, here’s another one that “learned”. Pretty “sporting” as well. Old video that made appearance on TWN in the past.
https://globalnews.ca/news/2210949/warning-graphic-content-video-showing-grizzly-bear-getting-shot-multiple-times-during-hunt-sparks-debate/
using that logic: what is elk hunt success rate in MT? around 15%? it seems hunters never learn
in ‘Predatory Bureaucracy’ there are enough witnesses about wily lobos who evaded trapping efforts for years
Rocky Mountain Success tables and rates.
http://www.backcountrychronicles.com/elk-harvest-comparison-western-states/
It ain’t going to the grocery store.
Wily lobos avoiding traps…after poisoning, not many wolves remaining, and quantitatively very few trappers out there. Plus, this has no connection with fear of man.
Wolf trapping in MN, success rates relatively high because there was a minefield of traps out there.
Bear hunting Wisconsin, throw in dogs chasing bears up trees to be shot.
Bear Hunting over bait piles, bears conditioned to human presence. Nothing about fear.
Yes Immer, there are many naive deer out there, and even experienced deer can be shot by bow if you did everything perfectly. There are also people who can shoot bullets at deer at 300 meters. This does not show that no learning happens.
Nor does it show that learning occurs.
Rork, Common sense says that hunting removes those animals that are less wary of humans creating a population more nocturnal and cautious. In my opinion, your ideals on animals “learning” are most certainly true to BUT to a much smaller degree than the removal of those animals more easily hunted. Both, good reasons for hunting grizzlies responsibly. instead of having to kill those animals that were set up for failure.
The wolf killed on film in Denmark (from the Marek post below) is the example! That wolf clearly is showing habituation habits.
A) Not in full retreat in the presence of humans.
B) Long looks at human activity.
C) Comfortable around human activity and homes.
Only naïve people think this is normal or OK wolf behavior! It is only a matter of time before the wolf or one of its pups move the next step to depredation. This type of behavior is documented in regards to the issues John Koski had in the UP of Michigan.
If it were your home, (in the background of the Denmark video) and this became a daily sighting, would you feel comfortable letting your grandchildren play out in the back yard?
Only a fool thinks that this is OK and that hunting of wolves results in less of these wolves and more cagey wolves. Shame on those that want to propagate this type of wolf!
The Koski farm yikes that’s your example. You mean the farm that left afterbirth and dead animals littered about and exaggerated claims of wild depredation snd refused to implement non lethal strategies and starved s donkey that was given to him to help ward off Wolves
That exemplary farmer
That farm
He is a very poor example. And on the taxpayers’ dole for years too. Still couldn’t clean up his act, and maybe he should retire if he can’t keep up with the demands of a farm anymore.
It is normal, and natural for animals to adapt to human presence. Humans should try to minimize their effects on wildlife in an ethical, non-lethal way if they are moral and ethical people.
He sold the farm, and here’s a little background:
http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/04/cattle_farmer_john_koski_divis.html
Louise, You really need to work on your reading skills. Nowhere do I say Koski is an example. What I did say is that the wolf in the Denmark video is exhibiting the same type of behavior documented at the Koski farm. I also said hunting (on average) reduces the number of wolves (or grizzlies for that matter) that exhibit this type of behavior. This is especially true where states manage the hunt via zoning to target those wolves more inclined to being our example in the video.
The Koski situation is unique and mentioning him here is ironic in that in that today my spouse and I are doing a forestry project with some couples / individuals this afternoon, one of which I have never met & coincidentally knows Mr Koski fairly well. Should be an interesting day.
That’s Denmark: Most of the country is arable land. The biggest forest is 80 km2
Where there isn’t a city there’s mostly a cultivated field or field for grazing (and a few small patches of forest, lakes, moors).
This is also where you’ll find the deer mostly, not just livestock.
Thanks for that interesting point Mat-ters.
I’ll give one more example for Immer.
Come to Ann Arbor and observe that the deer do not flee in the Arboretum even if I within 15 meters of them. Then teach me why they act so differently than the deer in the rec areas, since you know it all.
I don’t profess to know it all. But sidle up to your new buddy, and I’m sure he’ll clue you in.
I have a neighbor who feeds deer out of his hand, that and your example is just habituation. Might as well have cows.
The deer around here get shot at and are shot, EVERY year during hunting season. Doesn’t stop them from spending time in my yard or bedding down in my side yard, when I’m just a few yards away (Had an impressive mule deer buck, bed down under my cabin window a couple of years ago. Took photos so yeah, not making that up)
So I call BS on Mat-ter’s comments:
“That wolf clearly is showing habituation habits”
A) Not in full retreat in the presence of humans.
B) Long looks at human activity.
C) Comfortable around human activity and homes.
I’ve seen bears, coyotes, and wolves too, in the fields across from me. They go where the prey is, doesn’t mean they are habituated.
Had a couple of wolves come in close to a ranch across the way last fall. They were attracted to the 2 dozen baby elk hanging around the corrals. The babies couldn’t get under or over the fences and follow the other elk when they migrated out. (Happens frequently around here)
“The babies couldn’t get under or over the fences and follow the other elk when they migrated out. (Happens frequently around here).”
I see this with white-tailed deer too. Driving to work one morning, I saw two fawns and their mother trying to make their way around a fence and not having much success.
I really am dismayed to see so much fencing and barriers around human activity. I fear for how wildlife is going to survive in the future. And I don’t see as many deer as I once did, 30 years ago when I first moved to where I live now.
You know Rork, The old saying goes “when you’re taking flak, you’re right over the target”. The “BS” and “f’n” comments would indicate such. I read the Doug Peacock article and the only thing “very good” is that it is clear is that some here don’t understand the meaning of “comprehensive”! Where I come from it means “complete; including all or nearly all elements or aspects of something”. Doug certainly included his strawman debatable argument that hunting doesn’t “teach” BUT left out the real bases of the sportsman’s argument as what was discussed here. Doug’s bashing of “trophy hunting” most certainly didn’t include or try to refute he fact that “trophy hunting” is removing animals in the herd or pride that are in excess to habitat and more likely to contribute to human / animal conflict.
We can learn a lot from the Minnesota wolf hunt a few year back. The number of wolves that needed to be killed in control action for depredation and habituation continued to climb to hundreds per year UNTIL that first hunt almost hitting 300. The year immediately after that hunt the depredation and habitation control was CUT IN HALF! That data and tons of other resembling situations flies in the face of Wielgus and supports the hard to argue premise that hunting leaves behind a population more elusive and wild. Peacocks nocturnal argument don’t fly here.
I think is funny that some here make the argument that hunters need to hunt harder and they’re lazy in wolf saturated areas where the wolfs/predators have driven populations well below what was once considered “healthy”. Then reject the sportsman’s argument that “its awful hard to hunt something when they’re ‘f’n’ dead’” (wink)
Forgive me for intruding on your conversation with Rork, Mat-ters but I’m thinking Doug Peacock probably has more “hands on, boots on the ground” experience, not to mention knowledge with regard to predators, wilderness areas, over the decades, then you will ever know, especially if you spend your time trolling out of your parents or grandparent’s basement 🙂
https://www.facebook.com/savetheyellowstonegrizzly/videos/vb.746161852153575/771898629579897/?type=2&theater
Nancy, the fact that you or Peacock could not refute the facts behind the truth that hunting does leave behind a populous more elusive and leaves them in better habitat in responsible numbers comforts me. The migration to the straw man argument of “learning / teaching” is typical in the argument (as was done here) and is what I would have expected on this site.
There is a take away though, If anything the next time you hear someone try to steer the conversation of hunting leaving behind a better and more educated populate towards the “learning / teaching” argument …. realize that it’s a classic example of the straw man argument.
“Nancy, the fact that you or Peacock could not refute the facts behind the truth that hunting does leave behind a populous more elusive and leaves them in better habitat in responsible numbers comforts me. The migration to the straw man argument of “learning / teaching” is typical in the argument (as was done here) and is what I would have expected on this site.
There is a take away though, If anything the next time you hear someone try to steer the conversation of hunting leaving behind a better and more educated populate towards the “learning / teaching” argument …. realize that it’s a classic example of the straw man argument”
Hang in there, Mat-ters. Trophy hunting websites (and other websites who just like to kill wildlife for the hell of it) probably love your limited input/insight, when it comes to controlling/managing or saving what’s left of wildlife……:)
gob·ble·dy·gook
/ˈɡäbəldēˌɡo͞ok/
noun
informal
noun: gobbledegook; noun: gobbledygook
language that is meaningless or is made unintelligible by excessive use of abstruse technical terms; nonsense.
Gobbly gook nancy
Most arguments supporting trophy hunting fall into that category
Well, with that logic hunters should be eligible for Educator of the Year Award.
“Zinke and Alexander: How to protect America’s ‘best idea’”
An opinion piece from Zinke and Lamar Alexander.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/02/opinions/national-parks-need-support-alexander-zinke-opinion/index.html
Rebuttal: “Zinke and Lamar Alexander’s Big Plan? We Must Kill the Planet to Save the National Parks”
Even if you don’t read it, click to see the hilarious picture.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/05/02/zinke-and-lamar-alexanders-big-plan-we-must-kill-planet-save-national-parks
Two Minnesotans pile up a litany of trapping charges, and dead animals.
https://www.twincities.com/2018/05/02/3046577/
Fwd: The Cult of Hunting and Its Timely Demise
https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/05/01/the-cult-of-hunting-and-its-timely-demise
“We need revolution, not reform, when it comes to wildlife management. We are no longer (for the most part) a nation bent of genocide, whether homo- or eco-centric. We need federal policies that empower everyone in this country—urban or rural; white, black, red, or brown; female or male; who cherish animals simply because they exist, or to enjoy watching them, or, yes, to hunt them—when it comes to living with the wild animals on this Earth. They are sentient beings, like us. They deserve rights. Their welfare deserves our attention.”
Hear! Hear!!! Bring on the revolution!
http://host.madison.com/ct/opinion/column/patricia-randolph-s-madravenspeak-the-north-american-wildlife-model-is/article_0886fc6f-f2d5-50e5-b80f-a4ce797159bd.html
I know Rork will immediately pooh pooh anything written by P Randolph but the opinions are Vucetich and Paquet…many other independent scientists agree, as do I. Time to ditch the old mantra, hunting is conservation. Nope, I don’t think so. That form of brainwashing is especially annoying when trophy hunters use the excuse for killing trophy animals and carnivores.
I bet this will not go down as another Bundy-15 story
“Wild wolf shot and killed in Denmark”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/01/wild-wolf-shot-and-killed-in-denmark
Two naturalists who were observing the wolves captured the moment the animal was shot on camera. The film has sparked outrage.
The footage appears to show the animal, a female, being shot by someone in a parked car. The wolf was not posing a threat or being aggressive.
… “I don’t think we have a problem wolf here but we certainly have a ‘problem hunter’ and such people need to be stopped.”
Police have charged a 66-year-old man from the area where the wolf was killed with “violation of the hunting legislation”.
A spokesman for the Danish police told the Guardian: “He denies having killed the wolf, but does not wish to give the police any further information on the case. We have confiscated the man’s car, from which he allegedly fired his weapon, and a number of hunting weapons on the man’s residence.”
The results of forensic tests at the site of the shooting and a search on the man’s property and car are expected in the next few weeks.
http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/moment-denmarks-only-female-wild-wolf-in-200-years-is-killed-caught-on-camera/
Danish websites are reporting that the wolf may have been crossing land that is owned by the former parliamentary candidate Steffen Troldtoft when it was shot dead. They are also suggesting that the man who has been arrested is actually a close family member of Troldtoft.
just read the damn comments – hilarious!!
https://www.facebook.com/IFeakingLoveScience/posts/2199990560021943?comment_id=2109254652629984¬if_id=1525376281399857¬if_t=comment_mention&ref=notif
Louise Østergaard Problem is that they are probably domesticated because they get way to close to humans to be wild.. Denmark is a very small country so we lack the space wolves require and that makes the situation dangerous.
Investigations are going on to find out if they could have been brought here on purpose. They will get tracking devices to see why they are living so close to humans.
Its a very sad situation in Denmark and the topic of all nature lovers and parents who fear for their kids.
Another monster
I’m sick of the killing
Just cause
Wildlife laws and agencies are in need of a complete overhaul
https://www.yahoo.com/news/traumatised-bears-wolves-solace-greek-sanctuary-050613923.html
????? Good grief:
“Arcturos was originally created to counter the use of bears as entertainment.
Bear dancing — forcibly taught to the animals by making them walk on hot coals — is a practice once popular at country fairs that still survives in the Balkans, though it was eradicated in Greece a few decades ago.”
I had to do a double take when I read this one:
“Today, Reps. Madeleine Bordallo, D-Guam, and Don Young, R-Alaska, introduced the Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Trafficking Act of 2018, H.R. 5697. The legislation seeks to strengthen law enforcement safeguards against wildlife trafficking and related activities. One of the bill’s measures makes certain wildlife trafficking and poaching violations predicate offenses (crimes that are components of more serious offenses) under federal racketeering and organized crime statutes. The bill builds on the success of the Eliminate, Neutralize, and Disrupt (END) Wildlife Trafficking Act of 2016, which made wildlife trafficking a predicate offense under the federal money laundering criminal statute. The Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Trafficking Act creates incentives for whistleblowers to report on wildlife trafficking, by raising awareness of monetary rewards, particularly in countries of special concern. The bill also provides funding and additional support for programs that protect sharks, marine mammals, turtles and other wild animals. In addition, it makes U.S. territories and outlying areas eligible for federal funding for marine turtle conservation.”
https://blog.humanesociety.org/2018/05/bills-congress-crack-wildlife-trafficking-trophy-hunting.html?credit=web_id93480558
But good to hear!
http://www.whitewolfpack.com/2015/03/stunning-photos-capture-majestic-beauty.html?m=1
Ravens
Ahhh such amazing birds
NRA: National Rifle Association names Oliver North of Iran-Contra fame as its new president
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-08/oliver-north-named-as-new-nra-president/9737940
‘Olliemania’: The stage-worthy scandal that starred Oliver North as a congressional witnesses
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/05/08/the-nras-new-president-oliver-north-is-notorious-for-his-role-in-an-illicit-arms-deal/?noredirect=on
n the absence of hard data about gun owners, media organizations tend to focus on telling the stories of vocal gun rights activists and bedrock NRA supporters. That’s despite the fact that of the nation’s estimated 73 to 81 million gun owners, the NRA claims just under 5 million Americans as members ― or fewer than 8 percent of all gun owners.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-many-gun-owners-dont-join-the-nra_us_5ad8a110e4b03c426dabf372
“there’s no discernible group representing any or all of them that counterbalances the NRA’s influence on money and politics.
The lack of a countervailing lobbying force amounts to a major gap in the political market”
So the leading voice of ‘the silent majority’ will be led by a crook. And after D-Toxin dumped the nuclear deal with Iran it is reasonable to expect that the Administration will be turning up the volume about ‘the security threat’ posed by ‘the major sponsor of int’l terrorism’.
Solution / response for ordinary Americans?: to acquire AR-15s to protect family values & freedom etc
6. There’s a sharp partisan divide over the NRA’s influence on gun laws. About one-in-five U.S. gun owners (19%) say they belong to the National Rifle Association.
The public as a whole is closely divided over the NRA’s influence over U.S. gun laws: 44% of all adults say the NRA has too much influence over gun legislation, while 40% say it has the right amount of influence. Another 15% say the NRA has too little influence
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/06/22/key-takeaways-on-americans-views-of-guns-and-gun-ownership/
”in the absence of hard data about gun owners”
+++
and that is thanks to gun lobbyists, among whom the biggest one is the NRA
+++
Nobody knows exactly how many assault rifles exist in the U.S. – by design
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article201882739.html
Jennifer Baker, director of public affairs for the National Rifle Association, said the NRA is opposed to any sort of national gun registry, and said that knowing how many assault rifles are in circulation would be of no help to lawmakers considering legislation. (The NRA also has come out against raising the minimum age to buy an assault rifle to 21.)
… an AR-15 rifle, one of the most popular weapons in America both among general gun owners (the National Rifle Association calls it “America’s Most Popular Rifle”) and mass shooters (it has been used in 11 mass shootings since 2012, according to Stanford Geospatial Center, Stanford Libraries and USA Today research).
… The only figures available that give even a hint of how many assault rifles may exist in the U.S. is manufacturer data.
the popularity of rifles and pistols has exploded in the past decade — manufacturing of guns in both categories has more than doubled
The NRA estimates that between 8.5 million and 15 million assault rifles are in circulation based on manufacturer data
noun: authoritarianism
the enforcement or advocacy of strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom.
•lack of concern for the wishes or opinions of others.
And I’m thinking the NRA wouldn’t hesitate to sell out their members, in a heat beat, given the right circumstances…..
Knocked out, punched, and charged by horses: the life of a hunt saboteur
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/31268c67-53bd-4657-b5a9-41cde016dca5?intc_type=singletheme&intc_location=bbcthree&intc_campaign=bbcthree&intc_linkname=article_saboteur_contentcard10
“I’ve been knocked out. I’ve had a broken nose. I was punched in the face. I got a fractured cheek. I’ve been hit on the head with bottles. I’ve been attacked a lot.”
Cathy Scott has experienced the kind of injuries you might associate with a cage fighter. They have all been inflicted by men or animals. Three times a week she heads for the countryside to follow the riders and hounds of various hunts in order to film what she believes is illegal activity, handing over the footage to the police. Sometimes they manage to save a fox. Sometimes they get charged by horses.
+
Last year a man was cautioned by police after Cathy was left with a bloody cut to her face while trying to film and monitor a hunt in Warwickshire. Video footage shows a man pushing Cathy after she initially refuses to leave his land.
“The guy’s pushing and slapping and sort of whacks me in the face,” says Cathy.
“He said, ‘You can hit me if you want’ – and the answer’s no, I’m not like you. What sort of natural response is that?”
I’d hit back.
The Rocky Mountain states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are so happy that they’re going to be able to “regulate” the hunting of grizzlies.
http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/recreation/groups-seek-more-public-comment-before-northwestern-montana-grizzlies-lose/article_b60678ea-d99f-52ea-b3ab-5bf2ae374ac0.html#tracking-source=home-the-latest
Do I misunderstand, or were people originally told (or sold) that the delisting would only apply to the ‘isolated GYE’ grizzly population? Now they’ve moved the goalpost yet again and want to delist the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem grizzlies? Sneaky.
We have touched on this topic before and I have no idea why more hunting pressure needs to be applied to wolves in the Gros Ventre and Whiskey Mountain area. There really is no justifiable explanation in the articles I have read.
http://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/news/wyoming/article_add5c776-942d-5d56-a896-ba26b1e4c4bb.html
“I don’t think this season’s more aggressive,” Mills said, “it’s just what it’s going to take to move the population down toward that 160.”
Talk of decreasing the wolf targets nearer the basement allowable level of 100 wolves and 10 packs was scuttled out of caution, he said, and because of “direction from the governor’s office to not risk it.”
I think this paragraph speaks for itself. They’ll just keep whittling the number down, year after year. I loved (not!) the defense and accomodation of the wolf poacher too. But all of this was pretty predictable.
This Mills character shouldn’t fret tho – as they say in baseball, ‘Maybe Next Year’!
The Last Days of the Blue-Blood Harvest
Every year, more than 400 000 crabs are bled for the miraculous medical substance that flows through their bodies—now pharmaceutical companies are finally committing to an alternative that doesn’t harm animals.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/05/blood-in-the-water/559229/
Horseshoe crabs are sometimes called “living fossils” because they have been around in some form for more than 450 million years. In this time, the Earth has gone through
A little over 20 years ago my wife was working on her Masters and also working with the Park Service part-time out on Fire Island (a national seashore in Long Island, NY). Every year during May & June, around this time, the horseshoe crabs come ashore at night to spawn, during high tide and especially the new & full moons.
We were able to go out and watch this incredible event one night. It was truly primordial, knowing these animals had been coming to this spot for thousands of years. Very humbling experience.
It saddens me the exploitation for profit these animals must endure.
Wyoming has limited its proposed hunt to one female griz. But if a hunter shoots more than one, how do we know it would be reported? Once the guns are out there, any control over what happens is lost IMO:
http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/environmental/female-griz-hunt-slashed-to-one/article_d395446d-3ac8-564a-bd2d-51742461e4d6.html
How this European nobleman personally killed 300,000 animals and caused a world war
http://bigthink.com/paul-ratner/the-crazy-story-of-how-archduke-franz-ferdinand-personally-killed-almost-300000-animals
While his kill total seems astronomically ruthless, Franz Ferdinand was not the only member of the nobility of the day who hunted for sport. It was a popular pastime, enjoyed widely by the aristocrats and the royalty. British Lord Ripon holds the dubious distinction of hunting down the most animals, recording a staggering 556,813 kills over a period from 1867 until 1923. Mostly, these were pheasants—229,976 of them. Known for his sharp-shooting prowess, he also shot 97,503 grouse, 11,258 partridges, 2454 woodcock, 2882 snipe, 3452 wild duck, 30,280 hares, 34,118 rabbits, and 382 red deer.
Whispers, local gossip and then there are the actual accounts of why abhorrent behavior is so often found in the human species:
http://www.rebelcircus.com/blog/the-deformed-monarchs-the-habsburg-dynasty/
Yesterday I completed a quest I’ve been on in the nearly one-year that we’ve lived here–I saw my first collared lizard in Mesa Verde Nat’l Park. In attempting to learn a bit more about these gorgeous animals, I stumbled upon “Mesa Verde Notes” from Aug. 1932; it includes this forehead-slapping paragraph:
“The economic value of this lizard, as far as destruction of injurious insects is concerned, is not to be questioned. However, the fact that he enjoys on his bill of fare any small lizard that may chance to cross his path nearly nullifies his value as an insect eater. In a park such as Mesa Verde, where wild life is encouraged and protected, it would be unwise to let the numbers of the Collared Lizard increase to any great extend [sic]. A few specimens here and there through the park are sufficient to illustrate this type of wild life.”
Back then, no sense of ecology, ecosystems…just a few “specimens” for humans to view.
The full Mesa Verde Notes on collared lizards: http://npshistory.com/nature_notes/meve/vol3-2d.htm
The photo I took for anyone unfamiliar with them: https://www.facebook.com/OtherNationsJustice/photos/a.552099388200476.1073741826.129598773783875/1703285253081878/?type=3&theater
🙂 A cutie!
http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/environmental/thousands-call-on-gov-mead-to-halt-grizzly-hunt/article_048e0fed-382a-5baf-89ae-ceb3e488226f.html
Wolf researcher who accused WSU of silencing him gets $300K to settle lawsuit and go away
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/wolf-researcher-gets-300000-to-settle-wsu-lawsuit/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=article_left_1.1
Emails obtained by The Seattle Times under a public-disclosure request revealed that WSU administrators were worried funding for a new medical school was in jeopardy unless controversy in the Legislature and among ranchers over Wielgus was quelled.
“ … Highly ranked senators have said that the medical school and wolves are linked.
so again WM’s prophecy & spin did not hold water. No surprises, though
http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2016/07/20/do-you-have-some-interesting-wildlife-news-july-20-2016-edition/#comment-511491
This kind of direct political pressure on research scientists impacts carnivore and wildlife policy globally. The result is a chilling effect silencing many and destroying careers of others. It is unconscionable especially for an academic institution
talk about “a level playing field” where every party should ‘compromise’ to proceed further as everyone has the same footing at the table, lol
both Mech and Doug W Smith supports wolf re-introduction to Isle Royale NP
http://kstp.com/news/wolf-debate-how-yellowstone-lessons-will-impact-isle-royale-wolf-population-/4906069/
The park service plans to release 20 to 30 wolves on the island in the next three years, beginning in fall 2018.
3 interviews (D Mech, Dw Smith, H Pinkerton)
http://kstp.com/article/13265
Having met both Dave Mech and Doug Smith at wildlife conferences and had the opportunity to chat with both, and I respect them greatly. I don’t always agree with their positions or comments, but I recognize that there are few people in the wildlife biology community that have their breadth of experience and knowledge when it comes to wolves, although I know of a few others who are great too.
I think it’s the right decision to bring in a few wolves to Isle Royale (pronounced royal for some reason). Because the NP is unique with few visitors (least visited NP in lower 48, around 20,000 a year),and some reasonable restrictions on access I believe it provides an opportunity for scientists to observe the predator-prey interaction in a unique environment.
Just as long as they don’t bring down any of those super-carnivore, attack wolves from Canada.
MAD
There were really only two choices, bring more wolves, or bring in hunters, and the latter was not an option. Maintaining moose on Isle Royals is also important as, I believe, the little known island effect is occurring there. Individual moose will become smaller over time. As our species continues to strangle the planet, documenting what transpires in IR is as important as ever.
Immer, Absolutely nothing wrong with the “island effect” why does that make it “important”? Matter of fact, studying the true ”island effect” and not some unnatural wolf drenched ecosystem is by far more important than 50 more years of studying a wasteful one prey one predator dynamic. The moose survived the last population bubble and I surmise they will this one also. One has to wonder why a moose population of around 1700 is in dire need when the island had 2400 and a stagnant wolf population in the 1990’s. Did we see Immer Vucetich and Peterson clamoring for hunting or more wolves then? Acting like (doing nothing) is not an option is just plain justification folly of the 1st degree. The only way I would be even remotely Ok with bringing in more wolves is if it were totally privately funded! We got better things to do with Federal dollars!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sh8YtxdTkE4
Ahh yes, Donald Sutherland……. You know he played in the “dirty dozen” along side Telly Savalas and Charles Bronson. Quote: “Audiences like to see the bad guy get their comeuppance!” CB Me thinks your audience is disappointed Immer. They see no real rebuttal to your non-sense that there are only two choices, one being your strawman’s choice.!
just remember that in Canada they arrived from Russia and while in transition they somehow mellowed / became soft 🙁
so far the science is undecided on this
That’s great! 🙂
A “tiny” glimpse of understanding and then relating to the wildlife around us 🙂
They are beautiful and fascinating. I’ve been watching the ones in my yard too – I’ve got a couple of different species of bumblebee I think, and I think honeybees. 🙂
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/05/17/a-demented-social-club-poachers-slaughtered-hundreds-of-animals-in-pacific-northwest-for-the-thrill-police-say/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c3d58cb452e2
It confounds me that in 2018 this is still where we are with wolves. Ignore the research. Harass and gag a tenured professor because of the power of ranchers and ag.
https://www.peer.org/about-us/25th-anniversary/rob-wielgus-war-on-wolf-science.html
Conspiracy theories: Here’s what drives people to them, no matter how wacky
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/12/23/conspiracy-theory-psychology/815121001/
According to University of Chicago political science professors Eric Oliver and Thomas Wood, in any given year roughly half of Americans believe in at least one conspiracy theory.
President Trump himself has expressed a belief in at least two of the above conspiracies at one time or another.
Conspiracy theorists can be conservative, liberal or any other political stripe — male or female, rich or poor, well educated or not.
To some extent, the human brain is wired to find conspiracy theories appealing
The absence of evidence never got in the way of a good conspiracy theory. No matter how unlikely a given imagined conspiracy, and no matter how many facts are produced to disprove it, the true believers never budge.
A new brain study sheds light on why it can be so hard to change someone’s political beliefs
Why we react to inconvenient truths as if they were personal insults.
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2016/12/28/14088992/brain-study-change-minds
people are more likely to be convinced Einstein wasn’t a great physicist than to change their minds on topics like immigration or the death penalty.
It has nothing to do with a person’s intelligence (or the quality of information on Einstein or immigration policy). It’s due to the fact that we’re simply more open to changing our minds on nonpolitical topics.
Psychologists have been circling around a possible reason political beliefs are so stubborn: Partisan identities get tied up in our personal identities. Which would mean that an attack on our strongly held beliefs is an attack on the self. And the brain is built to protect the self.
Someone with a legal background or understanding of water law please help me understand this issue.
https://www.hcn.org/articles/opinion-colorado-says-fishing-next-to-private-land-is-trespassing
I thought if a waterway is physically navigable it is navigable by law. How does the landowner in the above article have a right to keep anglers out of the river where it crosses his private land? Does the commerce clause, as it pertains to navigable waters, fit in this scenario anywhere?
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/33/part-329
Thanks Jeff. That is a great reference link.
You’re welcome
Yvette, you might find this law review article more on point. It discusses the Equal Footing doctrine applicable to Western states. Indeed the Commerce Clause is at the heart of the issue. It would appear that navigable is a question of fact as to if and WHEN a water body was considered navigable. Then there is the question about the land beneath the surface, and how state law addresses that.
As for Colorado’s decision to obstruct a recreation user’s claim of right to use of the streambed, maybe it is just politics. Had Don Quick (D) won the Colorado Attorney General election in 2014, maybe the state’s position would be a bit more on the side of recreation interests. Montana litigated the matter, reaching the Supreme Court in 2012.
https://scholarship.law.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1540&context=plrlr
________
On another topic, how are things in Maduro’s socialist Venezuela working for you (same Q to Mareks)?
1. to refresh your memory, senile WM – it was you who started all that Venezuela and Nigeria talk (originally I was talking about co-op movement in the US (ref to Gar Alperovitz).
Strange, because you know nothing about the topic as Chavez was elected thanks to middle class voters, lol
https://newint.org/features/web-exclusive/2018/05/15/venezuela-presidential-election
“This is the best opportunity since 1998 that the opposition has to defeat the Bolivarian Revolution. So why are they boycotting the election? Greg Wilpert asks”
2. how about the new generation in the US – you will not scare them away walking around the city with a stick, lmao
‘The S-word’: how young Americans fell in love with socialism
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/02/socialism-young-americans-bernie-sanders
Young Americans blame capitalism for crises in housing, healthcare and falling wages. Once demonised, the word ‘socialism’ is back as a new political movement takes root
3. scary stuff, no doubt, as it parallels the predator rise in general on all fronts
Washington’s wolf population
increases for 9th straight year
+
the same thing happens in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan
Thank you, WM. I’m reading the paper now and it’s a fantastic reference. Thank you.
As for Venezuela, I haven’t been following the happenings as I’ve been too stupefied with King Donald and Russiagate, Cohngate, Pee-Peegate, StormyPornStargate, and TMTCgates.
TMTC = Too Many To Count
The public trust doctrine, which originated mostly with application to water, is also an important part of the paper you are reading. Here is another paper by a very well known water lawyer in Colorado. I used to know George Vranish’s partner, Jerry Raisch pretty well. These are among the folks that call the shots in water policy in CO. There are several references to Justice Gregg Hobbs of the CO Supreme Court. He is certainly one of the most scholarly of judges on water matters, with over 40 years of private practice or on the bench in the state’s highest Court. On the other hand, Mark Squallice, who is prosecuting the claim for the recreationist is a highly respected legal scholar in his own right. In the end, this will get very interesting.
http://duwaterlawreview.com/a-brief-history-of-the-public-trust-doctrine-in-colorado-arguments-made-for-and-against-its-application/
You might also want to look at the reference noted in footnote 30, if you want even more depth.
___________________
VeneZuela – Since Chavez’ death, under Maduro, his hand picked successor, who has high school education and was a career bus driver, this socialist/Marxist country has gone down the tube. Some will argue it is a product of the rapid decline in the nationalized petroleum industry. Others will argue socialism just doesn’t work. I just say, here is one more data point, in which optimism of the masses generates expectations. When those expectations are not met, chaos reigns.
Thanks, WM — this is great.
as it was made clear you do not know the topic you are talking about
1. all elections since HC came to power had been verified and approved by int’l observers
2. Maduro was vice president and succeeded Chavez when he died. The presidential election was held within 30 days of Chavez’s death.
3. he was not ‘career bus driver’ – he drove metro bus for seven years after the school
4. to remind the context
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/09/us-debate-chavez-venezuela-legacy
5. do not know what does a Republican mean when talking about ‘socialism’ – Soviet Union, B. Obama or Scandinavian countries etc
“The Soviet Union Versus Socialism”
https://chomsky.info/1986____/
6. In 1998, when Hugo Chavez was first elected, Venezuela had a poverty rate of about 50 percent despite having been among the world’s top oil exporters since the 1930s — and had governments that consistently had good relations with the United States.
7. under Chavez private business was doing just fine, lol
8. UN Independent Expert: Sanctions Must be Terminated and Economic War Must End
In the following interview, UN independent expert Alfred de Zayas discusses his recent trip to Venezuela and his impressions of the current situation.
https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/13614
Here ya go, Mareks. And this isn’t even wacko Fox News, or some other far right new source. These folks try to get it correct, with truth and all.
https://www.vox.com/world/2018/5/22/17379674/venezuela-election-results-maduro-won-sanctions
Also facts seem to be confirmed by BBC.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36319877
Now back to wildlife news.
to change the focus on ‘the Wild West’ one can use Idaho Connection as a textbook example:
https://chomsky.info/199805__-2/
I will just give one last example. Here is a front page story in the New York Times on an ‘economic miracle’ in the United States. They describe ‘the prosperous new economy’ in ‘the nation’s most Republican state,’ with its ‘deep-seated distrust of the Federal Government’ and its ‘tradition of self-reliance,’ it happens to be Idaho.
… But it’s a prosperous new economy, and the most Republican state, and so on. From the article we don’t learn anything about the economic miracle, so you look elsewhere. For example, you can look at the publications of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Lab. This is a national laboratory, managed by the Department of Energy, jointly with the Lockheed-Martin corporation — that’s the private contribution symbolising self-reliance and distrust of the federal government. The publication opens by saying, ‘Americans have made a huge investment in the Idaho National Laboratory’ since it was founded in 1949 to bring us nuclear energy and a nuclear navy. Last year the Department of Energy put $850 million into this single site, which is the ‘premier engineering lab in the DOE system of national laboratories.’ Its mission is to ‘move federally developed technologies into private industry and academia.’
In academia, research and development is also federally funded, very substantially; its role is a kind of funnel for transferring public funds into private profits. Notice the phrase, ‘move federally developed technologies into private industry.’ That’s the role of the government in a free-enterprise economy. In the Idaho DOE lab, it’s not only nuclear energy; it’s also radio-active waste disposal, chemical processing, ‘the world’s most sophisticated materials and testing complex,’ a ‘rapid-tooling technology’ laboratory that should ‘revolutionise the way automobiles and other products are built’, after the tax-payer gifts are handed over to the private sector, a supercomputer centre to ensure that the United States stays at the forefront of computer development. To help out on that, the Clinton administration recently slapped a huge tariff on Japanese supercomputers which were undercutting the US ones — a magnificent contribution to free trade. The Clinton administration’s moves of that sort — tariff interventions — range from supercomputers to Mexican tomatoes, which were banned (technically, by threat, so a tariff was unnecessary), because they were preferred by American consumers, they pointed out.35
There are laws about this, but laws are not for rich and powerful people, they are for places like Haiti. The same DOE publication goes on to say that one of the purposes of the National Lab is to ‘assist start-up companies in attracting and securing state and federal grants and lines of credit’ — that’s what is known as entrepreneurial initiative and rugged individualism. In brief, the public invests massively, for fifty years, hands the gifts over to private power and profit, and we now admire this prosperous new economy, in the nation’s most Republican state, with its deep-seated distrust of the federal government and its tradition of self-reliance.
Again, it takes a good education to handle all of this, but that is the way the real economy works, in accordance with really existing market theory. And of course it’s not just the US; these are elementary facts about economic history since the eighteenth century, when England pioneered the way. And it’s well understood in the business world, if not by the saintly Alan and other ideologues — after all, they’re the ones who designed it. The depression in the 1930s removed any lingering beliefs that some form of capitalism might be viable; the New Deal measures barely affected it, but World War Two overcame it. World War Two was a grand success economically; there was a kind of semi-command economy, directed by corporate executives who flocked to Washington to run it, and they learned the lessons. It was confidently predicted, across the board, that the US would go right back into depression after the war; therefore something had to be done, the business press was frank about it. Fortune and Business Week reported that high-tech industry cannot survive in a ‘pure, competitive, unsubsidised, “free enterprise” economy’ (specifically the aircraft industry, though the point was more general), and ‘the government is their only possible saviour.’
https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/05/01/the-cult-of-hunting-and-its-timely-demise/
excellent!
https://www.thelocal.fr/20171227/angry-french-locals-save-stag-chased-into-private-garden-by-hunters-and-dogs
hunting with dogs, bait, traps and snares, bows and arrows …not fair chase. Hunting with dogs is extreme cruelty. Laws must change to reflect our understanding of wildlife and their sentience and capacity for fear and pain.
Ho-ly hell, how many dogs are there around that poor animal? I’m glad some people intervened.
Bow and arrows not fair chase.
Right.
and this
https://www.thelocal.fr/20171107/deer-kills-french-hunter-in-uncommon-attack
why does public outrage so rarely result in reform. Indeed, hunting with hounds belongs in the past as a stain on history.
Cougar attack in Western WA…developing story.
https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/1-dead-1-injured-in-mountain-lion-attack-near-north-bend/281-555709031
I didn’t see your post, Moose.
A little more info,
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/eastside/1-dead-1-injured-in-cougar-attack-on-eastside/
“Cougar That Killed Cyclist Was Underweight, Likely Desperate”
Excerpt: “A young male, the puma weighed about 100 pounds and was quite emaciated, possibly the result of disease, injury, poisoning, or who knows what.
“’Those animals that are unhealthy or hindered in some way, whether they have an injury or are starving, they are more likely to exhibit these sorts of dangerous behaviors,’…”
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/05/fatal-cougar-attack-washington-sj-brooks-isaac-sederbaum-animals/
Also important to note that the guy who was killed got off his bike and RAN. Excerpt:
“A recent study shows that if you run, the odds that you will be attacked increase—and the odds that it will be a fatal attack also go up (scientists suspect this is because running triggers the puma’s natural predatory response).”
“Oregon, which has year round cougar hunting, presently kills 3-4 times as many cougars a year as California, yet it has many, many more complaints and livestock depredations. Are Oregon cougars just craftier than their California cousins–and better able to attack livestock than in the Golden State? Or is something else going on here?”
https://newwest.net/topic/article/oregons_assumptions_on_cougar_hunting_misplaced/C564/L564/
Amazing. It’s amazing that we continue with methods of management that fail simply because it appeases a small demographic. Also, once a belief becomes ingrained into a group’s belief system it seems no amount of science or evidence is good enough to alter it.
the guy who was killed got off his bike and RAN
++++
if we dismiss that he was scared out of his mind then maybe he had a wild hope that he will run faster than a bike because he had Puma’s sneakers on his feet?
so the puma was desperate and the guy was desperate – and now both of them are dead. It was fate / karma – I would like to see commentary from some karma specialist
Rubbish rage: officers protect collectors in Dutch recycling wars
Powers to censure recalcitrant households have sparked fears for workers’ safety
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/21/rubbish-rage-officers-protect-collectors-in-dutch-recycling-wars
The mayor of Best, Hans Ubachs, said: “A garbage man was told: I know where your children go to school. That is unacceptable.
“They must stay away from our people, and also from the people who work for us. Residents are not allowed to bother these men in their work, threaten them verbally or swear at them.
The Dutch ministry of internal affairs spent almost €40m (£35m) between 2006 and 2016 on combating aggression and violence against the providers of public services.
Humans just 0.01% of all life but have destroyed 83% of wild mammals – study
Groundbreaking assessment of all life on Earth reveals humanity’s surprisingly tiny part in it as well as our disproportionate impact
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/21/human-race-just-001-of-all-life-but-has-destroyed-over-80-of-wild-mammals-study
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2018/05/22/heres-why-there-are-so-many-coyotes-and-why-they-are-spreading-so-fast/?utm_term=.78772257602e
Just when you began thinking it was safe to re-enter the water, wolves now blamed for shooting cattle.
http://www.capitalpress.com/Livestock/20180522/washington-ranchers-increase-reward-for-cow-shooters
I was just going to share this. Isn’t it a coincidence that whoever is killing these innocent cows is gut shooting them? They let them suffer.
Unlike the man in the article I do not believe this is a wolf advocate. Wolf advocates generally have empathy for all animals.
Yeah, then the daffodils reply, how can you have empathy for an animal that eats its prey while it’s still alive? It’s called nature, and if not for coursing predators like wolves, we’d have nothing but cows.
And if we had nothing but cows, we wouldn’t have cows either.
I don’t believe its a wolf advocate either. Maybe it’s someone who wants cattle off public lands?
Interesting story and accompanying comments. The thing is, wolves have been illegally killed now for decades. We continually are observant of sss, gut shoot etc that have occurred in regard to wolves, most of which are just talk.
But then we get that 10% number of illegally killed wolves reported, at least here in MN. Now, apparently we have a doer instead of a talker in regard to cattle. Is it in regard to wolves as Hedrick suggests, is it a false flag operation to emphasize wolf problems real or imagined, or is it just some nut with a gun? If a deranged individual can shoot school children, it’s not difficult to imagine some idiot shooting cattle.
Bottom line, to much vitriol in regard to the entire situation, and folks need to
Understand that whatever they say/write may feed the fires of an unbalance individual. There is no reason to illegally shoot any animal, in particular with cause to make it suffer. Let’s hope, that if there is a hell, there exists a special corner for these types of people.
agreed, Immer!
I don’t know, I don’t think people should be expected to be under gag order because of being held hostage by what these people may do.
They probably are led by their own ‘voices’, for all we know – and they will do what they will do regardless of what anyone else says and does.
Of course there is no reason to make an animal suffer, but there are those out there who do just that, purposely.
The agricultural industry will stop at nothing, it seems. “Wolf fallout”? – no animal rights or welfare advocate who has empathy would ever want to harm the cows.
These are dangerous people – have you all read the report of the Arizona rancher who trapped an endangered Mexican wolf with a government tracking collar, and beat it to death with a shovel, and proudly admitted it to the authorities, receiving only a paltry fine and probation. What kind of an irrational act is that – by the rancher and those we entrust to oversee our public lands. I’m so glad I would never spend a dime on their product.
And wild horses and burros are shot every so often too. What these animals all have in common is that they wandered onto ranchland.
or New Mexico, sorry:
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/man-sentenced-for-trapping-killing-wolf/article_e02c5510-d2d4-5e27-80eb-bf4f5fcf0a09.html
The article held back a little it would appear also, in what happened. Now if it had been a wildlife encounter wit a human ….
Ida, Maybe the Arizona rancher you speak of has experienced this first hand? I know of some dog lovers that would use a shovel in defense of their pampered pooch.
http://washingtonwolf.info/livestock_attacks.html
Much can be said of those that want to maximize the above and their real compassion for animals.
Lefty animal “lovers” are certainly not immune to violence. Two recent events says as much.
https://breaking.americanewscentral.com/2018/04/15/prominent-activist-commits-suicide-lighting-fire-protest-global-warming/
https://qz.com/1244549/nasim-najafi-aghdam-the-youtube-shooter-was-an-animal-rights-activist-angryE-at-youtube-over-her-ad-revenues/
Mat-ters, first, if the AZ rancher was defending himself it would have come out in his court proceedings. Common sense.
“Lefty animal “lovers” are certainly not immune to violence. Two recent events says as much.”
Animal lovers come in the right-wing version of politics, too. There will always be mentally ill and extremists on both sides of the political realm. Again, common sense.
Whether someone leans left or right with politics may not equate with whether they will utilize physical methods to defend themselves or loved ones, whether it be wildlife, domestic animals or a human attack.
the wolf was in a trap…and he hit the animal with a shovel. That’s defense? that is cruelty and breaking a federal law. This lefty animal lover continues to be shocked by the USFWS lack of enforcement and willful disregard for the health of Red and Mexican wolves especially. I can’t be civil in thinking about someone who would kill a trapped animal with a damn shovel or trap one for that matter.
Louise,
Don’t waste your time on him.
114 Mexican wolves left in the wild and this guy beats and kills one.
I recently did some research for a presentation and found photos of ‘Old Three Toes” and “The Custer Wolf”. It’s hard to read their stories.
“They weren’t satisfied with simply killing wolves. They had to torture them first.” Too tired to go look up who said that, but it’s true.
What this species have endured in America since the found of Jamestown is nothing beyond my realm of thinking.
The problem with this rancher was the consequences should match the crime. He got off easy.
I’ve been trying to figure out what the big deal is over wolves every since I hear Bill McIrvine yammering on and on about the ‘rogue EPA’ after the Wedge pack killed some of his cattle grazing on national forest land. Why he was carrying on about EPA I do not know. I’ve read books, articles and research papers and I still cannot figure out why so many White men and women hate wolves, lie about being followed by a wolf, or encircled by a ‘pack of wolves’ (like the girl in AZ recently when there is only 114 Mexican Greys left, so really?)
The irrationality, illogical frame of thought and stupidity is frustrating. The outright evilness toward this species is just angers me.
Correction: What this species have endured in America since the founding of Jamestown is beyond my realm of thinking.
Long day. Tired.
I think some of it is ignorance and culturally ingrained. That same mindset that drives authoritarians seems pervasive in anti wolf circles. fear , ignorance and a hatred for things or beings that can’t be “controlled” as well as a belief in human superiority over all other beings. Anyone that has really watched animals understands they all have capacity to fell, think, grieve, feel pain, feel security and bond. We are just too stupid as a species to recognize non human forms of communication, emotion and response. and then again its easier to use, kill, maim, torture and displace animals if we perpetuate the myth that they are lesser beings. it sickens me to hear people like Trump call other people animals as if that is an insult. I hate that term in context and for its perceived “insult”. To dismiss the beauty and wonder of all animals means something is lacking in one’s heart and mind. To kill and maim for sport is a criminal activity in my mind, and until it is treated as such we are in trouble. We can’t exist without other species…
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180527105806.htm
on another note…when people learn to appreciate wildlife they become interested in protecting it. As opposed to learning to devalue wildlife through liberal trophy hunting and wildlife killing laws. I remember reading something about opinions on wolves before and after ESA protections were removed and hunting commenced and how opinions of wolves dropped. Its got to change. I’ll say it again. Regional and state laws are too parochial and probematic. Carnivores need a national protection act.
Bad news for bird traffickers. I hope they are convicted on and spend years in prison. I wish we had this strong of laws for all wildlife.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/six-defendants-charged-collectively-trafficking-over-four-hundred-migratory-birds
http://www.uwyo.edu/uw/news/2018/05/long-term-research-shows-domestic-cattle-resist-oral-exposure-to-chronic-wasting-disease.html An easy read: 10 year oral exposures result in no transmission. It reviews that cows have had transmission when challenged with injections to brain. It’s just now working so well otherwise. It’s good cause if cows get CWD it may act allot like BSE (mad cow) in them, which people can get, if they eat cows.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2018/05/23/watch-a-fox-fight-a-bald-eagle-in-midair/?utm_term=.50dcb627e498
Taxpayer-subsidized salmon being eaten by protected seals..editorial asking for changes to 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act to make it easier to kill more California and Steller seals.
https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/editorials/congress-must-act-again-to-save-salmon-from-hungry-sea-lions/
Sea Lions
The other thing is that I would not be at all surprised if some of these cattle have been shot by the ranchers themselves! The skinny, underweight, diseased or poor performing (much like hunters do with their beloved, part-of-the family hunting dogs), then left out for the predators to destroy the evidence of – and then blame the wolves and send the taxpayers the bill!
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/389440-pro-hunting-trump-officials-take-ax-to-wildlife-protections
This administration is the worst….
I just feel there must be a more humane way.
But forgive me for going off on a geek tangent for a minute. I just had to share. I had what I thought to be milkweed growing in my front border for the last or last couple of years, but never got any flowers. The leaves looked like milkweed, and they had the white sap when I broke one of the leaves.
So this year when I saw them up, I thought I’d have to weed them. But, when I looked, there appeared to be cauliflower-head type buds, so I think this is the year I’m going to get flowers, and can help the Monarchs. Thrilling!
Yay! Good thing you didn’t pull them! Some plants need to mature x number of years before they flower. As an aside, years ago in Montana, I went to a neighbor’s house and there on the table sat a vase crammed with wild trillium. It was all I could do to stifle a gasp. It takes 7 years for trillium plants to mature and flower!
Are you familiar with the milkweed map? I had no idea there were so many species. https://monarchwatch.org/bring-back-the-monarchs/milkweed/milkweed-regions-seed-needs/
Wow. I have never seen a trillium in the wild and I always look for them. One day, I hope to!
Here ya go, Ida…you can put yourself on the map!
https://monarchjointventure.org/our-work/monarch-conservation-efforts-map/
Thank you Kathleen! 🙂
They looked so much like milkweed, I gave them a chance. This year, I hit the jackpot with them.
I had no idea either there were so many native species. Yay!
You might find that common milkweed is more weedy and invasive even that some of the others. Near me butterfly milkweed (or butterfly weed), the spectacular orange one, is better behaved.
Thanks! I’m not sure what they will be until they flower, but I have the impression that they will be common milkweed. I have some seeds for the orange butterfly weed that I never have planted, so I should do that
Asclepias tuberosa – what a beautiful name! I wonder if they are fragrant?
“Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth:
Biggest analysis to date reveals huge footprint of livestock – it provides just 18% of calories but takes up 83% of farmland”
Some really shocking stuff here:
Excerpt: “The new research shows that without meat and dairy consumption, global farmland use could be reduced by more than 75% – an area equivalent to the US, China, European Union and Australia combined – and still feed the world. Loss of wild areas to agriculture is the leading cause of the current mass extinction of wildlife.
“The new analysis shows that while meat and dairy provide just 18% of calories and 37% of protein, it uses the vast majority – 83% – of farmland and produces 60% of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions. Other recent research shows 86% of all land mammals are now livestock or humans.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding-meat-and-dairy-is-single-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth?platform=hootsuite
And just in case anyone feels inspired… “10 Weeks to Vegan”
https://hub.veganoutreach.org/page/4202/data/1?ea.tracking.id=tips
“Erratt reported that she told the man to remove his bird feeders, clean up the sunflower seed husks, spread some moth balls and stop feeding the deer and turkey corn”
http://nbcmontana.com/news/offbeat/man-punches-black-bear-in-the-nose-to-save-his-dog
Duh????
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/14/stupid-humans-smart-enough-to-know-it
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/25/opinions/we-are-the-dinosaurs-of-today-opinion-brusatte/index.html
The consequences of trump’s destruction of democracy, our institutions and the appointments to lead the agencies overseeing our institutions.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/06/01/facing-reassignment-under-trump-a-well-regarded-national-park-service-official-will-instead-retire/?utm_term=.9217b71d151a
“Bringing back bison – and more tales of animal hope”
“This week’s edition of our Upside series looks at efforts to undo the damage caused by humans to animals”
Excerpt: “We need to talk about human beings. A recent study has revealed the disproportionate and devastating impact that humanity (just 0.01% of all living things) has had, in particular our destruction of a staggering 83% of all wild mammals.
“So this week we bring you efforts to turn the tide, restoring animals who had disappeared and protecting those in danger of doing so.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/01/bringing-back-bison-and-more-tales-of-animal-hope
Wow. The kiwi of course is the national symbol of New Zealand, and in China the giant salamander inspired the Yin and Yang symbol of Taoism:
http://www.newsweek.com/giant-chinese-salamander-worlds-largest-amphibian-heading-extinction-937004
But in modern times, it’s only us. There isn’t the respect for other creatures as there once was.
It always strikes me as odd that when our native wildlife in the US is gone – we’ll revere them as the names of sports teams. I’d rather have the animal in the wild, quite frankly.
European settlers near me killed every last resident elk, deer, bear, wolf, turkey, crane, swan, and even goose, by 1880. Those were the days.
Those were the days…. days where you had to really plan for the winter. Where you stock the fruit cellar the best you could. Days where you couldn’t run down to Wal-Mart and pick up a dozen eggs and tofu! Days where the old farmers almanac hung in the outhouse for some of the best personal hygiene. Some used corncobs and I’m convinced that those that are all in on climate change/global warming train would do humanity a great favor if they would back to it!
Those were the days that it took FIVE weeks to get from the east coast to Illinois and ONLY half that if you took the train…ONCE it was available. Those were the days where 5 percent of all births resulted in the death of the mother & 25% of all baby’s died in their first year! Rork, I get a kick out of those that have malice for those European settlers. Their plight can be better understood when put into the context of what is going on in Venezuela as we speak.
https://panampost.com/sabrina-martin/2016/05/04/in-venezuela-residents-resort-to-hunting-dogs-on-the-street/?cn-reloaded=1,
“Companies take first steps to drill for oil in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge”
Excerpt: “After reviewing the permit application, Peter Nelson, director of federal lands at the advocacy group Defenders of Wildlife, said: ‘One thing is pretty notable: how many inaccuracies and missing pieces of information there are. It really provides more evidence that industry and the Trump administration are being pretty reckless with this process.’”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/companies-take-first-steps-to-drill-for-oil-in-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge/2018/05/31/8f133464-643a-11e8-a768-ed043e33f1dc_story.html?utm_term=.7ed76464b6b2
a/k/a the first tentative steps to see how much they can get away with, such as environmental studies. Just like the proposed grizzly hunt in the West.
The lack of responsibility for the proposed site is astounding. It must be pretty bad if it received this kind of response:
“But while President Trump, congressional Republicans, the oil industry and Alaskan leaders have been pushing hard to develop the refuge that had been off-limits to petroleum exploration for more than three decades, the Interior Department’s initial response to the consortium’s permit application was scathing.
“This plan is not adequate,” Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service said in a reply to the seismic application, adding that it showed “a lack of applicable details for proper agency review.” Copies of the permit application and the Fish and Wildlife Service reply were obtained by The Washington Post.”
I think it will be awhile yet. 😉
The sage grouse isn’t just a bird – it’s a proxy for control of Western lands
https://theconversation.com/the-sage-grouse-isnt-just-a-bird-its-a-proxy-for-control-of-western-lands-94729
(See comments section for my thoughts on this essay.)
That conservation was the primary goal might have been assumed, but your point was good. But what I really thought amusing was your fawning responder – not sure if that comment will persist for long.
Yes, perhaps…though the longer I’m around these issues the more I’ve come to doubt that we (people, generally) have a shared vision for what conservation or sustainability means. One reasonable definition sustainability, for example, would permit people to take as much (of a resource) as possible without jeopardizing our future ability to take the resource; another might be to take only as much as is needed to sustain life. Seems a lot of talking past one another that occurs on sites like TWN occurs because of such differences?
(BTW, I’ve a new policy with trolls. Let ’em stay under the bridge, I say. So offense to the latitudinally-challenged Michiganders intended, LOL.) 🙂
Sorry, should’ve been “NO offense to…”
http://worldanimalnews.com/biology-teacher-robert-crosland-feeds-live-puppy-snapping-turtle-idaho-wasnt-stopped/
geez
Update–just cutting/pasting from my FB page:
UPDATE: The Idaho middle school teacher who fed a live, sick puppy to a captive snapping turtle in the classroom–with students present–has been charged. In the photo below, he grins as he feeds a live rat to a turtle in 2005. The school superintendent called the puppy incident “a regrettable circumstance involving some of the biological specimens.” Biological specimens??? These are sentient nonhumans! What are they teaching kids about animals at that school anyhow???
https://news.hjnews.com/news/crime_courts/preston-teacher-charged-with-animal-cruelty-in-connection-to-snapping/article_b339d769-dbbb-5ba2-a24c-1544c8d2d8dc.html
With teachers like that it is not surprising how badly Wolves fare in Idaho
Bizarre that someone would characterize that incident as unfortunate
https://globalnews.ca/news/1932442/famous-grizzly-bear-feared-shot-by-hunters-in-b-c-s-chilcotin-region/
Thankfully, BC banned grizzly bear trophy hunting at the end of last year. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/plan-to-end-grizzly-trophy-hunting-in-bc-announced-1.4247060
But I am sure this is what we can expect if the grizzly hunt goes through as planned. Once guns are let loose in the woods, no assurances can be guaranteed.
The sad part is that hunters themselves do not feel any obligation to consider other people, such as the importance of the national parks’ wolves and bear are to visitors wildlife watchers, and scientists.
It’s all about their greed, and making a statement, despite any goodwill that would come from their leaving a collared animal alone.
What an insult to be asked to consider their point of view, when they won’t in return!
Excellent editorial on the sanitizing of wildlife killing policies. I know some won’t agree but state agencies show a disturbing lack of consideration for non hunters and an unwavering determination to ignore independent research that conflicts with their institutional biases. It’s bad enough at the state level, but watching Zinke run the Interior department like a hunting club is really demoralizing. It is 2018, trophy hunting, trapping, snaring, dogs chasing wildlife, baiting, electronic calls and other forms of sport killing are unacceptable in this world of shrinking habitat, species and decency. Why do these agencies do everything they can to convince a new generation that sport hunting for non edible species is conservation and to turn public lands into killing fields?
$ makes the world go round. Evolution can be a slow and painful process, with no guarantee of the direction in the high it will go. We’ve journeyed from kill it whatever you want and god giving us dominion over the animals, to attempting to maintain that sweet spot on the sigmoid growth curve for surplus take (farming wildlife)at the expense of carnivores; to where we now find ourselves, with carnivores
Hanging on by their tooth and nail where we allow them. The rapacious appetite of man requires to be stifled, and soon, otherwise the creatures with whom we share this blue sphere are not long for existence.
Ironic that autospell was created to assist in typing proficiency, but will also contribute to “did I write that” garbling.
With no guarantee of the direction in which it will go
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/carnivores-alter-behaviour-research-1.4672383
coyotes have become mostly nocturnal in response to human presence/persecution.
Deer have too, I have read? It’s best that wildlife avoid us at all costs, I think.
The kleptocrats are stealing our country right our from under us.
“Secretary Zinke Is Poised to Give More Breaks to Drilling Industry and Less Oversight to Public”
Excerpt: “A little-known federal advisory committee, the Royalty Policy Committee (RPC), is quietly proposing to reduce the amount of money that oil and gas companies would have to pay states, tribal governments, and U.S. taxpayers for the rights to drill on federal and tribal lands and waters, as well as further prevent public oversight of oil and gas development on public lands. Members of the RPC, who were hand-picked by Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke in October, are expected to vote on this radical rewrite of federal public lands management policy in a meeting this week. If Secretary Zinke adopts the committee’s recommendations, these measures would deliver financial benefits to the individuals, companies, and trade associations that dominate the committee.”
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2018/06/04/451582/secretary-zinke-poised-give-breaks-drilling-industry-less-oversight-public/
https://nywolf.org/pupdate-7-week-old-red-wolf-pups-growing-more-independent/
wow look at those faces! beautiful pups
https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2018/04/13/commentary-trumps-latest-attack-on-the-environment-harms-wildlife-and-taxpayers/comments/
https://www.sierraclub.org/lay-of-the-land/2018/05/our-reflections-wyoming-approves-extreme-grizzly-bear-trophy-hunt?utm_source=insider&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter
state wildlife agencies and commissions always on the ready to support trophy hunting. For grizzlies that take a decade for a female to replace itself in the population and 40 years to go from 150 to 700! wow how stupid and short sighted.
May I recommend:
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/05/yellowstone-grizzly-bear-hunts-wyoming-controversy-animals/
It shows several hunters against griz hunting. There is no need unless you are thinking you can play some psychology games on the citizens. It’s bad for hunters, bad for tourism. If there are “problem bears”, trophy hunts are no answer. I think there is a “poke the bunny huggers in the eye, even if it’s stupid” thing to it.
I’m trying to keep these huffery-puffery articles in perspective, because the final decision will come from the court in August (pre-hunt, oh joy!)
So frickin’ SICK of this corrupt, self-serving administration that is bent on killing and stealing the treasures–public land, nonhuman animal citizens, natural resources–that truly make America great!
“Ryan Zinke Ignores Wildlife Experts To Tap Montana Ally, Fellow Hunter For Conservation Advice”
Excerpt: “Montana native David Spady is a longtime conservative operative in California, a foe of government regulation, the environmental movement and climate science, and a ubiquitous presence on social media chronicling his ostentatious gun and hunting escapades.
“He’s also a man with extraordinary access to the Trump family, top administration officials and Republican lawmakers, and was recently tapped to advise the head of the Interior Department on wildlife and habitat conservation.
…”Spady appears to live a lavish lifestyle. He travels a lot. He’s a fan of taxidermied creatures, energy drinks, wild game and guns, guns, guns.”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ryan-zinke-wildlife-conservation-montana-david-spady_us_5b153d81e4b010565aadf457
Do look thru this article for the photos and tweets even if you don’t read the entire thing. Outrageous and despicable.
He’s also a wolf-hater, anti-ESA, and anti- government. From a webpage for a film he made:
“Wolves in Government Clothing is a documentary film about predators in the wild, and in government, and how the Endangered Species Act (ESA) has empowered both of them to destroy people’s lives.
“Witness firsthand accounts from those who are forced to deal with wolves on a daily basis. Its the story of two predators with similar characteristics: wolves and Federal government agencies. The reality is, if we don’t control these predators…they will control us.”
http://wolvesingovernmentclothing.com/
Its hard to take this daily dose of horror. When Trump was announced the President after stealing the election, my greatest fear and consequent heartbreak was for the wildlife and public lands that would suffer under these thugs.
Wisconsin Wolf Count/Numbers Down Slightly
https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/4456399-wisconsin-wolf-count-down-slightly
Insignificant change may hint at population stabilization.
Our wolf count in MI hasn’t been made public yet – they are so slow. Deer harvest report also not yet public.
I’m in doubt about under what conditions peak wolf is density driven (“they kill each other, and suppress population growth”) and when it’s prey driven (“they starve”). The expert(s) will probably say it depends on just where and when, which makes sense. I had thought starting around 2012 that is was density around here, since upper MI wolf numbers had been flat for 2 years after a long stretch of constant growth. It was proof that we don’t need to hunt them, though it slows deer population rebounds after deadly winters. If it goes up a bit this year (like I hear of MN) then maybe it means you can squeeze in a few more if you have deer numbers rise allot. I realize some preach that rise in deer is impossible under peak wolf, but that looks obviously false for many places. Deer hunters are a greedy and impatient club though, mostly. Perhaps they will grow up someday.
Interesting and thorough article in HCN. The cold water anglers will enjoy.
https://www.hcn.org/articles/climate-change-signs-of-climate-change-surround-montana-fishermen
I wouldn’t count on that stopping the human desire to kill them. I think the DNC in Michigan and says that there are a ‘variety’ of reasons to want to ‘manage; woves besides threats to livestock (which previously was the biggie). Probably sport hunting now, another stumbling block to wolf recovery. People are not reasonable creatures. This was an article about it from earlier in the year:
http://www.miningjournal.net/life/2018/02/wolf-livestock-debate-continues/
oops, Freudian slip – I meant the DNR in Michigan.
https://mountainlion.org/ActionAlerts/012318NEHuntingSeason/012318NEHuntingSeason.asp
“Bison gores California woman at Yellowstone National Park, officials say”
Some people in the crowd were closer than 15 feet!!! Do these people understand that these are living, breathing wild animals and not some sort of NPS special effects???
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/06/07/bison-gores-california-woman-at-yellowstone-national-park-officials-say.html
I don’t know what the reason is – but it.happens.all.the.time. When I saw them it made me want to keep a healthy distance – for me as well as for them. They are big! And gorgeous.
Speaking of Yellowstone and bison, I hear they are trying to push Dan Wenk out? Good grief:
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/green/Yellowstone-Boss-Says-Trump-Administration-Forcing-Him-Out-484884941.html
David Thompson (around 1808) tells stories of Iroquois Indians who came out west to trap (their homelands had no more beaver) and did not listen to the locals that Bison were potentially dangerous. The Iroquois called the locals women, until a few of them were attacked and even killed. They also failed to follow the rule of never shooting at grizzlies when alone, and died that way too.
So incredibly sad and this is probably just a small example of marine life effected:
https://weather.com/science/environment/video/80-plastic-bags-found-inside-dead-whale?pl=pl-the-latest
Till the human species starts giving a damn about the waste we’ve generated and how it effects the wildlife on land and water, we share the planet with:
https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/opinions/guest_columnists/wyoming-grizzly-hunt-is-ecologically-indefensible/article_050eeef5-43d0-59bf-8a9c-dc967396f53a.html
Good read
https://www.outsideonline.com/2232461/50-year-legacy-glaciers-night-grizzlies
Ha. You reminded me that if distributing garbage into the environment (baiting) is being used to hunt grizzlies, should the hunt come to pass – it just might have the unwanted effect of encouraging bears to come back into campgrounds, around garbage dumps and other human populated areas. People are discouraged from feed bears. Trash and food waste is ubiquitous around campgrounds and National Parks?
How is this logical? It isn’t. If the hunt does go forward, lazy baiting should *not* be allowed.
The writer claims griz hunt is about making money from selling licenses, but did not even attempt to estimate the amount of money it would bring or what it would cost to administer. I’m very skeptical.
This page had good maps and numbers about division of the “discretionary mortality” within the “demographic monitoring area” drawn around yellowstone.
http://www.westernbearfoundation.org/wyoming-grizzly-bear-hunting-regulation/
PS: I think of Bitterroots as being rather far from Wyoming.
Highlights:
The original recovery plan required grizzlies to become established in the Selway-Bitterroot area, offering hope of restoring connections to the currently-isolated Yellowstone bear population over the long term to allow genetic interchange. That’s still biologically necessary, but instead of living up to that commitment, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service chose to create a new “Distinct Population Segment” in Yellowstone for the purpose of de-listing it, giving itself a chance to move the recovery goalposts to suit the political whims of the day.
From a hunting website:
Oh yeah, this sounds like great management. The states can ‘do whatever they want outside of the Designated Management Area?’ It really does not inspire a lot of confidence. Outside of the “DMA” is where baiting may (or may not) be allowed as well. Talk about slavering at the bit. How did this ever get by:
“So why is this important when talking about the grizzly hunt area 7 and 8 you ask. Well those areas are outside the DMA, therefore the moralities in those units do not count towards the total quota and are not governed by the Tri-State MOA. Basically the states can do whatever they want with Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Bears outside of the DMA. Wyoming decided they would allow 12 harvests in 2018. There is no female mortality threshold in these areas and it will not be closed unless the total quota is filled or the season ends based on closure date in regulations.”
http://www.westernbearfoundation.org/wyoming-grizzly-bear-hunting-regulation/
Sorry the first paragraph is mine, the second is from the hunting website.
So you’ve read it, and know that once two females are killed within the DMA the season is over there.
Hope everyone who cares about wildlife is reading the entire regs (just a small part of it)
“Hunters may take any grizzly except dependent young or females with dependent young”
•Each of the hunt units 1-6 will have individual mortality quotas that total up to the 10 boars and 2 sows
“So the total available bears available for harvest in 2018 would technically be 24. That being said 24 harvests is highly unlikely.(Really? my word) The DMA tags (Hunt Areas 1-6) operate a little differently than the non-DMA tag (area
7). The DMA harvest will be very restricted. Applicants will have to apply to be on a list. They will then be assigned a number. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department will then call the 1st applicant and 2nd applicant on the list. Those individuals will then have the opportunity to pay for the grizzly permit . They can then hunt any open hunt area located within the DMA which is comprised of hunt areas 1-6. (Guide gets how many tags? – my words)
If they should be lucky enough to shoot boars then they department will move to next two on the list and so on and so forth until the total quota for the DMA units has been met. So the way this works is the amount of licensed hunters in the field at any given time shall not exceed the collective female mortality limit available. .
This is a safety mechanism. It ensures that at no time there are more hunters than females left in quota. This is crucial guardrail built in by the Department to mitigate over harvest of females.
This is a very important piece to the sustainability of not only the grizzly bear in the GYE
*******but the sustainability of our grizzly hunting seasons***Getting a clue who’s driving this hunt?
If this number is breached it could jeopardize the de-listed status of the Greater Yellowstone Grizzly Bear. So if the first two hunters on the list go out and each shoot a bear, 1 male and 1 female the department will only call 1 hunter off the list next as there is only 1 female left in the collective mortality.
If the 1st two hunters out of the gate (love that term, my words) in the DMA shoot sows the season is over regardless of how many boars are left in quota. So the 24 total is not guaranteed and actually highly unlikely.
And here we are, my words, those that oppose folks who have nothing better to do with their lives/and money, who can’t wait to shoot wildlife, making a fragile comeback, in what’s left of wilderness areas.
In the regs –
This is an important thing to remember when all those anti-hunters start chiming in on the total available bears in the harvest.
Now the NON-DMA unit is much different. Hunt area 7 and 8 are outside the DMA therefore those bears are not actually counted toward the overall 3 state mortality quota. Lets give you a little background on that.
During the delisting process the 3 states in the GYE had to decide how they would manage the surging grizzly population. Due to the Recovery Criterion built in to ensure that the GYE grizzly bears never fall back on the list the 3 states had to determine how to manage the discretionary mortality of the bears within the GYE. In comes the Tri-State MOA (Memorandum of Agreement), a document that basically says how the 3 states are to manage their grizzly bears to ensure sustainability and healthy populations.
This agreement also lays out many bears each state will be able to harvest within the DMA based on previous years mortality. The MOA does not actually have a number of available harvest but a percentage based on the amount of the GYE that lies within each state.
So Wyoming has 58% of the DMA within its borders so Wyoming would get 58% of the total discretionary mortality. Montana gets 34% and Idaho gets 8%. So if the available discretionary mortality is 20 going into the summer Wyoming would get 58% of the 20 tags, that would be 11.6 tags, Montana 6.8 Tags, and Idaho 1.6.
Based on those values they then use another percentage to determine how many of those harvests can be sows. Each year this figure changes based on the previous years mortality outside of hunting.
This is another guardrail built in to ensure the population is not depleted below target levels and ensure the management stays in the states hands”
So keep all this in mind, talking about the taking of lives, of a fragile part of another non-human species, that took decades to “claw” their back from extinction.
Many of the uber, idle, rich/elite of our species, really do have nothing better to do with their spare time other than to kill, keep track and then tack these animals lives (heads, hides) on to some wall, keep score and impress their uber, like minded friends.
I wish soneonr like rod Coronado would track these hunters and post the kills so folks could know who the cowards are
What is with Wyoming?
Trophy hunting is a sickening act
It needs to be outlawed
I’m ready for the outrage
But mine is equal
It’s too bad that a F&W agent can’t accompany them along with a hunting guide – just to make sure they (all) can tell one bear from another, and that it is legally reported. 😉
The fact that we are being led to believe that everything will go perfectly and without any hitches at all is mind-boggling to me.
The fact that hunters are going to leave females with young alone in the short moments between pulling the trigger astounds me. That’s if they even can make the distinction and see the cubs before shooting. We read daily how hunters constantly mistake family dogs, horses, pickup trucks for their targets.
The fact that they think an educational course is going to solve any problem is ridiculous. Once guns are let loose out there, no one knows what is going to happen. If someone should shoot a female griz (mistakenly or otherwise), how would anybody know if it isn’t reported? We’re led to believe that everyone has honest intentions.
When I read ‘We can do anything we want’ outside of the DMA probably is the statement with the most truth to it.
I thought only one female was allowed to be taken now? Is it still listed as two? I don’t know how this can be enforced if the female bear isn’t reported, can someone enlighten me?
There isn’t going to be another year. 😉 If this year’s hunt goes though, and with the slow rate of reproduction of grizzlies, how can they and their silly equations and percentages justify another year’s hunt? Grizzlies are not going to produce another adult target for them to shoot at in one year, like at a carnival.
We’ve seen it with wolves, they go over quota every year in certain ‘zones’. The hunt is closed only afterwards, of course.
Nancy, you are right that hunting is the only concern, not the health of the species.
I thought I read that Wyoming was only allowing one female to be killed? And again, what if the hunter doesn’t report it?
http://mountainjournal.org/chief-of-yellowstone-forced-out
How convenient. Dan Wenk has been vocally anti-grizzly hunting. I hope he challenges this.
Disgusting. Not enough jail time. Hope he’s losing his livelihood.
“Alaska hunting guide sentenced to 30 days, fined $35,000”
http://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Alaska-hunting-guide-sentenced-to-30-days-fined-35000-484970941.html
And yet, we’re expected to believe that the outfitters and hunters in and coming to WY are all perfectly honest. I think it is all thoroughly disgusting:
“While we don’t feel that hunting and ecotourism are mutually exclusive, we didn’t want to put those two things in direct conflict with each other.”
— Dan Thompson, Wyoming Game and Fish Department large carnivore supervisor, explaining a no-hunting area abutting the east boundary of Grand Teton National Park
“I’d like to see a bigger buffer zone than a quarter-mile. This is a once-in-a-lifetime hunt. Let these people break a sweat and not just go 30 feet off a dirt road.”
— Leslie Patten, Sunlight Basin resident
https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/environmental/article_6d1794ba-6e7d-574d-85d3-95d157f62266.html
I think Mr. Thompson realizes, in the case of in and around Grand Teton National Park, that some hunters won’t be able to tell a grizzly from a pickup truck or Suburban, and could present a danger to the public.
You don’t want to let people take shots from too near the road because you’ll risk people looking for bears by driving around in a vehicle until they see one, and then trying to shoot it. Nobody wants that kind of tactics.
I expect griz hunters to be taking very careful shots, much more so than with deer, say, because taking bad shots is far more dangerous and they are likely wanting to shoot a large male – it’s almost surely their only chance to shoot a griz in their lives. Black bear hunters in MI pass up lots of shots, and take time because they need to inspect the animal carefully.
“Coyote in the crosshairs” from NPR’s All Things Considered
Excerpt: “After the competition, I ask Big Al Morris how he squares the love and respect he’s expressed for the coyote with his annual quest to kill as many of them as possible.” “I don’t know how to equate that. I don’t know how somebody who doesn’t know me would understand that killing them is an expression of my love. I think the coyote’s here for us to utilize. God put them here for us. I love them. I don’t want to eradicate them. But I’m damn sure going to kill a bunch every year.”
https://www.npr.org/2018/06/10/618410247/activists-push-to-ban-coyote-hunting-competitions?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=national
There’s a fluff piece out there about the grizzly hunt too – the writer says ‘at most, 22 bears will be killed out of nearly 700’. Apparently, the writer isn’t up on the biology – and the self-proclaimed modern day hunter/gatherer who says the usual humans given dominion over animals.
If that is so, then give up modern weapons. It always is shocking to me that these kinds of bizarre thought processes have a real effect:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/elizabethmacbride/2018/05/29/cowboy-in-a-yoga-pants-world-why-one-wyoming-outfitter-volunteered-to-talk-to-the-liberal-media/#306657c27bcf
I really really am dismayed at how parasitic of wildlife people are. I didn’t realize outfitters made that kind of money. I’m not happy that the article has such an unserious tone either.
I stood up for coyotes recently too. Someone said, Oh maybe it was a coyote! Aren’t they creepy? and I said no, they are beautiful.
It was in response to someone hearing a wild animal cry in the woods, which from the way it was described sounded more like a fox than a coyote. A song dog’s call is unmistakably beautiful.
A coyote on our property woke us up at 4:00 this morning barking and howling. In the far distance we could hear answers. It was magical. Heck, they were probably trying to locate each other in the dense smoke from the 416 Fire north of Durango. It was so thick you could practically cut it this a.m.
Just so amazing. 🙂
It’s not too often that fishers make the news. Sure hope this doesn’t turn into some kind of ‘find & kill the fisher’ vendetta. Why is a 5-yr-old outside picking up wild animals unsupervised?
“Police: Boy Injured By Fisher In Detroit Lakes Neighborhood”
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2018/06/11/fisher-scratches-boy/
It sounds a little far-fetched, doesn’t it. Nobody knows anything for sure, from the article.
“PENNSYLVANIA HUNTER MISTAKENLY KILLS 500-POUND GRIZZLY”
Northern Rockies ecosystem grizzlies get killed whether or not there’s a trophy hunt. This bear lived in Montana.
http://www.dailyinterlake.com/local_news/20180611/pennsylvania_hunter_mistakenly_kills_500-pound_grizzly
I hope this gets added to the persuasive precedent legal file. Someone from the East Coast obviously isn’t that knowledgeable about grizzlies – and the local outfitter or guide beating his chest and proclaiming to be a modern-day hunter/gatherer, where was he?
Better sign up again for that education program, like a driver’s test; this hunter failed.
This should count against the hunting quota in the fall, especially if it had been a female.
But there’s another worry – overlap of black bear season, and confusion in determining which is which.
Cecil…again??? “Outrage after Kruger lion baited and shot by trophy hunter in neighbouring reserve”
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2018-06-11-outrage-after-kruger-lion-baited-and-shot-by-trophy-hunter-in-neighbouring-reserve/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
Also: “Kruger lion hunted – what we know”
https://africageographic.com/blog/kruger-lion-hunted/
As much as I despise trophy hunting for predators the Q&A in the African Geographic article does a good job of explaining the dilemma. For comparison purposes, the greater Kruger area’s lion population is about the same size as the entire wolf population in the combined states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho and Kruger has one of the highest lion population densities in all of Africa so the population is healthy. Unlike the National Forest land that surrounds Yellowstone, all of the remaining wildlife hapitat bordering Kruger to the west consists of privately held game reserves which is where this lion was hunted. Some like Sabi Sands and Timbavsti are world famous for photographic tourism but the lesser known ones have to rely on limited trophy hunting to pay the bills so their choice is to keep it wild but have limited hunting or sell it off to become farms or for development. We visit Kruger every few years and those private reserves are critical buffers that minimize poaching within the National Park itself as the entire area is bordered by small towns and industrial agriculture.
The private reserves near Kruger that do allow hunting are very selective and professional about it. It is not like the free for all that the annual wolf slaughter has become in the Rocky Mountain West.
PS – if you all ever get a chance to got to Kruger go. It’s an amazing place, very affordable and you can do it yourself, no need for the “group tour” you get stuck on in much of Africa.
Cheers,
Joe
“Green group hits administration over staff cuts that hamper wildlife refuge visitor center”
Excerpt: “The National Bison Range in Montana — the 10th most visited refuge in the National Wildlife Refuge System — announced its visitor center will no longer be open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, despite the park still being open to guests.
…”“Closing a visitor center on days when hundreds of people are visiting is unprecedented. Denying them access to even basic visitor amenities, like the public bathrooms, is inexplicable,” the letter signed by PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch reads.”
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/391666-green-groups-challenge-administration-over-cuts-that-closed
“Daredevil raccoon’s Minnesota skyscraper climb”
I’ve never heard raccoons called “trash pandas”–have you? So glad it all turned out well for this raccoon. Great photos at article.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44465587
No, I have never, ever heard of raccoons being called ‘trash pandas’. Sounds like someone’s idea of being clever. All it leads to is the question of why is the trash left out there where the raccoons can get to it?
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MIDNR/bulletins/1f766e1
MI wolf count finally out 30 minutes ago. There may be news stories soon. 662 is the estimate (it’s methodology is constant, and designed to not be higher than the true number). It only comes every other year lately. Summary:
2018: 662
2016: 618
2014: 636
2013: 658
2011: 687
2010: 557
2009: 577
2008: 520
very fast growth rate before then.
Variance of the estimate not known by me. Flat since 2011 may be prudent interpretation. The press and others try to read things into every tiny fluctuation sometimes though.
Headline: “Wolf population rises 7.11974%”.
Or down 3.6% since 2011. Guess it all depends on how they look at their glass.
USFWS considers delisting of Wolves nationwide as another headline hits, study finds many species becomes by nocturnal to avoid humans. The GOP has found the perfect hirnan and despoiler in Zinke. That lying, science denying, trophy hunting thug knows no boundaries in his work to pillage public lands and wildlife.
Auto spell on phone dangerous
Hitman
Again, what about the court decision. At any rate, I don’t think they’re gonna get the grizzlies after the recent bombshell of killing a female and cubs on May 23 that was hidden from the public.
That means “0” by their formula, I think?
https://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2018/06/us_fish_and_wildlife_service_c.html is one version of that story.
“Wyoming officials are barging ahead with a September hunt of Yellowstone grizzly bears despite new information about bear deaths that shows that no hunting should occur this year.” (read on below)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/06/15/new-information-on-2017-yellowstone-grizzly-bear-deaths-should-nix-trophy-hunting-in-core-habitat/
“Yes, we know about this bear, but we had already had the quotas set up for this fall in April before it was reported,” Dan said. But what about adaptive management? “It was too late to make changes.” Really? They made plans for the hunt in April, licenses don’t sell till July, and the season does not open till September…plenty of time for changes, especially given the importance of live Yellowstone’s grizzlies to people around the world.
To late to change the hunting quota? This just flabbergasts me. She was radio collared as well, so they must have known very early. And her cubs were killed also.
We’ve been watching near-daily blowups (immense smoke columns) of the 416 Fire north of Durango and the Burro Fire from our house. The entire Four Corners is in the worst stage of drought and ready to burn. (Drought monitor current map: http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/)
“When wildfires rage, where do animals go?”
Wildlife and fire experts say critters can fend for themselves.
https://the-journal.com/articles/100598-when-wildfires-rage-where-do-animals-go
http://idahonews.com/news/offbeat/georgia-grandmother-wins-life-and-death-battle-with-rabid-bobcat-kills-it-with-bare-hands
Wow! JEFF E, because of the text/grammar, associated with this “attack” out of know where, it brought up memories of this little ditty 🙂
“incriminating claw marks” is funny. 😉
So depressing, this exploitation of other species, for perceived human need and greed.
https://www.pbs.org/video/the-worlds-most-wanted-animal-evunge/
“Grizzly committee to vote this week on delisting strategy for Northern Continental Divide bears”
Excerpt: “Bader noted that seven NCDE grizzlies have died in the past few weeks, including four that were hit by vehicles on roadways. He said the strategy made overly optimistic assumptions about how fast grizzly numbers are growing, which could prove disastrous if conditions change unexpectedly.”
https://missoulian.com/news/local/grizzly-committee-to-vote-this-week-on-delisting-strategy-for/article_59779bcf-136f-58f7-af41-b4071fca9a6b.html?utm_content=bufferfeb70&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=LEEDCC#tracking-source=home-top-story
Remember those reports of a ‘mysterious wolf-like creature’ shot in Montana recently? Well, brace yourselves – it was a wolf! Good grief, it’s the 21st century:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dna-test-reveals-identity-of-mysterious-wolf-creature-shot-in-montana/
“Rocky Mountain Wolf Project calls for animal reintroduction amid pushback”
Excerpt: “Although Colorado Parks and Wildlife wouldn’t stop a natural repopulation, Phillips says it’s very unlikely, if not impossible, for wolves to re-inhabit Colorado without human help. The main reason is because to the north, Wyoming aims to limit wolves to the northwest corner of the state. Outside of the designated areas — 88 percent of the state — wolves are considered predatory and can be killed without consequence, which has kept the animals from migrating to Colorado.”
Includes a map of wolves’ historic range in the entire U.S.
https://www.csindy.com/TheWire/archives/2018/06/18/rocky-mountain-wolf-project-calls-for-animal-reintroduction-amid-pushback
I would love this, if Colorado would step up to be the progressive Western state that it could really be.
“Park superintendent shuffle shouldn’t slow bison quarantine”
Excerpt: “The project was one that park superintendent Dan Wenk had hoped to see through. But Wenk recently told the Associated Press that he was being forced out of his job.
“The Interior Department announced last week that the National Park Service’s Midwest Regional Director Cam Sholly would replace him. When that will happen remains unclear.”
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/jun/17/park-superintendent-shuffle-shouldnt-slow-bison-qu/
https://www.popsci.com/national-park-wolves#page-4
I hope they take the wolves out of Idaho, Wyoming, Montana or Alaska out of those hostile, nasty, irresponsible states.
Ontario, Michigan, and Minnesota would be better. Local genes, and less transporting. Also, we have more. How hostile or responsible we are remains to be seen – not that I think we can outperform those first 3 states.
Wolves that know about moose might be good.
Oh My, I haven’t watched TV in years but I’m thinking this new series will go a long way in trashing or highlighting, what life is like now, out here in the west…..
Given how long this has taken to come to light/trial, it will be a “cold day in hell” before the negative effects on wildlife, are recognized and addressed.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/17/us/monsanto-roundup-dewayne-johnson-trial/index.html
Studies of all kinds of exposures have been going on for years in both Europe and the US. The Agricultural Health Study in the US has been following over 50000 ag workers. Giant paper came out May 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29136183
The epidemiologists exist, and are not sleeping.
There are meta-analysis papers out there too.
Ignorance. Bloodlust. Did I mention ignorance? The state official calls lethal removal “game management.”
“Coyote killing contest under fire by animal rights agencies”
https://www.statesman.com/news/national/coyote-killing-contest-under-fire-animal-rights-agencies/JZDpPXAUEcCHeeKSLqopPI/?platform=hootsuite
I’ve posted this before, but here’s an info-graphic as to why killing doesn’t work based on biology:
http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/images/photos/coyote-killing-infographic.jpg?credit=web_id169097269
If anyone feels so moved to email that to the contest officials: coyote.challenge@dnr.ga.gov
done thanks for link Kathleen.
Some good news on the Zinke front:
“Zinke has ‘no intention’ of revisiting Grand Canyon uranium mining ban”
https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2018/06/19/zinke-has-no-intention-of-revisiting-grand-canyon-uranium-mining-ban/
NOW…back to business as usual:
“Exclusive: Zinke linked to real estate deal with Halliburton chairman”
“In the interior secretary’s hometown, a development brings together the head of the nation’s largest oil-services company and a foundation created by the man who regulates it.”
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/19/ryan-zinke-halliburton-park-whitefish-montana-647731
“Trump rescinds Obama policy protecting oceans” AND GREAT LAKES.
Excerpt: “The order encourages more drilling and other industrial uses of the oceans and Great Lakes.”
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/393213-trump-rescinds-obamas-policy-on-protecting-oceans
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2018/06/20/thirteen-bald-eagles-were-found-dead-in-a-field-this-is-what-killed-them/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.7d7737f4db58
I second the “Womp Womp..” comment by Cheryl
Trapping: The Incidental Wolf in MN.
http://files.constantcontact.com/fc36f70e601/81446f2b-1685-4fef-aa79-7b949d7c9f13.pdf
People cry about the occasional dog culled by wolves, and in empathy, it’s tough if one lives in the woods to train a dog, plead with a dog, begging at times not to chase things. It ain’t the wolves fault.
Trapping, on the other ncidental take occurs with impunity.
Incidental take occurs with impunity.
Big ugly:
https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2018/06/21/a-canadian-firm-wants-to-start-mining-on-utah-lands-that-used-to-be-part-of-grand-staircase-escalante-national-monument/
“Why are long-billed curlews declining in Idaho? Turns out, humans are their most deadly predator.”
http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/environment/article213287959.html
Who else but the threat to all life on the planet? 😉
Why on earth do poachers want curlews?
“…the recent poaching cases are something more, with birds appearing to have been killed for no other reason than target practice — or worse, for no reason at all.”
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/jun/20/poaching-contributing-to-curlew-population-decline/
They are beautiful birds. The reason I asked was that I wasn’t aware that there was any kind of ‘market’ for them. But to kill one just because she was there, and near a nest as well, is just pathetic. I just cannot imagine the mindset of the kind of person who would do that. 🙁
Despite the fact that this clown is from my resident state, I really dislike how all his actions are underhanded, shady and morally suspect.
https://billingsgazette.com/news/government-and-politics/democrats-want-investigation-of-zinke-s-involvement-in-land-deal/article_8fc5475f-a1c4-5ed0-98ff-7ab84b8b9365.html#tracking-source=home-the-latest
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/us/bald-eagles-dead-maryland.html
“The world’s animals are getting their very own Facebook”
Excerpt: “The animal kingdom is getting its very own social network, but instead of vacation pics and baby announcements, it will be filled with data that could help conservationists save species from extinction.
“Wildbook is open-source software built to keep track of wildlife. Researchers can upload images taken from the field, but a significant source of data comes from scraping sites like Flickr and YouTube for pictures and videos that people post from trips like whale watching tours and safaris. Using deep learning, Wildbook’s platform spots the same individual in different images, letting conservationists track creatures through their lifetime as well as gain a better idea of population sizes.”
https://www.fastcompany.com/40585495/the-worlds-animals-are-getting-their-very-own-facebook
Another Myth Bites The Dust
https://phys.org/news/2018-06-yellowstone-landscape-scary.html
I like Kohl’s quote:
“Although our study is the first to show how a prey animal uses predator downtime to flatten its landscape of fear, I suspect other examples will emerge as more researchers examine the intersection between prey habitat use and predator activity rhythms.”
Flatten it’s landscape – tricky. I wondered if maybe plant impacts could still be altered a bit. How about partly or even mostly bites the dust? And I was thinking “Hunters may still find it’s harder to kill ungulates since those pesky wolves came”.
Thanks.
What a cutie, the Humboldt marten:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/weasel-like-species-is-threatened-with-extinction-and-pot-growers-are-part-of-the-problem-report-says/ar-AAz21et
“13 Unlucky Animals That Are Killed for Fun”:
Wildlife killing contests are still legal throughout much of the United States
https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/thirteen-unlucky-animals-wildlife-killing-contests
I have also seen “varmint” killing contests that include raccoons and jackrabbits. How sad to have a life so devoid of meaning that taking the lives of others is somehow satisfying.
🙁 I know. Especially in modern times when there is absolutely no reason for these throwback activities except killing. These may have started out because of farming and ranching, and religious and other superstition in the cases of wolves and rattlesnakes, but in modern times, we should be well beyond this kind of meaningless brutality.
I absolutely love snakes and have never feared them (but I do have a healthy respect for them if they are venomous). They are such interesting critters and I hope to have the good fortune to see (or hear) a rattlesnake in the wild one day. We have them on the East Coast, the timber rattlesnake.
Yes, they are awesome. The first rattler I heard & saw was in Smoky Mtn. Nat’l. Park, and that snake was a whopper. I’ve been rattled at a couple of times since moving back to the Four Corners–once on the road I live on and once in Mesa Verde. Just warning rattles–I believe they don’t want conflict with us anymore than we do.
“Rushed strategy could backfire, grizzly advocates warn”
Excerpt: “‘It seems like the same mistakes are being made here as happened in the Yellowstone, where the public was not allowed to comment on the revised strategy,’ said Sierra Club representative Bonnie Rice. ‘The conservation strategy is five years old now. There’ve been significant changes to it.’
“‘In the Yellowstone case, the Fish and Wildlife Service said it was a mistake to undergo a process where the public was asked to comment on a strategy, a proposed rule and regulations at the same time. You promised that process would not be repeated, and yet here we are.’”
https://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/rushed-strategy-could-backfire-grizzly-advocates-warn/article_99fc7766-eaa5-59a5-a451-cb92148e9a8b.html?utm_content=buffer073a7&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=LEEDCC
“The conservation strategy did have public supporters in Polson. Jeff Darrah of Montana Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife said his organization looked forward to an opportunity to hunt grizzlies.
“’Montana has been harvesting recovered wolves for many years,’ Darrah said. ‘Recovered grizzly bears shouldn’t be any different. We feel as sportsmen it’s time to manage this resource so it can be harvested.’”
Nothing more than a “resource” to be “harvested”–killed for a trophy. Disgusting.
Grizzly bears are very different. For one thing, their rate of reproduction is very slow. And there have been lots and lots of mistakes with wolf hunting, and going over quota.
I still can’t understand why a delisting automatically means killing must follow? I also don’t understand how it continue every year for grizzlies. One false move.
Oh, I can hardly wait for August, when all of this bluster by the sportsmen will be blown down by a judge.
Ida, Just wondering if you have an example of one “false move”?
If the bears are hunted too and over-zealously, they could be relisted is what I meant. For example, Idaho only has “1” bear they are allowed.
I don’t know how F&W is going to account for poached bears.
Don’t F & W management plans for any species account for poaching? Do you really feel the F & W are that responsible?
And once again the archaic and hypocritical use of the term “sportsmen”.
“The Forest Service will still have standards and guidelines. Those have not changed to objectives. We just changed the strategy to say objectives.”
????? What kind of hocus-pocus is that? There do seem to be loopholes big enough to drive a semi through.
Does this make the Eastern White Pime a Meat Eater?
https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2013/08/eastern-white-pine-a-meat-eater.html
From a friend in Ely Field Naturalists
Perhaps the term adult requires rethinking.
“Mayflies highlight in one way the problems and baggage humans have with how they define “adult”. We humans, and most (but not all) other mammals, live the biggest chunks of our lives as adults and think of our “adult stage” as the most important. We conflate, however, different functions of our adulthood: maintenance (eating, staying healthy and alive, etc.) and reproduction. For mayflies, the couple days as an “adult” are dedicated only to reproduction while the long period as nymphs has growth, eating, staying healthy and alive. For them, our 2 functions of adulthood are separated.
Short-tailed weasels highlight a different way of splitting what we call adulthood. Young females come into estrus at about 6-7 weeks of age, when they are still in their mothers’ natal dens and when many still have their eyes and ears shut and can not walk. This is the same time of year that their mothers come into estrus. A male that breeds with a mother also breeds with her daughters. Short-tails have an approx 9-10 month delayed implantation and, therefore, the youngsters give birth to their first litters when they reach their first birthdays and have reached adult size. Are 6-week-old short-tail females adults?”
Mayflies are really pretty. I live near several large ponds – and you haven’t seen gorgeous until you’ve seen them hovering over the ponds, and fish jump up to eat them.
https://www.change.org/p/37727/u/22903433
wildlfe services at it again
How violent, really turns my stomach. Just imagine it from the wildlife’s point of view. I’m sick to death of hearing it from the human’s point of view. 🙁 I had just seen a swan family with cygnets over the weekend where I am.
Your forgot to say what species.
If you’ve experienced trumpeters much, your attitudes about mutes might change. We need to open up a niche. I support complete extirpation of mutes in MI. They are feral semi-domesticated aliens, and are bad for trumpeter resurgence, which is a remarkable story of us succeeding at recovering a nearly extinct native species.
I don’t know if they were trumpeters or not. Four little greyish fluffballs swimming close to their parents.
But I do believe that as evolved humans, violently killing wildlife is not something humane people do, especially since the mute swans were brought here by us.
I feel that we are going to have to live with some of our ‘mistakes’. Mass killing off of living things and mass poisoning of non-native plants to go back to some arbitrary point in time is not only no longer feasible, but inhumane.
If they have to be managed humanely, fine, (I don’t love that option), but it is infinitely better than drowning helpless baby birds!
Swine were brought here by us. I’m so glad you aren’t in charge of that problem or the mute swan problem.
20 of us were “inhumanely” killing Asiatic Bittersweet on Saturday. We are trying to save plants and animals from going extinct, but the way you are talking extinction of species is unimportant – we should do nothing.
“Tribal experts caution grizzly recovery plan needs time”
Excerpts: “‘The Blackfeet Tribal Business Council is not on the Fish and Wildlife Service schedule,’ said Blackfeet tribal wildlife biologist Dan Carney. ‘They’ll debate this and make decisions based on their own schedule. And right now if federal protections were removed, it would not be illegal by tribal law to kill a grizzly for any reason. That definitely needs to be changed before the bears are delisted.’”
“Grizzly bears have high cultural and spiritual significance to the tribes. For the federal agencies, these are areas you may not have built into your thinking. To them it may not be very important. But to the tribal people, they’re extremely important.”
~Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes wildlife manager
https://missoulian.com/news/local/tribal-grizzly-experts-caution-plan-needs-time/article_b18f1f97-ab00-528a-b7f7-d7f3a4fcc46e.html?utm_content=buffer67917&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=LEEDCC
It appeared to me that Dr. Chris Servheen can speak a little more freely about the best for the grizzlies as well, now that he is no longer constrained? 😉
Big Thumbs Up! That mankind’s careless, and too often, thoughtless waste, by products, has finally found a way to address it? 🙂
https://weather.com/science/environment/video/device-ready-to-clean-up-great-pacific-garbage-patch-0?pl=pl-eco-news
Yes, wonderful news!
“While the pro-killdeer camp resorted to tweeting photos of hatchlings, others declared the bird one of “the most entitled annoying birds on earth.””
I think that dubious honor goes to people, though, ‘the most entitled and annoying creature on earth’.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/06/26/four-speckled-bird-eggs-and-a-very-protective-mother-confound-music-festival/?utm_term=.9fe0a3c6f3d2
“Climate change threatens Unesco status of Canada’s largest national park”
Excerpt: “The world’s second-largest national park is under threat from a destructive combination of climate change, oil and gas development and hydroelectric projects, according to a new report from the Canadian government.
“Wood Buffalo national park, which straddles British Columbia, Alberta and the North-west Territories, was placed on placed Unesco’s endangered list in 2017…”
http://pilot-page.com/2018/06/26/climate-change-threatens-unesco-status-of-canadas-largest-national-park-world-news/
Aside, who knows where the world’s largest nat’l park is located? (I didn’t until I just now looked it up.) It’s 77 times larger than Yellowstone! https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2014-05-12/largest-national-park-in-world
This was on my local news last night. In a time of advancing climate change, does anyone, anywhere really believe that cutting down more trees and burning wood is a reasonable alternative? To call it ‘renewable’ energy is really a stretch considering how long it takes a tree to grow, how inefficient wood is as a fuel, and it pollutes the air:
https://www.necn.com/news/business/New-Vt-Incentives-Make-Wood-Heating-Systems-More-Attainable-486613931.html
Grizzly news
“Court overturns conviction of Montana man who killed grizzly”
https://buff.ly/2K9Xwip
“Grizzly cub hit by vehicle, killed along Rocky Mountain Front”
https://buff.ly/2Mo0VXI
“Grizzly advocates aim to thwart bear hunt by buying up the tags”
https://buff.ly/2KnGNr9
The guy still has to account for why he ‘shot, shoveled and shut up’ instead of notifying F&W. Thank goodness for disgruntled exes.
This is why it is impossible to know how many animals are lost to poaching, and I would think, to account for that loss in any meaningful way.
I know it seems like one step forward, ten steps back many times, but here’s a great leap forward. Eureka!:
http://www.times-standard.com/article/NJ/20180626/NEWS/180629882
Awesome, and owned by a logger, no less. Kudos to him.
Yes, it brings tears to the eyes. His family put in his obituary ‘he is survived by the Old Growth Forest’, and them, of course, too. 🙂
NEBRASKA WILL OFFER A MOUNTAIN LION TROPHY HUNT: Why kill some of the small and fragile population? “We wanted to provide the opportunity for people to get out and hunt mountain lions” and this particular population is “capable of surviving a harvest.” The HSUS state director comments: “…opening up a trophy hunt on Nebraska’s mountain lions is cruel and unwarranted…Multiple cats already die each year in Nebraska from human causes, such as poaching and vehicle collisions. The mountain lion population cannot withstand additional killing…”
“Game and Parks decides in favor of mountain lion hunting season”
https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/communities/chadron/game-and-parks-decides-in-favor-of-mountain-lion-hunting/article_f4d2119c-d8e3-5bb3-a2bf-8681dacf795e.html
“US House Bill Says Killing Hungry Sea Lions Is Fair Game”
Excerpt: “The killing of sea lions is not a silver bullet for a salmon recovery,” said Congressman Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., who spoke in opposition of the proposal. “This bill is a 5-cent solution to a $10 problem.”
A nicely-done YouTube video is embedded below that examines the dams vs. salmon issue. Scapegoating and killing sea lions is pathetic…but who’s surprised.
https://www.opb.org/news/article/sea-lion-shoot-kill-columbia-bill-herrera-beutler-schrader/
Congressman Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz, gotta love him. Sometimes I think he is the only one who cares:
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/interior-dept-watchdog-zinkes-involvement-real-estate-development/story?id=56231462
The Song Remains the Same, or in other words, meet the new boss, same as the old boss…won’t get fooled again.
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2018/06/27/news/scientific-study-shows-logging-industry-disinformation-caribou-uses-climate-denial
Yes.
One of the last few remaining endangered jaguars seen in the U.S.has been killed.
“Lion hunter trapped jaguar that was killed, Mexican rancher was told”
Excerpt: “Retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Jim Rorabaugh told the Star: ‘I think it is very likely that the jaguar was trapped incidental to an effort to kill a puma that had been taking calves.’ He said he based that belief on what he knows about why someone would set a trap for a mountain lion in Sonora.”
https://tucson.com/news/local/lion-hunter-trapped-jaguar-that-was-killed-mexican-rancher-was/article_c7ee0bae-b173-5d83-9d18-30412fa77f9d.html
We’ve been watching the 416 Fire north of Durango blow-up from our house on a day-by-day basis. One little bear cub has been rescued with scorched feet; she’ll be in rehab with minimal human contact and, hopefully, will return to the wild next spring. Video accompanies the article.
“Rehabilitation begins for baby bear burned in wildfire”
https://the-journal.com/articles/101050-cub-injured-by-416-fire-expected-to-survive
Oh, poor little bb. I hope she does well.
I just wanted to add that my milkweed plants have flowered. They are the common milkweed, smell wonderful, and I have several types of bees visiting. My first butterfly customer wasn’t a monarch yet, but a fritillary of some kind, I think, orange. I’ve seen this butterfly over the years. Yay!
“Rule to allow hunting could doom rare red wolves”:
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/06/red-wolf-hunting-policy-animals/
You know, it’s amazing how much more freely experts can speak once they are no longer constrained by the government (and their liege lords) – Dan Ashe, Chris Servheen, and look what happened with Robert Weilgus when he tried to speak out.
No, it is never ‘OK’ to let another living creature go extinct for selfish interests. Good God. 🙁
Exercise in futility? How to comment on USFWS proposal to shoot red wolves on private land:
https://www.fws.gov/southeast/news/2018/06/service-proposes-new-management-rule-for-non-essential-experimental-population-of-red-wolves-in-north-carolina/
Disgusting. Killers AND cheaters. Not surprised.
“Want to get cash for killing a coyote? Utah’s bounty program now requires more info to fight fraud.”
Excerpts: “A West Jordan couple provided Utah wildlife officials with 237 coyote scalps over the past couple of years, cashing in each one for $50 under a bounty program targeting the pesky predator. …
…”But investigators eventually determined the Gassers’ paperwork was filled with deceptions, according to felony fraud charged filed last month in 3rd District Court. Cellphone and work records showed they were not where their compensation forms claimed they were on the days they bagged coyotes. Ninety-five were actually killed in Nevada by other people.”
https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2018/06/30/want-get-cash-killing/
I’m not surprised, but then – the extent of it and the cold-bloodedness is pretty surprising. Whatever the imagination can dream up, with people the reality is exponentially worse, and it’s all been done before.
This ‘ranks’ right up there with the rattlesnake killing festival somewhere in Texas I had read about, complete with the (crazy-eyed) all-American beauty queen presiding over it! 🙁
After that, I definitely need a mind cleanser. Out to the garden to look at the butterflies. 😉
The new app will fix the fraud. It’s not what needs fixing though.
PS: Perhaps the bounty is just a performance by managers, and effectiveness is largely irrelevant. My DNR (and state and federal government) do it.
Still waiting:
https://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/letters/interior-secretary-ryan-zinke-should-stop-tinkering-with-sage-grouse-plan/
If you love coyotes, you HAVE to see this photo!
“Wildlife photos: What a day for a coyote’s roll in the hay”
https://pilotonline.com/life/wildlife-nature/close-encounters/article_905b471e-7e05-11e8-8554-4f08bd545b49.html
Awwww. More photos of coyotes like this are needed. 🙂
Nice nature photos too. My milkweed Shangri-la has had honeybees, bumblebees, saw a Monarch yesterday, a fritillary, a black swallowtail of some kind. It doesn’t take long! 🙂
Awesome! And a monarch, no less. I hope to get a native milkweed patch going here, but all my attempts thus far at planting and transplanting have failed given the long-term drought we’re in. It’s really dire. There are so few flowers that I’m making hummingbird food nearly every day.
I’m sorry to hear that. I hope things will get better. We’re in a bit of a heat wave here too.
Once the flowers got established, it didn’t take long for Nature to do what she does best. Isn’t it amazing that the milkweed flowers bloom is timed for butterfly arrival or emergence. I didn’t realize the fritillaries do not migrate. It reminds me of how quickly rivers can repair themselves, or the relationship between prairie grasses and bison.
Sorry couldn’t resist. Don’t let Rockholm see this.
https://io9.gizmodo.com/watch-a-30-foot-wolf-pounce-on-a-helicopter-in-rampages-1820521579
🙂 Yellowstone.
Damn Canadian wolves.
Better sic ICE on em…….
From said Twitter:
“Devoted father and husband. I will stand against all of the radical environmentalists and beat them into extinction.”
I didn’t realize he was still active in the anti-wolf business, quite frankly. All has been quiet on the Western front! 😉
Funny bear:
https://www.npr.org/2018/07/03/625599623/bear-hot-tub-margarita
Not so funny, dead bear:
http://nbcmontana.com/news/local/black-bear-caught-killed-after-ripping-up-tent-in-Montana
Lessons in tolerance.
It was a cute story, but I did also worry as you about when cute becomes ‘nuisance’ and the bear has to be killed.
The article I read made note of the home being on the ever-shifting boundary between development and wilderness.
Yes…the homeowner did exactly the wrong thing, grabbing a camera instead of an air horn, pots & pans to clang, whatever, to scare the bear and associate humans with fear. Now the bear, who already has an ear tag, has been rewarded (jetted tub, margarita) and he/she won’t forget that.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2018/07/03/hot-planet-all-time-heat-records-have-been-set-all-over-the-world-in-last-week/?utm_term=.54e10c764a3d
I’ve been ruminating on this for a while. One must be able to separate daily weather from claims of overall warming/climate change. Yet, collectively, these weather events begin to accumulate. Climate has always changed during the earth’s history, no one can deny that. However, man has not been present during the earth’s history until the past metaphorical past few seconds. Man’s footprint is undeniable, as uncovered by the Keeling curve and ancillary supporting evidence that humans have their collective foot on the “natural” climate change accelerator with the release of CO2 into the atmosphere, carbon that has been locked into the Earth’s crust for hundreds of millions of years.
I digress, on a local level it’s been warm and humid up here. No call for a June wood stove fire to take a bit of nip out of the air. We are just entering July, the warmest month of the year. As more strong T storms begin to move in, the lush green of deciduous vegetation seems more indicative of land 100 miles south of here. The ubiquitous mosquito is as ever ubiquitous. However, biting flies like deer flies seem to have appeared a month early and in exceedingly large numbers. During my years up by the Canadian border, I have never experienced the number of deer flies hitch hiking inside on the dog. Makes one appreciate the critters that are outside 24/7. In that breath, if indeed man has an impact on the global climate, it’s not just our species that will suffer.
KUDOS to Banff! (video) “Canadian Town Uses Quieter Fireworks To Keep From Frightening Animals”
“Banff won praise from animal welfare advocates for ditching loud fireworks.”
Excerpt: “We wanted to minimize the impact on wildlife in the townsite and obviously the surrounding national park, as loud fireworks can be stressful to them,” Banff Deputy Mayor Corrie DiManno told the Toronto-based newspaper. “And for us, moving to special-effect pyrotechnics helps us to walk the talk, so to speak. We consider ourselves leaders in this area of environmental preservation so we wanted to make sure that we were doing all we can.”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/banff-albert-quieter-fireworks_us_5b3c4441e4b09e4a8b2876bc
“Grizzly bear captured near Condon, euthanized”
NOTE: The 3-yr-old male bear was EXECUTED, not “euthanized”!
Excerpt: “Due to the bear’s conflict history and habituation, FWP made the decision to euthanize it on July 3 in consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and in accordance with Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee guidelines.
…
“Northwest Montana is bear country with abundant populations of grizzlies and black bears. Residents are asked to remove or secure food attractants such as garbage and bird feeders and bird seed.”
Good grief, it is not enough to ASK! There needs to be laws with teeth–fines and ultimately jail time.
http://www.kxlf.com/story/38572083/grizzly-bear-captured-near-condon-euthanized
And you have to wonder how all of this ‘other’ category of killing of bears fits in to the upcoming hunting quota. I hope a tally is being taken and submitted in August. I wouldn’t be surprised if any statistics or numbers or laws mean nothing for those who want to kill bears.
I still can’t get over such a rush to kill that one bear is even being considered for a hunting season and quota.
Why can’t a hunting season wait after a delisting?
I think it has no affect on quotas. It’s up near the Mission mountains, far north of Yellowstone. Those bears don’t make the news much, perhaps because of less contact with people.
Oh, that’s right – grizzly bears are not even delisted up there, yet. It’s expected though.
http://igbconline.org/northern-continental-divide/
There may be 1000 bears in that segment. More than near Yellowstone.
Sigh. It’s only a stop gap measure anyway; until the next bear comes along drawn by human activity. I doubt people will do much to deter them, or want their ‘rights’ interfered with. Frustrating.
“Senate GOP seeks overhaul of Endangered Species Act”
Excerpt: “Draft legislation due to be released Monday by Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) would give new powers and responsibilities for state officials to determine how animals and plants should be protected.
“The GOP contends that its goal is not to weaken protections, but to take advantage of the experience of state regulators.”
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/395135-senate-gop-seeks-overhaul-of-endangered-species-act
–ALSO– “Conservationists hestitant to trust Barrasso on Endangered Species Act changes”
Includes a link to the bill.
https://trib.com/business/energy/conservationists-hestitant-to-trust-barrasso-on-endangered-species-act-changes/article_fc4bcc90-a55a-5716-a258-43554bd9bafe.html
“We understand the dynamics,” he said. “The reality is we do a lot more together than we ever do fighting together.”
When has that ever happened? We’re still waiting on the sage grouse plan. So the bird would not be delisted, sage grouse conservationists took the word of those who said they would support a plan. Instead, they took F&W to court because they thought the plan was too restrictive, and nothing has been done since.
That kind of behavior is unfortunately typical, which is why environmentalists take a hard line.
^^sorry, that should read so the bird would not be listed.
Didn’t see these links posted yet on this site. Interesting articles IMO.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/05/magazine/whos-afraid-of-the-big-bad-wolf-scientist.html
http://www.newsweek.com/or-7-wolves-wolf-endangered-species-list-border-crossing-conservation-1007634
“EPA chief Scott Pruitt resigns amid ethics scandals”
https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/05/politics/scott-pruitt-epa-resigns/index.html
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PVrEwCa8nSA
Would find this news comforting Kathleen, except for the fact that the “Idiot In Charge” of our country, is STILL in charge and who knows who he’s going to appoint next, (from his list of EPA haters) hanging around on the fringes, hoping to cash in on other regulations that can be dropped (and quickly) by Big Ag interests/lobbyists who could really give a shit about the welfare of humans, wildlife and wild lands, as long as they make a profit.
Trump’s peddling his “wares” in my state today.
Too much to hope for an Arthur Bremer kind of moment? 🙂
The sentiments of Berthold Brecht.
“Do not rejoice in his defeat, you men. For though the world has stood up and stopped the bastard, the bitch that bore him is in heat again.”
On the news last night, I heard the words ‘former coal industry lobbyist’ (Andrew Wheeler). At least it is only temporary?
Great write-up on Dr. Weilgus in the NYT. Gotta love the NYT, and the Newsweek one too. 🙂
Putting this article out there for East Coast urbanites is a huge thing. There are some good comments too.
But, it did appear slightly condescending to Dr. Weilgus. That I did not appreciate. He had the courage to speak out, and that to me has done big things about that Old Gang of theirs in the West. There really is no ‘getting along’. Someone had to speak out.
And I don’t believe for a minute that the Diamond M did enough. I expect F&W will be at their beck and call again sometime this year.
Opinion piece: “Zinke aiming at the heart of the grizzly”
Excerpt: “The IGBC (Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee) meeting was an appalling litany of buck-passing, butt-covering, changing facts and excuses for broken promises. FWS state director Jodi Bush’s first “up is down” argument was that “the conservation strategy is not a substantial document and is not a decision-making document.” What? The conservation strategy for grizzly bear management in the Northern Rockies isn’t significant? It makes decisions on how and where grizzly bears and their habitat will be managed, counted and monitored across millions of acres, but it doesn’t make decisions?”
https://helenair.com/opinion/columnists/guest-view-zinke-aiming-at-the-heart-of-the-grizzly/article_1b39d02f-d250-5a50-957a-ccb26992218e.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/05/magazine/whos-afraid-of-the-big-bad-wolf-scientist.html?action=click&module=Trending&pgtype=Article®ion=Footer&contentCollection=Trending
Just read that and came to post it here, but see you and Jeff N already had.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/wolf-researcher-gets-300000-to-settle-wsu-lawsuit/
covered when the settlement was reached, and is shorter, with amusing comments by wolf haters.
I have not kept up on the papers – too busy with CWD and deer, and work. I did notice this paper earlier in the year. It suggest local depredations go down but your neighbor’s go up, but not very solid since data is tiny: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29320512
karma
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-44728507
I do wonder how often this type of situation occurs…but doesn’t make the news.
http://nbcmontana.com/news/local/australian-hikers-encounter-grizzly-in-canada
What a gorgeous bear! Glad it was a harmless encounter…and the camera didn’t even seem to be shaking!
“Montana wildlife officials kill food-conditioned grizzly”
Excerpt: “The bear was the third euthanized this week.”
Note: These bears were not “euthanized”; they were executed. I would expect FWP to use a disingenuous euphemism for what they’re doing but am always disappointed in journalists for playing along.
https://missoulian.com/lifestyles/recreation/montana-wildlife-officials-kill-food-conditioned-grizzly/article_c78044f9-2704-566b-a56e-1529a7276c23.html?utm_content=buffera5f89&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=LEEDCC#tracking-source=home-the-latest
Another grizzly? Kinda makes you wonder why a hunting season is even needed, doesn’t it.
Yes, the media encourages that old view of wildlife with ‘euthanize’ and especially ‘attack’, even when it is obvious that the human was at fault. There was a story recently about a man who climbed over an enclosure fence and walked right up to a herd of bison. The article called it an attack by the bison. Mountain bike riders who crash into unsuspecting bears is called an attack by the bear. Apparently, a wild animal is supposed to stop whatever they are doing, yield and bow their heads when a human being walks by:
https://wreg.com/2018/07/06/man-attacked-by-bison-at-national-recreational-area/
Another grizzly? Kinda makes you wonder if a hunting season really is necessary, doesn’t it.
Yes, the media is disappointing when they always quote ranchers and outfitters as if they were the sole authority on wildlife, call an encounter with wildlife an attack, regardless of the fault of the human, and of course, contributing to making the killing of wildlife by calling it ‘euthanizing’, either to make it more acceptable to readers, or that they support.
There was an incident in TN where a man climbed an enclosure fence and walked up to a herd of bison to pet them, and it was called an attack by the bison:
https://wreg.com/2018/07/06/man-attacked-by-bison-at-national-recreational-area/
^^sorry, that should read ‘contributing to making the killing of wildlife acceptable by….’. The media needs to change some of those old ideas in their reporting.
And speaking of grizzlies, I have read that WY Republicans are threatening to overhaul the ESA for more involvement by the states and to lessen the ‘red tape’.
Forgive my cynicism, but they must not think their odds of a grizzly hunt this fall are that good, so they want to resort to another Tester/Simpson type backroom deal, end run?
More bad news. I don’t know how accurate the percentages are but we humans certainly are doing unprecedented harm.
“In fact, humans have caused the annihilation of 83% of all wild mammals and half of all plants, the authors of the report found.
And it’s not just that humans are wiping out wildlife — they’re also determining the animals and plants that remain.
Of the birds left in the world, 70% are poultry chickens and other farmed birds. And of the mammals left in the world, 60% are livestock, 36% are pigs, and a mere 4% are wild.”
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/humans-destroyed-83-of-wildlife-report/
The numbers are staggering…even anecdotally its hard to ignore but yet trophy hunters still excusing their vile habit and wildlife agencies ignoring and legalizing contest hunting, trapping, snaring and other unconsionable wildlife management efforts!
https://www.pressherald.com/2018/07/04/maine-voices-additions-to-defense-bill-attack-wildlife-and-wild-places-and-disrespect-rural-americans/comments/
https://www.pressherald.com/2018/07/04/maine-voices-additions-to-defense-bill-attack-wildlife-and-wild-places-and-disrespect-rural-americans/comments/
Rob Bishop at it again, trying to dismantle the ESA little bu little through no judicial review riders and other creepy tricks. This jerk is the chair of the Natural Resources Committee.
https://www.safariclub.org/what-we-do/freedom-to-hunt/first-for-hunters-blog/first-for-hunters/2017/08/02/sci-first-forever-in-fight-to-take-wolves-off-endangered-list
dangerous people
Go figure, eh.
https://magicvalley.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/trump-pardons-ranchers-in-case-that-inspired-oregon-occupation/article_d9dd7992-0149-51ee-bac9-3c6c1a1a4fc6.html#utm_source=magicvalley.com&utm_campaign=%2Femail-updates%2Fbreaking%2F&utm_medium=email&utm_content=8211396D3262A83360E5CF7180E9DA0945C3B057
Apologies if this was already posted. I don’t recall seeing it here but might have missed it. Read it and weep.
“76 Environmental Rules on the Way Out Under Trump”
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/05/climate/trump-environment-rules-reversed.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
FYI – for those who actually think elected officials, in this day and age, give a shit about issues that concern their daily lives, community, the country (like health, poverty, wild lands/wildlife, etc.) some interesting facts/videos on that subject:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tu32CCA_Ig
So for those who want to address the problem
https://act.represent.us/sign/the-solution/
And John said it best 🙂
“Research shows pesticides influence bee learning and memory”
Excerpt: “Their research reveals that even at very low field-realistic dosages, pesticides have significant negative effects on bee learning and memory, with worker bees exposed to pesticides less likely to learn and memorise a rewarding scent. Learning abilities are a vital component of the search for food in bees, because individuals must remember what type of flowers to visit, where to find them, which flowers they have recently drained of nectar, and how to find the way back to the hive.”
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-07/bes-rsp071018.php
Here are the differences between the hyper-partisan House Farm Bill (includes a give-away to pesticide industry) and the Senate version:
https://www.ecowatch.com/senate-farm-bill-2583223717.html
For what it’s worth & FYI: “Gender Difference In Attitudes Towards Animal Exploitation”
“Human–human relations can help explain gender differences in human–animal relations, and exploitative tendencies towards the environment and animals may be built upon shared psychological mechanisms.”
https://faunalytics.org/gender-difference-in-attitudes-towards-animal-exploitation/
Wolves tree researcher in E. WA:
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/northwest/researcher-climbs-30-feet-up-a-tree-to-get-away-from-pack-of-wolves/
“Not clear who the woman worked for or what kind of research she was conducting”
“Okanogan County commissioners say it’s reason like these they want to declare a state of emergency if the bill doesn’t pass, so the ranchers can protect their livelihood and their life.
I will protect my son,” said Stevie. “Whether this bill goes through or not, I’m not going to let this happen again.”
http://www.timberwolfinformation.org/wa-battle-to-legally-kill-wolves-heats-up-in-olympia/
https://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_wolf/updates.php
Much ado about nothing. Just leave them alone.
Bizarre. Aside from being an unusually good tree climber of an especially suitable tree, don’t researchers check the area for known wildlife den sites and activity, or go with at least one other person?
The ranchers there don’t either. I’m shocked that this is actually verifiable by F&W. I had thought it was fake news, since there wasn’t a lot of information at the time.
It also struck me as fake news because there has been an uptick in pitchfork handle banging on the meeting room floors about delisting the wolves lately, in WA. A special study to locate those elusive varmints in the South Cascades.
I hadn’t read this before I posted about the pitchfork banging. How predictable. I guess pardoning the Hammonds hasn’t helped.
Are budgets really that strapped that they can only send in one person into wilderness, alone? There was a story recently about a bear researcher going into the Cabinet Mountains alone, who was attacked by a bear.
At any rate, the responsibility lies solely on the human being, who should not have gone in alone, should be able to prepare by finding out about the wildlife, in this case the location of a known wolf pack with radio collared members, and know their den site(s)?
An ordinary person could make this mistake, but not a researcher, a scientist! The person is breaking the agency’s own rule that they warn hikers and visitors about, and they have tech equipment available to them that the ordinary person does not have.
And do these ranchers really think they can clear the landscape of wolves? Not much has changed in 200-300 years, has it.
I seem to recall a decade or so ago, another “researcher” for the Forest Service, got freaked out (not far from me) about wolves being around.
And good to understand, Ida, that the title “researcher” is more like an assigned position by FS and just about anyone with a love for the outdoors, can qualify for a position, which often is voluntary or they have at least a 2.9 GPA and a US citizen.
https://www.fs.fed.us/working-with-us/jobs/why-work-with-us
An example:
By saying people shouldn’t go alone you are actually playing into the myth about how dangerous wolves are. I will continue to walk, fish, hunt, or whatever, alone in areas with black bear and wolves. The risk is tiny – so quit making a big deal of it. Encounters can be unnerving (especially in the dark), but you remind yourself that if you don’t act stupidly, even alone, you’ll be OK, almost always. We rarely have “crazy” black bears, it’s true, but it is exceedingly rare. Note that I did not mention grizzlies.
Even for injuries non-related to wildlife, it is not a good idea to go out into wilderness alone. All the data suggests that a person should go with at least someone for safety reasons. I wasn’t suggesting anything about wolves, just responding to the person’s claim.
If someone is injured, the wildlife will be blamed should there be a dangerous or fatal encounter, so it is selfish, and conditions are always changing and sometimes unpredictable in the wild. People make mistakes.
One can take precautions, like letting someone know where you are going… otherwise as per your rationale, why take the chance of getting out of bed in the morning. We all have to die sometime.
That’s a little extreme, I think, to say. That’s not enough, simply letting someone know. Many people have been lost, the so-called experienced hikers, and the inexperienced, depending on what time of year they go, etc.
I would prefer not to have to have a bear of pack of wolves ‘euthanized’ because it was my right to go out alone. Or I didn’t have the common sense to let my boss know it wasn’t safe to continue.
I’d put my rights second, and their protection first. But that’s just me.
or the person didn’t feel safe to continue, judging by the claims and the report by WDFW.
I’m not comfortable at all with people pushing their luck and then the ‘oh well, we’ll just destroy the animal’ kind of thinking. Any wild animal could be dangerous and unpredictable in the right circumstance. Best to avoid.
Then you disqualify everyone who actually lives in the woods where wolves, bears, etc also reside.
You take precautions to limit chances.
Maybe so. But people should not be living where wildlife resides IMO, nor too close to that shifting border, because of fires and the over-riding and overbearing hierarchy of people. I should think we have enough already, but I don’t think it will ever be enough.
Unless people living in these remote areas have a dramatic attitude shift – meaning not leaving food and garbage out, not adequately protecting livestock, not cutesifying grizzlies and black bears by feeding, etc. And I doubt that will ever happen, because many don’t feel they have to.
“Ninth Circuit to consider oversight for ‘predator derby’ hunting competitions”
Excerpt: “In an Idaho forest, the Girls Scouts need a permit to hold a camping event. But the government says no permit – or the accompanying oversight – is needed for a weekend-long “predator derby” in which hundreds compete to kill wolves, coyotes and weasels.
“On Wednesday, the Ninth Circuit heard arguments about whether to change that.”
https://missoulacurrent.com/outdoors/2018/07/ninth-circuit-hunting/
Court proceedings on YouTube: WildEarth Guardians v. Charles Mark; United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Some background/history for those not familiar, regarding Kathleen’s post – Ninth Circuit to consider oversight for ‘predator derby’ hunting competitions”
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qbee5d/how-to-kill-a-wolf-0000259-v21n3
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/mv5deb/environmentalists-couldnt-stop-the-inhumane-slaughter-at-idahos-annual-wolf-and-coyote-derby
“Tipton wants to open more federal land to livestock grazing: U.S. rep says farmers, ranchers could help mitigate wildfires”
Excerpt: “Republicans like Tipton say farmers and ranchers would protect the property, reducing fire threats and helping to protect nature. Typically, they remove invasive weeds and build stock ponds that could be used by wildlife, he said.”
https://the-journal.com/articles/102667-tipton-wants-to-open-more-federal-land-to-livestock-grazing
Let’s hope the Hammonds aren’t an example. 🙁
On a more pleasant note, is this not one of the most beautiful natural phenomena ever?:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/hawaii-volcano-lava-has-created-a-tiny-new-island/ar-AAA9y5s?OCID=ansmsnnews11
Yes, great post, Larry. Good to see you posting again.
Sigh. A really rather unfortunate title for this article, since it applies to all of the animals, especially the migratory, exposed to high levels of the radiation from a nuclear disaster, and should have been an obvious conclusion from the get-go. Which was why I was a little more restrained when all of the happy reports of the amazing wildlife recovery around Chernobyl were coming out. There could possibly be genetic damage.
But instead of condemning the overwhelming risks vs. the benefit of nuclear power, blame the wolves. How long will it be before humans will try to ‘get them’ in some way, as we have historically done? People cannot go in these dangerously high radiation areas now, so it must be confounding:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/could-chernobyl-wolves-be-spreading-mutations/ar-AAA8Jl0?OCID=ansmsnnews11
“Jane Goodall Joins Wyoming Protestors in Buying Up Grizzly Hunt Tickets:
As the state prepares for its first legal grizzly hunt in years, animal advocates clash with hunting interests and state wildlife managers.”
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/07/jane-goodall-joins-wyoming-grizzly-bear-hunt-protest-lottery/
Great news! She’s one of my idols.
Wildlife report: I have a little hummingbird who has been resting on my porch rail off and on all day. He’s tiny, but he appears to have adult plumage (ruby throat). He seems fine and flying back and forth to the feeder, and the nesting area where the birds have been nesting for years. I wonder if he is one of this year’s fledges?
At night, tree frogs climbing over the windows for a snack (adorable).
I haven’t been seeing many deer, but in the morning yesterday, a gorgeous healthy-looking doe came by.
Tree frogs climbing on your screens? How cool is that?!? Our hummers (black chinned) continue to be terrorized by the ever-present Rufous who guards the feeders with such fervor that the food goes bad before anyone can drink it.
🙂 That could be too. I’ve seem the hummers battle it out for control of the feeder.
“King Cove road opponents file motions for summary judgment”
Excerpt: “Friends of Alaska Wildlife Refuges, the Alaska Wilderness League, The Wilderness Society, the Sierra Club and five other national conservation organizations filed a motion for summary judgment with U.S. District Court of Alaska Judge Timothy M. Burgess, urging him to void the land swap signed Jan. 22 with King Cove Corp. on the grounds that Zinke violated several major federal laws in a hasty attempt to get the road built.
…
A memo “…alleges that Zinke, in order to expedite the transfer, ignored provisions in the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which created the Izembek refuge; the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, as the nation’s overarching environmental review law; and the Endangered Species Act.”
http://www.alaskajournal.com/2018-07-16/king-cove-road-opponents-file-motions-summary-judgment#.W05gqyMrLBI
https://blog.ucsusa.org/charise-johnson/the-endangered-species-act-is-itself-endangered
A bit of environmental history…
https://theconversation.com/thing-makers-tool-freaks-and-prototypers-how-the-whole-earth-catalogs-optimistic-message-reinvented-the-environmental-movement-in-1968-95915
Cool! Thanks!
You bet, Salle. Nice to “see” you posting again. 🙂
Thanks, you too. Not online much lately but I try to stay informed regardless.
“More than 100 Dems oppose GOP efforts to change endangered species law”
Excerpt: “More than 100 Democratic lawmakers are pushing back against Republican efforts to include provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act that would weaken certain endangered species protections.
“On Tuesday, 119 House Democrats sent a letter to various lawmakers in both chambers urging them to remove specific language in the House version of the defense bill that could weaken the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act. …
…”Another provision that Republicans want to include would delist gray wolves found near the Great Lakes and Wyoming, while another amendment would block ESA protections for all gray wolves in the continental U.S.”
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/397436-over-100-dem-lawmakers-send-letter-opposing-defense-act-riders-that
I expected this back during the W years. I did as much as I could, while performing public outreach and ed, to dial people in about the ESA and what it says, means, and why we have it. I hope those folks are helping fight this.
“Death toll rising: More animals killed under CPW’s predator control plan, as lawsuits pile up”
Excerpt: “Despite significant opposition, USDA Wildlife Services has continued with its assistance of Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Piceance Basin predator control plan for the second of three years.
“The work took place this past May and June. CPW refers to the control plan as a “study,” which has resulted in the killing of up to 15 mountain lions and 25 black bears in the Piceance Basin of northwestern Colorado so far. Critics allege it is a scientifically unsound and illegal attempt to boost mule deer fawn survival rates and, therefore, mule deer populations.”
http://www.boulderweekly.com/news/death-toll-rising/
Here is an article from the Missoulian about a wolverine family caught on a trail camera in the Sapphire Mountains east of Missoula.
https://missoulian.com/news/local/wolverine-family-caught-on-video-in-the-sapphire-mountains-east/article_c01909bb-6ce8-5854-9a35-74c6c2f9630c.html?utm_content=buffer62972&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=LEEDCC
Some folks say that keeping wolves listed under the ESA is hurting public support for the Act, and might be affecting hope people perceive wolves and the USFWS. We looked, and didn’t detect any of these effects:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12595
“Interior Secretary Zinke kept some meetings off public calendar”
Excerpt: “On May 16, 2017, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke met with Rep. Chris Collins, a New York Republican who was the first in Congress to endorse Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy, according to Zinke’s official calendar.
“But Zinke’s calendar doesn’t show who else was in the room — three representatives from a company that does business with the National Park Service. …
…”He shows the same deliberate lack of transparency that brought down Scott Pruitt,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, of Zinke.”
https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/19/politics/zinke-calendar-omissions/index.html
“The confirmation of a previously unrecorded female grizzly bear death in 2017 should cause the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to stop part of a hunt planned for Sept. 1, six conservation groups say.”
https://trib.com/lifestyles/recreation/conservation-groups-say-wyoming-should-scale-back-grizzly-hunt-after/article_075e3490-36e2-5688-ad61-875ec22fe84f.html
I have to ask, is the proposed grizzly hunt a one-time thing? Because I cannot for the life of me understand how they can justify another hunt the following year (although I am sure they will find a way). If only one female bear in Idaho and Wyoming is all that they say can be lost now, what could they possibly do another year?
Something to ponder over breakfast.
https://www.insidescience.org/news/bird-egg-science-takes-flight?utm_campaign=9683255_Bird%20Egg%20Science%20Takes%20Flight
Harper’s Magazine on wildfire and politics:
“Combustion Engines”
Excerpt: “…it doesn’t matter now what any of us wants. That’s the point, why fire is so valuable to our collective education. It announces the enormity of the consequences of climate change. Life will never be the same again…. Fire will come. Houses will burn. People will die.
“Wilderness has a better grasp of global warming than we do. We humans are informed by instruments, computers, satellites, and sensors roaming the globe, telling us epochal upheaval is under way. But every functioning ecosystem, every living array of biological complexity, has even more adept sensors. The difference between the human and the wild’s grasp of the matter is the denial. Wilderness has no reasoning, no wishes, no preferences. Instead, it deploys death and fire to prepare the way for whatever is to come.”
https://harpers.org/archive/2018/08/lolo-peak-rice-ridge-mega-fires/
But most will never give up their gas guzzlers, big houses, and appetite for meat, or even cut down on it all. So they say they support the ESA, as long as they don’t have to give up anything.
“Ryan Zinke’s War on the Interior”:
“From gutting the Endangered Species Act to opening off-shore drilling – inside the Trump administration’s crusade to hand America’s public lands to the fossil-fuel industry”
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/ryan-zinke-trump-war-on-department-of-interior-700218/
“Trump administration officials dismissed benefits of national monuments”
Excerpt: “In a quest to shrink national monuments last year, senior Interior Department officials dismissed evidence these public lands boosted tourism and spurred archaeological discoveries, according to documents the department released this month and retracted a day later.
“The thousands of pages of email correspondence chart how Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and his aides instead tailored their survey of protected sites to emphasize the value of logging, ranching and energy development that would be unlocked if they were not designated as national monuments.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-administration-officials-dismissed-benefits-of-national-monuments/2018/07/23/5b8b1666-8b9a-11e8-a345-a1bf7847b375_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.940bc984dd7f
I’m not surprised this is happening under the Trump Administration. I just wish the Democrats had done more to foresee this happening up ahead, instead of pretending it doesn’t exist. This is terrible now, but the Democrats were weak.