Politics
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Big donations followed by big returns in policy and Utah government dollars- The Salt Lake Tribune has been following the Utah legislature’s big payout (or payback) to Don Peay and his hunting organizations. The stories presented by the Tribune are breathtaking in the showing close correspondence between him personally or his organizations giving a large contributions…
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Don Peay, Ryan Benson to receive 300K to spread fables- Utah is dead last place in America in per-pupil spending on education. The state legislature does want to innovate, however. So for a second year it appears they will grant $300,000 to Don Peay, founder of Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife and the related anti-wolf group Big Game Forever, headed…
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Wyoming National Parks sequestered along with the rest in the U.S.- There are many stories and possible stories about the sequester’s across-the-board cuts. Like the rest of federal discretionary spending, the National Park System (NPS) has to deal with the cuts. NPS has to deal with $113-million in instant budget reduction. This is especially difficult…
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While Idaho taxpayers are facing budget cuts to public education and health care, ranchers are busy writing self-serving bills to provide money for “studies” that will paper over destructive impacts of livestock grazing on sage grouse. Last year saw thousands of people marching on the grounds of the Idaho Capital in Boise. People were marching…
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Sequester looks almost certain. What now happens to public lands? The New York Times article linked below discusses the effects of the now almost certain sequester on the national parks . Most people who follow this issue know that they are chronically underfunded when it comes to resource protection. The Parks aside, what about…
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By George Wuerthner State Fish and Game agencies are in the midst of a funding and mission crisis. They appear unable to adapt to shifting political and demographic changes much as the Republican Party is failing to adjust to new voter realities. The crisis is nowhere more evident than in their attitudes towards predators like…
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Takedown of Hurlock makes Idaho State Senate look awful- We don’t know if she should be commissioner or not, but Rocky Barker’s story on the aftermath details of her defeated nomination casts an unpleasant light on Senate and Commission. These people manage our wildlife and write Idaho’s laws! Hurlock said senators told lies, half truths…
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The Idaho Senate has voted against confirming Joan Hurlock to the Idaho Fish and Game Commission. Citing that “there’s a fear of some environmentalism here. The sportsmen are worried” Senator Monty Pearce voted against her confirmation along with 18 other senators in a vote that was 19 to 16. Hurlock is the daughter of a…