$7M set aside for habitat restoration along border with Mexico

Good start, but get a load of the livestock ranchers’ claims in this Arizona Star article. These folks are in still in denial of what their own lifestyles and sheep/cow have done to the land.

The legend of the albino moose in Vermont

I would have let this critter go about its life, as nature intended. What do you think? Read the tale here.

As election nears, a continued focus on coal

Dirty, stinking coal. I know of it all too well, most notably from living within a mile of the acid-mine-drainage-killed Little Nescopeck Creek in northeast Pa.

http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2010/10/27/as-election-approaches-a-continued-focus-on-coal/

University of Vermont moves toward ‘carbon neutrality’

Gee, what would Hazleton, Pa., Mayor Lou Barletta, currently a candidate for the U.S. House, think of this goal by that liberal-leaning New England university? Especially in light of Barletta’s decision to kiss away the overwhelming scientific consensus that human activities are imperiling the planet’s atmosphere. Lou Barletta, the great scientist with a track record of setting the standard in climatology?

Read about the University of Vermont’s correct decision in this newspaper article. And remember to vote for the incumbent on Tuesday. That would be Paul Kanjorski.

Bicycle-sharing programs

As the NY Times reported on its Science page last Tuesday, San Francisco is joining the ensemble of metro areas offering commuters a gold-standard bicycle-sharing program. It’s all about these issues: Ridding the highways of vehicles containing only one person – the commuter; slashing the amount of tailpipe emissions of such gases as carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Read the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s release right here. And peruse the Times’ article right here. Note the trim in-shape bodies of the cyclists in the accompanying photograph. Quite a contrast between them and the rampant obesity I regularly see in northeastern Pennsylvania (what the chamber of commerce crowd laughingly refers to as “upstate” Pennsylvania.

On climate change, typical he-said, she-said reporting

Here’s an excerpt from a “news” story in this morning’s Hazleton, Pa., paper regarding the alleged debate between an incumbent congressman, Paul Kanjorski, and his Republican challenger, Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta. Note the reporter’s choice of phrases, as if there is still a “debate” underway regarding global warming/climate change. Come on, folks!

“Candidates differed on the importance of a House bill Kanjorski supported which would seek to curb the nation’s carbon emissions, a bill that could be acted on next year. Barletta warned the American Clean Energy and Security Act, known for its cap-and-trade system, would threaten jobs in Pennsylvania, while Kanjorski said the bill represented the nation’s attempt to slow down man-made global warming. Barletta challenged whether man-made global warming has been proven.”

Remember renewable energy?

Jeez, Jimmy Carter, when he was president, sure did, but I have yet to hear of a single coal-fired power plant being shut down because its power output had been replaced by wind- or solar-generated electricity. Sure we’re creating more and cleaner sources of power to fuel America, but aren’t we just fueling more sprawl development? I think a case couold definitely be made that that is the case.

Read, from today’s NY Times, this nice editorial on renewables.

This guy’s from Fla., but could be from Pa. as well

Another smart, funny-as-hell Miami Herald column here from Carl Hiaasen. This wannabe governor type he writes about could just as well be in the crowd of politicians running for state/federal office here in Pa. What a crowd.

I am back

I had to get away from here for a bit as I continue recovering from my wife’s passing. We were just two weeks shy of our 31st wedding anniversary. As I continue proving, to myself and others, that I can do things, like driving a car, I motored down to the Delmarva and visited three national wildlife refuges over the span of five days. You can read about my wonderful life partner by clicking on this article. I continue gathering strength from her and I hope that never changes. Love.

Boone & Crockett weighs on wolf management

Many hunters are rightfully angry that a federal judge has put the gray wolf back under federal protection based on legal technicalities. Taking management away from state authorities allows wolves to multiply and spread. Wolves are already so plentiful they are cutting down herds of elk, moose, and deer, and are also killing livestock and pets. Wolves need to be controlled and we must continue toward that goal in an orderly fashion.

 

We sportsmen want to bring wolves under state management because this will sustain wolves, control the problems that wolves cause, and protect wolves from poachers. To do so, we look forward to working with other affected citizens, government, and other allies to clear up the legal technicalities and finalize the transfer to state management. This way wolves will be managed the same way as other wildlife based on the best available science with protections against illegal killing.

 

State management of wolves is best for the wolves and people, and wolf populations are so large now that the time is past due.

 

State management will be the best deal wolves have ever had. Wolves have never been managed sustainably in the lower 48 states. State and federal governments purposefully eradicated wolves, and then restored them under complete federal protection. This full protection has restored wolf numbers far beyond recovery goals: all 6 states with gray wolves in the lower 48 have at least doubled the number of wolves beyond their recovery goals. Idaho is at least 8 times over its goal. There are about 3,000 wolves in Minnesota, 600 each in Wisconsin and Michigan, at least 800 wolves in Idaho, 500 in Montana, and 300 in Wyoming.

 

Switching to state management will not be easy: federal and state managers have tried it 3 times in the last 7 years, having each effort struck down either because the law was fuzzy on how it could happen or too strict about why it cannot. These interpretations in federal district court are the latest examples of judges second-guessing government experts – an error for which the next highest appeals court has admonished its judges.

 

© Kent Kidd/iStockPhoto.com

To achieve state management, hunters need to turn their anger into passion, speak up, and ask for hard but fair commitments from state and federal government. We need passion the way Theodore Roosevelt had passion in creating American conservation, which is our legacy and heritage to perpetuate. We need to stay in the arena of debate and decision and stay out of the bogs of blame and bad-mouthing. It is self-defeating to blame or antagonize federal and state officials. They agree with us on what needs to happen and we need their help. We need hard commitments from them to try new approaches within current law and, ideally, to change law and policy to close loopholes.

 

This complex task is already underway through a cooperative partnership between the state and federal governments. The Obama Administration has already filed an appeal of the recent federal court ruling. States have petitioned for greater management authority. Legislators from Montana, Wyoming and Idaho have begun meeting to devise a solution and have invited the federal government’s participation. We appreciate these straight-up attempts that demonstrate the resolve of our government. We acknowledge the sovereign authority of each state to manage its own laws and budgets.

 

Finally, as we seek hard commitments from government, we also need to draw a hard line for ourselves: we are sportsmen, not wolf-haters. Statements on the Internet about poaching wolves are an affront to the American conservation ethic. Illegal killing is wrong, self-defeating, and exactly opposite of how sportsmen created conservation and the privilege of ethical hunting in the first place. Hunters in America fought poachers and pushed for laws to regulate hunting. Later, sportsmen paid fees and taxes on our own licenses and equipment to fund wildlife restoration that brought wildlife back to abundance, including the game we hunt. Ours is a history of self-restraint and respect for wildlife.

 

Today we are asking for wolves to be brought under modern state management. We will pursue this goal with the diligence we take to hunting itself, working professionally with the agencies, seeking allies, and pushing forward the policies that will prevent this tragedy from happening again with other wildlife.

 

Boone and Crockett Club

Lowell E. Baier, President