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BLOG on WILDLIFE POLITICS now under the Biden Administration: Trying to restore the conservation mission of the Interior Department & Other Land Management Agencies after 4 years of monomaniacal subjugation to energy and ranching interests.
#371: House wants to have more cattle grazing in conservation areas due to droughts caused by climate change?! What’s wrong with that? (1) Cows cause 1/3 methane emissions more harmful to climate than carbon dioxide so you’re going to make droughts worse! (2) Cattle ranchers already are destroying public lands—lots of scientific evidence to prove this (see citations below). (3) Cattle ranchers are already treated to welfare—the costs of their grazing on public lands exceeds tiny fees they pay--& some like Cliven Bundy refuse to pay even these measly fees! Why encourage more grazing to this pampered group who are harming the environment and causing climate change? See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/09/21/house-lawmakers-urged-to-support-more-cattle-grazing-00057772 & https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/27/whats-the-beef-with-cows-and-the-climate-crisis & Donahue, Debra L. (1999). The Western Range Revisited: Removing Livestock from Public Lands To Conserve Native Biodiversity. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. & George Wuerthner and Mollie Matteson, Eds., Welfare Ranching: The Subsidized Destruction of the American West. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2002, p. 17.& Wuerthner, George. (1991). “How the West was Eaten.” Wilderness, 54 (192), accessed 2/11/16 from EBSCO. & Lynn Jacobs. (1991). #370: Which President appointed Fed. Judge Key in Envmntal. Decisions: Former Justice Breyer & others have tried to argue that most SC decisions are not “political” but last 6 years shows that’s baloney. E.g.: Wolverine protections saved by Clinton-appointed judge Molloy, that Trump tried to unprotect. In my book on Trump’s Attack on conservation, I cite case after case where conserv. protected by Dem.-appointed judges overcame Trump attacks. For conservation & environment, as with Voting Rights & Abortion, somehow political views of judges determine their decisions. See https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ #369: Zinke-Trump’s Interior refused to support grants involving endangered species & climate change & ignored professional FWS staff requests & provided NO RATIONALE for refusal to fund the grants other than they didn’t align with Zinke-Trump priorities. Zinke’s record shows he was a terrible & biased Admin. of agency supposed to be devoted to CONSERVATION. He does not deserve Office. See https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-105407.pdf & https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/09/06/gao-trump-team-bogged-down-sensitive-interior-grants-00054923 #368: Bison revived native plants by 86% compared to only 30% for cattle a 3-decade long study found. “Reintroducing bison resulting in long-running & resilient increases in grassland diversity.” Ignore Montana ranchers. (See item below). https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/08/bringing-back-bison-can-help-bring-back-the-prairies-too/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bringing-back-bison-can-help-bring-back-the-prairies-too&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bringing-back-bison-can-help-bring-back-the-prairies-too #367: Montana ranchers don’t want bison grazing on Federal land—tens of thousands of cattle are currently ruining the land with inadequate fees but ranchers say public land should ONLY BE USED FOR LIVESTOCK, “NOT WILDLIFE PRESERVATION.” They act like public lands belong to them--& they have in past Administrations. I hope BLM & Interior show some spine this time! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/08/30/mont-ranchers-officials-appeal-bison-grazing-on-blm-land-00054168 #366: Why is Forest Service pandering to ranchers& Wyoming officials to destroy sage grouse habitat by using pesticides that will harm sage grouse & other birds in the Bighorn National Forest? To appease ranchers whose cows graze cattle & devastate vegetation? Like FWS, FS seeks to appease ranchers & state “partners” heedless of their role in protecting species & nature. See https://wyofile.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Objection-to-forest-sagebrush-treatment-.pdf & https://wyofile.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Bighorn-Invasive-FEIS-Objection.pdf as well as https://wyofile.com/conservationists-bash-bighorn-forest-plan-to-kill-sagebrush-larkspur/?utm_source=WyoFile&utm_campaign=09a7e171fc-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2_25_2022_12_31_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_611470c970-09a7e171fc-417379196&mc_cid=09a7e171fc&mc_eid=0a4450d147 #365: FWS considering HCP to “protect” Fl panthers that many conservationists thought gave away much too much to developers—but it has now been rejected anyway by the developers b/c it may require them to spend “too much” on measures to protect panthers from becoming roadkill! Proof again that profit motive among wealthy & powerful bozos far exceeds any unselfish stewardship motives. DeSantis brags about his environmental actions but has done nothing about protecting the panther which is Florida’s “state animal.” The developers are rich & the kind of people DeSantis panders to—not someone he takes on to protect conservation! See https://floridaphoenix.com/2022/08/25/developers-back-out-of-florida-panther-protection-proposal/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=e32075eb-3eff-45ff-bc59-0d5250f60df0 #364: I’ve already detailed Ryan Zinke’s terrible tenure as Interior Secy. in my book “Industry First: The Trump Administration’s Attack on Conservation.” One more proof is Interior’s Inspector General’s report which examined his role in Conn. tribal gaming issue IN DETAIL & concluded Zinke lied about the involvement of outsiders who dictated the decision. This report is just further evidence that Zinke is NOT FIT for Office. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/08/24/watchdog-blasts-zinke-for-lack-of-candor-00053526 #363: At last, Biden’s NPS to review slob hunting rules Trump’s Interior imposed allowed bear baiting. Survey of >1000 Alaskan voters showed 60% opposed baiting. They should also ban other Trump slob hunting practices--using artificial light at den sites, Wolves can be hunted during denning season, caribou can be shot from motorboats & dogs can be used to hunt black bears. These rules cover 22 Million acres of FEDERAL land but as usual small % of slob hunters have dominated state—here-Alaskan wildlife policies. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/08/18/bear-baiting-on-fed-lands-in-alaska-gets-white-house-scrutiny-00052640 #362: Great NYT article citing research that commercial logging worsens wildfire but nevertheless Repubs & some Dems. are pushing to worsen cutting of forests. & Biden supporting this at same time wants to plan 1 Billion Trees while older trees fight climate change more than new twigs??! Stupidity wins out once again. See https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/30/opinion/california-wildfires-oak-fire-yosemite-sequoias.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20220731&instance_id=68093&nl=todaysheadlines®i_id=10365419&segment_id=100067&user_id=1575e2a05f37205a27ca72946056eae7 #361: Climate Change Craziness: Survey shows Repubs. willing to plant trees & give businesses tax credits to help climate but won’t permit stricter evmntal rules or tax based on emissions. Most Americans have experienced “extreme weather” but not willing to take any hard steps to control it. In short, world will be destroyed by human’s short-sighted selfishness—supposedly “intelligent” life incapable of taking steps to save selves & other species. Crazier result: support for action on climate has declined since 2020 despite worsening disasters—but impacts of weather disasters are not partisan in their impact! Only helpful sign in survey: Younger Repubs. are more willing than geezers to do something! See https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2022/07/14/americans-divided-over-direction-of-bidens-climate-change-policies/ #360: Circular Causation: Human-caused climate change forces polar bears to use garbage dumps resulting in threats to humans & killing of the bears & at same time humans move into polar bear territory again results in conflict & more killing of the bears. Why bears likely are doomed. See https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/polar-bears-scavenge-garbage-cope-with-climate-change-2022-07-20/?emci=e168181b-6908-ed11-b47a-281878b83d8a&emdi=eff691b2-ec08-ed11-b47a-281878b83d8a&ceid=326118 #359 Excellent detailed account of Yellowstone wolf killings by Ryan Devereaux though depressing to anyone who wants an end to western state mania for killing wolves. Article proves key points: Montana’s Fish, Wildlife & Parks Dept. & the state's Wildlife Commission are captives of small but dominant group of ranchers, outfitters & nationalist extremists who passionately hate wolves that they feel ESA & Feds. forced on them. Any idea that this Dept. & Commsn. are “PARTNERS” of USFWS is insane—they are bitter opponents of conservation. See https://theintercept.com/2022/07/20/wolves-yellowstone-ranger-montana-greg-gianforte/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=The%20Intercept%20Newsletter #358: Have you noticed that the only wildlife Interior conservation actions Repubs. support concern protection of BIG GAME?! BLM to target oil-gas dev in BIG GAME habitat. During terrible Trump years, the only positive actions by Zinke-Bernhardt also were to protect BIG GAME migrations! 30X30 would be popular if it could promise more BIG GAME to Yahoos! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/07/18/blm-targets-oil-and-gas-development-in-colo-big-game-habitat-00046337 #357: Study shows that Fed. reimbursement for untaxed Wyoming lands is 8X the amount lost by not having the land taxed! It proves that Repub. squawks about taxes lost is BS & demonstrates these Western states are in FAR BETTER shape due to existence of the Fed. owned parks, reserves etc.–Imagine what these states would be like if these lands were given over to private sector & industry. See https://wyofile.com/federal-tax-offset-pays-8-5-times-marton-ranch-property-levy%ef%bf%bc/?utm_source=WyoFile&utm_campaign=62c944ca72-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2_25_2022_12_31_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_611470c970-62c944ca72-417379196&mc_cid=62c944ca72&mc_eid=0a4450d147 #356: Republicans anti-climate actions harming people’s pocketbooks such as inability to get home insurance. Their “Do Nothing” “Climate Isn’t a Problem” opposition to Biden’s climate agenda guarantee more bills & losses for homeowners. Dems need to emphasize this bread & butter aspect of climate policy to electorates. Finally Dept Treasury starting to look into this—should have been done long ago. https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/07/06/treasury-examines-climate-effect-on-insurance-availability-00044122 #355: Peer: “BLM continues to exempt Sage-Grouse habitat protections” from oil-gas industry. I realize that Stone-Manning et al. feel under pressure from dominant state forces but if this is what we get from Democratic Admin., what the hell purpose is there to electing them? Trump ALL OUT FOR oil-gas-ranching Biden nothing but little peeps for conservation. https://peer.org/blm-oil-exemptions-undercut-sage-grouse-safeguards/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=e6855b55-bcbd-4fef-9a6a-80d2b023567b #354: One more example of Biden bowing down to Ranching Industry—authorizes For. Serv. waiver of rules if their cattle illegally grazing on Fed. lands due to “unintentional” reasons. GAO & other studies already prove that FS like BLM RARELY enforces rules against ranchers—e.g. Bundy. This will just codify existing situation. New rule guarantees ranchers always claim unintended! Meanwhile extensive proof that grazing harming pub. lands whose quality is WAY DOWN. Will ranchers support Democrats in next election since they are treated just as royally now as under Trump?! Don’t think so. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/06/24/forest-service-to-waive-unauthorized-grazing-fees-00042279 #353: Excellent if depressing High County News story on how false wolf depredation reports are used by Fed. agencies “Wildlife Services” (i.e., killing) to justify killing wolf packs in New Mexico. FWS officials in charge of Mexican Wolf project were not allowed by FWS to comment on revelations of false reports! This story demonstrates once again that Federal & State agencies that operate in West (BLM, Dept. Agric. Wildlife Services, & State “game” departments) have been totally captured by ranchers & others (e.g., trappers) they are supposed to regulate. Story proves that any of these agency officials who dare to challenge ranchers’ false claims are shortly thereafter removed from their jobs. The joke is that Trump, Bernhardt et al. complained about needing to have these agencies more responsive to “their clients” (i.e., ranchers) when these agencies actually are stooges for them and are failing to represent the large majority of public that opposes prioritization of ranchers over conservation & biodiversity. See https://www.hcn.org/articles/sabotaging-the-mexican-wolf-recovery-project?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email #352: FWS & Fed. Judge: Bridgerton Nat. Forest is first & foremost for public range ranchers—grizzlies & end. fish can probably survive! Haaland-FWS no different from Trump’s—know their priorities—keep Western ranchers-slob hunters happy. Judge says “ likely won’t affect the continued existence of the dace” & not “appreciably” affect # grizzlies in order to meet MINIMAL # of grizzlies that Western states will TOLERATE. Under Haaland like Trump, National forests & nat. wildlife REFUGES are first & foremost for ranchers-slob hunters. See https://wyofile.com/judge-tosses-protest-of-grazing-plan-that-threatens-72-grizzlies/?utm_source=WyoFile&utm_campaign=c4399c979e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2_25_2022_12_31_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_611470c970-c4399c979e-417379196&mc_cid=c4399c979e&mc_eid=0a4450d147 #351: The Hatch Act should be renamed the Hapless Act—supposed to prevent political use of funds but check out Trump’s 4th of July celebration—NPS paid for Trump Campaign Video & now details on lackey Bernhardt prostrated Interior to his campaign. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/06/02/inside-the-scramble-to-give-trump-his-epic-july-4th-party-00036710 & pp. 54-55 in Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior at https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ #350: WTO has talked about curbing harmful fish subsidies by countries but as usual, it’s blather—data from accurate honest reports shows harmful subsidies given by governments continues to increase. Let’s face it: Intl. community incapable of doing what’s needed to preserve fish. See Pew Report. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/about/news-room/opinion/2022/05/11/latest-scientific-advancements-support-ending-destructive-fisheries-subsidies?utm_campaign=2022-06-02+Latest&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Pew&subscriberkey=0030e00002UVMySAAX #349: Once again Humans ready to destroy wildlife habitat for own purposes—rushing to mine (and thus destroy) deep seabeds despite fact that no one has any idea of what harm this will do. Short-term human interests first, species preservation is only for International bodies' blather that’s sacrificed quickly when selfish human interests involved. See Pew Report “Seabed Authority Shouldn’t Rush Decision on Deep-Ocean Mining” https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2022/05/23/seabed-authority-shouldnt-rush-decision-on-deep-ocean-mining?utm_campaign=2022-06-02+Latest&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Pew&subscriberkey=0030e00002UVMySAAX #348: Stone-Manning says we could “lose 1/3 of wildlife if we don’t take big measures.” So what does she do about Wyoming that has ignored decline of sage grouse? She says “Wyoming has helped lead the way on sage-grouse conservation.” What world is she living in? Stone-Manning also says BLM decisions will be made “through sitting down with govs, state fish & game depts.–" good smart people who know what they’re doing.” Wyoming counties killed from aircraft “every wolf, bobcat, mt. lion, & coyote they could.” Wyoming also condones counties killing wildlife on Fed. lands “when they see fit.” Stone-Manning’s tough confirmation has turned her into patsy for energy-ranching-slob hunter industries that run Wy & other state wildlife depts. Stone-Manning’s statements could have been made by trophy hunters Ryan Zinke & David Bernhardt. This show why it’s virtually impossible to overcome slob control of state wildlife depts & why only Federal ESA stands between obliteration of many species but ESA no longer is "macho"—FWS is afraid to use Sect. 7 protect species like Fl panther. 348 https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/blog See https://wyofile.com/feds-probed-airborne-wolf-coyote-gunners-in-wyoming-didnt-prosecute/ & https://wyofile.com/predator-control-bill-advances-in-wake-of-aerial-gunning-dispute/ & https://wyofile.com/stone-manning-blm-to-focus-on-unlocking-inaccessible-public-land/?utm_source=WyoFile&utm_campaign=1ec28ecc1b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2_25_2022_12_31_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_611470c970-1ec28ecc1b-417379196&mc_cid=1ec28ecc1b&mc_eid=0a4450d147 & Tobias, Jimmy. (2021). Defanged: Money and Politics could doom the Florida Panther and the Endangered Species Act. The Intercept. Jan. 24. #347: Will Biden’s 30X30 (& also those of other countries) have a significant positive effect on preserving biodiversity? It’s likely that in U.S. & other countries powerful organized interest groups will undermine the program. See my detailed paper on this: Interest Group Politics, Preserving Biodiversity, and Achieving 30X30 at https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/papers-on-wildlife-conservation.html I document in the paper how in the U.S. & elsewhere these groups have undermined the Clean Water Act & ESA including various forms of "mitigation." The majority of the public supports 30X30 but the public's support is too mild to overcome the strong focused actions of interests that would be harmed by actions to preserve biodiversity. #346: Repubs. want to use NEPA to stop 30X30: Purpose of NEPA is to “prevent environmental harm”—so only idiot Repubs. would even think of using it to “prevent conservation.” But then Repubs. consider drilling, cattle grazing, mining to be their version of “conservation”—that is of profits for their pals. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/05/12/republicans-want-nepa-review-for-biden-conservation-program-00031910 #345: I hope House Dems do indict Bernhardt—his Interior years were filled with unethical acts to help his industry pals—he never ONCE supported conservation over his pals. See full documentation of his misuse of his office in Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior @ https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ & Dems' plan to indict the rotund slob hunter at https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/05/11/house-democrats-seek-criminal-charges-against-bernhardt-00031758 #344: GOP Senators Speak up for Slob Hunter A-Holes: they want to forbid banning of lead ammo in National Wildlife REFUGES! Lead ammo is proven harmful to endangered species & there is cheap non-lead ammo available but Slob A-hole hunters refuse to use. What more can you say? If you can’t prioritize wildlife in their supposed REFUGES, what the hell is their purpose—Oh, I know—to provide targets for A-hole slob hunters! The politics of this is also crazy—hunters (most are ethical) have steadily declined as percent of population—down to 5% & slobs are tiny fraction of this 5% (2016 USFWS survey) but Repubs & many Dems still kowtow to these A-holes! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/05/10/gop-senators-to-fws-dont-ban-lead-ammo-00031498 #343: Wow, a former President (Carter) actually cares about conservation—opposes Izembek ruling. How long has it been since we had a President who really cares about conservation? Teddy R? FDR in his youth? Too bad! See Jimmy Carter calls for reversal of 'dangerous' Izembek ruling https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/05/10/jimmy-carter-calls-for-reversal-of-dangerous-izembek-ruling-00031338 #342: Read how states have failed to protect sage grouse—their promises have never been fulfilled but BLM afraid to list them b/c of political power of tiny groups (oil comps., public range ranchers)—that BLM views as their “stakeholders”—not U.S. public. The data are clear—core habitat is disappearing quickly but “stakeholders” interests come first—grouse & U.S. public be damned. So much for the "macho" Endangered Species Act that was supposed to protect species. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/05/09/sage-grouse-struggle-as-blm-and-states-search-for-answers-00027313 #341: One more proof that Endangered Species Protection can’t be left to states: Wisconsin Advisory group to its DNR wants only 350 wolves in the state—there are currently over 1100! Slob hunters dominate state wildlife commissions & departments. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/04/29/wis-hunting-advisory-survey-sees-support-for-350-wolf-limit-00028885 #340: 9 Documented Reasons why Zinke’s not Fit for Office: (1) Zike opened entire Pet. Reserve to leasing tho oil companies had not demanded this expansion that included many crucial habitat. #340 https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ (2) Zinke removed “conservation from BLM’s own description of its “mission”!’ #340 https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ (3) What was his goal? Zinke said “Our goal is an America that is the strongest energy superpower that this world has ever known” #340 https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ (4) Zinke let bans on mining lapse for Oregon’s Chetco River previously had been protected by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act; #340 https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ (5) Zinke took actions to allow mining near Boundary Canoe area by friends of Ivanka & Jared; #340 https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ (6) He initiated cutback in Bears Ears & other monuments & hid from public documents showing support for the monuments; #340 https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ (7) Zinke banished compensatory mitigation to make companies take action for harming public BLM lands, calling it “Un-American!” #340 https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ (8) Zinke first action in office was to allow deadly lead bullets in National Parks & Wildlife Refuges. #340 https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ (9) Zinke’s ethics were so poor that even the historically unethical Trump Admin. was happy to see him go due to ethical misbehavior! #340 https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ Montanans, don’t allow this phony who claims to be protector of public lands get into office—he will harm our beautiful public lands. #340 https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ I have documented all of these points in my book, Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior” at https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ #339: In honor of Don Young, legis. passed to study causes of losing salmon—with proviso insisted on by Republicans that climate change cannot be found to be one of the causes. (Just Kidding!--I hope!!) See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/04/25/house-sets-vote-on-fisheries-wildlife-legislation-00027298 #338: Stupidity wins again! Yesterday Utah declared “water emergency” due to climate & today same Utahans blast S&P for releasing its ESG scores which show its climate actions are “moderately negative.” Yep, stick your heads in the sand & wait till even bigger disasters occur before taking action—that’s the stupid & Republican approach to policy. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/04/22/utah-blasts-s-p-global-over-politicized-state-esg-indicators-00026953 & https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/04/21/utah-declares-new-drought-emergency-00026978 #337: Great article by Craig Pittman that PROVES Florida’s water-board appointments show Critical Race Theory is no theory—DeSantis & other Republican appointments have proven it’s true! See https://floridaphoenix.com/2022/04/21/floridas-water-board-appointments-show-critical-race-theory-is-no-theory/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=3c4132e7-9315-44e7-a385-b79dfa37ac8b #336: Big Laugh: Bernhardt, Ricketts, Byfield & other assorted nuts protest against 30X30! Biden Admin & lib. groups like Center for Western Priorities have already promised will be voluntary, locally led. Real problem with 30x30? It’s going to be achieved by loosening def of “protected” to include cattle trodden lands & waters that are not being protected. It’s only way they will get through this Congress which is determined to doing nothing to conserve anything. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/04/20/bernhardt-takes-on-bidens-conservation-plan-00026591 #335: DeSantis nominates wealthy exec to head FL Wildlife Cmmsn fined for speeding in Manatee Zone. He’s trying to compete again w Trump who never saw a slob hunter he didn’t want to head Interior Dept. See https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/environment/fl-ne-desantis-wildlife-manatee-20220415-kyeujbuwl5cqzn575wzywxpyui-story.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Don%27t%20Miss&utm_content=5601650034816 #334: Don’t worry industry: Biden’s BLM still kowtowing to industry! Admin. Judge rejected appeal of Trump BLM whistleblower. It’s not just Gary Frazier who’s Trump retread in Biden Interior! Biden's BLM doesn't want Industry to think they prioritize birds of fossill fuels! See https://wyofile.com/blm-whistleblower-loses-firing-appeal-in-oilfield-dispute%ef%bf%bc/?utm_source=WyoFile&utm_campaign=5bd07f21e1-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2_25_2022_12_31_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_611470c970-5bd07f21e1-417379196&mc_cid=5bd07f21e1&mc_eid=0a4450d147 #333: Amy, “Tell us it isn’t so! You are proposing to allow cattle grazing as part of CRP conservation program? There is overwhelming evidence that grazing is HARMFUL to conservation & wildlife (& climate change). Read Donahue, Debra L. (1999). The Western Range Revisited: Removing Livestock from Public Lands To Conserve Native Biodiversity. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. & George Wuerthner and Mollie Matteson, Eds., Welfare Ranching: The Subsidized Destruction of the American West. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2002, p. 17.& Wuerthner, George. (1991). “How the West was Eaten.” Wilderness, 54 (192), accessed 2/11/16 from EBSCO. & Lynn Jacobs. (1991). Waste of the West. Do your diligence. This idea of yours would set back conservation & undermine 30x30 program. We need LESS GRAZING. #332: Good article on how Dems. finally came up with good memorable slog to critique DeSantis by labeling bill “Don’t Say Gay” but also pts. out that Dems have been losing out in important war for good slogans—instead offer Repubs slogans they like to use such as “Defund police” & “critical race theory.” I support latter’s idea of teaching COMEPRENSIVE historical facts on American History” but CRT has 2 problems: It talks about THEORY when should be talking about facts; the term “critical” puts a negative slant on it—should be emphasizing teaching MORE and MORE ACCURATE history. I don’t understand why originators of CRT haven’t relabeled their movement—so far the phrase has been a gift to Republicans. See https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-desantis-political-messaging-dont-say-gay-20220321-kap5lu6rnngdfibfxmhn64hcpy-story.html #331: Phony “Environmentalist” Ron DeSantis & FL Republicans refused to undertake necessary steps to protect sea grass being destroyed by fertilizers & pesticides from Ag. & developments. He prefers to attack students wearing masks & what he thinks are “evils”—real evil is this jerk. See https://enewspaper.sun-sentinel.com/html5/desktop/production/default.aspx?edid=de86afa6-5d56-4f3f-8c1a-59268827c467 #330: Mt. Repub. Sen. Daines & Rep. Rosendale want MT grizzlies delisted so Gov. Gianforte can shoot one for a trophy—albeit protected by a host of other hunters & dogs—this coward takes no chances! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/03/18/montana-gop-members-press-for-grizzly-bear-delisting-review-00018496 #329: Why the hell did Biden’s DOJ appeal Trump’s Interior’s appeal to build road thru Izembek Nat. Wildlife Refuge? Are they trying to help Murkowski? Otherwise, I can’t fathom such a stupid & environmentally malicious action. Now Trump’s Federal judicial appointees are showing up & destroying conservation—Trump’s Supreme Court (that’s what it really is!) can’t wait to build that road & stick it to conservationists one more time. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/03/16/appeals-court-clears-path-for-izembek-road-00017805 #328: Rep. Don Young (& also AL Sens. Sullvan & Murkowski!) who has WHINED about End. Species Act forever wants study to preserve salmon & right whale populations! It’s good to know that even ESA opponents want to preserve SOME species. Let’s remind him next time he complains about it! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/03/14/panel-to-examine-declining-salmon-right-whale-populations-00016508 #327: Slob Killing of Wolves & Rattlesnakes: They say it’s “their culture” & they especially love to do it to infuriate people who love or at least respect wildlife. They prove that they’re not descended from animals—they are a far lower form of life. Slobs lure wolves from Yellowstone, kill them & gleefully post killings on media—they’re proud of being A-holes. Texas Rattlesnake roundup skins hundreds of them in public, saying “it’s very much a part of our culture” and “It puts us on the map”—yes, on the map of A-holes! See https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/03/04/yellowstone-wolves-hunting/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=wp_energy_and_environment&wpisrc=nl_green & https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/03/11/rattlesnake-roundups-take-2-paths-drawing-praise-and-scorn-00016465 #326: With Gary Frazier and Leo Miranda still in positions of power in Biden FWS, Trump’s Interior's FWS team will feel right at home if he wins election in 2024. Why the hell doesn’t Haaland et al. get rid of these Trump retreads? #325: FWS Gary Frazier at it again! Same guy who said Bernhardt’s last moment blocking of protections against Malathion was Fine & Dandy—now again allows use under Biden! This guy is SUPPOSED to be top protector of Endangered Species but he just loves Dow Chem.—same org that donated $Millions to Trump. He says they have “reduced” many of the documented deadly effects on end. species. With this guy as top protector of end. species, they are doomed. He’s got his priorities straight: keep Dow happy & hope for return of Trump. See US officials reverse course on pesticide's harm to wildlife - ABC News (go.com) & . https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/26/us/politics/endangered-species-david-bernhardt.html #324: Another Trumpy FWS official, Leo Miranda, still around—now heads SE Region! He did Trump’s bidding to try to delist Key Deer & other species—called it WILDLY IMPORTANT GOAL! Now he’s still in leadership under Biden. Bet he can’t wait for Trump or DeSantis to take over so he can unprotect more species. See https://floridaphoenix.com/2022/03/10/drive-to-delist-floridas-diminutive-key-deer-was-pushed-by-feds-wacky-wig-plan/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=f6a6a92b-2b9d-45bd-97df-9cab409c8cfa m & https://psmag.com/environment/fish-and-wildlife-is-conserving-nearly-extinct-animals-by-denying-them-protection #323: DeSantis-Repub. Method: Deny “school recognition” rewards to districts that protected children from COVID & provide it to those who followed DeSantis’ political theater of denying evidence they help. And, by the way, cowardly DeSantis will still not ADMIT that he was vaccinated—just as Trump predicted—he’s a worse coward than Trump. See https://floridaphoenix.com/blog/fl-house-ditches-financial-penalties-on-12-school-districts-over-mask-mandates/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=8ff25f1e-209e-4717-b527-15027b253542 #322: New Boss same as Old Boss: Biden’s FWS reversed position that malathion would harm wildlife b/c labels will have “rules” that if followed will prevent harm! I am sure FWS/EPA still will be out in field enforcing those rules?! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/03/08/feds-say-pesticide-wont-harm-wildlife-00015283 #321: Panther vs. Rancher: FWS Panther Coordinator Shindle was ready to kill panther that attacks rancher livestock & “looked at her”—FL panthers endangered-only 200 but ranchers & developers. have dominated FL FWS—Read case study of how FWS refuses to use “jeopardy” power to stop dev. that will destroy 1000s acres of panther habitat. Only negative media publicity has put any spine into FWS officials but unfortunately history shows ranchers & developers will win out. See https://www.wtsp.com/article/life/animals/florida-panther/67-e670a234-018b-46e2-a290-756c095889af & https://theintercept.com/2021/01/24/florida-panther-collier-engangered-species-act/ #320: Dangerous levels of lead found in Montana schools—Who will help? Biden’s infrastructure bill will provide help to fix—same bill that Gianforte & other Republicans oppose! See https://www.hcn.org/articles/pollution-dangerous-levels-of-lead-found-in-montana-schools?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email #319: Gianforte doubles down on being a cowardly A-Hole: He illegally trapped & killed a wolf & now surrounded a treed cougar accompanied by hounds & other hunters & then cowardly shot the cougar. I thought this A-hole would be trying to live down his reputation for being a cowardly slob hunter but this jackass wants to brag about it. He undoubtedly has a very small “member” & needs to compensate for it. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/03/02/mont-governor-bags-criticism-along-with-a-mountain-lion-00013199 #318: Wy’s solution to saving Sage Grouse: Raise them on Game farms! No evidence to show that farmed grouse will work but Wy prefers solution won’t hurt beloved energy industry. Another of FWS’s state “partners” shows they don’t give damn about conservation. https://www.hcn.org/articles/north-birds-wyoming-politicians-hatch-a-plan-to-continue-sage-grouse-game-farms?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email #317: Welfare for West Va. & Manchin: State gets most $ to fix destruction due to coal mines—Other states pay to help West Va while Manchin refuses to have child care tax credit—proof he’s nothing but a hypocrite & phony. See https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/biden-administration-announces-nearly-725-million-create-good-paying-union-jobs #316: Biden SCOTUS pick bad for evmnt: Jackson rejected challenge to Trump efforts exempt from bedrock envtal. laws to build a border wall & other evmntal cases. She’s a “mainstream” judge—sounds great but Bushes-Trump appointed ALL OUT radical conservatives & Jackson’s mealy-mouthed views are not TYPE we need to reverse disastrous SCOTUS. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/02/25/big-environmental-questions-await-supreme-court-pick-jackson-00005316 #315: BLM keeps grazing fees at $1.35—the same amount as in 1978! Under Biden’s Interior, ranchers still rule—new boss—same as the old boss! See Glaser, Christine; Romaniello, Chuck; Moskowitz, Karen. Costs and Consequences: The Real Costs of Livestock Grazing on America’s Public Lands. Center for Biodiversity. January 2015. https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/grazing/pdfs/CostsAndConsequences_01-2015.pdf & https://www.hcn.org/articles/south-public-lands-whats-getting-more-expensive-everything-but-grazing-fees?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email #314: Is there any clear explanation as to why Biden’s BLM fired Loewen who was disciplined for objecting to drilling that would harm birds & continues to oppose his appeal? It seems one more example of how Biden’s Interior continues Trump policies defending drilling-rancher interests & show no clear break with Trump policies. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/02/11/whistleblower-case-ensnares-senior-blm-official-00008333 #313: Great news that Federal judge restored protections to gray wolves tho does not cover states where all-out slob hunting allowed. Goes to show once again: endangered species main protection is ESA & Fed. judges—not Interior Dept. Interior Dept. Biden Interior went along with Trump removal—they love their state partners > wolves that their partners' "bosses"(ranchers-slob hunters) hate. Now that partners in ID-MT-WY are going all out to kill wolves, FWS may FINALLY be forced to act despite Gary Frazier types who are running “predator” policy. See https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/02/10/gray-wolves-endangered-species-ruling/?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wp_news_alert_revere&location=alert&wpmk=1&wpisrc=al_environment__alert-hse&pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJjb29raWVuYW1lIjoid3BfY3J0aWQiLCJpc3MiOiJDYXJ0YSIsImNvb2tpZXZhbHVlIjoiNWE3MGJjODA5YmJjMGYxY2U0MDI3ZTVmIiwidGFnIjoid3BfbmV3c19hbGVydF9yZXZlcmUiLCJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy53YXNoaW5ndG9ucG9zdC5jb20vY2xpbWF0ZS1lbnZpcm9ubWVudC8yMDIyLzAyLzEwL2dyYXktd29sdmVzLWVuZGFuZ2VyZWQtc3BlY2llcy1ydWxpbmcvP3V0bV9zb3VyY2U9YWxlcnQmdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249d3BfbmV3c19hbGVydF9yZXZlcmUmbG9jYXRpb249YWxlcnQmd3Btaz0xJndwaXNyYz1hbF9lbnZpcm9ubWVudF9fYWxlcnQtaHNlIn0.UKCbGYVeXk7UwBfOS0RzopSXn366qdQtJt4De2iZEGk #312: More Taxpayer Welfare for West Va. Coal Companies & Manchin: Feds. Are paying for mine land cleanups mess left by coal companies—Biggest Fed. $ goes to West Va. (&Manchin who invests in them)—same guy who opposed Child Care tax credits for poor. Any more proof needed that energy companies are leeches on the public & that Manchin qualifies as a phony—he didn’t think it was right to give handouts to help children! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/02/07/interior-rolls-out-725m-for-abandoned-mine-land-cleanup-ee-00006339 #311: Florida Republicans attack Biden for not using Infrastructure $ for River of Grass Reservoir. Facts: Biden Admin gave >1 $Billion from Infra. Bill for Everglades conserv. Republicans Rubio & Scott voted AGAINST the bill! Nothing stops lying & hypocrisy of Repubs.—they have no shame & their supporters love their lying & phoniness. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/02/03/corps-defends-everglades-funding-decision-that-riled-fla-gop-ee-00005271 #310: Biden Admin. forms task force w/Western Governors Asso. Good luck!—most of these states follow line of Cong. “Western Caucus” whose program is “to allow more domestic oil-gas drilling, delisting of end. species, & local control over Fed. lands.” The only conservation these states are interested in is producing more big game targets. https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/02/03/western-caucus-ready-for-a-republican-takeover-ee-00005047 & https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/02/03/biden-admin-western-governors-launch-conservation-task-force-ee-00005416 #309: Unbelievable: Read about how Wyoming counties kill from aircraft every wolf, bobcat, mt. lion, & coyote they see on FEDERAL BLM from land w/o required permits. Counties used to contract with “Wildlife Services” (DA agency that kills “pests”) but stopped b/c agency wouldn’t shoot them unless proof they had killed livestock! Feds investigated but did not press charges perhaps due to fact that WY Game & Fish declined to cooperate—that’s right—they’re FWS’s “PARTNERS!” Wildlife Services have kept their mouths shut’ about this illegal activity. Snowmobilers w/guns mounted to front of their machines communicated w/helicopters to help killing. Wy legislators are pushing legislation that will condone counties killing ON FEDERAL land—they state that it’s established they can kill animals on fed. lands “WHEN THEY SEE FIT.” The stupidity of these actions is highlighted when you compare the “$125,000 cost of predator damage” (this is figure of the livestock owners!) with $4.9 Million cost of this predator control! It would seem that the combination of illegal aerial slob hunting violating any sense of ethical hunting & the terrible cost-benefit would bring action by Federal or State officials but truth is that Wildlife Management policy is set by ranchers/slob hunters & nobody in BLM/Interior/USDA has the guts to deal with the small # of slobs who set these policies. The failure to pursue these cases occurred during Dec. 2020 under the Biden Admin. See https://wyofile.com/feds-probed-airborne-wolf-coyote-gunners-in-wyoming-didnt-prosecute/ & https://wyofile.com/predator-control-bill-advances-in-wake-of-aerial-gunning-dispute/ #308: Those Idaho wildlife officials at it again!: While waging a slob-hunting war on wolves, they’re now all-out trapping-killing of river otters too. Why? Commissioner voting for policy says: “bottom line is, the heritage of the state of Idaho is to preserve the right of hunting, fishing and trapping. That's a big deal in Idaho.” What’s not a big deal among Idaho? Concern with preservation of species or the opinion of the majority of Idahoans who don’t support these actions. Ranchers-hunters-anglers-trappers control ID Fish & Game—always have & probably always will. It’s possible when IDFG kills most wolves-otters that Interior Dept. MIGHT step in but don’t hold your breath—they defer to their state “partners” (partners for what?!) See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/01/28/idaho-wildlife-officials-expand-river-otter-trapping-ee-00003180 #307: DeSantis Pick for Surgeon General: An anti-science doctor! Imagine who DeSantis would put in charge of health & education for the entire U.S. if this moron became president! See https://floridaphoenix.com/2022/01/25/desantis-pick-for-fl-surgeon-general-likely-to-face-heat-at-first-confirmation-hearing/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=69f2acd4-85cf-424f-bd09-fcef54019346 #306: Billions for Development, Pennies for Conservation: DeSantis-Republicans fail to fund 2014 mandated Land Acquisition Trust Fund passed by FL voters. Taxes from real estate transfer due to development are HIGH as green lands disappear rapidly. Anyone claiming environmental credential would support full funding. See https://floridaphoenix.com/blog/land-acquisition-fl-senator-tries-again-to-secure-funds-for-conservation-program-mandated-by-2014-voters/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=219cd622-04c7-42b3-8aed-fd8337b0137d #305: DeSantis won’t say whether he took booster proving 2 points: (1) As Trump says, he’s a coward; (2) Science shows boosters work to prevent hosp. so he’s an active threat against health of Floridians. See https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/os-ne-desantis-booster-question-20220121-ntc2tpogkbfjxosgrwdnlsuuny-story.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Breaking%20News%20Alerts&utm_content=1491642779222#nws=true & https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/21/health/covid-boosters-cdc-omicron.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20220122&instance_id=51042&nl=todaysheadlines®i_id=10365419&segment_id=80468&user_id=1575e2a05f37205a27ca72946056eae7 #304: DeSantis Task Force refuses to take action against Red Tide—waits for “for more research” when know agric. Fertilizers& runoffs cause it. DeSantis/Repubs only for “voluntary” cooperation. DeSantis Phony “environmentalist once more.” See https://insideclimatenews.org/news/19012022/florida-red-tide-climate-change-desantis/?utm_source=InsideClimate+News&utm_campaign=b7cb2b8041-&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-b7cb2b8041-328621596 #303: FWS’s “Partner” Idaho Fish & Game will spend $1 Million more to kill wolves & hire contract w/SLOB hunters to use bait, ATVs, dogs & every unfair chase mechanism possible to do so. Meanwhile, FWS geniuses like Gary Frazier are conducting review to see if their “partners” might need controls But FWS has to first consult their "partners & partners’ bosses"—i.e., ranchers before taking action to see what if any actions are acceptable to them! https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/01/20/idaho-wolf-control-board-will-have-1m-to-kill-wolves-285391 #302: Bill to destroy sea grass off Florida same way wetlands have been previously destroyed by allowing phony “mitigation” for developers destroying sea grass. Wonder what phony "environmentalist" DeSantis will do if this passes?! He'll be torn between two lives--desperate desire to be seen as "green" but a toady to developers who feed his campaign chest. See Pitman’s article at https://floridaphoenix.com/2022/01/20/bills-would-help-consultants-make-a-killing-off-of-killing-off-floridas-seagrass/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=2aed7fb3-4e29-4de9-9261-3d63774239f8 #301: DeSantis’s Failed State: Housing prices rocketing but wage gains slower than nat. average & Repubs. fail to protect for providing affordable housing (require local gvmnts. incentivize developers & divert $ intended for low income housing in order to protect wealthy homes on coasts from flooding. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/florida-affordable-housing-crisis/2022/01/18/8369ac0c-72ea-11ec-b202-b9b92330d4fa_story.html?utm_campaign=wp_todays_headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_headlines&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F35cc1ca%2F61e7ef599d2fda14d7fb40a1%2F5a70bc809bbc0f1ce4027e5f%2F16%2F71%2F61e7ef599d2fda14d7fb40a1 #300: Borowitz truthful joke about DeSantis (Sad but true!): DeSantis Betting That Republicans Want a Stupider Version of Trump. See https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/desantis-betting-that-republicans-want-a-stupider-version-of-trump? See: https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/desantis-betting-that-republicans-want-a-stupider-version-of-trump?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_Borowitz_011822&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&bxid=5be9cf0924c17c6adf3b5b31&cndid=49211607&hasha=1575e2a05f37205a27ca72946056eae7&hashb=627b54ebd21a67fc2bbf4cded11488a375592009&hashc=f003a928b87179da0eb9f82b480d8b655a24dc0d0a4116822ef8a5ba0f95b156&esrc=bounceX&utm_term=TNY_Borowitz #299: Read case study of how Arizona Game & Fish Dept. support & coddle rancher on BLM-state wildlife area—Dept spent $ Millions on ranch but charge $200 mo. rent! & continue to spend to help rancher. BLM’s failed to enforce Biological Assessment steps to exclude cattle from riparian areas. Oh, well, we know BLM & FWS major “stakeholders” are ranchers & the state wildlife depts. they “own.” See https://azgrazingclearinghouse.org/agfd-horseshoe-ranch/ #298: Good news is added $ for wildlife amend Pittman-Robertson. But what will states do with it? Most view P-R as primarily support for Big Game-Anglers—not end. species & state wildlife depts are dominated by these interests. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/01/18/bipartisan-wildlife-protection-bill-set-for-committee-vote-285267 #297: Florida Legislators spend $ supposed to be earmarked for “environmentally sensitive land” on salaries, vehicles, & insurance against evmntal lawsuits & Fl judge lets them do it because the “money was already spent!” DeSantis claim to be “environmentalist” is a bad joke. See https://floridaphoenix.com/2022/01/13/florida-legislators-get-away-with-their-amendment-1-heist-for-now/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=b3aa7edd-647d-4c6b-a81d-b6bdab4beb25 #296: New ruling by Judge forcing FWS to consider protections for Yellowstone bison once again shows ESA & Federal Court judges are THE ONLY strong protection for species that conflict with ranchers. FWS under Biden like other Admins. is most concerned with not offending rancher-dominated states & politicos like Tester who might lose their seat. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/01/13/judge-orders-do-over-on-yellowstone-bison-protections-285171 #295: DeSantis & EPA are killing manatees by failing to stop pollution-fertilizers from farms & developments that kill seagrass. We see what their priorities are—keep the developers & farm industry happy—forget manatees. See https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-ne-starving-manatees-20220113-uxnxhcieg5hcxmlnne5y5zd6be-story.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Breaking%20News%20Alerts&utm_content=1491642089918#nws=true #294: Wyoming wants to delist grizzlies—says they are “fully recovered”??! Recovered to what? To the MINIMUM # that MIGHT guarantee survival! Not to their population before they were extinguished! You can count on FWS’s favorite state partners (WY, MT, ID) to try kill every single bear existing IN EXCESS of the Minimum Feds set. So much for FWS’s partners who are owned LOCK, STOCK, & BARREL by ranchers & slob hunters—and so far is FWS owned by them. See https://wyofile.com/wyo-asks-feds-to-delist-yellowstone-ecosystem-grizzlies/ & https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/01/12/wyo-urges-end-to-yellowstone-area-grizzly-bear-protections-285108 #293: DeSantis Way Ahead in contest to be Stupidest governor: pushes inferior Regeneron protection against COVID. How many more times does he have to threaten public health before we get rid of him? See https://floridaphoenix.com/blog/gov-procures-doses-of-regeneron-therapy-which-cdc-warns-is-weak-against-omicron/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=fce87405-9c10-418e-957b-2256064ea1d6 #292: Test for Wyoming & FWS: Latest data shows “alarming drop” in Sage Grouse. Wy & other western states always bragging they can preserve threatened species better than Feds so let’s see if they take STRONG action?! Also test for FWS & Haaland: so far they have knuckled under to ranchers/slobhunters/industry allowing more lead bullets onto wildlife refuges. Will they finally show backbone or is this still Gary Frazier-Bernhardt FWS? See https://wyofile.com/new-sage-grouse-data-alarming-state-biologist-says/ #291: DeSantis on 2006 demonstrations: They’re “nauseating”—what is really nauseating? FL Dept of Health wasted 1 Million COVID tests, encourages NOT testing, & pushes inferior anti-COVID measures. Should be renamed Florida Against Health Dept. See https://floridaphoenix.com/2022/01/06/gov-desantis-on-events-commemorating-jan-6-insurrection-i-think-its-going-to-be-nauseating/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=5bc32f7e-1622-4f3c-be15-44669a4e474e https://floridaphoenix.com/2022/01/07/desantis-and-his-surgeon-general-focus-on-covid-treatments-mum-on-vaccines/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=5bc32f7e-1622-4f3c-be15-44669a4e474e https://floridaphoenix.com/2022/01/06/desantis-admits-roughly-1-million-covid-test-kits-did-expire-in-fl/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=5bc32f7e-1622-4f3c-be15-44669a4e474e #290: DeSantis Proven to be Coward & Dangerous to Human Health again: Won’t allow mandates to protect from spread of COVID & pushes inferior monoclonal protections. Why such stupidity? Solely to push his candidacy for Repub. nomination. https://floridaphoenix.com/2022/01/03/desantis-our-schools-will-be-open-despite-surge-in-covid-infections/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=a03c06d7-69c9-495d-83d6-a2c10f4bb794 #289: “Bipartisan Consensus for Recreation—not protecting wildlife or natural resources. Dems pushing bills to enable humans to get easier access & low fees to pub. lands. It’s good in theory but ignores fact that many public lands are being loved to death & this will aggravate it. Secondly, wildlife will be further hassled-pressured by more humans—research proves bad effects. Reform actually should go different direction—start reducing harmful human impact on heavily traveled natural resources. Unfortunately, tho most humans would admit desirable, no powerful interest groups to protect NON-HUMAN interests. That’s why further deterioration of public lands is INEVITABLE. See example of problems at https://wyofile.com/as-crowds-pile-into-parks-officials-mull-management-options/ Dems proposals at https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/01/04/advocates-eye-lands-package-focused-on-recreation-284694 #288: Florida Hospitalizations from new COVID not seriously increasing b/c # of people who have been vaccinated—NO THANKS to DeSantis who refuses to have mandates. He like no-vaxers doesn’t give a damn about burdening hospitals & others. Let’s get rid of the bum next election. See https://www.sun-sentinel.com/coronavirus/fl-ne-omicron-florida-hospitals-20211229-rscptt3dhzau5i656pq5v3dhba-story.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Don%27t%20Miss&utm_content=5601640796422#nws=true #287: DeSantis FL Dept of Health won’t release data on COVID infections & hospitalizations. This joker has banned mask and vaccinations mandates & wants to minimize analysis that will prove his stupidity. See https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2021/12/22/why-wont-florida-cdc-release-states-breakthrough-covid-data/?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark #286: Biden FWS: They are planning on taking FL Panthers off the endangered list & then “putting them back on.” FWS under Biden, Obama as well as Repubs. has failed to protect panthers, allowing all kinds of dev. in panther habitat as detailed in recent report. I thought that Biden’s FWS would be a strong supporter of conservation of end. species but they are looking very similar to Trump’s disastrous team—same FWS officials afraid of confronting powerful developers in FL. Craig Pittman says “agency has not opposed any development in panther habitat since 1993, instead approving construction, mining, and other uses for more than 40,000 acres of it. & employees said every time they tried to block something, “we were told that, politically, it would be a disaster.” New boss same as old boss again. See https://floridaphoenix.com/2021/12/23/keep-an-eye-on-the-folks-in-charge-of-protecting-floridas-panthers/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=f59780ca-d6ce-4b37-9c28-b992f26d8f19 & https://theintercept.com/2021/01/24/florida-panther-collier-engangered-species-act/ #285: DeSantis & other GOP FL govs. lax enforcement resulted in phosphate-nitrogen pollution that’s killing manatees. DeSantis cut back # inspections & fines & has low participation in prog. to limit discharges. DeSantis—killer of manatee. See https://floridaphoenix.com/2021/12/20/environmentalists-threaten-epa-with-lawsuit-over-the-pollution-killing-manatees/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=59940cd0-cf92-49aa-bc89-ba454e88852d #284: Questions for Interior’s New Hunting & Wildlife Conservation Council: Do you think lead bullets should be allowed in national parks, monuments, and forests when they are harmful to “wildlife resources” you are supposed to be protecting? What should be the priority of wildlife refuges: wildlife or hunters? See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/12/20/interior-restarts-obama-era-hunting-wildlife-advisory-group-284556 #283: DeSantis winning battle of stupidity w/Texas Gov. Abbott: Washginton Post: "DeSanti In the heated competition between Texas and Florida to see which state government can shed IQ points faster, the Sunshine State has pulled ahead. Aspiring Fox News personality Ron DeSantis, who moonlights as Florida’s governor, has proposed the Stop W.O.K.E. Act. Invoking the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr., DeSantis explained that the act will allow Floridians to take “a stand against critical race theory in our schools” (story). The fact that critical race theory has never been part of Florida's curriculum is irrelevant to the GOP’s Theater of Horrors. Aping the structure of the new Texas anti-abortion law, DeSantis’s proposal would give parents a “private right of action” to sue any teacher they think is promoting critical race theory — whatever that might be. Talking to supporters on Wednesday, DeSantis was candid about hoping to create a climate of “fear” in which teachers censor themselves. His army of thought police snuffing out free expression with nuisance lawsuits is part of the governor’s plan to defeat “cultural Marxism.” See https://s2.washingtonpost.com/camp-rw/?trackId=5a70bc809bbc0f1ce4027e5f&s=61bcab5b9d2fdab56bcc5309&linknum=5&linktot=81 #282: Ranchers-Slob Hunters dominate wolf policy in Washington State as well as WY-MT-ID. A member of Wildlife Cmmsn. who opposed spring wolf hunt attacked by hunters for making cmmsn. “off balance” & “disenfranchising” hunting. So he resigned. All surveys show that in WA as well as conservative states, supporters for wolves FAR EXCEEDS small #’s of rancher-slob hunters who want to kill them but these extremist grps. dominate state wildlife policies anyway. Haaland’s FWS could do something about this but so far, she’s fully following Bernhardt’ trophy-slob hunter policy approach so don’t hold breath waiting for her to do something. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/12/15/wash-wildlife-commissioner-resigns-over-politicized-quagmire-284339 #281: New Boss (Biden) policies same as “old boss” (Trump). Biden’s Forest Service approves rail thru “roadless” Utah National Forest. The rail would destroy up to 2100 feet of Forest—more than most roads! Why? Biden’s panicked about gas prices & will now do ANYTHING that placates oil industry & quiet public concerns about them. Biden & his Admin. have now demonstrated that conservation & environmental are the least of thewir priorities. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/12/15/biden-admin-backs-oil-rail-through-roadless-forest-area-284289 #280: DeSantis & FL Dept of Health: Refuses to provide data on COVID—aggregate data that would not compromise any individuals. Why? Because cowardly & politico DeSantis won’t allow any info out that shows how stupid his anti-vac & anti-mask policies are. These are data that should be public property & necessary for informed discussion of state health policies. Keeping silent about them is criminal & anti-transparency. But that’s what DeSantis is all about. See https://floridaphoenix.com/2021/12/14/floridians-kept-in-the-dark-on-omicron-state-health-officials-say-little-about-cases/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=b571ba82-c213-46e2-acc7-c96bc56f1f2f #279: Reasons that demonstrate DeSantis is an incompetent & not qualified for ANY elective office: (1) He banned vaccine and mask mandates that protect citizens; (2) He penalized school district that had mandates to protect their children & now is refunding them the $ because he knows he was in the wrong; (3) He is wasting taxpayer dollars setting up an unneeded state army. We need to get rid of him before he does more harm. See https://floridaphoenix.com/2021/12/13/following-federal-scrutiny-fl-education-officials-returned-878000-to-certain-local-school-boards/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=e63a5fbb-7a56-40b3-bf9b-0827ee282024 #278: Proof we need MORE MONUMENTS: Utah’s Arches Nat. Park is now requiring timed visits b/c of huge increase in visitors over last decade which mirrors increases in popularity of other parks & monuments. This proves that we need MORE parks & monuments, not fewer. But Utah’s state politicos are nevertheless trying to cut Bears Ears Monument b/c small group of ranchers-energy industry want to exploit the lands. & Chief Justice Roberts has encouraged them. Truth is that over last century, the Antiquities Act has enabled the creation of the largest monuments that the public wants because it DOESN’T require Congressional approval. Right-wing industry senators like Mike Lee et al. never want lands-profits taken away from their favorite campaign contributors. Only the Antiquities Act allows avoidance of these stooges. Even a Republican President like GW Bush created a major monument—of course, Jackass Trump only tried to destroy them. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/12/13/utahs-arches-to-require-timed-tickets-as-visitation-swells-284223 #277: DeSantis: hires U of F Chair of Bd of Trustees who “won’t waste money” on professors who speak truth to power—DeSantis & he only tolerate toadies. So much for DeSantis qualifications to be president—he couldn’t handle a kindergarten. https://floridaphoenix.com/2021/12/13/listen-you-u-f-brainiacs-our-wise-governor-will-let-you-know-what-to-think/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=185f9599-5a07-45ee-960d-036c527c39ed #276: Bipartisan U.S. GAO report shows that BLM’s “stakeholders” (i.e., BLM’s true bosses) are happy with BLM’s mgmnt. BLM does not calculate costs of administering leasing oil-gas despite changes such as online applications that have required more staff and time. BLM doesn’t recover ANY costs at all of processing them unless lease actually done which only happens 16% of the time! BLM could charge nom. fees to discourage “frivolous” noms. but BLM’s philosophy is to make industry happy—instead they charge the unrecovered costs to taxpayers. See U.S. General Accountability Office. (2021). OIL AND GAS LEASING BLM Should Update Its Guidance and Review Its Fees Accessible Version Report to Congressional Requesters. GAO-22-103968 https://www.gao.gov/assets/720/717469.pdf #275: Haaland to Western governors: ‘We need you.” Do we need Govs. like Gianforte (cowardly killer of illegally trapped wolf), & Wy's Mark Gordon who wants to end protections for grizzlies & cut sage grouse habitat, &sheepherder Brad Little whose State is enabling every slob hunting device they can to kill most of the wolves in the state. When Haaland made this statement, Gordon asked for "direct line" on endangered species decisions. Based on FWS’s & BLM’s recent decisions, he doesn’t need it—they are doing whatever the rulers of these states (i.e., energy & ranching industries & slob hunters) want. We need these governors—alright—to be kicked out of their Offices to save conservation in their states. Right now, the Biden Administration's “conservation plan” is turning into Trump’s 2.0. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/12/10/haaland-to-western-governors-we-need-you-284179 #274: Biden’s Forest Service serves ranchers. First approves removal of sheep from area supposed to protect wildlife like grizzlies but then lets cattle graze area! No difference between Trump’s & Biden’s FS when it comes to conservation—ranchers rule both. See#274 https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/blog #273: DeSantis proves self phony over & over again. To spend 270 Million on flood resilience but jackass refuses to mention climate change. Wastes millions on building his own army. What more evidence do we need to kick his sorry butt out of office? See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/12/10/fla-gop-ignores-climate-in-calls-for-flood-resilience-cash-284146 #272: BLM fires whistleblower trying to protect migratory birds. FWS alreadyhad fired whistleblower trying to protect Florida panthers—overturned by courts. Republicans must be gleeful—FWS-BLM & FS are all following same industry first policy that Trump’s did. When is environmental community going to start protesting Biden cowardly FWS-BLM-FS? FWS did a few obvious things like migratory bird treaty but most of their panders to ranchers & Repub. govs & congresspeople, not environmentalists who voted for Biden. See https://wyofile.com/blm-fires-critical-environmental-analyst-on-second-try/ & https://www.peer.org/federal-court-vindicates-panther-whistleblower/ #271: Another FL attack on Endangered Wildlife: To please developers, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission waives rules so that gopher tortoises can be moved more than 100 miles from home. They’ve already done their best to develop endangered panthers thru developments. They’ve already allowed wetlands to be destroyed thru phony “elsewhere mitigation” that usually fails if it takes place at all. In FL, developers rule—forget about nature under phony so-called “environmentalist” DeSantis. Whenever profits conflict with wildlife, developers win. See https://floridaphoenix.com/2021/12/09/waiving-rules-for-moving-florida-gopher-tortoises-helps-only-developers/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=5e6fde87-d0b7-4a7a-b02f-fd6a25bfd041 #270: DeSantis: He’s going to avoid “left wing” words like climate change! So FL shouldn’t prepare for ocean rise?! How did this idiot get into Yale & Harvard?! Yes, b/c he’s a total phony—even bigger phony than Trump! See https://floridaphoenix.com/2021/12/07/avoiding-words-climate-change-desantis-says-global-warming-concerns-involve-left-wing-stuff/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=8003e696-ad6f-4f6e-9d6d-612543304664 #269: FWS & Florida decide to feed starving manatees but did they notice FL Repubs want to okay destruction of sea grass—with promise that loss will be “mitigated” just like wetlands mitigation that NEVER happens! See #265 https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/blog & https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/12/07/manatees-florida-feeding-program/?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wp_news_alert_revere&location=alert&wpmk=1&wpisrc=al_environment__alert-hse&pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJjb29raWVuYW1lIjoid3BfY3J0aWQiLCJpc3MiOiJDYXJ0YSIsImNvb2tpZXZhbHVlIjoiNWE3MGJjODA5YmJjMGYxY2U0MDI3ZTVmIiwidGFnIjoid3BfbmV3c19hbGVydF9yZXZlcmUiLCJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy53YXNoaW5ndG9ucG9zdC5jb20vY2xpbWF0ZS1lbnZpcm9ubWVudC8yMDIxLzEyLzA3L21hbmF0ZWVzLWZsb3JpZGEtZmVlZGluZy1wcm9ncmFtLz91dG1fc291cmNlPWFsZXJ0JnV0bV9tZWRpdW09ZW1haWwmdXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPXdwX25ld3NfYWxlcnRfcmV2ZXJlJmxvY2F0aW9uPWFsZXJ0JndwbWs9MSZ3cGlzcmM9YWxfZW52aXJvbm1lbnRfX2FsZXJ0LWhzZSJ9.G3vdKcHd_LF1ckZQBeCgmVvbGwX8edDuqHztV2X-0VE #268: Biden Forest Serv. okays slaughter of bison b/c they’re “overgrazing the land” causing starvation for “other animals”—i.e., Welfare Ranchers’ cattle grazing. Lame excuse? Brucellosis which has NEVER been cause of transmission from bison to cattle! See https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/05/us/yellowstone-bison-hunt-brucellosis.html?referringSource=articleShare #267: Somebody’s killing grizzlies in Idaho & a few Idahoans express shock but Idaho along with MT & WY want to delist grizzlies & allow killing them like they’re doing to wolves so this outrage is phony. Only Fed. protection prevents open slob hunting like this. Idaho's pandering to slob hunters of wolves & desire to delist grizzlies encourages such outrages. See https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2021/11/30/grizzly-bear-fremont-county/? utm_campaign=wp_must_reads&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_mustreads&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F356f03f%2F61ab73679d2fdab56bb28e14%2F5a70bc809bbc0f1ce4027e5f%2F29%2F100%2F61ab73679d2fdab56bb28e14 #266: Florida Repubs. aiming to destroy sea grass like they have FL wetlands with bill that authorizes 1st time wetland “mitigation banks” for submerged lands. Read Pittman’s Paving Paradise to see how this works: Good seagrass will be destroyed w/promises to restore in other areas—as with wetlands, it won’t happen & it’s occurring when manatees are dying due to lack of nutrition caused by runoffs! “Environmental governor” DeSantis won’t put up with this, will he?!! BS! Read Craig Pittman’s book, Paving Paradise U of FL Press, 2009 for detailed proof of “mitigation” fiasco. Neither State nor Fed. agencies monitored or enforced promise mitigations. See https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/#inbox/FMfcgzGllMGjXCvFHXKgVbGwnMDJRHZB #265: BLM is considering restoring cattle to arsonist Hammond’s Fed. permit area in Oregon-their actions inspired Bundy-led attack on Malheur Nat. Wildlife Refuge. Why would Biden Admin. seriously consider doing this? In fact, what is happening with respect to Cliven Bundy—the welfare rancher who hasn’t paid fees (which are inadequate to cover the costs for these welfare ranchers.) When the hell is accountability going to come to this clown who has threatened BLM & other Fed. workers regularly? See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/12/03/blm-considering-grazing-permits-on-former-hammond-allotments-283909 #264: Bighorn sheep #s are way down in Hart Mountain Nat. Antelope Range. Federal studies show main causes of decline: climate change-high temps & spread of plants like Juniper caused by “intensive livestock” usage. How to solve problem? Kill cougars who kill a small # of them. Don’t do anything about underlying causes of climate or livestock usage. Great to see FWS knows their priorities—keep livestock owners happy. See Fed. Rpt on true causes at https://www.fs.fed.us › rmrs_2008_rowland_m001 & https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/12/03/feds-shoot-the-cougars-save-the-bighorn-sheep-283895 #263: WY ID & MT want to delist grizzlies b/c Fed Interagency Comm. says there’s big increase in #s even though this was a “paper increase” due to change in assumptions. & these states claim“management in best placed in states”! Yes, that’s right, they want to do to grizzlies what ID & MT are doing to wolves. In western state lingo, “the MINIMUM # of grizzlies (or wolves) est. by Feds is the SAME as the MAXIMUM # the state will tolerate since these state’s wildlife orgs are run by ranchers & slob hunters. E.G. MT’s gov., Gianforte, was convicted of illegally trapping & killing a wolf. Sad thing is that Biden’s Interior Dept with Gary Frazier just loves these state agencies. See https://wyofile.com/wyo-approves-tri-state-grizzly-hunting-pact-in-delisting-push/ #262: Carrying Capacity Problem: Manatees or Humans with Boats? More than 1000 manatees are dying due to loss of sea grass caused by humans. Solution? American Watercraft Asso. says it’s because manatees have exceeded their carrying capacity & need to have excess manatees die! How many boats would exceed carrying capacity for manatee water areas? Yep, there’s no limit on humans & their playthings—only other creatures. Note: This problem is occurring in FL where DeSantis brags about his evmntal record—he NEVER does anything that will threaten sig human interest—quite the contrary—allows destruction of wetlands every chance he gets. See https://floridaphoenix.com/2021/12/02/feds-dragging-their-feet-on-a-plan-to-feed-starving-florida-manatees/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=2ec00a10-b9f4-451e-9a6a-d79bc1bc039d #261: Biden-Haaland Shame: Ryan Zinke’s first act was to overturn ban on lead bullets in Nat. Parks estab. by Obama’s Sec. Interior, Dan Ashe. Haaland just EXPANDED use of lead bullets to MORE national parks. What the hell is going on? #261 https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/blog Slob hunters rule Biden’s Interior Dept. The data on harm from lead ammo is clear. See p37-38 in my book, Industry First: Trump’s Interior Department’s Attack on Conservation https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TYY51KR?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 for details #260: Wow, Gary Frazier must still be in charge of hunter-style Interior conservation since Bernhardt’s plan to expand hunting in so-called wildlife REFUGES is now being implemented by Biden. FWS assures us lead bullets “anticipated to be low”—let’s hear how they figured that out. As I have pointed out before, no. of people who want to hunt in wildlife refuges continues to drop while # who want to WATCH wildlife grows. But Biden’s Interior is still dominated by those who kowtow to tiny # of slob hunters. Like Trump, Biden sees main purpose of REFUGES to be to make hunters happy—not provide a refuge for wildlife. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/11/29/greens-sue-to-block-expanded-hunting-on-wildlife-refuges-283682 #259: Hope vs Political Reality: Biden Ad. proposes royalty increases for drilling fed. lands but omits mention of including climate impact in NEPA reviews. Grilling & ordeal of Biden Interior nominees by Cong. oil lackeys had its intended effect. Only small incremental changes will be made—until immediate disaster strikes that’s so huge it can’t be ignored. See https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/26/climate/climate-change-drilling-public-lands.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20211127&instance_id=46450&nl=todaysheadlines®i_id=10365419&segment_id=75510&user_id=1575e2a05f37205a27ca72946056eae7 #258: Recently Trump’s corrupt Interior Sec., David Bernhardt, said Office of Special Counsel’s report proved he did not violate the Hatch Act. Here’s what the OSC report actually said: "Secretary Bernhardt tweeted a video entitled “President Trump’s Conservation Record” that appeared to be little more than a campaign ad focused on the administration’s first-term conservation accomplishments…the DOI video…was based upon an op-ed whose purpose OSC concludes was to promote President Trump’s reelection—go beyond what OSC intended [i.e. legal behavior] … Moreover, the OSC Report also stated: "DOI attorneys were not asked to review the video until the day it was scheduled to be released. They raised concerns about both the timing and content of the post, but a DOI political appointee insisted that the timing—one week before the election—was coincidental and that the video was intended to promote DOI’s work rather than President Trump’s candidacy." Note: The DOI Attorneys in top positions such as Daniel Jorjani themselves committed repeated ethical violations as detailed in Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TYY51KR?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 See Office of Special Counsel's Report Pp.50-52 in https://osc.gov/Documents/Hatch%20Act/Reports/Investigation%20of%20Political%20Activities%20by%20Senior%20Trump%20Administration%20Officials%20During%20the%202020%20Presidential%20Election.pdf #257: Utah accommodates water contamination by uranium mill next to Ute Mountain Reservation. Indeed, More than 90% of all mills are on or near reservations. That’s fine with Utah politicos—as long as the danger is near Native Americans & not them. Now Utah may approve import of radioactive waste from Estonia. You can be sure they wouldn’t dream of allowing this near Mormon-dominated areas. Pollution is fine as long as it’s in native American/minority areas. See https://www.hcn.org/issues/53.11/indigenous-affairs-nuclear-energy-the-nations-last-uranium-mill-plans-to-import-estonias-radioactive-waste?utm_source=wcn1 #256: DeSantis “environmentalism” killing Manatees: More than 1000 died this year due to polluted water runoff from agric., sewage, & developments. Don’t expect cowardly DeSantis to do anything about these forces—they are his supporters! So much for his bragging about being an environmentalist—when conservation conflicts w/human profits, wildlife will die if DeSantis is in charge. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/11/18/fla-tops-1-000-manatee-deaths-in-grim-single-year-record-283397 #255: Good riddance! Gosar losing his seat on House Natural Resources Committee! This yahoo who has been major opponent of wildlife conservation & End. Species Act did nothing but hamper Committee’s efforts to conserve. Couldn’t happen to a worse guy! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/11/17/gosar-to-lose-seats-on-natural-resources-oversight-panels-283325 #254: DeSantis & his crackpot followers: they want to forbid mandates that protect the public from COVID—they object to rules that cover “everyone”—Wow—rules that protect other humans from irresponsible individuals infecting them with disease that has killed tens of thousands! DeSantis & other crackpots like him are clear & present danger not just to public health but threaten anyone who dares to stand up against their craziness. We need get rid of DeSantis menace the next election! See https://floridaphoenix.com/2021/11/16/conspiracy-theories-run-rampant-during-testimony-on-desantis-vax-mandate-ban/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=a97d77a6-edd2-4824-a0af-9f392a0c8daa #253: DeSantis proves worthy successor to Trump: He’s giving $ to workers who refused to get vaccinated but refused to help those who lost job involuntarily to COVID often caused by unvaccinated! He’s an A1-A-Hole just like his hero, Trump. See https://floridaphoenix.com/2021/11/11/a-remarkable-precedent-fl-republicans-want-to-pay-workers-who-refuse-to-submit-to-vaccine-mandates/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=c25f80ae-1256-4e83-b5ed-e94a8ce109de #252: Aurelia Skipwith: A Disgrace to USFWS. Read how she & Bernhardt took away critical habitat from spotted owl, ignoring FWS scientists, arguing it was okay because though it was likely owl would go extinct, it wasn’t certain! See https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/owl-habitat-cuts-trump-appointees-faulty-science-81056783?emci=390153ad-4e42-ec11-9820-c896653b26c8&emdi=7d286057-ef42-ec11-9820-c896653b26c8&ceid=326118 #251: How the Hell did Office of Special Counsel not Convict Bernhardt of Hatch Act Violations? Here are the facts: The Department of Interior gave Trump’s White House use of National Monuments and the National Park Service for his political campaign gratis—that is the public, not Trump or the Republican party pays. Here is what they did: The National Park produced a video touting President Trump. The video shows Trump saluting at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota and speaking at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. It also includes footage of first lady Melania Trump and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt from their visit to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming last October, along with shots of Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in West Potomac Park, next to the National Mall. Amid the scenic shots, the video opens with the capitalized words: "PRESIDENT TRUMP CALLED ON CONGRESS TO PROTECT OUR NATIONAL PARKS AND FEDERAL LANDS FOR OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN. The video, which the Interior Department posted on Facebook, clearly violates the federal Antideficiency Act, which prohibits the use of federal funds for purposes other than those approved by Congress, but the Park Service refused to say how much they spent on the video and they stated that the video had been approved by "career ethics and general law officials" before it was posted. Informally, ethics officials said the Hatch Act was a local Washington, D.C. “thing” and nobody cared about it. Undoubtedly Interior’s IG and Ethics staff will come up with some creative lying to justify these illegal actions! In the final week before the 2020 election, Bernhardt’s Interior took another illegal action. Interior Official Twitter account posted a video saluting “Trump’s historic feats” along with “jaunty music and images of Trump signing Great American Outdoor Act.” Former Obama Administration officials stated that this was clearly a violation of the Hatch Act. What was the response of Trump’s Interior? If you guessed that they retorted that “their career ethics lawyers” approved it, you now understand Trump’s Interior perfectly (Yachnin and Cama, Oct. 28, 2020)! Then Trump’s Interior went on to brag about their tripling of Ethics officials! The problem is that although the ethics staff tripled in number, unethical and illegal actions by top staff quadrupled during the same period! Source: Pp. 56-57 in Bruce Rocheleau, Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior Department. https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ & https://www.eenews.net/articles/federal-watchdog-trump-doe-chief-violated-hatch-act/ #250: DeSantis phony denials: Says he didn’t interfere with blocking UF professor testimony. But UF says blocking due to “conflict of interest with executive branch” (i.e. DeSantis!)—UF correctly fear DeSantis will punish it for telling truth about DeSantis war to prevent truthful facts being presented to Court over anti-minority voting law changes. DeSantis chum in charge of its Bd of Trustees & does DeSantis bidding. See https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/04/us/florida-professors-lawsuit.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20211105&instance_id=44648&nl=todaysheadlines®i_id=10365419&segment_id=73598&user_id=1575e2a05f37205a27ca72946056eae7 #249: Poo from whales absorbs lots of carbon so expanding whale pops would help climate crisis—goal should not be just to “sustain” minimum pops necessary for survival. By way of contrast, “Poo” ideas to minimize action on climate from Republicans (& Joe Manchin) are just BS! See https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/11/poo-from-the-worlds-largest-animals-have-a-stunning-affect-on-ocean-ecosystems-and-even-carbon-capture/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=poo-from-the-worlds-largest-animals-have-a-stunning-affect-on-ocean-ecosystems-and-even-carbon-capture #248: Read great article on how big majority of Wyoming residents believe in climate change & accounts of how it’s destroying the quality of life of its residents. But, the state’s senators & representatives not only continue to oppose any remedies but are all in support of fossil-fuel & ranching industries that are contributing to the change & thus destroying their lives! Only in Republican-dominated western states can this paradoxical stupidity exist! See https://wyofile.com/wyo-residents-observe-a-changing-climate-and-quality-of-life/ #247: Welfare ranchers want to win credit for protecting public lands under 30x30—& have their permits extended to 20 years! Lots of evidence their livestock, fences, roads, etc. have degraded public lands especially riparian areas crucial to wildlife and the meager permit fees don’t cover the costs incurred by the Federal government (not to mention harm to the environment). Their proposals are the epitome of “gall”! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/11/01/could-conservation-plan-prompt-tougher-grazing-oversight-282543 #246: Judges forcing BLM & USFS to reexamine project impact on end. species. This is great reminder that 2 major factors in saving species have been: Federal Courts&ESA that FORCES politically weak agencies like FS & BLM to confront powerful forces & Antiquities Act that allows presidents to preserve lands-waters w/o Congress. W/O these 2 forces, species & protected areas would be MUCH tinier & fewer. Problem: With Trump judges, legal protections are endangered too! I have covered these themes in my Wildlife Politics book (Cambridge, 2017) in detail. See https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ #245: DeSantis likes to brag that despite being a Trumpite, he also protects evmnt b/c that’s important issue to Florida voters. But Craig Pitman has documented how for every positive action he takes, he does equally or worse destructive actions for evmnt. See https://floridaphoenix.com/author/craig-pittman/ #244: Hypocrisy 101: Republicans are constantly criticizing Biden Admin.’s pause on drilling, saying how harmful it is. But Florida Republicans are demanding 10-year offshore drilling ban. What can you say about these hypocrites?! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/10/27/fla-lawmakers-renew-calls-for-10-year-offshore-drilling-ban-282445 #243: Trophy hunter harm: Some claim trophy hunters contribute to conservation but research on tuskless elephants & “big horn” sheep changing to small horns shows that these rapid evol. changes harm both species & their chances for survival. Yet trophy hunters dominate many state wildlife dept policies—time to end their influence! See https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/21/science/tuskless-elephants-evolution.html?campaign_id=34&emc=edit_sc_20211026&instance_id=43784&nl=science-times®i_id=10365419&segment_id=72657&te=1&user_id=1575e2a05f37205a27ca72946056eae7 & https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/eva.12358 #242: Williams named to head FWS. Sen. Daines likes her!--due to her proposed delisting of gray wolves—but at least she isn’t a grad of Dow Chem & lobbyist like Skipwith was! Maybe she is now enlightened & will clamp down on Gary Frazier's obeisance to ranchers-hunters? See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/10/22/white-house-taps-martha-williams-to-head-fws-282300 #241: Trophy Hunters & Poachers have achieved success: They have altered elephants in Mozambique so they no longer have big tusks! Trophy hunters often claim they are “helping species” they hunt—I guess this is an example of that! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/10/22/why-no-tusks-poaching-tips-scales-of-elephant-evolution-282296 #240: Laugh of Day: Ryan Zinke on protests at Interior: “Never under my watch would such blatant lawlessness…permitted.” Zinke had to resign b/c of multiple ethical scandals involving favors for developers & MGM Intl, etc. Bush Ethics head said she couldn’t recall anyone “having as many different problems.” His first action as Sec. Interior was to allow lead bullets in Nat. Parks. He lied about facts used to cut Bears Ears. Now this A-hole is running for Congress! Of course, he fits in perfectly with Gov. Gianforte the coward who illegally trapped then shot wolf. See https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/16/us/ryan-zinkes-legal-troubles.html & Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ #239: Congrats to Forest Service—pushed by CBD finally promise to stop welfare cattle from ruining riparian areas—albeit in one small but important Az site. Of course, cattle are doing similar damage on millions of other acres. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/10/14/forest-service-to-oust-trespass-cattle-from-ariz-waterways-281952 #238: Biden’s USDA working well together with Idaho Fish & Game to kill most wolves—FWS & IFG complement each other’s killing attempts. Congrats to USDA’s Moffitt for helping these welfare ranchers! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/10/12/idaho-reaches-deal-to-reimburse-hunters-who-kill-wolves-281821 #237: Biden USDA’s Moffitt, Undersecretary of Regulatory Progs. Authorized Fed. killing of wolf pack at same time Idaho's aiming to kill 90% of state’s wolves. She says this is “humane & legal.” She’s working with FWS’s Gary Frazier to keep public range welfare ranchers happy. Wonder if she’s read about harm done by public range cattle such as by George Wuerthner, Debra Donahue, and Lynn Jacobs? She’s knows organic gardening but nothing about endangered species! With Moffitt & Frazier in place, no difference between Trump & Biden when it comes to public range ranchers & wolves. See https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/11/wolves-killed-idaho-usda/?utm_campaign=wp_todays_headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_headlines&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F34f3a07%2F61655ca99d2fda9d410b0106%2F5a70bc809bbc0f1ce4027e5f%2F56%2F69%2F61655ca99d2fda9d410b0106 #236: Wow, Biden Admin. going to count all evmtal impacts including INDIRECT & CUMULATIVE! Trump’s Industry-Interior chumps didn’t want to count the latter two—part of their science be damned if it hurts industry campaign! https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/10/06/white-house-outlines-plan-to-overhaul-trump-nepa-rules-281652 #235: In my book, Wildlife Politics (Cambridge, 2017) & online article The Politics of State Wildlife Management: Why Anti-Conservation Forces Usually Win” I discuss how state wildlife boards are dominated by farmers-ranchers-hunters & thus wildlife are targeted for shooting. Usually, state wildlife agencies blindly follow dictates of their Boards but Wisconsin DNR is cutting quota for killing wolves to 130 (from 300). Hunters & farmers complain when public (e.g., thru elections) prevents hunts/trapping saying decision should be left to “biologists”—not ballot box. In Wisconsin, this has been reversed with Repubs. & Bd. refusing to let wildlife mgrs. manage & even more outrageously, Bd. Head refuses to step down at end of his term & has gotten away with it b/c Wis. Repubs. let him stay. Solution: Make Wisconsin Republicans an endangered species! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/10/05/wis-wildlife-agency-defies-board-reduces-fall-wolf-quota-281584 For details of politics of state wildlife agencies, see my article at https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/papers-on-wildlife-conservation.html #234: Wyoming Republicans are worried about harm to sage grouse habitat—from wild horses! They don’t give a damn about much greater harm from oil-gas industry or cattle! & they want Arapaho to open dog food plant using slaughtered wild horses b/c they can “get away with it!” See https://wyofile.com/wild-horse-advocates-cry-foul-on-cusp-of-enormous-roundup-removal/ #233: You can ALWAYS count on Montana Repubs. to try to kill endangered species—whether wolves, grizzlies, or bison. Sen. Daines now angry that Forest Serv. isn’t cutting enough trees due to ruling they must be careful to protect end. species. How dare Courts protect other species?! Daines, however, isn’t concerned at all about underlying causes of climate change—i.e., him and his industry pals! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/10/04/forest-service-faces-new-pressure-to-boost-timber-harvests-281551 #232: How dominant is industry over Interior & BLM specifically? Dems. are now trying to make change to 1872 law that exploit public lands with NO ROYALTY charged! And Repubs. said needed to move BLM West to get closer to “stakeholders” when Industry “stakeholders” wrote the law that governs BLM! It’s outrageous but lasted for 149 yrs.! Industry now wants more—to be “incentivized” to do more exploitation! This is chutzpah—but I wouldn’t bet against these creeps! See ttps://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/10/04/senate-committee-to-consider-1872-mining-law-changes-281447 #231: Biggest Laugh of Day: Repub. Sens. Risch & Lee say they “can’t believe one word that Stone-Manning will say.” They believed everything Bernhardt & Pendley said who have been proven liars about BLM move West & other key issues & who also REFUSED to allow ANY OVERSIGHT by House NR Committee-they never provided docs. requested! How phony can these Republicans be? 100%! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/10/01/5-challenges-facing-stone-manning-as-blms-new-director-281494 & pp. 93-101 of Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior at https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ #230: Biden FWS Asst. Sec. Estenoz just said they will use “commonsense approach to regulating the incidental take of migratory birds.” What does that mean? Same as Trump’s FWS: who wanted “commonsense solutions” because “costs of protecting wildlife should not burden industry”—they wanted to kill mig. birds, cormorants that ate aquaculture & allowed “common sense regs.” to sell alligator parts! Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose! See Rocheleau, Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior Department, pp. 123-124. https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ & https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/09/30/feds-hatch-notion-of-permits-to-kill-migratory-birds-281432 #229: Slob Hunters strike again! Slob hunters in Wy, Wi, & Id are already planning to kill as many wolves as they can get away with. Now slob hunters in NC are poised to extinguish red wolves. Majority of NC citizens & even NC hunters support wolves but small group ready to kill every last one (only 7 left!). https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/09/28/a-few-poachers-could-drive-red-wolves-to-extinction-281285 #228: Biden BLM to count lands grazed by cattle-sheep as “conservation protected.” Too bad facts prove that most public grazed lands have been destroyed by grazing. Well, at least, BLM is protected the lands from thousands of wild horses while millions of cattle-sheep do harm. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/09/28/biden-officials-grazing-lands-should-count-for-conservation-goals-281312 #227: Interior drilling way down but “observers say not clear Biden’s to blame!” Blame?! Less drilling is what is called for! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/09/27/interior-oil-drilling-approvals-take-a-dive-281177 #226: BLM to roundup wild horses to “sustainable level” so that ranchers can have unlimited #’s of cattle to replace them! Great move! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/09/27/blm-to-conduct-massive-wyo-wild-horse-roundup-281225 #225: Model to Achieve 30 by 30 & conservation: Several models have been put forth to preserve biodiversity with emphasis on cooperation & local leadership. But truth is that most effective action as demonstrated by U.S. is judicial model: pass strong law to protect species (e.g., End. Species Act) & have judges enforce it—no endless watering down & compromises for the powerful. Of course, if judiciary becomes filled with Trumpites, won’t continue to work but up till now, it’s the major reason behind U.S. conservation successes. See https://insideclimatenews.org/news/19092021/rights-of-nature-legal-movement/?utm_source=InsideClimate+News&utm_campaign=3b66ed7d8c-&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-3b66ed7d8c-328621596 #224: Will DeSantis take action to save manatees? Unlike many Repubs. he has emphasized evmnt. But water pollution due to fertilizers caused by agric. & dev. is extinguishing sea grass needed by them. Trump’s FWS delisted them in rush to help dev. pals. Let’s see what cowardly DeSantis does when faced with tough choice. See https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12092021/florida-manatee-starvation/?utm_source=InsideClimate+News&utm_campaign=3b66ed7d8c-&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-3b66ed7d8c-328621596 #223: Federal Courts still major vehicle to save species. Biden Admin. FWS followed Trump in wanting to deny ESA protection for Joshua tree. Why? Many staffers like Gary Frazier still pander to Repubs in western states—that’s their main concern, not conservation. So FWS caves but ESA language is strong so that judges (in this case GW Bush appointee) save the species that FWS willing to sacrific. Unfortunately, horde of Trump appointed Fed. judges looming & no doubt discount ESA protections. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/09/22/court-orders-feds-to-reconsider-protections-for-joshua-trees-280930 #222: Col. Gov. Polis trying to stop Grand Canyon bison kill that NPS is sponsoring but key point is this incident shows that NPS under Biden continues to pander to public range ranchers despite exhaustive research that shows they do not contribute sig. to economy/meat market & that their cattle destroy habitat & cost far more than tiny fees charged (& of course, many like Bundy don’t even pay these tiny fees). George Wuerthner’s Welfare Ranching, Debra Donahue's Western Grazing: The Capture of Grass, Ground, and Government” & Lynn Jacobs Waste of the West have exhaustively & clearly proven the folly of handing over valuable land to those spoiled bozos but this tiny group continues to dominate Dem. Administrations as they have Republicans. When will this madness come to an end? See The Politics of State Wildlife Management: Why Anti-Conservation Forces Usually Win. by Bruce Rocheleau at https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/papers-on-wildlife-conservation.html for full details & references. #221: Read excellent article on lead still being imminent threat to survival of California Condors. Non-lead bullets are not expensive but most western states don’t require their use. Zinke’s pandering to lead ammo industry proves his unworthiness to serve in Congress. See https://rewilding.org/grand-canyon-condors-still-imperiled-by-lead/ #220: Big news is BLM returns to DC but excuse for moving in 1st place was ridiculous from start—i.e., to get “closer to their stakeholders!” In my book, Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior (pp. 93-102), I show how public range ranchers in effect have run BLM in the West forever—esp. during Trump Admin. BLM employees in order to get promoted had to prove their allegiance to ranchers & were disciplined or fired if they ever ruled against them. Who is underrepresented in BLM: Native Americans & any citizens who believe that conservation should be a priority. See https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/blog & https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/09/17/blm-returns-headquarters-to-dc-280747 #219: Proof that Selfish interests win out over strong majority support of conservation. Scientific survey of western state residents found 73 percent support restoring protections for threatened species under the Endangered Species Act that were removed. But their state pols acted just the opposite & over 80 % support more monuments, wildlife refuges & protected areas at same time that top politicos squawk about 30X30. They know that the silent majority will not vote on these issues & they can get away with making their pals happy at expense of environment. See https://www.coloradocollege.edu/other/stateoftherockies/conservationinthewest/2021/ #218: How many animals on public land are too many?! It depends—it you’re talking about cattle/sheep—there is NO LIMIT. If you’re talking about bison (or wolves, grizzlies), 0 is desirable # if you’re an A-hole like Paul Gosar. See Matthew Scully on plan to kill bison in Grand Canyon. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/16/opinion/Hunt-bison-Grand-Canyon-National-Park.html?campaign_id=39&emc=edit_ty_20210917&instance_id=40622&nl=opinion-today®i_id=10365419&segment_id=69164&te=1&user_id=1575e2a05f37205a27ca72946056eae7 #217: USFWS cherishes their so-called “partnership” with state wildlife depts but western Repub. states have proven to be willing to support killing any species that irks ranchers& slob hunters. Wy. Gov. Gordon now wants to remove protections for grizzlies. This on top of the all out slob hunting attacks on wolves shows FWS should immediately rethink their "partnership assumption" & view these depts. as the opponent, not partner, in conservation—they’re not committed to conservation but to whatever ranchers&slob hunters want. See https://www.wyofile.com/gordon-wyoming-will-petition-feds-for-grizzly-delisting/ #216: Congrats to BLM for withdrawing permit for cattle to cross threatened tortoise habitat. But brings up issue of how cattle are given privileges to Fed. land when cattle on Federal property are low producing & unimportant to nation’s supply while at same time doing huge damage to public lands. They have gotten away with it for a century due to political power of small group of wealthy, privileged welfare ranchers & time to stop these harmful giveaways. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/09/16/blm-withdraws-decision-to-allow-cattle-in-tortoise-habitat-280684 #215: Reports says FWS may impose wolf protections—that were taken away by Gary Frazier JUST ONE YEAR AGO! Shows what a fraud Frazier is & why he should be fired immediately. He just loves those Western state wildlife depts. & their slob hunting! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/09/16/feds-consider-reinstating-gray-wolf-protections-280670 #214: U.S. fans of wildlife killing contests should admire Faroe Islanders: They use “it’s important local custom” excuse to kill 1500 dolphins using speed boats/water scooters—yes, just like the technology of their ancient ancestors! Goes to show cowardly slob hunters exist everywhere! See https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/09/15/1500-dolphins-slaughtered-faroe-islands/?utm_campaign=wp_todays_headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_headlines&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F34adea0%2F6141c4399d2fdaecb9d9ce11%2F5a70bc809bbc0f1ce4027e5f%2F46%2F67%2F6141c4399d2fdaecb9d9ce11 #213: Ranking Repub. Westerman (R-Ariz.) lambasts Civ. Climate Corps (CCC) saying that his “grandfather told him how terrible & backbreaking FDR’s CC work was.” His grandpa must have been a superwimp! My father during Depression worked for CC & loved it & it helped support his parents & sisters thru the depths of the Depression. Rep. Bentz (Ore.) asked “why would people do hard dirty work for just $15 an hour!? Wow, this Republican admits that $15 is low pay for hard manual labor! Listen to these wimps who are supposed to belong to party that demands hard work--their comments show what phonies they are! Use these idiots’ words against them in the next election! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/09/03/natural-resources-reconciliation-markup-goes-into-overtime-280242 #212: Wisconsin wolf policies can’t be changed by Dem. Governor because Repub. legislature refuses to confirm appointment so that wolf extinction policies advocated by Safari Club can be continued. These are the people that Gary Frazier is seeking to please! Why is Safari Club so involved? Too many wolves mean they will have to work harder to get kills! See https://www.npr.org/2021/08/20/1029854797/biden-gray-wolves-endangered-species-protections-hunting?emci=efba3be4-c305-ec11-b563-501ac57bf4cb&emdi=eb2da028-6506-ec11-981f-501ac57ba3ed&ceid=326118 #211: Gary Frazier is USFWS Director for “Ecological Services”—so his top priority is to protect species—right? Wrong! his role in Trump & now Biden Admin. is to placate hunters, ranchers, & hostile Repubs. in West who hate wolves. He says that if “wolves are put back on path to extinction” due to recent laws to allow slob hunting & annihilation goals of West states, Frazier says that Feds. “COULD” take steps to protect them! This is the guy whose priority is to save species??! With “protectors” like Frazier, wolves don’t need enemies! What possible reason is there for this guy who toadied to Bernhardt & Skipwith to remain in Biden Ad.? Only reason I can conceive is political. Sec. Haaland: please get rid of him or your reputation as a conservation advocate will be harmed. See https://www.khq.com/regional/biden-backs-end-to-wolf-protections-but-hunting-worries-grow/article_80cd3405-54ba-5dca-9a9d-ab1c6ca8542c.html & https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/533954-endangered-species-rollback-early-pushback-trump-administration-emails-show #210: Why Haaland should fire Gary Frazier immediately. When Bernhardt blocked release of scientific report that showed hazards of pesticides to wildlife & called for tighter restrictions, Frazier, whose job is to protect species, said the policy was "NOT politically driven” & Bernhardt didn’t have to “twist arms” (i.e., Frazier’s) to get agreement.” What more evidence do we need to prove he has NO part in Admin. supposed to be FOR conservation. See p. 62-63 in my book, Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior” https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ #209: Gary Frazier, USFWS Asst. Director's logic??? He’s supporting ending ESA protections for gray wolves but admits that Idaho, Mt, & WI. moves to annihilate wolves is “concerning.” This is the guy whose priority is to protect endangered species?! Frazier fit perfectly into Trump’s but Why the hell is this guy in charge in Biden’s USFWS? Get rid of him—immediately. See https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2021/08/20/biden-backs-end-wolf-protections-but-hunting-worries-grow/8214533002/ #208: Idea of trees communicating weird? Read Superweed article in NYT that shows how weeds have evolved to defeat Roundup & other herbicides w/no good herbicide solution. Long term: no cheap solutions but good practices such as rotating crops & hand-pulling weeds as many organic farms do. Humans undermine nature but evolving nature beats the crap out of humans! See https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/18/magazine/superweeds-monsanto.html #207: Want to understand how humans are just tiny (albeit powerfully destructive) element in a fragile world? I just finished reading Richard Powers’ novel, The Overstory & loved it—it gives best sense I’ve ever read of awareness of (some) people’s commitment to nature that provides them with a cause bigger than themselves & gives meaning to their lives. #206: Optimism or Pessimism on Hope to stop climate change: Following dismal UN Report, scientists say “don’t give up” trying to prevent disaster & say there’s no tipping point. However, I am sorry to say I find Haque’s argument persuasive that “Why Nobody’s Ever Going to Do Anything About the Planet Dying.” He points out that we consumers of goods from China are the root cause & not likely to give up our goodies. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/08/13/climate-scientists-have-a-message-for-the-world-dont-give-up-279572 https://eand.co/why-nobodys-ever-going-to-do-anything-about-the-planet-dying-33ab5cbac564 #205: During Biden’s “pause” on leasing, active drilling rigs in Wyoming have tripled! Read comments by Repub. Sen. Lummis that demonstrate her mind is devoid of facts & science & full of BS. See https://www.wyofile.com/wyo-drilling-rig-count-triples-during-biden-leasing-pause/ #204: Great article by Prentice-Dunn that uses BLM data to show that oil comps. are not asking for permits despite Repub. squawking about pause and climate disasters for states like Montana whose Repub. govs. ignore need for climate legislation to prevent disaster. Refuse to allow vaccination/mask mandates that would protect others from these idiots. They remain & always will be dopes forever. See https://medium.com/westwise/despite-oil-industry-howling-companies-are-awash-in-public-lands-drilling-permits-622001bf755a #203: Read Umair’s brief but powerful analysis of the question: Does humanity Deserve to Survive? It puts in perspective how humans destroy habitat & species under the pretense that God gave us the right to do so. Of course, science proves that humans are not only descended from "animals" sharing over 90% of DNA with apes and there is no clear line that distinguishes human and animals from each other. The line in the Bible that is used to justify destruction of other species without conscience is one more outstanding example of the harm that so-called religion has done to the world. See https://eand.co/does-humanity-deserve-to-survive-5d465814d591 #202: NRA’s LaPierre’s Cowardice: NewYorker story details how they killed elephants, hyenas & used their body parts (incl. elephant toes) for personal joy remembering their kills. They got free taxidermist services to prepare their trophies. But these mighty trophy hunters were AFRAID to let ANYONE know about what they had done b/c they knew the public would be disgusted so they had their names erased & concealed. Does anyone need any further evidence that NRA is a reprehensible & cowardly org. preventing gun control & sponsoring illegal trophy hunting. See https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-the-head-of-the-nra-and-his-wife-secretly-shipped-their-elephant-trophies-home #201: Biden’s 30X30 plan: Chicago Sun Times makes great pt. that so far his Admin. achievements has only reversed cuts in protected areas by Trump but done little to EXPAND them & 9 yrs. is short time for such a goal. Time for conservationists & media to communicate to public how THE invasive species, humanity, is extinguishing fora & fauna & needs to put other species ahead of human’s selfish consumption of resources. See https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/7/26/22589455/president-biden-should-undo-trumps-assault-united-states-natural-wonders #200: Where are the ethical hunters? Wisconsin wolf hunt killed 1/3 of state’s wolves. Normally they can be difficult to hunt but Wolves were in the peak of their breeding season, & hunters allowed to use packs of up to six dogs, snowmobiles or ATVs. Hunters like Teddy R. were conservationists & believed in fair chase but large portion of today’s hunters are what I call slob hunters & Wyoming's governor cowardly trapped wolf & killed him, p[. When will ethical-conservationist hunters step up? Most famous hunters now are a-holes like Trump Jr. See https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/07/28/wolf-hunt-blew-past-its-kill-quota-february-another-hunt-is-coming-this-fall/ #199: Orange County (FL) home of Disneyland voted 89%:11% to give rights to 2 Rivers! Who says 30 by 30 is small elitist idea?! Let’s see if DeSantis who professes to be “environmentalist” supports this law. The rivers were disappearing due to human causes (nitrogen pollution) which have caused tons of wildlife kills. See https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2021-2-march-april/protect/florida-river-gets-rights?suppress=true&utm_source=greenlife&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter. #198: Biden’s Forest Service Again following Trump-Idaho grizzly-wolf killing policies. Using “healthy forests” exemption to log grizzly habitat. Idaho pols love nothing more than killing them & Biden’s FS is putting loggers over conservation. While Interior has been making a big turnaround, FS is acting like Trump is still in office! Idaho as you know is the state aiming to kill 90% of their wolves & Biden’s FS gets along with them just dandy! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/07/27/ruling-halts-federal-logging-project-in-grizzly-habitat-275708 #197: Biden’s Forest Service using Trump left-over policies! They are trying to turnover Wilderness lands to public lands rancher cows when conservationists gave $ to stop sheep ranching on these very lands! Most Biden policies have been good but apparently FS still has Trump mentality! See https://www.wyofile.com/bridger-teton-grazing-proposal-is-a-breach-of-trust/ #196: Amazing Interior IG Greenblatt & other IGs asking for subpoena power to probe ethical violations—when he tried to interview official charged with unethical behavior, former aides of official refused to cooperate. This is clearly unacceptable for anyone who wants to check on unethical/illegal swampy acts but GOP refuses b/c it would be “political?” IGs could use this against Biden Admin. right now—not just Trump Ad.! What’s the issue? Trump’s Ad. such as Interior were composed entirely of appointees who were former lobbyists & had all kinds of $ incentives to help their industry buddies while Haaland officials are from orgs. like Nat. Wild. Fed. with no $ incentives to cheat! Greenblatt et al. found several instances of unethical behavior in Trump Int. but never got any action from Interior execs who were complicit. My book, Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior details how Trump’s Interior successfully scorned IGs, GAO, & Congressional oversight w/o repercussions. Something HAS TO CHANGE! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/07/26/igs-seek-subpoena-clout-275572 & https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ #195: Attention Montanans: Trout fishing threatened by drought. Don’t look to climate change deniers Gianforte, Daines, or Zinke for help—they only care about ranchers & industry & you’re losing your beloved evmnt due to them. See https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/23/science/drought-montana-fly-fishing.html?campaign_id=34&emc=edit_sc_20210723&instance_id=36120&nl=science-times®i_id=10365419&segment_id=64291&te=1&user_id=1575e2a05f37205a27ca72946056eae7 #194: Sen. Daines has challenged the “credibility” of Stone-Manning. This comes from a Senator who tried to eliminate LCW funding from the budget but then got scared & supported & bragged about it when fearful of loss of election. What a coward & liar—like many of Montana’s Republicans—e.g., Gianforte illegal killer of wolves. https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1063717929/search?keyword=2020+election My book Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior provides full details on Trump Interior’s sleazy ethics https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ #193: More Proof of Trump Interior’s lying/sleazy behavior! IG Rpt. just released shows senior Trump Interior political appointee met with former employers offering help with “shared priorities” but lied about it several times--IG found that employee’s calendar, emails, & witness testimony proved he had met w/them. The worst thing about this whole matter is that the behavior occurred in 2017 & this ethical misbehavior was reported in 2019 to the IG but NOTHING was done by Bernhardt or his Ethics Office & his lying is now just reported AFTER he left Interior & new Admin. has taken over. This case shows that if Sec. of Interior & his Ethics staff ignore ethics, nothing will happen to violators & Interior IGs were slow & fearful to take any action against top politicos. Only oversight by Congress would have any impact but Bernhardt refused to respond to any oversight attempts by Grijalva’s Committee. So, in effect, under corrupt leadership, nothing could be done to stop Zinke-Bernhardt’s sleaze. Read IG report at https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/07/21/ig-trump-interior-appointee-violated-ethics-pledge-275429 #192: Idaho wants to kill All wolves in states except Min. # to prevent Federal ESA listing. We don’t need any more proof than this to show states like Idaho are incapable of protecting end. species & why ESA should be strengthened, not weakened. See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/07/20/groups-idaho-wolf-law-will-cause-grizzly-bear-lynx-deaths-238131 #191: I can understand & accept why some oppose Stone-Manning for BLM head due to her (however small) involvement with tree spiking incident but her opponents were more than happy to support Pendley & others like him who had no respect at all for BLM other than to support welfare ranchers & industry. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/02/03/stories/1063724265?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire & https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/07/20/manchin-sets-vote-on-blm-nominee-expresses-support-224775 #190: Good Cancellations! Many Repubs. complain about “cancel culture” but Biden’s Interior & EPA have been reversing many disastrous Trump Admin. decisions that harmed conservation & this cancellation activity should be acclaimed! Bernhardt, Wheeler et al. spent all of their time on slimy give-aways to industry but they have a lot less to brag about to their lobby clients now! See https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2021/climate-environment/biden-climate-environment-actions/ & https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/07/19/interior-reverses-trump-position-on-sand-mining-224721 #189: Climate Skeptics-One more example of harm: Climate change is causing permafrost to thaw & is threatening integrity of the Alaska Pipeline. It seems like justice for the industry but the consequences would be a huge natural disaster for nature & humans. See https://www.hcn.org/articles/climate-change-trans-alaska-pipeline-under-threat-from-thawing-permafrost?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email #188: Where Buffalo Won’t Roam: Gianforte’s Montana. He doesn’t want bison in Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge b/c ranchers don’t want them! Ranchers decide on use of national wildlife refuges! See https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/07/14/blm-to-take-longer-look-at-contentious-mont-bison-proposal-179881 #187: E&E News Headline says Biden ESA staff very different from Trump’s! That understatement. Trump so-called “ESA staff” (e.g. Susan Combs) were ESA haters & wanted to destroy it. I detail their despicable actions in my book Biden’s staff actually are conservationists! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/07/13/stories/1063737019?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire my book Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ #186: Sagebrush III: Anti-30 by 30: What are their arguments? One opposition leader is Margaret Byfield, head of “Stewards of Liberty” (Yes, definitely not stewards of nature!) says: (1) "What we're seeing is an effort to increase the restricted lands and remove the ability of local governments and states to object to federal land acquisition and throwing a lot of money at landowners to place a federal nexus on their land.” (2) Pete Ricketts, the demented Gov. of Nebraska, wants to keep the land “productive” (i.e., covered with pesticides) and now warns counties against USDA's conservation programs b/c they will “include "new environmental restrictions." Byfield’s father, E. Wayne Hage, refused to pay for grazing permits for his cattle to water on public lands.” That’s right, Byfield’s father was a welfare rancher who wanted to take public lands/water w/o paying for it. Justly he was convicted. So, that’s the face of the opposition to 30 by 30 or America the Beautiful as Biden Admin. now calls it, Governor w/o a clue & daughter of welfare rancher. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/07/12/stories/1063736805?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire #185: More evidence of bad effects of most invasive species. Tire chemicals wash into waters & kill salmon. Millions of everyday ways that human species kills other species. If another species were causing these problems to humans, imagine! People complain if other species hinder them in slightest way while we kill them w/o thought. See https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/07/12/stories/1063736829?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily #184: Some congrats to Calif. for budgeting more $ for wildlife crossings over/under hwys. But bigger issue is we need no new & fewer hwys.—roads are enemy of wildlife in so many ways. See https://www.hcn.org/articles/california-budgets-61-million-for-wildlife-crossings?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email #183: Human causes of record manatee mortality: used to be mostly boat strikes but now “pollution is coming from agricultural runoff, leaking septic tanks and stormwater”—everyday human dev. causes that will increase, proving once again humans are most destructive invasive species. See https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2021/07/09/stories/1063736825?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeenewspm #182: North Dakota Repubs. on why they are fighting Biden Oil pause: BLM failed to study the potential environmental impacts of a pause, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act!! So they argue PAUSING drilling is Bad for the Evmnt.!! What geniuses! See https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2021/07/09/stories/1063736751?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aenergywire #181: One A-hole endorses another! Trump supports Zinke for Congress! How bad was Zinke as Interior Sec.? Read Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior at https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ #180: Read article on how poaching of ONE WOLF can destroy a pack—something A-holes like cowardly Gianforte would welcome. See https://www.hcn.org/articles/wolves-why-the-poaching-of-one-gray-wolf-in-washington-matters?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email #179: Biden-Haaland FWS also has blinders: They’re considering plan to allow ATVs, mountain bikes, camping… tour groups & turkey hunting in FL. Panther Nat. Wildlife REFUGE! Refuges can have multi-purposes but MAIN purpose should be as REFUGE to protect wildlife & this policy would threaten already end. panthers who have continued to lose habitat. FWS refuge staff are pressured to keep hunters- #178: Worthwhile article on voters with evmntal values who usually only vote in presid. Election yrs. & how their turnout makes huge diff. in local elections like Anchorage AL mayoralty. Problem: new voter (i.e., prevent voting) laws will make them less likely to vote. Of course, that’s why Repubs. are passing them & Sup. Court is upholding them. See https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04072021/sporadic-environmental-voters-hold-the-power-to-shift-elections-and-turn-red-states-blue/?emci=4ec0e55a-64df-eb11-a7ad-501ac57b8fa7&emdi=7af9110a-e4df-eb11-a7ad-501ac57b8fa7&ceid=326118 #177: Why 30 by 30 may fail: Small-minded pols. like Neb. Gov. Ricketts & Nebraska Farm Bureau oppose any new efforts to preserve species & have secured Neb. cnty cmssner. support in their small-minded war on conservation. By way of contrast, the president of Nebraska Farmers Union supports the effort & Denver small town supports are likewise speaking out for it. See https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/as-ricketts-convinces-counties-to-oppose-30x30-critics-say-hes-spreading-fear-disinformation/ & https://coloradosun.com/2021/07/06/30x30-public-lands-opinion/?utm_source=The+Colorado+Sun+Newsletters&utm_campaign=34f8779f42-SUNRISER_2021-07-06&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_61e0bd63dc-34f8779f42-67106838&mc_cid=34f8779f42&mc_eid=8802fcf3e2 #176: Paul Gosar: For years I have read about Gosar’s anti-ESA-wildlife speeches & votes & thought he was just run-of-mill conservative but NYT article shows that he’s now cultivating relationships with white nationalists—he’s so bad that most of his own family opposed his reelection! See https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/05/us/politics/paul-gosar-republicans-congress-extremism.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20210706&instance_id=34622&nl=todaysheadlines®i_id=10365419&segment_id=62674&user_id=1575e2a05f37205a27ca72946056eae7 #175: Grizzlies vs. Cattle in National Forest: Who will win? There are large majority of comments opposing ranchers attempt to move cattle into nat. forest areas vacated due to conservationists buying out sheep grazing rights. Since conservationists & majority of public oppose moving cattle into area, you would rightfully think grizzlies should win. But history of Wy & other western states shows ranchers win regardless of ethics. See https://www.wyofile.com/grizzly-conflicts-central-to-new-upper-green-river-grazing-debate/https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/blog #174: Humans are always finding new ways to abuse & exploit wildlife—now Youtube “animal rescue videos” are a new form of abuse for profit by humans. See https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/how-fake-animal-rescue-videos-have-become-a-new-frontier-for-animal-abuse?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=crm-email::src=ngp::cmp=editorial::add=Animals_20210701_rid=1575E2A05F37205A27CA72946056EAE7 #173: Why achieving 30 by 30 conservation goal will be hard!: Read detailed & scary article on how rural farmers in blue state Oregon resisted turning abandoned railroad into trail-farmers say shouldn’t have to change “regardless of what cmty. wants.” & extremist org. Timber Unity is funding cnty cmmsn candidates with anti-conserv. values. See https://www.hcn.org/issues/53.7/north-extremism-how-a-trail-in-rural-oregon-became-a-target-of-far-right-extremism?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email #172: Trump was going to drain the swamp but Perdue got Millions from ag comp just before becoming & Ag Sec. Trump Interior officials all taking jobs that deal with Interior actions! The swamp that needs to be drained:? Trump’s tiny brain! See https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2021/sonny-perdue-adm-land-deal/ #171: Gianforte & Montana Repubs. hate Fed. gvmnt & bison-wolves & don’t believe in climate change or ESA but beg to allow livestock to graze (& ruin) wildlife refuge b/c of drought. Hypocrites & Phonies forever! See https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2021/06/30/stories/1063736215?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeenewspm #170: Ryan Zinke Disaster: It was his idea to move BLM to West—result: Only 3 employees accepted! How big a failure was Zinke? He handed over public lands to industry for nothing. Read Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior. Now he’s running for Congress—wants to finish destroying the West! Gianforte & Daines? Montanans are into electing cowards & buffoons! See https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/#inbox/FMfcgzGkZGdGQsflTCClqvhNqqQdqfFC #169: Human SH_T comes back to haunt—humans! Study of oysters shows wastewater emissions b/c “most wastewater treatment plants in the U.S. filter out only some of the pharmaceuticals and personal care products that enter the system." See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/06/30/stories/1063736199?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire #168: SOS: Save Other Species—Need new philosophy—act to preserve other species & prevent human species conflict with them. Good ex.: Researchers tracking white sharks to prevent attacks off Cape Code. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/06/30/stories/1063736173?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire #167: Read about how Repubs. are trying to weaken bill to give Insp. Generals protection from being dismissed b/c they stand up to Presidents whether Biden or Trump! Why are they objecting? B/c they’re afraid bill will allow former Trumpers to be brought to account for illegal acts. Funny thing: same law will work against Biden hires who violate ethics but apparently Repubs. don’t think that’s as likely as Trump Admin. which went overtime doing unethical deeds. See https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/06/29/stories/1063736051?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily #166: Read outrageous story of BLM employee dismissed for attempting to protect raptors from harm from oil-gas project that Bernhardt wanted despite threat to birds. His major shortcoming—he cared more about protecting birds than making Bernhardt happy but Trumpite BLM employee, Jennifer Fleuret McConchie pursued the case. See https://www.wyofile.com/group-says-blm-whistleblower-enduring-torture-of-the-damned/ #165: French trappers used glue to hunt birds now stopped by Courts—they said it was their “tradition.” I’m surprised Gianforte & his ilk haven’t tried this tradition—nothing like an unfair hunt for them! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/06/29/stories/1063736075?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire #164: Trump’s Mine regulator just took job with coal company!—Trump’s exes are overflowing the swamp. In mean time, Stone-Manning was concerned with CONSERVATION & evmnt., not sucking up to industry, & is pilloried. See https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2021/06/29/stories/1063736111?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeenewspm #163: Latest FWS eval. shows 44% drop in ANWR Polar Bear pop. which is why priority should be given to preserving other species. Humans get upset if human pop. GROWTH SLOWS—what if there were 44% drop in some human pop.? See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/06/28/stories/1063735991?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire #162: Biden-Haaland Positives: Too often I have focused on negatives of Repubs. & have not noted how Biden Admin. has rolled back some of the worst anti-conservation acts of Trump such as weakening protections for mig. birds & now methane emissions. Haaland is off to a great start! Amusing note: Even Matt Gaetz voted against Trump on this one which shows that even in Republican Florida concern for the environment dominates industy pandering to industry! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/06/25/stories/1063735867?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire #161: Dems, not Republicans, are pushing to fix abandoned wells. Check out who’s sponsoring bills to solve the problem & who’s opposed—Dem. Reps & Senator are all in & Republican are anti! See https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/06/23/stories/1063735565?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily #160: Repubs. call Stone-Manning an eco-terrorist but the term should be redefined as someone who terrorizes an ecosystem in which case EVERY TRUMP INTERIOR appointee was one! See https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/06/23/stories/1063735585?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily #159: Republicans can’t understand logic of appointing conservationists to Interior Dept. They don’t trust anyone who isn’t out first & foremost to make $ from public lands & waters. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/06/21/stories/1063735409?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire & https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2021/06/21/stories/1063735421?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeenewspm #158: IMAGINE: Repubs. want to allow off road vehicles on National Parks and roads controlled by Fed. gvmnt. Imagine what Nat. Parks & “Wilderness Areas” would look like if these Yahoos had been in charge thru our history—You would see cattle & oil wells rather than bears, bison & other wildlife when going thru nat. parks. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/06/21/stories/1063735409?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire #157: More proof that states can’t manage wildlife. Montana passed law that gives counties right to overrule state wildlife depts. on bison. Former Mt. govs. (Schweitzer & Bullock) vetoed legis. but wolf-coward-killer Gianforte approved it. He like his fellow Repubs. would be happy to exterminate any species (grizzly, wolf, bison) that interferes in least bit with ranchers. Get rid of this coward! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/06/16/stories/1063735133?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire #156: Irony: Utah politicos protest Haaland restoration of monuments when the major beneficiaries of this order will be Utahans—current & future. The numbers of those benefitting from Trump’s action are small, wealthy, & powerful. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/06/14/haaland-biden-national-monuments/?wpmk=1&wpisrc=al_environment__alert-hse&utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wp_news_alert_revere&location=alert&pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJjb29raWVuYW1lIjoid3BfY3J0aWQiLCJpc3MiOiJDYXJ0YSIsImNvb2tpZXZhbHVlIjoiNWE3MGJjODA5YmJjMGYxY2U0MDI3ZTVmIiwidGFnIjoid3BfbmV3c19hbGVydF9yZXZlcmUiLCJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy53YXNoaW5ndG9ucG9zdC5jb20vY2xpbWF0ZS1lbnZpcm9ubWVudC8yMDIxLzA2LzE0L2hhYWxhbmQtYmlkZW4tbmF0aW9uYWwtbW9udW1lbnRzLz93cG1rPTEmd3Bpc3JjPWFsX2Vudmlyb25tZW50X19hbGVydC1oc2UmdXRtX3NvdXJjZT1hbGVydCZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWVtYWlsJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj13cF9uZXdzX2FsZXJ0X3JldmVyZSZsb2NhdGlvbj1hbGVydCJ9.EgwCr9OD60n-CAUTAQw64BTKgd3DGsNFrY2NlVSsGAQ #155: Former Trump Official accuses Biden BLM official of “doing her former employer’s bidding” in pause dev. of ANWR lands. That’s rich! Trump’s Interior-BLM consisted of NOTHING but former lobbyists who participated in decisions helping former employers! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/06/14/stories/1063734907?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire #154: Dumb & Dumber: Gallup Poll shows almost half of Republicans say they will not get vaccinated & poorly educated are 3 x as likely not to get it either. Gen. public’s biggest fear is this failure of enough Americans to be vaccinated. In other words, Trumpites like Trump couldn’t care less about other’s health & safety. See https://news.gallup.com/poll/350720/covid-vaccine-reluctant-likely-stay.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_content=morelink&utm_campaign=syndication #153: The Biden Admin.’s Interior Dept is off to a good start in reversing Trump Interior’s attack on conservation but invasive species bad behaviors can overwhelm the good—Drones scared & caused abandonment of tern eggs, dogs & bikes on trails, & huge homes infringing on wetlands. With such human behaviors, 30 by 30 will not maintain status quo much less improve situation. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/06/07/stories/1063734309?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire #152: Good article in today’s NYT on how Gianforte’s cut of benefits to unemployed has no data to support it. Cutting benefits to working class—that’s the Trump approach—help the rich & hurt the poor. Why in the world would blue collar workers vote for this creep? See https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/31/opinion/montana-unemployment-republicans-racism.html?campaign_id=39&emc=edit_ty_20210601&instance_id=31977&nl=opinion-today®i_id=10365419&segment_id=59533&te=1&user_id=1575e2a05f37205a27ca72946056eae7 #151: Another public “bad” from industry: fracking is major cause of earthquakes in West Tx but industry treats toxic effects from such events “as if it were harmless.” & Now they want to be allowed to discharge their wastewater into streams! They boast of $ to states economies but let’s calculate harm they do. See https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2021/05/28/stories/1063732791?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aenergywire & https://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1061525917/ #150: Republicans constantly talk about need for energy but then vote against bills that will make industry clean-up abandoned wells & mines that harm the public. They should be called on this in their next elections. See https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/05/27/stories/1063733637?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily #149: 44 state wildlife-“game” departments allow animal-killing contests not just coyotes but prairie dogs, snakes, etc. Many have children divisions.” Why do they allow slob hunting? For $. These are the agencies that are supposed to protect our wildlife resources! So much for state that proclaim their role in protecting species! See Ted Williams on these "contests." https://www.thespectrum.com/story/opinion/2021/05/25/writers-range-killing-wildlife-see-who-wins/7421506002/ #148 Congrats to Haaland on Lesser Prairie Chicken protections but let’s hear something about wolves & grizzlies that are attack from your “partner” states that want kill every one except for min. # reqd. by ESA. Montana Fish & Wildlife brags about their “record” after approval of slob hunting measures! With protectors like them, wolves don’t need any enemies. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/05/26/stories/1063733555?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire #147: EPA IG report reproaching EPA ignored scien. integrity proof of Coney-Barrett’s Wrongness in FOIA Decision: Barrett’s decision was premised that Top Decisionmakers need not follow “lower level” scientist findings. EPA’s decisions on weedkiller followed Barrett model—top level mgrs. took over the decision & ignored scien. info on & cautions about risks. This behavior is exactly what Coney-Barrett’s FOIA decision approves! Amazingly Elena Kagan went along with this for worst decision of her career! See EPA IG’s Report at https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2021-05/documents/_epaoig20210524-21-e-0146.pdf #146: Coney Barrett’s close ties to oil industry, Amer. Pet. Instit. & Shell oil have never stopped her from participating in decisions they are involved in. Of course, like all Republican-appointees, she’s part of Scalia-Federalist Soc. thinking that never sees reason to favor conservation over industry as her disastrous FOIA decisions proved. See https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2021/05/24/stories/1063733255?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aclimatewire #145: Funny: New group, Protecting the Public's Trust, formed to expose corruption in Biden’s Interior! Corruption is bipartisan & I support scrutinizing every Admin. but where was this group during Trump’s Interior when they ONLY hired people who were lobbyists for Interior clients! They won’t reveal their funders but good chance it’s Koch Brother or similar ilk! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/05/20/stories/1063733125?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire #144: Zinke said to be “FORMIDABLE” candidate for Mt new House seat?! If you like someone who took destructive actions against conservation & sacrificed it in every case where there was a choice between protecting wildlife and industry profits”—then he’s formidable! If you have questions on Zinke's record: My book, Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior, details every outrage against conserv. taken by Zinke. If you support conservation over industry profits, then he’s garbage. See https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TYY51KR?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 & https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/05/18/stories/1063732795?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily #143: Biden’s Forest Service will allow domestic sheep to graze in area evmntalists purchased to protect big horn sheep! Like FWS inaction on wolves, shows that Trump-like thinking persists in parts of Biden Admin. Wy Stockgrowers who dominate Wy policy say “exist at their own peril”—don’t mess with our livestock! Demonstrates once more how Western states subjugate conservation to ranchers. See https://www.wyofile.com/forest-service-moves-to-weaken-bighorn-protections-in-wyo-range/ #142: Get Ready for Trump-Appointed Judge decisions: One (McFadden) just gave Jared-Ivanka’s friend's company a victory to allow mineral lease near Boundary Waters—though Judge acknowledged conser. grps had shown “some info.” to prove Trump’s corrupt Interior made decision due to polit. influence but “not enough” for him to keep from approving this despoiling. This is why getting Biden’s picks thru Senate is crucial but with Manchin as key vote, they won’t get pass like Trump’s hacks did. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/05/14/stories/1063732625?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire #141: Biden discards Trump’s Garden of Heroes Plan. I propose replacing it with National Hall of Shame filled with Videos of those who have done great harm to conservation and U.S. We could initially fill it with all of appointees of Trump’s Interior Dept. See https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2021/05/14/stories/1063732667?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeenewspm #140: Republicans are still squawking about leasing freeze. Truth is: Trump Admin. pursued reckless all-out leasing for 4 years damaging climate & evmnt. Pause can be justified for lasting just as long! Repubs. have no plan for dealing with climate change or conservation other than phony platitudes. Read their squawks at https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/05/14/stories/1063732585?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily #139: Dem. Senator Heinrich proposes serious bill on how to help states cope with lost fossil fuel revs.—Repubs. only idea is to stick head in oil & coal sands. Biden looks to future of planet with 30x30 plan—Repubs. rush to destroy Earth. See https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/05/13/stories/1063732467?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily #138: Dems proposed reform of cleanup of mines that have been abandoned—Republican Wy. Senators want to reduce industry $ for cleanup!—They say let Fed. or states or local gvmnts pay! Next time they claim to be evmntalists—spit in their face. See https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/05/13/stories/1063732453?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily #137: Repubs. criticize 30 by 30 Plan for being empty! What was Trump’s plan for protecting species & habitat: They banished compensatory mitigation for BLM calling it “Un-American!” In a 2018 memo, they said BLM cannot even accept voluntary offers to mitigate the impacts of proposed actions! (Bureau of Land Management, Dec. 6, 2018)! Then these phonies claim they are “conservationists!” If they’re conservationists, then Hitler was a humanitarian! See Pidot, Justin R. (Dec. 28, 2018). The Bureau of Land Management's Infirm Compensatory Mitigation Policy. Fordham Environmental Law Review, Volume 30, Number 2, 2018 . Available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3307226 I cover this issue in detail in my book, Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior Department (see p. 17-18) at https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ #136: Sen. Daines opposed Haaland for her desire to protect grizzlies! Which would Montanans rather see go “extinct”—grizzly bears or Senator Daines? I bet the latter by a huge margin! See https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/05/11/stories/1063732169?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily #135: Sheep-owner-Idaho-Governor signs wolf-killing bill—goal is to reduce wolves to min. required by ESA to increase elk & protect ranchers—proof once again that ESA & FEDERAL law only obstacle to slob hunters & ranchers from extinguishing species. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/05/10/stories/1063732111?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwi #134: Proof Trump Interior ignored scientific warning that owl habitat cutback would extinguish spotted owl! Memos just now revealed show! Of course, Coney Barrett & Elena Kagan think this is just peachy b/c scientists are “low level” employees compared to Bernhardt! Justices Barrett-Kagan also believe Trump had right to HIDE these memos b/c to protect their “exec. deliberation!” It can’t be stated too often how wrong & stupid their recent decision on ESA was. Story also shows Skipwith was too stupid to understand what scientists were telling her! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/05/07/stories/1063732015?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire #133: Wyoming hunters shot 7615 sage grouse—a species in decline in the state. Wy Game Dept official in charge says searched for papers saying it’s okay but contradicted. Apparently, person in charge does not know or understand basic conservation idea-precautionary principle—err on side of conservation. Once again proves that state “game” depts can be counted on—to ignore conservation if it thwarts hunters. See https://www.wyofile.com/sage-grouse-hunters-shot-about-7600-birds-in-2019/ #132: Predictably Dems. supported Biden’s 30X30 Plan while Repubs only negative. However, key point is that sporting groups Amer. Sportfishing Asso. & Cong. Sportsmen’s Fdtn. strongly supported it. They're supposed to be mostly Repubs. but they know that Repubs. are incapable of planning for future—their still stuck in Trump’s Energy Dominance stupidity. See https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/05/07/stories/1063731979?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily #131 Katie Porter proposed raising royalty rates on onshore oil-gas leases—1st rise since 1920! Dopey Repub argued would cut LCW contribs but she pointed out LCW revs come from OFFSHORE leases! She’s whip smart but down-to-earth & great debater w common touch. I would support her for President over other Dems. See https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/05/06/stories/1063731863?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily #130: CBD asks for cut in funding of Idaho wildlife $ if they go forward with wolf killing. At least, I would hope that some top person in FWS would speak out against it—some FWS decisions indicate that carnivore haters still play key role. See ttps://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/05/05/stories/1063731775?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire #129: Fed. investigators found lots of safety violations by Texas oil industry that cause poisonings. One more example of harmful effects of industry ignored by Repubs. Alarmist? Yes, just like preparing for Texas winter freeze was unnecessary! So Republicans as usual are clueless & don’t give a damn about energy’s harm to people. See https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2021/05/05/stories/1063731749?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aenergywire #128: New Mexico royalties set record monthly high—so much for Repub. squawking. Yes, it’s due to Trump reckless leasing policies but it proves that pause is called for & Repub. objections are BS. See https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2021/05/05/stories/1063731717?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aenergywire #127 Wyoming like Montana & Idaho proves they are incapable of protecting end. species. They're allowing large # of sage grouse to be shot. This comes after USGS study proved that Trump policies have greatly reduced their habitat! Without Fed. ESA, Repub. western govs. & wildlife depts. would wipe them out like wolves &grizzlies. However, they have already forbidden grouse to be listed so even ESA no help now. It’s apparent that though large majorities in these states oppose these policies, they are low on their priority list & yahoos continue to set policy. See https://www.wyofile.com/after-hunters-kill-874-sage-grouse-hens-wyos-hunt-questioned/ & my book, Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior, for details at https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ #126: DeSantis & Florida allow decline of manatees: They’re being killed by boaters & water pollution—Gov. won’t cut dev. or pollution—his Repubs. are protecting farmers from being accountable. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/05/03/stories/1063731563?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire #125: Hunters in charge of Biden FWS: It’s opening more National Wildlife REFUGES (yes, that’s what their PRIMARY mission supposed to be!) to hunting. Along with LACK of any statements or actions on Idaho-Montana wolf-killing, shows Yahoos still in charge of FWS. What the hell is going on? See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/05/03/stories/1063731569?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire #124: More Anti-Science Stupidity from Repub. states on costs of carbon: They are trying to block Biden from changing estimate of its cost but don’t cite any Science or Independent assessments. Why don’t they? Because there is no scientific basis to their argument! GAO analyzed this issue and said it was crucial to “limit the Federal government’s fiscal exposure” by “better managing climate risks” and noted that Nat. Academy of Sciences & The Royal Society” had rejected Trump’s Calculation (USGAO, June 2020, 24) but the Trump Admin. instead of correcting their unscientific manipulated method to produce their desired result, “disbanded the interagency panel” created to calculate the social cost of carbon.” I have covered this phony Trump action in my book, Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior.” https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TYY51KR?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 Read the Republican states’ memo in their court case against Biden’s recalculation—there’s NO SCIENCE cited to support their assertions See p. 11 of their memo at https://www.eenews.net/assets/2021/05/03/document_pm_02.pdf I hope that judges will note their lack of science & bias but we can’t on judges like Thomas, Alito etc. to care about their stupidity? #123: Biden FWS looks into reintro. of bison to central Montana. Of course, ranchers & cowardly slob hunter Gov. Gianforte oppose move. Hope next election Montanans who Care about conserve will kick out this jackass who like Daines pretends to care about conserv. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/04/30/stories/1063731451?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire& #122: But Zinke would fit in well with Sen. Steve Daines, phony who opposed LCW full funding until thought it would cost his job & Gov. Gianforte who specializes in trapping & then cowardly shooting wolves. Montana should be ashamed! See https://www.hcn.org/articles/climate-desk-vulnerable-republicans-flip-their-stance-on-conservation-bill?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email #121: Ryan Zinke to run for Montana seat. Great disaster as Interior head where he lied to cut Bears Ears & approved roads & drilling thru numerous previously protected areas as documented in my book, Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior, https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/ #120: Ranchers & Slob Hunters Run Western States: Idaho will kill 90% of wolves to please ranchers & make slob hunters happy by allowing killing from ATVs, snowmobiles, etc. No doubt Gianforte & Wayne LaPierre will be visiting to join in with these cowardly activities that they enjoy so much. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/04/28/stories/1063731191?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire #119: Slob Hunter & Coward Gianforte Meet Slob Hunter & Coward Wayne LaPierre. Video shows him unable to finish off elephant he shot w/4 shots. His wife shot also huge elephant from close-up & they high-fived & shouted "Victory" over their cowardly kills! These are guys speaking for 2nd Amendment rights! Put these videos up for ads vs. Gianforte’s & other “2ND AMENMENT” Repubs. in their next election. See https://www.tmz.com/2021/04/27/nra-wayne-lapierre-elephant-hunt-botched-wife-susan-video/https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/blog #118: Scientific climate assessment for Yellowstone says it ” will require people in the GYA—whether living in urban or rural locations—to adapt to climate change. Interviews with stakeholders in the region reveal that they are concerned about reliable water supplies and the protection of native species” that will result in “more floods in spring, longer periods of reduced water availability in summer, and more wildfires in the future.” What are Western state governors like Gianforte (MT) & Gordon (WY) doing about this? That’s right—nothing! Red state Trumpites deny climate change—only voting out these dopes will save future! See http://montanaclimate.org/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/GYCA_ver4_210416d_forPublicReview.pdf & https://www.wyofile.com/climate-study-predicts-life-altering-changes-for-greater-yellowstone/ #117: Read NYT review of Weidensaul book, A WORLD ON THE WING: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds, about how 3 billion birds have vanished from North America in last 30 yrs. Thank God that Trump’s weakening of Mig. Bird Treaty ended with Biden. But shows that deadly invasiveness of humans needs to be reversed to save Earth. Crisis that face other species are far greater than threats to humans. Read review https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/30/books/review/a-world-on-the-wing-scott-weidensaul.html?campaign_id=69&emc=edit_bk_20210423&instance_id=29678&nl=books®i_id=10365419&segment_id=56275&te=1&user_id=1575e2a05f37205a27ca72946056eae7 #116: Sen. Daines wants Haaland to delist grizzlies & says western states are ready to take lead in protecting them! Bull__t! Western states are taking the lead to kill wolves, eagles, & bison. Only thing standing between them & extinction is Federal ESA listing. Idaho wants to kill all wolves other than min. reqd. by ESA. Montana wants to allow killing anytime anywhere by any means by slob hunters. See #113 & 110 below as well as https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2021/04/23/stories/1063730855?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeenewspm #115: USGS study on causes of sage grouse pop. drop: activities related to oil and gas and renewables, such as wind and solar. Impacts from development & megadrought due to climate change—all human causes. Just more proof that invasive humans need to prioritize other species to save Earth. See https://www.usgs.gov/news/new-research-highlights-decline-greater-sage-grouse-american-west-provides-roadmap-aid?qt-news_science_products=1#qt-news_science_product #114: James Reilly continues lying! Headed USGS under Trump says “I didn't want to screw it up." Well, he did! Hid reports on threats to polar bears & punished employee for talking climate change. Hurt USGS Morale. Thank God this phony no longer in charge. See details in my book, Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TYY51KR?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 #113: Well-known coward Gov. Gianforte dropped great plan to expand bison to protect ranching interests—same ones who want to kill wolves w/o fair chase like Gianforte who trapped & then shot wolf. Montana Repubs. Shows once again that western state wildlife agencies dominated by ranching/hunting groups. Only the Federal ESA protects these species from extinction in Mt. https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/04/21/stories/1063730537?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire #112: Idaho Slob Hunters rule: Fish & Game would kill 90% of state’s wolves, hire contractors to kill them, Other changes in the legislation include allow killing by ATVs and snowmobiles. Why do this? Because agric. Industry. No evidence needed anymore to prove that Idaho like Montana is run by ranchers who hate ESA & would exterminate wolves if they could. USFWS likes to call state agencies partners=partners in slob hunting! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/04/21/stories/1063730547?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire #111: New Gallup Poll shows only 23% of Repubs. favor environment over economic priorities vs. 68% of Dems. Poll also shows results are independent of their economic situation! Shows why Repub. politicians can get away with opposing conservation % why we need instit. change to stop these yahoos who are a minority but control Supreme Court & Congress if we want to have healthy Earth. See https://news.gallup.com/poll/344252/americans-emphasis-environmental-protection-shrinks.aspx?utm_source=news&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news_brief_newsletter_apr_04202029&utm_content=read_article_textlink_8&utm_term=newsletter&elqTrackId=e2a496a8d21743be8db27670387b16d1&elq=3abfaa0bc0d34905b4515639aabe9e7b&elqaid=6442&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=1340 #110: Wyoming Game & Fish Dept. will spend >$50,000 to trap & move Golden Eagles who prey upon lambs in response to claims from ranchers. Need any more proof of how state “game” depts. whose function is supposed to be to protect wildlife instead protect ranchers? Story also shows why FEDERAL LAWS are essential to protect species that ranchers resent. Without them, Wyoming (like Montana with wolves) would be happy to allow their extermination. See https://www.wyofile.com/proposed-project-would-trap-move-track-lamb-hunting-eagles/ Biden #109: Energy-drillers another cost they impose on public: they fail to appropriately decommission pipelines on Gulf seafloor. Consequences? GAO found that aging lines corrode & result in leakage that’s toxic to organisms, including plankton, invertebrates, fish, birds, and sea mammals, causing a wide array of adverse effects. Industry always happy to list benefits they provide but hidden costs ignored in their reports. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/04/19/stories/1063730321?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #108: List of Threats to species like endangered crawfish is familiar & like that for most species & illustrates why 30-30 is necessary: "greatest threat is continued habitat loss…due to land dev…Off-road vehicle use, insecticide application and pt, source pollution.” https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/04/14/stories/1063729957?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #107: Republicans resist 30 by 30 plan b/c would threaten “private property.” First of all, much of the action would concern public lands—remember public lands are the least desirable in terms of richness of soil & water—humans took all best lands & left the worst for public. 2nd: Humans’ grazing & drilling continue to decimate public lands & biodiversity taking away little left for wildlife. 3rd: Research shows that more & more species are threatened by human agric., human developments, & poisons. Humans are temporary STEWARDS of land, not true owners. 30-30 plan is necessary start to rebalancing our treatment of Earth which invasive humans have abused & harmed other species. See https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/04/13/stories/1063729457?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily & https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2020/09/10/wildlife-population-plunge/?utm_campaign=wp_animalia&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_animalia&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F2bc041d%2F5f6f57c09d2fda0efb359333%2F5a70bc809bbc0f1ce4027e5f%2F15%2F44%2Fc13f5fd758380fdad6d92bb28f43ffa2 Biden #106: Biden Admin. >triples funding to clean up abandoned wells. Trump & Republicans dominate western states politics but their treatment of western states lands was lousy—takes Democrats to clean up their mess. See https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2021/04/12/stories/1063729697?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aenergywire Biden #105: Bundy Arrested Twice More! Why can’t law enforcement give him what he wants & DESERVES—a permanent place in jail where he belongs! Why are they always trying to allow him to be freed? See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/04/09/stories/1063729611?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #104: Utah politicos complain about Fed. monuments harming state??!! These monuments preserved beauty & lands that would otherwise be despoiled & have made state far more attractive than it would have been otherwise! Left to Repubs-Mormons, every bit would be exploited. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/04/09/stories/1063729615?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire & https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/08/bears-ears-haaland/ Biden #103: Proof that Bears Ears should all be returned as protected monument. Wash Post article shows that one failed uranium mine since Trump decision—otherwise lots of tourists and looters. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/08/bears-ears-haaland/ Biden #102: Office of Personnel Management’s survey of Interior & BLM employees found 2 key weaknesses of Trump’s Interior/BLM: Sig. More than other agencies, they questioned “integrity and honesty” of senior leaders & had less respect for them. See p. 24 & 26 in OPM’s Report at https://www.eenews.net/assets/2021/04/07/document_gw_01.pdf Biden #101: Examples of Low IQ Trump Republicans: Mont. Gov. Gianforte tests positive for COVID-19 after repealing Montana’s mask mandate. Also, 2/3 of Republicans (i.e., Trumpites) don’t believe humans cause climate change. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/04/06/stories/1063729301?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire & https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2021/04/06/stories/1063729263?tm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aclimatewire Biden #100: State judge orders mediation for Ammon Bundy—looks like Bundy’s will win out in court again. When the hell will they be held to account for not paying grazing fees—there’s no question about this. Why doesn’t IRS/Justice/BLM have any accounts attached for non-payment? See https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2021/04/05/stories/1063729243?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeenewspm Biden #99: Read details of USFWS plan to kill Mt. Lions & bears in Colorado. Key pts: (1) Plan aimed at artificially boosting mule deer nos. so hunters could kill more deer; (2) Mule deer #s down because of habitat degrading by oil-gas leasing! So Trump’s Interior (& Agric. Also involved) does triple duty: reduce habitat by drilling & then kill wildlife to make up for their harm! What more can you say about agency led by trophy hunters Bernhardt & Zinke. See https://wildearthguardians.org/press-releases/court-halts-funding-of-unwarranted-colorado-mountain-lion-and-black-bear-cull/ Biden #98: Excellent article by Wash. Post on Trump’s disastrous evmntal. Actions & what Biden is doing to overturn. Trump’s Interior attacked conserv. every day of their 4 yrs. See Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior Department https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TYY51KR?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 Biden #97: Judge ruled that FWS had to turn over to Humane Society records on wildlife imports/exports citing FOIA. Nice to have a win but begs the question, why should such imports ever be protected by FOIA? Are imported wildlife being used for secret defense purposes? Between 2001 to 2015, such data routinely released but for some reason(???) in 2016, they stopped b/c companies said info was “confidential”??? Why should they be given exception? Or are they just doing wildlife importers/exporters a favor? The weakening of FOIA under Trump was (and remains terrible) but what the hell was Obama’s FWS doing this for? See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/30/stories/1063728799?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #96: Wyoming latest western state to make sure Politicos & ranchers make wildlife conservation decisions—not scientists. Legis. stripped Game & Fish Dept. of power to close elk feedgrounds. Got to make sure public lands are safe for cattle! Wonder why we can't leave wildlife decisions to states--this is a case study! See https://www.wyofile.com/legislature-strips-game-and-fish-of-elk-feedground-closure-power/ Biden #95: Daines’ Stupidity: He says ““Wildlife management must be determined by science, not by activist judges” but it’s Montana politicos making policy—more than 50 wildlife biologists have signed letter calling on Republican officials to reject the legislation. You can’t underestimate Daines’ stupidity & willingness to lie. See https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/28/us/montana-wolves-grizzlies-hunting.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20210329&instance_id=28593&nl=todaysheadlines®i_id=10365419&segment_id=54395&user_id=1575e2a05f37205a27ca72946056eae7 Biden #94 Read NYT article on how Texas had to burn off gas at huge rates during big freeze & how producers in Permian produce more gas that can manage, causing huge emissions. Big joke: Now industry trying to use freeze for showing how they’re needed! See https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/26/climate/texas-blackout-flaring-natural-gas.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20210327&instance_id=28444&nl=todaysheadlines®i_id=10365419&segment_id=54317&user_id=1575e2a05f37205a27ca72946056eae7 #93: Read about Crazy Gun Rights Activists in Wyoming—going to force officers to not enforce Fed. Gun legislation. On top of crazy anti-wolf bills in Montana, these western states are dominated by lunatics—tho surveys show majority are rational, pro-conservation & gun-control, crazies who show up to meetings armed scare off others. They are making case AGAINST FEDERALISM—proving that small crazy groups able to consistently dominate small pop western states. See https://www.wyofile.com/gun-bills-playing-outsized-role-in-already-gun-friendly-wyo-politics/ Biden #92: Antiquities Act allowed ONLY MAJOR Conservation successes since Clinton. Even GW Bush used to create huge ocean monument. Now Roberts & other Repub Justices going to kill last remaining major tool for conservation. Time to increase # Justices to save it & conservation. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/26/stories/1063728615?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #91: Haaland forced to assure that fossil fuels would still play major role. Trump’s Interior Secs. never promised or assured about conservation—in fact, subverted it EVERY TIME conflicted with industry. Industry lobbyists occupied EVERY JOB. Now industry squawking about not being represented! Chickens coming home to roost! See https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2021/03/25/stories/1063728513?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeenewspm Biden #90: States challenging Biden leasing moratorium say that he should have conducted NEPA Analysis! Right, like Trump’s Interior conduct the analysis that shows harmful effects on states revenues & then IGNORE these “negatives” & make decision he wants! That’s exactly what Trump’s Interior did in ALL of their NEPA analyses—list harmful effects on evmnt. & then make MOST HARMFUL decision anyway! See detailed examples in my book, Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior at wildlifepolitics.org #89: Gianforte defenders say his trapping/killing of wolf is a good time for “LEARNING”!!! Yes, it would be if Gianforte is forced to resign due to boycott of Montana until he quits! This action would "learn" other yahoos that the vast majority of the Montana public opposes slob & illegal killing of wolves. Any other “learning” would be bullshit. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/24/stories/1063728341?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #88: Chief Justice Roberts invites conservs. to challenge monuments—says should be limited to “smallest area.” So Bader Ginsburg’s refusal to resign so Obama could name replacement now comes home to roost. Barrett already shown she doesn’t give damn about evmnt. Time to expand the court. McConnell violated estab. norms so failure to take action will mean huge cuts in monuments & no big new monuments in future. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/24/stories/1063728359?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #87: Montana Slob Hunting Craze Shows Why states unable to manage wildlife. They want to reduce wolves from 850 to 150—b/c that’s when Feds would relist. Only Feds stand between Montana slob hunters & extinction of wolves. They would also allow 3rd parties to reimburse slob hunters for killing wolves violating North Am. Model of hunting. They also want to prevent moving of grizzlies to save them. Bear experts say this move is contrary to data that 1/3 cross boundaries & would be subject to killing. They also want to allow local counties to veto bison restoration projects. What can you say about a state wanting to do all of these & whose gov. illegally trapped & killed a wolf? Boycott Montana parks until Gianforte is gone & also if these idiotic measures are adapted. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/23/stories/1063728235?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #86: Nevada delays decision on coyote-killing contests & supports keeping hounds to tree bears so that fat incompetent hunters can them like cowards. Nevada, like many states, has wildlife cmmsn. that mandates majority hunters-ranchers! As in many states, vast majority oppose both practices but slob hunters dominate this institution that makes the rules. No wonder we need Federal ESA to protect wildlife. See https://www.nevadacurrent.com/2021/03/21/wildlife-commission-votes-to-consider-ban-on-killing-contests/ Biden #85: Montana Gov. Gianforte traps wolf & then shoots it—proving that he’s a slob hunter and a coward. I hope that ecotourists will make an example of this jackass by avoiding trips to Montana until this slob hunter resigns. See https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/post/montana-governor-given-written-warning-after-trapping-killing-yellowstone-wolf#stream/0 Biden #84: Liz Klein nomination withdrawn b/c “conflict of interest” says energy industry—she opposed Trump evmntal rollbacks which energy views as conflict with Interior mission to serve them only. It's becoming increasingly clear that it would have been much preferable if Murkowski had OPPOPSED Haaland--now Biden has to bend over backwards to please her. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/23/stories/1063728245?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #83: Wash. Post article details how Trump Ad. systematically hindered IG investigations into wrongdoing throughout agencies. How can Congress & public do oversight under such conditions? Only through STRONG FOIA that enables Courts to FORCE turnover of documents but Barrett-Supreme Court have destroyed FOIA, putting “sensitivities” of politicos (i.e., embarrassment over decisions favoring their former bus. Partners) above public-Congressional right to know. Agency ethics officials take orders from agency bosses-e.g. in my book on Trump’s Interior I show how Ethics chief de la Vega approved/ignored EVERY ethical misbehavior of bigwigs or at worst, “punished” them by making them watch a video. See https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-stymied-oversight/2021/03/22/0d3d6d8c-828d-11eb-81db-b02f0398f49a_story.html?utm_campaign=wp_todays_headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_headlines Biden #82: Energy companies just canceled Texas LNG planned facility because “"global LNG supply has increased substantially while demand has not,” thus supporting Biden’s “pause” in leasing-drilling. See https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2021/03/23/stories/1063728183?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aenergywire Biden #81: Trump Wind Project Redactions & Hidden Records Prove why Coney Barrett’s Decision is not only stupid but dangerous. Bernhardt et al. kept evmntal review of offshore project hidden & redacted crucial parts of Record of Decision so project would not be approved. Bernhardt & his defenders say he was concerned about “cumulative impact”—that’s a great joke as he banished climate cum. impacts from consideration for delaying energy projects! Record shows that emntal studies & ROD would have approved project but Bernhardt eliminated these studies & opinions from the record. Barrett’s decision says that’s fine b/c they’re “lower level officials” (i.e., scientists who know something.) Check out Bernhardt’s redacted ROD—everything except header is blacked out! So lobbyist Bernhardt can make whatever decision he wants forget about data, science, & "lower level opinions." Barrett's decisions denies public access to basic facts & allows politicos to make lobby-favoring decisions without accountability. See https://www.eenews.net/assets/2021/03/22/document_cw_02.pdf for redacted ROD. For overall case, see https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2021/03/22/stories/1063728059?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aclimatewir Biden #80: Just revealed Bernhardt’s last gasp attempt to pave Izembek. 2 Fed. judges ruled against it but Biden Interior still trying to save road?! What’s going on? Payoff for Murkowski’s Haaland vote? Let’s not destroy a refuge for this! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/19/stories/1063727991?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #79: Daniel Jorjani now says ethics was demoralized when he was there—No wonder. Jorjani hid FOIA docs. requested by Congress & then claimed he couldn’t remember doing it. Read his interview with IG that documents his outrageous & laughable lies. I cover them in detail in my book, Industry First: Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior Dept & other ethical breaches by Jorjani, Bernhardt, et. al. See https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TYY51KR?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 & Jorjani’s new lies at https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/19/stories/1063727983?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #78: USGS study proves Trump Interior policies harmed sage grouse. Climate change underlying cause of loss of habitat “warming climate that exacerbates wildfires and invasive plant species, the report concludes.” Of course, Trump’s Interior forbade concern with climate change. Cattle grazing causes “degraded rangelands” & reduced herbaceous cover.” So what did Trump do? His Interior eliminated compensatory mitigation requirements, shrank buffers around breeding grounds, and weakened no-surface occupancy and seasonal restrictions near sensitive grouse habitat—all of harmful to threatened sage grouse & then Repub. legislators “inserted a provision into fiscal 2021 appropriations bills forbidding Interior Sec. from using any appropriated funding "to write or issue" a rule listing the greater sage grouse for ESA protection.” Trump & Republican actions are directly causing sage grouse (& hundreds of other species depend on sage grouse habitat) extinction whatever they say & they are trying to prevent any steps to prevent it. The report highlights wild horse-burro damage but # & impact of cattle-sheep dwarf that of them. Read pp 181-184 & 190 of USGS Report at https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1125/ofr20201125.pdf & EE News coverage at https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2021/03/17/stories/1063727759?tm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeenewspm Biden #77: Boebert wants Haaland to listen to her on foolish BLM move to West. She wants her to listen to the opposite viewpoint! Not something Boebert herself is capable of. https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2021/03/16/stories/1063727639?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeenewspm Biden #76: Here’s hoping that Biden’s Interior will restore whistleblowers like Walter Loewen who, unlike most Interior officials, did not fall supine to Trump but protested against destructive energy project. Ethics & Courage should be rewarded-not punished. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/16/stories/1063727603?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #75: Biden’s Interior “scrubbed” some Trump tweets that violated Hatch Act. What about ruling illegal NPS commercials for Trump campaign?! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/16/stories/1063727611?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #74: Biden’s Federal Stimulus bill will bail out states like Wyoming where local governments face bankruptcy. So what do Wy. Officials do? They voted against it! What do you call situation where people vote against best interests of their constituents? Stupidity! See https://www.wyofile.com/the-federal-stimulus-bails-out-wyo-state-local-governments-for-now/ Biden #73: Republicans oppose Save 30% of public lands & waters by 2030 plan. This plan is only route to saving worldwide species & habitat—so you can count on Republicans to oppose it. See https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/03/16/stories/1063727531?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily Biden #72: Biden Admin. to publicly release data on permitting & drilling that previously not available in central location. It will show that permits that already approved have not been frozen contrary to Repub. hysterics. See https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2021/03/16/stories/1063727545 Biden #71: Another good cancellation: Biden Admin. ends Trump effort to open Artic Beaufort and Chukchi seas to oil-gas exploration. See https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2021/03/16/stories/1063727513?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aenergywire Biden #70: Bundy’s are begging to be locked up—Let’s do it for all of the Bundys. Ammon refused to put on required mask, attacked Malheur, org. armed resistance & refuses to pay fees for using public lands—what hell else does he have to do to be convicted & locked up! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/15/stories/1063727469 Biden #69: Kristi Noem: Worthy successor to Trump—She’s aggressively stupid! She wants Mt. Rushmore fireworks again despite evidence of threat from them—similar to her opposition to COVID safety measures. She’s everything Trump’s followers believe in: stupid, uncaring, & totally egotistical. Undoubtedly will be next Republican Nominee for Pres.! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/15/stories/1063727459 Biden #68: Good cancellations! Biden just canceled Trump attempt to rollback wildlife protections for Calif. Energy zone just as cancelled rump’s weakening of Migratory Bird Treaty. Some cancellations may be wrong but these are right—it’s so WONDERFUL to not have several destructive actions a day by Interior as occurred daily under Trump! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/12/stories/1063727359?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #67: Montana State Republican wants bill to allow individuals and state officials to sue the federal government in state court over ownership of the roads like those in Glacier Nat. Park! Gutless Daines fails to take stand against! So much for his conservationism! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/12/stories/1063727369?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #66: Ammon Bundy says not YET ready for rebellion! Can’t govt. (e.g., Justice or IRS) attach Bundy’s bank accounts? They have bragged about not paying grazing fees for yrs. Why should ANY welfare farmer pay them if Bundy’s don’t? See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/11/stories/1063727247?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #65: Ammon Bundy says not YET ready for rebellion! Can’t govt. (e.g., Justice or IRS) attach Bundy’s bank accounts? They have ragged about not paying grazing fees for yrs. Why should ANY welfare farmer pay them if Bundy’s don’t? See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/11/stories/1063727247?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #64: Save 50% of Land-Water for Nature by 2050—more evidence for it. Study shows that land left to nature worth more than farmed/developed! It not just good ethics—it is rational for humans to do for own good! See https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/08/land-could-be-worth-more-left-to-nature-than-when-farmed-study-finds-aoe?emci=616b13a9-ee81-eb11-85aa-00155d43c992&emdi=42690fae-6982-eb11-85aa-00155d43c992&ceid=326118 Biden #63: States on wolf-killing craze incl. Wisconsin & Montana. To use slob hunting, unlimited seasons, & every unfair tool to kill them b/c hunters too lazy & inept to do it w/o these measures. Proves once more NEED for FEDERAL ESA & why states can’t be trusted to preserve wildlife. See https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-wildlife-animals-lakes-billings-5eda7213f2cbec6c3d46897e74dddf80?emci=616b13a9-ee81-eb11-85aa-00155d43c992&emdi=42690fae-6982-eb11-85aa-00155d43c992&ceid=326118 Biden #62: Proof that Univ Wyo study cited by Sen. Lummis phony! Study claimed bad effects from Biden drilling pause but Energy Info. study proves wrong. Why? Trump Ad. recklessly leased & drilled lands despite glut—causing at least 2-year surplus. UW should be ashamed & should condemn their industry-funded & lackey Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute” See https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2021/03/11/stories/1063727195?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aenergywire Biden #61: Irony: Republicans now pushing for “transparency” in government! For last 4 years, Trump Admin. did everything they could to kill FOIA & Amy Coney Barrett just finished the job excusing politicos from disclosing scientific findings. What hypocrites! See https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/03/10/stories/1063727025?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily Biden #60: Katie Porter to bring some common sense to energy industry’s use of public lands: She says: “"Since the last royalty increase in 1920, technology has changed and become more efficient, the economy has changed, but the royalty rate has stayed the same” & Had the rate gone up at all over the years, she continued, oil and gas drilling "could have generated $12.4 billion in the last decade — money for schools, hospitals, rural development, conservation projects.” In other words, Porter’s bill would help public in energy-producing states but Repub. industry lackeys like Gosar are up in arms—they only care about their industry campaign contributors—not their state. See https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/03/10/stories/1063727053?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily Biden #59: See shoddy Univ. of Wyoming Report by its (industry funded) “Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute”—it’s a 11 page document that is anything but impressive. No actual names on the report—no wonder! See https://www.eoriwyoming.org/downloads/Impact-of-Federal-Drilling-and-Leasing-Moratorium-on-Wyomings-Oil-Industry.pdf Biden #58: Republicans want consensus on monuments! There already is one—Restore the monuments! Surveys already show plurality of Utahans (& U.S. public) FAVOR Obama-sized monuments! It’s a small group of politicos & industry lobbyists who dominate Utah’s politics who want the cuts. Pew Charitable Trusts. Utah: Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Survey Fielded.2016 (1) https://www.coloradocollege.edu/newsevents/newsroom/2018-conservation-in-the-westpollreleased#.WmttdqinH= (2) Pew Charitable Trusts. Utah: Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Survey Fielded.2016. 2018 Conservation in the West Poll Released - Colorado College (3) https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/03/09/stories/1063726965?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily Biden #57: Good News: Biden’s Interior lets Jorjani’s overturns idiotic opinion on allowing killing of migratory birds w/o penalty. Interior’s defense of Jorjani’s ruling was a joke b/c it actually PROVED why the ruling made no sense! See Trump #1151 below for details! & https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/08/stories/1063726893?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #56: Bad News: Biden’s Interior approves first road thru Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. There is nothing more destructive than a road to wilderness & wildlife. Inexplicable unless this is a “Thank You” to Murkowski for voting for Haaland but given she would have been approved anyway, it’s costly thanks. See https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2021/03/08/stories/1063726913?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeenewspm Biden #55: Good News: Biden appointee to BLM is not an ex-lobbyist but was senior counsel for Audubon Society. Since every Interior political appointee under Trump was lobbyist for industry, this shows conservation back on agenda! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/08/stories/1063726895?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #54: Coney Barrett said “draft of BIOPIC” was done by “LOWER LEVEL staff” (i.e., BIOLOGISTS) but then sent to DECISIONMAKERS” (i.e., ex-lobbyists Bernhardt & Wheeler) so professional opinion can be disregarded! Yes, Decisionmakers are politicians but decisions on Clean Water & End. Species should be based on SCIENCE. Also, Barrett said that “executives” like Wheeler-Bernhardt should not have to operate in an open ”Fish Bowl.” Well, if you are making decisions about water quality & end. species, ALL of the DATA gathered, surely by scientists, should be available for public scrutiny. Whose interest is more important—public’s right to know or Wheeler-Bernhardt’s justified embarrassment about their industry-favoring decisions! Barrett's references to lower level staff suggest that she doesn't understand that it is the professional staff (here scientists) who do the fact-gathering and then turn over the facts to politicos (ex-lobbyists) in charge. She seems to imply that "lower level employees" views and knowledge are inferior to the top executives! If so, this reveals her deep ignorance. Trump's top Interior Executives were ALL EX-LOBBYISTS with NO CREDENTIALS to make ESA decisions. To think their "sensibilities" might be affected by the release of facts is laughable. In my book, I detail how time after time Interior politicos kept scientific reports hidden or dismissed them so they could help their industry pals. I also detail how in every NEPA case, they listed & then proceeded to IGNORE ALL NEGATIVE environmental consequences of industry actions. Thus the idea that executive deliberations need to be protected is ridiculous--when dealing with clear water or the existence of species, the PRESUMPTION should be in favor of OPEN access to facts & it would take a very strange exception to justify keeping such facts from the public. Barrett is either ignorant of how government works or does not care that professional scientists work is sabotaged by politicos. See https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/19-547 & my book referenced on this site's home page. Biden #52: Coney Barrett’s stupid FOIA ruling: She ruled that biological opinions that contained FACTS on how EPA proposed action would harm endangered species were just “drafts of drafts” b/c they had not been approved by EPA Admins. Who didn’t give a damn about end. species. So, if Interior doesn’t like facts submitted to them, don’t approve these “draft” & make decisions on basis of what your favorite industry wants. Coney Barrett should be sent back to law school & take Elena Kagan with her! See https://www.google.com/search? The gist of this decision is that the public doesn't have a right to view facts & has nothing to do with protecting sensibilities unless you think corrupt decisions favoring industry deserve to be protected! The decision refers to the fact that the BIOP was done by "lower level staff and then sent to decisionmakers." That means it was done by professional wildlife professionals but then submitted to political appointees like David Bernhardt who never paid slightest attention to any information that hindered industry. The decision wants to prevent EPA from living in a "fishbowl." Well, when making life-death decisions about human or endangered species, facts about jeopardy should be open to the public. EPA's heads under Trump don't have any sensibilities that makes them worried about making decisions favoring industry--that is their standard operating procedure. Whose interest should take priority--that public's or these officials who fear that their decisionmaking may be called to account? The answer is obvious. This decision wipes out the efficacy of FOIA & announces the beginning of a terrible legacy from Justice Barrett. See https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/19-547 Biden #51: Even bats are smarter than Trumpites who refuse to wear masks! Study found bats distance selves from sick friends & sick ones distant themselves for good of colony! Of course, some good may come of it as Darwin's survival of the fittest may reduce this population of idiots. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/05/stories/1063726769?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #50: Yahoos run Wyoming Senate—don’t want anybody but energy industry lackeys on oversight Board! They rejected Dems. nominated by Republican governor with NO REASON other than they didn’t promise to be industry lackeys. Add this to psychopathic attack on wolves as reasons why these states are incapable of protecting environment. See https://www.wyofile.com/senate-rejects-three-gordon-nominees-to-citizen-oversight-boards/ Biden #49: Wyoming resident Britney Wallesch refutes critics of Biden Pause on Drilling: (1) The last time costs per acre for federal leases were evaluated was 1987 auctioning off for as little as $1.50 acre, only ½ comes back to the state. Leases last for 5/10 yrs each& no reqts. to develop & prevent other uses like rec. and conserv. (2) 38% of leased acres are NOT PRODUCING AT ALL. Read her article at https://www.wyofile.com/critics-should-pause-themselves-to-consider-leasing-pause-potential/ Biden #48: Coney Barrett’s First Stupid Ruling: She, & other conserv. justices & Kagan (!) approved EPA’s keeping secret BIOLOGICAL OPINIONS b/c supposedly to preserve deliberative process! These opinions consist of Basic FACTUAL reasons why EPA’s decision would harm end. species--nothing to do with sensitive info other than it makes their decision appear stupid b/c it ignores these facts! They’re protecting the public from knowing FACTS essential to understanding why Trump’s EPA pandered to industry. Using this same flawed “executive deliberation” excuse was employed to keep facts behind cutting BEARS EARS monument and not providing info. To USGAO on energy industry. If this phony excuse is allowed in such cases, it makes FOIA useless as a tool to discover poor & illegal govt. decisions. I have covered Trump’s Interior Dept. use of this in my book, See Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior Department https://author.amazon.com/books/editionsMaster?marketplace=ATVPDKIKX0DER&titleset=B08V13KF5B Biden #47: Biden ends Trump’s so-called “open-science” order—hysterical labeling b/c Trump’s Interior (& EPA) tried to prevent science from being used for dmking, PERIOD! Bernhardt-Zinke hid info on everything from monuments to BLM move. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/03/stories/1063726533?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #46: S. Dakota Gov. Noem in contention to be female version of Trump—forbids conservation officers from investigating poaching on private property. She believes in privacy rights—for poachers & slob hunters! That's her constituency & she's "gonna" protect them! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/03/stories/1063726503?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #45: State-sponsored Bounty-Slob Hunting: Montana wants to allow payments by livestock/hunting grps. To kill wolves, allow unlimited killing, night-vision scopes & lights, use baiting, snares, & extended seasons. Anyone need any further proof why FEDERAL ESA is needed to preserve species & wolves need continuous protection? Any concept of fair chase as followed by Teddy R. is irrelevant to these slob hunters. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/02/stories/1063726373?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #44: How Liz Cheney Gets Trumpites to Like her again: Urges killing of grizzly bears. Nothing like showing affection for blood lust pursuits like slob hunting to win the hearts of Trump voters! Tried & True way to restore Repub. reputation after committing honorable action! See https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/03/02/stories/1063726305?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily Biden #43: Imagine—Biden won’t allow Welfare Ranchers who set fire to public lands have permits! It’s amazing how sane decisions like this seem extraordinary after 4 years of BIZARRE Trump-Bernhardt Admin. of Interior but that’s the case! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/03/01/stories/1063726279?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #42: No surprise—BLM morale sank under Trump-Bernhardt-Pendley. BLM staff said “the last four years, very little information was sought from employees, and very little information was shared.” So, in addition to being a huge jerk, Pendley was incompetent. See https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2021/02/25/stories/1063726063?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeenewspm Biden #41: Daines asks: Why shouldn’t grizzly mgnt be given back to states? B/c only Fed. laws hold bear& wolf haters from exterminating them. Check out Idaho that wants to use snowmobiles, ATVs, powered parachutes, & aircraft to kill wolves year-round w/NO LIMITS. With friends of Daines in charge, guess what would happen! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/02/25/stories/1063726007?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #40: Attention Slob Hunters: There’s new film on Youtube that you’ll love-"Wildlife Killing Contests." It’ll get you in mood to jump into your plane or snowmobile & kill wolves! See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV0UZsaMjMM&feature=youtu.be Biden #39: Poll shows 59 percent of Western Voters support for strictly limiting oil and gas development on public lands. Yet Daines says Haaland is “radical.” Truth is Daines & other Western Republicans are radically out of touch with their public. Time to send these industry lackeys packing. See https://medium.com/westwise/western-voters-say-go-big-on-protecting-public-lands-conserving-nature-and-tackling-climate-10b5d1ff61 #38: Haaland is a moderate on energy. Read 2021 Col. College Poll that shows Westerners support conservation & action against climate change over fossil fuel/ranching interests. It’s Western politicos like Daines, Barrasso, Lee who are radicals—opposing majority consensus! See https://medium.com/westwise/western-voters-say-go-big-on-protecting-public-lands-conserving-nature-and-tackling-climate-10b5d1ff61 Biden #37: Slob Hunting ascendant in Idaho—they want to use snowmobiles, ATVs, powered parachutes, & aircraft to kill wolves year-round w/NO LIMITS. So much for the concept of “fair chase”—these Yahoos are too fat, lazy & incompetent for that. Their goal to reduce pop. from 1500 to 500—Only Federal ESA prevents them from wiping out whole pop. In Wis., state DNR scurried to kill wolves because fear that “Biden admin. might re-list wolves & deny Wisconsin hunters a season. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/02/24/stories/1063725883?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire & https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/02/24/stories/1063725887?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #36: Daines to Haaland: "You co-sponsored legislation that provided federal protections for the grizzly bear in perpetuity forever. Why would you sponsor a bill like that?" Because, like VAST majority of Americans, she values grizzlies over welfare rancher cows on public lands! This is impossible for someone like Daines who only views conservation as something to give lip service to for a brief moment in order to be reelected. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/02/24/stories/1063725887?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #35: Injustice! Haaland has to defend Monuments & TR’s Antiquities Act from Yahoos like Mike Lee! Monuments created by the Act have become loved by Westerners—just not energy-ranchers who want to exploit public lands. They want to drill-mine for pennies and public often winds up with losses. Look at Wyoming where Interior Dept will lose MILLIONS due to coal co. (Blackwater jewel) bankruptcy. Lee, Barrasso, & Daines should be apologizing for their destruction of pub. lands. See https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2021/02/23/stories/1063725805?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeenewspm & https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/02/23/stories/1063725759?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #34: 180 Degree BLM Turn! Biden names Audubon Conservationist to replace Pendley who hates the ESA & any wildlife that get in way of profit! He cuts monuments & protections for sage grouse that Culver supported. It’s like coming out of the ice age & dark age into new Interior World! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/02/22/stories/1063725669?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #33: Haaland’s no wealthy, fat trophy hunter like Bernhardt—she has Haaland has modest resources & a student loan from 2006. Senate not used to dealing with real middle class candidates after Trump’s fat cat nominees! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/02/22/stories/1063725667?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #32: Florida Govt. figs. Show manatees killed in large nos. mostly due to human activity such as poor water pollution enforcement, & boat collisions. Florida govt. has been concerned about invasive species killing native species like Burmese pythons—but by far MAIN invasive species responsible are humans! Need to commit to save 50% of evmnt. by 2050 for wildlife. See https://www.peer.org/record-manatee-mortality-in-new-year/ Biden #31: Money Talks, Bullshit Walks: See how Daines has taken over $1 Million from Energy Industry & Barasso gots lots of his $ in 2020. Daines phony conservationist can’t do too much for industry. They are afraid of Sec. of Interior who cares about what PUBLIC wants as surveys overwhelmingly show—not to treat public lands as if they industry’s “playground.” See https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/02/22/stories/1063725549?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily & https://www.eenews.net/assets/2021/02/22/document_daily_01.pdf Biden #30: How will Senators like Rubio and Scott from FL vote on Haaland?! They acted to support conservation and against drilling offshore for their state while Bernhardt/Zinke/Trump tried to destroy it but will they vote for conservation for other states? Biden #29: Phony alarm on lease pauses! Energy industry lackeys squawking about pause in leasing is a joke! Rpt. Shows that huge amount of them are idle & bring in pennies. Trump Admin went on leasing overleasing frenzy. Energy industry wants to stockpile when could be put to more productive use. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/02/19/stories/1063725523?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #28: UN Report makes point: Humans need to prioritize other living things—they have dominated world resulting in threats to any species that get in their way. Idea of preserving 30% by 2030 is decent goal but 50% should be long term goal as E. Wilson says. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/02/19/stories/1063725507?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #27: Education’s Gain is Natural Resources Loss: Bobert not allowed on Educat. Committee but on Nat. Resources Comm. so another gun-totin Repub. Yahoo who will try to shoot down any conservation measures. See https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/02/19/stories/1063725461?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily Biden #26: Read story on how Texas oil-gas industry to blame for power failure--failed to winterize their system & industry dominated regulation caused failure. Now trying to blame renewables. Climate change producing changes in jet streams underlying cause. Phony dopes like George P. Bush & Steve Daines ignore facts—Republicans have become Know-Nothing Party. See https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/17/opinion/texas-blackout-energy-abbott.html?campaign_id=39&emc=edit_ty_20210218&instance_id=27238&nl=opinion-today®i_id=10365419&segment_id=51882&te=1&user_id=1575e2a05f37205a27ca72946056eae7 Biden #25: Biden’s BLM is revoking plan to have large scale solar dev. protected areas for wildlife. Why? Because they actually believe in “BALANCED LAND MANAGEMENT” & conservation of wildlife. Trump’s Interior chose Industry over conservation IN EVERY DECISION they made where the two were at odds. I prove this in my book, Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior Department.” It’s great to see Interior finally paying attention again to FLPMA that requires conservation to be on par with dev. See https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2021/02/17/stories/1063725335?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeenewspm Biden #24: Human Threats to Other Species: overfishing is threatening extinction of sawfish. Points out that entirely new orientation needed towards conservation—inexorable human made changes from development, agric. & pesticides, noise, overfishing continue to expand & kill other species. Time for by far most invasive species ever (humans) to give priority to saving other species by something like E. Wilson’s 50 by 50 program. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/02/11/stories/1063724949?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #23: Remember how every new day under Trump, Interior would do several bad things?! It’s great to see good news under Biden like making sure that U.S. public gets deserved royalties from oil-gas! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/02/11/stories/1063724955?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #22: Biden stopped TRUMP LWCF from gutting of program for urban area projects. Industry Lackeys like Daines ignored this change but brags about his conservation achievements. See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/02/11/stories/1063724967?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #21: Daines says Haaland’s views are “radical” & will oppose her nomination. Baloney! Conservation of public lands & wildlife are bedrock American values as proven by surveys over 60 yrs. & support for these protections is growing all the stronger. If you read critics of environmentalism and laws such as the Endangered Species Act, they view conservationists as an “elite” and a small sliver of U.S. public opinion. For example, when Bernhardt (Aug. 9, 2018) proposed weakening the ESA, he referred to them as “special interest groups” who have been “hyperbolic and unhelpful in promoting [what he viewed as] constructive discussion.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Conservation of public lands and protections for wildlife are bedrock American values as proven by surveys over two generations and support for these protections is growing all the stronger. A large-scale national survey showed that the majority of public believes that wildlife protections should be not be weakened to support public ranchers. Colorado College has conducted a series of annual surveys of residents of western states and found consistently strong MAJORITY support for conservation and wildlife protections OVER the interests of industry. Its 2020 (Colorado College, Jan. 2020) survey was conducted by a team made up of both Republican and Democratic survey teams. Here are some key findings:
Biden #20: Anthropocene: Inexorable but “invisible” (to most humans) changes that doom other species: Article shows how ships & other human noises have changed soundscape to harm sea creatures which have declined by ½ since 1970. Other changes: growth of agriculture, human pops. around protected areas, plastics & pesticides that poison habitats—shows why protecting 30% by 2030 is just modest & 1st step to repairing human damage to world envmnt. See https://science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6529/eaba4658 Trump #1172: I have just published a book titled “Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior Department.” It’s a detailed study of Trump’s Interior’s destructive actions against conservation sacrificed in every case where there was a choice between protecting wildlife and industry profits. It has in depth coverage of their tactics to weaken both the Nat. Environmental Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. It demonstrates how Trump’s Interior was able to ignore or subvert all of the traditional protections against illegal and unethical actions such as ethical rules and staff, inspector generals, the Government Accountability Office, Congressional oversight, and legislative acts (e.g., FOIA and the Hatch Act) without incurring any penalties for their misdeeds. It demonstrates how Trump’s Interior misused and abused public comments and mechanisms involved in environmental impact reviews. It details how Trump’s Interior made illegal use of NPS resources for his campaign. It explores the crisis in funding for conservation due to their exclusive focus on trophy hunting as a source of revenues. It concludes that wildlife conservation needs a total rethinking that does not constrain itself to incrementalism and rearguard actions that characterized the Obama and Clinton Interior Department actions. The book fully documents all of its points and has 45 pages of references in addition to its 155 pages of text. Here is the Table of Contents: Contents Preface. 1 Chapter 1: Evolution of the Interior Department 2 Why Department of Interior?. 6 Trump’s Disastrous Interior Secretaries: Ryan Zinke and David Bernhardt 8 Chapter 2: Energy Mania and the Unwise Use of Natural Resources. 10 Zinke’s Horrendous Start: Energy Dominance and the Unbalanced Use of Natural Resources. 10 Trump’s Interior and Industry: Nothing Else Matters. 12 Compensatory Mitigation under Trump: Do Not Worry About Destroying Habitat 17 Industry Lobbyist Bernhardt takes over. 18 How important does the General Public View Conservation and Wildlife Protection?. 27 Nothing Too Big or Small for Industry, Only Crumbs for the Public. 28 Diverting Funds from Conservation to Protect the Border. 29 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Under Trump: Dedicated to Sacrificing its Wildlife Mission to Industry. 30 Trump’s Great Outdoors Act: Only Fear Can Overcome Industry First Principle. 34 Chapter 3: Only “Nature” Concern is Trophy Hunting. 37 Chapter 4: Politics and Charismatic Wildlife Species: Love, Hate, and Passion. 45 Wild Horses: Even Trump’s Industry-Dominated Interior Cannot Kill 47 Chapter 5: Trump’s Interior Department’s Ethical Cesspool 50 Chapter 6: Trump’s Interior versus Accountability. 60 Daniel Jorjani: Lawyer and a Fountain of Lies. 62 Inspector Generals: No Help for Accountability and the Perversion of FOIA in Trump’s Interior. 66 Federal Judges Only Effective Response to Trump Attack on Conservation. 68 Chapter 7: Trump’s Interior’s Attempts to Undermine The NEPA.. 75 Trump CEQ’s Response to Comments: No Science Necessary!. 79 Chapter 8: Trump’s Interior: Lousy Administrators! 86 BLM’s Backwards Move West 93 Trump’s Interior Pandering to Public Range Ranchers: Welfare Recipients that Dominate Public Lands Policy 101 Chapter 9: Federalism Under Trump: Let States Do What They Want! 103 The Republican Nightmare Vision for Federalism.. 106 Chapter 10: Endangered Species Become More Endangered Under Trump’s Interior 110 Trump’s Interior Team: They Hate the ESA.. 112 Trump’s Team “Updates” The ESA.. 116 How to Undermine The ESA: Redefine Critical Habitat 120 The Real Benefits and Costs of the Endangered Species Act and other Environmental Regulations. 123 Chapter 11: Trump Interior’s Abuse of Science. 129 Chapter 12: Industry Interest Groups’ Takeover of Trump’s Interior 135 Chapter 13: Trump’s Interior versus the Future. 141 Conservation Funding for the Future. 143 Chapter 14: Conclusion: Needed: A Department of Interior that is Ethical and Treasures Conservation. 146 References 156 It’s available as a Kindle E-book or paperback at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TYY51KR?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 Biden #19: Biden reverse stupid Jorjani-Bernhardt decision on Migratory Bird Treaty. Trump’s weakening of treaty made no sense & Jorjani’s defense of it was idiotic: Here is why: Trump Admin’s rule admits that “costs of actions businesses typically implement to reduce effects on birds are small…including small businesses”!! These protections have been in effect for 50 yrs with no absurd prosecutions that USFWS discusses. So why sacrifice protections for NO GOOD REASON? The rule would make Scalia happy as they cite his dissenting opinions to support their ridiculous changes. Tables 1 & 2 on p. 5923-5924 PROVE that current rule has no SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS on business! The new rule talks about “absurdity”—well this whole rewrite is absurd—done for no good reason other than to demonstrate dedication to overturning any restrictions at all on industry in their ability to harm wildlife. It now reduces the Treaty to protecting against hunting while the text shows that the major takings of migratory birds are due to incidental take which will now be legal! Here are the causes of killing MILLIONS OF BIRDS that will NO LONGER BE COVERED!
“It is anticipated that some entities that currently employ mitigation measures to reduce or eliminate incidental migratory bird take would reduce or curtail these activities given the legal certainty provided by this proposed regulation. Others may continue to employ these measures voluntarily for various reasons, including continued compliance with other Federal, State, and local laws and regulations. The Service does not have information available to quantify these potential cost savings. Given our lack of specific data to estimate the cost savings from reduced implementation of mitigation measures and increased legal certainty, we ask for such data to inform analysis of the proposed rule’s potential cost savings.” What excuse is there for proposing such an ill-thought out rule: An ideological commitment to reducing costs to industry regardless of impacts which, in this case, would be bad actors who fail to take preventive measures to protect migratory birds. This is the theme of my new book, Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior Department It contains detailed coverage of the Trump Administration's destructive actions concerning wildlife and conservation. It is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TYY51KR?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 In short, the text describing the new Migratory Bird Treaty rule PROVES that it will be harmful to birds by removing protections from major causes of them dying and will NOT HELP business in any significant way! How stupid is this? See Biden decision at : https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2021/02/04/stories/1063724421?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeenewspm Trump #1171: Pendley’s proud of his “accomplishments:” 1. Never nominated to head BLM b/c even Republicans didn’t want to be asso. with him; 2. His BLM move was so bad that only 13% moved! 3. Gave away leases for nothing in middle of oil-gas glut—that even industry said was stupid! 4. Stated policy to let local Sheriffs decide BLM policy. What more can you say about this idiot other than THANK GOD HE’S GONE! See https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/02/03/stories/1063724265?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #18: Who’s in charge at Interior? FWS Gary Frazier just called for ending listing of gray wolves. Who’s in charge that is forcing this decision? Is it him alone? What right does this toady to Bernhardt have to do this? Haaland confirmation may be delayed & Bernhardt lackey Scott de la Vega is Acting Director—is he the problem? If so, get rid of him! See https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2021/02/02/stories/1063724165?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeenewspm Biden #17: Get rid of Gary Frazier—FWS official who supported Bernhardt’s blocking release of pesticides harmful to wildlife—he said “Bernhardt didn’t have to twist my arms” to do it! He’s an example of supposed professional who exhibited cowardice under Trump & should be sent packing. Now he wants to continue delisting of gray wolves! Get rid of this Tumpite! For details see my book, Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior Department p61 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TYY51KR?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 Biden #16: Oil-Gas: Shrieking at 1st Royalty Increase in 100 years! States like Texas & Wyoming have had higher rates for yrs! Energy industry like public range ranchers have been pampered forever—time to pay their fair share! See https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2021/02/01/stories/1063723953?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aenergywire Trump #1170: Repubs. criticize Biden ban on leasing for oil-gas b/c not "multiple use"! In my book, I document case after case of how Trump Interior listed harmful conserv. impacts of all of their energy projects & then ignored them & selected WORSE POSSIBLE choice! That was their so-called NEPA Review. Time after time, they repeated following refrain: NEPA is just a Procedure & you can select harmful choices regardless of how bad they are for the evmnt. See https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TYY51KR?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 Trump #1169: Interior’s Defense for Using Donald Trump’s personal Twitter Handle: “Then-Interior spokesperson…refuted criticism noting that both the Office of the Solicitor & Ethics Office had approved” it—Sure, Jorjani & Scott de la Vega (Acting director of Interior) approved EVERY UNETHICAL DEED presented to them by bigwigs! I cover in depth Jorjani’s & de la Vega’s incredible sleaze in my new book. See https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TYY51KR?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 Biden #15: Repubs Squawk about leasing stop is Nonsense! Trump’s BLM leased like crazy for 4 years even during NO DEMAND period & currently almost 26 million acres of BLM under lease half of which are idle (Kelly et al., May 23, 2019). So makes NO SENSE to require more leasing after this reckless period. Kochan, law professor says full ban against MULTIUSE law. Well, Trump’s ignored conservation uses for 4 years, turning monuments into drill sites & grazing fields ignoring FLMPA MULTIUSE law—didn’t hear Repubs or Kochan complaining about that! See https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/01/29/stories/1063723841?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily & https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2021/01/28/stories/1063723765?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aenergywire & https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/reports/2019/05/23/470140/backroom-deals/ Trump #1168: How Big a Liar is Bernhardt (and Pendley)?! Huge! Turns out that 87% of BLM's staff refused to move & Bernhardt/Pendley hid the enormity of their failure. One more proof that Bernhardt was a STUPID & LOUSY Administrator contrary to image he tried to project! See https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2021/01/28/stories/1063723835?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeenewspm My New Book Reveals the Dirty Deeds by Trump-Bernhardt-Zinke Interior Department: Detailed account of 4 years of unethical and illegal deeds that they got away with due to unwillingness or inability of Ethics Office, Inspector Generals, Congressional Review Committees, and Governmental Accountability Office to do anything about. Each misdeed is fully documented. Book has 150 pages of text along with 45 pages of references backing up assertions. See Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior Department. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TYY51KR?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 Here is example of one misdeed: Bernhardt's Pesticide Action that Interior IG found "acceptable:" Bernhardt’s tactics to avoid accountability and hide information from the public are exemplified in his role to block the release of a USFWS report (written by the agency’s scientists) that “found that two of the pesticides, malathion and chlorpyrifos, were so toxic that they could “jeopardize the continued existence” of more than 1,200 endangered birds, fish and other animals and plants, a conclusion that could lead to tighter restrictions on use of the chemicals” (Lipton, March 26, 2019). The report was completed in August of 2017 and was scheduled to be released in November of 2017, but David Bernhardt intervened to block the release. The restrictions on these chemicals would have hurt Dow which had donated $1 million to Mr. Trump’s inauguration committee. Gary Frazier, USFWS’s top official whose job is to protect endangered species, said he did not believe the change in policy was “politically driven” (Lipton, March 26, 2019)! Frazier did not argue with this policy change—he said Bernhardt did not have to “twist arms to get agreement! Records show that Bernhardt did not have any involvement until November when he suddenly had 9 meetings about the report & wrote the letter that said Interior would NOT release the report. Bernhardt adopted the industry’s argument that the federal scientists’ conclusions were flawed because they were based on the volume of pesticides that could be legally used but should be based on how they were actually used. There are serious weaknesses in this argument. The scientist’s position concerned the jeopardy threat if users decided to use it to their legally allowed limits—the agency has no way of predicting how it will be used. Chlorpyrifos and malathion have “high toxicity” for all animals both “direct and indirect” (Lipton, March 26, 2019) and their use would be continued for many years and thus cumulative effects would increase through time. Moreover, a basic rule to follow in conservation is the “precautionary principle” to give priority to endangered species whenever there is uncertainty (Doremus, 2004, 415). Bernhardt blocked revelation of the report until a FOIA request forced them to release it! Interior’s (then) Ethics Chief, Scott de la Vega, investigated and he conceded that Bernhardt’s intervention was highly unusual, but did not find anything wrong with it! Here is Bernhardt’s explanation of why he changed the decision (Lipton, March 26, 2019): "I was troubled because, as I read it, a massive amount of work had gone into a process that I looked at and thought, 'This is completely and totally against our regulatory paradigm, and what a pathetic waste of our energy, effort and resources without legal intervention,'" Bernhardt said. He is speaking about blocking a report and recommendations about dangerous pesticides based on Interior’s own scientists as being a “waste”! Bernhardt’s statement is correct in one sense: The report and its recommendations were totally against Bernhardt’s regulatory paradigm which is to never rule against industry—forget the science! Eric Lipton (March 26, 2019) of the New York Times has written a detailed account of this ethical scandal. As usual, neither Interior’s IGs nor their numerous ethical staff like de la Vega ever are willing to find Bernhardt & his political appointees guilty of wrongdoing. In this case, it is clear that Bernhardt was following a different decision rule or The Industry First Principle: Favor industry whenever there is a conflict between industry wants and endangered species. One would hope that some professional USFWS employees would speak out but instead, like Frazier, they toe the energy dominance line. Trump #1167: New Republican on House NR Committee is Lauren Bobert—she carries a glock! Too bad she didn’t use it on Trumpites storming Capitol—Oh, that’s right—she supported the coup! Probably would have liked to use it on Pelosi! See https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2021/01/26/stories/1063723497?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aeedaily Biden #14: Report shows that NPS Spent 4000 hours working on Trump’s RNC Fireworks Show. RNC reimbursed NPS but NPS employees not supposed to be used as campaign workers! De la Vega, acting Int. Dir., undoubtedly can provide excuse for approving this! See https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/national-park-service-spent-4000-hours-working-on-trumps-rnc-fireworks-show/ Biden #13: Reagan appointee judge just ruled FWS must release red wolves in NC! History of NC red wolves illustrates how tiny # of landowners dominates policy towards this species despite support of majority for them. I cover this in detail in my new book, Industry First: The Attack on Conservation by Trump’s Interior Department. NC wildlife officials tried to declare them extinct & landowners did everything they could to kill red wolf program but surveys showed that vast majority of NC wanted them & finally new governor even supported them! https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/01/25/stories/1063723425?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Agreenwire Biden #12: Great article in Revelator on how Obama’s BLM failed to act against its anti-conservation culture & warns Biden NOT TO HIRE OBAMA sta
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During my research for the book, I noticed that there was no blog available for sharing informaton on wildlife conservation and thus I set up this blog to accomplish this purpose. Please share any informaticoncerning issues related to wildife policy and politics. I welcome feedback from users concerning this blog and website.
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