Bison, wolves, vacant
allotments and a straw man
Bison Blues
Recall the Obama administration was supporting a proposal to
transfer management of the National Bison Range to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Secretary Zinke put the
kibosh to that, as it looked too much like a land transfer. “As Secretary, my
job is to look 100 years forward at all of Interior’s resources. I recognize
the Bison Range as a critical part of our past, present and future, which is
why I have changed course.” It turns out this was not a land divestiture at
all. Management was to be delegated to the tribes, but the land was to be
transferred to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, remaining in federal ownership.
As Zinke
gazes off into the future, how has the National Bison Range faired under his “changed
course”? Not well, according to recent reports. The visitors center is no
longer open every day, the bookstore has been closed, a volunteers program has
been shut down as has a visitors service program for schools. “Closing a visitor center
on days when hundreds of people are visiting is unprecedented. Denying them
access to even basic visitor amenities, like the public bathrooms, is
inexplicable,” says one group in a letter to Zinke.
Instead
of peering off into the future, perhaps the Secretary should open his eyes to the
possibility that state and tribal management for some of these lands is a
preferred alternative.
Wolf Review
On June 13 the U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service announced they were undertaking a review of the status
of gray wolves. "The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has begun reviewing the status of the gray wolf
under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Working closely with our federal,
state, tribal and local partners, we will assess the currently listed gray wolf
entities in the lower 48 states using the best available scientific
information. If appropriate, the Service will publish a proposal to revise the
wolf’s status in the Federal Register by the end of the calendar year.”
Good
news, but does it include the Mexican gray wolf? I’m afraid not. In response to
an inquiry from me, their spokesman wrote, “It will not. We consider that a separate subspecies.”
So it’s
Gringo Wolves Sí, Mexican Wolves No. Congratulations to the rest of America,
condolences to the Southwest.
Farm Bill
There are
an unusual amount of provisions in the House farm bill that deal with federal
lands. One of the most interesting was an amendment offered by Rep. Liz Cheney
concerning vacant allotments. Her amendment requires the Secretary concerned to
make available vacant allotments “to the maximum extent practicable” whenever
an allotment owner is prevented from grazing his allotment due to a natural
disaster, such as drought or fire, a court-issued injunction, or a conflict
with wildlife. Making those allotments available would be categorically
excluded from NEPA and would be protected from any court order.
Rep. Cheney stated on the House floor that, “livestock producers in Wyoming and across the West have been battling for years against a Federal government that has attempted systematically to reduce grazing allotments on public lands.” “My amendment,” explained Rep. Cheney, “would simply make available vacant grazing allotments for our producers should their existing allotment become unavailable due to unforeseen circumstances such as wildfire, drought, other
natural
disasters, or litigation.”
It will
be interesting to see what the Senate does with this language.
There
are other provisions in the farm bill dealing with categorical exclusions. In
fact, there are a dozen or more instances where Congress is proposing to exempt
certain forest management activities from requirements under NEPA to prepare an
environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement.
It is
pleasant to see these proposals, but I have to wonder why they only go half
way. Instead of going through the legislative process of targeting specific
agency actions that are exempt from NEPA, why not amend NEPA so that it is a
more flexible program that doesn’t hamstring agency action? Exempting specific
agency actions is a haphazard process, with some passing and some not passing
depending on the year. The fact you have to exempt so many agency actions is
proof enough NEPA needs a thorough overhaul.
The
same goes for vacant allotments. Why are we only making them available for
livestock grazing during an emergency? There should be an inventory of vacant
allotments so that we know the number and acreage they represent. The agencies
should be directed to make these allotments available again unless they have a
powerful reason to not make a certain allotment available.
The straw man
Five-time
Super Bowl champion Tom Brady has recently joined the bogus environmental cause
to ban plastic straws. Brady recently made a video for the Be Straw Free
campaign, in which he brandishes two plastic
straws, declaring, "the effect of these little guys is posing a huge
health risk to our planet."
I have
never cared for straws myself; they just slow me down.
Will
banning plastic straws in the U.S. solve the plastic pollution problem? No, it
will not. Based on coastal cleanups in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., only 2
percent to 4 percent of beach litter consists of plastic straws. On a worldwide
basis, banning plastic straws in the U.S. and other developed countries would
accomplish even less. The majority of plastic waste entering the ocean comes
from East Asia. China heads the list, accounting for 28 percent of plastic
pollution, followed by Indonesia that contributes 10 percent. By comparison,
the U.S. is responsible for less than 1 percent of global plastic marine waste.
It would
appear that Tom Brady has been suckered. He should concentrate on scoring in
football, rather than whoring for the enviros.
Curtis Fort
Curtis
Fort has been honored by Governor Susana Martinez and the New Mexico Arts
Commission, as a recipient of the 2018 Governor’s Award for Excellence in the
Arts. Congratulations Curtis, an honor well deserved.
Until
next time, be a nuisance to the devil and don’t forget to check that cinch.
Frank
DuBois was the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003, is the author of
a blog: The Westerner (www.thewesterner.blogspot.com) and is the founder of The DuBois
Rodeo Scholarship and The DuBois Western Heritage Foundation
1 comment:
The Grey wolf claim that it is a separate sub species is more used oats on the part of the W&WL Service. Put 10 of those wolves in a pen and call in one of their experts and my guess is that it is 50-50 they can tell one from the other. We get to fund those idiots and it is time to withdraw all funding for the endangered species act.
Post a Comment