Tuesday, July 17, 2018

DuBois column


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

 This column first appeared in the July editions of the NM Stockman and the Livestock Market Digest 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

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.