The bill finally passed today. The final vote for passage was 73-21.
While most of the media seem to still think this is just a bill wilderness bill, folks are slowly finding the other stuff. For example, contained in the bill is the “Wolf Livestock Loss Mitigation Act,” authored by U.S. Senators Jon Tester, D-MT and John Barrasso, R-WY.
Some of the media are concentrating on the purely politics part — how Harry Reid stuck it to Tom Coburn.
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Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
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Oh give me a break – this Bill has so much WSA “release” opening the door for all manner of development, pork and all kind of things – including assaults on Forests – that it is once again all about sticking it to the environment in a hundred subtle ways. Under cover of “wilderness”. Just heard about more WSAs near Bodie in eastern CA critical to Mono Lake sage grouse and pygmy rabbits that got “released” for development.
WHY in 2009 are ANY WSAs being released? Watered-down Wilderness as Cover for opening the door for highways, utility corridors, you name it – across public lands.
Fortunately, there are signs of local resistance in some areas where major wind generator stands and solar farms are attempting to set up shop. I think I saw something about it in Arizona or New Mexico in the past few days. And I know there was something about it in the Salt Lake Times in the past week. Local governing bodies are acting on this as well.
If only movements like that can get fired up in the northern Rockies. Looks like Montana might “roll” on a few of those mega facilities on public lands, along with South Dakota.
I remember seeing all of that in the last week or two in papers around the west. Maybe there are more folks getting active in the very recent past. Grassroots…