March 2013
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Leaks and spills of Canadian oil are happening now at a critical time- Back in 1989, all the political gears and levers were greased with money and Astroturf public opinion to approve leasing the National Arctic Wildlilfe Refuge for Oil Drilling. Today we seem to be at a similar juncture. In 1989 the political players…
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Sally Jewell, the nominee for the Secretary of Interior, was asked several questions during her confirmation hearing but the committee members also submitted about 200 written questions to her as well. You can read her answers here.
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I attended the Fish and Wildlife Service’s wolverine listing hearings in Helena. Opponents, including a number of Montana state legislators as well as MDFWP, argued that wolverine populations were “stable” or even “increasing” and therefore did not warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act. While the ill-informed state legislators who testified could be forgiven for…
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One of the five is a large parcel of natural land in New Mexico- Almost every President since Theodore Roosevelt has declared national monuments. The three greatest have been T.R. himself, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. George W. Bush finally declared a very large national monument in the ocean — the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument,…
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Efforts by Washington state anti-wolf forces intercepted- Below is an alert from anti-wolf folks in Washington State. This is an interesting example of the kind of email campaign that is being used by anti-wolf forces in a state where pro-wolf opinion is strong. Those who support wilderness and wolves and other wildlife might want to…
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Pop. estimate says 625 wolves, down 4%- Montana wildlife officials plan to reduce the size of the state’s recovered wolf population was successful in 2012. The “count” is public, and the estimate is a minimum of 625 wolves arranged into 147 wolf packs. Among the packs were 37 breeding pairs as of the end of 2012.…
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The Supreme Court recently ruled in an 7-1 vote (Justice Stephen Breyer recused himself) that the EPA regulations about water pollution as mandated by the Clean Water Act did not apply to sediment and other pollution from logging operations. The timber industry is rejoicing over the ruling. But citizens should be less sanguine than industry.…
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On the mornings of Monday and Tuesday I attended the hearing in the House State Affairs Committee on HCR 21 and HCR 22. Testimony on the resolutions was interrupted when testimony for two other bills went longer than expected and the committee members were scheduled to be in the House chambers. The two resolutions involve…