Who eats the most elk?

Non-resident hunting tags

With 17,000 non-resident elk tags being sold this year, it seems that the wolves aren’t even close to being the major consumer of Montana elk. Of course their right to eat doesn’t count for much because they don’t pay big $bucks for tags. Most of the time they don’t harvest the big trophy (breeding) bulls either.

Cube Iron

Guns in the parks

I see the Senate has voted to allow people to carry loaded guns in national parks and wildlife refuges. While the U.S. Senators are quite well paid by the American taxpayers, I guess the Gods of the NRA pay even better. One more reminder that we are, for the most part, governed by fools.

1,600 ducks die in toxic waste pond.

“The pond contained waste from the separation process. Dozens of toxic tailings ponds have been building up over 40 years in northern Alberta. A plan announced earlier this year aims to force companies to clean up the sludge over several decades.”

Oil sands company now says 1,606 ducks died

If the ponds do things like that to the wildlife, what do they do to the rest of the environment? Looks to me like the officials in Alberta have let the oil companies turn Canada into a third world country in their treatment of the environment. Shame on them and shame on Canada!

Water…the biggest threat to the species.

For some time now I have been becoming convinced that the paramount threat to mankind’s continued existence is the lack of water. I suppose I am more sensitive to it than the average person because of what I know and feel about the natural watersheds in the northwest, the continual threats to them, their fragility and their potential for exploitation., especially in the present economic conditions of the world.

While doing some reading today I made notes of just a few of today’s articles and stories about water problems in this country and abroad. Just in today’s news, and I just picked a quick sample! Worldwide we are already in deep trouble and don’t even recognize it!

Los Angeles & southern California:

L.A. water rates revised to penalize heavy users

State to deliver more water to Southern California

Colorado…

Who owns Colorado’s rainwater?

Istanbul…

Activists slam Water Forum

Fresh water in Asia a challenge

Africa…

Millions wasted on Africa water projects: research

Palestine…

Solve water problems before peace deal: Abbas

Libya…

$33 bln Libyan water scheme stirs debate

Have you ever been really, really thirsty?

30 countries now have a constitutional or legal provision ensuring individuals’ access to water: the United States, Canada and China are not among them.

Is access to clean water a basic human right?

In the US, we have let the rich energy companies buy up the available water rights, in fact in Colorado; “Oil companies ‘have cornered the market’ on the Western Slope water rights”.

Oil-shale plans create ripple

We just think our corrupt elected officials let us down by not paying attention to the impending financial crisis until it was too late! Wait until we run completely out of water!

Bigger fines for illegal OHV use?

There’s a bill in the Montana House that would beef up the penalties for illegal off-highway vehicle use if it were to pass. It’s supported by the state Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department and Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and opposed by the Montana Trail Vehicle Riders Association, the Montana Snowmobilers Association and other off-road groups.

The opposition by the off-road groups to a strengthening of penalties for illegal use can only mean that they encourage or at least tolerate illegal use. If they wanted to keep their “sport” clean, they would endorse stricter enforcement, and that would also show the public that they are in favor of following the rules. Their opposition clearly tells the thinking public that their members are not to be trusted. It’s an interesting but valid twist of logic.

Stiff fines eyed for off-roading on closed lands

$150 is not nearly enough!

Snowmobilers cited for illegal travel

This sort of thing makes it easy for more folks to call for making more area off limits to OHV’s, doesn’t it?

Good news for the Rocky Mountain Front

Motor travel banned in Front area

“Citing the need to protect unspoiled wildlife habitat and lands with cultural significance to the Blackfeet Tribe, the U.S. Forest has banned motorized travel on almost 200 miles of trails in northcentral Montana’s Badger-Two Medicine area.”

“About 35,000 people submitted comments on the Forest Service plans during the public comment phase. “By far,” most called for additional motorized use restrictions.”

Beware of the “temporary roads”.

It seems the latest in government double talk is a term that the Forest Service has come up with, “temporary roads”, an attempt to make logging new areas acceptable to the environmentalist and conservation communities.

I recommend reading an article in The New West written by George Wuerthner, Temporary Roads Are Like Low Fat Ice Cream.

As the story points out, there are many environmental problems with roads and “temporary” roads are no different than other roads:

“Roads compact soil. Even three trips by logging equipment over soil can result in a significant reduction in water infiltration. Roads, by slicing across slopes, alter downward flow of subsurface and surface water, often concentrating it on the compacted road surface, thus increasing erosive power. Roads are a chronic source of sedimentation, and a major impact on aquatic ecosystems.

Roads fragment wildlife habitat. Roads are avoided by some sensitive wildlife species or used as a convenient travel corridor by other species. Often roads provide access for “weedy” ones that negatively impact other species—such as creating access for edge birds to invade and attack interior forest species.

Roads change air flow which can affect fire spread and even the distribution of plants responding to micro-climate changes.

Roads are the major vector for weeds and disease. Weeds and disease are one of the most pernicious and problematic impacts associated with roads. In the long term, the introduction of weeds and disease may do more damage to forests than the logging. For instance, a root fungus that is introduced by logging equipment along logging roads is decimating Port Orford Cedar stands in Oregon and California where the tree grows.

Road beds provide access for hikers and hunters—giving more potential disturbance to wildlife. And ORVers typically find ways to get around gates and other obstacles to use the roads as roads. In short, a temporary road is mostly a mirage. It is essentially a new logging road.”

The last I heard was that the Forest Service was already asking for $30M to remediate some of the problems in the existing 400,000 miles of road they now administer, most of which are the results of past logging operations, once more putting the burden of payment on the American taxpayer rather than the logging companies which should rightfully be paying the bill for it.