Lex Anteinternet: Congress woman Hageman responds, and Sen. Lee reacts.

Lex Anteinternet: Congress woman Hageman responds, and Sen. Lee reacts.: 

Congress woman Hageman responds, and Sen. Lee reacts.

Lee Offers Compromise On Public Land Sales Bill, Hunters Say No Deal

Sen. Lee is apparently offering something, but it's not clear what, and the opposition is saying no.  I'm saying no as well.  I adamantly opposed transferring public lands away from public hands.

Congressman Hageman responded, or somebody working for her did, to a letter I wrote.  It may of course be a form letter.     

          Dear Mr. Yeoman

Congress is currently in the budget reconciliation process, which allows for expedited consideration of certain tax, spending, and debt limit legislation. The House recently passed its version of the bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which now awaits Senate consideration. Those Senate committees that received reconciliation instructions pursuant to H.Con.Res.14 have begun releasing legislative text for reconciliation consideration, but I want to note that such materials are not the final bill. These committee proposals must still be reviewed by the Senate parliamentarian for compliance with the Byrd rule and then pass the entire Senate to officially become part of the reconciliation bill. Such bill will then come back to the House for consideration in relation to what we passed earlier.   

On June 11, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee released legislative text to be considered as part of Senate Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill. As you have noted, Subtitle C of the bill instructs the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to identify not less than 0.50 percent and not more than 0.75 percent of the lands managed by these agencies for disposal pursuant to the specific conditions set forth in the statutory instructions. This would amount to between two and three million acres of the roughly 640 million acres owned by the federal government, with such lands to be made available solely for the purpose of housing and community development. 

There is an extensive amount of downright flagrantly incorrect information being circulated as to the intent of this proposal, what lands would qualify for disposal should this become law, and how the process would proceed. Most notably, the Wilderness Society has produced a map for the purpose of ginning up opposition, despite the fact that such map has nothing to do with Subtitle C in any way whatsoever. It is thus necessary to clarify the situation, starting with the readily confirmable observation that there are no specific parcels or areas designated under the bill, and the details of the bill itself show that this is a commonsense proposal to identify and dispose of those BLM and USFS lands that are hindering local communities from meeting their housing and infrastructure needs, an issue with which Wyoming is all too familiar.

First, the bill does not propose selling off all federal lands. As I mentioned, it would only make available two to three million acres within the jurisdiction of the BLM and USFS in eleven states, including Wyoming. All such lands that are subject to valid existing rights (including grazing permits, ski areas, etc.), and those that are not located in the eleven eligible states are not subject to the bill. Those “Federally Protected Lands” (for example, National Parks, National Monuments, the National Wilderness Preservation System, the National Wildlife Refuge System, and more as defined in the bill) are not eligible for sale. All the lands sold pursuant to this proposal must be used “for the development of housing or to address associated community needs,” limiting not only the number of buyers, but likely making state and local governments the primary advocates and purchasers. 

Second, this legislation does not directly offer any parcels for sale but instead provides for a robust public identification and nomination process to evaluate those unused lands that are close to existing infrastructure (such as surrounding Kemmerer, Wyoming), that are ideal for addressing the affordable housing crisis. 

Both the BLM and USFS must consult with the governor, local governments, and Indian tribes regarding the suitability of the particular parcel of land for disposal before the proposed sale. Both agencies must also give priority to those lands that are nominated by state and local governments, are adjacent to existing developed areas, have access to existing infrastructure, are suitable for residential housing, reduce checkerboard land patterns, or which are isolated and inefficient to manage. All sales are to be held at fair market value, must provide state and local governments the first right of refusal, limit individual persons in how many acres they can acquire, and share revenue of the sales with the local government to assist with housing development.

This legislative proposal is now pending in the Senate and is thus not something I am currently being asked to vote on as your representative. This proposal was not included in the OBBBA that I voted for and which passed the House. However, I want to reiterate that much of the maps and information circulating about the bill are incorrect and that the proposal as drafted is a much more targeted approach to answer the needs of our local communities, who are hampered from further development due to the oversized footprint of the federal government in our states.  

I encourage you to read the bill itself to understand what it does, and as importantly, what it does not do, when considering the benefits of this legislation. Thank you for reaching out to us.  

Sincerely,

Rep. Harriet Hageman

Member of Congress

Well, at least its a response.

A few things.

I've taken at look at the bill, and I had before I received this letter, contrary to Congressman Hageman's suggestion that I, and others opposing this didn't.

This proposal still sucks.  I have no interest, for example, in reducing checkerboard land patterns, particularly if we are now able to corner cross, as it sees we can.  This land just opened to the public and now 

Nor do I have any interest in disposing of Federal lands for an alleged "housing crisis" that largely doesn't exist in the form these things suggest.  There's no requirement in any of these proposals to restrict sales of land to those really in need of housing.  A process already exists to transfer lands where such things really exist.  Sales for "fair market value", in the areas where this would apply in Wyoming, would result in transfers of land in Wyoming for castles for the rich, which I do not support.  There's nothing to suggest the land would go to state and local governments given that, and I don't want state in local governments in the housing business to start with.

More than anything, this is the wolf's nose in the door.  Once its passed, it'll push its way into the house.

Weighing in at the state level.

Wyoming legislators begin to weigh in, with lukewarm Republicans, some man Republicans, and an absolute no from the Democrats.

Wyo Legislative Leaders Range From Lukewarm To Angry On Public Lands Sale 

Democrats do have an opportunity here, I might add.  One long time and very conservative Republican I know is re-registering in the Democratic Party.

One Republican who is predictably all in, is Harriet Hageman.

Hageman Says Claims Of Huge Selloff Of Federal Public Land Is 'Silly'

The "silly" reaction sparked some rage on facebook. My prediction is that this is the end of Hageman's political career in Wyoming.

DOGE’s plans to nix Fish and Wildlife’s tribal-focused Lander office reversed

DOGE’s plans to nix Fish and Wildlife’s tribal-focused Lander office reversed: Push led by Eastern Shoshone Tribe to spare longtime federal facility from cuts reached U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum's desk.

Trump appointee, a Jackson Hole consultant, ID’d pitfalls of Wyoming managing its federal land

Trump appointee, a Jackson Hole consultant, ID’d pitfalls of Wyoming managing its federal land: Tapped for Bureau of Land Management post, Brenda Younkin will report directly to agency’s acting director, Jon Raby.

Hageman’s stance on public land sales shows she doesn’t work for Wyoming

Hageman’s stance on public land sales shows she doesn’t work for Wyoming

 

Beauty’s Beast

 

Tom Lubnau: Sale Of Our Public Lands Brings More Questions Than Answers

Ryan Zinke on public lands.

I don’t yield to pressure only higher principle.  I have said from day one I would not support a bill that sells public lands. I am still a no on the senate reconciliation bill that sells public lands. We did our job in the House. Let’s get it finished.

Ryan Zinke

Zinke's listening to his state. Why isn't Wyoming's delegation doing the same?

Lex Anteinternet: Wyoming's broken politics.

Lex Anteinternet: Wyoming's broken politics.: 

Wyoming's broken politics.

Former Wyoming Governor Francis E. Warren, and sitting Senator at the time of the Johnson County War, F. E. Warren was a Republican Senator who knew how to cover his ass, whic his why he was able to survive the scandal of Republican support for the invasion of Johnson and Natrona Counties.  That scandal took down the GOP in the state for a period of time.

Back at least a decade ago I had a conversation with a high ranking member of the Wyoming Republican Party about some really odd going ons down at Cheyenne.  He stated, broken hearted, that Wyoming politicians had been "bought".

That's a pretty broad accusation. What he likely really meant is that right about that time the state started to be flooded by out of state political money, and it often went right into the most radical right wing politicians.  Wealthy people moving into the state brought their politics with them, and in a few cases if was radically far right.  That gave us, for example, the absurd example of Foster Friess and his goofball Dukes of Hazzard campaign for governor.

It also gave us, however, some people who moved in specifically for political reason. Chuck Gray, the family money backed son of a wealthy Republican, who was born in California and went to school at Wharton, like Trump, moved into the state and ran for office nearly immediately.  Living in a district in which the long time occupant of a legislative seat died, he managed to leverage a position at his father's radio station into a  legislative seat, and then captured the office of the Secretary of State in spite of having very little connection with the state in which he sits.  He's been a constant stream of Trump like invective.  His seat was taken over by Jeanette Ward, who was if anything even further to the far right. Ward, from Illinois, came to Wyoming as a "political refugee" and had been here so briefly that she barely qualified for her seat when she ran.  Her politics were too far to the right for even that district, which booted her after one embarrassing term in Cheyenne where she espoused far right populist, far right Evangelical, positions.

The state GOP was likewise taken over by far right populists, about whom we hear less now, but who went to war with the traditional GOP. They were largely successful, duping, although I expect only temporarily, a large number of Wyoming voters into believing the sh** sandwiches which Trump and his allies serve up as alleged filet mignon.

Tha tthey can be duped is because the state is in economic distress, and regular people don't know what to do about it.  Global Warming is real, not some sort of fib, and long term coal and oil are doomed.  A large number of workers who relocated form Texas and Oklahoma, and the like, are fairly poorly educated on top of it and are relatively easy to lead by being told that what they want to be true, is true.  The agricultural sector, which has deeply ingrained conservative tendencies, is rolling over from a generation that basically stopped its education at high school to one which is now college educated, but in the meantime the older agriculturalist who control the operations deeply want to believe that operations can be run the way they were in the 1970s, and that threats they need to deal with, which include Global Warming and the buyin gpower of the Super Rich, really don't.

Basically, Wyoming's current politics can be explained by people voting for what they want to believe, over reality.  Coal and oil are never going way.  You'll always be able to get a job in the extractive industries, or as a truck driver, with a high school diploma, or even without one.  There are no deep existential problems with the economy here that aren't the result of a conspiracy against us.

It can't be us.

But it can be.

And right now, it is.

A further part of the problem, however, is that the Democratic Party in the state has displayed a level of intellectual denseness that would suck light out of a black hole  It's stunning.

It wasn't all that time that Wyoming had a viable Democratic Party that could serious contend for statewide and national seats.  That started to change, however, during the Clinton Administration for reasons that are now hard to discern, although the decline of unionized mining jobs in Wyoming are likely part of that problem.  Even after that, however, we had a Democratic Governor.

As the Democratic Party in the state declined it took on a lot of the same trend lines that the national Democratic Party did, which has helped explain the rise of Trump.  In a state that was both sort of conservative and sort of libertarian, they became goofball left wing as an organization, although not all of their candidates reflected that.  Over time, the Democrats never saw a fetus in the womb that they didn't' want to kill, or a brand new perversion that they didn't want to celebrate.  A party which at one time was lead by burly miners or grumpy rural lawyers is now lead by a guy who has the appearance of a bow tie wearing nerd.

Recent promo photograph of the Democratic Party.  This is a far cry from a party that once put a World War Two Marine Corps Raider in the Governor's office, a World War Two infantryman in Congress and a gruff prosecutor into office.

Hypocritical or not, Wyomingites aren't going to vote for a party that they associate with men in tutus and that it's all okay.  Men might go into the voting booth with their third wife at home, before they go to see their mistress, but they're going to regard that as contrary to the moral law.  Interestingly, if politics returned to the "I don't care what you do, just leave me alone" ethos it once had, they'd be fine with that.  Indeed, that's how their living their private lives already.

In fairness, however, the last two chairmen of the Wyoming GOP don't win high marks either.  The current one, Bryan Miller, is another of the "I spent my life in the military and hate the government" Republicans.  After decades of drawing on the government tit, they claim to know what's wrong in a state where most people don't, or at least not openly.

We may, just might, be at a turning point, however.

We are certainly at a point where Republican office holders ignoring the real views of the state can be exploited.

Dr. John Barrasso

Wyomingites are overwhelmingly opposed to public lands being transferred out of government control.  In spite of that, Dr. John Barrasso supported Federal lands being transferred to the states in the 2016 GOP platform. That didn't happen in part because Eric Trump is a hunter.  Barrasso darned well knew that Wyomingites didn't support that, but somebody he was listening to did, as he supported it against the wishes of his constituents.

72 year old Barrasso is in that class of politicians who desperately seem to want to hang on to their jobs in spite of their advancing old age.  At 72 he ought to be retired, but he hung on and is how the Senate Whip.  Once a Republican moderate, he became a Trumpite by necessity.  That means he could become a moderate again, and if the political winds shifted, he would.  

This issue is one in which he's hearing from hundreds of Wyomingites per day.  He's heard from me twice.  

He hasn't responded, but he hasn't said what his position is.

If the proposals to transfer public lands advance, he ought to be sent packing.

70 year old Cynthia Lummis is likewise in the age group that ought to be out of politics.  She actually returned to it, however, to take her current Senate seat.  Lummis condescendly stated that all Federal lands didn't need to remain in Federal lands forever, which is intellectually the same as maintaining that all privately held lands don't either, something she'd be in horror about as she comes from a ranching family.  She's also shown an ability to tack into the wind, however, as she was once a Trump opponent and now is a Trump backer.

Lummis is making sort of a big deal right now about her cryptocurrency bill which just passed the Senate, and nickname Crypto Queen she's been tagged with. The truth is, however, that the overwhelming majority of  Wyomingites don't give a rusty rats ass about this topic and aren't going to remember diddly squat about this bill.  It'll soon be a "what?" sort of topic.

The public lands vote, however won't be.

Harriet Hageman is on her first time as Congresswoman, having been able to take advantage of her former friend Liz Cheney's downfall.  Hageman is the only one of Wyoming's Washington delegation who probably comes by her public land vote, which was in favor of the Federal sales bill, honestly.  Daughter of Jim Hageman, who spent 23 years in the Wyoming House of Representatives, Hageman is from a farming family from Southeastern Wyoming where there is very little public land.  Jim Hageman was one of the backers of a proposal to allow for the privatization of wildlife in Wyoming, which almost destroyed the GOP during its go around.

This issue could be a similar one.

Wyomingites should make it.

At the top of this page is a portrait of Francis E. Warren.  Warren had been territorial governor, and then the first governor, of the State of Wyoming.

I don't admire him.

But his ability to read the political winds is admirable.

The state Republican Party was complicit in the invasion as so many of those in it were connected with Republican politics.  Planned at the Cheyenne Club, people kne what was going on.  Republican Governor Amos Barber did and had arranged to activate the National Guard in order to keep it from being deployed to Central Wyoming to stop the invasion.

Barber lost his seat following the event.

The Republicans lost the legislature.

Warren kept his.

There's a lesson there for those currently in office. . . and those who wish to be.

Lee-Daines Amendment Now Threatens 294,646,021 Acres Of Public Land Full text, methodology, and new maps of impacted areas show much larger land sell-off

 

Lee-Daines Amendment Now Threatens 294,646,021 Acres Of Public Land

Full text, methodology, and new maps of impacted areas show much larger land sell-off

Trump's DOJ takes aim at the Antiquities Act Also: Cutting through the public land sell-off misinformation

 

Trump's DOJ takes aim at the Antiquities Act

Also: Cutting through the public land sell-off misinformation

Map shows iconic Wyoming landscapes could be developed under GOP budget, land sale plan

Map shows iconic Wyoming landscapes could be developed under GOP budget, land sale plan

I'll say it again, anyone voting for this will never get my vote for anything in the future.  If everyone in my state's Congressional representation votes for it, I'll never vote for any Republican for anything again.

 

Wyoming Wildfire Efforts Halted Because Someone Decided To Fly A Drone In The Area

Going Feral: New provision in Senate budget bill could put Wyoming public lands up for sale.

Going Feral: New provision in Senate budget bill could put Wyom...: New provision in Senate budget bill could put Wyoming public lands up for sale : Land sales would raise federal revenue and open up parcels ...

Frankly, for Wyomingites in general, and more specifically for the users of public lands (hunters, fishermen, outdoor recreationist, ranchers), this ought to be it in regard to political support.

If anyone of our three Congressional reps vote for this, they shouldn't receive our votes after this. 

New provision in Senate budget bill could put Wyoming public lands up for sale

New provision in Senate budget bill could put Wyoming public lands up for sale: Land sales would raise federal revenue and open up parcels for housing, according to Utah senator’s plan. But critics say it would result in the loss of lands now used for hunting and outdoor recreation.

Southern Rockies Nature Blog: When Your Dog Sends You a Message

Southern Rockies Nature Blog: When Your Dog Sends You a Message: L ate in May (a month when I did not blogging, sorry, but I had reasons), my wife and I made a short trip to Taos, New Mexico, to decompress...

Blog Mirror: Steve Daines Is Stealing Your Land Here’s his phone number

 

Steve Daines Is Stealing Your Land

Here’s his phone number

State biologists warned of wildlife conflicts at proposed shooting complex site. Wyoming approved the location anyway.

State biologists warned of wildlife conflicts at proposed shooting complex site. Wyoming approved the location anyway.: Crucial mule deer range and sage grouse core habitat caused wildlife managers to ask that the large commercial operation be relocated, but the requests, which haven’t been discussed publicly, have had little bearing on plans so far.

Wyoming’s congressional delegation should follow neighbors’ lead on public lands

Wyoming’s congressional delegation should follow neighbors’ lead on public lands: Republican counterparts in Montana and Idaho are taking bold steps to protect public lands, writes guest columnist Pete Madsen.

Lex Anteinternet: Friday. May 25, 1900. The Lacey Act signed into ...

Lex Anteinternet: Friday. May 25, 1900. The Lacey Act signed into ...: 

Friday. May 25, 1900. The Lacey Act signed into law.

The Lacy Act was signed into law by President McKinley .  It made it a Federal offense to ship "wild animals and birds take in defiance of existing state laws" across state lines."

Last edition:

Thursday, May 24, 1900. A battleship to China.

Labels: 1900, 1900s, boats and ships, Boxer Rebellion, Catholic, China, Christianity, Education, Holidays, Marriage, Memorial Day, Pope Leo XIII, religion, U.S. Navy

Blog Mirror: Public Lands Victory: BHA Applauds Removal of Public Land Sale Amendment from House Budget Reconciliation Bill

Very good news:

Public Lands Victory: BHA Applauds Removal of Public Land Sale Amendment from House Budget Reconciliation Bill

Voters need to remember who favored this horrific action to privatize public lands in 2026.  All over the West there seems to be a view that you have to vote for Republicans.  You don't, if they aren't voting for you.  There are other options, or there can be if people consider what's being done and oppose it.

Anyhow, this is good news.

Researchers tag Wyoming’s first barred owl near its Grand Teton nest

Researchers tag Wyoming’s first barred owl near its Grand Teton nest: After a pair was discovered nesting in Wyoming, scientists hope to learn more about the eastern owls' behavior and their implications for native raptors.

Looking for Nate Champion.

He which hath no stomach to this fight,

Let him depart; his passport shall be made,

And crowns for convoy put into his purse;

We would not die in that man's company

That fears his fellowship to die with us.

Shakespeare, Henry V.

The views of average Wyomingites, by a huge margin, are clear on public lands.  We want them to remain public.

And yet our Congressman voted to transfer 500,000 of FEderal land in Arizona and Utah over to private hands. It's clear that at least one of our Senators is okay with doing something similar in Teton County.

Wyomingites aren't in favor of this at all.  Indeed, one of the most rabid Trumpites I know actually expressed bewildered opposition to this.

So here's the problem, and the question.

Why are Wyomingites still supporting the people who support this?

Politics are varied and complicated.  The reasons that Wyoming has gone so far to the right in its recent politics are as well.  A lot of it has to do with social issues, abortion, transgenderism, immigration, and so on, and much of that, here, has to do with the death of the Democratic Party and there being, seemingly, no where else to go.

But at least on the local level there certainly is, and what Wyomingites are presently doing is not in their own best interest.

Much of what they're currently doing is, frankly, based on a host of lies.  Donald Trump was not the victim of a stolen election with Joe Biden won.  Joe Biden won.  Global warming is not a fib.  The long drift away from coal cannot be arrested.  The state's petroleum industry was never under any governmental assault (leases went up under Biden).  There is no war on the West.  The region's agricultural sector isn't under governmental attack, but rather under real estate developer attack.  The Democrats really weren't advancing gun control.  

But we've been bought off on a bunch of dramatic assertions designed to cause the rise up of what plaintiff's lawyers call our "lizard brain".

Well, now we have a whole host of legislators, many from out of state, who don't share local values at all, and a Congressional delegation that is more interested in supporting the agenda of the far right and its ostensible leader, a nearly 79 year old real estate developer suffering from dementia, than paying attention to what we actually believe.

And that's because that's exactly what we let them do.

In reality, those close to the inside know that John Barrasso doesn't believe  what he's supporting.  It's pretty clear from her past that Cynthia Lummis doesn't either.  Harriet Hageman, well she probably does, as she's a political family that has always had this set of views.  Having said that, and importantly, she intends to run for Governor next election and Chuck Gray, who is a Californian with very little connection to Wyoming, will run for House.

In the next election Wyomingites have a chance to make their views known, although they really need to start doing so right now.  That can have an impact.  John Barrasso, in the last election, adopted a whole host of new views he probably doesn't hold at all to hold off an attack from his right.  Lummis just quietly mostly didn't say what her views actually are the last time she ran, which she could do under the circumstances, and which leaves her room to maneuver.

Maneuvering will, it must be noted, need to occur.  In 2026 the House is going to be Democratic and the MAGA reign will be over, save for in Wyoming, where there's every reason to belive it will keep on keeping on.

The Wyoming Freedom Caucus of its day, the Johnson County invaders.

Much of this, we'd note, is perfectly consistent with Wyoming's history.  Early on Wyoming sent a solidly Republican group of legislatures to our solon in  Cheyenne in spite of its association with large outside agricultural interest which were oppressing local interest.  That didn't end until the invasion of Johnson County in 1892 which briefly swept the Republicans out of power, and brought Democrats into the legislature and which sent Governor Barber packing, although not until after he tried to actually remain as Governor a la Trump insurrection in a way.  That event, however, shows the electorate can react.  It also shows us that politicians can too, as Francis E. Warren managed to survive the event, career entact, when really she shouldn't have, by changing views.

And this is happening in Montana, which was a little in advance of Wyoming in tilting to the far right, right now.

Posted in

A new Montana majority defangs the far right

Just sitting and complaining "well that's not what we think" won't get much done.  

Politicians from any party ought to represent the views of their state.  They ought to also intelligently lead.  There's not much intelligence being manifested in the populist far right, which is mostly acting with a primitive response on a set of social issues combined with false beliefs, andy in Wyoming, with views they brought up from their own states which don't have much to do with us here.  We aren't Sweet Home Alabama.

But that won't happen unless Wyomingites educate themselves as to the truth, and what is truly going on, and how they're simply being fed raw meat for the dogs.  Until that occurs, we're going to go further into the abyss.

Subsistence Hunter/Fisherman of the Week. Scott Talbott

Well, this series really didn't take off, did it?  I.e., I haven't kept up with it.

And this time, I'm taking the easy route by posting a link from elsewhere, albeit one that pertains to Wyoming.

Scott Talbott, 63, pushed Wyoming Game and Fish colleagues to be wildlife advocates: Beloved warden rose through the ranks to become second-longest-tenured director in the state agency’s history.

I can recall hearing Talbott's name a lot, but I don't know much about him.  I know, however, even less about the current director and that concerns me.  In recent years the state's leadership has increasingly been less concerned about the land ethic and more about private property interests. Governor Gordon hasn't been as bad in this area, at all, as I feared, still I know nothing about the current director.

Last edition:

Subsistence Hunter/Fisherman of the Week. Douglas Crowe

Labels: Doug Crowe, Personalities, Subsistence hunter/fisherman of the week, Subsistence Hunting

Tribes urge Trump to undo planned DOGE closure of Fish and Wildlife’s Lander Conservation Office

Tribes urge Trump to undo planned DOGE closure of Fish and Wildlife’s Lander Conservation Office: Efforts to lobby Wyoming’s congressional delegation and administratively reauthorize the Wind River Reservation-focused office have not yet resulted in any assurances.

 

Tribal leaders and advocates rally against controversial plan to sell public lands in Nevada and Utah

Remember that some things aren’t for sale

Remember that some things aren’t for sale: Wyoming's congressional delegation should review the "Code of the West" before they sell off our public lands, attorney Ryan Semerad writes.

Lex Anteinternet: Capitalism is based on the idol of money.

Lex Anteinternet: Capitalism is based on the idol of money.: 

Capitalism is based on the idol of money.

In reality, capitalism is based on the idol of money. The lure of gain gradually destroys all social bonds. Capitalism devours itself. Little by little, the market destroys the value of work. Man becomes a piece of merchandise. He is no longer his own. The result is a new form of slavery, a system in which a large part of the population is dependent on a little caste. 

Robert Cardinal Sarah.

Scott Talbott, 63, pushed Wyoming Game and Fish colleagues to be wildlife advocates

Scott Talbott, 63, pushed Wyoming Game and Fish colleagues to be wildlife advocates: Beloved warden rose through the ranks to become second-longest-tenured director in the state agency’s history.

Blog Mirror: DOI Prepares To Fire 1,500 Further National Park Staff Reduction in force would take total park service losses to 25 percent of full-time workforce

 

DOI Prepares To Fire 1,500 Further National Park Staff

Reduction in force would take total park service losses to 25 percent of full-time workforce

Blog Mirror: 100 Days: Every Harm Trump Has Done To Public Lands, The Environment, And Wildlife A comprehensive list of every action the administration has taken to harm our planet, the places we go outdoors, and the plants and animals that live on it

 

100 Days: Every Harm Trump Has Done To Public Lands, The Environment, And Wildlife

A comprehensive list of every action the administration has taken to harm our planet, the places we go outdoors, and the plants and animals that live on it

Leaked federal roadmap for public land called ‘industry wish list’

Leaked federal roadmap for public land called ‘industry wish list’: The draft four-year plan for Western lands proposes developing natural resources for American prosperity.

Blog Mirror: Game And Fish Sick Of People Blasting Their Signs With Gunfire

 

Game And Fish Sick Of People Blasting Their Signs With Gunfire

Shooting signs might seem like a redneck cultural tradition, but it costs taxpayers big money. It’s also prompted Wyoming Game and Fish to close some public recreation areas to shooting.

Blog Mirror: The Plan To Beat Trump On Public Lands

 

The Plan To Beat Trump On Public Lands

Real, actionable, proven steps each of us can take to protect our land from being destroyed

Scientist who recovered grizzlies warns Trump’s assault on conservation risks irreversible losses

Scientist who recovered grizzlies warns Trump’s assault on conservation risks irreversible losses: As the president seeks to log, mine, drill and develop, Yellowstone researcher Chris Servheen calls the administration's proposed policy "management based on ignorance."

Administration to Rescind Public Lands Rule, Shirking Public Engagement

 

Administration to Rescind Public Lands Rule, Shirking Public Engagement

No, selling public lands won’t solve America’s affordable housing crisis

No, selling public lands won’t solve America’s affordable housing crisis: Columnist Kerry Drake questions why Wyoming’s congressional delegation is so gung-ho for this wrongheaded approach when more effective solutions exist.

Blog Mirror: Mammoth featured heavily in Western Clovis diet

Lex Anteinternet: Blog Mirror: Mammoth featured heavily in Western ...: 

Blog Mirror: Mammoth featured heavily in Western Clovis diet

Mammoth featured heavily in Western Clovis diet

Mammoth, it's what was for dinner.

No vegans on the paleo steppes.

Labels: Food, Mammoths, Megafauna, nature, Paleo Indians, Prehistory, The West

Is this a good idea? The Return of the Dire Wolf

 Apr 7, 2025 6:50 AM MT

The Return of the Dire Wolf

I'm all for rewilding, but Dire Wolves have been extinct for 10,000 years and preyed, in their day, on megafauna.  Presumably any return of the Ice Age species will be limited to captivity. .  at least for now.

I'm not so sure about this.

Notable, the company that cloned them back into existence says they have not, so far, shown any dog like behavior, which is perhaps not too surprising given their evolutionary history, which is debated.  Some classify the large canine as Canis dirus dirus, a species in the canine family that shares a distant canine ancestor, Canis chihliensis, with wolves and dogs, with the wolf, canis lupus, being the direct descendant of that species with the dire wolf has an intervening one.  Others proposed that dire wolf has essentially the same linage, but is sufficiently separate such that it deserves its own genus, and should be classified as aenocyon dirus.  Frankly the cloning effort would suggest that those who disfavor a separate genus are correct, as a domestic dog hosted the puppies as embryos.

Dire wolves, it should be noted, were absolutely huge, which makes sense as they killed megafauna.

So the question, I suppose, is now what?

Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production

 Apparently almost all or all of Wyoming's National Forest lands are included in this order:

Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production

The White House

March 1, 2025

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1.  Purpose.  The production of timber, lumber, paper, bioenergy, and other wood products (timber production) is critical to our Nation’s well-being.  Timber production is essential for crucial human activities like construction and energy production.  Furthermore, as recent disasters demonstrate, forest management and wildfire risk reduction projects can save American lives and communities.

The United States has an abundance of timber resources that are more than adequate to meet our domestic timber production needs, but heavy-handed Federal policies have prevented full utilization of these resources and made us reliant on foreign producers.  Our inability to fully exploit our domestic timber supply has impeded the creation of jobs and prosperity, contributed to wildfire disasters, degraded fish and wildlife habitats, increased the cost of construction and energy, and threatened our economic security.  These onerous Federal policies have forced our Nation to rely upon imported lumber, thus exporting jobs and prosperity and compromising our self-reliance.  It is vital that we reverse these policies and increase domestic timber production to protect our national and economic security.

Sec. 2.  Directives to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture. 

(a)  Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Chief of the United States Forest Service (USFS), respectively, shall each issue new or updated guidance regarding tools to facilitate increased timber production and sound forest management, reduce time to deliver timber, and decrease timber supply uncertainty, such as the Good Neighbor Authority described in 16 U.S.C. 2113a, stewardship contracting pursuant to 16 U.S.C. 6591c, and agreements or contracts with Indian tribes under the Tribal Forest Protection Act as contemplated by 25 U.S.C. 3115a.  The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall also each submit to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget any legislative proposals that would expand authorities to improve timber production and sound forest management.

(b)  Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior, through the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the Secretary of Commerce, through the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, shall complete a strategy on USFS and BLM forest management projects under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (16 U.S.C. 1536) to improve the speed of approving forestry projects.  The Secretary of the Interior, through the Director of the FWS, shall also examine any applicable existing authorities that would permit executive departments and agencies (agencies) to delegate consultation requirements under section 7 of the ESA to other agencies and, if necessary, provide a legislative proposal to ensure consultation is streamlined.

(c)  Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall together submit to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, a plan that sets a target for the annual amount of timber per year to be offered for sale over the next 4 years from Federal lands managed by the BLM and the USFS, measured in millions of board feet.

(d)  Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior, through the Directors of the FWS and the BLM, and the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Chief of the USFS, shall complete the Whitebark Pine Rangewide Programmatic Consultation under section 7 of the ESA.

(e)  Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall consider and, if appropriate and consistent with applicable law, adopt categorical exclusions administratively established by other agencies to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act and reduce unnecessarily lengthy processes and associated costs related to administrative approvals for timber production, forest management, and wildfire risk reduction treatments.

(f)  Within 280 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior shall consider and, if appropriate and consistent with applicable law, establish a new categorical exclusion for timber thinning and re-establish a categorical exclusion for timber salvage activities. 

Sec. 3.  Streamlined Permitting.  All relevant agencies shall eliminate, to the maximum extent permissible by law, all undue delays within their respective permitting processes related to timber production.  Additionally, all relevant agencies shall take all necessary and appropriate steps consistent with applicable law to suspend, revise, or rescind all existing regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, settlements, consent orders, and other agency actions that impose an undue burden on timber production.

Sec. 4.  Endangered Species Committee.  (a)  Agencies are directed to use, to the maximum extent permissible under applicable law, the ESA regulations on consultations in emergencies to facilitate the Nation’s timber production.  The Secretary of the Interior, as Chairman of the Endangered Species Committee, shall ensure a prompt and efficient review of all submissions to such committee, to include identification of any legal deficiencies, in order to ensure the timely consideration of exemption applications and, where possible, to resolve such applications before the deadlines set by the ESA.  

(b)  Federal members of the Endangered Species Committee, or their designees, shall coordinate to develop and submit a report to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, that identifies obstacles to domestic timber production infrastructure specifically deriving from implementation of the ESA and recommends procedural, regulatory, and interagency improvements.

(c)  The Secretary of the Interior shall ensure that the Director of the FWS, or the Director’s authorized representative, is available to consult promptly with agencies and to take other appropriate action concerning the applicability of the ESA’s emergency regulations.  The Secretary of Commerce shall ensure that the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, or the Assistant Administrator’s authorized representative, is available for such consultation and to take such other action as may assist in applying the ESA’s emergency regulations.

Sec. 5.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

THE WHITE HOUSE

    March 1, 2025.

Except to the extent Trump is creating them, there are no "emergencies" justifying this sort of dictatorial bypass of the law.

 

Are U.S. or UK Sporting Dogs Better?

Wyoming’s Nesvik touts ‘America first,’ deregulation during his congressional hearing to lead Fish and Wildlife

Wyoming’s Nesvik touts ‘America first,’ deregulation during his congressional hearing to lead Fish and Wildlife: Trump’s appointee emerges from two-hour-long confirmation hearing without fielding much criticism from congressional Democrats.

Grizzlies killed record high number of cattle in Wyoming, 2024 data shows

Grizzlies killed record high number of cattle in Wyoming, 2024 data shows: Despite some experimental attempts to reduce depredation, state biologists report that last year was riddled with strife, especially between bears and domestic livestock in the Upper Green rangeland complex.

Lex Anteinternet: Blog Mirror: Wyoming Meteorologist Says Cutting W...

Lex Anteinternet: Blog Mirror: Wyoming Meteorologist Says Cutting W...:   Wyoming Meteorologist Says Cutting Weather Balloon Launches "Dumb And Unacceptable"

Blog Mirror: Wyoming Meteorologist Says Cutting Weather Balloon Launches "Dumb And Unacceptable"

 

Wyoming Meteorologist Says Cutting Weather Balloon Launches "Dumb And Unacceptable"

Wyoming to absorb ~3,500 Bureau of Reclamation acres near Glendo Reservoir

Wyoming to absorb ~3,500 Bureau of Reclamation acres near Glendo Reservoir: Tract in Converse, Platte counties would be gifted, not sold, and continue to be managed as a Wyoming Game and Fish Department wildlife habitat management area.