November 18, 2024 • 21 mins
This week, Cal talks about public access wins, missing monkeys, and don't put your Stetson on display in DC.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This
is Cow's week in Review with Ryan cow Calaian. Here's
cal A troop of forty three monkeys escaped research facility
in South Carolina earlier this month, and as of this recording,
about half of them remain at large. The cartload of
(00:30):
primates managed to free themselves from the Alpha Genesis Primate
research facility in Yamassi, South Carolina. Regular Cow's Weekend Review
listeners might assume those pesky animal's rights activists are behind
that shenanigan, but right now that doesn't appear to be
the case. Could be regular old fashioned monkey business. The
Alpha Genesis CEO reports that a caretaker failed to secure
(00:52):
a door and the forty three female Recis macaque monkeys
just wandered out. The young monkey's only weigh about seven pounds,
and veterans as at the company assure the public that
they don't carry disease and haven't been used in any testing.
It's also worth noting that even though the jail break
might conjure images of Planet of the Apes, the monkeys
are actually staying pretty close to the facility. The local
(01:13):
police department reports that they're hanging out in the wooded
area along the fence line of the facility, eating food
from caretakers and interacting with other monkeys still behind bars. Still,
it's one thing to see a group of monkeys in
a pine tree, it's another to capture them without hurting them.
The primates escaped on November seven, and it wasn't until
November ninth that Alpha Genesis reported capturing a single monkey.
(01:36):
But then around five pm the next day, the police
said that an additional twenty four monkeys had been safely
returned to their prisons or homes. It's unclear how they
managed to capture so many at once, but I'm sure
the intrepid journalists down in you MASSI will figure it out.
One last thing, Americans will never pass up the chance
to rubberneck, especially when wild animals are involved. We see
(01:57):
this every day in our national parks, but apparently it's
been a problem in this case as well. The Umassi
Police Department has been begging people to stay out of
the woods where the monkeys are hanging out, and they've
also issued several pleas to please stop flying drones in
the area. The vets are trying to keep the monkeys calm,
and that's tough to do with would be wildlife photographers
on the grounds and drones buzzing overhead. If we hear
(02:19):
any more updates on the Great Escape, Monkey Free Monkey
Doo will keep you in the loop, you know that,
And just a reminder good reading even as an adult.
Some aer the monkeys started this way, or you know,
in a similar fashion. Some kid could be on tracked
making a buck this summer. Anyway, this week we've got politics, beavers,
(02:39):
public lands, and so much more. But first I'm going
to tell you about my week. And my week was great.
Hike some old stomping grounds and a couple different corners
of the state. It was brutal blow down actually some
cold weather frozen ground, but adventurous to say the least.
Met up with some old friends, met some new friends.
Rode on that mule that bit my butt. This summer.
(03:01):
She and I's relationship has not changed much. Spotted some bulls,
spotted some bucks, got home late, got up early, didn't
pull the trigger on anything. Hoping to be outdoor as
soon as I can, to do it all over again,
trying out new spots this weekend, trying to connect with
that old dark horn mule deer buck. Then we'll get
to the birds. The poor snort report is healed up
and antsy is all get out. I'm feeling like a
(03:24):
bad dog owner. So much to do, so little time.
Of course, I was out on big public Lands BLM
for a service and Montana State Ground. That tapestry of
ownership weaves together a heck of a lot of opportunities
for those willing to go. They are near and dear
to my heart, which shouldn't surprise anybody here. Only a
(03:45):
couple weekends left that big old general big game season. Now,
if you're thinking about quackers and you want to check
out a cool trip I did in Arkansas, head over
to the meat Eater YouTube channel. Give it a look.
It was my first and thus far only experience hunting
a timber hole for ducks. Really fun trip. Big thanks
to the Whitaker family for being our hosts on that
one and sharing an amazing family property with us and
(04:08):
all their traditions and local history and knowledge. Super awesome,
really really cool. Maybe one day we'll do it again.
Moving on to the election desk. Whatever you think about
the result of the presidential election, hunters and anglers had
some notable reasons to celebrate when they woke up on
November six. We went three for three on the major
(04:30):
ballot initiatives that we've covered on this podcast, and I
think the Cow's Week in Review audience deserves some credit. First,
and most importantly, Colorado voters roundly rejected a ballot measure
that would have banned mountain lion hunting in that state.
Fifty five point two percent of Colorado voters were about
one to a half million people rejected Prop One twenty seven,
(04:51):
while forty four point eight percent of voters about one
point two million people pulled the lever for the hunting band.
Those numbers might change a little in the coming days,
but the margin is wide enough that the New York
Times and the local media outlets called it cooked on
Wednesday morning. Polling results indicate that the strongest opposition came
from rural counties in the northwest, west, and eastern portions
(05:12):
of the state, while the metro counties surrounding Denver and
Boulder voted in favor. Even in these supportive counties, however,
support for the ban wasn't nearly as one sided as
the opposition in the rural areas. Boulder County, for example,
supported the ban fifty nine percent forty one percent, while
Jackson County opposed eighty seven percent to thirteen percent. As
(05:32):
an example, the three hundred thousand vote margin comes as
welcome news to hunters and science based wildlife management advocates
who have spent over two point eight million dollars to
oppose the measure. Think of what that cash could have
done for wildlife. Virtually every hunting and angling group nationwide
threw their weight behind the effort, and we even received
(05:52):
support from the Denver Post. The other side outspent us
by about two hundred thousand dollars, and they received endorsements
from well known individual like Robert Redford, Jane Goodall, and
Carol Baskin of Tiger King fame, but that wasn't enough
to overcome the pro hunting side, and we walked away
with the victory. This is a huge win for hunting rights.
(06:15):
Good on all organizations and individuals who spent time and
money to make it happen. A big thanks goes out
to Colorado's for Responsible Wildlife Management who spearheaded this effort,
and to every Colorado hunter who asked their friends and
family to join them in voting. No, that is not
the biggest margin in the world gang three hundred thousand people.
I am willing to bet within that margin. There's a
(06:37):
lot of votes that went the reasonable way. That would
not have happened had regular old outdoors people, hunters, anglers,
folks who like to hike, said hey, we need to
talk about this over beer, because the what ifs and
the what IFFs right. So thank you, thank you, thank
you for weighing in on that. Now, Colorado wasn't the
(06:59):
only source of good election news for hunters and anglers.
A hair over sixty seven percent of Florida voters pulled
the lever for Amendment two, which enshrines the right to
hunt and fish in the state's constitution. Amendment two stipulates
that hunting and fishing, including by use of traditional methods,
shall be preserved forever as a public right and preferred
means of responsibly managing and controlling fish and wildlife. While
(07:21):
the amendment forcefully asserts this right, it also clarifies that
it does not limit the authority granted to the Fish
in Wildlife Conservation Commission. As in Colorado, animal rights activists
and Florida used scare tactics to advance their cause. They
painted a gruesome picture of how the right to hunt
and fish would lead to mass slaughter of native wildlife
and an end to restrictions on hunting, but Floridians didn't
(07:43):
take the bait. Now, the Sunshine State joins twenty three
other states that have a right to hunt and fish,
either in the state constitution or in statute. Nothing will
change in Florida's hunting and fishing regulations, but it will
make it more difficult for animal rights activists to end
hunting seasons like we've seen in California in Washington State. Finally,
in Minnesota, a full seventy seven percent of voters approved
(08:05):
a constitutional amendment that renewed dedicated lottery funding for the outdoors.
The Minnesota State lottery generates tens of millions of dollars
every year for the Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund,
but residents must vote to renew that flow of money
every few decades. This trust fund is used for clean water,
wildlife habitat, environmental education, trails, land acquisition, and other projects
(08:28):
beneficial to natural resources. This is the third time residents
have voted to renew the program, and it means it
will remain in place until at least twenty fifty. While
I'm sure some residents disagree about whether the funds should
be used for this or that project, I'd much rather
have those debates than try to convince voters and politicians
to put up the money in the first place. I'd
(08:49):
call this a win. There will be more threats to
hunting and fishing in Colorado and in other states, and
we'll tackle those as they come up. For now, give
yourself a pat on the back and use this as
a reminder that if hunters stand up for their rights
and for one another, there's not a lot the anti
hunting movement can do to stop us. You got away
(09:09):
in good job, but I'm not letting you off the hook.
Moving on to the beaver desk, the Minnesota state legislature
recently passed a law that has beaver trappers scratching their heads.
They're stumped, you might say. Per our buddy, Maggie Hudlow
riding at the meteater dot Com. Minnesota Statute ninety seven
b DOT sixty sixty seven, which details the who, what, when,
(09:31):
and why of nuisance beaver removal, was recently amended during
the debate on the twenty twenty four Omnibus Environment and
Natural Resources Bill, the statute now includes the following sentence,
human consumption of a retained beaver is prohibited. The law,
in other words, prohibits people from eating nuisance beavers even
when they're legally trapped. Obviously, if they're still moving around,
(09:54):
you can try to take a bite out of them
legally as per the statute. Anyway, Minnesotans can still eat
beaver's that are trapped for sport during the annual season,
but if the beaver has been captured because it's causing damage,
its meat can't end up on the dinner table. The
strangest thing about this story is that no one seems
to know why this language was added to the bill,
or even who did it. Minnesota State Senator Nathan Wessenberg
(10:17):
expressed confusion during the debate on the bill, saying, quote,
we can't eat beaver. That's just ridiculous. I eat beaver.
It's fine. No one is going to get in trouble
for doing it. I don't know why this is in
the bill. If you need beaver eating reference, that's not
the search phrase I would use. But I would go
over to the meat Eater YouTube channel Brad Leoni and
(10:38):
I made a super killer green chili out of the
new Outdoor Cookbook with beaver fe that to anybody darn
good stuff. Minnesota Star Tribune spoke with state Legislative Reference
Librarian Molly Nils, who says there's no clear account of
who introduced it. The language first appeared in the omnibus
(10:58):
bill after its loan day in the conference committee. Neil
said she couldn't find any previous discussion of the provision
during the legislative session. The closest thing we've seen to
an explanation comes from Senator Hodge, who chaired the committee
that inserted the language. He said the language needed to
remain in the bill because quote, there hasn't been enough
research about beaver consumption to tell if it's safe. If
(11:20):
I was in the room, I would ask the good
Senator whether the last I don't know, thousands of years
of human experience qualifies as research. Humans have been eating
beavers for a long time, and even though they carried
diseases like all other wild animals, their meat is perfectly
safe if cooked properly. I honestly cannot think of a
justification for this other than wanting to complicate things. I
guess there's been a big push in recent years to
(11:43):
limit or ban beaver trapping, but this won't stop landowners
from trapping nuisance beavers. I've never met a landowner who
called in a beaver trapper because he wanted more beaver meat,
and Minnesotala still allows nuisance beavers to be trapped year round.
No permit is required as long as the landowner has
clear beaver de damage on the property, authorizes the removal,
is on the property at the time the beaver is
(12:04):
shot or trapped, and notifies the DNR within twenty four
hours of the removal. Prohibiting residents from eating beaver meat
is not only silly and impossible to enforce, it won't
have any impact on beaver trapping in the state. But
maybe I'm missing something. If you live in Minnesota and
you think you know why this is all going down,
you know where to ride in askcl at the meaeater
(12:25):
dot com. Moving on to the Big Beautiful public Lands desk,
we saw two big decisions last week from the Department
of the Interior that could have major impacts on our
public lands. The first came from the US Fish and
Wildlife Service, which finalized a rule that will open fifty
two new hunting and fishing opportunities on approximately two hundred
(12:46):
and eleven thousand acres of national wildlife refuges. Twelve National
Wildlife refuges are opening and expanding the opportunities for hunting
and fishing. These refuges are in Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska at
North Dakota, South Carolina, Tech Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
These include first ever hunting opportunities on Green River National
Wildlife Refuge, expanded waterfowl and archery, deer hunting on newly
(13:10):
acquired acres at Bayou Tesh National Wildlife Refuge, and expanded
fishing on Horrican National Wildlife Refuge. If you live in
any of these states, head over to the meaeater dot
com forward slash col where we will post a link
to the full list of new opportunities. That's a big one.
New hunting and fishing opportunities are great, but many hunters
(13:32):
were also curious to see how the Service would handle
the led ammunition controversy. Initial versions of this rule would
have outlawed lead ammo and tackle on all these refuges,
I think, specifically in the new areas, and set the
stage for additional led AMMO bands down the road for
you know, possibly some would say more likely the whole refuge.
(13:54):
But after consultations with the states and local stakeholders, the
Fish and Wildlife Service will now only ban lead AMMO
for elk hunting at four individual refuges in North Dakota
and for all hunting on the Big Cove unit of
Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge in West Virginia. The rest
of the refuges will out lead AMMO and tackle to
(14:14):
the extent that they already do, so no change in
those other refuges. The Service argues that the science surrounding
lead ammunition justifies the bands they are imposing. They identified
special threats to wildlife at these refuges, and they believe
that banning lead AMMO will reduce the risk of these threats. That,
by the way, is the approach many hunters and anglers support.
(14:35):
The science doesn't justify widespread la to AMMO bans, but
sensitive populations of raptors, for example, might benefit from not
ingesting lead fragments in elk carcasses in those areas. Still
not everyone is happy about the services compromise. The National
Shooting Sports Foundation set in a press release quote, restrictions
on the use of traditional ammunition should only be imposed
(14:56):
where the sound science establishes a wildlife population decline caused
by hunter's use of traditional ammunition and there is no other,
less costly remedial measure available to effectively address the issue.
If the service followed that standard, it's unlikely that the
bands would have been justified. Now. That statement by the
NSSF can be true in a lot of cases. We
(15:17):
covered this before last year or the year before. There
are exceptions to that statement, right where sometimes you want
to get ahead of something before you see the decline
in wildlife. That's all I'm saying. The Department of the
Interior also finalized a proposed rule aimed at protecting Greater
Sage grouse by restricting development of solar oil and natural gas.
(15:39):
The new rule imposes limits on where and when development
could occur across two hundred and twenty six thousand square
miles of remaining grouse habitat spanning ten states. Most of
the land is in Nevada in California, but there are
also affected parcels in Wyoming, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Montana, and
the Dakotas. Quote guided by the best available science. We
are committed to the continued balance in our multi use
(16:02):
mandate for America's public lands, said Secretary Deb Holland. For
too long, a false choice has been presented for land management,
then aims to pit development against conservation. This administration's collaborative
work has demonstrated that we can do both successfully. According
to the Associated Press, this plan would eliminate loopholes that
allowed development in areas considered crucial to the grouse's long
(16:26):
term survival. New solar and wind projects would be excluded,
and oil and gas exploration could only occur from drilling
sites located outside the protected areas. As you can imagine,
neither renewable energy advocates nor oil and gas companies were
happy with the decision. A spokesperson for a clean energy
lobby told the AP that the rule quote unnecessarily restricts
(16:46):
the development of wind, solar, battery storage, and transmission, undermining
the ability to deploy much needed clean energy infrastructure. Some
hunting groups have praised the rule, including the Teddy Roosevelt
Conservation Partnership, Matteline West, inter Vice president of Western Conservation,
thank the agency for their efforts. She explained it in
a press release that the new rule removed some poison
(17:08):
pills that existed in previous plans and incorporated updated science
to reflect our improved understanding of ecosystem needs. She concluded, quote,
this milestone must be a marker that ends the cycles
of planning and moves attention back to on the ground
management to benefit the sagebrush ecosystem and the Western communities
(17:29):
that rely on it. Development was already restricted on sage
grouse habitat, so it's unclear how much economic impact this
rule would have if it takes effect, but it might
never get that far. Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon has vowed
to work with the incoming Trump administration to reverse the decision,
and Trump himself made increasing energy production a key plank
(17:50):
on his platform, even though there are plenty of grouse
hunters who voted for Trump. I'd be surprised if this
rule lasts much beyond January twenty one, unless you get
your butts up, just like Trump said, get your fat
ass off the couch and get vocal about this thing, okay,
which is something you need to keep in mind, we've
covered this multiple times now as we've gone through election
(18:11):
cycles together at the weekend review moderation is just not fashionable.
The outgoing administration is going to swing the pendulum as
hard as they can, and then the incoming administration, unfortunately,
always seems to swing the pendulum as hard as they
can in the opposite direction, as opposed to just figuring
out how to keep that sucker somewhere in the middle.
(18:32):
So some of these rules are going to survive, some
of them won't. We're keeping our tabs on this. We're
always going to call out the good legislation and the bad.
Moving on to the mailbag desk, listener Matthew Walker wrote
in with a quick note about how he's getting involved
in his neck of the woods. Matthew is a licensed
fur trapper in Maryland, and he's concerned about a fur
(18:54):
ban being considered by the city council in nearby Washington,
d C. The legislation was introduced by the city council
last year, but now it looks like it might be
moving forward. The council held a public hearing on the measure,
and it looks like they're planning another during which matthew
is planning to testify. The fur ban looks a lot
like similar bands imposed by other cities. This one, known
(19:14):
as the Fur Product's Prohibition Act of twenty twenty three,
would make it unlawful to sell, offer for sale, display
for sale, trade, or otherwise distribute for monetary or non
monetary consideration, any fur product in the District of Columbia.
The bill defines fur as any animal skin or part
thereof with hair, fleece, or fur fibers attached there too,
(19:38):
either in its raw or processed state. A fur product
is any article of clothing, covering, or fashion accessory that
uses fur but does not include leather that has the
hair removed, cowhide with the hair attached, sheep skin, or
the pelt or skin of an animal preserved through taxidermy.
The hipocrisies here, kids, don't go burn in your cowboy hats. Yeah, okay,
(19:59):
don't make that old the Harley jacket that you got
in the closet and pitch it away because at one
point it had hair on it. Anyway, it looks like
ten of the twelve council members have already voiced their
support for the band, which isn't a good sign. Still,
if Matthew and one hundred of his fellow trappers show
up to the next council meeting, they might reconsider for
(20:20):
it has been used by humans for hundreds of thousands
of years to make all kinds of useful products, and
as this bill's exceptions approve, a band like this isn't
going to change that. Furthermore, here's a buzzword for you, microplastics.
Fur products aren't printing microplastics in the water and the
human blood stream. Those are those fancy fleeces that you're wearing. Okay,
(20:42):
a big ada boy to Matthew on his upcoming council testimony.
Good luck. Let us know how it goes. That's all
we got for you this week. Thank you so much
for listening, and remember to write in to ask cl
that's Askcal at the Meat Eater dot com. Let us
know what's going on in your neck of the woods.
Thanks again, we'll talk to you next week. The ming
(21:04):
had const n from attend ser
From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This
is Cow's week in Review with Ryan cow Calaian. Here's
cal A troop of forty three monkeys escaped research facility
in South Carolina earlier this month, and as of this recording,
about half of them remain at large. The cartload of
(00:30):
primates managed to free themselves from the Alpha Genesis Primate
research facility in Yamassi, South Carolina. Regular Cow's Weekend Review
listeners might assume those pesky animal's rights activists are behind
that shenanigan, but right now that doesn't appear to be
the case. Could be regular old fashioned monkey business. The
Alpha Genesis CEO reports that a caretaker failed to secure
(00:52):
a door and the forty three female Recis macaque monkeys
just wandered out. The young monkey's only weigh about seven pounds,
and veterans as at the company assure the public that
they don't carry disease and haven't been used in any testing.
It's also worth noting that even though the jail break
might conjure images of Planet of the Apes, the monkeys
are actually staying pretty close to the facility. The local
(01:13):
police department reports that they're hanging out in the wooded
area along the fence line of the facility, eating food
from caretakers and interacting with other monkeys still behind bars. Still,
it's one thing to see a group of monkeys in
a pine tree, it's another to capture them without hurting them.
The primates escaped on November seven, and it wasn't until
November ninth that Alpha Genesis reported capturing a single monkey.
(01:36):
But then around five pm the next day, the police
said that an additional twenty four monkeys had been safely
returned to their prisons or homes. It's unclear how they
managed to capture so many at once, but I'm sure
the intrepid journalists down in you MASSI will figure it out.
One last thing, Americans will never pass up the chance
to rubberneck, especially when wild animals are involved. We see
(01:57):
this every day in our national parks, but apparently it's
been a problem in this case as well. The Umassi
Police Department has been begging people to stay out of
the woods where the monkeys are hanging out, and they've
also issued several pleas to please stop flying drones in
the area. The vets are trying to keep the monkeys calm,
and that's tough to do with would be wildlife photographers
on the grounds and drones buzzing overhead. If we hear
(02:19):
any more updates on the Great Escape, Monkey Free Monkey
Doo will keep you in the loop, you know that,
And just a reminder good reading even as an adult.
Some aer the monkeys started this way, or you know,
in a similar fashion. Some kid could be on tracked
making a buck this summer. Anyway, this week we've got politics, beavers,
(02:39):
public lands, and so much more. But first I'm going
to tell you about my week. And my week was great.
Hike some old stomping grounds and a couple different corners
of the state. It was brutal blow down actually some
cold weather frozen ground, but adventurous to say the least.
Met up with some old friends, met some new friends.
Rode on that mule that bit my butt. This summer.
(03:01):
She and I's relationship has not changed much. Spotted some bulls,
spotted some bucks, got home late, got up early, didn't
pull the trigger on anything. Hoping to be outdoor as
soon as I can, to do it all over again,
trying out new spots this weekend, trying to connect with
that old dark horn mule deer buck. Then we'll get
to the birds. The poor snort report is healed up
and antsy is all get out. I'm feeling like a
(03:24):
bad dog owner. So much to do, so little time.
Of course, I was out on big public Lands BLM
for a service and Montana State Ground. That tapestry of
ownership weaves together a heck of a lot of opportunities
for those willing to go. They are near and dear
to my heart, which shouldn't surprise anybody here. Only a
(03:45):
couple weekends left that big old general big game season. Now,
if you're thinking about quackers and you want to check
out a cool trip I did in Arkansas, head over
to the meat Eater YouTube channel. Give it a look.
It was my first and thus far only experience hunting
a timber hole for ducks. Really fun trip. Big thanks
to the Whitaker family for being our hosts on that
one and sharing an amazing family property with us and
(04:08):
all their traditions and local history and knowledge. Super awesome,
really really cool. Maybe one day we'll do it again.
Moving on to the election desk. Whatever you think about
the result of the presidential election, hunters and anglers had
some notable reasons to celebrate when they woke up on
November six. We went three for three on the major
(04:30):
ballot initiatives that we've covered on this podcast, and I
think the Cow's Week in Review audience deserves some credit. First,
and most importantly, Colorado voters roundly rejected a ballot measure
that would have banned mountain lion hunting in that state.
Fifty five point two percent of Colorado voters were about
one to a half million people rejected Prop One twenty seven,
(04:51):
while forty four point eight percent of voters about one
point two million people pulled the lever for the hunting band.
Those numbers might change a little in the coming days,
but the margin is wide enough that the New York
Times and the local media outlets called it cooked on
Wednesday morning. Polling results indicate that the strongest opposition came
from rural counties in the northwest, west, and eastern portions
(05:12):
of the state, while the metro counties surrounding Denver and
Boulder voted in favor. Even in these supportive counties, however,
support for the ban wasn't nearly as one sided as
the opposition in the rural areas. Boulder County, for example,
supported the ban fifty nine percent forty one percent, while
Jackson County opposed eighty seven percent to thirteen percent. As
(05:32):
an example, the three hundred thousand vote margin comes as
welcome news to hunters and science based wildlife management advocates
who have spent over two point eight million dollars to
oppose the measure. Think of what that cash could have
done for wildlife. Virtually every hunting and angling group nationwide
threw their weight behind the effort, and we even received
(05:52):
support from the Denver Post. The other side outspent us
by about two hundred thousand dollars, and they received endorsements
from well known individual like Robert Redford, Jane Goodall, and
Carol Baskin of Tiger King fame, but that wasn't enough
to overcome the pro hunting side, and we walked away
with the victory. This is a huge win for hunting rights.
(06:15):
Good on all organizations and individuals who spent time and
money to make it happen. A big thanks goes out
to Colorado's for Responsible Wildlife Management who spearheaded this effort,
and to every Colorado hunter who asked their friends and
family to join them in voting. No, that is not
the biggest margin in the world gang three hundred thousand people.
I am willing to bet within that margin. There's a
(06:37):
lot of votes that went the reasonable way. That would
not have happened had regular old outdoors people, hunters, anglers,
folks who like to hike, said hey, we need to
talk about this over beer, because the what ifs and
the what IFFs right. So thank you, thank you, thank
you for weighing in on that. Now, Colorado wasn't the
(06:59):
only source of good election news for hunters and anglers.
A hair over sixty seven percent of Florida voters pulled
the lever for Amendment two, which enshrines the right to
hunt and fish in the state's constitution. Amendment two stipulates
that hunting and fishing, including by use of traditional methods,
shall be preserved forever as a public right and preferred
means of responsibly managing and controlling fish and wildlife. While
(07:21):
the amendment forcefully asserts this right, it also clarifies that
it does not limit the authority granted to the Fish
in Wildlife Conservation Commission. As in Colorado, animal rights activists
and Florida used scare tactics to advance their cause. They
painted a gruesome picture of how the right to hunt
and fish would lead to mass slaughter of native wildlife
and an end to restrictions on hunting, but Floridians didn't
(07:43):
take the bait. Now, the Sunshine State joins twenty three
other states that have a right to hunt and fish,
either in the state constitution or in statute. Nothing will
change in Florida's hunting and fishing regulations, but it will
make it more difficult for animal rights activists to end
hunting seasons like we've seen in California in Washington State. Finally,
in Minnesota, a full seventy seven percent of voters approved
(08:05):
a constitutional amendment that renewed dedicated lottery funding for the outdoors.
The Minnesota State lottery generates tens of millions of dollars
every year for the Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund,
but residents must vote to renew that flow of money
every few decades. This trust fund is used for clean water,
wildlife habitat, environmental education, trails, land acquisition, and other projects
(08:28):
beneficial to natural resources. This is the third time residents
have voted to renew the program, and it means it
will remain in place until at least twenty fifty. While
I'm sure some residents disagree about whether the funds should
be used for this or that project, I'd much rather
have those debates than try to convince voters and politicians
to put up the money in the first place. I'd
(08:49):
call this a win. There will be more threats to
hunting and fishing in Colorado and in other states, and
we'll tackle those as they come up. For now, give
yourself a pat on the back and use this as
a reminder that if hunters stand up for their rights
and for one another, there's not a lot the anti
hunting movement can do to stop us. You got away
(09:09):
in good job, but I'm not letting you off the hook.
Moving on to the beaver desk, the Minnesota state legislature
recently passed a law that has beaver trappers scratching their heads.
They're stumped, you might say. Per our buddy, Maggie Hudlow
riding at the meteater dot Com. Minnesota Statute ninety seven
b DOT sixty sixty seven, which details the who, what, when,
(09:31):
and why of nuisance beaver removal, was recently amended during
the debate on the twenty twenty four Omnibus Environment and
Natural Resources Bill, the statute now includes the following sentence,
human consumption of a retained beaver is prohibited. The law,
in other words, prohibits people from eating nuisance beavers even
when they're legally trapped. Obviously, if they're still moving around,
(09:54):
you can try to take a bite out of them
legally as per the statute. Anyway, Minnesotans can still eat
beaver's that are trapped for sport during the annual season,
but if the beaver has been captured because it's causing damage,
its meat can't end up on the dinner table. The
strangest thing about this story is that no one seems
to know why this language was added to the bill,
or even who did it. Minnesota State Senator Nathan Wessenberg
(10:17):
expressed confusion during the debate on the bill, saying, quote,
we can't eat beaver. That's just ridiculous. I eat beaver.
It's fine. No one is going to get in trouble
for doing it. I don't know why this is in
the bill. If you need beaver eating reference, that's not
the search phrase I would use. But I would go
over to the meat Eater YouTube channel Brad Leoni and
(10:38):
I made a super killer green chili out of the
new Outdoor Cookbook with beaver fe that to anybody darn
good stuff. Minnesota Star Tribune spoke with state Legislative Reference
Librarian Molly Nils, who says there's no clear account of
who introduced it. The language first appeared in the omnibus
(10:58):
bill after its loan day in the conference committee. Neil
said she couldn't find any previous discussion of the provision
during the legislative session. The closest thing we've seen to
an explanation comes from Senator Hodge, who chaired the committee
that inserted the language. He said the language needed to
remain in the bill because quote, there hasn't been enough
research about beaver consumption to tell if it's safe. If
(11:20):
I was in the room, I would ask the good
Senator whether the last I don't know, thousands of years
of human experience qualifies as research. Humans have been eating
beavers for a long time, and even though they carried
diseases like all other wild animals, their meat is perfectly
safe if cooked properly. I honestly cannot think of a
justification for this other than wanting to complicate things. I
guess there's been a big push in recent years to
(11:43):
limit or ban beaver trapping, but this won't stop landowners
from trapping nuisance beavers. I've never met a landowner who
called in a beaver trapper because he wanted more beaver meat,
and Minnesotala still allows nuisance beavers to be trapped year round.
No permit is required as long as the landowner has
clear beaver de damage on the property, authorizes the removal,
is on the property at the time the beaver is
(12:04):
shot or trapped, and notifies the DNR within twenty four
hours of the removal. Prohibiting residents from eating beaver meat
is not only silly and impossible to enforce, it won't
have any impact on beaver trapping in the state. But
maybe I'm missing something. If you live in Minnesota and
you think you know why this is all going down,
you know where to ride in askcl at the meaeater
(12:25):
dot com. Moving on to the Big Beautiful public Lands desk,
we saw two big decisions last week from the Department
of the Interior that could have major impacts on our
public lands. The first came from the US Fish and
Wildlife Service, which finalized a rule that will open fifty
two new hunting and fishing opportunities on approximately two hundred
(12:46):
and eleven thousand acres of national wildlife refuges. Twelve National
Wildlife refuges are opening and expanding the opportunities for hunting
and fishing. These refuges are in Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska at
North Dakota, South Carolina, Tech Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
These include first ever hunting opportunities on Green River National
Wildlife Refuge, expanded waterfowl and archery, deer hunting on newly
(13:10):
acquired acres at Bayou Tesh National Wildlife Refuge, and expanded
fishing on Horrican National Wildlife Refuge. If you live in
any of these states, head over to the meaeater dot
com forward slash col where we will post a link
to the full list of new opportunities. That's a big one.
New hunting and fishing opportunities are great, but many hunters
(13:32):
were also curious to see how the Service would handle
the led ammunition controversy. Initial versions of this rule would
have outlawed lead ammo and tackle on all these refuges,
I think, specifically in the new areas, and set the
stage for additional led AMMO bands down the road for
you know, possibly some would say more likely the whole refuge.
(13:54):
But after consultations with the states and local stakeholders, the
Fish and Wildlife Service will now only ban lead AMMO
for elk hunting at four individual refuges in North Dakota
and for all hunting on the Big Cove unit of
Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge in West Virginia. The rest
of the refuges will out lead AMMO and tackle to
(14:14):
the extent that they already do, so no change in
those other refuges. The Service argues that the science surrounding
lead ammunition justifies the bands they are imposing. They identified
special threats to wildlife at these refuges, and they believe
that banning lead AMMO will reduce the risk of these threats. That,
by the way, is the approach many hunters and anglers support.
(14:35):
The science doesn't justify widespread la to AMMO bans, but
sensitive populations of raptors, for example, might benefit from not
ingesting lead fragments in elk carcasses in those areas. Still
not everyone is happy about the services compromise. The National
Shooting Sports Foundation set in a press release quote, restrictions
on the use of traditional ammunition should only be imposed
(14:56):
where the sound science establishes a wildlife population decline caused
by hunter's use of traditional ammunition and there is no other,
less costly remedial measure available to effectively address the issue.
If the service followed that standard, it's unlikely that the
bands would have been justified. Now. That statement by the
NSSF can be true in a lot of cases. We
(15:17):
covered this before last year or the year before. There
are exceptions to that statement, right where sometimes you want
to get ahead of something before you see the decline
in wildlife. That's all I'm saying. The Department of the
Interior also finalized a proposed rule aimed at protecting Greater
Sage grouse by restricting development of solar oil and natural gas.
(15:39):
The new rule imposes limits on where and when development
could occur across two hundred and twenty six thousand square
miles of remaining grouse habitat spanning ten states. Most of
the land is in Nevada in California, but there are
also affected parcels in Wyoming, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Montana, and
the Dakotas. Quote guided by the best available science. We
are committed to the continued balance in our multi use
(16:02):
mandate for America's public lands, said Secretary Deb Holland. For
too long, a false choice has been presented for land management,
then aims to pit development against conservation. This administration's collaborative
work has demonstrated that we can do both successfully. According
to the Associated Press, this plan would eliminate loopholes that
allowed development in areas considered crucial to the grouse's long
(16:26):
term survival. New solar and wind projects would be excluded,
and oil and gas exploration could only occur from drilling
sites located outside the protected areas. As you can imagine,
neither renewable energy advocates nor oil and gas companies were
happy with the decision. A spokesperson for a clean energy
lobby told the AP that the rule quote unnecessarily restricts
(16:46):
the development of wind, solar, battery storage, and transmission, undermining
the ability to deploy much needed clean energy infrastructure. Some
hunting groups have praised the rule, including the Teddy Roosevelt
Conservation Partnership, Matteline West, inter Vice president of Western Conservation,
thank the agency for their efforts. She explained it in
a press release that the new rule removed some poison
(17:08):
pills that existed in previous plans and incorporated updated science
to reflect our improved understanding of ecosystem needs. She concluded, quote,
this milestone must be a marker that ends the cycles
of planning and moves attention back to on the ground
management to benefit the sagebrush ecosystem and the Western communities
(17:29):
that rely on it. Development was already restricted on sage
grouse habitat, so it's unclear how much economic impact this
rule would have if it takes effect, but it might
never get that far. Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon has vowed
to work with the incoming Trump administration to reverse the decision,
and Trump himself made increasing energy production a key plank
(17:50):
on his platform, even though there are plenty of grouse
hunters who voted for Trump. I'd be surprised if this
rule lasts much beyond January twenty one, unless you get
your butts up, just like Trump said, get your fat
ass off the couch and get vocal about this thing, okay,
which is something you need to keep in mind, we've
covered this multiple times now as we've gone through election
(18:11):
cycles together at the weekend review moderation is just not fashionable.
The outgoing administration is going to swing the pendulum as
hard as they can, and then the incoming administration, unfortunately,
always seems to swing the pendulum as hard as they
can in the opposite direction, as opposed to just figuring
out how to keep that sucker somewhere in the middle.
(18:32):
So some of these rules are going to survive, some
of them won't. We're keeping our tabs on this. We're
always going to call out the good legislation and the bad.
Moving on to the mailbag desk, listener Matthew Walker wrote
in with a quick note about how he's getting involved
in his neck of the woods. Matthew is a licensed
fur trapper in Maryland, and he's concerned about a fur
(18:54):
ban being considered by the city council in nearby Washington,
d C. The legislation was introduced by the city council
last year, but now it looks like it might be
moving forward. The council held a public hearing on the measure,
and it looks like they're planning another during which matthew
is planning to testify. The fur ban looks a lot
like similar bands imposed by other cities. This one, known
(19:14):
as the Fur Product's Prohibition Act of twenty twenty three,
would make it unlawful to sell, offer for sale, display
for sale, trade, or otherwise distribute for monetary or non
monetary consideration, any fur product in the District of Columbia.
The bill defines fur as any animal skin or part
thereof with hair, fleece, or fur fibers attached there too,
(19:38):
either in its raw or processed state. A fur product
is any article of clothing, covering, or fashion accessory that
uses fur but does not include leather that has the
hair removed, cowhide with the hair attached, sheep skin, or
the pelt or skin of an animal preserved through taxidermy.
The hipocrisies here, kids, don't go burn in your cowboy hats. Yeah, okay,
(19:59):
don't make that old the Harley jacket that you got
in the closet and pitch it away because at one
point it had hair on it. Anyway, it looks like
ten of the twelve council members have already voiced their
support for the band, which isn't a good sign. Still,
if Matthew and one hundred of his fellow trappers show
up to the next council meeting, they might reconsider for
(20:20):
it has been used by humans for hundreds of thousands
of years to make all kinds of useful products, and
as this bill's exceptions approve, a band like this isn't
going to change that. Furthermore, here's a buzzword for you, microplastics.
Fur products aren't printing microplastics in the water and the
human blood stream. Those are those fancy fleeces that you're wearing. Okay,
(20:42):
a big ada boy to Matthew on his upcoming council testimony.
Good luck. Let us know how it goes. That's all
we got for you this week. Thank you so much
for listening, and remember to write in to ask cl
that's Askcal at the Meat Eater dot com. Let us
know what's going on in your neck of the woods.
Thanks again, we'll talk to you next week. The ming
(21:04):
had const n from attend ser
Host
Cal Callaghan
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