May 16, 2025 • 20 mins
This week Cal talks wildlife crime, adaptable coyotes, legislation and so much more.
Check out the new "Cal of the Wild" T-Shirt
Connect with Cal and MeatEater
To learn more and get involved with any Cal to Action, click here.
MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips
Subscribe to The MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube
Shop Cal's Week in Review Merch
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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 You've heard of Wiley coyote, but what do you
know about limp e coyote. Mark hines over at the
Cowboy State Daily reports this especially dramatic canine has made
(00:31):
his appearance known once again at Yellowstone National Park. Park
visitors report then an old coyote nicknamed Limpy exaggerates a
limp in his back leg. He uses this trick to
tug on the heartstrings of good natured tourists in the
hopes of getting a snack. He's been spotted chasing rabbits
without so much as a hitch in his gidda up.
But when a tourist stops on the side of the
(00:51):
road to get a closer look, he suddenly turns on
the misery. He limps like his leg is broken, lowers
his head to the ground, and hits those tourists with
the biggest puppy dog eyes you've ever seen. And it's
not entirely fake. Olympi did sustain an injury to his
back legs several years ago, but he amps it up
for a shot at some trail mix or a Snickers bar.
(01:11):
That's adaptability, folks. I didn't want to have to do this,
but you leave me no choice. Here comes the smolder.
This week we've got the FEDS Crime Desk, legislation and
so much more. But first I'm gonna tell you about
my week. In my week, man, so much going on.
(01:34):
Did an amazing trip with the West Virginia Chapter of
back Country Hunters and Anglers. Charles Mooney and the crew
over there treated us incredibly well. Floated the New River
Gorge with several members of West Virginia Department of Natural Resources,
got caught up on what's happening in the state and
(01:54):
explored some new new places. Lots of interesting stuff you
can find to growing out of the woods in those
old mining reclaim zones, pretty darn wild and just plain
old pretty. We started off this show talking about coyotes,
and one dude who's associated with coyotes is Dan Flores.
(02:15):
Dan started a brand spiketty new podcast called The American West.
Everybody's super jacked about it and it should be a
good one if you want to learn about some uncommon
or a fresh take on the American West. Right here
at the Meat Eater podcast network, so definitely check that out.
(02:36):
On top of that, Mark Kenny and I went out
to d C immediately on the back end of my
West Virginia trip, and we spoke with a lot of
new federal appointees and are duly elected both in the
House and the Senate. So chatted with a bunch of
folks talking about public lands, why we shouldn't sell them off,
(02:58):
how they shouldn't be included in the reconciliation process, and
lots to be paying attention to if you like to
do anything outside or you know, like drink water. I
sat down with Senator Martin Heinrich and Congressman Ryan Zink
while we're in DC for a couple of short hits.
I think they'll be very interesting for you. If you
(03:19):
have anybody else that you want to hear on this
here podcast, please let me know by writing end to
askcl that's Ascal at the meat eater dot com. With that,
we're moving on to the federal government desk. Interior Secretary
Doug Bergham, whom I Darnier just ran right into in
the Capitol one day, announced last week that he would
(03:42):
be giving broad authority to a representative of the Department
of Government Efficiency or DOZE, to make sweeping changes to
the Department of Interior. The DOZE rep is a fellow
named Tyler Hassen. He's been given authority to take a
hard look at the Interior Department to quote effectuate the consolidation, unification,
and optimization of administrative functions within the department to achieve effectiveness, accountability,
(04:05):
and cost savings for the American taxpayer. He'll be looking
at things like human resources, IT, training and development, contracting,
and communications for ways to cut costs. None of that
sounds particularly frightening, and I'll say again that no one
I know opposes increasing efficiency, cutting real waste, and saving
taxpayer money. But if DOJ's track record is any indication,
(04:27):
we're going to see a lot more than that. Hassen
himself told Fox News that he would be reviewing every
single contact, every single grant at anterior. Someone in Interior
leaked an email to The Washington Post in which Hassen
asked the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement to
provide a list of discretionary grants that could save between
thirty and fifty million dollars. That's a lot of Cheddar
(04:49):
and I have a hard time believing any office in
the DOI is wasting that kind of money. But grant
money isn't the only thing on the chopping block. The
Post reports that Hassen is also looking to cut staff
as a way to cut costs. He's refused to say
exactly how much they're looking to cut or how long
it will take, but you can bet that, as with
everything coming out of this administration, it won't be a
(05:10):
half measure. Secretary Bergham also announced that he will be
rescinding a Biden error rule that created a pathway for
conservation leases on federal public land, known as the Public
Lands Rule. This program would have allowed companies, organizations, and
individuals to lease public land for conservation in the same
way timber or grazing companies lease public land for their activities.
(05:32):
We covered this extensively at the time, including in an
interview with BLM director Tracy stone Manning, but some were skeptical.
They worried that protectionist groups would use these conservation leases
to lock up public land, and they questioned whether conservation
should really be counted as a use. Those critics appear
to have gotten their way. I don't know that any
(05:52):
conservation leases were actually given out, so rescinding the rule
won't change much on the ground, but many see it
as a seriously opportunity, including the hunters and anglers who
supported the rule during the public engagement process. Again, we
didn't get to see this implemented, but the way it
was designed is a conservation lease would be an overlapping lease,
(06:14):
and it would not prevent other leases on that same ground.
Would just bring conservation up a few notches as a priority.
The Trump administration is also taking aim at the Endangered
Species Act and yet another proposed rule change. The US
Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fishery Service are
looking to amend the definition of harm under the ESA.
(06:35):
Their proposal would seriously threaten not only endangered species, but
all the other critters who live in those protected habitats.
Here's why the Endangered Species Act prohibits the take of
endangered species. The Act defines take as quote, to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture,
(06:56):
or collect or, to attempt to engage in any such conduct.
Most to those words have pretty specific definitions, but that
word harm is more broad. Historically, the Fish and Wildlife
Service has defined harm to include both physically harming animals
as well as harming their habitat. This makes sense logging
a forest with spotted owls may not immediately kill any
(07:17):
individual's owls. Those birds are smart and fast and would
likely get away, but eliminating that habitat will kill them. Nonetheless,
they won't have anything to find food and shelter or
breed to create the next generation. This new rule would
change that It would rescind the definition of harm that
includes habitat degradation and revert to the broader standard of take.
This means that unless an individual or organization is actively
(07:41):
killing an endangered species, their actions would not be subject
to restrictions under the ESA. To justify such a sweeping change,
the Trump administration cites a Supreme Court decision from last year.
You may recognize all the way back in episode two
ninety seven, we covered a case that involves something called
the Chevron doctrine. The Chevron Doctor basically said that when
(08:01):
Congress wrote a law that wasn't clear, federal agencies had
the power to interpret that law as they saw fit.
But the Supreme Court struck down the Chevron doctrine last year,
which means agencies are more limited in how they can
interpret unclear statutes. The Trump administration is saying that because
of this ruling, they no longer have the ability to
define take as something that destroys or degrades habitat. If
(08:23):
this rule is approved, the ESA will only protect against
quote an affirmative act directed immediately and intentionally against a
particular animal. As conservationists, we should care about endangered species
in their own right, but this proposal wouldn't just threaten them.
The fish and animals we like to pursue as hunters
and anglers also benefit from habitat protections imposed by the ESA.
(08:46):
If those protections go away, it could spell trouble for
all kinds of species. For example, listener and environmental consultant
Blake Knob sent me a great email pointing to samonids
in the Pacific Northwest, such as Puget Sound, chinook, or
wild steel heady. Under this rule, it would be legal
to degrade or destroy spawning habitat for those species, so
long as it's done during the time of year that
(09:07):
they are not present in the spawning habitat. That would
impact not only the species, but all the other fish
that live in those waters. Blake admits that there are
things about the Endangered Species Act that need to be reformed.
The consultation process is overly burdensome, efficiencies can be improved,
and recovered species need to be more easily delisted. Landowners
are also disincentivized from reporting endangered animals on their properties,
(09:31):
which makes it more difficult for state and federal agencies.
But this proposal is, as Blake says, throwing the baby
out with the bathwater, and it will be extremely bad
for fish and wildlife across the spectrum. The good news
is that you have until May nineteen to weigh in,
and you can do so by going over to the
meat eater dot com forward slash col or by googling
(09:51):
rescinding the definition of harm under the Endangered Species Act.
Moving on to the crime desk, a woman who made
international headlines last year for helping her son and his
friends poach deer in Wisconsin has been convicted. Thirty six
year old Jessica Croning was initially charged with contributing to
the delinquency of a child, illegal shining of deer, and
(10:14):
resisting a conservation warden. She pled guilty to the first
two of those misdemeanors and will be sentenced later this month.
Her son and his friends, who allegedly poached over one
hundred deer, are being tried in juvenile court. They have
been accused of driving out in Croning's car on at
least fifty occasions and shooting deer from the window. One
of those nights, they allegedly hit a deer with their car,
(10:34):
threw it in the trunk while it was still a
live end quote messed with it until it died. They
kept some of the heads from the bigger bucks, but
left most of the deer to rot. Croning's conviction stem
from the fact that she let the boy's user car
even though she knew what they were doing, and on
at least one occasion, went with them to hold the flashlight.
In another update, on a separate case, a father and
(10:55):
son who run a tax deermy shop in Idaho are
being charged with several felonies related to covering up poaching activity.
Local media reports that Tom and Ryan Schrmeier accepted orders
for trophy mounts of forty three animals that were taken
illegally without proper documentation. Investigators first began looking into the
Shermers as part of a larger case involving a fella
named Carl Stutter. As we reported last year, Stutter has
(11:19):
been charged with being the ringleader in a scheme to
illegally buy and sell game tags in Idaho. He is
also alleged to have poached several trophy animals himself. It
sounds like the Shermeyers created mounts for stud even though
he and others didn't have the right tags. Tom Shermeyer
was asked to provide a list of all of his clients,
but he didn't. Investigators later found forty three intake forms
(11:40):
neatly clipped together and hidden at the bottom of a
filing cabinet. The names on those forms should keep investigators
busy for a while. For more details on the Stuter case,
check out the article by Jordan Sillers over at themeateater
dot com. It's a good'un over in Wisconsin. Game wards
are searching for the person respond consible for killing a
(12:01):
giant bowl elk in Jackson County. Biologists were working on
private property trying to capture a small herd of elk
to radio collar and relocate them. They came across a
dead bowl, and a necropsy revealed that it had been shot.
This particular bowl was one of the last elk left
from the group brought to Wisconsin from Kentucky in twenty sixteen.
He was a primary breeding bowl for the Central elk herd,
(12:23):
and the state DNR called it's killing a tremendous loss.
Anyone with information is encouraged to leave an anonymous tip
by calling one eight hundred eight four seven nine three
sixty seven. Someone is poaching pigeons, but not in a
place you'd expect. Local media out of Brooklyn, New York,
ran his story last week about a mysterious pigeon poaching ring.
(12:44):
Residents who feed pigeons regularly say they've noticed dozens of
the friendly foul go missing in recent weeks. One of
these residents, a woman known as Mother Pigeon, says she
spoke with someone who witnessed a man snaring birds with
a net. Others who spoke with CBS New York claimed
these have been operating for years. They catch the birds
from the park and sell them in Pennsylvania, where they
(13:05):
are used for live pigeon shoots. It is legal in
New York to own a pigeon but not to hunt
or trap them. Mother pigeon says the animal control unit
knows who's doing it, but they don't care enough to
enforce the law. Last one for you. A Connecticut man
was charged last month with illegally killing a black bear
that he claims was threatening his family. That seems ridiculous
(13:27):
on its face, but the devil is in the details.
Thirty nine year old Todd Topics told local media that
he woke up from a nap to the sound of
his wife screaming outside. A black bear had found its
way into their garage, where their three and ten year
old kids were playing. Todd's wife got the kids inside
and he grabbed his handgun to investigate. The beard climbed
a tree and the family dog was barking at it
(13:47):
from the bottom. Todd fired what he called a warning
shot to scare the bear away. The bear started climbing
down the tree about thirty seconds later, so Todd fired
another two shots. The bear made it to the ground.
Todd fired two more and the bear ran on off.
Problem was Todd lives in a neighborhood. Someone heard the shots.
The police arrived and Todd was charged with negligent discharge
of a firearm and breach of the piece. The bear
(14:09):
was later found dead in a nearby ditch, so Todd
was also charged with illegally killing the bear. Todd claims
that he never intended to kill the bear, He just
wanted to scare it off. He also argues that he
acted in self defense, which is legal under Connecticut law.
He feared for his dog's life, and the bear had
already been in his garage where his kids were. He
undercuts his own argument by saying he was firing quote
(14:30):
warning shots, which isn't something you do when you actually
think your dog is about to get maled. It's also
worth pointing out that if the bear was already in
the tree, the best thing to do would have been
to go back inside called the state Wildlife Agency. The
good news is that Todd was granted accelerated rehabilitation on
all charges, which means they will be dropped if he
completes the required diversionary program. Sounds to me like even
(14:52):
though Todd did technically break the law, the judge understood
why he did what he did under the circumstances. Going
on to the legislation desk, the Tennessee Wildlife Federation tried
and failed last week to get straight walled cartridges approved
for use during the state's muzzleoder season. The advocacy group
says that seventy eight percent of their members support the change,
(15:14):
so they asked the Tennessee Wildlife Commission to make it happen.
Only private land hunters would have been allowed to use
straight walled cartridges under the proposed rule, and the guns
will have to be single shot, but the Commission rejected
the idea. When the motion was officially made by Commissioner
Bill Cox, some expressed hesitation that the move would end
up eliminating muzzleoder use altogether, but most simply said they
(15:35):
hadn't enough time to formulate a good opinion. That tells
me that Tennessee hunters should expect the issue to be
raised again in future years. Big thanks to listener John
Klepp for sending us that story. Idaho is also considering
making a few changes to its big game hunting regulations.
A twenty three member citizen committee called the Hunting and
Technology Working Group unanimously recommended a prohibition on using aircraft
(15:58):
while hunting. Specifically, the recommendation would ban aircraft including drones,
from being used to spot, locate, or aid in the
taking of big game ungulates from July one through December
thirty first. The group also unanimously supported maintaining a ban
on smart optics, which automatically determined range and move the
aim point in the redical. The group also recommended restricting
(16:19):
transmitting trail camps from July one through December thirty first.
None of these recommendations have the forced law. They must
be approved by the Idaho Fish and Game Commission, which
will vote after receiving public comment. The North Dakota legislature
passed a bill last month that prohibits the Game and
Fish Department from restricting the use of bait while big
game hunting on private property. The bill passed both chambers
(16:42):
by wide margins and was signed by Governor Kelly Armstrong.
The media has called this a win for hunters, and
I'm sure there are many North Dakotas who would agree.
But this legislation also removes a tool that biologists were
using to fight the spread of chronic wasting disease. CWD
is not prevalent in North Dakota, but there were baiting
restrictions in some parts of the state. Now the Game
(17:03):
and Fish Department can no longer use that wildlife management
tool across ninety percent of North Dakota. CWD may not
be prevalent now, but I'm sure the department was hoping
to use baiting bands to help keep it that way.
Oklahoma is cracking down on non resident hunters looking to
chase game on public land. Senate Bill four four to
eight will require non residents to obtain written permission from
(17:26):
the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission to hunt on state Wildlife
Management Areas or refuges managed by the state. The bill
also allows the Commission to create a lottery system that
hunters will have to enter to obtain a tag for
some WMAs. It's unclear whether all WMAs will be put
under a lottery system for non residents, but all non
resident hunters will now have to pay a one hundred
(17:48):
dollars permit fee on top of their standard licenses. The
legislation is being billed as a way to protect recreational
opportunities for Oklahoma's and prevent overcrowding on state properties, but
opponents say Oklahoma already makes it cost prohibitive for most
non resident hunters. The annual hunting fee is two hundred
and nine dollars. You can get a five day license
for seventy five, but you still have to get a
(18:09):
five hundred dollars permit to hunt deer, elk, antelope bear. Now,
unless you have access to private land, you have to
pay an additional one hundred dollars on top of that.
But those complaints are falling on deaf ears. SB four
four to eight past the state Senate with a unanimous boat,
then proceeded to the House where it passed seventy eight
to one. It was then signed in law by Oklahoma
(18:30):
Governor Kevin Stitt and will go in to effect November one.
Moving on to the muscle dog desk, and I'm not
talking about weightlifting pooches. We started the episode with a
smart canine and that's exactly where we're going to end it.
Several listeners sent me a story from California, where a
pack of detection dogs are helping slow the spread of
(18:53):
invasive aquatic muscles. CBS News reports that a woman named
Debbie DeShawn operates a service she called Muscle Dogs. These
sixteen dogs and mostly rescues. They've been trained to sniff
out quagga muscle zebra muscle and the Golden Muscle. On
the day, reporters caught up with DeShawn. She was working
on Rancho Seco Lake, southeast of Sacramento. Before every boat
(19:16):
went down the ramp, two of Deshawn's dogs, Splash and Minnow,
sniffed around the hole like police dogs sniff around a
suspicious vehicle. They're powerful noses. We're searching for golden muscle larvae,
which are spreading through delta waterways in the Bay Area
By attaching themselves to boats. The muscles clog pipes, decrease
water clarity, and harm native aquatic species. Biologists haven't found
(19:37):
any yet in Rancho Seco Lake, in part thanks to
the good work of Splash in Minno from all of
us at Cal's Week in Review. Good dogs, that's all
I got for you this week. Thank you so much
for listening, and remember to write into ask cl that's
Ascal at themeateater dot com and let us know what's
going on in your neck of the woods. We appreciate it.
(19:59):
Thanks again. We'll talk to you next week.
From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This
is Cow's Week in Review with Ryan cow Calaian. Here's
cal You've heard of Wiley coyote, but what do you
know about limp e coyote. Mark hines over at the
Cowboy State Daily reports this especially dramatic canine has made
(00:31):
his appearance known once again at Yellowstone National Park. Park
visitors report then an old coyote nicknamed Limpy exaggerates a
limp in his back leg. He uses this trick to
tug on the heartstrings of good natured tourists in the
hopes of getting a snack. He's been spotted chasing rabbits
without so much as a hitch in his gidda up.
But when a tourist stops on the side of the
(00:51):
road to get a closer look, he suddenly turns on
the misery. He limps like his leg is broken, lowers
his head to the ground, and hits those tourists with
the biggest puppy dog eyes you've ever seen. And it's
not entirely fake. Olympi did sustain an injury to his
back legs several years ago, but he amps it up
for a shot at some trail mix or a Snickers bar.
(01:11):
That's adaptability, folks. I didn't want to have to do this,
but you leave me no choice. Here comes the smolder.
This week we've got the FEDS Crime Desk, legislation and
so much more. But first I'm gonna tell you about
my week. In my week, man, so much going on.
(01:34):
Did an amazing trip with the West Virginia Chapter of
back Country Hunters and Anglers. Charles Mooney and the crew
over there treated us incredibly well. Floated the New River
Gorge with several members of West Virginia Department of Natural Resources,
got caught up on what's happening in the state and
(01:54):
explored some new new places. Lots of interesting stuff you
can find to growing out of the woods in those
old mining reclaim zones, pretty darn wild and just plain
old pretty. We started off this show talking about coyotes,
and one dude who's associated with coyotes is Dan Flores.
(02:15):
Dan started a brand spiketty new podcast called The American West.
Everybody's super jacked about it and it should be a
good one if you want to learn about some uncommon
or a fresh take on the American West. Right here
at the Meat Eater podcast network, so definitely check that out.
(02:36):
On top of that, Mark Kenny and I went out
to d C immediately on the back end of my
West Virginia trip, and we spoke with a lot of
new federal appointees and are duly elected both in the
House and the Senate. So chatted with a bunch of
folks talking about public lands, why we shouldn't sell them off,
(02:58):
how they shouldn't be included in the reconciliation process, and
lots to be paying attention to if you like to
do anything outside or you know, like drink water. I
sat down with Senator Martin Heinrich and Congressman Ryan Zink
while we're in DC for a couple of short hits.
I think they'll be very interesting for you. If you
(03:19):
have anybody else that you want to hear on this
here podcast, please let me know by writing end to
askcl that's Ascal at the meat eater dot com. With that,
we're moving on to the federal government desk. Interior Secretary
Doug Bergham, whom I Darnier just ran right into in
the Capitol one day, announced last week that he would
(03:42):
be giving broad authority to a representative of the Department
of Government Efficiency or DOZE, to make sweeping changes to
the Department of Interior. The DOZE rep is a fellow
named Tyler Hassen. He's been given authority to take a
hard look at the Interior Department to quote effectuate the consolidation, unification,
and optimization of administrative functions within the department to achieve effectiveness, accountability,
(04:05):
and cost savings for the American taxpayer. He'll be looking
at things like human resources, IT, training and development, contracting,
and communications for ways to cut costs. None of that
sounds particularly frightening, and I'll say again that no one
I know opposes increasing efficiency, cutting real waste, and saving
taxpayer money. But if DOJ's track record is any indication,
(04:27):
we're going to see a lot more than that. Hassen
himself told Fox News that he would be reviewing every
single contact, every single grant at anterior. Someone in Interior
leaked an email to The Washington Post in which Hassen
asked the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement to
provide a list of discretionary grants that could save between
thirty and fifty million dollars. That's a lot of Cheddar
(04:49):
and I have a hard time believing any office in
the DOI is wasting that kind of money. But grant
money isn't the only thing on the chopping block. The
Post reports that Hassen is also looking to cut staff
as a way to cut costs. He's refused to say
exactly how much they're looking to cut or how long
it will take, but you can bet that, as with
everything coming out of this administration, it won't be a
(05:10):
half measure. Secretary Bergham also announced that he will be
rescinding a Biden error rule that created a pathway for
conservation leases on federal public land, known as the Public
Lands Rule. This program would have allowed companies, organizations, and
individuals to lease public land for conservation in the same
way timber or grazing companies lease public land for their activities.
(05:32):
We covered this extensively at the time, including in an
interview with BLM director Tracy stone Manning, but some were skeptical.
They worried that protectionist groups would use these conservation leases
to lock up public land, and they questioned whether conservation
should really be counted as a use. Those critics appear
to have gotten their way. I don't know that any
(05:52):
conservation leases were actually given out, so rescinding the rule
won't change much on the ground, but many see it
as a seriously opportunity, including the hunters and anglers who
supported the rule during the public engagement process. Again, we
didn't get to see this implemented, but the way it
was designed is a conservation lease would be an overlapping lease,
(06:14):
and it would not prevent other leases on that same ground.
Would just bring conservation up a few notches as a priority.
The Trump administration is also taking aim at the Endangered
Species Act and yet another proposed rule change. The US
Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fishery Service are
looking to amend the definition of harm under the ESA.
(06:35):
Their proposal would seriously threaten not only endangered species, but
all the other critters who live in those protected habitats.
Here's why the Endangered Species Act prohibits the take of
endangered species. The Act defines take as quote, to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture,
(06:56):
or collect or, to attempt to engage in any such conduct.
Most to those words have pretty specific definitions, but that
word harm is more broad. Historically, the Fish and Wildlife
Service has defined harm to include both physically harming animals
as well as harming their habitat. This makes sense logging
a forest with spotted owls may not immediately kill any
(07:17):
individual's owls. Those birds are smart and fast and would
likely get away, but eliminating that habitat will kill them. Nonetheless,
they won't have anything to find food and shelter or
breed to create the next generation. This new rule would
change that It would rescind the definition of harm that
includes habitat degradation and revert to the broader standard of take.
This means that unless an individual or organization is actively
(07:41):
killing an endangered species, their actions would not be subject
to restrictions under the ESA. To justify such a sweeping change,
the Trump administration cites a Supreme Court decision from last year.
You may recognize all the way back in episode two
ninety seven, we covered a case that involves something called
the Chevron doctrine. The Chevron Doctor basically said that when
(08:01):
Congress wrote a law that wasn't clear, federal agencies had
the power to interpret that law as they saw fit.
But the Supreme Court struck down the Chevron doctrine last year,
which means agencies are more limited in how they can
interpret unclear statutes. The Trump administration is saying that because
of this ruling, they no longer have the ability to
define take as something that destroys or degrades habitat. If
(08:23):
this rule is approved, the ESA will only protect against
quote an affirmative act directed immediately and intentionally against a
particular animal. As conservationists, we should care about endangered species
in their own right, but this proposal wouldn't just threaten them.
The fish and animals we like to pursue as hunters
and anglers also benefit from habitat protections imposed by the ESA.
(08:46):
If those protections go away, it could spell trouble for
all kinds of species. For example, listener and environmental consultant
Blake Knob sent me a great email pointing to samonids
in the Pacific Northwest, such as Puget Sound, chinook, or
wild steel heady. Under this rule, it would be legal
to degrade or destroy spawning habitat for those species, so
long as it's done during the time of year that
(09:07):
they are not present in the spawning habitat. That would
impact not only the species, but all the other fish
that live in those waters. Blake admits that there are
things about the Endangered Species Act that need to be reformed.
The consultation process is overly burdensome, efficiencies can be improved,
and recovered species need to be more easily delisted. Landowners
are also disincentivized from reporting endangered animals on their properties,
(09:31):
which makes it more difficult for state and federal agencies.
But this proposal is, as Blake says, throwing the baby
out with the bathwater, and it will be extremely bad
for fish and wildlife across the spectrum. The good news
is that you have until May nineteen to weigh in,
and you can do so by going over to the
meat eater dot com forward slash col or by googling
(09:51):
rescinding the definition of harm under the Endangered Species Act.
Moving on to the crime desk, a woman who made
international headlines last year for helping her son and his
friends poach deer in Wisconsin has been convicted. Thirty six
year old Jessica Croning was initially charged with contributing to
the delinquency of a child, illegal shining of deer, and
(10:14):
resisting a conservation warden. She pled guilty to the first
two of those misdemeanors and will be sentenced later this month.
Her son and his friends, who allegedly poached over one
hundred deer, are being tried in juvenile court. They have
been accused of driving out in Croning's car on at
least fifty occasions and shooting deer from the window. One
of those nights, they allegedly hit a deer with their car,
(10:34):
threw it in the trunk while it was still a
live end quote messed with it until it died. They
kept some of the heads from the bigger bucks, but
left most of the deer to rot. Croning's conviction stem
from the fact that she let the boy's user car
even though she knew what they were doing, and on
at least one occasion, went with them to hold the flashlight.
In another update, on a separate case, a father and
(10:55):
son who run a tax deermy shop in Idaho are
being charged with several felonies related to covering up poaching activity.
Local media reports that Tom and Ryan Schrmeier accepted orders
for trophy mounts of forty three animals that were taken
illegally without proper documentation. Investigators first began looking into the
Shermers as part of a larger case involving a fella
named Carl Stutter. As we reported last year, Stutter has
(11:19):
been charged with being the ringleader in a scheme to
illegally buy and sell game tags in Idaho. He is
also alleged to have poached several trophy animals himself. It
sounds like the Shermeyers created mounts for stud even though
he and others didn't have the right tags. Tom Shermeyer
was asked to provide a list of all of his clients,
but he didn't. Investigators later found forty three intake forms
(11:40):
neatly clipped together and hidden at the bottom of a
filing cabinet. The names on those forms should keep investigators
busy for a while. For more details on the Stuter case,
check out the article by Jordan Sillers over at themeateater
dot com. It's a good'un over in Wisconsin. Game wards
are searching for the person respond consible for killing a
(12:01):
giant bowl elk in Jackson County. Biologists were working on
private property trying to capture a small herd of elk
to radio collar and relocate them. They came across a
dead bowl, and a necropsy revealed that it had been shot.
This particular bowl was one of the last elk left
from the group brought to Wisconsin from Kentucky in twenty sixteen.
He was a primary breeding bowl for the Central elk herd,
(12:23):
and the state DNR called it's killing a tremendous loss.
Anyone with information is encouraged to leave an anonymous tip
by calling one eight hundred eight four seven nine three
sixty seven. Someone is poaching pigeons, but not in a
place you'd expect. Local media out of Brooklyn, New York,
ran his story last week about a mysterious pigeon poaching ring.
(12:44):
Residents who feed pigeons regularly say they've noticed dozens of
the friendly foul go missing in recent weeks. One of
these residents, a woman known as Mother Pigeon, says she
spoke with someone who witnessed a man snaring birds with
a net. Others who spoke with CBS New York claimed
these have been operating for years. They catch the birds
from the park and sell them in Pennsylvania, where they
(13:05):
are used for live pigeon shoots. It is legal in
New York to own a pigeon but not to hunt
or trap them. Mother pigeon says the animal control unit
knows who's doing it, but they don't care enough to
enforce the law. Last one for you. A Connecticut man
was charged last month with illegally killing a black bear
that he claims was threatening his family. That seems ridiculous
(13:27):
on its face, but the devil is in the details.
Thirty nine year old Todd Topics told local media that
he woke up from a nap to the sound of
his wife screaming outside. A black bear had found its
way into their garage, where their three and ten year
old kids were playing. Todd's wife got the kids inside
and he grabbed his handgun to investigate. The beard climbed
a tree and the family dog was barking at it
(13:47):
from the bottom. Todd fired what he called a warning
shot to scare the bear away. The bear started climbing
down the tree about thirty seconds later, so Todd fired
another two shots. The bear made it to the ground.
Todd fired two more and the bear ran on off.
Problem was Todd lives in a neighborhood. Someone heard the shots.
The police arrived and Todd was charged with negligent discharge
of a firearm and breach of the piece. The bear
(14:09):
was later found dead in a nearby ditch, so Todd
was also charged with illegally killing the bear. Todd claims
that he never intended to kill the bear, He just
wanted to scare it off. He also argues that he
acted in self defense, which is legal under Connecticut law.
He feared for his dog's life, and the bear had
already been in his garage where his kids were. He
undercuts his own argument by saying he was firing quote
(14:30):
warning shots, which isn't something you do when you actually
think your dog is about to get maled. It's also
worth pointing out that if the bear was already in
the tree, the best thing to do would have been
to go back inside called the state Wildlife Agency. The
good news is that Todd was granted accelerated rehabilitation on
all charges, which means they will be dropped if he
completes the required diversionary program. Sounds to me like even
(14:52):
though Todd did technically break the law, the judge understood
why he did what he did under the circumstances. Going
on to the legislation desk, the Tennessee Wildlife Federation tried
and failed last week to get straight walled cartridges approved
for use during the state's muzzleoder season. The advocacy group
says that seventy eight percent of their members support the change,
(15:14):
so they asked the Tennessee Wildlife Commission to make it happen.
Only private land hunters would have been allowed to use
straight walled cartridges under the proposed rule, and the guns
will have to be single shot, but the Commission rejected
the idea. When the motion was officially made by Commissioner
Bill Cox, some expressed hesitation that the move would end
up eliminating muzzleoder use altogether, but most simply said they
(15:35):
hadn't enough time to formulate a good opinion. That tells
me that Tennessee hunters should expect the issue to be
raised again in future years. Big thanks to listener John
Klepp for sending us that story. Idaho is also considering
making a few changes to its big game hunting regulations.
A twenty three member citizen committee called the Hunting and
Technology Working Group unanimously recommended a prohibition on using aircraft
(15:58):
while hunting. Specifically, the recommendation would ban aircraft including drones,
from being used to spot, locate, or aid in the
taking of big game ungulates from July one through December
thirty first. The group also unanimously supported maintaining a ban
on smart optics, which automatically determined range and move the
aim point in the redical. The group also recommended restricting
(16:19):
transmitting trail camps from July one through December thirty first.
None of these recommendations have the forced law. They must
be approved by the Idaho Fish and Game Commission, which
will vote after receiving public comment. The North Dakota legislature
passed a bill last month that prohibits the Game and
Fish Department from restricting the use of bait while big
game hunting on private property. The bill passed both chambers
(16:42):
by wide margins and was signed by Governor Kelly Armstrong.
The media has called this a win for hunters, and
I'm sure there are many North Dakotas who would agree.
But this legislation also removes a tool that biologists were
using to fight the spread of chronic wasting disease. CWD
is not prevalent in North Dakota, but there were baiting
restrictions in some parts of the state. Now the Game
(17:03):
and Fish Department can no longer use that wildlife management
tool across ninety percent of North Dakota. CWD may not
be prevalent now, but I'm sure the department was hoping
to use baiting bands to help keep it that way.
Oklahoma is cracking down on non resident hunters looking to
chase game on public land. Senate Bill four four to
eight will require non residents to obtain written permission from
(17:26):
the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission to hunt on state Wildlife
Management Areas or refuges managed by the state. The bill
also allows the Commission to create a lottery system that
hunters will have to enter to obtain a tag for
some WMAs. It's unclear whether all WMAs will be put
under a lottery system for non residents, but all non
resident hunters will now have to pay a one hundred
(17:48):
dollars permit fee on top of their standard licenses. The
legislation is being billed as a way to protect recreational
opportunities for Oklahoma's and prevent overcrowding on state properties, but
opponents say Oklahoma already makes it cost prohibitive for most
non resident hunters. The annual hunting fee is two hundred
and nine dollars. You can get a five day license
for seventy five, but you still have to get a
(18:09):
five hundred dollars permit to hunt deer, elk, antelope bear. Now,
unless you have access to private land, you have to
pay an additional one hundred dollars on top of that.
But those complaints are falling on deaf ears. SB four
four to eight past the state Senate with a unanimous boat,
then proceeded to the House where it passed seventy eight
to one. It was then signed in law by Oklahoma
(18:30):
Governor Kevin Stitt and will go in to effect November one.
Moving on to the muscle dog desk, and I'm not
talking about weightlifting pooches. We started the episode with a
smart canine and that's exactly where we're going to end it.
Several listeners sent me a story from California, where a
pack of detection dogs are helping slow the spread of
(18:53):
invasive aquatic muscles. CBS News reports that a woman named
Debbie DeShawn operates a service she called Muscle Dogs. These
sixteen dogs and mostly rescues. They've been trained to sniff
out quagga muscle zebra muscle and the Golden Muscle. On
the day, reporters caught up with DeShawn. She was working
on Rancho Seco Lake, southeast of Sacramento. Before every boat
(19:16):
went down the ramp, two of Deshawn's dogs, Splash and Minnow,
sniffed around the hole like police dogs sniff around a
suspicious vehicle. They're powerful noses. We're searching for golden muscle larvae,
which are spreading through delta waterways in the Bay Area
By attaching themselves to boats. The muscles clog pipes, decrease
water clarity, and harm native aquatic species. Biologists haven't found
(19:37):
any yet in Rancho Seco Lake, in part thanks to
the good work of Splash in Minno from all of
us at Cal's Week in Review. Good dogs, that's all
I got for you this week. Thank you so much
for listening, and remember to write into ask cl that's
Ascal at themeateater dot com and let us know what's
going on in your neck of the woods. We appreciate it.
(19:59):
Thanks again. We'll talk to you next week.
Host
Cal Callaghan
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!