June 30, 2025 • 28 mins
This week, Cal talks about a disappointing cousin, everything you need to know about Sen. Mike Lee's effort to sell public land, and a new bill in New York legalizing crossbows during archery season.
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 Calahan. Here's
cal The country of my ancestors is trying to ban
fox hunting, and I'm sorry to say that one of
the band's chief proponents is a distant relation. The lower
(00:30):
House of Ireland's parliament, which is known as Doyle Arn,
recently voted to advance a bill that would outlaw fox
hunting and related practices. The bill would amend the Animal
Health and Welfare Act of twenty thirteen to ensure such
activities quote cannot be considered as lawful hunting. The bill
passed the first stage on a one thirteen to forty
(00:50):
nine vote, and now it moves on to the second
stage for further debate. If this bill passes, Ireland would
join its neighbor England in a banning the traditional hunting practice.
England band fox hunting with hounds all the way back
in two thousand and four, but it has remained legal
in Ireland now thanks to animal rights activists who wreck
characterized the practice as cruel and inhumane. The Emerald Isle
(01:13):
looks like it's going to follow suit. One of those activists.
I'm ashamed to admit is a representative named keen Oh Callahan.
O'Callahan told The Irish Times that all blood sports are
barbaric and cruel, and objected to his colleagues who tried
to stop the fox hunting band moving forward. O'Callahan is
entitled to his opinion, but from one Callahan to another,
(01:34):
you should try something to yourself before you ban it
for everyone else. If old Kean ever finds himself in
the land of the Free, I'd be more than happy
to host him on a hunt. I'd be the best
kind of family reunion. You know that was just written
just for fun. I don't believe going back through my
ancestry that o callahan's and Callahan's necessarily had to be related,
(01:57):
but you know it's fun writing. This week we got legislation,
crossbows in the public lands, battle what's now and what's
to come? So gang, as we keep saying over and
over again, I have no idea what the reality is
going to be by the time you hear this. As
of right now. Senator Mike Lee of Utah, also the
(02:20):
chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. His
original language that would pull around three million acres of
public lands out of public hands to be sold off
out of a possible two hundred and fifty million acres.
And as we've covered here on the Week in Review,
the way that language was written, there's no real way
(02:43):
to say where exactly that land would be. It could
be land in a checkerboard pattern, land next to a town,
land far away from a town. It was pretty darn
sloppy and extremely concerning. Well, that language was pulled due
to not making the Bird rule surviving the bird bath,
(03:03):
as some folks would call it. Bird rule comes into
play when one party has a super majority, like the
Republicans do now, so they controlled executive and the House
in the Senate. Somebody can jump in here and straighten
me out. It may just be the House in the Senate. Well,
you can pass things faster with not as many votes
(03:25):
when there's a super majority. The bird rule is kind
of checks and balances to make sure that, like in
this budget process, for instance, that they're not just cramming
in a bunch of stuff because everybody's in one room
trying to get things done. It's got to pertain to
the budget. So Lee's original language was pulled because it
(03:45):
did not meet the bird criteria. He immediately started working
on another version that would meet the bird criteria. He
also openly admitted that he has been listening to all
that the public land advocates out there, of which there
are many, because I'll tell you, I've been all over
this country and not a lot of people like the
(04:08):
idea of having something taken away. Doesn't matter if you're
a bread truck driver, a little old lady counting birds
at the bird feeder, or a hunter, an angler, or
a shooter or whatever. Right, we got it, why would
we let them take it. Lee's revised language attempts to
placate some people by removing US Forest Service lands from
(04:32):
the chopping block, so the ONUS is placed squarely on
BLM lands. And then there's some additional funding that would
come from the revenue of those sales going back to
counties and some conservation work. Again, the guy's just toned deaf.
He's trying to get his own agenda across, and he's
not listening to the American people or his colleagues. Land
(04:55):
sales for infrastructure needs or affordable housing they're provided for
already in Flipfah and Flint m It's a legal framework
that already exists. It passed through a voter approved process, nonpartisan,
and land sales have been enacted have gone through this
(05:17):
process prior to this administration, during the Biden administration, had
Harris won, she would have tried to get through a
land sale using that process. So we're just being sold
to bill of goods. If you can't tell, I'm a
little tired. We've been pounding the drum on this topic
and I've been blown away by the response from you know,
(05:39):
Billie Eilish, who I know through Saturday Night Live. I'm
told she sings as well fantastic. I'm a big fan
of her album, Don't Sell Our Public Lands. And then
Sidney Sweeney from Spokane, Washington, which is a town with
mixed memories for me because I us to get drug
(06:00):
over there by some over zealous ants to go school
shopping and that may be the source of my childhood
trauma and possibly my current ward drove choices of wearing
T shirts until they fall apart. Thank you, Bridget and Kelly.
I know you meant good, but here we are regardless anyway.
Sidney Sweeney from Spokanistan. She also has been on Saturday
(06:24):
Night Live. And I believe she did a great job actress,
I believe. And she came out for public lands, as
have birders and dog walkers, old people, young people, queer people,
straight people, people across the political spectrum. Because public lands
are not a part is an issue. They're part of
(06:46):
the fabric of America. And just thank you to everybody
who's come out and done this. You don't have to
have a following to be involved. These are your public lands.
Thank you so much for raising a ruckus. I'm confident
right now that we're going to come out on the
good side of this particular battle, but there's many battles
(07:06):
to come. There's a lot of people within this administration
that want to see our public lands sold off because
they had never gone out there before themselves. They don't
know what these lands are good for. They're disconnected. They
don't know where their food comes from. They don't know
where cattle graze, they don't know where people recreate, they
don't know where the mental health of America eyes, which
(07:29):
is out in our big wide open space, is the
envy of every other country in the world. Tell you that.
So I'm hoping this language is dead in the water
that we're too close to President Trump's deadline of July
fourth to see this thing put back in and possibly
delay that signing. But time will tell, and I'll talk
(07:50):
to you about that on the next episode. What you
got to know, though, is your voice mattered. You weigh in.
It's not that hard. You made the phone calls, you
hit the email else, but you went to the back
Country Hunters and Anglers Action Alert Center, and now you're
part of the team. Okay, you cannot sit out until
the next election, because if you do, you know what
(08:12):
can happen. Okay, elections matter. But our job as citizens
of the United States is to weigh in over and
over and over again. It's a job, and I know
you're up to it. I appreciate you walking with me
down this big old conservation path. Voting is not enough anymore,
(08:33):
neither is buying your duck stamp or your conservation license
or your tags. You got to contribute more because it
seems like every year there's more and more people who
want to take this stuff away from us. Okay, but
your kick ass, and you're awesome. You're doing the work.
I see it, and I appreciate it. So let's get
on to the legislative desk. The Wyoming legislature is set
(08:56):
to consider a bill allowing large landowners to sell their
hunting tags on the open market, or should I say reconsider,
as a similar bill was rejected by the Senate last session,
only to reappear in altered form this month before the Travel, Recreation,
Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee. The proposal would allow landowners
with more than two thousand acres to sell the coveted
tags at auction, similar to the way Governor's tags and
(09:19):
commissioner's tags are currently sold. I've gone on the record
with my ambivalents about governor's tags and the like in
the past. They come dangerously close to privatizing our shared
wildlife resource. But they also generate a ton of money
for state game and fish agencies in the essential conservation
work they do. In contrast, funds from the sale of
the landowner tags in this Wyoming proposal would go straight
(09:42):
back to the person who owns the property. Representative Robert
Worf and other supporters of the measures say that property
owners should be compensated for the food, water, and shelter
that animals on their properties are right now getting for free.
It's funny that he says that the animals are getting
the land for free. I've watched a lot of elk, deer,
(10:03):
pronghorn bears for a long time, never seen one reach
for a wallet. Of course, the landowner tags themselves are
already a pretty good deal for these hosts, as they
are valid in areas of the state that general hunting
tags aren't selling access to the animals belonging to all
of us to the highest bidder is a no go,
especially if the proceeds aren't going to conservation. So Wyoming
(10:25):
ens Wyoming, heites wyomings call your state reps and let
them know they need to kick this one back to
the curb. Depending on what generation of ownership we're talking about,
chances are if you move to the Cowboys State during COVID,
you bought that chunk of dirt because it's got the
critters on it, not because you don't like them staying
(10:45):
in the Cowboy State. The Wyoming legislature is also mulling
an issue that's a little harder to define than a
tag auction. How far away is too far away to
take a rifle shot at an animal. Long distance shooting
has become more and more popular over the past several years,
and the meat eater dot Com has lots of great
coverage about squeezing the absolute most out of your sectional
(11:06):
densities and your focal planes and what have you. However,
pushback is growing as the shots on animals get farther
and farther away. In twenty eighteen, a hunter in Fremont County,
Wyoming recorded to himself killing an antelope from one nine
hundred and fifty four yards away, prompting an outcry from
the legislature to limit long distance hunting. But how far
(11:27):
is too far? Shots that seemed outlandish and unethical with
iron sights in nineteen fifty five are layups for many
people with magnified optics in twenty twenty five. Part of
the issue here is, of course, fair chase, giving an
animal the chance to use its senses and wits to
stay alive. If a hunter can stay so far away
that there's no chance of an animal seeing or hearing
(11:48):
anything suspicious, then the interaction that defines hunting breaks down.
When does it become just kill them. Part of the
skill of hunting, the fun of it, is developing the
ability to get in close and a lot can change
between when a bullet leaves a muzzle and when it
arrives at its destination several seconds later. In the case
of our two thousand yard shooter, even if you were
(12:10):
theoretically able to hit a tick feeding right over deer's
vitals at a half mile, that deer could take a
couple steps and walk that tick and its vitals right
out of the target area. Still, everything I'm talking about
is ethics. It's a different story to codify that stuff
into law. Do we say five hundred yards is legal
and five oh one is illegal? For you non shooters
(12:33):
out there, that's not much of a difference. Require everyone
to submit their rangefinder read out with their harvest tags.
How do we regulate something like this? States have been
trying to do this for years. I'm not sure we'll
see good legislation come out of this topic tomorrow, but
it's good to be talking about this stuff, figuring out
together what our ethics should be. As we've talked about many,
(12:57):
many times, this is why you see technology regulation because
the people regulation is hard to put in paper. The
North Carolina legislature is considering a bill that could have
a significant impact on the Tarheel State Fishery House Bill
four four to two would do two things. First, it
would restore a six week recreational fishing season for southern
(13:19):
flounder and allow year round fishing for red snapper. That
provision passed the House by a wide margin, but when
it was sent to the Senate, legislators added a much
more controversial amendment. Their version of the bill bans commercial
fishermen from using trial nets to harvest shrimp from any
coastal waters within a half mile of the shoreline. Trial
nets are large nets that are dragged along the bottom
(13:41):
of the ocean. It's an easy way to harvest shrimp,
but conservationists point out that tralink can have negative impacts
on marine environments. They catch and often kill non target
species and destroy the natural habitat on the seafloor. But
opponents of the bill say banning the practice will destroy
the state's shrimping industry and make the seafood more expensive.
(14:02):
The Senate version passed that chamber by a wide margin,
and now it heads to the House. Finally, in South Dakota,
the Department of Game Fishing Parks has announced a plan
to suspend beaver trapping for all of the twenty twenty
five and twenty twenty six seasons in the Black Hills
Fire Protection District in the westernmost part of the state.
Trapping elsewhere will be unaffected. Beaver numbers have historically been
(14:26):
thriving in the Black Hills area, but that's changed in
the past decade or so. According to the news outlet
The South Dakota Searchlight, fifty two percent of watersheds in
the Black Hills had active beaver populations in twenty twelve,
but that number had fallen to twenty three percent by
twenty twenty three. By all, just blame a cycle of
habitat damage for the decline. Once cattle traffic breaks down,
(14:47):
riverbanks beavers have less willow and aspen trees to depend on.
Beavers then build fewer dams, which causes rivers to run faster,
which in turn makes it even harder to build dams.
The Department of Game, Fishing Parks hopes that the two
year pause will allow reintroduce beavers to gain a foothold
in the area and start turning that cycle in the
other direction. The state legislature's Rules Review Committee still needs
(15:10):
to approve the measure, so South Dakotin's bother your reps
to have them pay attention to this one. Over to
the waterhouserd Desk, a new ultra luxury golf resort has
been playing fast and loose with irrigation rules over in
the Shields Valley of Montana, just about an hour up
(15:31):
the road from Meat Eater headquarters. Crazy Mountain Rancher CMR
for short, was purchased in twenty twenty one by Cross
Harbor Capital Partners. That's a long name for a local rancher,
isn't it, The private equity firm who also owns the
Yellowstone Club and other swanky retreats that have transformed the
nearby Big Sky Valley. In September of twenty four, CMR
(15:51):
had its soft opening where players got to try out
the new course co designed by golf legend Ben Crenshaw.
Must be a hell of a golfer, but I've never
heard of the guy. Sounds like a fun time, but
there was a hitch. Crazy Mountain Ranch had installed pipes
and we're pumping water out of nearby Rock Creek to
irrigate the greens without any of the necessary permits to
do so. For folks who don't know why this is
(16:12):
the problem? Water flows downhill to your neighbor. The club
had applied for water rights from the Department of Natural
Resources and Conservation the previous year, but instead of waiting
for approval, a process that takes everyone else a couple
of years, Crazy Mountain turned on the taps rather than
let the sod die. Not only that, but CMR also
changed the diversion point of Rock Creek, pumping that water
(16:33):
over a ridge to reach their greens, and storing water
at Rainbow Lake, which is designated only for wildlife. Again
without approvals. The club has even withdrawn its previous water
rights applications, and no new applications have been submitted. Why
would you need to apply for what you already stole.
You'd think this bad behavior would have consequences, but in
(16:54):
November of last year, the Park County Conservation District determined
that no action was required, that no fine would be
levied for the violations. Locals, as you can imagine, are
pretty teed off. That's a golf joke. Downstream landowner Tim
Sundling told the Billings Gazette. The bottom line is the
rules are the same for everybody. It doesn't matter if
(17:15):
you're the entitled or simply country folk leaning on their shovel.
Neighboring rancher Scott Knutson has gone further, filing an official
objection with the DNRC. Right now is prime water demand
season in the West for golf courses, for egg land,
for ranchers, not to mention for the fish and wildlife
who depend on the streams and lakes. We're arguing about
(17:36):
there's likely not enough to go around if anyone takes
more than their fair share. So what are the enforcement
options to get CMR to play by the rules. The
DNRC is authorized to fine water use violators one thousand
dollars a day, but it's hard to tell if they're
willing to do so. Even if they did, a few
hundred grand is a pretty minor expense on CMR's balance sheet.
(17:56):
A court could issue a cease and desist order, and
county attorney or stated journey could sue to halt the
unlawful use. But would that ever lead to the authorities
sending work crews out to shut off and lock CMR's
pipes well. The Montana Free Press interviewed rich Sarazen, a
water deputy who travels the county documenting water use and
working with the district court to enforce the standing water rights.
(18:19):
He said, quote everything will be shut down going to
Rainbow Lake, and it'll all be shut down going to
the golf course for the remainder of the summer. That's
my job. I got to do the dirty work. It's
not going to be easy, but they're going to have
to follow it. Otherwise I can get law enforcement involved
and we can settle issues. That way. Things up there
(18:39):
could really end up in the rough this summer. See,
I know golf guys try to keep up. Of course,
the bigger issue here is precedent. If crazy Mountain Ranch
can abuse water rights this way and walk away without
a scratch, what's to stop them and other similar developers
from doing the same or worse in the future. We
don't have good enforcement options to correct CMR's water abuses,
(19:02):
in part because the kind of landowner buying properties across
the West is changing from mostly agricultural uses to resorts
or private hunting preserves. Legacy landowners like farmers and ranchers
know they can't step too far out of line on
water use without facing social consequences. Because they're parts of
the community. They use the same water sources, they call
the same fire department, They see each other in church.
(19:25):
The landowners like Crazy Mountain Ranch don't have that same interdependence.
In fact, CMR has its own separate fire department, even
its own private airport. What happens this summer with this
local water use issue has implications across the region. Organizations
like Trout Unlimited and the Egg Council have been keeping
their eye on the issue and working on legislation to
(19:45):
strengthen oversight for this newer kind of water user. So
as always, it's a good thing to support those folks
whose job it is to watch out for the rest
of us. Let's just hope those downstream users don't get
the shaft all summer long, which is kind of a
golf joke. Big thanks to Rachel Penders for sending this
one in to Keegan Nation, for speaking to us further,
(20:08):
and for the great reporting of Brett French and the
Buildings Gazette and Amanda Eggert in the Montana Free Press.
Moving on to the survey desk, a brand spank and
new survey from the Council to advance hunting in the
shooting sports has found that Americans support for hunters remained strong,
but there's a catch. The study surveyed a sample of
US residents and asked them a battery of questions about
(20:30):
their views and opinions around hunting. It found that while
seventy three percent of respondent strongly or moderately approved of
legal hunting and in general, that support dropped to just
thirty two percent if the hunter's primary reason was quote
for a trophy. However, if the hunter was going out
primarily to acquire meat, get locally sourced food, or help
(20:51):
control wildlife populations, support for hunting actually increased to eighty one,
eighty and seventy nine percent, respectively. This indicates, as the
studies authors point out, quote Americans are generally supportive of
outdoor traditions when they serve a clear, constructive purpose. That
makes sense, but I was still surprised at a few
(21:12):
of the other findings. Only thirty nine percent of respondents
said they approved of mount lion hunting, which is actually
a lower percentage than for grizzly bears or black bears.
I'm not surprised that people opposed mount lion hunting, but
at first glance, this number doesn't jive with what we
saw in Colorado in November last year, nearly fifty five
percent of Colorado's voted against a lion hunting ban. For
(21:34):
those counting, that's fourteen percent higher than those who, according
to the survey, say they support hunting for cougars. But
here's what's interesting. This survey also found that fourteen percent
of respondents neither approve nor disapprove of lion hunting. To me,
that means the effort in Colorado to oppose the hunting
ban convince those people in the middle. These folks might
(21:56):
not want to hunt cougars themselves, but our efforts last
year were enough to persuade them that they shouldn't ban
the practice. For the rest of us, that's encouraging as
we try to defeat similar bans in other states, or
even the effort to sell off public land. A person
doesn't have to be personally invested in something to agree
that we shouldn't get rid of it. Anyway, support for
(22:17):
hunting in general has declined from a high of eighty
one percent in twenty twenty one. The hunting community was
still enjoying some post COVID support that year, but it
looks like the COVID bump might truly be over. Still,
support for hunting hasn't dropped significantly since last year, and
we still enjoy broad support from the non hunting public.
If you ask me, we should do everything we can
(22:39):
in our power to keep it that way. Everything I
kill is a trophy, bird, buck, bull fish, whatever, I stick,
all sorts of antlers on the wall, most of which
I'll tell you your rank and firell member of the real
Trophy Hunters Club wouldn't really know what I was doing.
(23:00):
That little scraggly buck a first timer kills is a trophy,
as are the tenderloins and the heart and the liver
and the pan. We've got to do a better job
of telling that story. Gain. Speaking of hunting support, we're
gonna stay with shoring up. By returning briefly to the
legislative desk, a new crossbow bill has bolted through the
New York State Assembly and State Senate and is now
(23:22):
headed for Governor Kathy Hochel's desk. Advocates say it's a
significant step in bringing more new hunters into the fold.
The bill, SO six three six zero, would recategorize crossbows
as archery equipment and allow them to be used during
all archery seasons in the state. Now I've gone on
record with my reservations about crossbows. They are significantly more
(23:42):
effective means of taking than vertical bows, which makes me
hesitant about allowing them during the longer seasons reserved for archery.
Many states have seasons set aside just for crossbows, which
is another good option. And you know, personally, a recurve
bows as advanced as I get with my aerosol in
tech these days, unless I'm out there kicking butt at
(24:02):
the Shields Archery event. All you Shields folks can speak
up on that behalf. I think I got ten thousand points,
which was a big deal because I think three thousand
was only possible. It's a talent anyway. Proponents think the
bill will give a significant boost to hunter recruitment. Barriers
to entry for new hunters are high no matter where
you are, but in places like New York City they're
(24:24):
even higher. Owning and practicing with firearms is close to impossible,
and learning to use a vertical bow is a tall
order for any newbie who spends more time on the
subway than on the back forty. But getting someone proficient
enough with a crossbow to hit a deer's vitals at
twenty yards is a lot more doable, and once a
mentee has downed an animal, participated in the dressing and
(24:47):
butchering process, and eaten that first trophy meal, they're much
more likely to take on all the other challenges necessary
to become a self sufficient hunter. The mentoring organization Hunters
of Color in New York's BHA chapter, were in strumental
in getting this bill through the legislature, along with the
New York's Crossbow Coalition. I know some of my listeners
might not want their city slicker neighbors in their hunting spots,
(25:09):
thank you very much. But the more people who get
out and use public lands and connect with the wildlife,
the more phone calls happen when we have a crisis
like the recent land sale fiasco and the One Big
Beautiful Bill. If elected officials from cities are hearing from
their constituents about these issues, the more they can influence
policy for everyone who wants to go outside on land
(25:29):
we all own from out in the remote back country
all the way down on the stream access point near
the train station. If we can accomplish that by loosening
the rules on crossbows in this time and place, it
might be worth it. So Empire Staters contact Governor Kathy
Hochel and make sure your voices are heard either yea
or nay on this one bill number so six three
(25:51):
six zero. Moving on to the what's that aftertaste desk?
Our fake meat desk has been quiet recently, but new
developments this month have really made a splash. Lab grown
salmon produced by the company wild Type recently received FDA
approval and was served to diners at the Portland, Oregon
(26:11):
restaurant con wild Type is touting the fact that this
isn't any old salmon, but rather quote unquote saku or
sashimi grade fish, the real primo stuff. Wild Type's product
will be served at four more restaurants this summer. Although
other lab grown beef and chicken has received FDA approval
in the past, this is the first cultured seafood and
(26:31):
we're not talking fish who took art history in college.
Wild Type extracts living cells from Pacific salmon, then propagates
more cells in a tank through a process they compare
to fermenting yogurt. They then use vegetable derived structuring agents
to give the proteins something like the structure of fish.
There are a lot of unknowns here, and some more
(26:52):
fringe outlets have questioned the safety of the process. But
it seems like it ain't gonna kill you. You listeners know,
I've taken a hard stance skin's lab grown beef in
the past. If consumers get even more divorced from where
their food comes from plastic cup versus the ocean in
this case, then they start caring even less about protecting
the land or water around us. Cows not condos, as
(27:15):
the slogan goes, but fish present a bit of a
different question Overfishing is a significant problem around the world.
According to the United Nations, one third of the world's
assessed fisheries are now being exploited past their biological limits.
Wild caught fish, especially those farther up the food chain,
now carry more contaminants and microplastics than ever Aquaculture seafood
(27:36):
farming also has significant drawbacks. Fish who live right on
top of each other don't end up very healthy and
can also carry significant levels of mercury and PCBs. The
waste from fish farms is often flushed into local waterways,
and the inputs for fish farms. Other smaller fish also
contribute to overfishing. It's a tough problem to crack, so
maybe another alternative for people looking to eat fish without
(27:59):
some of these downsides could be worth exploring. And maybe
fish sell slurry bonded to vegetable mesh tastes better than
it sounds. Little soy sauce and with sabi can't be
all that bad. I want to know what you think
about all the above. As per usual, Gang right in
to ask c A L. That's asscal at the meat
eater dot com. Let me know what's going on in
(28:20):
your neck of the woods. Stay engaged, Gang, I'm proud
of you. I appreciate you weighing in on this public
lands fight. If you got plenty happening, more to go
let me know what you want to talk about. Thanks again,
I'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 Calahan. Here's
cal The country of my ancestors is trying to ban
fox hunting, and I'm sorry to say that one of
the band's chief proponents is a distant relation. The lower
(00:30):
House of Ireland's parliament, which is known as Doyle Arn,
recently voted to advance a bill that would outlaw fox
hunting and related practices. The bill would amend the Animal
Health and Welfare Act of twenty thirteen to ensure such
activities quote cannot be considered as lawful hunting. The bill
passed the first stage on a one thirteen to forty
(00:50):
nine vote, and now it moves on to the second
stage for further debate. If this bill passes, Ireland would
join its neighbor England in a banning the traditional hunting practice.
England band fox hunting with hounds all the way back
in two thousand and four, but it has remained legal
in Ireland now thanks to animal rights activists who wreck
characterized the practice as cruel and inhumane. The Emerald Isle
(01:13):
looks like it's going to follow suit. One of those activists.
I'm ashamed to admit is a representative named keen Oh Callahan.
O'Callahan told The Irish Times that all blood sports are
barbaric and cruel, and objected to his colleagues who tried
to stop the fox hunting band moving forward. O'Callahan is
entitled to his opinion, but from one Callahan to another,
(01:34):
you should try something to yourself before you ban it
for everyone else. If old Kean ever finds himself in
the land of the Free, I'd be more than happy
to host him on a hunt. I'd be the best
kind of family reunion. You know that was just written
just for fun. I don't believe going back through my
ancestry that o callahan's and Callahan's necessarily had to be related,
(01:57):
but you know it's fun writing. This week we got legislation,
crossbows in the public lands, battle what's now and what's
to come? So gang, as we keep saying over and
over again, I have no idea what the reality is
going to be by the time you hear this. As
of right now. Senator Mike Lee of Utah, also the
(02:20):
chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. His
original language that would pull around three million acres of
public lands out of public hands to be sold off
out of a possible two hundred and fifty million acres.
And as we've covered here on the Week in Review,
the way that language was written, there's no real way
(02:43):
to say where exactly that land would be. It could
be land in a checkerboard pattern, land next to a town,
land far away from a town. It was pretty darn
sloppy and extremely concerning. Well, that language was pulled due
to not making the Bird rule surviving the bird bath,
(03:03):
as some folks would call it. Bird rule comes into
play when one party has a super majority, like the
Republicans do now, so they controlled executive and the House
in the Senate. Somebody can jump in here and straighten
me out. It may just be the House in the Senate. Well,
you can pass things faster with not as many votes
(03:25):
when there's a super majority. The bird rule is kind
of checks and balances to make sure that, like in
this budget process, for instance, that they're not just cramming
in a bunch of stuff because everybody's in one room
trying to get things done. It's got to pertain to
the budget. So Lee's original language was pulled because it
(03:45):
did not meet the bird criteria. He immediately started working
on another version that would meet the bird criteria. He
also openly admitted that he has been listening to all
that the public land advocates out there, of which there
are many, because I'll tell you, I've been all over
this country and not a lot of people like the
(04:08):
idea of having something taken away. Doesn't matter if you're
a bread truck driver, a little old lady counting birds
at the bird feeder, or a hunter, an angler, or
a shooter or whatever. Right, we got it, why would
we let them take it. Lee's revised language attempts to
placate some people by removing US Forest Service lands from
(04:32):
the chopping block, so the ONUS is placed squarely on
BLM lands. And then there's some additional funding that would
come from the revenue of those sales going back to
counties and some conservation work. Again, the guy's just toned deaf.
He's trying to get his own agenda across, and he's
not listening to the American people or his colleagues. Land
(04:55):
sales for infrastructure needs or affordable housing they're provided for
already in Flipfah and Flint m It's a legal framework
that already exists. It passed through a voter approved process, nonpartisan,
and land sales have been enacted have gone through this
(05:17):
process prior to this administration, during the Biden administration, had
Harris won, she would have tried to get through a
land sale using that process. So we're just being sold
to bill of goods. If you can't tell, I'm a
little tired. We've been pounding the drum on this topic
and I've been blown away by the response from you know,
(05:39):
Billie Eilish, who I know through Saturday Night Live. I'm
told she sings as well fantastic. I'm a big fan
of her album, Don't Sell Our Public Lands. And then
Sidney Sweeney from Spokane, Washington, which is a town with
mixed memories for me because I us to get drug
(06:00):
over there by some over zealous ants to go school
shopping and that may be the source of my childhood
trauma and possibly my current ward drove choices of wearing
T shirts until they fall apart. Thank you, Bridget and Kelly.
I know you meant good, but here we are regardless anyway.
Sidney Sweeney from Spokanistan. She also has been on Saturday
(06:24):
Night Live. And I believe she did a great job actress,
I believe. And she came out for public lands, as
have birders and dog walkers, old people, young people, queer people,
straight people, people across the political spectrum. Because public lands
are not a part is an issue. They're part of
(06:46):
the fabric of America. And just thank you to everybody
who's come out and done this. You don't have to
have a following to be involved. These are your public lands.
Thank you so much for raising a ruckus. I'm confident
right now that we're going to come out on the
good side of this particular battle, but there's many battles
(07:06):
to come. There's a lot of people within this administration
that want to see our public lands sold off because
they had never gone out there before themselves. They don't
know what these lands are good for. They're disconnected. They
don't know where their food comes from. They don't know
where cattle graze, they don't know where people recreate, they
don't know where the mental health of America eyes, which
(07:29):
is out in our big wide open space, is the
envy of every other country in the world. Tell you that.
So I'm hoping this language is dead in the water
that we're too close to President Trump's deadline of July
fourth to see this thing put back in and possibly
delay that signing. But time will tell, and I'll talk
(07:50):
to you about that on the next episode. What you
got to know, though, is your voice mattered. You weigh in.
It's not that hard. You made the phone calls, you
hit the email else, but you went to the back
Country Hunters and Anglers Action Alert Center, and now you're
part of the team. Okay, you cannot sit out until
the next election, because if you do, you know what
(08:12):
can happen. Okay, elections matter. But our job as citizens
of the United States is to weigh in over and
over and over again. It's a job, and I know
you're up to it. I appreciate you walking with me
down this big old conservation path. Voting is not enough anymore,
(08:33):
neither is buying your duck stamp or your conservation license
or your tags. You got to contribute more because it
seems like every year there's more and more people who
want to take this stuff away from us. Okay, but
your kick ass, and you're awesome. You're doing the work.
I see it, and I appreciate it. So let's get
on to the legislative desk. The Wyoming legislature is set
(08:56):
to consider a bill allowing large landowners to sell their
hunting tags on the open market, or should I say reconsider,
as a similar bill was rejected by the Senate last session,
only to reappear in altered form this month before the Travel, Recreation,
Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee. The proposal would allow landowners
with more than two thousand acres to sell the coveted
tags at auction, similar to the way Governor's tags and
(09:19):
commissioner's tags are currently sold. I've gone on the record
with my ambivalents about governor's tags and the like in
the past. They come dangerously close to privatizing our shared
wildlife resource. But they also generate a ton of money
for state game and fish agencies in the essential conservation
work they do. In contrast, funds from the sale of
the landowner tags in this Wyoming proposal would go straight
(09:42):
back to the person who owns the property. Representative Robert
Worf and other supporters of the measures say that property
owners should be compensated for the food, water, and shelter
that animals on their properties are right now getting for free.
It's funny that he says that the animals are getting
the land for free. I've watched a lot of elk, deer,
(10:03):
pronghorn bears for a long time, never seen one reach
for a wallet. Of course, the landowner tags themselves are
already a pretty good deal for these hosts, as they
are valid in areas of the state that general hunting
tags aren't selling access to the animals belonging to all
of us to the highest bidder is a no go,
especially if the proceeds aren't going to conservation. So Wyoming
(10:25):
ens Wyoming, heites wyomings call your state reps and let
them know they need to kick this one back to
the curb. Depending on what generation of ownership we're talking about,
chances are if you move to the Cowboys State during COVID,
you bought that chunk of dirt because it's got the
critters on it, not because you don't like them staying
(10:45):
in the Cowboy State. The Wyoming legislature is also mulling
an issue that's a little harder to define than a
tag auction. How far away is too far away to
take a rifle shot at an animal. Long distance shooting
has become more and more popular over the past several years,
and the meat eater dot Com has lots of great
coverage about squeezing the absolute most out of your sectional
(11:06):
densities and your focal planes and what have you. However,
pushback is growing as the shots on animals get farther
and farther away. In twenty eighteen, a hunter in Fremont County,
Wyoming recorded to himself killing an antelope from one nine
hundred and fifty four yards away, prompting an outcry from
the legislature to limit long distance hunting. But how far
(11:27):
is too far? Shots that seemed outlandish and unethical with
iron sights in nineteen fifty five are layups for many
people with magnified optics in twenty twenty five. Part of
the issue here is, of course, fair chase, giving an
animal the chance to use its senses and wits to
stay alive. If a hunter can stay so far away
that there's no chance of an animal seeing or hearing
(11:48):
anything suspicious, then the interaction that defines hunting breaks down.
When does it become just kill them. Part of the
skill of hunting, the fun of it, is developing the
ability to get in close and a lot can change
between when a bullet leaves a muzzle and when it
arrives at its destination several seconds later. In the case
of our two thousand yard shooter, even if you were
(12:10):
theoretically able to hit a tick feeding right over deer's
vitals at a half mile, that deer could take a
couple steps and walk that tick and its vitals right
out of the target area. Still, everything I'm talking about
is ethics. It's a different story to codify that stuff
into law. Do we say five hundred yards is legal
and five oh one is illegal? For you non shooters
(12:33):
out there, that's not much of a difference. Require everyone
to submit their rangefinder read out with their harvest tags.
How do we regulate something like this? States have been
trying to do this for years. I'm not sure we'll
see good legislation come out of this topic tomorrow, but
it's good to be talking about this stuff, figuring out
together what our ethics should be. As we've talked about many,
(12:57):
many times, this is why you see technology regulation because
the people regulation is hard to put in paper. The
North Carolina legislature is considering a bill that could have
a significant impact on the Tarheel State Fishery House Bill
four four to two would do two things. First, it
would restore a six week recreational fishing season for southern
(13:19):
flounder and allow year round fishing for red snapper. That
provision passed the House by a wide margin, but when
it was sent to the Senate, legislators added a much
more controversial amendment. Their version of the bill bans commercial
fishermen from using trial nets to harvest shrimp from any
coastal waters within a half mile of the shoreline. Trial
nets are large nets that are dragged along the bottom
(13:41):
of the ocean. It's an easy way to harvest shrimp,
but conservationists point out that tralink can have negative impacts
on marine environments. They catch and often kill non target
species and destroy the natural habitat on the seafloor. But
opponents of the bill say banning the practice will destroy
the state's shrimping industry and make the seafood more expensive.
(14:02):
The Senate version passed that chamber by a wide margin,
and now it heads to the House. Finally, in South Dakota,
the Department of Game Fishing Parks has announced a plan
to suspend beaver trapping for all of the twenty twenty
five and twenty twenty six seasons in the Black Hills
Fire Protection District in the westernmost part of the state.
Trapping elsewhere will be unaffected. Beaver numbers have historically been
(14:26):
thriving in the Black Hills area, but that's changed in
the past decade or so. According to the news outlet
The South Dakota Searchlight, fifty two percent of watersheds in
the Black Hills had active beaver populations in twenty twelve,
but that number had fallen to twenty three percent by
twenty twenty three. By all, just blame a cycle of
habitat damage for the decline. Once cattle traffic breaks down,
(14:47):
riverbanks beavers have less willow and aspen trees to depend on.
Beavers then build fewer dams, which causes rivers to run faster,
which in turn makes it even harder to build dams.
The Department of Game, Fishing Parks hopes that the two
year pause will allow reintroduce beavers to gain a foothold
in the area and start turning that cycle in the
other direction. The state legislature's Rules Review Committee still needs
(15:10):
to approve the measure, so South Dakotin's bother your reps
to have them pay attention to this one. Over to
the waterhouserd Desk, a new ultra luxury golf resort has
been playing fast and loose with irrigation rules over in
the Shields Valley of Montana, just about an hour up
(15:31):
the road from Meat Eater headquarters. Crazy Mountain Rancher CMR
for short, was purchased in twenty twenty one by Cross
Harbor Capital Partners. That's a long name for a local rancher,
isn't it, The private equity firm who also owns the
Yellowstone Club and other swanky retreats that have transformed the
nearby Big Sky Valley. In September of twenty four, CMR
(15:51):
had its soft opening where players got to try out
the new course co designed by golf legend Ben Crenshaw.
Must be a hell of a golfer, but I've never
heard of the guy. Sounds like a fun time, but
there was a hitch. Crazy Mountain Ranch had installed pipes
and we're pumping water out of nearby Rock Creek to
irrigate the greens without any of the necessary permits to
do so. For folks who don't know why this is
(16:12):
the problem? Water flows downhill to your neighbor. The club
had applied for water rights from the Department of Natural
Resources and Conservation the previous year, but instead of waiting
for approval, a process that takes everyone else a couple
of years, Crazy Mountain turned on the taps rather than
let the sod die. Not only that, but CMR also
changed the diversion point of Rock Creek, pumping that water
(16:33):
over a ridge to reach their greens, and storing water
at Rainbow Lake, which is designated only for wildlife. Again
without approvals. The club has even withdrawn its previous water
rights applications, and no new applications have been submitted. Why
would you need to apply for what you already stole.
You'd think this bad behavior would have consequences, but in
(16:54):
November of last year, the Park County Conservation District determined
that no action was required, that no fine would be
levied for the violations. Locals, as you can imagine, are
pretty teed off. That's a golf joke. Downstream landowner Tim
Sundling told the Billings Gazette. The bottom line is the
rules are the same for everybody. It doesn't matter if
(17:15):
you're the entitled or simply country folk leaning on their shovel.
Neighboring rancher Scott Knutson has gone further, filing an official
objection with the DNRC. Right now is prime water demand
season in the West for golf courses, for egg land,
for ranchers, not to mention for the fish and wildlife
who depend on the streams and lakes. We're arguing about
(17:36):
there's likely not enough to go around if anyone takes
more than their fair share. So what are the enforcement
options to get CMR to play by the rules. The
DNRC is authorized to fine water use violators one thousand
dollars a day, but it's hard to tell if they're
willing to do so. Even if they did, a few
hundred grand is a pretty minor expense on CMR's balance sheet.
(17:56):
A court could issue a cease and desist order, and
county attorney or stated journey could sue to halt the
unlawful use. But would that ever lead to the authorities
sending work crews out to shut off and lock CMR's
pipes well. The Montana Free Press interviewed rich Sarazen, a
water deputy who travels the county documenting water use and
working with the district court to enforce the standing water rights.
(18:19):
He said, quote everything will be shut down going to
Rainbow Lake, and it'll all be shut down going to
the golf course for the remainder of the summer. That's
my job. I got to do the dirty work. It's
not going to be easy, but they're going to have
to follow it. Otherwise I can get law enforcement involved
and we can settle issues. That way. Things up there
(18:39):
could really end up in the rough this summer. See,
I know golf guys try to keep up. Of course,
the bigger issue here is precedent. If crazy Mountain Ranch
can abuse water rights this way and walk away without
a scratch, what's to stop them and other similar developers
from doing the same or worse in the future. We
don't have good enforcement options to correct CMR's water abuses,
(19:02):
in part because the kind of landowner buying properties across
the West is changing from mostly agricultural uses to resorts
or private hunting preserves. Legacy landowners like farmers and ranchers
know they can't step too far out of line on
water use without facing social consequences. Because they're parts of
the community. They use the same water sources, they call
the same fire department, They see each other in church.
(19:25):
The landowners like Crazy Mountain Ranch don't have that same interdependence.
In fact, CMR has its own separate fire department, even
its own private airport. What happens this summer with this
local water use issue has implications across the region. Organizations
like Trout Unlimited and the Egg Council have been keeping
their eye on the issue and working on legislation to
(19:45):
strengthen oversight for this newer kind of water user. So
as always, it's a good thing to support those folks
whose job it is to watch out for the rest
of us. Let's just hope those downstream users don't get
the shaft all summer long, which is kind of a
golf joke. Big thanks to Rachel Penders for sending this
one in to Keegan Nation, for speaking to us further,
(20:08):
and for the great reporting of Brett French and the
Buildings Gazette and Amanda Eggert in the Montana Free Press.
Moving on to the survey desk, a brand spank and
new survey from the Council to advance hunting in the
shooting sports has found that Americans support for hunters remained strong,
but there's a catch. The study surveyed a sample of
US residents and asked them a battery of questions about
(20:30):
their views and opinions around hunting. It found that while
seventy three percent of respondent strongly or moderately approved of
legal hunting and in general, that support dropped to just
thirty two percent if the hunter's primary reason was quote
for a trophy. However, if the hunter was going out
primarily to acquire meat, get locally sourced food, or help
(20:51):
control wildlife populations, support for hunting actually increased to eighty one,
eighty and seventy nine percent, respectively. This indicates, as the
studies authors point out, quote Americans are generally supportive of
outdoor traditions when they serve a clear, constructive purpose. That
makes sense, but I was still surprised at a few
(21:12):
of the other findings. Only thirty nine percent of respondents
said they approved of mount lion hunting, which is actually
a lower percentage than for grizzly bears or black bears.
I'm not surprised that people opposed mount lion hunting, but
at first glance, this number doesn't jive with what we
saw in Colorado in November last year, nearly fifty five
percent of Colorado's voted against a lion hunting ban. For
(21:34):
those counting, that's fourteen percent higher than those who, according
to the survey, say they support hunting for cougars. But
here's what's interesting. This survey also found that fourteen percent
of respondents neither approve nor disapprove of lion hunting. To me,
that means the effort in Colorado to oppose the hunting
ban convince those people in the middle. These folks might
(21:56):
not want to hunt cougars themselves, but our efforts last
year were enough to persuade them that they shouldn't ban
the practice. For the rest of us, that's encouraging as
we try to defeat similar bans in other states, or
even the effort to sell off public land. A person
doesn't have to be personally invested in something to agree
that we shouldn't get rid of it. Anyway, support for
(22:17):
hunting in general has declined from a high of eighty
one percent in twenty twenty one. The hunting community was
still enjoying some post COVID support that year, but it
looks like the COVID bump might truly be over. Still,
support for hunting hasn't dropped significantly since last year, and
we still enjoy broad support from the non hunting public.
If you ask me, we should do everything we can
(22:39):
in our power to keep it that way. Everything I
kill is a trophy, bird, buck, bull fish, whatever, I stick,
all sorts of antlers on the wall, most of which
I'll tell you your rank and firell member of the real
Trophy Hunters Club wouldn't really know what I was doing.
(23:00):
That little scraggly buck a first timer kills is a trophy,
as are the tenderloins and the heart and the liver
and the pan. We've got to do a better job
of telling that story. Gain. Speaking of hunting support, we're
gonna stay with shoring up. By returning briefly to the
legislative desk, a new crossbow bill has bolted through the
New York State Assembly and State Senate and is now
(23:22):
headed for Governor Kathy Hochel's desk. Advocates say it's a
significant step in bringing more new hunters into the fold.
The bill, SO six three six zero, would recategorize crossbows
as archery equipment and allow them to be used during
all archery seasons in the state. Now I've gone on
record with my reservations about crossbows. They are significantly more
(23:42):
effective means of taking than vertical bows, which makes me
hesitant about allowing them during the longer seasons reserved for archery.
Many states have seasons set aside just for crossbows, which
is another good option. And you know, personally, a recurve
bows as advanced as I get with my aerosol in
tech these days, unless I'm out there kicking butt at
(24:02):
the Shields Archery event. All you Shields folks can speak
up on that behalf. I think I got ten thousand points,
which was a big deal because I think three thousand
was only possible. It's a talent anyway. Proponents think the
bill will give a significant boost to hunter recruitment. Barriers
to entry for new hunters are high no matter where
you are, but in places like New York City they're
(24:24):
even higher. Owning and practicing with firearms is close to impossible,
and learning to use a vertical bow is a tall
order for any newbie who spends more time on the
subway than on the back forty. But getting someone proficient
enough with a crossbow to hit a deer's vitals at
twenty yards is a lot more doable, and once a
mentee has downed an animal, participated in the dressing and
(24:47):
butchering process, and eaten that first trophy meal, they're much
more likely to take on all the other challenges necessary
to become a self sufficient hunter. The mentoring organization Hunters
of Color in New York's BHA chapter, were in strumental
in getting this bill through the legislature, along with the
New York's Crossbow Coalition. I know some of my listeners
might not want their city slicker neighbors in their hunting spots,
(25:09):
thank you very much. But the more people who get
out and use public lands and connect with the wildlife,
the more phone calls happen when we have a crisis
like the recent land sale fiasco and the One Big
Beautiful Bill. If elected officials from cities are hearing from
their constituents about these issues, the more they can influence
policy for everyone who wants to go outside on land
(25:29):
we all own from out in the remote back country
all the way down on the stream access point near
the train station. If we can accomplish that by loosening
the rules on crossbows in this time and place, it
might be worth it. So Empire Staters contact Governor Kathy
Hochel and make sure your voices are heard either yea
or nay on this one bill number so six three
(25:51):
six zero. Moving on to the what's that aftertaste desk?
Our fake meat desk has been quiet recently, but new
developments this month have really made a splash. Lab grown
salmon produced by the company wild Type recently received FDA
approval and was served to diners at the Portland, Oregon
(26:11):
restaurant con wild Type is touting the fact that this
isn't any old salmon, but rather quote unquote saku or
sashimi grade fish, the real primo stuff. Wild Type's product
will be served at four more restaurants this summer. Although
other lab grown beef and chicken has received FDA approval
in the past, this is the first cultured seafood and
(26:31):
we're not talking fish who took art history in college.
Wild Type extracts living cells from Pacific salmon, then propagates
more cells in a tank through a process they compare
to fermenting yogurt. They then use vegetable derived structuring agents
to give the proteins something like the structure of fish.
There are a lot of unknowns here, and some more
(26:52):
fringe outlets have questioned the safety of the process. But
it seems like it ain't gonna kill you. You listeners know,
I've taken a hard stance skin's lab grown beef in
the past. If consumers get even more divorced from where
their food comes from plastic cup versus the ocean in
this case, then they start caring even less about protecting
the land or water around us. Cows not condos, as
(27:15):
the slogan goes, but fish present a bit of a
different question Overfishing is a significant problem around the world.
According to the United Nations, one third of the world's
assessed fisheries are now being exploited past their biological limits.
Wild caught fish, especially those farther up the food chain,
now carry more contaminants and microplastics than ever Aquaculture seafood
(27:36):
farming also has significant drawbacks. Fish who live right on
top of each other don't end up very healthy and
can also carry significant levels of mercury and PCBs. The
waste from fish farms is often flushed into local waterways,
and the inputs for fish farms. Other smaller fish also
contribute to overfishing. It's a tough problem to crack, so
maybe another alternative for people looking to eat fish without
(27:59):
some of these downsides could be worth exploring. And maybe
fish sell slurry bonded to vegetable mesh tastes better than
it sounds. Little soy sauce and with sabi can't be
all that bad. I want to know what you think
about all the above. As per usual, Gang right in
to ask c A L. That's asscal at the meat
eater dot com. Let me know what's going on in
(28:20):
your neck of the woods. Stay engaged, Gang, I'm proud
of you. I appreciate you weighing in on this public
lands fight. If you got plenty happening, more to go
let me know what you want to talk about. Thanks again,
I'll talk to you next week.
Host
Cal Callaghan
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
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.