Putting the "Public" Back In "Public Trust"

NOTE: Since the EMWH Newsletter has grown to over 700 subscribers, causing a problem for the regular mail server, I needed to migrate the Newsletter to their bulk mail server. Hence the problem with this newsletter net getting through on Nov. 26th. I have spent the time following getting the migration accomplished with the program coding. This will ensure better delivery and increased security. We have a lot of Public Trust issues already piling up for this next legislature we need to be ready to network.  I updated the Bullwhacker Access Road information below that took place while I was migrating.


Public Lands
Bullwhacker Access Route Update
The scoping meetings in Great Falls, Chinook, and Lewistown, took place on Dec. 2-4. There is not a BLM webpage with the scoping information presented at the 3 meetings or for the general public that is interested. So here is the Bullwhacker Access Route map that was handed out with the proposed alternatives that they are seeking public comments on for the EA. Please take the time to submit a comment (address below).

Of alternatives 2 & 3, the roads west and east of the Wilks property (white section), the cost to build the access road to restore access to the Bullwhacker would be about 2x for the west. So the better route environmentally and economically would be Alternative 3 - East Bullwhacker Access Road.

For more information, contact Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument Manager Mike Kania (406) 538-1950. If you have comments or an option for the BLM to consider, you may send an email to blm_mt_public_access@blm.gov.
 
High-stakes suit pits ranchers against water-sampling greens
" 'The apparent goal of SLAPPs is to stop citizens from exercising their political rights or to punish them for having done so,' wrote University of Denver Sturm College of Law professor George Pring, who defined the term, in 1989. 'SLAPPs send a clear message: that there is a "price" for speaking out politically. The price is a multimillion-dollar lawsuit and expenses, lost resources, and emotional stress such litigation brings.'

Recognizing the meritless nature of such litigation, 28 states and the District of Columbia have passed some form of anti-SLAPP law. They typically allow a defendant to make a motion to identify the suit as meritless early and get it dismissed. No such law exists in Wyoming."

Wyden, Burr, 39 Other Senators Urge Funding Solution for LWCF
"The Land and Water Conservation Fund guarantees a prosperous and vital future for the next generation while preserving our uniquely American way of life across this nation," the senators wrote in the letter. "Accordingly, we urge you to enact a permanent and comprehensive solution for this vital program before the 113^th Congress adjourns."
 
A no-brainer to nowhere by Jack Jones and Jack Atcheson Sr.
"The state of Montana, the state Land Board adopted the Land Banking Program (77-2-361-367, M.C.A.) several years ago to sell state trust land even today. The state school trust lands are also public lands to be managed under the multiple-use concept, an M.C.A. statute. Selling, ridding us of any public lands federal or state, has serious consequences. Of utmost importance to Montana, every acre of these lands provides habitat for some form of wildlife as well as plant communities necessary to support these species. This habitat must remain in tact and not subject to land use change and sold."

Judge to Utah public lands protest leader: pick an attorney
"A judge has given the ringleader of a public lands protest in southern Utah a deadline for proving he needs a public defender.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Evelyn Furse ordered San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman to pick either an attorney provided by federal taxpayers or a private defense attorney by Nov. 26...The U.S. Attorney’s Office of Utah had raised questions about Lyman’s need for a public defender, given his $50,000 salary and benefits package from the county and his ownership of an accounting company and investment firm with $2.3 million in assets."

Public Wildlife
Range health, gut pile issues targeted on bison partners tour by Laura Lunquist
"When asked for suggestions rather than complaints, Kathryn QannaYahu suggested installing bear-proof bins where hunters could at least deposit birthing materials and unborn calves because they could potentially spread brucellosis to other bison or elk."

Please see the threat these gut piles pose, not only to other bison and elk, but to Montana's livestock industry. Montana's "Brucellosis Breeding" Wyoming Feedground.
At the Interagency Bison Management Plan partners at the Nov. meeting at Chico, Montana's State Veterinarian, Dr. Marty Zalusky, has repeatedly advocated for hunting in Yellowstone National Park, as if that would take care of "the bison issue". Zaluski's job description, defined by Montana Code Annotated and the Administrative Rules of Montana is to manage disease to protect the livestock industry and its marketability, not advocating the overturning of the Lacey Act so that more bison will be whacked and not enter into Montana.

Administrative Rules of Montana, under the Disease section:

32.3.125    DISPOSAL OF CARCASSES

(1) Carcasses of animals that have died from other causes than anthrax must be disposed of in a satisfactory manner so as not to become a public nuisance or a menace to livestock or poultry. Carcasses of dead animals may not be disposed of along public highways, streams, lakes, or rivers, or allowed to remain on the ground surface so as to become a public nuisance or a menace to livestock or poultry.

Conservation groups ask Obama administration to protect Yellowstone bison by Laura Zuckerman
"Two conservation groups asked the Obama administration on Thursday to provide Endangered Species Act protections for about 4,900 bison at Yellowstone National Park, where managers intend to cull the herd by 900 this winter.

Buffalo Field Campaign and Western Watersheds Project said in a petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that buffalo at the park that spans parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho made up part of the only free-roaming band in the country to retain its genetic integrity."

Supporting Bison Quarantine Betrays Commitment to Wildlife Defense by Stephany Seay
"Five years into the quarantine program, Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks had made little effort to find a place for these buffalo once they 'graduated' (their term) the study. Slaughter was threatened, even though there were numerous tracts of public lands in Montana where they could have gone, and numerous tribes had expressed great interest. MFWP rejected all of these options. Ted Turner agreed to house 87 of them in exchange for keeping 75% of their offspring, a hotly contested deal made by Montana which, because it violates the public trust, was litigated by Buffalo Field Campaign, Western Watersheds Project and a few other wild bison advocates."

[UPDATED] Montana bighorn sheep to stay in state
"The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission Thursday authorized Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to transplant bighorn sheep from the Missouri River Breaks to the Highlands area near Butte and the Beartooth Game Range north of Helena. The vote came despite continued assertions from the agency that the areas would serve only as a 'dumping' ground for excess sheep from the Breaks, and that a request to move the sheep to establish a new population in South Dakota would be preferred."

Wildlife wilderness migration comes alive in video mapping project
"Kauffman’s dream comes true in a video 'Wyoming’s Big Game Migrations and 50 Years of Wilderness,' which depicts the importance of wilderness to the migrations of bighorn sheep, mule deer, elk, moose and pronghorn antelope. The five-minute piece may not be groundbreaking science, but it could be a breakthrough in conveying scientific information to the public."

Wyoming's Big Game Migrations and 50 Years of Wilderness - Vimeo

Hunter generosity overflows food bank freezers by Laura Lundquist
Thanksgiving is a time for celebrating good fortune, though not all Montanans have much to celebrate. But thanks to a few programs, fortunate hunters are sharing their bounty to help low-income Montanans feel a little less hungry.

I would like to thank the following contributors for supporting EMWH. Your gift is very much appreciated.
Brad Croad

 

Thank you,
Kathryn QannaYahu
406-579-7748
www.emwh.org

07/12/2014
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