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Speaker 1: From Mediators World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This is

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Speaker 1: Cal's wee Can Review, presented by Steel Steel products are

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Speaker 1: available only at authorized dealers. For more, go to Steel

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Speaker 1: Dealers dot com. Now here's your host, Ryan cal Callahan.

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Speaker 1: Investigators with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife are

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Speaker 1: trying to determine whether a club wielding mailman illegally killed

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Speaker 1: what one official described as quote the biggest turkey I

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Speaker 1: have ever seen. Someone has been feeding turkeys in the

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Speaker 1: West Sacramento neighborhood of Arden Arcade, and residents reported all

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Speaker 1: the way back in October that these birds have been

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Speaker 1: terrorizing mail carriers. It's unclear what's motivating this dislike of

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Speaker 1: postal workers, but one resident told local media that the

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Speaker 1: turkeys attack ups employees along with mail met. These brave

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Speaker 1: delivery drivers have tried kicking the birds, hitting them with

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Speaker 1: mail bags, and spraying them with pepper spray, but to

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Speaker 1: no avail. One mail carrier apparently decided to send a

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Speaker 1: message to those birds so they wouldn't forget. This person,

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Speaker 1: who officials have not yet identified, took a club or

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Speaker 1: stick and beat a thirty pound tom to death. They

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Speaker 1: left it on the side of the road, and Fish

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Speaker 1: and Wildlife officials came by later to pick it up.

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Speaker 1: Patrick Foy of California Fish and Wildlife has been awarded

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Speaker 1: for twenty five years, and in an interview with local

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Speaker 1: media described it as the biggest turkey he'd ever seen.

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Speaker 1: As you might expect, the incident has divided the neighborhood.

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Speaker 1: Some think the turkey had it coming. Others said they

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Speaker 1: were quote just really upset. Investigators are asking for any

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Speaker 1: doorbell or security camera footage that might give them insight

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Speaker 1: into the incident. They're trying to figure out whether the

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Speaker 1: turkey was attacking the mail carrier when it got whacked,

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Speaker 1: in which case the carrier could claim self defense, or

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Speaker 1: whether the attack was more of a preemptive strike. I'm

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Speaker 1: no lawyer, but I have chased a few turkeys, and

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Speaker 1: guess what, if you're chasing them, they can't be caught

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Speaker 1: unless you have a shotgun, not a stick. Anyway, it's

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Speaker 1: legal in the state of California to kill an animal

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Speaker 1: in self defense as long as the action taken is

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Speaker 1: reasonably necessary to prevent serious harm or death and it's

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Speaker 1: not filmed on Instagram. If that's not what happened, this

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Speaker 1: person could run into trouble with both animal cruelty laws

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Speaker 1: and game regulations. California spring turkey season doesn't start until March,

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Speaker 1: and a stick or a club is definitely not a

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Speaker 1: legal means of take because the mayor never stops. It

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Speaker 1: just keeps coming and coming and coming. There's never a

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Speaker 1: let up. It's relentless. Every day that pile outs up

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Speaker 1: more and more and more than you come to get

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Speaker 1: it up, and the more you get out, the mark

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Speaker 1: keeps coming in and then they break to just clearing out.

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Speaker 1: This week we've got good bills, bad bills, and COVID deer.

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Speaker 1: But first I'm gonna tell you about my week. I

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Speaker 1: went down to Omaha, Nebraska, where this year's Pheasant and

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Speaker 1: Quail Forever Annual Meeting was held. Had a great time.

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Speaker 1: There was a bird dog parade, lots of shotguns, and

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Speaker 1: just want to say that I have never been so

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Speaker 1: happy to be in a room full of biologists, ecologists,

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Speaker 1: and soil experts. I learned a lot, met a ton

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Speaker 1: of new folks, and I'm just you know, looking forward

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Speaker 1: to return visit. It's in Minneapolis next year. Book your

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Speaker 1: tickets now, I don't think you can. If you do,

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Speaker 1: don't go through ticket Master. One of the highlights for

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Speaker 1: me was being able to have a bunch of questions

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Speaker 1: answered regarding the North American National Grasslands Conservation Act. Howard Vincent,

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Speaker 1: CEO of Pheasants and Quail Forever Lantani, CEO of b

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Speaker 1: h A, Joel Webster, Western VP of trc P, Sean

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Speaker 1: Grassel of the Buffalo Nations Grasslands Alliance, which is a

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Speaker 1: coalition of sixteen tribes, and Ted Cook, President of North

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Speaker 1: American Grouse Partnership. We're all excellent speakers, and I was

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Speaker 1: truly impressed by their passions for these incredibly important ecosystems.

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Speaker 1: Something to look forward to, the North American Grasslands Conservation Act. Ideally,

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Speaker 1: this is going to fit in between the Farm Bill

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Speaker 1: and the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. Dedicated funding for

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Speaker 1: the restoration and conservation of grasslands. Big bucks, tons of birds,

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Speaker 1: incredible biological diversity, pollinators come in this amazing package of huge,

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Speaker 1: drought tolerant, fire resistant, carbon sequestraing ecosystems, which is our grasslands.

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Speaker 1: This week, for our legislation update, we're bringing you important

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Speaker 1: new developments on some bills we've covered in weeks past.

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Speaker 1: First up, we've got Wyoming Bill s F six one,

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Speaker 1: which I for at the mouth about back in episode

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Speaker 1: You remember this one, the continuing the certification of Greater

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Speaker 1: Sage grouse Farms, which allows in the street to get

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Speaker 1: off the hook for damage to grouse habitat by just

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Speaker 1: buying a bunch of birds and doing nothing for the habitat.

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Speaker 1: But we know that they just don't survive without the habitat,

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Speaker 1: and dumping them on the landscape to feed coyotes isn't

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Speaker 1: going to help the bird. As of March eleven, s

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Speaker 1: F six one had rocketed through the Wyoming legislature, passing

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Speaker 1: the House by forty four votes to fifteen and passing

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Speaker 1: the Senate one. That means that as of this recording,

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Speaker 1: the bill is on Governor Mark Gordon's desk waiting for

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Speaker 1: his signature or veto. By the time you hear this,

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Speaker 1: that bill may already be a law, but the game

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Speaker 1: isn't over until Gordon signs it. And wouldn't it be

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Speaker 1: fun to help him make the right decision? Called the

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Speaker 1: governor at three oh seven seven seven seven seven three

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Speaker 1: four and ask him to kindly veto s f six

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Speaker 1: one and do something for habitat if you know he

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Speaker 1: actually cares about restoring the Greater Sage grouse. Back in

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Speaker 1: episode one for six, we highlighted Kentucky HP three, which

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Speaker 1: would have removed the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife

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Speaker 1: from the executive branch and would have allowed the Department

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Speaker 1: of Agriculture to appoint four of the nine Fish and

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Speaker 1: Wildlife commissioners. Good news, as of March eight, that bill

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Speaker 1: has been withdrawn. Idaho HB five zero seven allowing lighted

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Speaker 1: knocks and expandable broadheads. This one was signed by Governor

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Speaker 1: Brad Little on March seven. We're glad Idahoans can use

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Speaker 1: this technology now. However, we're pretty discouraged by the precedent

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Speaker 1: of having this kind of change set down as law

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Speaker 1: rather than instituted as easily changed regulation. I'm waiting on

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Speaker 1: pins and needles to see what else big government can

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Speaker 1: do for Idaho hunters. We have a trio of wins

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Speaker 1: on legislation we covered in Vermont. Spe would have moved

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Speaker 1: control of the state Fish and Wildlife Board over to

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Speaker 1: the state legislature, which has shown itself to be very

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Speaker 1: anti hunting in the past. Sbe has been set aside

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Speaker 1: for this session, so although it's not fully dead, it

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Speaker 1: has been significantly slowed down and we'll have more time

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Speaker 1: to organize against it if it re emerges. Vermont Bill

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Speaker 1: s B to eight one was written as a full

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Speaker 1: ban on coyote hunting with hounds, but the bill has

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Speaker 1: now been significantly amended after input from the hunting community.

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Speaker 1: It now would impose a moratorium on hound hunting for

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Speaker 1: coyotes until Fish and Wildlife establishes new guidelines to resolve

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Speaker 1: conflict between hunters and landowners. One of the big issues

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Speaker 1: here has been hounds going on to private property and

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Speaker 1: raising a ruckus. Now, if the new SP two eight

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Speaker 1: one becomes law, hound hunters would need to get a permit,

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Speaker 1: but they would not be required to get prior written

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Speaker 1: permission from landowners. You might be getting the idea that

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Speaker 1: the evolution of this bill represents something almost unheard of

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Speaker 1: in contemporary political life, compromise. So we'll keep watching this

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Speaker 1: one with our fingers and as crossed. We might not

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Speaker 1: get absolutely everything we want, but sometimes making your voice

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Speaker 1: heard moves a bill towards a sane middle ground. Finally,

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Speaker 1: from the Green Mountain State, s B two zero one

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Speaker 1: set out to ban all foothold traps, no exceptions, but

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Speaker 1: the bill that came out of the Natural Resources and

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Speaker 1: Energy Committee would only require trappers to follow National Best

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Speaker 1: Management Practices, or b MPs, which were written by the

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Speaker 1: Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies in cooperation with trapping groups.

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Speaker 1: Most trappers already followed the b MPs, and the bill

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Speaker 1: gives all trappers time to get traps consistent with BMP guidelines. Again,

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Speaker 1: we don't know if it will pass, but it would

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Speaker 1: be a workable solution to a contentious issue. Two cheers

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Speaker 1: for Vermont. In Virginia, we are happy to report that

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Speaker 1: s B eight allowing Sunday hunting has passed both the

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Speaker 1: House and the Senate. Looks like that is set to

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Speaker 1: be signed, but called Governor Young ken at eight oh

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Speaker 1: four seven eight six to two one one, just to

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Speaker 1: be safe, say hey, appreciate what you're doing. Also in Virginia,

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Speaker 1: two bills looking to limit the right to retrieve of

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Speaker 1: hound hunters died in committee. HB one three three one

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Speaker 1: would have suspended anyone with a trespassing conviction from right

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Speaker 1: to retrieve for five years, and HB one three four

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Speaker 1: four would have required you to attempt to notify landowners

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Speaker 1: before going on to their property to retrieve a dog

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Speaker 1: if contact info was posted. The sponsor of the failed bills,

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Speaker 1: Republican Delegate James Edmonds, said quote, this is not the

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Speaker 1: rural Virginia of fifty years ago. There is a higher

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Speaker 1: sensitivity today for private property rights than in years past.

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Speaker 1: Just as in Vermont, dogs near private property get you

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Speaker 1: into conflict. We'll see how that conflict is managed in

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Speaker 1: the years to come. Gosh, still seems like being a

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Speaker 1: good neighbor would go a long way. M hmm. Iowa

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Speaker 1: Bill SP three one three four, which would end Iowa's

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Speaker 1: ability to put land into conservation easement by reducing the

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Speaker 1: amount the state could pay to a fraction of what

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Speaker 1: the land is worth. That bill passed out of the

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Speaker 1: Natural Resources and Environmental Committee and has now changed number

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Speaker 1: to s F two three one two. The change in

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Speaker 1: the bill number makes it harder to keep track of.

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Speaker 1: I hope that's not intentional. S F two three one

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Speaker 1: two is now on the calendar for a full legislature vote.

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Speaker 1: So call your reps and make a stink about s

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Speaker 1: F two three one two. Habitat and wildlife would take

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Speaker 1: a major hit in Iowa if this one passes and

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Speaker 1: it puts those private property rights, the right to do

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Speaker 1: with our land what we want in a real pinch,

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Speaker 1: you know, I can go on free market economy, folks,

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Speaker 1: So don't let that one slide. That's it for our

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Speaker 1: where they now segment up next British Columbia. A two

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Speaker 1: thousand only one legal ruling established that the province had

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Speaker 1: infringed on the Treaty eight rites of the Blueberry River

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Speaker 1: First Nations People by allowing industrial development to damage the forest, lands,

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Speaker 1: water fish and wildlife of the area. We have no

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Speaker 1: issue with the court ruling, but new regulations being introduced

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Speaker 1: as a remedy to the violation our way off base.

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Speaker 1: The BC government has proposed closing all caribou hunting in

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Speaker 1: Regions seven B and establishing a limited entry hunt for moose,

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Speaker 1: which seeks to reduce moose harvest by fifty percent. Other

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Speaker 1: similar restrictions we've covered in the past target nonresident hunters,

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Speaker 1: but these rules in Regions seven B specifically limit resident

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Speaker 1: hunting opportunity. You may notice a bit of a mismatch

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Speaker 1: between diagnosis and solution here. How does ending hunts address

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Speaker 1: habitat damage caused by industry, how does it restore that habitat.

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Speaker 1: BC's own data shows healthy populations of both moose and

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Speaker 1: cariboo in this area, and current hunting seasons and limits

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Speaker 1: have had no demonstrable impacts on the populations of these animals.

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Speaker 1: How does ending hunts address a treaty violation? The comment

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Speaker 1: period for these proposals ends on March twenty three, that

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Speaker 1: is three short days from now. BC back Country Hunters

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Speaker 1: and Anglers has a great right up on this issue

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Speaker 1: and the link to the province form where you can

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Speaker 1: register your opposition. Pause this podcast now navigate over to

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Speaker 1: the website of the British Columbia Chapter of back Country

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Speaker 1: Hunters and Anglers and get your name on record against

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Speaker 1: the proposed changes to the Peace Regions seven B hunting regulations.

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Speaker 1: Big thanks to Hunter Mayor and Jason Hatter for writing

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Speaker 1: in about that one. A recent study from Brigham Young

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Speaker 1: University has confirmed the intelligence of ungulates during honey season.

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Speaker 1: Elk move away from hunting pressure on public land to

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Speaker 1: the safety of private land. The b y U team

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Speaker 1: captured four forty i've elk and the Washsatch Mountains in

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Speaker 1: central Utah starting in two thousand fifteen, and gave each

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Speaker 1: of them a GPS collar that reports its position every

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Speaker 1: thirteen hours. The scientists then washed what happened when the

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Speaker 1: hunter showed up. Rock McMillan, senior author on the study, said, quote,

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Speaker 1: it's crazy. On the opening day of the hunt, they

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Speaker 1: move and on the closing day they moved back. By

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Speaker 1: the height of rifle hunting season, time spent by elk

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Speaker 1: on public land decreased by over then rebounded to normal

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Speaker 1: after the season ended. You might be tempted to file

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Speaker 1: this one under in for no crap. Many of you

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Speaker 1: have come to this same conclusion with unpunched tags as

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Speaker 1: your data set, and in fact, this phenomenon, known as

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Speaker 1: the refuge effect, has been well documented for years. But

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Speaker 1: what makes the b YU study relevant for you is

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Speaker 1: what happened when a key variable changed. You See, in

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Speaker 1: two thousand fifteen, before private land hunting permits were granted

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Speaker 1: in the study area, elk spent only of their time

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Speaker 1: on public land. After hunters were granted access to private land,

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Speaker 1: elk spent forty two percent of their time on public land.

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Speaker 1: Wherever they're elk, they're often the same complainants, All these

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Speaker 1: hunters are chasing the damn elk away. All these damn

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Speaker 1: elk are coming onto my private property and eating me

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Speaker 1: out of house at home. So this study gives key

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Speaker 1: scientific support for states expanding programs like Montana's block management system,

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Speaker 1: which gives hunters more access to private land while compensating

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Speaker 1: landowners for that access. The study also demonstrates that private

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Speaker 1: land hunting will also make the hunting better on public land.

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Speaker 1: So if your state does not have a program like

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Speaker 1: this where public can get access to private land, or

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Speaker 1: you think that program could be expanded, call up your

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Speaker 1: fishing Game agency and tell them to go read Reducing

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Speaker 1: the Refuge Effect in the February two thowy two issue

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Speaker 1: of the Journal of Wildlife Management, and then follow up

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Speaker 1: with these people and make sure that they know that

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Speaker 1: it's public access to private ground that actually like causes

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Speaker 1: the elk to run back onto public ground because there's

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Speaker 1: many ways to hunt on private ground that can you know,

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Speaker 1: hoard the elk instead of move the elk moving on

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Speaker 1: to the toxic avenger desk. We've known about deer infected

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Speaker 1: with COVID since last summer, but scientists in Canada recently

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Speaker 1: turned up what might be the first case of a

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Speaker 1: deer passing COVID to a person. Last fall, researchers swabbed

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Speaker 1: the noses of three hundred white tales killed by hunters

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Speaker 1: near London, Ontario. Six percent of those deer tested positive

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Speaker 1: for COVID, which blows my mind. I mean, a lot

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Speaker 1: of cities closed schools when the human case rate hit three.

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Speaker 1: These deer obviously didn't follow quarantine protocols. Anyway, their surprises

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Speaker 1: kept on coming. The genetic signature of this particular COVID

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Speaker 1: mutation was very unusual. When they compared this infection to

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Speaker 1: human cases in the same area over the same time span,

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Speaker 1: they turned up a person with this same extremely unusual

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Speaker 1: COVID mutation who had been in proximity to deer, which

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Speaker 1: seems to suggest that the servants infected the human. It

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Speaker 1: turns out that very similar variants had also turned up

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Speaker 1: two years ago in mink and humans in Michigan, right

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Speaker 1: next door to London, Ontario. Although the sample sizes are

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Speaker 1: too small to document the exact means of transmission, it

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Speaker 1: seems likely that mink and deer in this case served

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Speaker 1: as so called reservoir species catching COVID from people developing

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Speaker 1: unusual variations and then passing it back. We know that

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Speaker 1: the mink and question were captive mink, and it seems

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Speaker 1: very probable that the deer in question in the Ontario

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Speaker 1: case were part of a captive operation as well. The

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Speaker 1: captive deer may have spread this variant to this one

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Speaker 1: person as well as to a lot of their wild kin.

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Speaker 1: This kind of back and forth transmission from people to animals,

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Speaker 1: to livestock back again is actually very common avian flu,

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Speaker 1: swine flu ebola, you name it, and maybe one day

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Speaker 1: the c w D will as well. So because of this,

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Speaker 1: it is probable that it won't just be the CDC

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Speaker 1: tracking COVID, it will be the U s d A

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Speaker 1: and quite possibly the US Fish and Wildlife Service as well.

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Speaker 1: But you know, maybe if you're a beef producer, you'll

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Speaker 1: get a couple of extra bucks a pound for that

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Speaker 1: certified COVID free prime rip. Yeah. Moving on to the

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Speaker 1: farm desk. I bet you didn't think I'd be able

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Speaker 1: to work the war in Ukraine into a podcast about hunting, fishing,

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Speaker 1: and conservation. Well think again. The ongoing war is raising

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Speaker 1: the cost of food in many parts of the world,

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Speaker 1: and some have proposed farming conservation land in the United

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Speaker 1: States to address those concerns. Ukraine is one of the

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Speaker 1: world's bread baskets. Russia and Ukraine together account for of

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Speaker 1: global exports of wheat, nine of global corn, and eight

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Speaker 1: of global sunflower oil. Needless to say, much of that

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Speaker 1: production is on hold, and according to The New York Times,

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Speaker 1: the war could have a significant impact on the world's

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Speaker 1: food supply. In the short term, the war will have

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Speaker 1: a disastrous effect on the countries that rely on Ukraine

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Speaker 1: for much of their grain. This includes impoverished countries like Bangladesh, Sudan,

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Speaker 1: and Pakistan, as well as richer countries like Egypt and Turkey.

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Speaker 1: But as we've learned over the last two years, supply

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Speaker 1: chains are global. A loss of one of the world's

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Speaker 1: bread baskets will have far reaching, unpredictable consequences, which is

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Speaker 1: why some economists are pushing the United States to increase

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Speaker 1: crop production here at home. Here's where this issue intersects

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Speaker 1: with habitat conservation. Thanks to listener Taylor for sending this story.

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Speaker 1: In University of Illinois, agriculture economist Scott Irwin is pushing

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Speaker 1: the by an Administration to increase crop production by farming

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Speaker 1: the twenty one million acres currently enrolled in the Conservation

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Speaker 1: Reserve Program. The Conservation Reserve Program was established in ninety

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Speaker 1: five with the primary goal of reducing soil erosion on

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Speaker 1: highly irrodable crop land in curbing the production of surplus commodities. Essentially,

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Speaker 1: the program pays farmers not to farm their land for

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Speaker 1: ten to fifteen years in order to give the land

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Speaker 1: a chance to rest and to control crop prices and

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Speaker 1: reduce erosion. But the program also has several secondary goals.

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Speaker 1: According to the United States Department of Agriculture, one of

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Speaker 1: those goals is fostering wildlife habitat, and it's been incredibly successful.

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Speaker 1: A two thousand one survey of program participants found that

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Speaker 1: seventy three of respondents had observed positive changes in wildlife populations.

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Speaker 1: That same year, the US Fish and Wildlife Service published

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Speaker 1: a study that estimated that CRP accounted for two million

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Speaker 1: additional ducks per year between in the Prairie Pothole region,

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Speaker 1: North Dakota, South Dakota, and eastern Montana. In two thousand five,

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Speaker 1: a Northern bobwhite Quail Initiative was established within the program,

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Speaker 1: which reserved two hundred and fifty thousand acres for enrollment

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Speaker 1: of upland bird nesting and brood rearing habitat buffers. The

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Speaker 1: CRP added three hundred thousand acres to waterfowl and upland

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Speaker 1: bird conservation initiatives in two thousand ten, and the two

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Speaker 1: thousand fourteen Farm Bill included up to ten million in

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Speaker 1: incentive payments to encourage thinning of CRP tree stands to

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Speaker 1: improve wildlife habitat. CRP lands not only help preserve habitat,

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Speaker 1: hunters also have an opportunity to hunt millions of these acres,

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Speaker 1: and you may have had the chance to pursue whitetail grouse, turkeys,

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Speaker 1: big fat mule deer, bucks, antelope on private land and

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Speaker 1: rolled in the CRP system. Despite these benefits to the

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Speaker 1: environment and the outdoor community, Irwin believes we should start

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Speaker 1: farming CRP land immediately. He believes the Russian Ukraine War

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Speaker 1: will be the biggest supply shock to global grain markets

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Speaker 1: in my lifetime, and he argues that farming CRP is

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Speaker 1: the only policy lever the US government can use to

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Speaker 1: avoid this catastrophe. Right now, there's no reason to panic

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Speaker 1: as far as I'm aware no federal politician has floated

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Speaker 1: this idea. For his part, Irwin is not proposing CRP

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Speaker 1: lands be farmed in perpetuity. He proposes issuing an emergency

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Speaker 1: rule that only applies to two thousand twenty two that

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Speaker 1: would allow farmers to farm their CRP land without any

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Speaker 1: interruption to their CRP payments. I'm no farmer, but it

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Speaker 1: strikes me as unlikely that many farmers would take that risk.

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Speaker 1: Rising crop prices might make it attractive, but turning wild

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Speaker 1: landscapes into farmable land doesn't happen overnight. It's already March,

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Speaker 1: so I'm doubtful many outfits would be able to take

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Speaker 1: advantage of this nine month opportunity. Not to mention, the

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Speaker 1: cost of fertilizer and diesel fuel make this, you know,

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Speaker 1: risky business. Still, if the predictions of economists come true

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Speaker 1: and the war rages on, politicians will start looking around

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Speaker 1: for ways to address the rising cost of food. Some

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Speaker 1: of those proposals might impact the land we hunt and

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Speaker 1: the critters we pursue. If they do, maybe we can

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Speaker 1: suggest not turning amazing agricultural ground into big, ghastly, god awful,

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Speaker 1: water sucking habitat destroying condominiums. That's all I've got for

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Speaker 1: you this week. Thank you so much for listening. As

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Speaker 1: you know, you can always right in and let me

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Speaker 1: know what's going on in your neck the woods by

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Speaker 1: hitting a S K C, A L. Let's ask how

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Speaker 1: at the Meat Eater dot com and remember springs on

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Speaker 1: its way. Check out www dot steel Dealers dot com

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Speaker 1: to find a local and knowledgeable steel dealer near you.

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Speaker 1: They're gonna send you home with what you need and

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Speaker 1: not with what you don't. Thanks again, and I'll talk

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Speaker 1: to you next week as the Sting of the US

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Speaker 1: has cover