WEBVTT - Ep. 478: Scout Pythons, Public Land Funding, and Bear-Dar 0:00:10.200 --> 0:00:14.160 From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This 0:00:14.320 --> 0:00:19.120 is Col's Week in Review with Ryan cow Calahan. Here's 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:24.800 cal The Conservancy of Southwest Florida announced a record hall 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:29.040 of invasive pythons. Biologists from the conservation group removed one 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:32.640 hundred and seventy seven pythons totaling eight thousand to eighty 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:36.760 pounds of pure serpent mass during the previous breeding season 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:39.680 of November twenty twenty five to April twenty twenty six, 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:42.320 and they did it all in a two hundred square 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:45.600 mile area in Collier County. The group says it's quote 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:50.120 the greatest biomass of invasive Burmese pythons removed in a 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:54.240 single season by the Conservancy's python tracking team and volunteers 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:57.880 since the program began in twenty thirteen. Some of the 0:00:57.880 --> 0:01:00.760 snakes hauled in were pretty darn big, with the average 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:03.600 female python weighing ninety five pounds and the biggest one 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:07.200 being a one hundred and fifty three pounds seventeen foot bohema. 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:11.720 Perhaps more importantly, biologists and volunteers blocked and estimated forty 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:14.600 one hundred python eggs from getting into the world of 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:18.200 the captured snakes. Females carried an average of seventy eggs apiece, 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:20.800 and a quarter of them had eaten the remains of 0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:24.560 a native white tailed deer. What's particularly impressive about the 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:27.520 four ton haul is how it happened. The Conservancy employed 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:30.800 the help of forty male scout snakes. Those snakes were 0:01:30.800 --> 0:01:34.280 tagged with radio telemetry devices, then researchers relied on the 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:38.039 male snake's desire to find a female. Once the male 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:41.240 snakes slithered into a nest site, which are otherwise typically 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:44.200 well hidden in thick brush, they reported to the scene 0:01:44.280 --> 0:01:47.000 and removed the females before they could breed. It's a 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:50.240 big win for native wildlife, as invasive pythons, as well 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:52.880 as other species are known to be hell on all 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:56.800 kinds of native gritters, such as raccoons, poss and bobcat, 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:00.640 marsh rabbits, cottontails, and more. While the invasive reptiles will 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:04.120 likely never be eradicated from the Sunshine State, removal efforts 0:02:04.160 --> 0:02:08.200 are important for mitigating their impact. Quote. Without the conservancies 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:12.680 continued removal efforts, these invasive predators would still be out there, 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:17.040 decimating native wildlife and reproducing across the landscape. Said Rod Moore, 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:21.200 president CEO of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. This week, 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:24.400 we've got hunting rights, technology regulations, and so much more. 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:26.000 But first I'm going to tell you about my week. 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:29.520 And my week has been filled with puppy and child rearing, 0:02:31.040 --> 0:02:32.920 on top of working hard to spread the word on 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:36.600 threats to our public lands, the weaponization of the word access, 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:40.560 and reminding folks how awesome our shared public resources, our 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:44.080 public lands, waters and wildlife are and why they are 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:47.480 also ours to lose. The puppy is closing in on 0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:51.480 ten weeks old. She already knows the place, command and sit. 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:55.720 She's also mostly successfully broken down the old dogs in 0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:59.560 the house. She's made contact way less snarling and nipping 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:02.639 than the was a week ago. Big changes having a 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:04.320 human baby and a puppy in the house for a 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:06.280 nine year old Border Collie and a six year old 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:09.480 lab Big changes for Mom and I too. We're getting 0:03:09.480 --> 0:03:11.600 the hang of things and for the most part, getting 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:14.960 to bed a lot earlier, calculating heavily what type of 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:17.600 adventures we can pull off and if the baby juice 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:20.200 is worth the squeeze. I guess by the time you 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:24.160 hear this, maybe July, which is wild. A little fellow 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:26.240 was born May twenty two, and May seems like a 0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:29.720 different planet. Not a month and change day has gone by. 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:32.720 The little boob beater is strapped to my chest, lightly 0:03:32.760 --> 0:03:35.400 fussing as I record this. If you hear a little 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:40.680 baby squeal, you know why. Sportsmen and women in Colorado 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:43.160 are pushing to get an initiative on the ballot this 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:45.640 fall that would enshrine the right to hunt and fish 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:48.680 in the state's constitution. The measure is being pushed by 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:52.000 a collective of hunting and fishing conservation groups, including Policy 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:56.040 and Coalitions for the International Order of t Roosevelt, Colorado's 0:03:56.040 --> 0:03:59.240 for Responsible Wildlife Management, and Howl for Wildlife. These groups 0:03:59.280 --> 0:04:02.240 have garnered nearly one hundred thousand signatures. They need one 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:05.200 hundred and twenty five thousand verified signatures to meet the 0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:08.160 threshold required to get the measure on the ballot. The 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:12.000 initiative is nearly identical to one that recently passed in Florida. 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:15.120 That one was called Amendment to and passed with sixty 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:18.000 seven percent of the vote. In total, around twenty four 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:20.760 states already have the right to hunt and fish somewhere 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:24.800 in their constitution. Enshrining these pursuits in a constitution can 0:04:24.920 --> 0:04:28.760 help fend off attempts by localities to restrict hunting and fishing, 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:32.600 though it wouldn't revive any currently prohibited hunting or fishing 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:36.640 seasons or change any existing CPW that's Colorado Parks and 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:40.919 Wildlife Regulations. Travis Thompson, director of Policy and Coalitions for 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:43.760 the International Order of t Roosevelt, told our friends over 0:04:43.760 --> 0:04:46.120 at Field and Stream that cementing the right to hunt 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:49.159 fish in a state constitution is an important safeguard to 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:52.280 these traditions. Quote. This puts a lock on the door. 0:04:52.640 --> 0:04:55.080 The lock's not perfect. Someone could still kick it in, 0:04:55.320 --> 0:04:57.320 shoot it off, or come in through a window. But 0:04:57.360 --> 0:04:59.479 it's just common sense to at least have a lock 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:03.760 on the door. Or Dan Gates of Colorado's Responsible Wildlife 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:06.359 Management and I had talked about this on through the 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:10.479 Gates Podcast, which is the CRWM podcast hosted by Dan. 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:14.800 Even if you're not in Colorado, there's ways for folks 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:19.280 who vacation, travel, hike, bike, fish, recreate. Even if you're 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:21.320 not doing it now and you want to in the future. 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:25.159 You can weigh in on stuff like this. You can't 0:05:25.200 --> 0:05:29.400 go sign that petition because it's for residents, for legal 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:32.159 voters of the state of Colorado. But what you can 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:35.160 do is you can call Colorado Parks and Wildlife, you 0:05:35.160 --> 0:05:39.240 can call the governor, you can call state representatives and 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:43.159 just let them know that hunting and fishing is the 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:47.800 reason that you travel to other states such as Colorado 0:05:48.120 --> 0:05:50.720 and spend your hard earned bucks, and you would love 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:55.200 to see something like this past. Again, that won't necessarily 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:59.279 translate to signatures on a petition, but those types of 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:03.920 moves shown and that populous support does give our elected 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:09.040 officials a little more backbone in these cases. Jumping over 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:12.200 to Iowa the Tech Desk, Earlier this year, we talked 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:15.720 about efforts to update technological hunting aids in Idaho, which 0:06:15.720 --> 0:06:19.120 included restricting the use of cellular trail cameras on publicly 0:06:19.160 --> 0:06:23.120 accessible lands there. A cellular trail camera is something that 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:27.120 transmits images directly to you in real time while you're 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:29.840 at your desk, and that cameras in the field. And 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:33.520 the argument, right is like that thing, because it's transmitting 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:35.640 in real time, is kind of like doing the hunting 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:38.960 for you. Now, Iowa is looking to change its trail 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:44.400 camera rags except this proposed change would impact standard trail cameras. Essentially, 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:47.200 the Iowa Natural Resource Commission is looking to ban them 0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:50.760 on state managed land. Cell cams are already prohibited for 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:53.440 hunting on both private and public land in the state. 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:56.760 Chris Ensminger of the Iowa D and R says the 0:06:56.800 --> 0:07:00.480 proposed ban would quote protect the recreational experience of sportsmen 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:03.880 and sportswomen and other visitors to these wild areas, and 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:07.640 it ensures that hunters don't gain an improper or unfair 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:13.080 technological advantage over game animals. Unsurprisingly, not everyone is on 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:15.760 board with the change. Listener nick Bach wrote in to 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:18.880 let us know his stance, and he made some reasonable arguments. 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:22.040 Quote this would only affect guys on public and have 0:07:22.080 --> 0:07:26.000 no implications on private I personally don't really use trail cams, 0:07:26.000 --> 0:07:27.640 but I have a lot of friends who do and 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:29.960 get good data out of them. I think this is 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:32.960 unfair that they are imposing this only on state land. 0:07:33.320 --> 0:07:36.280 If they pushed this statewide and made it equal for everyone, 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:39.960 I would support this. Do you have thoughts on the 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:42.960 viability of trailcams on the private and public land in 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:45.760 Iowa or elsewhere? I'd love to hear what you think 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:50.680 at askcl that's ascal at themeteater dot com. More importantly, 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:52.960 if you hunt in Iowa and have a stance on 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:58.080 the subject, they are accepting public comments until July twenty eighth. 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:00.880 The best and I think, really, in my opinion, like 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:05.800 the only reasonable argument for trail cameras is back in 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:09.920 the day, it was a means of like motivation for exercise, 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:13.200 and folks loved going out with their kids and pulling 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:16.240 cards and you know, kind of like unwrapping Christmas presents 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:18.360 seeing what they got on those cameras, you know, And 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:20.520 I think, is that the only way to get outside 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:24.000 with the family and get pictures of critters? Absolutely not, 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:28.200 but it seemed to be a very good way of 0:08:28.560 --> 0:08:30.440 motivating the fam to get get out there on the 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:34.960 trail with you. For the same purpose. Right of regulating 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:39.640 our public wildlife, those regulations only apply to those of 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:43.439 us who are hunting on public land. Again, the wildlife 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:45.080 is public if it's on the private side of the 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:50.040 fence or the public side of the fence. However, often regulations, 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:53.200 many of which we've cover here on this podcast only 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:55.840 apply to us on the public side of the fence, 0:08:56.640 --> 0:09:00.120 and as we see the Center for Western Justice, I 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:02.120 think is what it is, which is the law firm 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:05.640 that's going state to state and trying to get rid 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:10.720 of the open fields doctrine, which is a tool that 0:09:11.080 --> 0:09:16.640 our game wardens and law enforcement officers can use to 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:20.880 help enforce game laws on private land. So as this 0:09:20.960 --> 0:09:25.560 open fields doctrine starts getting repealed or rescinded from state laws, 0:09:26.120 --> 0:09:30.880 there go more tools in our wildlife managing agencies ability 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:34.960 to regulate our public resource when it is on the 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:38.480 private side of the fence. If the open fields doctrine 0:09:38.720 --> 0:09:42.760 is not perfect, then let's find something more fitting. Ideally 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:47.880 before we get rid of it. Can new AI powered 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:52.160 technology help prevent bear conflicts? Conservation group called Polar Bears 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:55.840 International thinks so. The group recently partnered with military tech 0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:59.640 companies Spotter Global on a project that uses medium range radar, 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:03.520 camera and artificial intelligence to detect and identify polar bears 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:07.319 near remote communities and bases in the Arctic. The technology 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:11.120 can then alert people and also potentially trigger a remote 0:10:11.200 --> 0:10:15.000 deterrent like a strobe or sound. The system apparently works 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:18.080 so far, at least on an Arctic landscape. Polar Bears 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:21.199 International recently released a YouTube video showing the so called 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:25.360 beardar Alert staff at a remote research station of a 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:29.079 female polar bear and cubs. The staffers then used vehicles 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:32.040 to haze the bear away from the base, and apparently 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:35.640 they show the bears successfully hunt seals on sea ice 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:38.160 the next day. It remains to be seen how widely 0:10:38.240 --> 0:10:40.760 this technology will be adopted in the artic and if 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:43.840 it could be applicable in different landscapes. It's a neat 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:46.160 idea and it seems to be working well so far. 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:49.640 See how we showed a balance of a negative spin 0:10:49.720 --> 0:10:53.800 on technology and here's a possible positive spin. Moving on 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:57.559 to the state news desk. First up, we're going over 0:10:57.559 --> 0:11:00.199 to the Keystone State, where local hunting an outdoor rerecordation 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:03.439 groups are sounding the alarm about Senate Bill eight five seven, 0:11:03.600 --> 0:11:07.440 which would require all land acquisitions by state agencies to 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:11.080 pass a county government approval process. The sponsors of this 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:13.800 one oppose more land going into the public trust, and 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:16.440 so they want to throw up one more obstacle. But 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:19.960 the process in place now works great. Private landowners who 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:22.840 want to conserve their properties work with civil servants at 0:11:22.840 --> 0:11:26.040 Wildlife agencies to transfer over the land and manage it 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:30.640 accordingly to scientific principles, no political middlemen. By routing this 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:34.400 process through county governments, we all of a sudden inject 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:39.000 politics into private property rights, essentially creating an unnecessary veto 0:11:39.600 --> 0:11:42.200 The sponsors of the bill contend that once these lands 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:46.160 go into conservation, the local areas lose tax revenue, but 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:49.199 the state's payment in lieu of taxes program already routes 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:53.680 money to localities to overcome that issue. Furthermore, public land 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:58.000 access drives Pennsylvania's outdoor economy, which generates a whopping twenty 0:11:58.040 --> 0:12:01.680 point four billion dollars for the state. Far from starving 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:05.960 local areas of revenue, publicly accessible land in fact funnels 0:12:06.000 --> 0:12:09.240 money to those areas. The last thing we need are 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:14.320 more barriers to conservation and public access. So Pennsylvanians, call 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:17.440 your state senators and tell them to vote against SB 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:19.960 eight five seven. You can also head over to the 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:23.000 Backcountry Hunters in Angler's website and navigate to the Pennsylvania 0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:25.760 chapter page and you'll find a handy dandy mailing tool 0:12:25.880 --> 0:12:28.520 to send your opinion right to your state senator. Let's 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:32.880 not break the process in Pennsylvania people moving on to Indiana. 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:37.960 The fifty thousand acre Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge is 0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:40.840 in danger of closing its gates due to federal budget cuts. 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:43.320 Thanks to all you listeners who sent this one in. 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:46.640 Big Oaks is a fascinating place. It was an originally 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:49.360 an air to ground gunnery range during and after World 0:12:49.360 --> 0:12:51.400 War Two. That means they tested out different kinds of 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:54.880 bombs by dropping them on this patch at Indiana. Eventually, 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:57.600 the military only needed a small part of the total property, 0:12:57.720 --> 0:12:59.600 and so people at the state had a bright idea 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:03.120 why not managed the former bombing range as wildlife habitat 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:07.040 and publicly accessible land. So in the year two thousand, 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:09.360 the US Fish and Wildlife Service began to manage the 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:13.040 property as a so called overlay National Wildlife Refuge. The 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:15.800 Army still owns the land, but Fish and Wildlife takes 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:18.760 care of the land and coordinates public access. It's been 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:22.480 a wild success. In a true example of turning lemons 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:25.520 into lemonade, the existing bomb craters have created what former 0:13:25.600 --> 0:13:29.559 refuge manager Joe Robb called quote, a mosaic of ephemeral 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:34.640 wetlands used by endangered crawfish, frogs, salamanders and other frog species. 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:38.000 Big Oaks is now a sanctuary for over one hundred 0:13:38.000 --> 0:13:41.360 and twenty birds, including the endangered henslow sparrow, and the 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:45.760 Audubon Society has named it a quote unquote globally important 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:48.720 bird area. As the second largest parcel of public land 0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:51.680 in the Hoosier State, it also is a keystone of 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:54.920 public access there. Six thousand, hundred and anglers come to 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:57.880 Big Oaks every year, along with nine thousand other visitors, 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:00.720 including bird watchers who travel from all over the world 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:04.320 just to see that particular species. But the refuge's history 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:06.520 makes it a bit more complex to access than some 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:10.600 other places. Certain areas still contain unexploded ordinance and are 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:13.640 therefore off limits, so every visitor has to go through 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:16.599 a simple orientation and must sign in and out of 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:20.240 the property. That means that although staffing wildlife refuges is 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:24.520 important everywhere, it's essential to access in Big Oaks, someone 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:26.760 has to be on site to conduct the orientation. At 0:14:26.760 --> 0:14:30.200 the very minimum, maintaining the world class habitat also demands 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:34.360 prescribed burns and other essential maintenance. However, the federal government 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:37.440 recently cut all five on site employees at Big Oaks, 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:40.360 and now the entire refuge is the responsibility of one 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:44.240 official based in southern Illinois. Big Oaks is currently only 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:46.320 open a few days a month, and now the US 0:14:46.360 --> 0:14:48.880 Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a one hundred and 0:14:48.960 --> 0:14:52.240 eighty day notice to terminate the memorandum of understanding with 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:55.960 the Army, which would close the refuge entirely. You may 0:14:56.000 --> 0:14:58.480 remember back in January when we covered a memo that 0:14:58.520 --> 0:15:01.120 Brian Nesvik, director of the USA Fish and Wildlife Service, 0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:04.920 posted to internal department staff ordering a quote unquote comprehensive 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:09.520 review of all national wildlife refuges to identify quote refuges 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:11.720 established for a purpose that no longer aligns with the 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:16.080 mission unquote. The review also requests quote opportunities to achieve 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:21.320 efficiencies in the areas of governance, oversight, and span of control. Now, 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:25.280 on paper, closing refuges like Big Oaks fits right into 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:29.120 this plan. That's only, however, if you're just looking on 0:15:29.280 --> 0:15:32.440 paper and you fail to see the context of what 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:37.480 public access means when it's extremely limited, such as in 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:41.520 the state of Indiana. This is an absolute gem of 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:44.600 an opportunity for hunters and anglers in the Hoosier state. 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:47.920 Last week, there was an in person rally in Madison, 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:51.400 Indiana to save Big Oaks. There's also an online petition 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:54.040 to restore funding and uphold the management agreement with the 0:15:54.120 --> 0:15:57.600 US Army. Our Indiana Chapter of BHA is working on 0:15:57.640 --> 0:15:59.960 this issue, and we've been in touch with US Fishing 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:03.120 Wildlife Service, who has already expressed the fact that they 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:06.080 do not want to see a loss of access and 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:10.240 opportunity in Indiana, and we're certainly looking at a more 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:15.480 complex refuge situation. As a reminder, not every refuge out 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:19.640 there has unexploded ordinance. We'll stick with this one get 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:22.560 to the bottom of it, but please check out change 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:26.240 dot org save Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge, and run 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:28.720 on over to Backcountry Hunters dot org and check out 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:32.720 what the Indiana chapter is up to. Moving on to 0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:37.480 the Feds, the specific example of cutting the budget of 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:40.240 Big Oaks is a good indication of the wider issue 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.320 of public land funding nationally. Last week we highlighted the 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:46.640 America the Beautiful Act, which would reauthorize the Legacy Restoration 0:16:46.800 --> 0:16:49.760 Fund and dedicate one point nine billion dollars per year 0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:53.200 to maintenance and improvement of public land across the country. 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:56.120 It's a great piece of legislation and we should all 0:16:56.160 --> 0:17:00.400 push for it. This is just like common sense legislation. However, 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:04.040 the total maintenance backlog across all public lands in this country, 0:17:04.320 --> 0:17:07.760 national parks, national wildlife refuges, wilderness areas, and so on, 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:11.200 has reached a gargange win forty one billion dollars as 0:17:11.240 --> 0:17:14.040 of last year and is growing at about twelve billion 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:17.560 dollars per year. The Legacy Restoration Fund comes from revenue 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:20.879 generated from energy development on public land, which is good, 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:24.200 but it can't replace all other government spending on America's 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:27.520 best idea. Some politicians are making a big noise about 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:30.080 supporting the America the Beautiful Act and using it as 0:17:30.119 --> 0:17:32.760 proof that they care about public lands, but at the 0:17:32.800 --> 0:17:36.480 same time they're voting for budgets that starve agencies like 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:39.840 the US four Service System, National Park Service, the BLM, 0:17:39.960 --> 0:17:42.360 and all the rest. When they slash staff who take 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:44.560 care of the day to day upkeep of public lands, 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:48.440 they're accelerating the deterioration that gets more and more expensive 0:17:48.520 --> 0:17:51.760 with every passing day. It would be a great idea 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:55.200 to write in and remind your elected officials of what 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:57.960 matters to you. I'm sure you're reading the news and 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:00.800 you're seeing what our cash gets spent on. Not a 0:18:00.800 --> 0:18:03.080 bad idea to let him know you're paying attention and 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:06.040 you got some differences of opinion when it comes to 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:11.000 your choice between ballrooms and big bucks. Jumping over to 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:14.520 the bear desk. Most of the time, when we talk 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:17.560 about bears and humans overlapping, things often go bad for 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:20.359 the people and even worse for the bear, often fatally worse. 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:22.919 That's why we were relieved to see two stories from 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:25.639 opposite sides of the country about a happier outcome for 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:28.560 man and beast. First up, in Portland, Maine, a black 0:18:28.600 --> 0:18:31.840 bear wandered into the historic Old Port neighborhood last week, 0:18:32.080 --> 0:18:34.440 and who could blame him. There's one restaurant there called 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:38.120 Duck Fat, another one called Honeypop. Police and fishing game 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:40.080 staff caught up to the bear in the basement level 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:42.639 of a parking garage. They were able to tranquilize and 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:45.919 relocate him to the wild. We hear he's planning to 0:18:46.000 --> 0:18:48.880 open his own branch of the Honeypow near Sebago Lake 0:18:48.920 --> 0:18:52.359 this summer. Get in line for that pop up right now. 0:18:53.400 --> 0:18:56.560 Over to Nampa, Idaho, just outside of Boise, you call 0:18:56.600 --> 0:18:59.520 it the Greater Boise metropolitan area. At this point. In fact, 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:03.080 a young yearling male bear was spotted in a tree 0:19:03.119 --> 0:19:06.359 in a residential neighborhood. Fishing Game Regional Wildlife Manager Ryan 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:10.119 Walreth said quote often, euthanizing a bear in town is 0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:13.440 our only option, but this particular bear hadn't yet become 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:16.199 habituated to food and still showed a healthy fear of people. 0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:20.000 Fishing Game staff therefore decided that relocation had a good chance, 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:22.040 so they darted the bear and released it north of 0:19:22.080 --> 0:19:25.560 town in Ola. Still sightings in Idaho are on the 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:28.119 rise due to the ongoing drought. Bears are likely to 0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:30.640 keep seeking food and water near people as those things 0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:33.400 get harder to come by out in the woods. However, 0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:35.879 if bears are spotted early before they become part of 0:19:35.920 --> 0:19:38.680 the fed bear to dead bear program, there's a higher 0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:41.240 chance of them living to raid a bee's nest again 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:43.800 some other day. So as soon as you see a 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:46.280 bear in town, no matter how cute it is, get 0:19:46.280 --> 0:19:49.359 on the horn with local authorities right away. More importantly, 0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:53.439 make sure that your bird feeders and trash cans and 0:19:53.520 --> 0:19:59.200 garages are secure all right, gang much more common here. 0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:01.000 That's all I got for you this week. Thank you 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:03.800 so much for listening. Remember to write into a s 0:20:03.880 --> 0:20:06.560 k c A L. That's Ascal at the meeteater dot com. 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:08.439 Let me know what's going on in your neck the woods. 0:20:08.560 --> 0:20:11.399 You know I appreciate it. Thanks again, we'll talk to 0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:19.680 you next week.