1 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This 2 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: is Cow's Week in Review with Ryan cow cal I. 3 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:23,840 Speaker 1: Here's Cow. Regular listeners know that right now I'm up 4 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:26,239 Speaker 1: in Alaska on a bucket list hunt for grizzly bear. 5 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:30,080 Speaker 1: Very excited, but also apprehensive, not just because I hope 6 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:32,839 Speaker 1: the hunt goes well, but also because, as I've mentioned, 7 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:34,960 Speaker 1: if you kill a bear that has been feeding on fish, 8 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: especially scavenging dead fish, the meat of that bear can 9 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: be tough to take, smelling wise and tasting wise, just 10 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: like those rotten fish. Of course, I really want to 11 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:48,519 Speaker 1: find a bear that's been gorging itself on blueberries, but 12 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:51,920 Speaker 1: that's not always possible, and no matter how bad it tastes, 13 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: you got to eat that meat. Often people will use 14 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:58,640 Speaker 1: fishy bear meat and heavily spiced sausage or similar, but 15 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: it can still be quite slog well. Listener Dominic Simpson 16 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:06,959 Speaker 1: wrote in recently with a scorching hot tip for this problem. Apparently, 17 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 1: there is a Filipino fruit called the tabon tabon used 18 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: in the traditional raw fish dish kinilaw. Similar to savice, 19 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:19,320 Speaker 1: the tab on tab on tenderizes and controls bacteria, but Also, crucially, 20 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: it removes any fishy taste or smell from the kinilaw. 21 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: You scrape the fruit out of its shell, mix it 22 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 1: with vinegar, and cure the fish in the mixture, and 23 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:30,440 Speaker 1: just like that, your meal just got a whole lot 24 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: more appetizing. So why couldn't you do the same thing 25 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:37,600 Speaker 1: with the fishy bear? Brilliant? A quick Google search tells 26 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:39,479 Speaker 1: me that it's pretty hard to find tab On tab 27 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 1: On in the US, even through mail order. But if 28 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:44,720 Speaker 1: I'm lucky enough to get a bear and unlucky enough 29 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: to open that bear up and smell rotten salmon, I'm 30 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 1: going to be very, very motivated to get my hands 31 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: on some tab On tab On. Big thanks to Dominic 32 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: for sending that one. In jumping right over to the 33 00:01:56,360 --> 00:02:01,400 Speaker 1: money desk, the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency is in a 34 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 1: bit of a pickle. Agency officials say they're facing a 35 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 1: twelve million dollar deficit this year, which could lead to 36 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 1: staffing reductions in wildlife law enforcement and fewer public land acquisitions. Normally, 37 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:16,440 Speaker 1: a wildlife agency in this situation would raise license fees, 38 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:18,800 Speaker 1: but that plan stalled before we get off the ground. 39 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: The TWRA announced earlier this year that they would increase 40 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:25,480 Speaker 1: hunting and fishing license costs by thirty percent, but they 41 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:29,559 Speaker 1: abandoned that plan after facing backlash from hunters and legislators. 42 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:32,680 Speaker 1: Now they're asking the Tennessee state legislature to come up 43 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:35,800 Speaker 1: with a plan to increase revenue. Local media reports that 44 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 1: agency leaders went to the state capitol last month to 45 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: plead their case. They say that higher salary expectations, increased 46 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:46,839 Speaker 1: land management costs, and declining revenue from license sales are 47 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:49,799 Speaker 1: behind the deficit and they need some way to make 48 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:53,360 Speaker 1: up the difference. Some lawmakers have suggested that the state 49 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:56,360 Speaker 1: can sell public land to address the funding shortfall, but 50 00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 1: fortunately for volunteer state hunters, that won't work. Tennessee date 51 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: law requires the TWRA to replace every acre of public 52 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: land it sales, which would increase the deficit rather than 53 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: decrease it. Others have floated the idea of putting sales 54 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: tax revenue towards wildlife management and conservation. The idea has 55 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:18,639 Speaker 1: been successfully deployed in other states, but famously in Missouri, 56 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 1: there are one tenth of one percent of sales tax revenue, 57 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 1: which is just the crown jewel of wildlife funding. In 58 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:29,799 Speaker 1: regards to state agency envy that one tenth of one 59 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 1: percent sales tax goes to the Missouri Department of Natural 60 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:36,520 Speaker 1: Resources to fund state parson historic sites along with soil 61 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: and water conservation efforts. The fund was first approved all 62 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 1: the way back in nineteen eighty four by a constitutional 63 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 1: amendment and has been reapproved about every ten years since then. 64 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: It has also been fought damn near every year. Some 65 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: warrant that divorcing game management from hunting license sales gives 66 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 1: anti hunters an opportunity to throw their weight around. After all, 67 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: if all Missourians can tree to the DNR, shouldn't we 68 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 1: listen to the taxpayers who want to ban hunting. Ah 69 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: No is the answer. I get the argument, but it's 70 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: disapproved by the facts on the ground. Missouri hasn't become 71 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 1: a hotbed of anti hunting sentiment, and I don't see 72 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: the state trending in that direction. If Tennessee adopts a 73 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 1: similar policy, I would expect a similar result. Plus, the 74 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: volunteer state passed a right to hunt fish amendment in 75 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:26,120 Speaker 1: twenty ten, which will make it even more difficult for 76 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:30,039 Speaker 1: anti hunting groups to dictate policy. Whatever the solution, the 77 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:34,640 Speaker 1: TWRA is not alone. State wildlife agencies across the country 78 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:38,279 Speaker 1: are struggling to generate enough revenue to accomplish all the 79 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:40,680 Speaker 1: work that needs to be done, so we'll have to 80 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:44,000 Speaker 1: come up with some creative solutions to address this issue. 81 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:47,880 Speaker 1: Moving on to a fishing addition of the legislative desk, 82 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:52,360 Speaker 1: fishing seasons are wrapping up in northern states, but our 83 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:55,800 Speaker 1: friends over at the American Sport Fishing Association are highlighting 84 00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:59,040 Speaker 1: a potential threat to anglers in all fifty states. A 85 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:03,239 Speaker 1: citizen's was recently proposed to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife 86 00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:06,400 Speaker 1: Commission that would ban the importation of live bait into 87 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:09,159 Speaker 1: the state. The petition was led by an outfit called 88 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: Upstream Policies, but it was also signed by Living Rivers 89 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 1: and Colorado Riverkeeper, and six or seven individual fishing guides. 90 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,360 Speaker 1: Notably absent from this list are any of the organizations 91 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:22,719 Speaker 1: I look to to help me understand the issues that 92 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 1: impact anglers, such as TU That's Trout, Unlimited PHA, or 93 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:32,679 Speaker 1: the TRCP. The petition claims that imported baitfish threatened native 94 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:37,520 Speaker 1: species by potentially escaping into the waterways and introducing pathogens 95 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 1: that harm native fish. They call on the Commission to 96 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,839 Speaker 1: ban the importation, sale, and purchase of any aquatic wildlife 97 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 1: used as bait. This would mostly impact minnos used to 98 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:51,920 Speaker 1: target walleye, lake trout, and bass across Colorado's front range. Now, 99 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: I'm not sure about the pathoge inside of things, but 100 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: it is true that when you move live fish from 101 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 1: one body of water to another body of water and 102 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: those fish escape and propagate, it can cause serious damage 103 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: to systems. However, there is a wrinkle in this group's argument. 104 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:15,599 Speaker 1: They are associated with groups that have called using live 105 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:19,640 Speaker 1: bait a borrent and archaic. There's an animal rights twist. 106 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:24,720 Speaker 1: Their website is, however, suspiciously free of specific policy proposals. 107 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:27,800 Speaker 1: Banning live baitfish would obviously be a big hit to 108 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:30,360 Speaker 1: Colorado anglers in the economy that generates two and a 109 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: half billion dollars in the state every year, and it 110 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:37,159 Speaker 1: would be almost totally unnecessary. I haven't seen any state 111 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:40,760 Speaker 1: biologists connecting live bait fish with disease outbreaks yet, and 112 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 1: Colorado already has safeguards in place to protect the health 113 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 1: and safety of its native species. Current law prohibits the 114 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:51,080 Speaker 1: importation of live wildlife into the state without a valid license, 115 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: and a health certificate from the source facility. Anglers purchasing 116 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 1: live bait are required to purchase baitfish from a licensed dealer, 117 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:01,400 Speaker 1: and anglers are required to keep proof of purchase with them, 118 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 1: ensuring transparency to mitigate aquatic invasive species risks throughout the 119 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:10,080 Speaker 1: supply chain. This you might say, is a solution in 120 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 1: search of a problem, but that hasn't stopped upstream policies 121 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 1: from proposing similar legislation and rules in other states. Earlier 122 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: this year, legislation proposing to ban the importation of baitfish 123 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 1: was introduced and defeated in New Hampshire and New York. 124 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: I have no doubt they'll continue to push these proposals 125 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:29,240 Speaker 1: as long as they can find donors willing to fund 126 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 1: their efforts. Moving on to the public land desk, a 127 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:37,720 Speaker 1: Florida representative to the United States Congress has proposed a 128 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: build to consider whether a national forest should be turned 129 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: into a national park in the ideas, sparking backlash from 130 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: an interesting coalition. Back in August, Representative Randy Fine introduced 131 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:52,240 Speaker 1: a build dubbed the Path to Florida Springs National Park Act. 132 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: It wouldn't create a national park by itself, but, as 133 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: its name implies, would start that process. It directs the 134 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study 135 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 1: to determine the suitability and feasibility of establishing Florida Springs 136 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:09,680 Speaker 1: National Park in Central and North Florida. Why does the 137 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:13,360 Speaker 1: congressman want to turn an area already under federal protections 138 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: into a national park? Here he is speaking at a 139 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:17,880 Speaker 1: press conference announcing the bill. 140 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:22,000 Speaker 2: So having visited Yellowstone in Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon 141 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 2: and so many of these amazing sites. As I ran 142 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:28,360 Speaker 2: for Congress just a few months ago and I visited 143 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:31,840 Speaker 2: the Springs, I thought, why are these not protected? 144 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:35,320 Speaker 1: Fine argues that the springs in the National Forest don't 145 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: enjoy high enough level of protection to keep them pristine 146 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: in the face of increasing development. Thousands are moving to 147 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:45,080 Speaker 1: Florida every year, and he worries that influx will result 148 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: in a degradation of these areas. His idea might be 149 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:52,360 Speaker 1: well intentioned, but he's facing stiff opposition. Locals worry that, 150 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: rather than protecting these areas, creating a national park will 151 00:08:56,040 --> 00:09:00,520 Speaker 1: increase the human footprint, namely the footprint of tourists. As 152 00:09:00,559 --> 00:09:04,320 Speaker 1: find himself admits, national parks are tourist magnets. They attract 153 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: far more visitors than national forests do, and even though 154 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: they're strictly managed to protect wildlife habitat, they also generate 155 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:14,959 Speaker 1: development in areas around the parks. A petition outlining these 156 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:18,720 Speaker 1: concerns has garnered nearly ten thousand signatures as of this recording, 157 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,080 Speaker 1: and I have yet to see Representative Fine respond directly 158 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:25,080 Speaker 1: to these concerns. I also heard from some of you 159 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:29,280 Speaker 1: who worry that a national park designation will limit hunting opportunities. 160 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:32,920 Speaker 1: Listener Carter Ulman wrote in and said quote, this would 161 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:36,839 Speaker 1: block out one of the largest, possibly the largest accessible 162 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: track for hunters and general outdoor recreationists in the state. 163 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:43,280 Speaker 1: The O'calla National Forest is also one of the last 164 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:46,480 Speaker 1: places where hound hunting is allowed on public land in Florida, 165 00:09:46,559 --> 00:09:49,880 Speaker 1: largely due to the size and logging road networks. Still 166 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:52,079 Speaker 1: the early days of this process, we don't know how 167 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:55,200 Speaker 1: large this national park would be, what rules would govern 168 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,680 Speaker 1: access and recreation, or whether scientists will find that a 169 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:02,600 Speaker 1: park designation would to actually help preserve the springs. Representative 170 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:06,040 Speaker 1: Fine love so much, but there's no doubt that creating 171 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: a national park would have major local impacts. So if 172 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 1: you live, hunt, or fish in central Florida, this is 173 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:14,760 Speaker 1: a story you'll want to keep an eye on if 174 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:20,160 Speaker 1: you want a good, hard fought story of hunters and 175 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:26,680 Speaker 1: anglers standing up for traditional access and representing themselves extremely well. 176 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 1: During the National Park setting process, turn two, West Virginia BHA, 177 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:38,040 Speaker 1: West Virginia BHA did a great job in making sure 178 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:42,400 Speaker 1: hunting and fishing was well represented and managed to maintain 179 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: hunting and fishing rights in that state despite having a 180 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 1: brand new National park. Over in Wyoming, a landowner opposing 181 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:55,880 Speaker 1: a wind farm development is appealing on behalf of one 182 00:10:55,920 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 1: of the humblest affective parties, the earthworm. At a Laramie 183 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 1: County Planning Commission hearing last month, community member Ryan Schneider 184 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:07,439 Speaker 1: contended that the Laramie Range wind project that was planned 185 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:10,840 Speaker 1: for the Horse Creek area would cause significant round vibration 186 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: that would damage the functioning of nearby worms. The Laramie 187 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:17,800 Speaker 1: Range project plan included one hundred and seventy turbines, which 188 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:20,480 Speaker 1: would cover an area three times the size of Cheyenne 189 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 1: and produce six hundred and fifty megawatts of energy, about 190 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 1: as much as a mid sized nuclear reactor and enough 191 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:29,360 Speaker 1: to power two hundred thousand homes in the state. Schneider's 192 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:32,040 Speaker 1: advocacy on behalf of the worms might sound far fetched, 193 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 1: but he had the science to back it up. In 194 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:38,679 Speaker 1: a twenty twenty one studied, Dutch scientists at Vreia University 195 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:43,079 Speaker 1: did in fact find that wind turbine vibrations reduced earthworm numbers. 196 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:47,400 Speaker 1: The author's right quote, Larger soil animals such as earthworms 197 00:11:47,559 --> 00:11:51,400 Speaker 1: are particularly likely to be impacted by the low frequency 198 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 1: turbine waves that can travel through soils over large distances. 199 00:11:55,559 --> 00:11:57,400 Speaker 1: As an aside, I think he'd do a lot worse 200 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:00,720 Speaker 1: for a band name than the soil Animals or large 201 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:05,920 Speaker 1: soil Animals LSA, But I digress anyway. The authors go 202 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:10,319 Speaker 1: on quote when comparing the nearest sampling points in proximity 203 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:13,720 Speaker 1: of the wind energy turbines with the points furthest away 204 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:19,240 Speaker 1: abundance dropped on average by forty percent. Translation. Although there 205 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:22,080 Speaker 1: are still worms near wind turbines, they do tend to 206 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:25,360 Speaker 1: move away from them. This could of course affect soil 207 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:28,880 Speaker 1: health and all the other biological processes that depend on 208 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:32,160 Speaker 1: good soil. As Charles Darwin said about worms, and may 209 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:35,360 Speaker 1: be doubted whether there are many other animals which have 210 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:38,080 Speaker 1: played so important a part in the history of the 211 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:43,080 Speaker 1: world as have these lowly organized creatures. Charlie Farthing, the 212 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:45,160 Speaker 1: owner of the land where the wind farm was planned, 213 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:48,080 Speaker 1: argued that the income from the project would allow his 214 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 1: fifth generation ranch to continue to operate through the region's 215 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 1: continuing drought. Apparently the worms won out, because on September sixteen, 216 00:12:56,960 --> 00:12:59,679 Speaker 1: the Laramie County Board of Commissioners voted three to one 217 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: against allowing their project to go forward. Although the Spanish 218 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:07,360 Speaker 1: power company sponsoring the project, REPSOL, can appeal the decision, 219 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:10,240 Speaker 1: it looks like this project, at least in this form, 220 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:13,840 Speaker 1: is cooked. In voting for the project, Commissioner Troy Thompson 221 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:17,040 Speaker 1: told Wyoming News quote, if we have rules and a 222 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:20,439 Speaker 1: private property owner wants to do something on their property 223 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:24,079 Speaker 1: and does it within our rules, then we are obligated 224 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:26,520 Speaker 1: to allow them to do that. And these folks went 225 00:13:26,559 --> 00:13:30,559 Speaker 1: through our land using regulations and did everything that our 226 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: regulations require. Commissioner Linda Heath, who voted against the plan, 227 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:38,000 Speaker 1: said quote, I just don't want to sacrifice our natural 228 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 1: Wyoming beauty that we have here in the state of 229 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,719 Speaker 1: Wyoming for wind towers and solar fields. One of the 230 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:47,160 Speaker 1: problems in situations like this is that renewable energy projects 231 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:50,280 Speaker 1: are sometimes sold as being not just preferable to fossil 232 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:54,679 Speaker 1: fuel projects but virtually problem free. Then the public examines 233 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,280 Speaker 1: them and feels betrayed when they discover drawbacks. But of course, 234 00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:02,719 Speaker 1: all building projects have down sides and detrimental effects on wildlife. 235 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:05,760 Speaker 1: For example, if you're doing a Google scholar search for 236 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:09,600 Speaker 1: studies on the impact of energy development vibrations on animals, 237 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 1: you will find that twenty twenty one Dutch study on worms. 238 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:17,000 Speaker 1: But you'll also come across a twenty twenty one study 239 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:20,400 Speaker 1: by scientists at the University of Manitoba studying the effects 240 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:24,680 Speaker 1: of oil well drilling vibrations on birds. The study finds 241 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:29,280 Speaker 1: that the drilling vibrations significantly affected the abundance, nesting success, 242 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:34,200 Speaker 1: nesting body condition, and clutch size of the ecosystem songbirds. 243 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:38,320 Speaker 1: But knowing that everything has downsides lets you compare your 244 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:42,520 Speaker 1: options more clearly. For example, we've all heard that collisions 245 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:46,720 Speaker 1: with wind energy turbines kills birds, and that's true, hundreds 246 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:48,840 Speaker 1: of thousands of birds die this way in the US 247 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:53,320 Speaker 1: every year. But according to scientists at Airhouse University in Denmark. 248 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:56,440 Speaker 1: Fossil fuel plants kill seventeen times as many birds as 249 00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:59,560 Speaker 1: windmills do. In fact, if you look at birds killed 250 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:03,280 Speaker 1: per yuar unit of energy, wind and nuclear power plants 251 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:06,560 Speaker 1: each kill about zero point three birds per gigawatt hour 252 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:10,560 Speaker 1: of electricity, while fossil fueled power stations kill about five 253 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:14,720 Speaker 1: point two birds per gigawatt hour. Per scale, a gigawatt 254 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 1: hour is about the amount of electricity you'd use to 255 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:21,040 Speaker 1: power a million US homes per one hour. And let's 256 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,360 Speaker 1: not forget how many birds glass windows and housecats kill 257 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:26,880 Speaker 1: every year. And we're not talking about getting rid of them. 258 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:29,960 Speaker 1: I mean I could hear of the cats though, you 259 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:33,240 Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. These local fights over wind farms 260 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:36,840 Speaker 1: and other energy developments are happening against the backdrop of 261 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:40,560 Speaker 1: the current administration absolutely going to war with the renewable 262 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 1: energy industry. One interesting front of that war is the 263 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:48,359 Speaker 1: EPA clawing back funds that were allocated by the previous administration, 264 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:52,680 Speaker 1: including seven billion dollars for the Solar four All program, 265 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:55,240 Speaker 1: which aim to bring solar power to about nine hundred 266 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:59,280 Speaker 1: thousand low income households across the US. An issue like 267 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:01,560 Speaker 1: that might seem far away from US hunters who just 268 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:04,240 Speaker 1: want to think about the Boundary waters or the Brooks Range. 269 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:06,840 Speaker 1: But the more that cities and towns can generate their 270 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:10,520 Speaker 1: own electricity, the easier it is to cover every parking 271 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:13,480 Speaker 1: lot in this great country with solar panels. The fewer 272 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:15,960 Speaker 1: wind farms and natural gas turbines there need to be 273 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:19,920 Speaker 1: out there on the landscape. Last thing on this for me. 274 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:23,200 Speaker 1: In twenty twenty four, as US Congress Rep. Mike Levin 275 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:26,240 Speaker 1: of California introduced Hr. Nine zero one to two the 276 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:30,960 Speaker 1: Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act aka Plarretta. This bill 277 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:35,760 Speaker 1: would prioritize hunting, fishing, and conservation in sighting wind, solar, 278 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:40,040 Speaker 1: and geothermal development on public lands, making sure that infrastructure 279 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:43,160 Speaker 1: would go into places with high energy potential and low 280 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:46,600 Speaker 1: impact on wildlife and habitat, usually areas that have already 281 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:51,280 Speaker 1: been disturbed by previous uses. PLARDRA would also establish a 282 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: fund that would take a portion of the revenue generated 283 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:57,720 Speaker 1: from renewable development and dedicated to fish and wildlife conservation 284 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:01,480 Speaker 1: and public land access, exactly the way the LWCF uses 285 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:04,639 Speaker 1: offshore drilling revenues. One of the real blind spots of 286 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:08,280 Speaker 1: renewables has been not dedicating money in this way like 287 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:12,520 Speaker 1: fossil extraction has done. In the current political climate, it's 288 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:14,639 Speaker 1: not very likely that Hr nine zero one to two 289 00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:17,119 Speaker 1: will be signed into law. But call your reps anyway 290 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:21,440 Speaker 1: and tell them about PLREDA will throw a link up 291 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:25,200 Speaker 1: on the CALT action page. It's something to examine. I'm 292 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:27,760 Speaker 1: not saying it's perfect, but it is an example of 293 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:33,280 Speaker 1: something different out there. Sticking with a large soil animal's desk, 294 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:37,359 Speaker 1: entomologists at the University of Montana recently discovering an incredible 295 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:40,760 Speaker 1: adaptation in a beetle native t Yellowstone National Park. These 296 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:43,960 Speaker 1: scientists had noticed that the wet salts tiger beetle was 297 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,480 Speaker 1: able to withstand the intense heat of mammoth hot springs 298 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:50,960 Speaker 1: and other geologically heated water features in the park. Being 299 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:53,520 Speaker 1: able to hang out in these places allows the tiger 300 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:56,960 Speaker 1: beetle to be the only predator of other insects lower 301 00:17:57,040 --> 00:18:00,760 Speaker 1: down on the food chain that can also survive there. However, 302 00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:04,600 Speaker 1: Yellowstone tiger beetles were able to survive the high temperatures 303 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:08,280 Speaker 1: without many of the heat shedding behaviors that similar tiger 304 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:11,719 Speaker 1: beetles display elsewhere in the world. One of the authors 305 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:14,840 Speaker 1: of the study, Neon Higley, told the news outlet Cowboy 306 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:17,919 Speaker 1: State Daily quote, many tiger beetles will run into the shade, 307 00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:20,399 Speaker 1: dip their abdomens in water, or use their legs to 308 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:23,920 Speaker 1: raise their bodies above the ground, called stilting to regulate 309 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:28,640 Speaker 1: their temperature. But yellowstones tiger beetles don't do that. Looking closer, 310 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:32,440 Speaker 1: these scientists noticed that despite not displaying these behaviors, the 311 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:35,520 Speaker 1: yellowstone beetles were still able to hold droplets of water 312 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:38,720 Speaker 1: on the underside of their abdomens, which conducted heat away 313 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:41,919 Speaker 1: from their bodies. It almost appeared that the water was 314 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:45,160 Speaker 1: soaking through the exoskeletons of the beetles, but that would 315 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:48,439 Speaker 1: be impossible, as tiger beetles are in fact covered in 316 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: the same waterproof wax that protects many other insects. Next 317 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:55,640 Speaker 1: time your waterproof in your boots like I just did 318 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:59,280 Speaker 1: with wax, remember that you're borrowing the technique from our 319 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:03,520 Speaker 1: hard shelled friends, tiger beetles. So how were the yellowstone 320 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:06,760 Speaker 1: beetles holding the water against their bodies. Putting them under 321 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:09,800 Speaker 1: a microscope, the scientists noticed a network of shallow grooves 322 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:14,240 Speaker 1: on their undersides studded with tiny spikes. These structures significantly 323 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:17,119 Speaker 1: increase the surface area of the beetles abdomens and the 324 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:20,000 Speaker 1: surface tension of the water. Then it hears moisture to 325 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:23,959 Speaker 1: that structure, even though the exoskeleton is still waterproof. When 326 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:27,119 Speaker 1: air moves across that water, it conducts heat away like 327 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:31,679 Speaker 1: the world's tiniest air conditioner. This is a completely novel discovery, 328 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:35,359 Speaker 1: meaning that no other animal, soil or otherwise has ever 329 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:39,320 Speaker 1: been observed with this similar adaptation. It also means that 330 00:19:39,359 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: the University of Montana team were able to patent the 331 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:46,399 Speaker 1: discovery for use as a quote micro grooving that allows 332 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:50,720 Speaker 1: wetting of otherwise water repellent surfaces. The team isn't quite 333 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:54,000 Speaker 1: sure what the technology would be used for, but maybe 334 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:56,840 Speaker 1: someday all of our homes, cars, and beach chairs will 335 00:19:56,840 --> 00:20:01,919 Speaker 1: be cooled with microgroove technology micro groops technology. Maybe it 336 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:04,720 Speaker 1: will also become a new kind of music which people 337 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:09,800 Speaker 1: really really dig but only dance to using extremely small movements. 338 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:14,359 Speaker 1: That's all I got for you this week. Thank you 339 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:17,520 Speaker 1: so much for listening. Remember to write into a sk 340 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:20,479 Speaker 1: c a l let's ask out Themeeeater dot com let 341 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:22,280 Speaker 1: us know what's going on in your neck of the woods. 342 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:24,920 Speaker 1: You know we appreciate it. Thanks again, we'll talk to 343 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:32,879 Speaker 1: you next week.