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

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Speaker 1: Cal's weekend review, presented by Steel. Steel products are available

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

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

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Speaker 1: heard of drug sniffing dogs, police dogs, hunting dogs, and

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Speaker 1: sled dogs. But did you know that some canines earn

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Speaker 1: a living as conservation dogs. Conservation dogs have been around

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Speaker 1: since the nineteen nineties, and they're usually dispatched by biologists

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Speaker 1: to look for rare and elusive species. One of these dogs,

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Speaker 1: a brown and white Padenko Canario named slater I. Like

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Speaker 1: how the owners balance out the fancy name with the

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Speaker 1: name out of point Break, found himself in the news

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Speaker 1: recently for detecting a rare species of seabird on Hawaii's

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Speaker 1: Big Island. Wildlife experts from the U. S Army in

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Speaker 1: Colorado State University had been trying to learn more about

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Speaker 1: the akaka, or banned rumped storm petrol, a small endangered

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Speaker 1: sea bird that spends most of its life at sea

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Speaker 1: and returns to land only to breed. There's only one

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Speaker 1: known breeding colony on the Big Island, and scientists have

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Speaker 1: only been able to detect six burrows in that colony.

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Speaker 1: The birds make their homes on Hawaii's hard volcanic landscape,

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Speaker 1: and they only leave the burrows at night to search

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Speaker 1: for food. To make matters worse, the volcanic activity makes

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Speaker 1: thermal imaging virtually useless, and audio recorders can only tell

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Speaker 1: biologists that the birds are in the general area without

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Speaker 1: any way to pinpoint exactly where the birds are living.

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Speaker 1: Finding one of their burrows on the cracked and pitted

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Speaker 1: landscape is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

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Speaker 1: That's where Slater comes in. Slater was trained to detect

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Speaker 1: the sense of particular species, not unlike a raccoon or

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Speaker 1: squirrel dog. His handlers set him loose in an area

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Speaker 1: known to have the akka and nest, and before long

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Speaker 1: he pointed to a small hole in the ground. The

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Speaker 1: birds make three to six foot tunnels that twist and turn,

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Speaker 1: so the biologists couldn't just peer into the hole to

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Speaker 1: confirm it was an active nest, but they set up

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Speaker 1: trail cams and sure enough they soon had photos of

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Speaker 1: the sixth okay Okae nest on Hawaii's Big Island. Monitoring

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Speaker 1: okay okay burrows provides valuable information to develop better management

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Speaker 1: strategies to protect vulnerable breeding birds from introduced predators such

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Speaker 1: as mongoose, rodents, barn owls, and of course cats. If

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Speaker 1: any biologists on that project or listening, you can give

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Speaker 1: Slater when he's not catching a tasty wave a belly

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Speaker 1: rub for me. Mrspically, you're on dangerous ground here. You're

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Speaker 1: causing a major disturbance on my time. If I'm here

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Speaker 1: and you're here, doesn't that make it our time? This

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Speaker 1: week we've got solar elk management history and legislation. But

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Speaker 1: first I'm gonna tell you about my week. Yeah, in

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Speaker 1: my week, I mean, who knows? I'm writing this ahead

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Speaker 1: of time so my dear friend and compatriot and podcast

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Speaker 1: fill the engineer can enjoy a break from sound engineering.

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Speaker 1: I am hoping exercise in the form of skiing, wood chopping, ice, auguring,

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Speaker 1: lugging decoys, maybe being a human sled animal for the

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Speaker 1: niece and nephew takes place this last week. Lots of plucking, cooking, eating, jigging, drinking,

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Speaker 1: a couple of fat perch on the ice, as well

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Speaker 1: as some late season honkers. Dare I say a last

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Speaker 1: day of pheasants season, Cockbird, I just don't know. I

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Speaker 1: don't know if I'll get it all in. And what

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Speaker 1: about this New Year's that's coming up coming right here

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Speaker 1: down the pipe? Can't ignore it, Friends and neighbors. What

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Speaker 1: will it bring? And what will you and I do

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Speaker 1: to suck the life out of the next three All

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Speaker 1: I want as part of your New Year's resolution is

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Speaker 1: for you to be involved. Don't let a comment period

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Speaker 1: pass you by. Be a art of conservation, yes, by

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Speaker 1: buying your bird stamps, tags and licenses, but also by voting,

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Speaker 1: by calling, writing in, and testifying on matters that matter.

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Speaker 1: If you did nothing last year, do a couple of

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Speaker 1: things this year. Volunteer, call right or don't complain. Be

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Speaker 1: happy as you are swept with the rest of the

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Speaker 1: flotsam in the flow of politics, too complacent to backstroke

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Speaker 1: or even keep your feet in front of you in

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Speaker 1: a good down river safety position. You need to kick

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Speaker 1: against the current this year and every year. It's not

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Speaker 1: going to get easier. As my grandpa used to say,

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Speaker 1: the bastards will always try to win, and you need

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Speaker 1: to try to win as well. So sign up right

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Speaker 1: now for those newsletters. Join a couple of groups. Don't

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Speaker 1: just listen to me, get informed. Two thousand twenty three,

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Speaker 1: Here we go to the energy desk. Secretary of the Interior,

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Speaker 1: deb hall Ud announced this month that the Bureau of

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Speaker 1: Land Management will be developing a plan to jump start

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Speaker 1: more solar energy development on western public land. The current

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Speaker 1: plan has been in place since two thousand twelve and

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Speaker 1: govern solar project approval in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico,

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Speaker 1: and Utah. The new plan will consider adding Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana,

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Speaker 1: and Wyoming to the list. It will also adjust exclusion

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Speaker 1: criteria to approve more projects and identify new or expanded

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Speaker 1: areas to prioritize solar deployment. This administration is committed to

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Speaker 1: expanding clean energy development to address climate change, enhance America's

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Speaker 1: energy security, and provide for good paying union jobs, said

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Speaker 1: Secretary Holland in a press release. The current process for

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Speaker 1: approving solar energy projects looks for areas with quote high

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Speaker 1: solar potential and low resource conflicts. In other words, the

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Speaker 1: BLUM looks for places where solar panel arrays won't disturb

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Speaker 1: wildlife or people. But we'll see lots of sun I

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Speaker 1: have every confidence the new plan will do the same,

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Speaker 1: and I wouldn't worry that the BLM will replace for

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Speaker 1: us or at parian areas with solar fields. However, the

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Speaker 1: proposed planning criteria that will guide the BLMS land use

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Speaker 1: policies don't mention outdoor recreation. They say they will consult

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Speaker 1: with tribal governments and will take cultural and historic resources

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Speaker 1: into account. They will analyze environmental justice and consider relevant

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Speaker 1: national strategic objectives. They will quote recognize the special importance

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Speaker 1: of the public lands to local communities, but that isn't

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Speaker 1: exactly a full throated commitment to isolate solar arrays from

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Speaker 1: the places we love to hunt and fish. I reached

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Speaker 1: out to the Bureau of Land Management, but we haven't

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Speaker 1: exactly got anything back. The good news is that whatever

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Speaker 1: you think about solar energy, you'll have many opportunities to

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Speaker 1: offer feedback. The BLM has published a notice of their

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Speaker 1: updated solar energy approval process, which will be open for

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Speaker 1: comment for sixty days after publication on the Federal Register.

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Speaker 1: Check out the meat eater dot com forward slash cal

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Speaker 1: for a link to that notice. After reviewing those comments,

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Speaker 1: the BLM will then develop a draft environmental impact Statement,

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Speaker 1: which will also be available for public review and comment.

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Speaker 1: If this is a topic you care about, now is

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Speaker 1: the time to get involved. The federal government is moving

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Speaker 1: full steam ahead on clean energy projects that BLM is

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Speaker 1: currently processing sixty five utility scale onshore clean energy projects

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Speaker 1: on public lands. The agency is also undertaking the preliminary

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Speaker 1: review of more than one applications for solar and wind development,

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Speaker 1: as well as nearly fifty applications for wind and solar

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Speaker 1: energy testing. If we want to seat at the table,

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Speaker 1: we need to make sure to stay informed, stay engaged,

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Speaker 1: and make our voices heard. Moving on to the elk desk,

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Speaker 1: a new study published in the journal Biological Conservation highlights

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Speaker 1: how much elk in the Greater Yellostone ecosystem rely on

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Speaker 1: private land to survive. In the winter, when elk herds

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Speaker 1: migrate to lower elevations to escape super cold temps, elk

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Speaker 1: spend an average of thirty six percent of their time

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Speaker 1: on private property. Seven of the twenty six herds studied

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Speaker 1: spend more than fifty percent of their time on private

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Speaker 1: land during the winter, and some herds spend the majority

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Speaker 1: of the year on private land during the summer and

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Speaker 1: in migratory periods, these elk like to hang out mostly

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Speaker 1: on forest service land, but when it gets cold in

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Speaker 1: the winter, many herds need private land to make it through.

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Speaker 1: Hunters who understand how elk migrate likely won't be surprised

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Speaker 1: by these results, but the study puts hard numbers on

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Speaker 1: something we've always suspected. Protected areas around Yellowstone are crucial

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Speaker 1: for elk to thrive, but so are private properties that

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Speaker 1: offer the connectivity these migrating animals need. The study found

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Speaker 1: that these elk herds thrive on private land due to

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Speaker 1: the increased forage and reduced pressure from hunters. Unfortunately, these

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Speaker 1: lands are also the most at risk for development, and

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Speaker 1: while voluntary incentive based conservation ease months have been used

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Speaker 1: widely and successfully across the US, the authors found that

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Speaker 1: their use has been limited to only a small proportion

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Speaker 1: of the elk ranges within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem or

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Speaker 1: g y E. To help ensure these private parcels remain

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Speaker 1: open from elk migration, the authors recommend that conservation organizations

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Speaker 1: seek to expand outreach and alleviate financing bottlenecks to increase

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Speaker 1: the use of conservation easements For landowners looking to conserve

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Speaker 1: elk on their properties, The authors recommend installing wildlife friendly

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Speaker 1: fencing or removing fencing that doesn't serve a purpose. You've

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Speaker 1: heard me mention wildlife friendly fencing on the podcast before,

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Speaker 1: and I know it sounds like a contradiction. How can

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Speaker 1: fence effectively contain livestock while still being friendly for wildlife?

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Speaker 1: You might also assume that since elk and deer can

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Speaker 1: clear most fences with ease, there's no need to install

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Speaker 1: any other kind. But while most adult ungulates can leap

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Speaker 1: over your classic five strand barbed wire fence, they have

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Speaker 1: trouble and less than ideal conditions right or inexperience, depleted condition, injury,

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Speaker 1: deep snow, and a host of other factors can turn

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Speaker 1: a speed bump into a life threatening roadblock. Fences aren't

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Speaker 1: a population level threat to any ungulate species, but at

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Speaker 1: two thousand six study found that on average, one ungulate

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Speaker 1: per year was caught and fatally tangled for every two

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Speaker 1: and a half miles of fence. Most died after getting

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Speaker 1: their legs caught in the top two fence wires. The

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Speaker 1: most lethal type of fence was woven wire, also called

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Speaker 1: chief fence or field fence top with a strand of

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Speaker 1: barbed wire. The studies author found even more cabs and

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Speaker 1: fons lying dead near fences after they were unable to

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Speaker 1: follow their mothers. And type of fence presents a hazard wildlife,

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Speaker 1: but there are things a landowner can do to mitigate

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Speaker 1: unnecessary death. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation recommends that fences

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Speaker 1: be no higher than forty two inches on the level ground.

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Speaker 1: On an incline, the top of the fence must be

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Speaker 1: even lower. Pronghorn and young deer and elk usually prefer

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Speaker 1: to crawl under a fence, so the r m EF

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Speaker 1: recommends the bottom b about eighteen inches off the ground.

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Speaker 1: Ranchers should also try to keep the top two wires

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Speaker 1: as tight as possible to help prevent elk and deer

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Speaker 1: from becoming entangled. Even around Yellowstone, one of the world's

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Speaker 1: most famous conserved areas, landowners provide a crucial service for

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Speaker 1: the wild animals who live there. Private land isn't always

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Speaker 1: a bad thing for wildlife. It can just be a

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Speaker 1: pain in the ass forgetting access to the wildlife that

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Speaker 1: we all own. I know many landowners who take the

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Speaker 1: responsibility seriously whether by agreeing to a conservation easement, participating

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Speaker 1: in the block management program, or installing wildlife friendly fencing.

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Speaker 1: Moving on to the ancient history desk, scientists working in

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Speaker 1: Greenland recently discovered what they believe are the oldest known

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Speaker 1: DNA samples. These two million year old specimens come from

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Speaker 1: the one and thirty five different species including mass dons, geese, lemmings,

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Speaker 1: and ants. According to an article in Nature. For those

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Speaker 1: keeping score at home, these samples are nearly twice as

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Speaker 1: old as the previous record holding DNA, which came from

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Speaker 1: a mammoth in Siberia. Even more amazing than the variety

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Speaker 1: and age of this DNA is the location. These samples

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Speaker 1: were extracted from Greenland's perma frost, just six hundred miles

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Speaker 1: from the north Pole. They indicate that what is currently

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Speaker 1: a frozen tundra was once covered by a forest of

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Speaker 1: poplar and birch trees inhabited by mass dons. The forests

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Speaker 1: were homes to cariboo and Arctic hares, and the warm

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Speaker 1: coastal waters were filled with horseshoe crabs. Cariboo live in

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Speaker 1: Greenland already, but the current fossil record indicates that they

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Speaker 1: evolved about one million years ago. This new discovery doubles

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Speaker 1: their evolutionary history. The masted On DNA was also a

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Speaker 1: big surprise. The nearest known masted On fossils were seventy

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Speaker 1: five thousand year old remains in Nova Scotia, which are

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Speaker 1: far younger than the Greenland DNA and much farther south.

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Speaker 1: The New York Times quoted one paleontologist asking, quote, what

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Speaker 1: the hell are they doing up there? Good question. The

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Speaker 1: trees are also giving paleontologists heartburn. While the Earth's temperature

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Speaker 1: is warmed and cooled over the course of its existence,

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Speaker 1: the planet has not, as far as we know, shifted

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Speaker 1: on its axis. That means that those poplar and birch

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Speaker 1: trees had to somehow survive half the year in darkness.

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Speaker 1: The scientists will continue to analyze the DNA to see

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Speaker 1: if it holds clues as to how the trees adapted

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Speaker 1: to this much different landscape. If you think that's interesting,

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Speaker 1: wait till you hear about this next study from researchers

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Speaker 1: at the University College London. When you're a scientist, it's

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Speaker 1: your job to ask questions about things that most people

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Speaker 1: take is self evident. Questions like why is the sun yellow?

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Speaker 1: Why is this guy blue? And why do people walk

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Speaker 1: on two legs? For a long time, scientists answered this

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Speaker 1: question by theorizing that a change in environment prompted our

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Speaker 1: ancestors to transition from walking on four legs to two.

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Speaker 1: The theory goes that when dense forests began to give

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Speaker 1: way to more open woodland and grassland, humans started walking

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Speaker 1: on two legs because it gave them a more efficient

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Speaker 1: mode of transportation. Say what you want about monkeys, but

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Speaker 1: they aren't great long distance runners. However, a new study

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Speaker 1: published in the journal Science Advances has a different idea.

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Speaker 1: The studies authors spent fifteen months observing chimpanzees in Tanzania,

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Speaker 1: and they found that being on the ground didn't correlate

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Speaker 1: strongly with being in open spaces. Whether the chimps lived

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Speaker 1: in open or densely forested areas, the proportion of time

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Speaker 1: the primate spent on the ground was about the same.

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Speaker 1: What's more, of the times the chimps exhibited bipedal behavior

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Speaker 1: i e. Walked on two legs, only four of that

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Speaker 1: behavior happened while they were on the ground. Instead, most

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Speaker 1: bipedal behavior happened in trees. And was strongly related to

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Speaker 1: foraging for food. Walking or standing on two legs helped

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Speaker 1: them safely and effectively navigate the flexible branches and access

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Speaker 1: as much fruit as possible. The researchers were careful to

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Speaker 1: point out that our human ancestors may have acted differently

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Speaker 1: than these thirteen chimps in Tanzania, but their findings still

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Speaker 1: cast out on the prevailing theory. Maybe our ancestors began

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Speaker 1: walking on two legs because it was easier to reach

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Speaker 1: more mangoes, rather than because it was easier to go

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Speaker 1: for a jog. Given how most people these days use

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Speaker 1: their bipedal abilities, I'd say these scientists are onto something.

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Speaker 1: Moving on to the legislative desk, a new year means

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Speaker 1: that many state legislatures are about to go back into session.

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Speaker 1: We'll do our best to stay on top of their

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Speaker 1: big stories, but we rely on you to let us

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Speaker 1: know about what's happening in your neck of the woods.

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Speaker 1: Joseph Iravik, for example, send me an email about Illinois

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Speaker 1: House Bill five eight five five. This bill does a

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Speaker 1: variety of things related to crime and firearms, including banning

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Speaker 1: the sale and manufacture of quote assault weapons, but Joseph

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Speaker 1: was more concerned about the changes it makes to the

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Speaker 1: way Illinois residents purchase rifles for hunting. In Illinois, every

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Speaker 1: firearm owner must obtain a Firearm Owners Identification Card, also

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Speaker 1: known as a void card. For many years, foid cards

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Speaker 1: for purchasing handguns were only available to those over age one,

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Speaker 1: but eighteen, nineteen and twenty year olds could still purchase

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Speaker 1: rifles and shotguns. A few years ago, the legislature passed

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Speaker 1: a bill that allowed eighteen to twenty year olds to

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Speaker 1: purchase a long gun only with the written permission of

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Speaker 1: their parent or guardian. This allowed people like Joseph to

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Speaker 1: hunt on his own with a rifle as long as

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Speaker 1: he got his parents permission, but HP five eight five

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Speaker 1: five removes that option. If the bill passes, only residents

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Speaker 1: twenty one years of age or older will be allowed

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Speaker 1: to purchase or possess a long gun. Eighteen, nineteen and

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Speaker 1: twenty year olds can still hunt, but they must be

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Speaker 1: accompanied by a person who legally possesses a void card,

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Speaker 1: i e. Someone who is twenty one years of age

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Speaker 1: or older. Joseph says that the opportunity to hunt squirrels

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Speaker 1: solo as a young adult gave him more confidence in

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Speaker 1: his hunting skills, and he's been looking forward to teaching

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Speaker 1: the ropes to his teenage brother in law. If this

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Speaker 1: bill passes, Joseph's brother will have to wait three more

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Speaker 1: years before he can have the experience of hunting on

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Speaker 1: his own so Illinois residence. If you're interested in making

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Speaker 1: your voice heard about this bill, right to your legislators

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Speaker 1: and tell them what you think about HP five eight

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Speaker 1: five five. As with any of these bills we talk

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Speaker 1: about today, you can find that info on the Google

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Speaker 1: machine or go to where we make it easy, the

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Speaker 1: meat eater dot com. Forward slash cow and look for episode.

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Speaker 1: Sticking with firearms policy, the Michigan legislature is considering a

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Speaker 1: ban on so called assault weapons. The bill number is

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Speaker 1: six five four four and it looks similar to assault

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Speaker 1: weapons bands passed in other states. It prohibits the manufacturer, possession, purchase,

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Speaker 1: and sail a semi automatic rifles capable of accepting a

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Speaker 1: detachable magazine and featuring a pistol grip, vertical four grip

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Speaker 1: adjustable stock, or barrel shroud. Current owners of these prohibited

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Speaker 1: firearms will be allowed to keep them as long as

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Speaker 1: they register their weapon with the state police. Democrats had

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Speaker 1: a surprisingly successful election in November, and they were able

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Speaker 1: to take control of both the State House and Senate

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Speaker 1: by two votes. With Democrat Gretchen Whittmer and the governor's mansion,

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Speaker 1: they're hopeful they can pass a ban on these semi

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Speaker 1: automatic rifles. If you want to weigh in, get in

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Speaker 1: touch with your state rep. About House Bill six five

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Speaker 1: four four over in p A. That's the hip way

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Speaker 1: of say. In Pennsylvania, one legislator wants to adjust the

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Speaker 1: state's white tail season. Thanks to Dan Lesinski for sending

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Speaker 1: this one. In State Rep. Brian Smith wants to change

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Speaker 1: the starting day of rifle deer season to Monday after Thanksgiving.

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Speaker 1: The season has started on the Saturday after Thanksgiving since

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Speaker 1: two thousand nineteen. Smith is peeved because he believes a

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Speaker 1: Saturday opener hurts the economy and family relationships. Well, what

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Speaker 1: if you do your family time when you're out hunting deer.

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Speaker 1: Here's how he put it in a letter to fellow legislators.

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Speaker 1: In changing the opening day to Saturday, they took away

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Speaker 1: the family time. Boy, this guy's got daddy issues. That

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Speaker 1: was traditional for many that weekend as hunters now have

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Speaker 1: to leave earlier for deer camp. This also meant losing

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Speaker 1: of family traditions of attending fundraising events for whom end

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Speaker 1: of shopping on Friday and small business Saturday. The loss

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Speaker 1: of revenue to these small business owners, volunteer fire companies,

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Speaker 1: other volunteer organizations has been devastating to their bottom line.

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Speaker 1: Pennsylvania still banned Sunday hunting, so opening day would move

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Speaker 1: from Saturday to Monday. To make up for this lost day,

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Speaker 1: Smith wants to make the antlerd white tail season run

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Speaker 1: for two weeks uninterrupted, from that Monday through to the

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Speaker 1: second Sunday. Hunters would be trading that opening day on

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Speaker 1: Saturday for the following Sunday. Opponents point out that a

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Speaker 1: Saturday opener gives more people with families and busy schedules

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Speaker 1: time to get out and enjoy the woods. If you

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Speaker 1: work five days a week and want to experience the opener,

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Speaker 1: Saturday is a much better day than Monday. The Pennsylvania

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Speaker 1: Game Commission conducted a survey and found that six of

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Speaker 1: hunters supported the move of the first day of rifle

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Speaker 1: deer season to Saturday. If you have opinions of your own,

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Speaker 1: get in touch with your Pennsylvania legislator as well as Rep.

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Speaker 1: Brian Smith. He hasn't officially introduced the legislation yet, but

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Speaker 1: as of this recording, he still plans to. That's all

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Speaker 1: I've got for you this week. Thank you so much

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Speaker 1: for listening. Remember to ring in the new year by

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Speaker 1: getting in touch with your state rep. At minimum and

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Speaker 1: right in to a s k c A L. That's

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Speaker 1: asked cal at the Meat Eater dot com and let

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Speaker 1: me know what's going on in your neck of the woods. Remember,

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Speaker 1: we also have a lot of winter left, so if

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Speaker 1: you're looking to stack that wood shed, go to www

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Speaker 1: dot steel Dealers dot com to find a local, knowledgeable

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Speaker 1: steel dealer near you. They're gonna get you set up

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Speaker 1: with what you need. They're not gonna try to send

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

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Speaker 1: talk to you next week.