tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33186572011-04-21T11:49:43.163-07:00BigSkyViewhow the world looks from this Montana mountaintop
<b>(doebare@aol.com)</b>tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comBlogger1241100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-877799782003-01-21T05:14:00.000-08:002003-01-21T05:14:02.073-08:00
Undaunted Craziness
Here's an interesting meditative essay on Captain Meriwether Lewis that lays the groundwork for – but never actually mentions – the most common explanation I've heard and read: that Lewis suffered from manic-depression – bipolar disorder, in today's parlance. It can be a prescription for greatness – most often promised, yet never quite realized – as well as intensely felt tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-876800392003-01-19T06:29:00.000-08:002003-01-19T06:30:29.000-08:00Lewis and Clark Bandwagon
Varied – and even competing – groups and causes are using the occasion of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial to proselytize. (One of the most interesting, and potentially far-reaching such vehicles – a Montana-based ranching-related program called Undaunted Stewardship – isn't mentioned here, but it will emerge.) Meanwhile, research offers both optimistic and cautionarytomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-874181602003-01-14T06:34:00.000-08:002003-01-14T06:34:04.406-08:00
"Montana Wildlife Partnership" Explained
A leader in the Montana Stockgrowers Association explains the organization's "Wildlife Partnership" proposals, separating fact from fiction – and clarifying that the organization is proceeding slowly, in hopes of building agreement rather than inciting a controversy.
A Solution to Diseased Yellowstone Bison?
They're working on the vaccine – and how to tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-873106942003-01-12T09:34:00.000-08:002003-01-12T09:35:19.000-08:00A Dog that
Makes His Home Amid "Superfund" Toxics
The amazing story of a dog called The Auditor.
"Kentucky Fried Cruelty" Campaign
Inspires Questions About the Intelligence of Chickens
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) wants Colonel Sanders to improve the welfare of chickens. "Even so, Mr. Evans conceded, ‘I don't think an argument based on chicken intelligence is going to tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-870614752003-01-07T07:00:00.000-08:002003-01-07T07:00:30.020-08:00
Yellowstone Park's First "Planted" Wolf Killed by Other Wolves
He lived longer than most wolves do in the wild, and now Nature's Way has done him in. "He was a mammoth wolf with one of the biggest, bushiest tails I've ever seen," he said. "But he was old, 8 years old, and a step slower."
tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-866589482002-12-29T06:27:00.000-08:002002-12-29T06:27:21.090-08:00
Will Coal-Bed Methane Development
Destroy the Rangelands – and Waters – Where It Occurs?
Urban audiences are only just starting to hear about this controversy, which has been building for years in places like Wyoming and southeastern Montana, where many see coal-bed methane projects as virtually the only serious hope for beleaguered rural economies. The "yes we can" v. "no you can't" rhetoric tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-856805362002-12-08T07:23:00.000-08:002002-12-08T07:23:04.700-08:00Coming Soon:
The Return of BigSkyView
After a Summer and Fall of densely-packed work, travel and distraction, I've finally had the time to switch to new software that will once again allow me to post here. Watch this space for new posts coming in the near future.tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-847198212002-11-18T11:24:00.000-08:002002-11-18T11:24:44.686-08:00this is just a test of the new sofwaretomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-790196432002-07-16T07:42:00.000-07:002002-07-16T08:30:19.000-07:00
Montana's "Undaunted Stewardship" Attracts National Attention
An Associated Press article that originated in Montana has appeared in The New York Times.
Legislators Urge Reimbursement for Elk Killed by Wolves
Several Montana legislators are asking the Governor to push for faster de-listing – and more.
When Deer Are "Hazardous Waste"
Disposal becomes a problem.
Where the Bears... and tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-787768322002-07-10T07:28:00.000-07:002002-07-10T07:29:35.000-07:00
How Should the Missouri Breaks Area Be Managed?
In a Word: Better
The BLM is asking for public comment in a series of hearings. The biggest problems I know of along the Wild & Scenic River, which floater-friends of mine have complained about for years, concern the proliferation of impacts caused by recreational overuse, including widespread weed infestations. These are management problems thetomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-786912952002-07-08T09:29:00.000-07:002002-07-08T09:29:52.000-07:00
Ideal Birthday Present for America:
Keep Rangelands in Agriculture to Preserve Open Spaces, Lifestyles
It's no secret that economic forces threaten ranching lifestyles and promote development sprawl that reduces wildlife habitat and destroys open spaces. That why it's nice to see more and more people recognize that ranching inherently produces a wide range of benefits to the general public fortomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-786912872002-07-08T09:28:00.000-07:002002-07-08T09:28:52.016-07:00
Ideal Birthday Present for America:
Keep Rangelands in Agriculture to Preserve Open Spaces, Lifestyles
It's no secret that economic forces threaten ranching lifestyles and promote development sprawl that reduces wildlife habitat and destroys open spaces. That why it's nice to see more and more people recognize that ranching inherently produces a wide range of benefits to the general public fortomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-784624792002-07-02T07:00:00.000-07:002002-07-02T07:00:15.320-07:00
EPA Plans to Cut Back on Superfund Spending Revealed
Here comes the latest enviro-controversy for the Bush Administration. This won't be popular in the affected locations, which this time includes the ordinarily sleepy and complacent Helena area. At the moment, though, a local EPA official insists there will be no slow-down on the Helena drinking water-related clean-up. We'll see.
Common tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-782205422002-06-26T06:12:00.000-07:002002-06-26T06:12:41.770-07:00
Western Governors Addressing Forest Health & Fire Issues
They haven't issued an official group statement – not yet, anyway – but, as I predicted here yesterday, participants in the Western Governors Conference are working, planning – and talking publicly – about wildfire and forest management issues. This is just the beginning.
Park Service Goes for Compromise on Snowmobiles in Yellowstone, tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-781771152002-06-25T07:12:00.000-07:002002-06-25T07:12:54.533-07:00
Pompeys Pillar Was – Is – More than a Site of Graffiti by Captain William A. Clark
The Crow Indians valued "Where the Mountain Lion Lives" long before non-Indians recognized its value as a landmark and named it Pompeys Pillar.
The Missoulian "Disses" Earth First! Protestors
It seems notable that the anti-salvage-logging folks have received such an unwelcoming response in Missoula.
Wildfire, tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-780262802002-06-21T07:42:00.000-07:002002-06-21T07:42:50.033-07:00
On Global Warming
Here's a provocative essay on a subject that usually inspires merely dogmatic rhetoric from one side or the other.
Ted Turner's Foot-in-Mouth Disease
Someone else's turn to criticize Turner: "Reports of Turner's idiocy have become so frequent that they're arguably not even newsworthy, in a man-bites-dog sense."
Judge Slaps Serious Bail Requirement on Missoula Earth tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-779776122002-06-20T06:15:00.000-07:002002-06-20T06:15:39.006-07:00
Earth Firsters Protest Bitterroot Salvage Logging
Is salvage logging – removing dead trees killed by forest fires several years ago – a gift to forest quality, or to multinational timber companies? Most Montanans would say the former; these "members" of Earth First! apparently believe it's the latter.
Recent Snows, Avalanches, Delay Glacier Park Road Opening
Going to the Sun Road may open tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-779350232002-06-19T07:38:00.000-07:002002-06-19T07:38:35.513-07:00
Montana to Host International Climate Change Summit
Next week, Montana will play host to a prestigious – and private – gathering of climate change experts and diplomats that was originally scheduled for mid-September last year. Will this retreat improve relations between the U.S. and Asia, and build increased consensus on climate change issues? Despite the privacy that's evidently required totomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-778880632002-06-18T06:48:00.000-07:002002-06-18T06:48:30.436-07:00
Anger – and Sympathy – for the USFS Employee Who Started the Colorado Fire
What a bad deal all around.
tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-778476812002-06-17T08:25:00.000-07:002002-06-17T08:25:48.346-07:00
Forest Service Employee Started
a Colorado Fire – and Tried, At First, to Lie About It
This is very bad news for the Forest Service – probably worse than Lynxgate. It could take a long time before the people affected by this fire trust the agency again.
Conservation Group Buys Crow Creek Falls, Near Townsend
This is good news for the waterfall – the largest in the Helena National Forest.
tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-777385662002-06-14T06:42:00.000-07:002002-06-14T06:42:26.370-07:00
Missouri Breaks Monument Inholdings Debated
A report on a D.C. hearing mirrors some of my comments here yesterday on the question of private lands contained within the new federal Monument area.
What Bloggers Do
Another good summary of the weblog phenomenon.
tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-776963572002-06-13T06:49:00.000-07:002002-06-13T06:49:40.930-07:00
Disingenuous Opposition to
Denny Rehberg's Missouri Breaks Monument Legislation?
Critics call the legislation "unnecessary," yet everyone directly affected by it disagrees. This article by itself only partly illustrates my view, that the situation is a good example of the time-wasting absurdities involved in many environmental disputes. Actually, the underlying problem seems to be the tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-776086252002-06-11T06:47:00.000-07:002002-06-11T06:47:03.006-07:00
USDA Loans for Terrorism?
Here's a striking story – one of the ringleaders of the September 11 attacks actually sought government loans to help finance various plots that can now be seen as precursors of the horrors of 9/11. Amazing to consider that flying large aircraft into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon may have been "fallback" options. Even more amazing that these guys actually tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-770661342002-05-28T08:49:00.000-07:002002-05-28T08:52:58.000-07:00
"Life" Finds Ways Where Human Assumptions Can't
We often think we know it all – or, at least, that we're smart enough to know that life can't tolerate certain "polluted" conditions. But things are clearly more complicated than we can imagine.
Forests Need Management to Reduce Fire Risks
Build a house deep in the woods, and you'd better manage that forest – and get beyond any goofy tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-769579202002-05-25T06:26:00.000-07:002002-05-25T06:26:07.316-07:00
Breaks Monument Supporters Say Rehberg Bill Not Needed
Interesting to see that even in an election year, Sen. Max Baucus is saying it's not necessary to remove private land inholdings from the Monument area. The central issue here seems to be trust: The landowners, being merely reasonable, don't trust that the government, prodded by enviro groups, won't eventually find a way to restrict or tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-769229542002-05-24T06:49:00.000-07:002002-05-24T06:50:11.000-07:00
Bioprospecting in Yellowstone Park
Should companies be allowed to "bioprospect" in the Park? When they develop ways to profit from discoveries, should the Park receive royalties? The debate continues. "Companies that stand to profit from research in national parks are supporting the benefit-sharing proposal. They say they are simply using information they find in microbes that live in places tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-768571772002-05-22T15:10:00.000-07:002002-05-22T15:10:28.193-07:00
Stockgrowers Rebut Pat Williams:
How Can He Say "the Cattle Era Is Over?"
The livestock industry remains the largest portion of the biggest segment, agriculture, of Montana's economy. So by what process of illogic does Pat Williams call "the cattle era over?" Williams says it's time for Montana to move away from "extractive" industries – has no one told him the completely obvious: that tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-768422932002-05-22T08:18:00.000-07:002002-05-22T08:18:25.526-07:00
Stockgrowers Rebut Pat Williams:
How Can He Say "the Cattle Era Is Over?"
The livestock industry remains the largest portion of the biggest segment, agriculture, of Montana's economy. So by what process of illogic does Pat Williams call "the cattle era over?" Williams says it's time for Montana to move away from "extractive" industries – has no one told him the completely obvious: that tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-767559562002-05-20T06:34:00.000-07:002002-05-20T06:34:53.000-07:00
Governor Wants Compromise on Yellowstone Snowmobiles
Rather than banning all snowmobiles from Yellowstone, isn't there a "middle ground" that can allow some controlled snowmobiling and at the same time minimize noise and protect the Park's air quality? Maybe; maybe not. But Governor Martz wants a compromise.
Grizzlies Deserve Protection, New York Times Says
An editorial yesterday argues tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-766136012002-05-16T02:57:00.000-07:002002-05-16T02:59:44.000-07:00
Resource Industry Leaders React to Pat Williams
Scroll down, back a few days, to see my take on recent comments Pat Williams made about the mining, timber and cattle "eras" being "over," and to find a link that may still connect with the original coverage of his comments. Today, various industry leaders respond to Williams with an editorial that not only rebuts him but illustrates the depth oftomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-765956762002-05-15T16:31:00.000-07:002002-05-15T16:31:39.776-07:00
Philadelphia Played Central Role in Lewis & Clark Expedition
A man from my hometown is reminding the world of Philly's pre-cheesesteak significance. Meriwether Lewis went there to study botany, zoology, medical arts, and to buy supplies for the expedition.
"Critics Were ‘Demonized,' Their Views Dismissed as ‘Heresy'"
Is this headline talking about The Skeptical Environmentalist? No; it's tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-765468982002-05-14T13:01:00.000-07:002002-05-14T13:51:34.000-07:00
Note to Readers: I'll be out of town most of the rest of this week, unable to post until the weekend or Monday.
Drought Conditions Push States to Court Over Missouri River Flows
Downstream states want more water for navigation; Montana and the Dakotas worry about their fisheries. A federal judge temporarily stops the Army Corps from releasing more water, and the problem will become a matter tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-764938082002-05-13T06:11:00.000-07:002002-05-13T06:17:29.000-07:00
Is the Proposed Electricity Portfolio Best for Montanans?
NorthWestern Energy (the "new" Montana Power Company), and some of the electricity generators it wants to use, are blowing realms of smoke to justify higher prices for consumers than some of the alternative, rejected generators would charge. "Northern Alternative Energy officials testified that the company had bid $28 per megawatt hour, tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-763990122002-05-10T08:36:00.000-07:002002-05-10T08:46:39.000-07:00
PSC Should Require Changes in Electricity Portfolio
When people like me agree completely with economics professor Tom Power on an issue, it's more than unusual. I like to think it signifies that we're both correct... rather than just me! Same with Paul Krugman, of the New York Times, who points out today that the "magic" of "free markets" isn't even a bad joke when the marketeers use their tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-763431372002-05-09T07:00:00.000-07:002002-05-09T07:00:20.613-07:00
Welcome...
to New BigSkyView Visitors:
"Y'all Come Back, Now -- Y'hear?
Andy Sullivan has included a comment of mine, along with many other better ones, in today's discussion of The Skeptical Environmentalist.
I welcome folks who may be stopping here for the first time as a result of Andy mentioning the BigSkyView blog.
This site seeks to slowly, quietly, happily amend prevailing media- andtomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-763044462002-05-08T07:21:00.000-07:002002-05-08T07:21:48.536-07:00
Enviro-Activist Is Suspect in Assassination of Dutch Politician
The alleged killer is a "vegan animal rights activist" who has said that protecting animals "civilizes people." Evidently, he hadn't protected enough animals yet to have experienced the full measure of that civilizing influence.
American Lung Association's "Phony" Smog Report Card
An essay in National Review suggests the real tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-762642242002-05-07T08:25:00.000-07:002002-05-07T08:25:01.910-07:00
Coming Soon... "Ted Turner's ‘Death Fences'"
In a couple days I'll post a new TedTurnerWatch report that appears in the current issue of Range Magazine. For new BigSkyView readers who might have missed it, here's a link to a past posting of an article about the proposed poisoning of a Montana Wilderness lake and creek that Turner has offered to fund.
Wolf Attacks Dogs in Livingston-Area tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-762184242002-05-06T06:28:00.000-07:002002-05-06T06:41:12.000-07:00
Wolves in the Ninemile
This week's Missoula Independent features a cover story on the wolves, people and livestock of the Ninemile area. It's well-written, informative, and generally balanced. It does ignore a couple important points, however:
"Wolves won't sink the livestock industry," says Suzanne Laverty of Defenders of Wildlife in Boise. "Depredations are relatively rare, and our concerntomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-761191842002-05-03T07:06:00.000-07:002002-05-03T07:18:12.000-07:00
Something Very Unusual May Be Underfoot at Yellowstone Park
What happens if no one's there to see a rare eruption of Yellowstone's Steamboat geyser? It blows anyway, and probably even makes a sound no one hears. But that's not the only unusual thing happening underground at Yellowstone these days: "What does it mean? No one knows for sure. It could point to a larger, impending earthquake. Ittomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-760785502002-05-02T06:50:00.000-07:002002-05-02T06:50:17.276-07:00
EPA Faults MT & Wyoming Coalbed Methane Impact Analyses
They met yesterday to discuss it. Among other things, "EPA said Montana's analysis should have disclosed how the methane wells could affect irrigation uses in the Powder River Basin."
America's Poorest Rich People Live Here
Montana finally seems to rank first in something, but then, as my friend Paul Polzin said, "Montana's low wages..tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-760402192002-05-01T07:42:00.000-07:002002-05-01T07:57:22.000-07:00
Update on Ted Turner Violations, Damage to Madison River
Yesterday, I talked with the administrator of the Gallatin Conservation District, which recently found Turner Enterprises guilty of developing an irrigation site on the Madison River without first having the needed permit (scroll back a few days to read the original BigSkyView post summarizing the situation).
I told her I had heard the tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-760067032002-04-30T10:37:00.000-07:002002-04-30T10:39:11.000-07:00
Links on Lomborg
More Than Zero Sum offers links to more reactions to The Skeptical Environmentalist. The Reason essay mentioned toward the bottom is now available, here.
The Threat to Your Computing Environment
Why you should care what Hollywood hopes to achieve, with the help of a few friends in D.C. (led, apparently, by Sen. Hollings, D-Disney): "In this war over the future shape of tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-759995142002-04-30T06:35:00.000-07:002002-04-30T06:35:31.203-07:00
EPA Recommends Snowmobile Ban for Yellowstone, Grand Teton Parks
A report issued yesterday says banning snowmobiles is the best way to protect air quality and human and animal health in the Parks.
USDI Appeals Board Stops Coalbed Methane Leases
The Board of Land Appeals found it wasn't good enough for the Bureau of Land Management to use an old analysis of oil and gas drilling impacts to tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-759729812002-04-29T12:34:00.000-07:002002-04-29T12:34:05.046-07:00
"Ralph Nader with Cleavage?"
Erin Brockovich is becoming a brand, not receiving one.
tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-759265292002-04-28T08:45:00.000-07:002002-04-28T09:54:29.000-07:00
Why Montana's PSC Should Order NorthWestern to Re-Bid Power Contracts
Mike Dennison provides a powerful argument here. Will the PSC have the guts – and concern for consumers – to do the right thing? They certainly have the authority and responsibility for it.
Montana-Based PBS Series, "Frontier House," Begins Monday Night
What was it like to be a homesteader in Montana – during the mild andtomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-758504912002-04-26T08:33:00.000-07:002002-04-26T13:40:53.000-07:00
Wilderness Groups Oppose This Fish-Poisoning Plan, If Not Ted Turner's
Very interesting to read here that certain wilderness groups are opposing a plan that is virtually identical to a Ted Turner plan that the same groups haven't opposed. The Turner proposal would involve the same poison; also would involve applying the poison inside a Congressionally designated Wilderness area; and also wouldtomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-758081192002-04-25T06:54:00.000-07:002002-04-25T06:58:21.000-07:00
Will Genetic Purity Change the Politics of Yellowstone Bison Mgmt?
Several days ago, BigSkyView carried a link to a New York Times article on the Yellowstone herd's genetic purity, and today a variation on the subject appears here in Montana: "Doug Honnold, an attorney with Earthjustice Legal Foundation in Bozeman, has sued the government over Endangered Species Act issues several times. He tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-757671912002-04-24T06:54:00.000-07:002002-04-24T06:54:10.216-07:00
Sacred Indian Sites Preserved by Oil & Gas Co. Action
"The site, 70 miles southwest of Billings between the Beartooth and Pryor mountains, is also known as Valley of the Chiefs. Adorned with drawings and carvings of warriors, shields and animals that date back 1,100 years, the 21/2-mile-long valley is identified as the Valley of the Shields by the Crow. It has been a religious gathering place tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-757271762002-04-23T07:01:00.000-07:002002-04-23T07:04:33.000-07:00
Progress Toward "De-Listing" Wolves?
"Removing the wolves from federal protection will force everyone - wolf opponents and proponents alike - to start thinking differently... Ranchers may have to look at changing grazing patterns and conservationists may have to quit using lawsuits ‘to beat someone over the head'..." Here's an article that provides an overview of the situation, wherein Idaho,tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-756839862002-04-22T06:09:00.000-07:002002-04-22T06:10:57.000-07:00
Jackson Hole's National Museum of Wildlife Art
A New York Times article provides a reminder that this museum, now 15 years old, should be well worth a visit:"The question of wilderness, its uses and preservation, remains an urgent national political issue, and the art in this museum document its history. The works describe the formation of critical elements of American identity and illuminate tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-756201672002-04-20T08:07:00.000-07:002002-04-20T08:11:11.000-07:00
Senate Candidate Criticizes Wolf Mgmt
U.S. Senate candidate Mike Taylor recalls that Montanans predicted problems, and says the situation exemplifies why locals should have greater influence over federal management policies: "Economic damage to livestock is bad enough, but those attacks were near areas where children play."
Snow Removal Progressing to Clear Glacier Park Roads
They started tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-755869412002-04-19T08:17:00.000-07:002002-04-19T08:40:49.000-07:00
Feds Hoping to Allow Oil & Gas Drilling in Rockies,
While Senate Rejects Administration's Alaska Drilling Plan
They say there are 137 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and several billion barrels of oil under federal lands in the Rockies: "The Interior Department has given the Bureau of Land Management and other agencies until the end of this month to gather data on the potential oil and tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-755472682002-04-18T07:56:00.000-07:002002-04-18T08:00:48.000-07:00
Bears Emerging Now
Time for bears to come out of hibernation along the Rocky Mountain Front. "Because of the late snow, we might have more bears coming closer to homes if there are attractants there," Madel said.
Great Falls Paper Opposes Alaska Oil Drilling
Among other reasons, the paper says approving oil exploration in ANWR would facilitate exploration along the Rocky Mountain Front area tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-755052382002-04-17T07:25:00.000-07:002002-04-17T07:25:22.663-07:00
PSC Urged to Reject Longterm Power Contracts
A witness yesterday delivered the strongest criticism so far of the power contracts NorthWestern wants the PSC to approve (and another report, here: "The contracts place an inordinate amount of risk on consumers, and next to no risk on plant developers or the utility, he said.").
Meanwhile, people are asking: Why did relatively tiny NorthWestern tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-754630332002-04-16T06:44:00.000-07:002002-04-16T06:44:25.040-07:00
Roads Inside Yellowstone Set to Begin Opening
The headline says it all: Spring is arriving.
Don't Poison Fish – Bomb Them to Save Them
Will Ted Turner and Montana Fish & Wildlife officials change their Cherry Creek-poisoning proposal to model California's new approach? In California, a poisoning project that used the same chemicals proposed for use in Montana's Cherry Creek and Cherry Lake tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-754227792002-04-15T07:06:00.000-07:002002-04-15T07:11:52.000-07:00
Beef "Check-Off" Case to Begin This Week
I'm not sure what the plaintiffs in this case hope to accomplish. Sure, if they win, they'd save a little money in the short-term. But in the long-term, most of the industry's food-production, -safety, and -marketing research and communications programs would dry up. When sheep-producers nixed their similar check-off program, they lost their tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-753890252002-04-14T08:10:00.000-07:002002-04-14T08:14:48.000-07:00
Montana's Enron?
Energy industry and investment analysts question the accounting and management practices of NorthWestern, the company that bought Montana Power Company:
"Some analysts say NorthWestern's books are unusually complex and somewhat misleading. They wonder why top executives paid themselves millions of dollars last year when the company's subsidiaries lost money. They worry tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-753605102002-04-13T08:56:00.000-07:002002-04-13T09:00:37.000-07:00
Damn Dam Initiative Campaigns Begin
The first volley in a war of words that may last through the November elections appeared today. Backers of an initiative that would allow Montanans to buy back hydroelectric dams, which the former Montana Power Company sold to Pennsylvania Power & Light, say that PPL should reveal its polling results to the public. They also say that exhorbitant spending bytomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-753321832002-04-12T10:51:00.000-07:002002-04-12T10:53:27.000-07:00
BigSkyView Reader Critiques Earlier Post
Steve Antonioli of Butte finds fault with my post earlier this morning on ranchers developing a fee-hunting concept for private lands. Steve's email, printed here with his permission:
There are a number of mistakes in today's commentary regarding fee hunting. First, some agricultural interests in this state believe that they invented the wildlife tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-753245642002-04-12T06:52:00.000-07:002002-04-12T06:52:58.560-07:00
Rancher Group Developing Hunting-Fee Plan
The goal is to create incentives for ranchers to allow hunting on their private lands, something fewer ranchers are doing these days because of the growing hassles and impacts involved with having orange-jacketed strangers traipse around. This article reports that the idea is still in the concept-phase, with no details ironed out, yet at least one tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-752843762002-04-11T06:20:00.000-07:002002-04-11T06:24:18.000-07:00
Montana Now Owns Formerly Federal Coal Tracts
Montana finally has received the federal coal lands that the Clinton Administration promised as compensation for its decision to stop a potential hard-rock mine near Cooke City, north of Yellowstone Park. Many folks in Eastern Montana are very excited about the economic potentials: "The prospect of a $4.5 billion energy project in southeastern tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-752443322002-04-10T06:31:00.000-07:002002-04-10T06:31:42.386-07:00
Will Montana Get Some Wind Energy?
State law requires that a certain amount of our energy mix in the future will include electricity generated by "alternative" sources, and the former Montana Power Company asked for wind power proposals last year. But critics question whether we'll ever get any wind power – or whether the whole idea of wind energy will instead be discredited here – because thetomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-752022582002-04-09T05:48:00.000-07:002002-04-09T05:48:05.760-07:00
Feds Urged to Manage Wolves by Region, Not Nationally
The wolf population in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho has begun to surpass the numbers sought in the federal wolf "recovery" program, this article notes. It's time for the feds to give management authority to these individual states, without waiting for wolf populations to grow larger in other, distinct regions of the West:
"Basically the tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-751643472002-04-08T07:52:00.000-07:002002-04-08T07:55:55.000-07:00
Ted Turner's "Death Fences"
Sometime in the next couple weeks I'll post an article I've written about electrified fences on Ted Turner's ranches, fences that Montana critics say are illegal and claim he's using for the purpose of trapping publicly-owned deer, elk and moose on his lands. The article appears in the current issue of Range Magazine but not on its website. BigSkyView readers tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-750716112002-04-05T05:59:00.000-08:002002-04-05T05:59:35.000-08:00
See You Monday the 8th
Plenty to say today, but no time to do it. I'm headed to Whitefish, MT this morning for business meetings, and probably won't get to post here again until Monday. Have a good weekend!tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-114529372002-04-04T06:41:00.000-08:002002-04-04T06:44:23.000-08:00
More Wolf-Llama Conflicts in Ninemile Area Near Missoula
Federal officials recently killed two wolves in the Ninemile area, hoping they were the ones responsible for four llama deaths and other llama attacks this year. Now, it's clear they didn't kill all the problem wolves, and will try again:
"It could be that we got one right and one wrong, or two wrong, or that other wolves were involved tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-114201802002-04-03T09:58:00.000-08:002002-04-03T09:58:34.436-08:00
SMARTEST WAY to Buy The Skeptical Environmentalist
An email from Andrew Sullivan reminds me to recommend the smartest way to buy Bjorn Lomberg's The Skeptical Environmentalist – by using the link to Amazon.com that appears on Andrew's website. This link appears three times within his brief article about it today, which now comes about half-way down the April 3 entry.
Buy the book this way tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-114152662002-04-03T06:58:00.000-08:002002-04-03T06:58:05.983-08:00
Online Book Group to Focus on The Skeptical Environmentalist
Andrew Sullivan's blog, one of the most widely-read blogs on the Internet, will conduct an online discussion of Bjorn Lomborg's The Skeptical Environmentalist, about which I've posted previously (see archives for several posts headlined "Hell Hath No Fury Like an Environmentalist Scorned"). Sullivan's post about it today notes that tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-113806802002-04-02T09:14:00.000-08:002002-04-02T09:14:45.203-08:00
Helena-Area Gold Mine Plans Expansion
New hard-rock mines are a virtual impossibility in Montana, for many reasons, but an existing mine today announced plans to expand and thus continue operating for potentially another decade and a half. In recent years, environmental groups have chosen to be relatively uncritical of the Montana Tunnels mine, perhaps because it's already there, has enormous tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-113794022002-04-02T08:11:00.000-08:002002-04-02T08:18:55.000-08:00
Missouri & Powder Rivers Called Threatened
American Rivers issues its annual declaration: "If the corps [Army Corps of Engineers] commits to new dam operations this spring, the nation will celebrate the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition looking forward to a better future for the Missouri River," said Rebecca R. Wodder, president of American Rivers. "If the corps makes the wrong tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-113576932002-04-01T15:50:00.000-08:002002-04-01T15:51:57.000-08:00
PUBLIC HEALTH & SAFETY ALERT!
"Each year, Dihydrogen Monoxide is a known causative component in many thousands of deaths and is a major contributor to millions upon millions of dollars in damage to property and the environment."
Shockingly -- and despite the well-known risks of dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO), Congress has done nothing, the EPA has proposed nothing, and so-called environmentalists tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-113080932002-03-31T06:20:00.000-08:002002-03-31T08:27:54.000-08:00
Where's the Beef?
Here's How It Gets to Be "What's for Dinner"
Millions of New York Times readers today will read about the production process that culminates with steak on their plates – and many, in all likelihood, will end up preferring exclusively grass-fed, no-hormoned beef from now on. If only because so many urban beef-eaters will read this – far more people than there are ranchers in tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-112794642002-03-30T07:07:00.000-08:002002-03-30T07:09:43.000-08:00
Exempt the Military from Enviro-Regs?
"The Defense Department controls about 25 million acres for training grounds, about 90 percent of which is undeveloped buffer. It spends about $4 billion a year to comply with environmental laws, money that Pentagon officials say could be better spent preparing the military for combat, especially in light of the Sept. 11 attacks." That's why the Pentagon hastomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-112499312002-03-29T08:21:00.000-08:002002-03-29T08:25:26.000-08:00
What's Natural?
If you enjoy extra-rich food-for-thought on the question of "naturalness" and how "natural" humans are, here's some creme brulee:
"Guided by the pristine myth, mainstream environmentalists want to preserve as much of the world's land as possible in a putatively intact state. But "intact," if the new research is correct, means "run by human beings for human purposes." tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-112111322002-03-28T06:23:00.000-08:002002-03-28T06:29:33.000-08:00
Full-Moon Mythology on Yellowstone's Diseased Bison
"For an environmentalist looking for action, this is something of a dream gig."
"When federal and state officials try to influence the animals' movement -- sometimes by flying helicopters low and slow behind them -- it is called hazing. When Mease and his merry band do it, they call it shepherding."
Just in time for the full moon, the leadtomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-111772422002-03-27T08:51:00.000-08:002002-03-27T08:55:58.000-08:00
You Say "Natural" – I Say... "Not Quite"
A long-awaited report by the National Academy of Sciences, on range management issues in Yellowstone Park, has finally been released. Today's Missoulian carries an abbreviated article about it, and the Billings Gazette tells more – but both feature far more "spin" than meat-and-potatoes. This isn't surprising, in light of the tautological wordings in tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-111385532002-03-26T07:19:00.000-08:002002-03-29T10:20:51.000-08:00Feds Kill 2 Ninemile Wolves
"For some reason, these wolves have figured out that llamas are edible," said Ed Bangs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's wolf recovery coordinator in the northern Rocky Mountains. "If we' re lucky, this removal will take care of the problem." They made an "educated guess" that the two wolves were the "right" ones to kill, this article reports.
Cost of Mining in tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-111015202002-03-25T08:25:00.000-08:002002-03-25T09:16:54.000-08:00
Conservation Easements More Popular in Montana
Montanans are using conservation easements far more than others in the region, according to this editorial from today's Great Falls Tribune. Montana is home to eighty-five percent of the private lands thus preserved in a six-state region.
Security Difficulties along the Montana-Canada Border
It's the world's longest undefended border between two tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-110071382002-03-22T06:07:00.000-08:002002-03-22T06:22:31.000-08:00
Windy
The U.S. Senate has voted to require increased use of wind power, solar power and other forms of alternative energy. This is good. Actually, for many reasons, it's surprising that "the market" hasn't been more aggressive in these directions all on its own. Consumers want it, and most are willing to pay a little more for it if necessary. Perhaps someday in the near future we can stop tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-109708662002-03-21T07:22:00.000-08:002002-03-21T07:22:29.723-08:00
Ted Turner: Allegations that His Ranch is Trashing the Madison River
Hearings will be held this afternoon concerning complaints that Ted Turner's Flying D Ranch has done unacceptable damage to the Madison River, home to one of Montana's most spectacular blue-ribbon fisheries (see several previous BigSkyView posts, in the archives, for more about this).
Thanks to our subzero temperatures and a tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-109703092002-03-21T07:01:00.000-08:002002-03-21T07:05:54.000-08:00
Truth, Justice & the Michael Moore Way
Some people think Michael Moore's sarcasm is hilarious. Others think he's a gas-bag hypocrite, for many reasons, including the fact that he's gotten rich, and now is getting richer, simply by pretending in histrionic ways to be a fighter for the "working class masses."
If his name rings no bells, perhaps this will help: Moore is the guy who got his tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-109338322002-03-20T08:06:00.000-08:002002-03-20T08:08:06.000-08:00
Yellowstone Park Must Eradicate Brucellosis Disease
After years of controversy here, with news media tending to report breathlessly on the doings of youthful protestors – but never digging into the science of disease control, nor considering how America could benefit from a disease-free bison herd in Yellowstone – the Helena newspaper today pleasantly astonished people like me with this tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-109016332002-03-19T09:55:00.000-08:002002-03-19T09:55:25.846-08:00
Hope for Better Brucellosis Disease-Control by Yellowstone Park?
Montana seems to be receiving long-overdue, somewhat improved cooperation from Yellowstone National Park in the continuing effort to prevent the Park's errant bison from threatening the state's disease-free (brucellosis) status.
This news release today, from the Montana Stockgrowers Association, suggests that the Park at least (tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-108612112002-03-18T08:29:00.000-08:002002-03-18T08:32:30.000-08:00
Who's Really in Charge of Huge Landscapes, Worldwide?
I've never been much of an alarmist when it comes to things like the United Nations. The idea of all the world's governments trying to work together in a positive way always has struck me as a good one, and as a kid, I used to spend hours in awe of the U.N. and its theoretical purposes during frequent visits to New York City. Once upon a tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-108315062002-03-17T12:05:00.000-08:002002-03-17T12:05:53.000-08:00
Note to Readers
Links to Montana newspapers, below, may not last more than a day, in which case they will take you to newer, unrelated articles starting on Monday, March 18.
MT's Enviro Groups Well-Funded, Mostly by Distant Foundations;
Ted Turner Foundation a Leading Funder of Causes His Own Behavior Ignores
Montana's environmental groups collectively took in and spent about $16,000,000 in a tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-107984582002-03-16T08:57:00.000-08:002002-03-16T09:03:19.000-08:00
Yeah, But Did the Protestors "Test Positive" for Disease?
Every scientist involved in the issue agrees that even 3,000 bison are far too many for Yellowstone National Park's resources to support naturally. And when the bison herd gets as big as it is now, it's a virtual certainty that many of the animals will leave the Park at this time of year in search of food the Park's rangelands don't tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-107686952002-03-15T09:41:00.000-08:002002-03-15T09:51:00.000-08:00
Wolves & Grizzlies "Outlawed" in Wyoming County
Fremont County, Wyoming, has put federal officials on notice: bring wolves or grizzlies here, and you'll have to deal with our sheriff. This report notes that the county commission in Fremont rarely agrees on anything, but voted unanimously on the ban because the sentiment of their constituents was overwhelming. Note how the feds have lost tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-106980762002-03-13T09:35:00.000-08:002002-03-13T09:37:37.000-08:00
Sorry, Readers...
My annual pre-Spring root canal prevents me from posting here. But by tomorrow I hope not to need the remarkable pain-killers my dentist gave me, and to be able to write clearly again.tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-105966232002-03-10T14:51:00.000-08:002002-03-10T15:00:47.000-08:00
When Diseased Bison Leave Yellowstone Park...
They Enter the Science-Impaired National Newscope
By some estimates, upwards of half the bison in Yellowstone National Park are infected with brucellosis, a disease that's incurable in people and that causes abortions in cattle. After an expensive national eradication program that dates back to the era of President Franklin Roosevelt – that has tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-105378712002-03-08T14:13:00.000-08:002002-03-08T14:22:52.000-08:00
How to Be Ready for Your Barbara Walters Interview
What will you say when she asks you: "If you were a horrible affliction, what affliction would you be?" Or: "If you were a famous criminal..."
Since horrible afflictions and crime both obviously concern the environment, it's on-topic to point you to "tests" you can take to prep for your sit-down with Babs. If you're desperate for weekend fun tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-105332732002-03-08T12:00:00.000-08:002002-03-08T12:51:21.000-08:00
Case of the Purloined Furloined, Part 3
Several ‘net searches still show no new "Lynxgate" coverage. (Congress reportedly had scheduled a hearing earlier this week.)
However, Outside Magazine does a good job of debunking the controversy. But the magazine's article (like all the others I have seen, unfortunately) fails to clarify exactly what the perpetrators had done or ever said prior to tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-105166192002-03-07T19:50:00.000-08:002002-03-07T20:12:15.000-08:00
Cold, Heavy Snow
A wonderfully quiet day here. Temperatures never topped zero, and snow fell thickly almost continuously. The atmosphere was perfect for writing, which I did, but not for BigSkyView.
There's lots going on with enviro issues here and elsewhere, but no time to post about them until... perhaps tomorrow.
A few things I have had a chance to think about:
Status of "LynxGate" – tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-104535112002-03-06T08:56:00.000-08:002002-03-06T09:02:13.000-08:00
Case of the Purloined Furloined, Part 2
It turns out it was a Missoula, Mont., lab – greatly admired, worldwide, for its quality work – that federal wildlife biologists claim to have been testing with the phony lynx hairs they pretended to have gathered in the wild. This fascinating article contains several details about the case that I hadn't read before, including the fact that researchers tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-103686152002-03-04T08:51:00.000-08:002002-03-04T08:51:31.800-08:00
Hemp Irrationality by DEA = Chemical Fears by Greens
Here's another web article concerning the anti-science absurdity of the Drug Enforcement Agency's recent decision to crack down on food products containing even infinitesimal traces of the dreaded THC (see previous BigSkyView post on this subject by scrolling down or going to archives).
The situation illustrates muddle-brained hypocrisy on tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-103011642002-03-02T08:18:00.000-08:002002-03-02T09:18:31.000-08:00
Time to Recalculate Benefits of Recycling
Here in Montana, one of those "big square states with no people," it's long been clear that recycling can cost far more than it saves. A lot of folks don't like hearing that, however, and either insist it's untrue or fall back on the claim that because "it's the right thing to do," no matter what, we shouldn't care how dismal or nonexistent the net tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-102768142002-03-01T13:06:00.000-08:002002-03-01T13:08:28.000-08:00
Liz Claiborne – a Satan-Worshiping Racist?
I know folks who won't buy Liz Claiborne clothing because, like Ted Turner, she gives massive contributions to environmental groups that often use dishonest and irrational tactics to oppose natural resource-involved businesses. Meanwhile, the rumor around here has long been that Claiborne had a mansion built for herself – out of wood – at one of her tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-102740622002-03-01T11:51:00.000-08:002002-03-01T11:51:00.500-08:00
Interior Dept. Computers Working Again
Seems that U.S.D.I.'s computers are working again now (well, at least some are).
Due to an issue I wrote about in an earlier post (see archives), for months it has been impossible for thousands of government employees in various agencies to send or receive email, and scores of federal websites disappeared. If you're interested, here's a revealing tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-102652732002-03-01T07:26:00.000-08:002002-03-01T13:07:18.000-08:00
Ted Turner's Self-Serving Altruism
(And if "self-serving altruism" strikes you as a contradiction in terms, then you can count yourself among the living and thinking.)
In the past few years, Ted Turner has given over $5,000,000 – at least – to various "grassroots" environmental activist groups in Montana – not a one of which is known ever to have criticized such things as: Turner's interest tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-102245452002-02-28T06:33:00.000-08:002002-02-28T06:33:50.140-08:00
The Blogger Effect: For those readers still largely unacquainted with the blog phenomenon, here are the two most interesting new essays I've found on the web. This one touches on the relationship between blogs and traditional, increasingly "mega"-media. This one tells how blogs are affecting internet searches via Google.
tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3318657.post-102046102002-02-27T17:23:00.000-08:002002-02-27T18:07:44.000-08:00Complaints Filed Against
Ted Turner's Madison River Irrigation Pumps
Records Show Turner Has No Water Rights & No Permit at One Site;
2nd Site Said to Have "Contaminated" the Madison by Promoting Non-Native Species
Complaints have been filed with the Gallatin County Conservation District concerning irrigation pumps that Turner Enterprises, Inc. uses at the Flying D Ranch adjacent to Montana's tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03685306028619749322noreply@blogger.com