The Montana Standard, Dec. 18, on protections for Yellowstone grizzlies:
There is surely no shortage of things on President Obama’s to-do list over the next month - a period that includes his last Presidential vacation to Hawaii. Indeed, as the country anticipates the presidency of Donald Trump, a variety of items, from the urgently needed to the downright loony, will be offered up to the President as he considers what final actions he should take at the end of his eight-year presidency.
Something that we believe belongs on that list: Yellowstone grizzly bears.
We believe they belong on the President’s action list because they also belong on the endangered species list.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has recommended delisting the Yellowstone grizzlies, which could open the bears of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem to being hunted. The National Wildlife Federation (and the Montana Wildlife Federation) supports delisting, citing the great increase in Greater Yellowstone grizzly populations. Others, however, aren’t so sure. Many wilderness and conservation groups are on the other side of the fence. The majority of bear experts, including Montana’s own Doug Peacock and some very big-name scientists like E.O. Wilson, Jane Goodall and George Schaller, oppose delisting. They are concerned that until the Greater Yellowstone grizzlies are spread out enough to be able to mate in significant number with grizzlies from other ecosystems, the genetics of the group are vulnerable. And the effects of climate change are another concern. Many whitebark pine trees, a key food source for the Yellowstone ecosystem grizzlies, have fallen victim to insects - a change that many scientists believe is climate-related.
Nick Gevock, an articulate spokesman for the Montana Wildlife Federation who is well-known to Butte from his tenure as a reporter for this newspaper, applauds the delisting. “Montanans should be incredibly proud of bringing back one of our most cherished native wildlife species,” he wrote this year. “They should also acknowledge that grizzles are no longer ’endangered.’” While Gevock acknowledges that delisting would put the Yellowstone grizzlies back under the management of Wyoming and Montana, and therefore could result in the animals being hunted, he says that’s not a bad thing. “Nearly every species of wildlife that hunters value has thrived in our country, and with sound scientific management, grizzlies can do the same,” he added.
Gevock also wrote, “The successful recovery of the Yellowstone grizzly is evidenced by the fact that the population has been stable for many years. At the same time, grizzlies continue to expand farther out from the park. It’s a sign that the bears are re-inhabiting places where they were found historically.”
Other scientists believe, though, that more bears are migrating outward in search of food. In addition to white bark pine nuts, cutthroat trout, elk and moths historically eaten by Yellowstone grizzlies are dropping in number in the ecosystem. And many grizzly experts are also worried about the potential effects of hunting.
Grizzlies were confirmed to have been sighted in the Big Hole Valley this year for the first time in a very long time. That is a profoundly welcome fact, even though it means strategies to manage human-grizzly interactions, including livestock management, need to be developed and implemented.
It is just one sign that grizzlies are indeed reclaiming territory once lost to them. We believe caution is warranted to make sure the progress that has been made is not reversed.
Grizzlies are a huge part of Montana’s outdoor heritage and we are a far richer state with a healthy grizzly population than without it. We do not support the hunting of these magnificent animals at this point in the timeline of their recovery.
More than 800,000 people have signed petitions opposing the delisting, and polls show most Americans do not favor delisting the Yellowstone grizzly. Thursday was a national call-in day to the President on this issue, and that message was strongly delivered.
Even though a license to shoot a grizzly could bring in huge dollars - Wyoming authorities have suggested the price tag would be $10,000 or more each - the cost to our outdoor economy of having the bears less prevalent is significant as well.
While President Trump and Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke will have the power to change policy, we urge President Obama to take a definitive and dramatic step to preserve and protect the greatest animal in our wilderness by directing the Fish and Wildlife Service to withdraw the proposed delisting of the Yellowstone grizzlies.
Editorial: https://bit.ly/2hq3ERr
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Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Dec. 16, on students protesting fossil fuel development:
Montana State University student activists are urging the MSU Alumni Foundation to get rid of any investments it has in fossil-fuel production and divert those funds to more environmentally and socially responsible companies.
But if their experience is anything like that of their counterparts at the University of Montana in Missoula, they won’t have much luck. UM activists have been pressing the UM Foundation to rid itself of coal, gas and oil investments, but that foundation’s board voted unanimously to reject the request.
While the UM efforts have been marked by demonstrations, sit-ins and a student referendum, the MSU students say they are taking a less confrontational approach. They say they have met with MSU Alumni Foundation officials to persuade them to change investment strategies. Those officials said they would consider investing a fraction of the foundations $150 million in socially responsible companies. But the students are pushing for reinvesting the entire endowment.
Both foundations are in the business of making money. That’s what foundations are for: to reap returns used to fund scholarships and research at the university. But the students involved deserve more than a pat on the head as they’re ushered out the door. After all, MSU’s mission includes developing responsible, thoughtful citizens. And these students have shown commitment to a good cause - reducing carbon emissions that are contributing to climate change.
Foundation officials are also reminded that these students will someday likely be alumni - the source of much of the foundation’s funding.
Socially and environmentally responsible investing is not a new idea. Institutions and individual investors have been doing it for many years. And they have done quite well with those investments. Among them are the foundations of some 33 universities around the country that have announced plans to divest of fossil fuel investments.
These investors and institutions often employ the services of brokers and firms that specialize in finding profitable investments in non-fossil-fuel-producing companies and industries that don’t exploit child labor or impose harsh working conditions.
A little research in the rates of return on some of these investments might yield some surprising results. Foundation administrators at both UM and MSU might even find they can heed the students’ urgings without losing a dime.
Editorial: https://bit.ly/2hSyWRK
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The Missoulian, Dec. 11, on Mont. Rep. Zinke as Trump’s pick for Interior secretary:
President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks so far have not been, to put it mildly, universally applauded.
Neither was the news that Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke graces the top of the list for secretary of the Interior welcomed in every corner of the state. But while critics are right to have some concerns, these worries are far outweighed by Zinke’s numerous advantages - and his enormous potential to bring issues of importance to Montanans to the national stage.
On the balance, Zinke is clearly the best choice among the people Trump has considered for this post. We hope his nomination is soon made official - that is, mentioned in one of Trump’s Twitter tweets - and that he is confirmed without undue delay or controversy.
Most importantly, we hope that Zinke keeps Montana foremost in his mind far into the future, and always remembers his stated commitment to our shared public lands.
The Interior Department is a powerful agency that packs particular punch in the West. This is why U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, in a recent meeting with the Missoulian editorial board, emphasized his hope that Trump would tap someone who understands western values to lead the agency.
“The Interior is all about public lands. It’s about wildlife and national parks. This is very, very important,” Daines told the Billings Gazette editorial board as news broke of Zinke’s nomination last week. “I’m very pleased to see that it’s a westerner and even more pleased to see that it’s a Montanan. I gave strong opinion to the Trump administration, the transition team, that this needs to be a westerner. And by westerner, that doesn’t mean Midwest. I’m talking about the West, someone who understands our way of life, understands the importance of our public lands.”
Undoubtedly, public lands - their protection, maintenance and accessibility - are of key importance in Montana, which counts some 25 million acres of federal land, including part of Yellowstone National Park and all of Glacier National Park.
The U.S. Department of the Interior is the agency charged with managing these vast public lands. It employs 70,000 people, coordinates an even more expansive network of volunteers and is currently overseen by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. The department is comprised of various offices and nine distinct bureaus:
-Bureau of Indian Affairs
-Bureau of Land Management
-Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
-Bureau of Reclamation
-Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement
-National Park Service
-Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
-U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
-U.S. Geological Survey
On that last point, it is interesting to note that Zinke has a bachelor’s of science degree in geology, in addition to two master’s degrees - one in business finance and one in global leadership. They were earned, of course, before he embarked on his career with the Navy SEALs, which spanned more than two decades, and before he was elected to the Montana Legislature.
Zinke was elected to represent Montana in the U.S. Congress in 2014, and re-elected just last month. Prior to his re-election, this editorial board expressed strong concern with Zinke’s tendency toward self-promotion, even at the risk of leaving Montana behind, and his unwavering support of Trump, even when Trump’s statements clearly warranted wavering - or outright condemnation.
It appears that his loyalty to Trump will be rewarded; similarly, his wife, Lolita Zinke, an early and ardent Trump supporter, was asked to join the Veterans Administration landing team. Hopefully, his loyalty to Montana will prove even more enduring.
Nearly 30 percent of Montana is federal land, making the U.S. government the state’s largest landowner, on behalf of the American people. The right of the people to access their public lands must be protected, and on this point, Zinke would appear to strongly agree.
In an opinion piece published in this newspaper in April 2014, Zinke wrote: “We chose to live in Montana and are blessed with clean air, water, and are fortunate to share in the fruits of having access and use of our public lands. Responsible development of our assets, to include resources on our public lands, will create economic prosperity and a better future in the Treasure State.”
And shortly afterward, in January 2015, Zinke told the Montana Legislature, “I will not tolerate selling our public lands.”
Indeed, his official House website states that, “as a fifth-generation Montanan,” Zinke understands “how important our public lands are to our local economies, communities, and more importantly, our very way of life. In Montana, our land IS our way of life. Our wealth of natural resources creates jobs, supports families, and promotes recreation. It is of utmost importance that we preserve the public’s access to these lands.”
A good portion of Zinke’s legislation in Congress has focused on public lands matters, followed by energy and Native American legislation, according to the federal watchdog Govtrack. He has voted against bills that would trade increased timber production for public lands.
Most encouragingly, Zinke demonstrated his willingness to stand by these values when he opposed the Republican Party’s platform calling for federal land transfer to the states. He went so far as to withdraw as a delegate to the Republican National Convention over the matter.
If he does become the nation’s secretary of the Interior, his commitment to public lands - and to Montana values - may be put to its greatest test yet. We have no fear he will do the right thing and stand by both, so long as he keeps one foot grounded in Montana.
Editorial: https://bit.ly/2h0M19F
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