Could Red Drum Management Threaten Striped Bass?

Charles Witek explains why NOAA's recent proposal to open federal waters to redfish harvest could impact striped bass.

LINK (via: One Angler's Voyage)

EPA Announces New Initiative To Conserve Whatever’s Left

WASHINGTON—In an effort to forestall the nation’s decline in biodiversity and ecological resources, representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced an expansive new initiative Wednesday aimed at the conservation of whatever’s left.

LINK

Senate Votes To Help States Sell Off Public Lands

The new chair of the powerful Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee secured a vote Thursday afternoon in the U.S. Senate on a controversial proposal to sell off America’s national forests and other public lands.

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski’s (R-AK) amendment, which passed by a vote of 51 to 49, is now part of the Senate’s nonbinding budget resolution. The proposal would support and fund state efforts — which many argue are unconstitutional — to seize and sell America’s public lands. These include all national forests, wildlife refuges, wilderness areas, historic sites, and national monuments.

Murkowski’s amendment, which would need further legislation to become law, follows a similar proposal from House Natural Resources Committee Chair Rob Bishop (R-UT) to spend $50 million of taxpayer dollars to fund the sale or transfer of U.S. public lands to states.

LINK (via: Think Progress)

The solution is to vote the poiticians who support selling off our public lands out of office. The hunting and fishing organizations who advocate on behalf of public lands should start urging their constituencies to vote for candidates who support our public lands.

For reference, all 51 votes in favor of Murkowski's non-binding amendment were cast by Republicans.

The Montana Story: Forty Years of Success

In 1974, Montana did something that stunned anglers across the state and the nation: it stopped stocking trout in streams and rivers that supported wild trout populations. After decades of use and millions of dollars invested, hatchery production was not helping, and in fact was the leading cause of the collapse of the fishery. Ground-breaking research on the Madison River in the late 1960s and early '70s organized by fisheries biologist Richard Vincent led to that decision. His study results showed that as hatchery production increased, trout abundance decreased, and native stocks were displaced.

Nearly forty years after Richard Vincent's study, Montana is one of America's premier trout fishing destinations. Focusing on habitat and discontinuing river hatchery stocking, trout fisheries have recovered and wild populations are self-sustaining.

On the anniversary of this monumental decision, Wild Fish Conservancy presents The Montana Story: Forty Years of Success. This is the first volume in a series of short videos called the Wild Fish Video Journal. This educational collection is an extension of our printed Wild Fish Journal.

Nature Conservancy needs $1M to protect Miramichi River tributary

The Nature Conservancy of Canada is launching a campaign to raise $1 million for the largest private land conservation project in New Brunswick's history.

Program director Paula Noel says by purchasing 2,100 acres of land along the Bartholomew River, which is a tributary of the Main Southwest Miramichi River, the entire watershed will benefit.

LINK (via: CBC News)

The biggest source of U.S. carbon emissions is?

Coal extracted from public lands.

Taxpayer-owned coal is the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, according to a new report from the Center for American Progress and The Wilderness Society.

The report, released Thursday, finds that emissions from coal, oil and gas that is mined or drilled on federal lands and waters could account for 24 percent of all energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in 2012. The report also concludes that more than 10 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions result from the combustion of coal extracted on public lands in Wyoming and Montana, primarily in the Powder River Basin (PRB), where 40 percent of all U.S. coal is produced.

The report was released as coal companies operating on federal lands in the PRB are coming under increasing scrutiny for allegedly evading royalties by selling coal to their own subsidiary companies at depressed prices.

LINK (via: Think Progress)

All of the advocacy groups that tout, "responsible energy development" need to start demanding that those that profit off extracting resources from public lands should be at least paying their proper share for the priviledge.