First let me say that the reason I voted for Obama was because I had great hopes that his administration would be far different from the Bush administration in all areas, especially the environment. As all conservationists know, that was a horrible time. It's almost too traumatic to even look back.
I thought to myself, hey, I'm voting for a Democrat. I'm voting for the good guy. He'll do the right thing and fight for what's right - fight for those less fortunate, both man and anything else that is in trouble and need of help.
Boy was I wrong. Damn was I wrong, and now I'm embarrassed and shocked - embarrassed that I voted for this shell of a "Democratic" president.
Obama admin to end endangered species protections for wolves, grizzles
Mr. President - Who are you? Really? I can tell you for certain two things you aren't, and one thing you are - you aren't the person who ran in that campaign. You're also not a person who represents the people who voted you into office. We voted for you because you would work on things like climate change, fighting for the poor and unemployed and reversing the disastrous policies of the Bush admin. We voted for you because you would stand up for the little guys that need help.
As for what you are? You're a fake.
I voted with complete and utter enthusiasm.
I was a clown.
Of all the things Democrats should be right on, it should be as caretakers of our great planet, from climate change to rare species. There is no "compromise" here. You simply do the right thing and hold your head high. You appoint reformers to places like the Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture (not Monsanto apologists and corporate ranchers), and you let them go to town while you work on the jobs, health care, etc. Instead you appointed corporate yes-men.
When you appointed Ken Salazar (a corporate rancher) as head of the DOI, it raised a huge flag. Hiring a corporate rancher to run the largest land management system in the country? I thought it was simply an oversight. Ah...he'll reform the department and undo the Bush wrongs.
Yeah right.
And now we come to this. On top of the federal pay hike freeze (go get those national park janitors and combat injury doctors, Mr. President! They're sucking us dry!) On top of Salazar's terrible handling of The Gulf Oil (pre, post and mid), on top of the constant, drunken capitulating to a side that only moves the goal posts, on top of the bank goons who seem to run the show at the White House, on top of it all, you are now going to lift the endangered species protections for wolves and grizzlies in the Northern Rockies?
Really? To appease a few corporate ranchers who would never vote for you in a million years? Wyoming's policy is to kill any wolf on sight outside of a meager Yellowstone Zone. That's why they couldn't even get the wolf off the list during the Bush administration. And the grizzly bears? The whitebark pine nut crop has been terrible thanks to climate change. And Idaho has a measure in which they deem necessary the killing of all but 150 of the 1020 wolves by any means.
Grizzly bears have only two viable populations in the lower 48 – Glacier National Park and the bordering national forest land, and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. At most there are 1200 bears, and they are constantly under threat from climate change, trains, highways, idiot hunters who can’t tell a black bear from a grizzly, poachers, logging, mining and all things in-between.
There are a 1700 wolves in the Northern Rockies – not many when you consider the enormity of those states. For example, Cook County in Illinos is 605,440 acres(land). The average size of a national forest in the northern Rockies is around a million acres – and the area is filled with them. Could you image only 1700 people in Cook County? How much of a problem would they cause? Now multiply that by many times more. Yes, these creatures must be terrible, all 1700 of them across tens of millions of acres. You begin to see the hysteria and hyperbole from the few angry rural westerners when you get a real look at the population versus the geography. Minnesota has more than that, and they don't seem to have the issues. The entire wolf nonsense comes down to a few angry rural guys who are incredibly unhappy, and who are looking for something to vent on. The wolf is that symbol. There's no science in their complaints, just mean spirited politics, and the gruffs who represent these goofs are happy to oblige. The fact that Obama is even giving them the light of day is ridiculous. They didn't vote for him, WE did - the people who back wilderness areas and the endangered species act.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should be making decisions based on science, and this move does not fall into that category. Why are the top USFWS positions still mostly held by Bush administration officials? Shouldn't this have been taken care of a long time ago?
I'm just shocked, saddened and in the end incredibly embarrassed to have voted for Obama. It's not all that different from the Bush years, and my stomach heaves when I even type that, believe me. The Obama administration will be sued by various conservation groups because of this plan. That is certain. This shouldn't be the case with a Democratic administration.
Idaho’s plan to wipe out wolves
The Idaho legislature has drafted an "emergency" resolution (HCR043) aimed at killing all but 150 of the 1,020 wolves in the state... "by any means."
We’re supposed to be the good guys. We’re supposed to help with solving climate change so our great grandkids have a place worth living. We’re supposed to regulate out of control menaces so that the working people of this country have a fair shake. We’re supposed to make sure that poisons don’t enter our air and water. We’re the guys who say, "you shouldn’t lose your home if you get sick." We’re also the guys who rose to help the world on December 8th, 1941 because yes, it was the right thing to do, as horrible as it was.
I voted for the good guys. I guess I’m just a sucker. It definitely feels like I’ve been sucker punched, that’s for sure. That’s why I wrote this diary, because I’m stunned.
Grizzly bears are the wildest animals in the lower 48. They don’t much care for people. They used to be a plains species, growing larger and even fiercer. They were killed off and pushed into the mountains, their last refuge from a changing world – one which has been badly polluted since. The grizzlies now only reside in the lower 48’s Northern Rockies, a few million acres here and there. There isn’t much wilderness left. The east has almost no widlerness, and what's left in the west is shrinking. We took most of it. There are 400,000 miles of roads even through our national forest system. The grizzlies can only live in these last wilderness areas. In a way, they are our barometer; they tell us by their very presence that our planet is still pristine enough to support a human population in a balanced manner. Sure, people don’t see them much, as they prefer to hide in the alpine meadows, forests and tundra. They’ve learned to stay away or face death. We aren’t very giving or patient it seems. But they are up there, in the rocks and creeks, the wind-warped trees and the thin air. In a way, they protect us by being alive. The endangered species protections force land managers away from these last pristine refuges. You can use the ESA to stop development in certain grizzly habitats. This would no longer be the case once removed from the list.
Endangered species protection for bears and wolves protects us. That’s how it works. That’s how it was always supposed to work.
I can tell you with certainty that the big questions in 100 years by future generations will not be, "was there a recession in 2010?". The questions will be along the lines of: "where did the polar bear go? What happened to the grizzly bear? What happened to the old Florida coast line?", "why is it so hot all the time?". The place you live has a funny way of kicking you in the ass, of clearing out the clutter when things happen to it.
Democrats, this is what we fight for. We fight for a better future. Even if it weighs 1,000 pounds with massive teeth and claws. This is how we evolve as a society in a positive fashion.
The great bears are out there still, shambling across barren peaks and talus, their silhouette before the Milky Way. They are us. We are them. There is no difference. Clean water for our children, habitat for them. A cool planet for us, whitebark pine nuts for them.
Do the right thing, always.
I'd love for this dairy to be 100% wrong. I'd love it if Obama did the right thing. Call me a fool, I'll bathe in it, and rejoice in the knowledge that a correct action was taken. But sadly, I get the feeling we're just talking to the wind - but hey, that's insulting to the wind. Even the wind is a better listener and negotiator than our president.