00:00:02 Speaker 1: From Mediators World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This is Cal's weekend review, presented by Steel. Steel products are available only at authorized dealers. For more, go to Steel Dealers dot com. Now here's your host, Ryan cal Callahan. You've heard of drug sniffing dogs, police dogs, hunting dogs, and sled dogs. But did you know that some canines earn a living as conservation dogs. Conservation dogs have been around since the nineteen nineties, and they're usually dispatched by biologists to look for rare and elusive species. One of these dogs, a brown and white Padenko Canario named slater I. Like how the owners balance out the fancy name with the name out of point Break, found himself in the news recently for detecting a rare species of seabird on Hawaii's Big Island. Wildlife experts from the U. S Army in Colorado State University had been trying to learn more about the akaka, or banned rumped storm petrol, a small endangered sea bird that spends most of its life at sea and returns to land only to breed. There's only one known breeding colony on the Big Island, and scientists have only been able to detect six burrows in that colony. The birds make their homes on Hawaii's hard volcanic landscape, and they only leave the burrows at night to search for food. To make matters worse, the volcanic activity makes thermal imaging virtually useless, and audio recorders can only tell biologists that the birds are in the general area without any way to pinpoint exactly where the birds are living. Finding one of their burrows on the cracked and pitted landscape is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. That's where Slater comes in. Slater was trained to detect the sense of particular species, not unlike a raccoon or squirrel dog. His handlers set him loose in an area known to have the akka and nest, and before long he pointed to a small hole in the ground. The birds make three to six foot tunnels that twist and turn, so the biologists couldn't just peer into the hole to confirm it was an active nest, but they set up trail cams and sure enough they soon had photos of the sixth okay Okae nest on Hawaii's Big Island. Monitoring okay okay burrows provides valuable information to develop better management strategies to protect vulnerable breeding birds from introduced predators such as mongoose, rodents, barn owls, and of course cats. If any biologists on that project or listening, you can give Slater when he's not catching a tasty wave a belly rub for me. Mrspically, you're on dangerous ground here. You're causing a major disturbance on my time. If I'm here and you're here, doesn't that make it our time? This week we've got solar elk management history and legislation. But first I'm gonna tell you about my week. Yeah, in my week, I mean, who knows? I'm writing this ahead of time so my dear friend and compatriot and podcast fill the engineer can enjoy a break from sound engineering. I am hoping exercise in the form of skiing, wood chopping, ice, auguring, lugging decoys, maybe being a human sled animal for the niece and nephew takes place this last week. Lots of plucking, cooking, eating, jigging, drinking, a couple of fat perch on the ice, as well as some late season honkers. Dare I say a last day of pheasants season, Cockbird, I just don't know. I don't know if I'll get it all in. And what about this New Year's that's coming up coming right here down the pipe? Can't ignore it, Friends and neighbors. What will it bring? And what will you and I do to suck the life out of the next three All I want as part of your New Year's resolution is for you to be involved. Don't let a comment period pass you by. Be a art of conservation, yes, by buying your bird stamps, tags and licenses, but also by voting, by calling, writing in, and testifying on matters that matter. If you did nothing last year, do a couple of things this year. Volunteer, call right or don't complain. Be happy as you are swept with the rest of the flotsam in the flow of politics, too complacent to backstroke or even keep your feet in front of you in a good down river safety position. You need to kick against the current this year and every year. It's not going to get easier. As my grandpa used to say, the bastards will always try to win, and you need to try to win as well. So sign up right now for those newsletters. Join a couple of groups. Don't just listen to me, get informed. Two thousand twenty three, Here we go to the energy desk. Secretary of the Interior, deb hall Ud announced this month that the Bureau of Land Management will be developing a plan to jump start more solar energy development on western public land. The current plan has been in place since two thousand twelve and govern solar project approval in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The new plan will consider adding Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming to the list. It will also adjust exclusion criteria to approve more projects and identify new or expanded areas to prioritize solar deployment. This administration is committed to expanding clean energy development to address climate change, enhance America's energy security, and provide for good paying union jobs, said Secretary Holland in a press release. The current process for approving solar energy projects looks for areas with quote high solar potential and low resource conflicts. In other words, the BLUM looks for places where solar panel arrays won't disturb wildlife or people. But we'll see lots of sun I have every confidence the new plan will do the same, and I wouldn't worry that the BLM will replace for us or at parian areas with solar fields. However, the proposed planning criteria that will guide the BLMS land use policies don't mention outdoor recreation. They say they will consult with tribal governments and will take cultural and historic resources into account. They will analyze environmental justice and consider relevant national strategic objectives. They will quote recognize the special importance of the public lands to local communities, but that isn't exactly a full throated commitment to isolate solar arrays from the places we love to hunt and fish. I reached out to the Bureau of Land Management, but we haven't exactly got anything back. The good news is that whatever you think about solar energy, you'll have many opportunities to offer feedback. The BLM has published a notice of their updated solar energy approval process, which will be open for comment for sixty days after publication on the Federal Register. Check out the meat eater dot com forward slash cal for a link to that notice. After reviewing those comments, the BLM will then develop a draft environmental impact Statement, which will also be available for public review and comment. If this is a topic you care about, now is the time to get involved. The federal government is moving full steam ahead on clean energy projects that BLM is currently processing sixty five utility scale onshore clean energy projects on public lands. The agency is also undertaking the preliminary review of more than one applications for solar and wind development, as well as nearly fifty applications for wind and solar energy testing. If we want to seat at the table, we need to make sure to stay informed, stay engaged, and make our voices heard. Moving on to the elk desk, a new study published in the journal Biological Conservation highlights how much elk in the Greater Yellostone ecosystem rely on private land to survive. In the winter, when elk herds migrate to lower elevations to escape super cold temps, elk spend an average of thirty six percent of their time on private property. Seven of the twenty six herds studied spend more than fifty percent of their time on private land during the winter, and some herds spend the majority of the year on private land during the summer and in migratory periods, these elk like to hang out mostly on forest service land, but when it gets cold in the winter, many herds need private land to make it through. Hunters who understand how elk migrate likely won't be surprised by these results, but the study puts hard numbers on something we've always suspected. Protected areas around Yellowstone are crucial for elk to thrive, but so are private properties that offer the connectivity these migrating animals need. The study found that these elk herds thrive on private land due to the increased forage and reduced pressure from hunters. Unfortunately, these lands are also the most at risk for development, and while voluntary incentive based conservation ease months have been used widely and successfully across the US, the authors found that their use has been limited to only a small proportion of the elk ranges within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem or g y E. To help ensure these private parcels remain open from elk migration, the authors recommend that conservation organizations seek to expand outreach and alleviate financing bottlenecks to increase the use of conservation easements For landowners looking to conserve elk on their properties, The authors recommend installing wildlife friendly fencing or removing fencing that doesn't serve a purpose. You've heard me mention wildlife friendly fencing on the podcast before, and I know it sounds like a contradiction. How can fence effectively contain livestock while still being friendly for wildlife? You might also assume that since elk and deer can clear most fences with ease, there's no need to install any other kind. But while most adult ungulates can leap over your classic five strand barbed wire fence, they have trouble and less than ideal conditions right or inexperience, depleted condition, injury, deep snow, and a host of other factors can turn a speed bump into a life threatening roadblock. Fences aren't a population level threat to any ungulate species, but at two thousand six study found that on average, one ungulate per year was caught and fatally tangled for every two and a half miles of fence. Most died after getting their legs caught in the top two fence wires. The most lethal type of fence was woven wire, also called chief fence or field fence top with a strand of barbed wire. The studies author found even more cabs and fons lying dead near fences after they were unable to follow their mothers. And type of fence presents a hazard wildlife, but there are things a landowner can do to mitigate unnecessary death. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation recommends that fences be no higher than forty two inches on the level ground. On an incline, the top of the fence must be even lower. Pronghorn and young deer and elk usually prefer to crawl under a fence, so the r m EF recommends the bottom b about eighteen inches off the ground. Ranchers should also try to keep the top two wires as tight as possible to help prevent elk and deer from becoming entangled. Even around Yellowstone, one of the world's most famous conserved areas, landowners provide a crucial service for the wild animals who live there. Private land isn't always a bad thing for wildlife. It can just be a pain in the ass forgetting access to the wildlife that we all own. I know many landowners who take the responsibility seriously whether by agreeing to a conservation easement, participating in the block management program, or installing wildlife friendly fencing. Moving on to the ancient history desk, scientists working in Greenland recently discovered what they believe are the oldest known DNA samples. These two million year old specimens come from the one and thirty five different species including mass dons, geese, lemmings, and ants. According to an article in Nature. For those keeping score at home, these samples are nearly twice as old as the previous record holding DNA, which came from a mammoth in Siberia. Even more amazing than the variety and age of this DNA is the location. These samples were extracted from Greenland's perma frost, just six hundred miles from the north Pole. They indicate that what is currently a frozen tundra was once covered by a forest of poplar and birch trees inhabited by mass dons. The forests were homes to cariboo and Arctic hares, and the warm coastal waters were filled with horseshoe crabs. Cariboo live in Greenland already, but the current fossil record indicates that they evolved about one million years ago. This new discovery doubles their evolutionary history. The masted On DNA was also a big surprise. The nearest known masted On fossils were seventy five thousand year old remains in Nova Scotia, which are far younger than the Greenland DNA and much farther south. The New York Times quoted one paleontologist asking, quote, what the hell are they doing up there? Good question. The trees are also giving paleontologists heartburn. While the Earth's temperature is warmed and cooled over the course of its existence, the planet has not, as far as we know, shifted on its axis. That means that those poplar and birch trees had to somehow survive half the year in darkness. The scientists will continue to analyze the DNA to see if it holds clues as to how the trees adapted to this much different landscape. If you think that's interesting, wait till you hear about this next study from researchers at the University College London. When you're a scientist, it's your job to ask questions about things that most people take is self evident. Questions like why is the sun yellow? Why is this guy blue? And why do people walk on two legs? For a long time, scientists answered this question by theorizing that a change in environment prompted our ancestors to transition from walking on four legs to two. The theory goes that when dense forests began to give way to more open woodland and grassland, humans started walking on two legs because it gave them a more efficient mode of transportation. Say what you want about monkeys, but they aren't great long distance runners. However, a new study published in the journal Science Advances has a different idea. The studies authors spent fifteen months observing chimpanzees in Tanzania, and they found that being on the ground didn't correlate strongly with being in open spaces. Whether the chimps lived in open or densely forested areas, the proportion of time the primate spent on the ground was about the same. What's more, of the times the chimps exhibited bipedal behavior i e. Walked on two legs, only four of that behavior happened while they were on the ground. Instead, most bipedal behavior happened in trees. And was strongly related to foraging for food. Walking or standing on two legs helped them safely and effectively navigate the flexible branches and access as much fruit as possible. The researchers were careful to point out that our human ancestors may have acted differently than these thirteen chimps in Tanzania, but their findings still cast out on the prevailing theory. Maybe our ancestors began walking on two legs because it was easier to reach more mangoes, rather than because it was easier to go for a jog. Given how most people these days use their bipedal abilities, I'd say these scientists are onto something. Moving on to the legislative desk, a new year means that many state legislatures are about to go back into session. We'll do our best to stay on top of their big stories, but we rely on you to let us know about what's happening in your neck of the woods. Joseph Iravik, for example, send me an email about Illinois House Bill five eight five five. This bill does a variety of things related to crime and firearms, including banning the sale and manufacture of quote assault weapons, but Joseph was more concerned about the changes it makes to the way Illinois residents purchase rifles for hunting. In Illinois, every firearm owner must obtain a Firearm Owners Identification Card, also known as a void card. For many years, foid cards for purchasing handguns were only available to those over age one, but eighteen, nineteen and twenty year olds could still purchase rifles and shotguns. A few years ago, the legislature passed a bill that allowed eighteen to twenty year olds to purchase a long gun only with the written permission of their parent or guardian. This allowed people like Joseph to hunt on his own with a rifle as long as he got his parents permission, but HP five eight five five removes that option. If the bill passes, only residents twenty one years of age or older will be allowed to purchase or possess a long gun. Eighteen, nineteen and twenty year olds can still hunt, but they must be accompanied by a person who legally possesses a void card, i e. Someone who is twenty one years of age or older. Joseph says that the opportunity to hunt squirrels solo as a young adult gave him more confidence in his hunting skills, and he's been looking forward to teaching the ropes to his teenage brother in law. If this bill passes, Joseph's brother will have to wait three more years before he can have the experience of hunting on his own so Illinois residence. If you're interested in making your voice heard about this bill, right to your legislators and tell them what you think about HP five eight five five. As with any of these bills we talk about today, you can find that info on the Google machine or go to where we make it easy, the meat eater dot com. Forward slash cow and look for episode. Sticking with firearms policy, the Michigan legislature is considering a ban on so called assault weapons. The bill number is six five four four and it looks similar to assault weapons bands passed in other states. It prohibits the manufacturer, possession, purchase, and sail a semi automatic rifles capable of accepting a detachable magazine and featuring a pistol grip, vertical four grip adjustable stock, or barrel shroud. Current owners of these prohibited firearms will be allowed to keep them as long as they register their weapon with the state police. Democrats had a surprisingly successful election in November, and they were able to take control of both the State House and Senate by two votes. With Democrat Gretchen Whittmer and the governor's mansion, they're hopeful they can pass a ban on these semi automatic rifles. If you want to weigh in, get in touch with your state rep. About House Bill six five four four over in p A. That's the hip way of say. In Pennsylvania, one legislator wants to adjust the state's white tail season. Thanks to Dan Lesinski for sending this one. In State Rep. Brian Smith wants to change the starting day of rifle deer season to Monday after Thanksgiving. The season has started on the Saturday after Thanksgiving since two thousand nineteen. Smith is peeved because he believes a Saturday opener hurts the economy and family relationships. Well, what if you do your family time when you're out hunting deer. Here's how he put it in a letter to fellow legislators. In changing the opening day to Saturday, they took away the family time. Boy, this guy's got daddy issues. That was traditional for many that weekend as hunters now have to leave earlier for deer camp. This also meant losing of family traditions of attending fundraising events for whom end of shopping on Friday and small business Saturday. The loss of revenue to these small business owners, volunteer fire companies, other volunteer organizations has been devastating to their bottom line. Pennsylvania still banned Sunday hunting, so opening day would move from Saturday to Monday. To make up for this lost day, Smith wants to make the antlerd white tail season run for two weeks uninterrupted, from that Monday through to the second Sunday. Hunters would be trading that opening day on Saturday for the following Sunday. Opponents point out that a Saturday opener gives more people with families and busy schedules time to get out and enjoy the woods. If you work five days a week and want to experience the opener, Saturday is a much better day than Monday. The Pennsylvania Game Commission conducted a survey and found that six of hunters supported the move of the first day of rifle deer season to Saturday. If you have opinions of your own, get in touch with your Pennsylvania legislator as well as Rep. Brian Smith. He hasn't officially introduced the legislation yet, but as of this recording, he still plans to. That's all I've got for you this week. Thank you so much for listening. Remember to ring in the new year by getting in touch with your state rep. At minimum and right in to a s k c A L. That's asked cal at the Meat Eater dot com and let me know what's going on in your neck of the woods. Remember, we also have a lot of winter left, so if you're looking to stack that wood shed, go to www dot steel Dealers dot com to find a local, knowledgeable steel dealer near you. They're gonna get you set up with what you need. They're not gonna try to send you home with what you don't. Thanks again, and I'll talk to you next week.

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