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. A secretive group in Arizona has spent nearly two decades hunting the Sonoran Desert for a rare type of cactus. But unless they can find new trustworthy members, they vowed to take their findings to their graves. The Crested Seguaro Society was founded in two thousand and five by Arizona residents Bob Cardell and Pat Hams. They were fascinated by a type of seguaro cactus known as the crested seguaro, and they decided to find and record as many of these cacti as they could to back up and give you some contacts. Seguaros are that iconic Southwestern cactus you've probably seen on advertisements and bumper stickers. There are tree like species that can grow up to twelve meters tall, and they're native to the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and the Mexican state of Sonora. They often have a single column like stem with several branches or arms growing up towards the sky. Crested seguarros are a mutated version of this cactus that feature a fan like growth, usually towards the top of the plant. Only about one in every two hundred thousand seguarros is a crested seguaro, though there is some debate about that number. In any case, crested seguiros are often targeted by poachers because they're so rare. The Crested Seguarros Society claims to have found over thirty two hundred crested seguarros in their ramblings through the desert. They've recorded their locations electronically, but only two members of the group have access to that database. They told the Wall Street Journal that they've been working to recruit younger members to replace their aging ranks, but they haven't agreed on a good way to evaluate candidates. We're keepers of the holy Grail, one member told the journal. Unless we can find some younger people to join the society and then share that database with them, it's just gonna die with us. They've refused requests from researchers to access their database, and one admitted that quote, we have trust issues, no kidding. Another said that hunting crested seguiros quote becomes a bit of an obsession. I understand why they wouldn't want poachers to get a hold of their database, but it would be beneficial to bring some formal Cacti researchers into the folder between the spines. Maybe that information could help unlock another mystery that has had scientists stuck for years. No one knows exactly what causes the crested seguiros deformities. Some believe it's a genetic abnormality, while others think it's caused by hormones. Lightning and freezing may also play a role, but the National Park Service admits at this point they just don't know. There are mysteries in the desert that not even modern science can solve. Makes you wonder what else might be hidden out there among the sand and crested saguaros. This week, we've got legislation four legged CWD detection and so much more. But first I'm going to tell you about my week, and my week was packed. Thanks for saying hello all of you who attended this year's Peasant and Quail Fest in Minneapolis over forty thousand people attended the three day show, which includes about three hundred farm bill biologists, farmers, ranchers, hundreds of bird dogs, and everything else bird hunting or bird dog related, which, if you have ever attended a quote sports show, probably doesn't sound all that different. But here's the big difference and why I like this event so much. Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever puts the conservation front and center by fighting tons of opportunities for anyone to stop, ask questions and learn from experts and everything from soil health to grass seed to the ins and outs of recovering America's Wildlife Act and how to get the farm bill to work for you. We did two great podcasts over that weekend that will give you a little more insight Ronnie Bams The Hunting Dog Podcast or We Talk Wisconsin Sharptail Grouse with the Sharptail Grouse Society and a great recap of the weekend with Doug Durhan who is representing his Sharing the Land Matt Morlock, Pheasants Forever's very first farm bill biologist and host Bob Saint Pierre on the one and Only on the Wing podcast It's worth a listen. Tons more happened this week outside of that, but I will say I've had, you know, thirteen fourteen, fifteen years ago on to hunting expos and sports shows and things like that. And there's two right now that absolutely top the list. And here's how I calibrate this. You leave one totally exhausted and never wanting to go back again, and then the other one you feel energized, like there's hope for the world because there's so much good stuff happening, such a good concentration of people now. Bha Rendezvous that's coming up here in a couple of weeks is one of those things, like you get a bunch of doers out there that want to come in, talk to each other, learn a bunch of stuff, and then go out and do more good stuff in all of their states. That's a feeling that you just can't buy. And Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. The Pheasant Fest Annual Meeting is another one of those things. It's a great mix of people. People are coming in to do all the shopping and fundraising and things of that nature, but at the same time they're they're learning about something as scary as the firm bill, and they're going to take that knowledge home and they're going to enroll acres and CRP, they're gonna build habitat. They're going to be better conservationists for attending the show. And that's what gets me fired up right now. I'd be like I've taken the whole empire myself. I know what you mean. Tons more happened this week. Trips to the capital, two of them, one to testify against a bill that would limit the state of Montana's ability to participate in permanent conservation easements. As you have previously heard, some folks have a real fear and misunderstanding of the word permanent. Sadly, and I admit to being very confused here. That bill is still alive and sent it Bill three fifty seven, to which I am referring, is slowly crawling through the legislative process. Vote no on that one, and I say, I'm confused by this, by this bill still being alive, because every senator I have spoken to, Democrat, Republican, Independent says the same thing. We need to kill that thing. It's going to cause more issues than it's going to solve anyway. Big thank to everyone that showed up on the Capitol steps in the blowing snow and negative eight degree tempts for the public lands rally on that step. Just in Montana, we have three different bills trying to reallocate funding used for habitat the Habitat Montana Fund, which I'm talking about, and access programs programs at work programs that people love and depend on long term planning programs instead of short term gains for the few. No reason to not be aware of this stuff. We provide a modicum of awareness here on this podcast, but we cannot cover at all. Sign Up for Rod and Gun Club email lists, local and national chapters of conservation groups like National Wildlife Federation, Teddy Roosevelt, Conservation Partnership, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, even groups you have no intention of funding or even being associated with, like I don't know, maybe the Sierra Club or Defenders of Wildlife, because you need to know what both sides of the argument are. Sportsman Alliance and howel for Wildlife are good resources, but none of these get you the whole picture. You got to do more. Of course, if you're listening to this podcast, I'm speaking to the choir so Invite a friend who goes outdoors and hunts and angles into your circle, have some conversations, share some email lists, share this podcast. They need to be aware and they need to be able to weigh in. That being said, moving on to another packed legislative desk, Starting with one of my favorite states. You New Mexicans have reason to celebrate it after the state Senate passed a bill that would create permanent funding for land and water conservation projects. The bill establishes the Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund, which supporters hope will be funded with at least one hundred and fifty million dollars. The bill number is SP nine and it's headed to the state House for approval. The New Mexican State Senate is also considering a bill that would ban projectiles that are quote designed to explode or segment upon impact with its target. I don't know any hunters who use exploding ammunition, but most quality hunting ammo is designed to segment upon impact. The bullet isn't supposed to totally break apart, but it does open up like a flower. If that's what this bill would cover, All you Land of Enchantment listeners should keep track of that one, thanks to Justin Lee for sending it. In Oregon, Homo Oregonians. H Jr. Five would amend the state constitution to establish a right to fish, hunt, or harvest wildlife, and gather wild foods by traditional methods or manners. Twenty three other states would passed similar amendments. The Oregon Legislative Sportsman's Caucus is pushing this amendment in response to a ballot initiative that would criminalize injuring or killing animals even if they are harvested for food. The initiative has not been certified for the twenty twenty four ballot, but this amendment would make sure it never gets off the ground. So you know, if you're a registered voter in Oregon, that'd be something I'd probably vote yes for. Pennsylvanians were upset while others celebrated after the State Game Commission voted unanimously to keep the opening day of deer season the Saturday after Thanksgiving. If you have strong feelings about this policy, there's still time to get involved. The motion was preliminary and final approval will be needed at the board's meeting in April. Arizonans also have a chance to get involved by telling their representatives what they think about SB thirteen fifty six. This bill would require the state Game and Fish Department to develop a water quality monitoring program to evaluate pesticides, metals, and other contaminants in sport fish. This program would also assess the health risks of consuming those fish. In the Golden State, Californians can weigh in about a bill that would give free lifetime hunting and fishing licenses to gold Star family members who meet certain eligibility requirements. A gold Star family is the immediate family members of a fallen service member who died while serving in a time of conflict. If you'd like to get involved, the bill number is AB to ninety three. Hawaiians should be paying attention to HB five thirty five. This bill would require the Department of Land and Natural Resources to create in periodically update a plan for managing game management and public hunting areas. This plan would have to address monitoring, habitat improvement, and grazing, among other considerations. It would also establish incentives for local businesses to market wild game meet In addition, the bill also creates a Certified Public Hunter program to address the feral pig population. The program would connect hunters with landowners looking to get pigs off their properties. Again, that's Hawaii. House Bill five thirty five sounds like a doozy and something to dig into. Get more informed on all you Idahoans should know about a bill that would increase penalties for those who post fake private property signs on public lad Idaho House Bill forty three would make those who post fake signs or willfully obstruct public access guilty of hunter harassment. Wyoming is considering a similar bill this year, and Idahoans can get involved in their state by contacting the House Ways and Means Committee. I'd love to see that go through. If you live in Illinois, you have quite a few bills to keep track of. HB one five one would give free deer, turkey and combination hunting permits to anyone who owns forty acres or more in Illinois. Current law requires eligible hunters to be residents of the state, but this bill would remove that requirement. HB two two seventy three would replace single shot rifle in the Wildlife Code with wildlife rifle. The bill defines quote wildlife rifle as any rifle that can hold up to three rounds in the magazine and chamber combined, This would allow hunters to have three rounds on tap when hunting instead of just one. Though off the top of my head, I can't think of any rifles that can only hold two rounds in the magazine. Oh wait, double rifles. Maybe that's what they're addressing. There very common hunting implement in Illinois, I've heard. Finally, Illinois House Bill fifteen seventeen would make it unlawful to discharge a firearm for hunting, hunt with a gun or dog, or allow a dog to hunt within five hundred yards of an inhabited dwelling. If the inhabited dwelling is in a residential area with twenty five or more homes within a one half square mile, that's gonna be a tough one to both abide by and regulate. If you'd like to weigh in on any of these bills, visit the meat eater dot com, forward slash col or get in touch with your Illinois state representative. That goes for all you Oregonians, New Mexicans, and Californians and Idahoan's too. In Iowa, s F one seventy three would allow an owner or agent of an agricultural property to kill a fur bearing animal outside the appointed seasons. Current law requires a landowner to obtain permission from the state Game Commission, but this bill would allow furbearing animals to be captured or killed as long as the landowner considers them a nuisance. The Senate Natural Resources Subcommittee has recommended passage, which means it could be headed to the full Senate floor. Here in Montana, the legislature may consider a bill that would prioritize resident hunters over non residents. We've covered similar bills being considered in Oklahoma, but many Western states like Wyoming and Idaho are also seen big spikes in non resident hunting pressure. Wyoming has responded by allocating ninety percent of its tags for sheep, goats, moose, and bis to residents, up from eighty percent in two thousand and twenty two. Idaho changed its system in two thousand twenty one, and now non residents in most general season elk and deer hunts are limited to ten or fifteen percent of the total hunters in each zone or unit. In Montana, total Montana nonresident hunting license sales have jumped from about forty thousand and two thousand and twelve to over seventy one thousand in two thousand and twenty two, meaning nonresident hunters now make up nearly every one in three Montana hunters. This is why Montana State Senator Pat Flowers is introducing a bill he's calling Montana Hunters First. The bill would cap nonresident hunting licenses across the board, including nonresident licenses for bears, turkeys, waterfowl, upland, and many deer B and elk B tags which you know your antler list tags. The Department of Fish and Wildlife and Parks would be directed to set those caps by two thousand twenty four and involved the public in that process. Additionally, the Montana Hunter's First Bill would give residents the opportunity to obtain unsold permits after the first draw, rather than giving these to nonresidents automatically. It would also strengthen the language prohibiting the sale and transfer of licenses and permits from one person to another. The bill is yet to be officially introduced, but my understanding is that it's currently in the pipeline. If you want my take on that one, these types of changes are coming. Absolutely, take a look at the changes in the state of Wyoming, changes in the state of Idaho over the years, and here in Montana, hunting is about opportunity, it's about fair chase, and it's about quality time in the field. The Senator Flowers Bill, when it is introduced, is going to be worth taking a much deeper dive into. I'll tell you this. We all know that the majority of hunting and angling revenue comes from nonresident license and tag sales, which is something we have to keep in mind. Would resident hunters be willing to pay more, I as sure as heck would, But that's just me. I have no kids, and this is exactly what I like to do for my recreational dollars, health dollars, and my hunting dollars, so I allocate a lot of my budget to hunting and angling. Conversely, when we tip the scales so far in favor of non residence, we start to see a shaky hunting base in our resident population, meaning that many landowners enrolled in our private land public access program, the block management program are very sensitive to non residents using their property more than residents. If we allow that scale to tip so far in favor of non residents who do fit the bill for a lot of wildlife in Montana. Do we consequently lose huntable acres as a result? Will there be more no trespassing and don't ask signs even for resident hunters. It's a murky situation. We're going to dig into it a lot more when the bill gets introduced, and I'm looking forward to reading up on it. Moving on to overseas legislative news, the European Union just decided to ban lead shot in all wetlands in the twenty seven EU countries, as well as Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein. Much like hunters on federal public land in the US, EU hunters will now have to use non toxic ammunition such as steel or bismuth in or within one hundred meters of wetlands. Some of these countries already have full or partial bands on the use of lead shot, but this new decision mandates that policy across the board. Staying in Europe, thousands of people marched through central Madrid earlier this month to protest an animal rights bill that excluded hunting dogs. These folks believe hunting dogs are being exploited and they want to see the same restrictions on hunting dog owners as have been leveled against pet owners. Under the bill, pet owners will be required to take a special course, agreed to never use harmful means or methods when raising their dogs, and never leave their dogs alone for more than twenty four hours. Hunting dog owners have been exempt from all these requirements because these dogs are considered working dogs. The hunting lobby argued that the bill was more about banning hunting than protecting hunting dogs, which seems to have been confirmed with these protests in Madrid. According to Reuters, protesters held signs that said killing is not a sport, enchanted stop hunting. If they were really concerned about animal welfare regarding hunting dogs, their signs should have said more habitat more birds or you know something along those lines. Maybe I'm not great at slogans. And speaking of animals in the workforce, a new study from the University of Pennsylvania suggests that our canine companions could help hunters with more than just treeing and retrieval. Thanks to Anna Anderson for sending this one in. Researchers at penn School of Veterinary Medicine have trained dogs to identify the odor of chronic wasting disease and deer feces. Charlie, Jerry and Kiwi were trained like drug sniffing dogs, but instead of finding cocaine and duffel bags, these dogs can sniff out CWD in the lab and in the field. This could be an important breakthrough in the fight against CWD. The disease can live within deer for several years before symptoms manifest. During that time, a healthy looking but infected animal can shed prions before succumbing to the illness. What's more, prions are known to buy into soil, potentially contaminating the land on which other animals may roam. Right now, the best diagnostic test can only be performed after death on an animal's brain. But if a landowner or deer farmer could use a CWD detection dog, they wouldn't have to wait for the animals to waste away and die. They could implement mitigation strategies or order further testing to try to get ahead of the disease before it decimates their deer herds. The technique isn't ready for prime time just yet. In a lab setting, the dogs passed over non CWD samples ninety to ninety five percent of the time, but they only hit on positive samples forty percent of the time. In a field setting, they detected eight of eleven positive samples, with a false negative rate of thirteen percent. But considering the amount of time these dogs have been training and the fact that these were pet dogs, not trained search dogs, one of the researchers described the results as promising. New CWD detection techniques can't come soon enough. Wildlife biologists have done a great job slowing the spread of the disease, but it's still moving into new areas. In North Carolina, three deer tested positive this year in the surveillance area, and the Wildlife Commission just announced last week that a fourth deer had tested positive outside the surveillance area. The state dramatically ramped up its testing this year, but if other states are any indication, the disease has already spread farther than biologists can confirm. A similar story is playing out in Idaho, where fishing game has begun reducing deer density in the Slate Creek area. In an effort to minimize the spread of CWD. They provided landowners with special permits to kill deer in their properties, and the US Department of Agriculture will also assist in shooting deer on public land. We are saddened that we are in the position that we have to do this, but it's necessary to suppress the spread of CWD to protect deer and elk herds in adjacent areas where it could spread even farther from there, said Rick Ward, Fishing Game State Wildlife Manager. CWD sniffing dogs aren't a silver bullet, but hopefully they'll give wildlife managers an early detection tool they can use before they have to cull deer that hunters would otherwise love to harvest. Moving on to the snake desk. By now you've heard that Florida has a python problem. Burmese pythons were released in Florida in the nineteen seventies, and they've been decimating native species ever since. Attempts to eradicate the serpents have so far been successful. Pythons are masters of disguise, and even an army of professional python hunters hasn't been able to make a serious dent in the population, at least as far as we can tell. Counting pythons is just as hard as killing pythons anyway, listener Bill Kearney sent me a story from South Florida Sun Sentinel about a group of researchers who may have unintentionally hit on a new way to find and kill the invasive pess Researchers studying raccoon and apossum behavior in the Crocodile National Wildlife Refuge fitted dozens of these miso predators with GPS callers, along with birds reptiles in the occasional housecat burmese pythons are also happy to eat raccoons and apossums. So you can see where this is going. I python ate one of the collar to possums, and miraculously the tracker survived. The collar, gave a mortality signal and stopped moving, But then it began moving again a few hours later, presumably in a slow, slithery motion. It took a few months, but the researchers were finally able to track down the snake that ate the trojan possum. It was a big female with lots of eggs, meaning that the unfortunate apossum sacrifice took dozens of future snakes off the landscape. The concept isn't foolproof. They found one collar in a huge pile of snake poop because the python was able to pass it before they found it. They're also getting questions you might expect about animal cruelty. Don't they feel bad about using apossums and raccoons's bait. One of the researchers, Michael Cove, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that the collars don't put the animals into any extra danger. These apossums and raccoons would be eaten anyway, but now their deaths are helping scientists remove more pythons that would eat even more native animals. Cove said he would like to expand the scale of the study by incorporating cheaper collars. These would only track mortality and location rather than tracking movement, but they'd cost only two hundred dollars instead of fifteen hundred. With hundreds of GPS enabled to raccoons on the landscape, they're hoping to find finally gain an edge over the large invase of snakes, and finally determine who's knocking over those trash cans. Moving on to the disaster desk, Lots of people have been writing in on this subject. I apologize for not getting in on it. Sooner, But it's an evolving situation and it's a big deal. So here is a quick and dirty on how the Ohio train derailment and chemical spill has affected local wildlife. First, in case you've been living under a rock, a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed near East Palestine, Ohio, on February third. Those toxic chemicals were leaching into the ground, and officials were worried that some of the train cars could explode, so they conducted something called a controlled release. Basically, they lit those chemicals on fire, which release an ominous looking cloud of black smoke. Officials maintain that the air and water are safe, but residents have been reporting headaches, nausea, and other ailments, almost like that stuff shouldn't be in the air. Chemicals like vinyl chloride aren't great for wildlife, so I reached out to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Spokeswoman Stephanie O'Grady told me that the chemicals impacted about seven and a half miles of Leslie Run, Bull Creek and a portion of the north Fork of Beaver Creek. As of February eighth. They estimate that the spill killed thirty five hundred fish, most of which were small suckers, minnows, darters, and scalpin. There have also been reports from local residents of chickens and foxes dying, and the owners attribute those deaths to the chemicals in the air. Sharp eared listeners will have noticed that it is not February eighth, and hasn't been for several weeks, so these numbers are old. I apologize for that. We asked O'Grady whether she could provide more recent information, but we have not heard back as of this recording. That's all I've got for you this week. Thank you so much for listening. You can breathe easy as the legislative sessions are starting to wrap up, but that means we need to drive harder in the closing weeks. This is where bad ideas could turn into bad laws, bad regulations, bad amendments, and just cause a bad time for hunting and fishing season and seasons in the future. So bear with me and bear down, and as always, thank you so much for listening, and remember to write in to ask c Al that's asked Cal at the Meat Eater dot com and let me know what's going on in your neck of the woods. Now, if you're in the Arctic circle that parts of the nation have become, you may be looking at a dwindling woodpile. If that's your case, check out www dot steel dealers dot com to find a local, knowledgeable steel dealer near you. They're going to get you set up with a clean, quiet chainsaw that you know you can operate in between a couple of houses and a condo complex something like that. Nobody would be the wiser I've done it myself, or a superpro computer chipped gas operating commercial machine that'll buck up enough wood for the neighborhood. Most importantly, there and you sent home with what you need and they won't try to send you home with what you don't. Thanks again, I'll talk to you next week.

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