00:00:09 Speaker 1: From Mediator's World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This is Kel's we can review with runyankel Kell in now Here's Kel. January one, the National Weather Service issued this statement via tweet. This isn't something we usually forecast, but don't be surprised if you see iguanas falling from the trees tonight as lows drop into the thirties and forties burr hashtag Miami or Miami green. Iguanas a k a. The chicken of the trees are cold blooded. When temperatures drop, they may slow down to the point of losing their grip and falling from their perch. Don't worry if you're hit. There is in fact, an insurance building code just for that description is struck by other non venomous rep tile initial encounter. Do you think people are still covered in a secondary encounter anyway. Shortly after the cold snap, Facebook marketplace started showing ads for iguanta meet. The University of Florida cautions adventurous purchasers to treat iguana just like chicken, from preparation to cooking temp as they can carry salmonella. If you need a recipe, just fry it one time, we got a hold of a bunch of iguana legs and thighs and tails and this was a few Super bowls ago and fried them. They turned out super tasty, tender, and yes, very much like chicken. This week we've got elitism, corrections, bills, laws, politics, and more coyotes. But first I'm gonna tell you about my week. And as you know, my week is sponsored by Steel Power Equipment, the folks who make, for example, my Steel ms A two hundred c battery power chainsaw, which, for reasons I cannot remember, is sitting here on my desk at Meat Eater HQ herring at me. One quick correction first, before we get into my week. I posted a picture on my Instagram account Old Cal four oh six and mentioned the cooking method su vied, which I said in the post translates to croc pot in French. Holy cats? Did that rail people up so much so that I actually have to take up all of our precious time here at the weekend review to square this thing up. First, This for everybody. Things that I didn't know, and this from a well written listener. There is a pretty great rule for when you should pronounce the last letter in a French word. If the word ends in a letter found in careful, the letters should be pronounced. Note the accent on the e gives it an a sound think cafe. Now. The rest of the consonance, with a couple of exceptions, will be silent when found at the end of a word. Thus, when a silent e is placed on the end of word, it is there to indicate the consonant immediately before it should be pronounced. Following this, suvied should be pronounced suvied what they call it. Second souvied does not translate into crock pot. It translates to under vacuum. Now. I was trying to accomplish two things with this one fair own blag la pleasantry, a joke people to make a joke, and to say that suvied cooking is as intimidating as using a crock pot. In some cases less intimidating, as you don't have to rush home in fear that your liquid is drying up before you move on. I would like to thank Josh Brahm's of La Auto Brewing and his ninety three year old grandfather Don Don Brahms. Thank you for listening to the radio show I do have to tell you, don my ninety one year old grandmother just got an iPad and downloads and listens to all sorts of shows. You don't need your grandson for this. Don't let her show you up. Anyway. It has been a whirlwind week. I went back down to Mexico, fish for tarpin, best man to Buddy's wedding. Kelsey and Monica, congratulations again and best wishes. I know you'll be fantastic. Then I hopped to taxi a ferry, another two plus our taxi two flights and a rental car from St. Louis to Springfield, Illinois, where I met up with some old pal Steven Ronell and Doug. During Steve and I had a really fun two hour long question and answer or Q and A session as we call it in the biz, in front of a bunch of wildlife professionals and future wildlife professionals at the Midwest Plenary Session of the Department of Natural Resources, which I really enjoyed. Then we hauled butt and barely made her playing back to Bozeman. The next day. Janice patel Us, Anthony Lacotte myself met up and attended a panel discussion hosted by the Montana Conservation Corps or m c C. You down with m c C, Yeah, you know me. MCC does some great stuff. They get young people outside, teach all sorts of skills, and they work their butts off in the fashion of the c c C or the Civilian Conservation Corps, not necessarily building things like the Grand Coolie Dam, but clearing, building and maintaining trails. In Montana. Last year, the m c C put two thousand miles of trail under their respective belts, which is pretty darn impressive. That's hard work. Okay, now that everybody's received their due, I'm going to get to what I am wanting to get at. We received a question in Springfield, and I heard a statement from the panelists that were similar here in Bozeman. In Springfield it was don't you think hunting is elitist? At the m c C, the statement was wilderness how elitist? Do I think hunting is elitist? No? I do not. I think we have a tendency to make anything we like to do elitist through the way people act and self identify and sell things. Right, how can I be the best if everyone is equal? How can I sell my stuff if everything is equal. I do think when this question comes up that we need to recalibrate our brains and realize that even though hunting can be done with a stick or a rock or a sling, shot barefoot and naked, this is not the way we typically portray it. Quick break here, Everyone needs to write this title down The rabbit Hunt. The Rabbit Hunt is a twelve minute and eight second long short film, and it's fantastic anyway, what we promote and certainly what we see in the news can be a stretch from normal everyday hunting. Seeing Donald Trump Jr. Or someone else in that tax bracket with a high dollar species if you have ever even heard of, like a mark orps is not the normal hunter. Far from it. Yet at the same time, I have elk out my back door. They're very accessible and every season inexpensive hunt for me. For a lot of people in the US, however, and elk hunt is nowhere near the realm of possibility, even for lifelong hunters. You know, they're just don't have that access. So context is important when we were talking about elitism, and if you take one very common hunt in our country, the hunt for the cotton tail rabbit and put it in comparison to let's say, jogging, something I think just about anybody can do. There are some arguments to be made that could angle toward elitism on behalf of the hunter, but if we focus on the bare essentials, the only thing separating a hunter from a jogger would be the need for a small game license depending on your state, unless, of course, you consider a good thumping stick picked up off the ground the symbol of elitism in this case. Stephen Ronella pointed out during this talk in Illinois that hunting participation is distributed pretty darn evenly across income levels here in the US. That is absolutely not the case in a place like the UK. I'll tell you when I think about myself and elitism Montana kid fishing for turpan in Mexico, that, my friends, is as elitist as it gets expensive is an understatement. And we put these fish on a pedestal, unless, of course, you grew up with them stealing your bait underneath the pier. In regards to elitism in wilderness use, when the Wilderness Act of nineteen sixty four passed the Senate on April nine, nineteen sixty three, the vote was seventy three to twelve. It then passed the House on July nine, sixty four, and the count was three seventy four to one, three hundred seventy four to one. This at a time when the good people at Webster's Dictionary report that the use of the word elitist was in an all time high. Don't you think that if folks thought wilderness was elitist in nineteen sixty four, those margins in the House and Senate would have been a bit more slim. This is an irksome topic for me. I've fueled the wilderness mystique, so I feel a need to comment. All that is necessary to enjoy a designated wilderness area is the desire to go. If you are two hundred feet into the wilderness, you are as capable of enjoying what a wilderness has to offer as the person twenty miles in. You do not need the lightest, most expensive gear. You need the desire to go. Let's not blow this out of proportion. Let's not divide outdoor use amongst those with preferences that differ. If you want to be outside, that's what matters. Are you seriously telling me you are going to stay inside curtain shut if your horse or your mountain bike can't go. Maybe, But if that's the case, you can't tell me you wanted to be outside. All right, that went way too long. If you haven't noticed, it is lawmaking time. But do not fret. The weekend review is going to stay focused on things pertinent to the outdoor ours, so buckle up. In this next segment, we're heading over to the Policy Desk. Bill in the Utah Statehouse would prevent those behind on their child support from purchasing hunting and fishing licenses. This is not as groundbreaking as it may seem. According to the ncs L, the National Conference of State Legislatures, more states than not will suspend your ability to buy hunting or fishing license when a person is behind on child support payments. Florida won't let your register your boat either. The only issue I see with this is for those who need a hunting or fishing license to work, like fishing and hunting guides. However, the fishing and hunting guide lifestyle probably lead to this lack of funds and child support situation in the first place. If you're opposed to this and want to call your duly elected just be ready for you know that follow up question. Uh. South Carolina bill Bill ten forty two seeks to amend a previous animal cruelty bill that did not include hunting dogs. The previous will provides an exemption that excludes hunting dogs during training and while they are in the field. The fear on this amendment is that if a dog were to injure itself during a hunt, as they often do. I myself have had a few labs that got cut on barbed wire or broken tree limbs. Anyway, if your dog were to get injured during this activity, someone could, in theory charge you with animal cruelty for putting the dog in harm's way. Or if you were to use an E color E standing for electricity and you know, zap your pooch during training or in the field, this could even be considered animal cruelty. Now, that scenario just seems completely unreasonable, but you know, common sense isn't so common sometimes. If you were a hunter dog trainer in South Carolina, you should call and stress the need for language that isn't so broad. All dogs are good dogs, but well trained dogs are welcome everywhere, But there is also a limit as to when you use the stick and when you use a treat. Animal walty is real, so be aware of that as well. Over in Idaho, a state famous for public lands, a bill that is just in the works, meaning it has not even been introduced, would give individual citizens the ability to legally fight back against people who illegally block access to public lands. While this sounds like an anticlimactic deal, you're probably scratching your head even thinking, well, of course, is there no actual legal recourse against a person who would go so far as to exclude the public from public ground. Well, let me tell you a real brief history of Idaho trespass law up until just a few years back. Uh some would say antiquated law stated that if land was not legally posted as in legally marked every so often, the land was presumed open to trustpass which was great to anyone who wanted to shoot through a small strip of private to get into a big chunk of public, or you know, take advantage of some good quail hunting ground every now and again. Very seldom did I ever hunt private without permission, even though it was legal in Idaho at the time. Coming from Montana just didn't feel super comfortable when that bill was amended. A bunch of really crazy stuff, lopsided stuff that even the Idaho Sheriff's Association when support came with it. As it stands now, a landowner or land owning entity can sue individuals for trustpass take them to court, lose the case as then be wrong, and both sides have to pay for their legal fees. If the accused the winner wants to get their money back for their defense, they would then have to waste another bunch of time to sue the landowner. You can imagine this system could allow for some scare tactic nastiness for those who don't like sharing. What we were talking about in this particular case is a case of counties and their roads, sometimes seldom maintained by the county but often used by the citizenry. County roads passed through a patchwork of public and private lands. In one of those patches, you could have a landowner who has both sides of the road. They wait for a time of little traffic like winter conditions, when they install inclose a gate that blocks legal access to public land. Slap up some no trustpassing signs make it look real intimidating, and then wait and see if people are willing to forget about that road. If that road or what have you has a long enough period of documented nonuse, then that's kind of all, she wrote. Currently, the people who commit these acts against all of us do not have to worry much about repercussions, only being cussed. Social outcry has managed to unlock a few these situations, but there has been no recompense for the citizens, nonprofits, and counties who have had to spend time on these ultimately expensive situations. In some cases, if it were not for public use, the county would much rather abandon the road than have to pay to maintain it. So it is truly up to the users to watch for these situations. In one example, side by Boise State Public Radio, a citizens group notified Bannock County, of which Pocatello, Idaho is the county seat. Out of their fifty roads, Bannock County lists on their website, eight roads have been aggressively posted as private or physically blocked. This isn't exactly the middle of nowhere. In fact, Bannock County has a population of over eighty two thousand, which includes Idaho State University, which means, you know, a bunch of poor college kids looking to go access their public lands. They're hunting and fishing. It's also an area with incredible hunting and fishing. So back to this not even proposed yet bill. As it stands now, a first time offender would get a warning, a second time offender a small fine, a third time offender a misdemeanor. In addition, private citizens could sue the landowner or land owning entity if they do not open the gate within twenty four hours of being notified. The individual in this case could recoup five dollars or any actual damages whichever is more, as well as their legal fees, which would put the burden of the access fight on the citizens and not on the county. I am going to watch this, you know, not quite yet a bill. I hope it becomes a bill, and I hope the good, even keeled, sensical people of Idaho vote for it. What's more, don't trick yourself into thinking that this only happens in Bannock County, Idaho, or just in Idaho. If you come across no trespassing sign that doesn't look right or a brand new gate on an old dirt road. Don't feel bad about questioning it's legitimacy. Use stuff like on X maps, know where you are and get ahold of the county clerk. Jumping over to South Dakota, a state that I admire greatly for the hunting and fishing opportunities. State Senator Jeff Monroe from Pierre, South Dakota sponsored Bill SP, a bill that will take away the ability for any town to ban the use of single use plastics such as plastic straw, shopping bags, and bottles commonly called auxiliary containers. Currently, people in America and just on average one credit cards worth of plastic a month, we use five hundred million straws every single day. If you are a rural landowner with three or four strand barbed wire fence or worse, sheep or snow fence, you've likely gotten sick of picking up plastic bags that collect there. Unfortunately, it is unfair to you, but it's better that you pick those things up, because if not, they're gonna end up in our water supply somehow, some way there they slowly degrade microplastics, the degraded by product of these containers and bags then make their way into the food chain from invertebrates to fish to human We even drink them, which is something no member of the hunting, fishing, boating, or bird watching public likes to see, except for Senator Monroe of South Dakota. The Senator says, in regards to plastic coffee cans being thrown in the river, it really doesn't bother me at all because it sinks to the bottom and becomes habitat for bait fish and crayfish. If you like to eat those things, well, Senator, I really do like to eat those I just wanted to be plastic free. But I do salute you for pushing this bill that essentially tries to freeze time, a bill that boldly flies in the face of science, climate change and all the rural South Dakotans who have to take a day to clean their barrel pits and fence lines of plastic after the wind blows. S B fifty four is main sponsor John Wick, who I am guessing looks nothing like Keanu Reeves, who don't confuse the two and state rapped tim rounds bowl state economic reasons for the bill, which are real. Every place that uses auxiliary containers will have to take time to source replacement containers. This could be more expensive than the old plastic in some cases, and you could inconvenience customers during the transition. But that's exactly what SP fifty four is really about. Inconvenience, not a senator's preference for slowly degrading baitish and crayfish homes at the bottom of the river. We made the switch from lad shot to non toxic and the world did not crumble. Step up, not back South Dakotains and sportsman who loved South Dakota. Moving on the law enforcement desk, Columbus, Ohio officer was bitten by a coyote during a routine stopped to check on a stranded motorist. Sergeant James Fuqua said the coyote came out of nowhere and bid him. The officer then punched the coyote. The coyote ran off and then returned. When more officers arrived on the scene. The officers tried to taze the coyote. Why I do not know. Then they got the animal in a position to humanely put it down, they shot it. There is nothing funny about this officer being bitten in the line of duty, or the three officers having to chase and kill the coyote. I did get a chuckle, however, when the very next news story that popped up read quote courageous cat fends off three coyotes behind California home. Yeah. Uh. Coyote was captured after biting a six year old child in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago and transferred to Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation Facility. What the coyote will be rehabilitated too or four is yet to be determined. Maybe it can learn the error of its coyote ways and become a poodle at DNA analysis determined that the coyote in rehab is in fact the coyote that bit the child. Because he bit a person, the coyote cannot be returned to Lincoln Park. This would be an appropriate time to ask yourself what happens to a domestic dog that attacks and bites a child in the face. The coyote, which has now of course been named, will be kept in captivity forever as a quote educational ambassador teaching the need for peaceful coexistence. Again. The child and his nanny were walking and the coyote jumped out and bit the six year old boy in the face. What these people talking about? According to the Humane Society of America, urban coyotes avoid humans at all costs and only attack when provoked. This coyote was noticed several times by people on January six, did the biting on January eight. Later that day, an unsubstantiated kyote attack occurred in Steeterville, this time on a thirty two year old man. Then a dog was bitten and had to be rescued by two people. Then another coyote was pulled from Monroe Herbor. The Lincoln Park High School went into a temporary lockdown due to a coyote siting nearby. Chicago, you think you might be sliding backwards? Here is the next headline I read, Chicago ones turning over their homes to coyotes and fleeing the city. That's all I got for you this week. Thanks for listening. As usual, you can always get a hold of me at a s K C. A L at the meat eater dot com. That's asked caw at the meat eater dot com. Tell me what I got right, tell me what I'm missing, and tell me what I got wrong. If you want to leave me a review, do it by hitting that furthest right hand start, and I'll talk to you next week.