00:00:09 Speaker 1: From Mediator's World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This is Kel's we Can review with Ryan kel Kell in now Here's Kel. Following President Trump's public declaration of support last week for permanently funding the popular Land and Water Conservation Fund and addressing the public land's maintenance backlog, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill to do just that. S three four two two, the Great American Outdoors Act, introduced March nine, would dedicate the full nine hundred million annually to the Land Water Conservation Fund, as well as providing an additional one point nine billion dollars annually to address massive maintenance backlogs on federal public lands and facilities. Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, one of the original sponsors of the legislation, called it a quote once in a lifetime deal in an exclusive interview with The Meat Eater. The Land and Water Conservation Fund passed in the early sixties, but in recent years the best we've done is to fund it at about half. To have full and permanent funding, this has been the holy grail for a long time, and to pair that up with being able to really address the backlog and trail maintenance and visitor centers and all the other things that are outdoor public lands economy relies on. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity set Senator Heinrich out of New Mexico. The bill already has fifty four co sponsors in the Senate from both parties, again both parties. That is what bipartisan means, and that is what gets things done. As a bonus, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who sets the vote sched Joel is a co sponsor of the bill. Many members of the Upper Chamber of Congress are hoping to put the bill to a vote within a week or two. Only six more co sponsors would form a rare supermajority. A supermajority brings with it the possibility of little to Know Florida debate and no ya who's coming out of the woodwork trying to introduce damaging amendments. This bill arrives in the wake of President Trump's tweet in support of the idea and in support of two Republican senators up for reelection. Some see political theater at play here, But if you were on the side of wild lands, wild places and having the ability to enjoy them. Who cares about the theater? We have a rare opportunity for results. Senator Heinrich goes on to say, well, sometimes it's helpful to have an election or two to focus the mind, and I think that may have had some impact on this debate. But whether people's motivations are political or not, this is the right thing to do. I've been fighting these LWCF fights for over twenty years. This is an enormous opportunity and the one way you can get rid of all that issue fatigue is to do the right thing once and for all. Can you imagine not having to fight for the Land and Water Conservation funding every year? No more Old Callahan having to harp on you to call your elected officials, because we actually got it done. The Land and Water Conservation Fund was established in nineteen sixty four to reinvest royalties from offshore oil and gas drilling into public parks, access, and recreation. Those funds have gone into more than forty thousand such projects nationwide. LWCF sunset in two thousand fifteen and again in two thousand eighteen. You know, sunset is a warmer term for letting something laps like I didn't pay my rent. I let my rent sunset anyway. LWCF was then permanently reauthorized last February. The fund accruise up to nine hundred million annually, but that full amount is only being appropriated twice. Typically more than half gets siphoned off for other purposes. There's a new bill will ensure that all of the money goes into conserving land and water resources every year. The National Park Service, which manages many of America's marquee public lands from Yosemite to Yellowstone to Great Smokey Mountain, has accumulated some twelve billion dollars worth of deferred maintenance projects in recent years, from potholed roads to public restrooms. This act would provide one point three billion annually until two thousand twenty five to address these problems. It would also provide two eighty five million dollars annually to the U. S Forest Service for the same kinds of issues, as well as around ninety five million dollars each to the Bureau of Land Management, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Indian Education. Land Tawny, President and CEO of back Country Hunters and Anglers was among the conservation leaders working hard to get maintenance funding for the Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and BLM included. He said, the Great American Outdoors Act speaks to many of the biggest priorities of the conservation community. Increased to for maintenance funding for these important public land management agencies is widely supported by diverse stakeholders. Together with dedicated LWCF funding, this support for our land managers will offer tangible benefits to our public lands, waters and wildlife, and the outdoor reliant economies, communities and individuals who depend on them. Sportsmen and women thank our Senate leaders for recognizing the crucial importance of these strategic investments. Though introduction in the Senate is a big step forward, nothing is ever guaranteed in Congress. Senator Heinrich goes on to say, I think the scale of this in history is really important, So let's not screw it up. Let's all come together and work together to get this thing across the finish line. It's not done until the ink drives at the White House. People could change their minds. This President has been known to change his mind, so we have to keep the pressure on right to the very end, and that, my friends, is exactly what we need to do. This week's call to action is so important. It is our lead story. I am setting a preliminary goal for all of us listening to this podcast to get only six more co sponsors for the Great American Outdoors Act as three four to two. Call your congressional representatives if they're co sponsoring this bill, thank them. If they're not, ask why not. This is one of the most important pieces of legislation for hunters and anglers in this decade. We might not ever get another chance to achieve these goals. The time is now as simple as I can make it. Type who is my Congressman into the old search bar, You will enter your zip code and you will get your congressional representative email. Call, write a letter. You can also fill out form letters provided by great groups like backcountry Hunters and Anglers. Form letters can do some of the heavy lifting for you, and you don't have to sign up for the conservation organization. But you know you should think about it. This is so important. I am tempted to tell you again, Let's get those additional co sponsors. Let's make the Great American Outdoors Act s three four two to a win. For even more information on this one, check out Sam Longren's fantastic bit of journalism at the meat eater dot com. One last note, when l w CF came on the scene, it passed the Senate one. That's a high bar to beat, but I think we can do it. This week, Hot Lizards, Great Whites. Listener questions more tales from the ice and keeping it local. But first I'm gonna tell you about my week. Well, it has been one heck of a week for you, long time listeners. It may sound a bit repetitive, but this is new I swear. I met up with Garrett Smith and his dad Phil Phil As a former Miles City, Montana semi famous guitar picker who, in my opinion, should have been prevented from leaving the town of Miles City home with the cowboys by the way, on account of the fact that having this genuine and generous music maker as part of your town and tax base generally makes it more superior than the next town over. And you may know Garrett by his nickname and Instagram handle dirt Myth. He has many of his father's attributes, but he also takes amazing pictures in once a road a charging grizzly bear on Alaska's a fog Neck Island. Anyway, I met up with the Smiths and used some motorized back country vehicles to access of frozen lake to camp and fish for a few days. I drove a can am defender with long powder tracks. It's essentially like having a snowmobile strapped to each foot. It's fun and an efficient way to travel across snow. Most importantly, I placed on the windshield of my embarrassingly fancy ride an off road vehicle sticker, which if you are going to ride off road you need to purchase. This is a tax that ultimately provides an incredible amount of funding for trail maintenance in every state. On top of that, it is a new license year. In Montana, the three of us had to purchase new fishing and conservation licenses. Then we bought a bunch of fishing stuff, which contributes to an exercise tax called dingle Johnson. Then we bought gas food and generally just made folks smile as we bumped into them in the small town that we met and geared up in. What I'm saying is these outdoor pursuits are highly impactful. We even caught a few fish. One thing that I suppose I knew but had never taken proper stock of due to the fact that I had different cleaning method is a bourbon. As I mentioned last week, a freshwater cod or gladiform. That bourbon is heart is located at the very rear of the bodycat as in, the heart is closer to the tail than the anal vent anal vent. Of course, as a class your way of saying, uni hole, I don't know. Anyway, I was hoping someone could write in and tell me what the advantage is of this most posterior of heart locals. Then in local news a bunch of folks from Steel Power Equipment showed up here in Bozeman. We joined the Gallatin Valley Land Trust as well as the Montana Conservation Corps and doing a bit of trail work while trying out all their new saws. We used battery powered sauce, which worked like a quiet dream until I got too self conscious thinking that that all the hard work in MCC folks would think that the quiet meant that we were just sitting on our duf's not doing anything, because they couldn't hear the saws. Then we fired up the gas saws and made some sawdust and some big piles. I thought it very very cool that the folks from Steel were willing to take a day to do work on a local project act, especially with all that shiny new equipment. So thanks a bunch of them. Also thank you to the Gallatin Valley Land Trust and Peter Brown, their head of stewardship, for letting us jump in and volunteer. The g v l T has a bunch of great projects that actually get overlooked because of their relatively small size acreage wise, but as we saw, no pun intended, a small parcel can provide a lot of access to the general public. The g v LT can purchase and hold land privately, provide ease months, and also transfer sell that land of the US Forest Service for permanent access. The m c C Montana Conservation Corps did two thousand miles of trail work last year. If you ever get the chance to go do some volunteering with them, do it. It is very insightful to see where the boot leather hits the trail. Moving on to a quick listener question, we are back to turkey season and star with two rs rights in in anticipation of he and his son's first turkey hunt, asking why is it frowned upon to shoot a turkey winning it is in full strut For those of you who do not know, Typically a hunter aims for the turkey's head both to ensure a fast kill and to minimize damaging meat. It is ideal to stop at turkey with the butt to get the bird to stretch his head high and alert. This puts the bird's head as far from the bulk of the meat as possible. When a turkey is in full stret the head is still elevated from the breast, but not by nearly as much. Depending on your shooting angle, pellets from your shotgun may damage some meat. That is the reason for the frowning. Use your best judgment. I only have a couple of days of turkey hunting this year, and I love having the meat in the freezer. I also use this turkey shot by federal ammunition called TSS, and it tends to make very small holes that zip through the bird, and I just don't see that much trauma if my pellets go low, which is sorry very long way of saying things aren't always perfect. Take the shot when you and your son have a bunch of time and a few turkeys under your belts. After several seasons, you can get much more picky. Good luck out there, and watch out for ticks on your soft parts. Brandon from Central Indiana rights in my buck for muzzleloader season. Had small fangs when I was prepping the skull to boil. I have hunted this property for several years, and four years ago my wife Lindsay shot an antler dough. She was about nineties some pounds and had seven inch velveted spikes. Have heard of this before, but still rare, So the fangs aren't the first oddity we have seen on this farm. So I'm asking cal have you ever seen or heard of a white tailed deer with fangs or mule deer for that matter. Thanks for your time and keep up the good work. In response, there are actually several different fang or tusk deer in the world. The non native but still living inhabitants to North America is the Seat, a deer that inhabits Maryland's Chess Peak Bay. Fangs or tusks were once a prominent feature on all of our deer here in North America. Eventually, the antlers took over the game in regards to winning sexual favor through display. One fun fact and possible leftover from that tusked period is the black patches on the chins of white tail and mule deer. Those black patches would have provided a very nice backdrop for the protruding white tusk or fang from the upper gum, making the tusk all the more visible. Female deer sprouting antlers is not completely uncommon, but it isn't a throwback to an earlier time either. According to the Quality Deer Management Association, female deer sprouting antlers is most commonly a result of abnormally high testosterone levels. In very rare cases, you may find an antler dough that has prominent female genitalia and recessed male genitalia. Considering how many people think does taste better than bucks, that's kind of like having at all. And speaking of having it all, we're gonna slide over to our herpetology desk. Charlie, a female komodo dragon, just gave birth to the Chattanoogazoo and Tennessee. Charlie did this without a male counterpart that is called independence. It is also called parthenogenesis, which is, as you can imagine, very rare invertebrates. In fact, komodo dragons were not even known to have this ability until two thousand six. According to Scientific American, parthenogenesis is when an embryo forms from an unfertilized egg cell. Some species have evolved too solely reproduce this way, but the komodo dragon participates in what is called facultative parthenogenesis, essentially meaning that Charlie had the choice to reproduce without involving a male dragon. Considering how well known komodo dragons are for their aggressiveness, bacteria filled bye and general preference for solitude, it's easy to see how the solo reproduction route could have developed. Adult male Komodo dragons can grow to two hundred pounds, measure longer than eight and a half feet in length, and have been known to take down tea more deer, which is like a semi swamp dwelling elk that weighs in around three hundred pounds. Anyway, congrats Charlie. One more from the herb desk. A recent study from the journal Nature Ecology and evolution shows that certain a knolls are roughly two inch long lizard have evolved specifically to live in urban environments, sporting longer limbs, specialized scales, and larger toe pads, allowing the lizard to more effectively maneuver the urban jungle or desert. In this case, these urban and knolls, when compared to their forest dwelling counterparts, were able to function and tolerate much higher heat levels, which, considering how hot and how much hotter our urban environments are getting, is a rate worth taking note. Of these urban of philic annuals, the term coined by their lead researcher, biologist Kristin Winchell, were able to function normally at a hundred and four degrees and on average one point four seven degrees hotter than other annual populations. More neat stuff, for sure, But it is the plasticity, the ability for this animal to change its behavior to its environment and possibly select for the wide range of genes that allow for the increased heat tolerance that makes this tiny lizard so hot right now and herpetological circles that is hot right now. Now, We're gonna swim menacingly over to our shark desk. I'm talking great white it's. Of course, in order to do this, I have to mention Jaws, one of my favorite all time movies. If you are also a Jaws fan and fancy yourself off a bit of a fisherman, check out our new senior fishing editor, Joe Surmeli's article at the meat eater dot com titled would Quint's real have cranked in Jaws? First, Joe, it's Captain Quint. The movie is getting old, but let's not strip the colorful captain of his title the old damn thing. Second, the answer is available at the meteator dot com. Go find it and welcome Joe, Sir Melly to the meat Eater team. Also on the topic of great whites and not covered by Joe, the bite and spit technique formally known of course as the bite and spit hypothesis, first proposed by theologist John McCosker in according to Forbes, is just that the idea that a great white shark, which by watching Shark Week we know always violently seizes its prey, launching it out of the water, aching it with their massive, powerful heads, shredding the helpless pinaped into a bloody red pulp maybe doesn't always eat that way. Sometimes, like in the instance described recently in the journal Marine and Freshwater Research, the great white will attack a victim with one powerful bite, then spit its prey out and let it bleed. To be honest, the incidents described here involves to thirteen plus foot great whites, yes Captain Quint's possible fourteen footers with two tons on them, biting a live swimming humpback whale, which can grow to sixty plus feet and forty plus tons, So saying the sharks spit out the whale is probably less accurate than bite and let go. In this case, the great whites bit and spit in forty minute intervals, allowing the more than likely very sick humpback whale to lose blood until it eventually sank. The sinking of the humpback simultaneously accomplished the first ever observed attack of a live swimming humpback whale by great white sharks, while turning the bite and spit hypothesis to the bite and spit technique. And the last, but not least, we're gonna finish things up by moving over to our ever popular law enforcement desk. Three quote brothers belonging to a University of Georgia fraternity dumped the remains of a couple of raccoons, two dead rats, and a skinned coyote on the porch of another fraternity house and got caught for it. The brothers were fined, but not with animal cruelty, as the creators were legally harvested for their hides. According to police reports, there are some yelling and drinking involved as well. Come on, boys, animals need to be treated with respect. Trapping in this country has enough problems. It doesn't need the additional pr problem of being associated with the polar shirt flip flopping khaki short short wearing fraternity crowd. That's why they're going gets tough, a tough get gout. That's all I've got for you this week. Go call your darn duly elected congressional representatives and tell them to co sponsor the Great American Outdoors Act. In addition, please let me know what I'm missing by writing in to a s K C. A l At the meat eater dot com. That's asked cal at the meat eater dot com. If you're loving what you're hearing, tell some friends to subscribe, and leave me a review by hitting that furthest right hand start wherever you download your podcasts. I'll talk to you next week.

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