Category — Politics

NOAA wants to sign up all salt water fisherman in a new fishing registry. “The national registry of saltwater anglers is the key to closing a major gap in information on recreational fishing”. NOAA’s fisheries service, which has been conducting surveys for 28 years apparently still has not gathered enough data to figure out what is going on so now, not only do they want to sign you up for the registry, they want to charge an additional $15-25.00 over what you are already paying for your state fishing license for the privilege. This sounds like a double dip, first the state, then the fed.

And what are you going to get in return for double licensing? Twice the bureaucracy for sure. The blame for the crashing anadromous species populations? Is it the recreational, catch and release guys that are really taking all the fish out of the pool? Is this the beginning of fishing rod control? I wonder if anyone at NOAA considered illegal commercial fishing off the west coast, the gulf of Alaska, or drought, or a combination of the two before considering “surveys to get a more complete picture of how recreational fishing by an estimated 14 million people is affecting fish stocks”. Let me see, 14 million fishermen catching 0 fish still equals 0 fish.

What NOAA really needs to do is spend a year riding shotgun with the US Coast Guard off the Pacific coast boarding Asian fishing boats and surveying the catch instead of shaking down the fishermen next door.

If you care to take advantage of their comment period, go here. Of course they didn’t make “electronic” commenting easy.

Some beasts never die, they just lie around long enough to smell like it and eventually you end up downwind of one. So it goes with oil and gas interests along Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front. After stemming their last attack a couple years ago the beast is back trying to creep through the cracks by leasing state lands as staging platforms for their operations.

The Rocky Mountain Front has been under constant attack for the gas that lies deep beneath in the fault that runs parallel with it. Protection has come from a variety of backgrounds including traditional conservatives who have recognized the need to protect the areas unique environment. Montanans unanimously supported protection of the area. Now the Montana DNRC is preparing to auction leases on some state land along the Front. One within the Blackleaf Wildlife Management Area.

The DNRC stated that last year it received a whopping $40,100.00 for leases. So, we are talking the price of a single new truck a year, paid for by several different leases, so big oil and gas can explore the option of coming in, screwing up the environment, making a few million bucks and then leave us with the clean up? Because if we don’t “we’re not following the mandate of getting revenue”?.

Maybe the Montana DNRC should just build guest ranches with “escort services” on state property and advertise in all the big oil trade magazines, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times etc. At least they can “pimp” out the environment without ruining it. They obviously don’t value our opinions either so they might as well “pimp” out the residents as well.

A lot of different organizations came together two years ago to protect the Front. Federal legislation was passed to retire current leases and prohibit new ones on federal land. Various conservation organizations banded together with local landowners to support protection and Montanan’s unanimously supported protection of the front. Now we have a department within state government climbing into the sack with energy interests?

Here’s where we start…

A little bit of public ass whipping should get some attention.

And a little note to some local politicians to let them know we are still around. Even if our opinions apparently mean nothing at least we can still voice them if we choose to.
Senator Max Baucus
Senator Jon Tester
Governor Brian Schweitzer

From Moldy Chum, these short takes on industrial fish farming in British Columbia. These films, produced by Calling from the Coast, are a nasty little pill we need to be giving anyone who supports open water fish farms. In B.C., fish farming by Cermaq, a Norwegian company, has infected wild salmon with lice.

Lack of snow melt prompted officials at Yellowtail Dam on the Bighorn River to cut flows today. The reservoir above Yellowtail was not filling fast enough because of cooler spring temps holding the snow in the mountains. Flows were set at 1950 fps, they will be reduced to 1500 fps.

The move may jeopardize this years class of Brown and Rainbow Trout due to the drop in water levels along the river in locations that support spawning and small fry before they are old enough to molt and move out into the main river.