Liberty
Matters News Service
March 28, 2006
UN Labels Human Race Major Disaster
A report issued by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity blames the human race for causing the worst rash of extinctions since the days of the dinosaurs. "In effect," the report reads, "we are responsible for the sixth major extinction event in the history of earth, and the greatest since the dinosaurs disappeared, 65 million years ago." The report says extra-ordinary efforts will have to be made to reverse the trend if the UN goals of slowing losses are to be reached by the target date of 2010. "The direct causes of biodiversity loss - habitat change, over-exploitation, the introduction of invasive alien species, nutrient loading and climate change - show no sign of abating," the report said. The report was thin on details of how the situation could be remedied, citing vague and broad recommendations to safeguard habitats of jungles and deserts and better management of resources. But adequate funding could prove troublesome to reach the goal. Since 1998 money for biodiversity research has fallen from a $1 billion to a mere $750 million in recent years. Fortunately, the UN report did not openly call for mass slaughter of humans to prevent a further spread of our malignant presence in a manner similar to the efforts to stop the avian flu.
Humans Spur Worst Extinction Since
Dinosaurs
Opposition Mounting Against NAIS
As more information about the looming National Animal Identification System gets to those who will be impaled by it, opposition is growing by leaps and bounds. The Tennessee Legislature proposed a resolution opposing the program because "small-scale farmers involved in animal husbandry and animal hobbyists were not represented..." In Missouri, the Texas County Farm Bureau has rejected NAIS as "too intrusive, too costly, and will be devastating to small farmers and ranchers." Bob Parker, dairy farmer and rancher who proposed the resolution said, "Sacrificing our freedoms for security is not a good trade off." Texas livestock producers forced the Texas Animal Health Commission to postpone their program scheduled to mandate premise registration of all producers, large and small, by July 1, 2006. State legislators and a candidate for governor are cautioning TAHC. "Maybe the Texas Animal Health Commission needs to scrap this plan and start over," said Rep Lois W. Kolkhorst (R-Brenham). Carole Keeton Strayhorn, Independent gubernatorial candidate said: "[T]he Texas Animal Identification System should be rescinded and repealed." Now, U.S. lawmakers have said they will include the nation-wide livestock identification program in the 2007 Farm Bill, but Ag Secretary Mike Johanns said: "We would not wait for the Farm Bill. We don't want to be slowed down."
Tennessee House Bill 3297
Texas County Missouri Farm Bureau Rejects Animal
ID Plan
Strayhorn Press Release
Congress to Include Livestock ID System
in 07 Farm Bill
Kolkhorst Wants
Delay in Animal ID Program
Another Family Falls Victim to the ESA
The Allestad family of Montana has been forced to give up its 74,000 acre grazing allotment in the Absaroka-Beartooth wilderness area to avoid "conflicts" with the government's wolves and grizzlies. The National Wildlife Federation has agreed to pay the Allestads $130,000 to retire the allotment and move elsewhere. Chris Servheen, grizzly recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, praised the Allestads for their sacrifice. "That's the kind of applied positive conservation that really makes a difference for grizzly bears," he said. "It's a feather in their cap and I take my hat off to them." Hank Fischer of the National Wildlife Federation denies they want to evict ranchers. "We aren't getting rid of grazing; we're redistributing where it occurs...away from core wildlife areas…and closer to low-conflict areas." However, the Allestad family wrote in comments in the Billings Gazette: "We agreed to the buy out because we could not afford to take the losses of so many ewes and lambs to Grizzlies and Wolves. I really doubt that the conservation organization's members really care about our community or us. They only care that they have a feel good emotion that they are saving the grizzlies for the future and not even realize that grizzlies recovered with us trying to make a living on the same land."
Agreement Ends Sheep Grazing in Area
Rife with Wolves, Bears
Conservation Groups Buy Private Forest Lands
Timber companies are increasingly looking at selling off their forestlands as state and federal regulations make it less profitable to do business. A U.S. Forest Service study predicts that over the next 25 years, 44 million acres of timberland will be sold. Half of all U.S. timberland has changed hands in the past 10 years, according to a report by the consulting firm U. S. Forest Capital. The prospect of securing those forests has conservation groups competing to purchase the properties before they are snapped up by developers. In 2004, the Conservation Fund bought 24,000 acres from Hawthorne Timber Co. along the Garcia River in Mendocino County, CA, and is now raising $48 million to buy the 16,000-acre Big River and Salmon Creek tracts from the same company. The group will log their newly acquired forests to pay property taxes and help restore key ecological areas. "We need to move away from this black-or-white idea that either it's preserved or destroyed," said Chris Kelly, California operation's head. "If you're trying to protect 300,000 acres, it's impractical to preserve the entire area as pristine wilderness," Kelly continued.