"Look at the grouse."
Posted on 01/30/2014 9:56:26 PM PST by george76
It’s no coincidence that sage grouse habitat also happens to intersect both the largest untapped coal deposits in the country as well as large parts of the Bakken oil field. It’s clear the primary motivation to focus on sage grouse for ESA listing is to provide yet another tool for special interest groups to block energy development. And in this obstructionist toolbox, there’s no heavier sledgehammer than the Endangered Species Act.
What an interesting irony, then, that so much effort is going into “protecting” one bird from energy development, when the Obama administration is turning a blind eye to hundreds of thousands of other birds being killed by wind energy turbines each year- including protected birds like bald eagles.
Recent research puts the annual butcher’s bill by wind farms at 573,000 birds. Included in that number are 83,000 hunting birds, like eagles and hawks.
Most bird deaths are violations of the ESA, the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, or other protective acts. Indeed, there are examples of the Obama administration prosecuting power companies for birds killed by power lines and oil companies for birds that drown in waste pits. But to date, not a single wind energy company has been prosecuted for bird deaths.
...
the Obama administration has been granting renewable energy companies “take” permits that allows them to kill bald eagles with impunity for up to five years. On December 6, the Interior Department announced they were extending the length of those permits for up to 30 years.
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Let’s be honest about what’s driving this process—a political agenda that cares much more about putting shackles on energy development than it does about protecting birds.
(Excerpt) Read more at vp-mi.com ...
Don’t get me wrong... I love birds. I like watching them, I even put out bird seed for them. However I also love eating them, at least those that have enough meat on their scrawny little bones to make their cooking worthwhile.
"Look at the grouse."
There is an occasional bird in a waste pit, though most pits I see have screens over them.
But oil fields are in effect large wildlife sanctuaries. There is work going on, but only in specific locations. The rest of the area is unmolested, and all kinds of wildlife make their homes there.
Of course, much of the ESA is in my opinion fraudulent. I had some dealings with a supposedly endangered rat that some years is so abundant you can’t drive down the road without them popping under your tires. I’ve seen supposedly endangered kit foxes living in town. ESA is just as the writer says, a legal tool for obstructing energy development.
In the end, the enviros are doing OPEC’s bidding. They’ll go around the world going into court in multiple countries trying to shut down energy projects in any and every country on earth except the ones in OPEC countries. Somehow, OPEC projects do not harm to Mother Nature, only the ones in non-OPEC countries. To shut them down they’ll organize tribal uprisings, go after European banks to shut off funding, whatever it takes where ever it takes. But never against OPEC.
Chicken farmers could breed millions of sage grouse if the bird was really endangered.
The issue is not the sage grouse , rather they hate self sufficient / middle class farmers, ranchers, commercial fishermen, loggers ... and energy producers.
Muslims are worried about the growing US domestic energy production.
Sage grouse, the other white meat.
Frack it with BBQ sauce. Tasty, filling, it’s Miller time.
While it’s not that easy but it can be done. Years ago I decided I wanted to stock some Chukars on the ranch and bought 100 breeding pairs and released them in groups of 10. Within just a few weeks they were all dead due to predators, since they were pen raised they didn’t know what a fox, bobcat, coyote or a hawk was. I built some large flight pens by the ranch house and brought in another 100 pair. I keep the varmint population pretty slim around the ranch house except for some barn cat’s. After they nested and the young were able to fly I started letting out a few at a time. Yes the cat’s got a few as well as the hawk’s but the others were able to see what happen since they stayed close to the pens. Within a month they started moving away from the ranch house and I kept releasing until they were all out. That was about 12 years ago and we now have a thriving population of chukars that have expande several miles away from the house and growing. The big ranch is 32 square miles and we do not allow any hunting other than family so they were off limits and safe. I’m seeing covey’s of 25 and 30 birds 3 and 4 miles away from the house now. So it can be done but it takes a little more than just releasing pen raised birds.
"Never ask a man if he’s from Texas. If he is, he’ll tell you. If he isn’t, don’t embarrass him.”
Reminds me of the “Karner Blue Butterfly” which are supposed to be and endangered species here in Wisconsin. That controversy stopped numerous projects from moving forward as the environmentalist had a field day promoting their cause and still do today.
outdoors ping
The dirty little secret on Sage Grouse.....
they taste like chicken!
This is a problem that will respond to management. Therefore the government's prescription will be "no management."
It needs to be renamed the Saudi Arabian grouse or perhaps the Wahabbist Funding grouse.
This is the entire problem with the ESA. A species is so arbitrarily defined. Worse, there’s no evidence that species extinction harms the environment.
Government causes net harm to the environment and so more of it just means more harm. We need to transfer federal lands to state management...and then into private hands.
There is a more direct route: Privatization by management contract.
The winds of change are blowing.
good one!
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