Cattle industry domination over elk and bison

Op-Ed. By Stephany J. Seay. Buffalo Field Campaign. West Yellowstone, Montana

GNF Supervisor Mary Erickson’s morbid sense of humor claims renewal of the Department of Livestock’s permit for the Horse Butte bison trap is a “tool of tolerance.”  It certainly fits with Governor Schweitzer’s interpretation of “more tolerance” for wild bison; all we’ve seen from his Administration is a canned hunt and the largest-scale slaughter since the 1800s.

The private/public Horse Butte peninsula is 100% cattle-free; residents welcome buffalo and oppose the trap and DOL’s presence.  At the dawn of the Adaptive Management Plan (AMP) crafted by IBMP partners, the trap is a serious contradiction.  But, the brucellosis argument is full of contradictions.

Kempthorne for president?

The former Idaho governor’s name turns up in a blog, and his wife and spokesman don’t deny it.

Is Kempthorne planning a run for president?
BY ROCKY BARKER and BRIAN MURPHY
Idaho Statesman

Now that Dirk Kempthorne is now the Former Secretary of Interior there is speculation that he may run for president in 2012.

It has been reported that Kempthorne gave a farewell speech to Interior employees where he presented a slide show with 600 photo’s of himself.

Can you imagine a ticket: Kempthorne/Palin?

Jackson Hole Daily | Elk tests, kills to start

Wyoming Game and Fish continues fourth year of elk test and slaughter program.

Jackson Hole Daily | Elk tests, kills to start

The article points out that $815,000 has been spent and that seroprevalence has declined. This reduction may or may not be associated with past test and slaughter efforts and will likely be for naught if Wyoming persists with its feeding of elk during the winter which concentrates them and makes transmission more likely.

As pointed out by Franz Camenzind, executive director of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, this does not address the likely impending chronic wasting disease outbreak.

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Robert Hoskins wrote to me saying WY Game and Fish does not use an experimental design for this program. Therefore, you can’t conclude it is working.

This is a general problem in politically based studies of policy. Experimental or semi (quasi) experimental designs are rarely used. An experimental design includes one or more groups that get “the treatment” and a similar group or groups which is the “control” group, meaning no treatment. If both groups increase or decrease by about the same amount, the treatment has had no effect. Some other (some outside) factor was responsible. Regarding this program, we have no idea. Ralph Maughan