Critterthink

As we note on our home page today, Center for Native Ecosystems is opposing the nomination of Governor Dirk Kempthorne as the next Interior Secretary. His terrible record on endangered species conservation and other conservation issues speaks for itself. The Senate Committee of Energy and Natural Resources approved of his nomination after a hearing and voice vote that took less than 15 minutes, hardly the kind of thoughtful scrutiny one might expect of a cabinet-level department responsible for at least eight agencies (including the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Office of Surface Mining, the Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), managing 262 million acres of land (either one of every five or one of every eight acres in the U.S., depending which part of their web site you refer to), and administers the resources for nearly one-third of the nation’s energy.

The one bit of almost-good news is that two Senators signaled some resistance to supporting Kempthorne, though for different reasons. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) is pushing the White House to support coastal impact assistance to Gulf Coast states for hosting so much of the nation’s oil and gas drilling infrastructure and Senator Bill Nelson (D-LA) is unhappy with Bush Administration’s plan to sell oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite the objections, the full floor vote is expected as soon as this week.

At least a few times each year, we get phone calls here at the office from people looking for a humane way to relocate prairie dogs from a site that is about to be developed, or a site where they are otherwise going to be removed by poisoning or shooting. Our friends at the Prairie Dog Coalition maintain a very useful list of prairie dog relocators, and we usually direct callers there. The list is organized by state (AZ, CO, KS, NM, MT, ND/SD, NE, TX, WY, UT) and only includes relocators known to practice "humane, live, wild-to-wild relocations."

ColoradoLib has been doing some great blogging on the proposal now before the Colorado Wildlife Commission to open new trapping seasons for mink, pine marten, swift fox, and weasels. Our good friends at Sinapu have been taking the lead fighting this biologically-indefensible proposal.  At the same time, however, they are also considering a proposal to restrict prairie dog target shooting, the equally offensive practice of killing live prairie dogs - for target practice - with high-powered rifles.  We've been asking the Commission to take this modest measure to protect prairie dogs and prairie dog ecosystems for years.  This is the closest we've come.

One are of special concern is the black-footed ferret recovery area in northwestern Colorado.  The black-footed ferret, as you may know, is perhaps the most endangered mammal in the wild in the United States.  It is utterly, entirely dependent on large, healthy prairie dog ecosystems for survival.  Kill the prairie dogs and the ferrets go, too.  Yet the Colorado Wildlife Commission has so far refused to restrict shooting, and Bureau of Land Management is - incredibly enough - leasing black-footed ferret habitat for oil and gas drilling.

We are a little slow posting these photos but they are worth the wait . . . kids in Denver and Boulder classrooms learning about black-footed ferrets up close and personal. Kids in a Castle Rock classroom had the same opportunity to meet a burrowing owl (though we don't have any photos of that). Lots of the Castle rock kids had just read or seen Hoot (the Carl Hiaasen book and now movie), so the burrowing owl had special significance. The irony of the Bureau of Land Management leasing critical black-footed ferret habitat on the very same day – May 11 – that the U.S. Senate had designated as Endangered Species Day is almost too tragic to point out.

But the kids had a great time and learned a lot.

Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her staff put together this amusing send up of how Rep. Pombo’s Resources Committee celebrated Earth Day.

Jon Marvel of Western Watersheds Project has an eloquent quote in the Eugene Register Guard about the continuing demise of this species endemic to north-central Washington:

"This is a population that has existed since before the last Ice Age in Eastern Washington. The loss is something we can never calculate," said Jon Marvel, executive director of the Idaho-based Western Watersheds Project, which works to protect pygmy rabbit populations across the West. "Any time we lose a species it diminishes us all."

Biologists are continuing their captive breeding efforts by crossbreeding the two surviving females with another subspecies, the Idaho pygmy rabbit.

Center for Native Ecosystems is part of a coalition working to save the entire pygmy rabbit species, which used to inhabit huge portions of the Sagebrush Sea across Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

The Houston Chronicle and other papers are reporting that the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today approved Kempthorne's nomination as Secretary of Interior. He is encountering some trouble because of the Bush Administration's refusal to share a portion of offshore oil and gas royalties with Gulf Coast states. Although he'll almost certainly be confirmed but it's good to see at least a hint of dissension.

Idaho Governor Dick Kempthorne's League of Conservation Voters lifetime voting score: 1%.

That's right. While in the U.S. Senate, Kempthorne voted in favor of the environment on only 1% of the votes scored by LCV.

If you are interested in knowing more about his conservation voting record, you'll find a nice summary on the Endangered Species Coalition's web site. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committe is scheduled to vote on his nomination this Wednesday (May 10) at 9:30 a.m. mountain time.

The good news, I suppose, is that even Kempthorne opposes President Bush’s proposed Great Public Land Sell-Off, but this is more of an acknowledgement by the Administration that the idea is dead than an indication of anything hopeful about Gale Norton’s replacement. Kempthorne made clear that revamping the Endangered Species Act will be a priority during his tenure, and his record – mixed but largely consistent with the Bush Administration’s fierce assault on conservation and America’s natural heritage – leaves little doubt that we will have our work cut out for us for some time to come.

And just in case you weren’t sure, Kent Holsinger, the former-Allard-staffer-turned-anti-conservation-industry-champion, was so excited about the prospects of a Kempthorne Interior Department that he penned a puff piece in the Rocky Mountain News even Kempthorne’s PR staff couldn’t have topped (if they didn’t write it themselves). When the industry folks start cheerleading you know the nominee is no friend of conservation.

Environmental Action blogged today about our favorite logging-lobbyist-turned-political-appointee Mark Rey. It seems Mr. Rey has been busy trying to persuade sixth graders that the Great Public Lands Garage Sale somehow constitutes sound stewardship. Based on the New York Times story I'm not sure they bought it.