00:00:02 Speaker 1: From Mediators World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This is Cal's we Can review, presented by Steel Steel products are available only at authorized dealers. For more, go to Steel Dealers dot com. Now here's your host, Ryan cal Callahan. Paleobiologists at the University of Bristol and the United Kingdom recently published a study showing that the wingbones of baby terrasaurs were strong enough to fly. Before we go on, you might be more familiar with hearing pterodactyl but the term terrasaur is used to refer to all ancient flying creatures from the ancient Greek words terros for feather or wing and sour us for lizard, whereas pterodactylus refers to one particular species of pterosaur. Just a bit of insider Norman nature next time you're trying to fit in with the paleontologist cool kids, or feel like once again arguing with your friends eight year old kid who is highly annoying and insists that the suite of Jurassic Park movies have some legitimacy. I am sorry, dinosaurs are cool enough. We don't need to think that. And dominous rex or hip hop anonymous rex is real okay anyway, As you can imagine, well preserved fossilized skeletons of hatchling pterosaurs are pretty tough to come by. Scientists didn't have a lot of information about the first few days, weeks, and months of life for these baby dinoas it was even difficult to distinguish young specimens of one species from the adults of a smaller species until recently, in the last few years, several pterosaur fossils discovered in two thousand four were confirmed as hatchlings and embryos. The University of Bristol team was then able to take precise measurements of their wingbones, and they discovered that one key bone, the humorous, was not only robust enough to flat, but also stronger than the humorous of their fully grown kin. These babies could fly. The wings of the hatchlings were shaped differently from the adult pterosaurs, shorter and wider, but better for quick turns to evade predators versus the longer, thinner wings that allowed the adults to cover longer distances. Now, there are a million cool things about this study, but the first thing I think about is how those adult wings might be cupped as they glide down to my spread of terrasaur decoys while I sit in my carefully crafted blind of sphenophyte plant with the shotgun I managed to fit into the time machine. I'm guessing a ten gage would be more appropriate. Roads we don't need road and I bet that roasted terasaur with a little cayenne rub absolutely delicious, perhaps like a bullfrog of the sky. Upland bird season starts in about three weeks from this podcast. There's gonna be a lot of references like this. This week. We've got action legislation Alaska, and so much more. But first I'm gonna tell you about my week. And my week was pretty darned amazing. It has been a long while since I've been up to the infamous fish shock of Southeast Alaska. It did not disappoint. We had rain, we had sun, we had calm seas, engine breakdowns, repairs, electrical and plumbing failures, good fishing, painfully slow fishing, great fishing that seemed to be a reward for sticking it out through the slow times. And one morning, when the silver salmon were just on fire, I dove for my first scallops. I only harvested one I found too, But not only could I not relocate the scallop, I couldn't relocate the rock, which was the size of a large suv. If you ever get the chance and you can tough out the cold waters of Alaska, the diving is truly incredible. The life is everywhere, It is gorgeous. The sea floor has hands, feeding tubes, siphons and appendages of thousands, tens of thousands of animals waving in the current for food. And it is beautiful, striking impactful. So he decided to go with him to the fish under the seat. No, no, it was the enchantment under the sea dance, and that's not even taking into account the stuff that can really crawl, pinch and swim. Most impressive from my trip in Southeast was I gotta take my mother up there. She loves to fish in camp and she got to do both for far longer than a lot of people could actually stand. She works her butt off. She was tireless. She can help with three kids, package fish, fixed plumbing, and a gas leak, all while scrubbing a cooler full of congealed fish blood and slime, and ask to do it all over again the next day, or look just genuinely disappointed that we can't stop one more time at another ledge to see if that ling cod is home and it was very special. I love you, mam. If you guys ever have kids and one of them, when he's eight years old, accidentally sets fire into the living room, run go easy on me. Next up calls to action. This stuff affects all of us, so listen up. The Ozark National Scenic Riverways travel Management Plan is up for public comment. Our national parks are seeing a ton of traffic. Now is your time to write in and comment. Remember, if you don't weigh in, you don't wrastle. So if you don't comment, don't complain. This particular management plan deals with the possibility of road and river access closures, so it will be impactful to you if you recreate in that area and a lot of other folks. Read up and write in at Park Planning dot NPS, dot g o V. Next. Utah Lake, the third largest water body in the West, suffers from being literally treated like a toilet, phosphorus build up, algae blooms, and an infestation of a laundry list of invasive species. Nevertheless, the twenty three mile long, one fifty square mile Utah Lake is primarily state owned and a hunting, fishing, bird watching destination for the densest human population in Utah. And that's not a joke on Utah County or Salt Lake County. I'm saying, there's just you know, a lot of people there. You know what I mean? Right, Hello, Hello if all i. Utah County in which Utah Lake sits, hosts a population of over six hundred and sixty five thousand people in Salt Lake County one point one six Those are two thousand, nineteen numbers, by the way, and you know that's a lot of poop. Utah County drains into Salt Lake County, and you know what flows downhill anyway. The State of Utah is currently entertaining an offer to restore the lake through private development, with lake reclamation estimates of over six billion dollars. Private for profit firms have come up with a solution develop thirty miles of lake bed and use some of the proceeds gained by populating that man made island constructed from the sediments of the lake, which you know, there's a lot of poop with some two hundred and fifty five hundred thousand future Utah's which kind of brings to mind a greatly underrated movie The Great Outdoors with John Candy and Dan Ackroid. Chat and Uncle Roman played by Candy and Ackroid respectively. Cover in this fictitious story and all too real argument is a landscape that simply exists for recreation and wildlife really doing anything, wouldn't it be serving a greater good if it had some purpose. I'll tell you what I see when I look out there, if you want to know, Yeah, I'm curious. I see the underdeveloped resources of northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. I see a syndicated development consorting and exploiting over a billion and a half dollars in forest products. I see a paper mill and if the strategic medals are there, a mining operation, a green belt between the condos on the lake, and a waste management facility focusing on the newest rage and toxic waste, medical refuse, infected baddages, body parts, i V tube and contaminated glassware and trail syringes, fluid blood, low grade radioactive waste, all safely contained, sunken in the lake and sealed for centuries. Now, I ask you, what do you see? I just see uh trees. Now, the Utah Lake situation is not an apples to apples comparison. The lake is literally where human runoff goes and has gone for over a hundred years. The place is not what you would call entirely natural due to the changes brought about by man and invasive species alike, but it is still home to Utah Lake State Park, Powell Slew Waterfowl Management Area, and Rock Island Nature Preserve, playgrounds, campgrounds, marinas, hiking trails, and biking trails, suggesting that despite the water quality, there is still some nature there. Auto Bounce Society listed the following species just in the Provo Bay site of Utah Lake, which they note is important for endangered threatened species of special concern in Utah. Caspian turns, long billed curlews, Mallard's northern pintail, green wing teal, northern shoveler, cinnamon teal, Canada geese, American white pelicans, white faced ibis, snowy egrets, California gulls, American avisets, black necked stilts, and Wilson's follow ropes, as well as thousands of swallows of all species. Tom Aldrich, who I believe is the former Waterfowl Program coordinator of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, said this about Utah Lake. It is one of the most important wetlands systems in Utah for waterfowl and shore bird populations in terms of actual bird use. However, not all of the lake is equally important. Approximately nine of the lake use occurs in both the Provo and Goshen Bays depending on lake levels. Shore birds and migratory birds seek flat, shallow ponds on which to feed, rest, and breed. Therefore, when lake levels are high, the birds tend towards Goshen Bay. However, when levels are low, Provo Bay provides the most valuable habitat for shore birds and migratory birds. The health of both bays is necessary in order to respond to fluctuating lake levels and provide the necessary habitat. The two greatest threats to these areas are lost upland and shoreland habitat from encroaching development and water quality in the lake. If shore birds and migratory birds are to succeed in their current population numbers, the bays of Utah Lake are critical to their survival. WHOA, this is heavy. There's that word again. Heavy. Why are thinks so heavy? In the future is a problem with gravitational pull? And of course the other factor here is this is state land, which is why this matter is sitting before the Utah State House of Representatives. State land is sovereign in Utah. According to the state Constitution. It cannot be disposed of enter in House Bill to seventy two, which if past, would allow for the extreme change of state owned land. In this case, the aforementioned thirty ish miles of lake bed to Lake Restoration Solutions. That's the private company who would compensate the state by the quote comprehensive restoration of the lake. Recreators are concerned that more houses would ultimately mean less recreation. On top of that, there has been no public comment period, which, when dealing with altering a living document such as a state constitution, does not exactly seem on the up and up, especially when the altering of the State Constitution, a document constructed to provide state residents with protections, is being altered to dispose of sovereign lands that are supposed to remain state property in perpetuity for the good of all Utahn's According to the Salt Lake Tribune, state officials have to conclude the project will improve water quality and clarity, conserve water, enhance the lake's water storage ability, remove invasive plants and fit such as frag Mighty's and carp restore plant communities and native fish including the Bonneville cutthroat trout and June sucker, enhanced bird habitat, improve navigability recreational access, as well as ensure the state land continues to generate revenues for the state. Which if someone came to you and said, I want to put as many as five hundred thousand taxpayers on an island, I will build out of the poop filled sediment of a lake that currently has zero taxpayers living on it. You can see how that would make sense. Is Utah Lake an example of private industry coming up with a fair and equitable solution to a public problem. We make money, you get a restored public lake minus thirty or so miles of lake bed. Or Is this a way for the State of Utah to kick a can full of problems and obligations to restore a lake they used as a dumping ground for well over a hundred years, which is nevertheless much loved and recreated upon and in down the road and make a bunch of money. That's a question for you and your state representatives. If you were asking me from a hunting and angling perspective, I would rather have fewer people and keep my poop pond make it hard to get to while you're at it. If that is what you think, you'll need to come up with a big chunk of change. I'll be keeping everybody posted on this one onto the legislation desk. The United States Senate officially filed last month the Recovering America's Wildlife Act or RAWA, sponsored by Missouri Republican Senator Roy Blunt and New Mexico Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich. The Wildlife Act would give state agencies a guaranteed one point three billion per year. According to the bill, wildlife agencies will use this money to protect their states most endangered and threatened species. That's a nice chunk of change. And you might assume that the political animals in d C Are fighting tooth and nail over this proposal, but not so fast. The Wildlife Act is set up to appeal to both Republicans and Democrats, and the House version of the bill has received support from both red and blue representatives. Before we get to that, you might be asking why the states need more money. Don't they already receive funds from hunting license sales and excise taxes. That's true, but the bills supporters say those funds aren't enough. States need additional and more consistent funding to protect the over twelve thousand species identified as being in need of conservation attention. New Hampshire Fish and Game reports that one third of wildlife species in the United States are at risk of becoming threatened or endangered. Without additional funds, it guaranteed one point three billion per year would go a long way towards rebuilding habitat, educating state residents, and building the infrastructure needed to protect these plants and animals. Whether states received this funding depends on if Congress can play nice and pass the bill. It's big what if congress critters aren't known for bipartisan cooperation. But here's why the Wildlife Act should appeal to both sides of the aisle as well as you at home. Giving states the money they need to recover these species now keeps them off the Endangered Species list later. That saves money in the long run, and it appeals to stakeholders that don't want the Feds sticking their nose into state business. If a species is so threatened that it becomes endangered, it can jeopardize development and agricultural projects, just the regular day to day for you trying to make a living out there. The Wildlife Act reduces this risk while still helping protect the plants and animals loved by oaks from all political parties. All right, Here are a few examples. In Kansas, there's a big fight being waged over listing the lesser prairie chicken as threatened, which is a designation under the es A. Listing the bird would limit what Kansas landowners can do on their land, and it could delay extraction and clean energy projects alike. Wildlife Act funding could give the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks the money they need to help save the lesser prairie chicken and avoid the endangered species listing. There are no guarantees the Wildlife Act will solve this specific problem, and I'm not saying the lesser prairie chicken shouldn't be listed, but the efforts of the Kansas Wildlife Department have shown promise in the States, ranchers would no doubt appreciate an alternative to federal involvement. If you were like me, and you have an awesome little dog that loves to hunt, and you love to take that dog out and tote your shotgun, you do not want this bird listed. It's the same story in Florida. Florida's Wildlife Action Plan lists forty four animal species that are currently threatened but have not yet received federal protection. The gopher frog, the Florida mounse, the gopher tortoise, and forty one other kinds of animals all face threats from development, agriculture, invasive species, climate change, and a host of other things that are bad for animals and their habitats, which in turn are bad for US. Florida already has an action plan and a funding stream to help conserve these animals, so Wildlife Act money from Washington can immediately be put to good use. Reps from the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources told me they've identified six hundred animal species as being in need of additional conservation efforts, but the money they currently get from Washington only covers five percent of what they need to implement their state Wildlife Action Plan. In the state currently hosts thirty five percent of the world's population of truly and warbler, a little bird that's seen its global population declined by seventy since ninety The West Virginia d n R already works with private landowners to help conserve more than eight thousand acres of habitat, but they only have the funding right now to support three biologists. With money from the Wildlife Act, West Virginia could fully fund this program and continue their productive partnerships with private landowners. Here's one more for you. North Carolina wildlife experts are hailing the Wildlife Act as a way to protect the five hundred threatened species the state has identified. One of those, the Appalachian cotton Tale, is thought to be declining, but biologists are uncertain exactly how the population is doing. The cotton Tale isn't listed as endangered, but biologists are recommending additional study. If you're a rabbit hunter, this means something to you. Additionally, they're looking to protect the heath, balds and red spruce, which the cotton tales uses habitat that twenty five million that North Carolina would receive as part of the Wildlife Act would help protect this and other species in the state. I could go on, but you should get the idea. By now, all fifty states have identified species that need additional funds, including every state with Republican senators. This bill could save taxpayers money by recovering animals before they become federally protected, and it would definitely keep much of the decision making power in the hands of state wildlife biologists. That's something politicians from every party should be able to get behind. There is one complication that hunters are going to have to think about. The Wildlife Act would change how conservation is funded in this country. Right now, hunters, anglers, and sports shooters can take credit for funding the lion's share of conservation efforts through those licenses and exercise taxes. If the Wildlife Act passes, another big chunk of money will come from other taxpayers. That could limit the political clout of hunters moving forward, and it's something you'll have to think about before contacting your legislator if you're wanted to go down meaningless rabbit holes. In my opinion, here's my take. If we're going to call ourselves hunter conservationists. We should support the Recovering America's Wildlife Act. The states need the money, and the current funding sources aren't getting it done. If we want to maintain the good will of the non hunting public, which supports hunting by wide margins, we need to stick up for non game animals too. The Wildlife Act is a big part of that, but it won't get past without your help. If you're afraid of losing any sort of power to the folks that aren't buying guns and buying fishing tackle, well here's the deal. Competition is great, and I am so confident in the hunting and angling public, in our history of conserving wildlife, that we will mop the fricking floor with those folks. I'm looking at you, read state listeners. Republicans in Congress don't get to hear from their constituents very often on conservation issues. When they do, they pay attention. So if you want to support the Wildlife Act and try to get a few more Republicans to join Senator Blunt, pick up the phone or open your computer. You can find your senator's contact info by googling your state's name and US Senator. It's very very simple. While you're at it, go ahead and contact your House reps as well. The Recovery America's Wildlife Act already has sponsors in the House, but if your rep isn't a sponsor, send them or give them a call today. If we want to conserve our nation's wildlife, we can't sit on the sidelines. The Wildlife Act will ensure stable, consistent funding to save thousands of threatened species, which, by the way, live in the exact same spots that the species that we hunt, who by no coincidence, are not threatened, live. But if we want this to happen, and we should, we need to make sure our representatives in Washington know how we feel. Which is why I am beating a dead horse on this one, or as the folks at p to say, feeding a fed horse, whatever you prefer. This is your call to action. We haven't had a strong one in a long time. This is a big one, recovering America's Wildlife Act. Pick up the phone or open your computer. Moving on. Fun fact for you. If the external ear or tim pantum which means membrous resonator is located exactly where you think an ear should be kind of above the corner of the jaw. If that tim panum is larger than a bull frog's eye, that bullfrog is a male. If the timpanum is the same size as the i, it is likely a female. A male bullfrog also has a yellow underjaw, whereas a female bull frog will have a white or off white under jaw. So if you have a frog in your hand and then timpanum looks about the same size as an eye, but you're not sure, and the under jaws white, it is more than likely a female bull frog. Also, a male bullfrog is called a male bullfrog. How'd you go on there? I like that, dad joke. I can't guess you guys aren't ready for that yet, but your kids are gonna love. Idaho Fishing Game would like to remind anglers and eaters that the American bullfrog is not a native species. They belong the eastern United States and not eastern Idaho. Bullfrogs are voracious. They eat pretty much anything they can fit in their mouths, and not that much in the West will eat them their eggs or their tadpoles, which is just an unfair advantage that we can't stand for. Their major weakness is they taste great, very similar to a dark meat chicken in my opinion, Super fun, super accessible, easy for the whole family. You can spear them, snag them, gig them, hand grab them, or, as wildlife biologist Brandon Flak does, you can use an offset circle hook or an inline circle on a soft plastic bait unwaited. Skip that thing over the moss and pond scum while site fishing for the frogs. The bullfrogs will chase or ambush your passing bait. Idaho Fishing Game encourages everyone with a valid fishing license to take as many as you can catch. So jump to it, make like a tree. It out of here. News Wise, That's all I've got for you this week, So go to www dot steel Dealers dot com to track down a friendly, knowledgeable steel dealer near you. They can set you up with everything you need, including answering any questions you have, such as how do I sharpen the chain on my brand new chainsaw or what pole saw do you need for your clearing shooting lands out of your tree stand Steel makers of the world's finest chainsaws, and a bunch of other great stuff I use every hunting season and even when it's not hunting season. Oh my god, he's a tree. And last, but not least, remember to let me know what's going on in your neck of the woods by writing in to a s k c a L. That's asked Cal at the Meat Eater dot com. I love hearing from you, and I'll talk to you next week.