Sequester Threatens American Families; Congress Ignores Them

Wedding in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. From the Casper Star-Tribune, courtesy Katy Gray

By Stephen Dworkin, Sierra Club Media Intern

Sara Cook and Adam Bartch were planning on getting married at iconic Schwabacher's Landing in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park this year. That is, until Congress intervened. The couple, along with 34 others, will have to relocate their wedding because Congress failed to prevent massive budget cuts known as "sequestration," which went into effect on March 1. Grand Teton's budget, along with those of 400 other sites managed by the National Park Service, was slashed. Draining funding from national parks is just one of the many harmful consequences of the sequester, which has undermined important resources of many agencies that manage our natural wonders and wildlife.

The consequences of pulling the rug out from under national parks are real and immediate. The national park system is essential for the conservation of unique natural features and habitat for endangered and endemic species, but it is also an integral part of our nation's history. National parks are enormous tourist attractions that bring in almost 300 million visitors each year, according to the 2012 census. And according to a study by the University of Michigan, in 2010 our national parks contributed $31 billion to local economies and supported 258,000 jobs.

Sequestration doesn't stop at the National Park Service. Cuts to Environmental Protection Agency funding will mean fewer watchdogs to safeguard Americans from toxic air and water pollution, and fewer resources for scientific research will hinder the development of new wind, solar, and biofuel technologies. On top of all that, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will also face cutbacks, crippling our ability to respond to the hurricanes, floods, droughts, and wildfires that are increasing in frequency and intensity due to the global climate crisis.

The U.S. Forest Service, which controls two-thirds of the firefighting resources in America and is the last line of defense against wildfires, is also facing cuts. So are the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which oversee offshore energy development and are responsible for making sure disasters like the BP oil spill of 2010 don't happen again. These cutbacks represent a threat to the health of Americans and our environment. And because of the number of public sector jobs at risk, the sequester is putting people out of work and slowing America's economic recovery.

Despite the immediate impact the sequester has had on these vital agencies, the obstinacy of congressional Republicans has all but paralyzed any efforts to replace it. As a result of their actions, the tiny but important fraction of the federal budget that aids in protecting Americans from toxic pollution and developing solutions to climate disruption is in danger, while the most profitable oil companies in the world continue to benefit from tens of billions of dollars in tax breaks.

Congress needs to learn a lesson about constructive relationships from Sara and Adam, who are going ahead with their wedding plans in another part of Grand Teton National Park. Republicans certainly aren't going to marry Democrats anytime soon, but they are still locked in a bond of responsibility for the well-being of the country with their duly elected colleagues. They are playing a game of chicken not just with our democracy, but with our water, air, climate, and the health of our families. Those in Congress who are complicit with reckless, indiscriminate cuts to essential government functions are ignoring all the benefits these agencies provide the American people. The sequestration status quo must be upended, because it isn't just dirtying our politics: it's dirtying our economy and our environment.

Killing of Bison in Wildlife Area Prompts Sierra Club Response

The Montana Department of Livestock's recent killing of a bull bison, pictured above, in a designated wildlife area has raised questions about how migrating bison are managed by state agencies. In response to the killing, Montana-based Sierra Club organizer Zack Waterman co-authored this editorial, reprinted here courtesy of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle:

Bison management out of touch with reality
     
On the morning of Friday, April 12th, 2013, a bull bison was spotted several miles north of Yellowstone National Park on the remote Dome Mountain Wildlife Management Area. Unfortunately, the MT Department of Livestock (DOL), with assistance from MT Fish, Wildlife, & Parks responded to this situation by aggressively pursuing this lone bull and killing him.

After laying waste to the bull under the auspices of disease control, the MT DOL left the carcass to rot. This situation is particularly troubling given the DOL knows bull bison pose no risk of transmission of brucellosis to domestic cattle, not to mention the fact the Dome Mountain "Wildlife Management Area" was purchased specifically to provide habitat for migrating wildlife in an area that is completely free of cattle. Furthermore, there were no conflicts with private property as the adjacent Dome Mountain Ranch has already made it clear that bison are welcome to use their land just like elk, mule deer, grizzly bears, and other wildlife that live in Greater Yellowstone.

In an effort to justify this extreme response, Department of Livestock Chief Executive Officer, Christian MacKay explained the bull had to be lethally removed because he was outside of the bison "tolerance zone".

When government agencies slaughter a bison in a remote area that was posing no threat whatsoever to livestock, private property, or public safety, it's time to revisit how we manage migrating bison in Montana.

Let's begin by abandoning the assumption that all bison that leave the state's negligibly small "bison tolerance zone" are de facto problems that must be immediately removed.  We agree that we do not want cattle to contract brucellosis. But can we also agree to manage bison as valued native Montana wildlife, at least on some public lands owned by all Americans?

The good news is there are many public lands like the Dome Mountain Wildlife Management Area that are located outside of the state's arbitrary "bison tolerance zone" that provide critical winter habitat for elk -- and they can do the same for bison without harming private property. Each year approximately $3 million of tax-payer dollars are spent to remove migrating bison from public lands in Montana. In an era when Americans are tightening their belts and national debt continues to grow, it's nonsensical to waste limited taxpayer resources.
 
Elk from Yellowstone National Park have migrated and wintered in this same area for years. Grizzly bears and wolves also use the same area. Now a lone bull bison found this conflict-free habitat near Dome Mountain and the DOL needlessly intervened and killed it. What gives? It's time for a new approach that takes meaningful steps towards managing bison as valued native wildlife while respecting both public and private property rights. Let these animals show us the way to a habitat solution rather than continue to harass and slaughter them for crossing an imaginary government line.

Unfortunately, we lost a valuable opportunity to learn from the April 13th Dome Mountain bull bison. Such an opportunity will arise again. If we seize that chance to learn, and begin to explore what it means to consider bison-on-public-lands as an asset rather than a catastrophe for the state of Montana, ranchers, hunters, tourists and all Montana citizens will reap the benefits  Overwhelming public support exists for managing bison as wildlife on appropriate landscapes in Montana. If we adopt a learn-as-you-go approach and tailor bison management as needed, including public hunting, it will become clear the sky is not falling.

Zack Waterman represents the Sierra Club; Glenn Hockett is volunteer president of the Gallatin Wildlife Association; Sabina Strauss is owner of the Yellowstone Basin Inn in Gardiner, MT; and Becky Weed is owner of the Thirteen Mile Lamb & Wool Company. The authors are members of the bison citizens working group, which formed to develop consensus recommendations to improve the management of Greater Yellowstone bison.

From Guatemala to Green Issues: One Activist's Unusual Journey

By Phill Courtney, Redlands Daily Facts, reprinted with permission.

I felt an immediate connection to Allen Hernandez the other day when I suddenly realized that his love for the natural world, like mine, dates back to the times when we were both young boys growing up in Fontana [California] during those carefree days when we'd go with our families to the undeveloped lands north of the city, seeking a break from civilization. In particular, we both recall the bucolic beauty of Lytle Creek, one of those proverbial babbling brooks, which bounces over boulders beneath a canopy of leafy trees in a canyon north of the town.

Of course, since Allen was born in 1980, his era of youthful appreciation came a few years later than mine, but the love was the same, and so was the lasting result: a desire to see that some of the natural world is kept as it is—a world that cannot be improved but only diminished by mankind's desire to see it "developed." From there our journeys diverged, but the love remained, and now Allen has found a way to express that love through community action.

I'd first heard about him last December after he'd met Roger Bell, a fellow member of the Redlands Sustainability Network, who was impressed by Allen's enthusiasm and willingness to help out with our organization's sustainability festival coming up Saturday at the University of Redlands. Allen was working with the Sierra Club, and had some of the club's T-shirts available to which we might add our logo for distributing at the festival. Since I knew Duan Kellum, one of Redlands' master T-shirt makers, and his company, Skool Boiz, it was only natural that I'd get them together.

Working with Allen only increased my interest in knowing more about him, and how he came to be involved with the Sierra Club. If you know even a bit about the Sierra Club, you probably know that their ranks aren't exactly swelling with a vast number of young Latinos, or people under 50 of any ethnicity for that matter, so it was even more intriguing that someone like Allen was involved.

Then, when Allen invited me to a meeting for My Generation, the new Sierra Club campaign he was heading up for the Inland Empire, and I saw a room filled with Latino people at the San Bernardino County Museum getting information on how to make their homes more energy efficient, I knew I had to sit down and talk with him.