Assemblymember Pan speaks about how a ban on lead ammunition will benefit the state of California. (©Pam Flick)

Kim Delfino, California Program Director

Yesterday, we took one more important step in the effort to protect wildlife and human health from the toxic effects of lead ammunition. The California Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee passed a bill, by a vote of 9-5, that would require the use of non-lead ammo for all hunting in the state, putting California well on its way to being the first state to enact non-lead ammunition requirements.

The committee vote came one day after the bill’s authors, Assemblymember Anthony Rendon and Assemblymember Richard Pan, stood on the steps of the State Capitol with a scientist, a hunter, a veterinarian and Tesla the golden eagle, to outline why it is critical for California to remove lead from ammunition used to hunt wildlife. “Lead is a toxicant that is bad for human health and the environment, and lead ammunition exposes humans and other animals to this life-threatening poison,” said Assemblymember Rendon.

Lead is a known toxin that we have already removed from everything from paint to gasoline to pencils to pipes. Fifty years of scientific research has shown that the presence of lead in the environment poses an ongoing threat to the health of the general public and the viability of the state’s wildlife, including the California condor, bald eagle and golden eagle. Dr. Don Smith, Professor, Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology at UC Santa Cruz stated, “Lead based ammunition is likely the greatest, largely unregulated source of lead knowingly discharged into the environment in the U.S.”

Assemblymembers Pan and Rendon, creators of the bill, with Tesla, a golden eagle. (©Pam Flick)

Lead bullets fragment into tiny pieces when they hit an animal during hunting. These small lead fragments are then easily digested by humans as well as wildlife that eat the gut pile of dead animals. Animals also ingest lead when foraging in fields and pick up spent ammunition mistakenly. These lead fragments are highly toxic in the humans and animals that digest them. In humans, exposure to lead causes brain damage, learning problems and slowed growth and, for children, no amount of lead exposure is allowable. In wildlife, lead poisoning causes an agonizing death through paralysis and starvation.

Given the toxic threat from lead ammunition, there is no legitimate reason to oppose the use of non-lead ammunition when non-lead alternatives are available, effective and comparative in price with lead ammunition. As Assemblymember Mike Gatto stated in the committee hearing, “This is the right thing to do. We don’t hunt with poisoned darts for a reason and we shouldn’t use toxic ammunition for hunting.”

Former Fish and Game Commissioner and an avid hunter Judd Hanna testified in support of the bill in committee. Mr. Hanna was one of 27 distinguished hunters from California – including the current President and Vice President of the Fish and Game Commission – who sent a letter in support of the bill because they believe it is a reasonable and prudent solution to a public health and environmental threat. Defenders has been working on this issue for years, is a sponsor of this bill, and one of the organizations leading a broad coalition working to pass it. Now we’ve secured a majority of the members of the California Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee to vote to ban this toxic substance. Let’s hope the full California Assembly embraces the cause as well. Stay tuned.

Thanks to everyone who submitted to the contest this year. We had some really fantastic photos, and it was hard to narrow it down to just the top ten for voting. If you want to see more great photos of wildlife and wild lands, here are 10 honorable mentions from this year’s submissions:

Chewy, ©Hank Perry

Striking a Pose, ©Joshua Savage

A Bald Eagle performing a striking dominance landing. The Great Salt Lake, Utah

Humpback Whale Feeding Frenzy, ©Alice Cahill

Sea Lion in Repose, ©Lisa Burtis

Green Frogs, ©Valerie Donahue

These four Green Frogs were photographed at Marshlands Conservancy in Rye, New York. Initially, I observed them as two mating pairs, but then the frogs proceeded to line up for a group hug instead. It seemed as if they were posing for me, and I thought they were going to start singing The Rainbow Connection!

Night Mantis, ©Marie Maroney

Aurora Curtain along the Brooks Range, ©Larry Malvin

Mother Bear with Cubs, ©Lyssa Danehy

Pika: Hear Me Roar! ©Vaughn Cottman

Medicine Lake at Sunset, ©Ron Paul

As I wrote last week, there are a number of anti-bison bills sailing through the Montana state legislature this year. These bills pose all kinds of threats to wild bison, including stopping restoration of wild Yellowstone bison to other parts of the state and allowing landowners to kill all bison that set hoof on private land. We have been working hard with Native American tribes, sportsmen’s groups and other conservation organizations to stop these bills.

On Tuesday, we all held a rally inside the Montana capitol building in Helena. Bison supporters from across the state were there to show legislators that the people of Montana want wild bison. Native American tribes from across Montana ran the event, and the crowd was predominantly from Montana’s seven Indian reservations. Dr. Ken Ryan, tribal elder from the Fort Peck Reservation Assiniboine tribe, held what we think is the first-ever pipe ceremony in the capitol building. Senator Sharon Stewart-Peregoy, a member of the Crow tribe, gave a talk that brought the crowd to their feet. A performance from Fort Belknap Reservation’s Wahkpa Nakoda Drum Group reverberated throughout the building. The message was clear: Kill the bills, not the bison.

News of the rally appeared in the Great Falls Tribune with a nice video of the event, the Bozeman Chronicle, Montana Public Radio, and local television stations. With so many Montanans speaking out in support of bison and against these harmful bills, we hope these attacks on Montana’s wild bison will soon come to a close.

We’ll keep you posted on our progress. In the meantime, check out these photos from the rally:

Montana Capitol Building

The rally took place at the Montana state legislature in Helena.

Under Attack

All 10 of the anti-bison bills present serious threats to wild bison, and could put an end to all efforts to restore these iconic animals to the Great Plains.

"We're here to help you understand the significance of the buffalo in our culture."

Thomas Christian, member of the Fork Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribal Council, emceed the rally.

Drums in the Capitol

Wahkpa Nakoda Drum Group from Fort Belknap Reservation performed for the crowd, a rare event inside the Montana capitol building.

Looking Up

Even the artwork on the dome of the capitol building reflects the variety of people and cultures that form Montana.

"Let's find a better way."

Ervin Carlson, President, Intertribal Buffalo Council, discussed the unanimous tribal opposition to these anti-bison bills.

Bringing Bison Home

March 19, 2012: About 60 genetically pure bison were relocated from Yellowstone National Park to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, marking the long-awaited homecoming of wild bison to an important part of their historic range.

Bison at Fort Peck

Thomas Anketell, Council Member, Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board, spoke to the crowd about the importance of the new Yellowstone bison herd at Fort Peck Reservation.

"Don't Destroy Our Culture"

Tracy King, Fort Belknap Tribal Council President, told the legislators about the importance of wild bison to the tribes.

"The buffalo are one with the people of the state of Montana."

Senator Sharon Stewart-Peregoy (D, Crow Agency), a member of the Crow tribe, brought the crowd to its feet with a rousing speech.

Working Together

Jonathan Proctor, Defenders' Rockies and Plains Representative, talks with Defenders' allies Mike Fox, member of the Fort Belknap Tribal Council, and Mark Azure, Director of the Fort Belknap Fish and Wildlife Department, about our collective strategies to kill the bills.

A Future for Bison

Intolerance is the greatest threat to bison today. Together with our allies in the northern Great Plains, we're working to spread acceptance of wild bison and find more places for them to roam, so that we can continue the effort to bring these beautiful animals back to their historic range.

The problems began last Thursday, when the Kulluk, a conical Arctic drilling ship on its way to Seattle for repairs, broke away from its towing vessel and was set adrift.  Things only got worse from there:  The tow vessel, Aiviq, lost function in all four of its engines due to mechanical issues.  This is the vessel Shell heralded as a symbol of its commitment to doing things right in the Arctic. It is the vessel company president and CEO Gary Chouest described as “the world’s largest and most powerful anchor-handling icebreaker.”  It was designed to operate in minus-40 degrees and is apparently a state of the art vessel. And yet it could not keep control of Kulluk.  As winter seas continued to pummel the drill ship and its now two attendant tow vessels, the Coast Guard was called in to evacuate all of the Kulluk’s crew members.

But the Kulluk wasn’t just carrying crew members.  While the ship pitched up and down in the icy waters, about 150,000 gallons of fuel were sloshing around inside it, too, in the form of sulfur diesel, hydraulic fluid, and lube oil.  In effect, the Kulluk was an oil spill waiting to happen.

By Monday afternoon, the Kulluk was reattached to a repaired Aiviq and a new tow vessel, Alert. The ships were headed for safe port in Kodiak to weather the storm.  But the relentlessly rough water separated the Kulluk from the Aiviq, forcing the crew of the Alert to sever their line, as well.  Kulluk was adrift again, and this time, grounding was all but inevitable.  The ship ran aground around 9 pm on New Year’s Eve on a small island off the coast of Kodiak.

As of this writing, there have been no reports of leakage from the ship or oil sheen on the water.  But the event serves to remind us that drilling attempts in the Arctic will be costly and difficult at best and an environmental tragedy at worst.

Polar bears and other large mammals could suffer damage to their eyes, mouth, skin and lungs from petroleum exposure. Like bird feathers, polar bear fur loses its insulating and water-repelling properties when coated with oil.

This time, the Kodiak Coast Guard station was close enough to respond quickly, with plenty of helping hands and the right equipment. The Coast Guard station can also provide a base for personnel to coordinate efforts or to hunker down when the weather gets too bad to send response vessels.   But the drill sites in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas are over 1,000 miles away from Kodiak, and there’s no Coast Guard station nearer than that.  Shell claims their spill response ship Arctic Challenger can contain an underwater leak, but external support could take days or weeks to reach an out of control vessel, or even worse, a spill.

If something like the 2010 BP Oil Spill were to occur in the Arctic Ocean, the environmental damage would be truly unimaginable: iconic arctic species like whales, polar bears and walruses could all suffer. There is also a huge risk of damaging the intricate and pristine ecology of the Arctic Ocean in ways we don’t fully understand yet.  Combine that with the danger to spill response crews, and it’s hard to believe Shell is willing to risk drilling in the Arctic Ocean at all.

This latest fiasco with the Kulluk could have been a New Year’s oil spill.  The incident surely shows that Shell, even with state of the art equipment, cannot  prevent accidents in the remote Arctic. We can only hope that this and Shell’s other recent travails will convince lawmakers and the administration to put an end to offshore drilling in the Arctic before it’s too late.

’06, a.k.a. 832F, “Queen of the Lamar” was killed by a hunter in Wyoming last week.

Reprieve for YNP wolves in Montana – At least someone out West is listening to the concerns of wolf supporters. Montana wildlife commissioners voted 4-1 this week to temporarily halt hunting and trapping north of Yellowstone National Park. Montana’s decision followed public outcry from wolf enthusiasts and scientists alike, after at least 10 Yellowstone wolves were killed by hunters outside the park. The most recent victim was the alpha female of the Lamar Canyon pack. Known to researchers as 832F and to avid wolf watchers as ’06 (“oh-six”), she was highly visible in one of the most popular areas of the park and became famous worldwide (see tribute from photographer Jimmy Jones). She also wore a GPS-tracking collar that allowed scientists to study her movements and better understand her pack’s behavior.

Unfortunately, wolf opponents are already complaining about efforts to protect Yellowstone’s wolves, so we are encouraging Montana wildlife supporters to thank the commission and Governor Schweitzer for establishing these important closures. Please call or write:

• Governor Brian Schweitzer. Governor@Mt.gov  Tel: 1.406.444.3111  Fax: 1.406.444.5529
• Governor Elect Steve Bullock: Kevin@Stevebullock.com or follow this link:  0r call toll free 1.855.318.0809.
• Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks Deputy Director Mike Volesky at 1.406.444.4600

We hope you will join us in thanking the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission for creating a buffer zone around Yellowstone, and we need your help urging them to make it permanent. We’ll also be working with our colleagues in the region to push Idaho and Wyoming to do the same. These wolves are too valuable and important to continue losing them.

Listen to an NPR interview with Yellowstone Wolf Project leader Doug Smith and our own expert Suzanne Stone as they discuss the significance of losing America’s most iconic animals:

Click here to listen to an extended interview about Yellowstone wolves with a panel of experts and advocates that aired on KCRW’s To The Point.

Also, be sure to tune in next week to the Jane Velez-Mitchell show on the HLN network to see our senior staff attorney Jason Rylander talk about the latest developments! The show starts at 4 p.m. Pacific/7 p.m. Eastern, and Jason will be on in the second half hour.

Feeling the heat from all sides – USDA’s Wildlife Services agency continues to receive harsh criticism for its lethal approach to managing wildlife—this time from FOX News and a Republican lawmaker from California. Rep. John Campbell, along with his colleague Peter DeFazio (D-OR), has accused the agency of refusing to cooperate with an investigation of animal abuse. The incident in question involved an employee of Wyoming Wildlife Services who allegedly allowed his dogs to attack a coyote caught in a leg-hold trap he had set. Campbell and DeFazio have called such practices inhumane, and have said taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be spent to kill native wildlife for the benefit of ranchers.

“We believe there’s kind of a pattern here that this has become almost sport to put out these traps,” Campbell continued. “We think there are a lot of non-lethal ways to protect livestock. But instead, they use these leg holes, which are extremely cruel. The animal takes a long time to die.”

Campbell also said he has “increasing evidence” of taxpayer money being used for “private purposes,” including protecting the livestock of four private ranchers.

“I have cattle myself,” Campbell said. “I don’t think it’s the taxpayer’s responsibility to protect my cattle. That’s my responsibility.”

Wolf killed on Spokane reservation – A lone wolf was accidentally killed this week on the Spokane Indian Reservation after getting caught in a trap set for other animals. Though wolves are currently protected as an endangered species under Washington state law, the rules only apply outside of tribal lands. The wolf is believed to be from the Huckleberry Pack, which had at least five pups this summer (see clip from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife).

We’ll be keeping a close eye on wolves in Washington and hopefully working with the tribes to prevent more wolves from being killed unnecessarily.

Guard dogs and people must work together to protect sheep.

Shepherds of Peace – More good news for the Wood River Project in central Idaho. A reporter and photographer with The Spokesman Review spent several days traipsing over the Sawtooth Mountiains with our field crew this summer. Their story came out last weekend, featuring a beautiful picture story and audio slideshow, detailing what life is like for sheep herders and technicians working to protect both wolves and sheep. Don’t miss field manager Patrick Graham in action, tracking and howling for wolves!

More Woes for Wildlife Services – Turns out conservation groups aren’t the only ones that wish Wildlife Services would clean up its act. A pair of stories (here and here) from Sacramento Bee investigative reporter Tom Knudson show that many in the private sector are also unhappy with the federal government’s handling of so-called “nuisance” wildlife. Several businesses that provide independent wildlife control services say the federal agency’s lack of transparency and subsidized rates make it difficult for their companies to compete. They also agree that Wildlife Services often kills animals unnecessarily when nonlethal methods would work better. Congressmen John Campbell (R-Calif.) and Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) have called for a federal investigation to scrutinize the agency’s activities. Hopefully, with more people from diverse sectors of the economy calling for reform, it might actually happen.