Should all wildlife board members have a hunting license? 🪪

Welcome to 4th best day of the week besides Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. As we dig into another week, we’ve got a few interesting state bills that have been tabled and/or defeated, some interesting table fare and a whole lot more.

So, while continue to slowly inch back towards the weekend, let’s all take a minute to grab a coffee or whiskey (no judgement) and get into what this beautiful Tuesday has to offer.

Here's what's worth reading about so far this week:

• License required - Utah’s trying to keep hunters represented on wildlife board 🙋

• Creative recipes - USFWS offers some unique invasive food prep suggestions 🍴

• Colorado bill goes down - They tried to remove hunting from wildlife management and it failed miserably 🙅‍♂️

• Itty bitty bears - Some of the smallest cubs we’ve ever seen 🥹

WILL IT WORK?
NEW UTAH BILL AIMS TO ENSURE ALL WILDLIFE BOARD MEMBERS HAVE A HUNTING LICENSE

In an effort to thwart the anti-hunting crowd’s efforts of overtaking state wildlife boards, one Utah legislator has introduced a bill he hopes will at least slow things down. Citing various efforts in both Washington and Colorado to “undermine wildlife policy”, the bill states simply that if you’re going to make laws around hunting, you should, at the very least, be a hunter yourself.

Introduced as HB309 by Rep. Casey Snider, the wildlife amendments bill proposes several changes to Utah's wildlife management policies. In addition to modifying regulations around night hunting, livestock depredations and other protections, it also mandates that individuals serving on the Utah Wildlife Board or regional advisory councils must possess a hunting license.

This change aims to ensure that board members have a direct stake in wildlife management through both their participation and experience in hunting and fishing activities…

🦫 You will eat invasive species and you will be happy. While not as aggressive as the headline suggests, the US Fish and Wildlife Service is going on something of a crusade in an effort to get more people dining on our country’s invasive species. During National Invasive Species Awareness Week (yes, it’s a thing) which took place last month, the USFWS shared plenty of information regarding the nation’s invasive species and the effects they are having on our natural environments. 

Taking things a step further, the service went on to highlight a select few species along with possible meal preparation methods. Those ideas included scrumptious suggestions such as nutria gumbo, green iguana stew and northern snakehead tacos, among others. While playful in nature, the FWS is hopeful that their efforts don’t go unnoticed and motivates at least a few of us to head afield in search of an invasive meal.

🙅 Colorado bill aimed at removing hunting as a primary method for wildlife management fails miserably. Despite losing at the ballot box last November in a statewide effort to ban mountain lion hunting, the anti-hunting advocates kept the fight going into 2025 with Colorado House Bill 1258. The bill, which was positioned to significantly shift away from traditional hunting, fishing and trapping practices, failed by a large margin last week. Rather than using sound science and data from hunting and fishing activities, the proposed bill was created instead to focus on a wildlife management model rooted in the "best available wildlife and ecological science." 

This bill was met with strong opposition from Colorado Parks and Wildlife, as well as hunting and angling communities, who expressed concerns about the potential impacts on wildlife populations and the long-standing traditions associated with hunting and fishing in Colorado. Supporters of the bill argued that these groups represented "special interests" that were prioritizing their own activities over the overall well-being of the state's wildlife.

In spite of their best efforts, the bill was too weak to stand on its two feet and failed in a 10-3 vote.

1. Worst comes first. Do the shitty things you’ve got to get done as early in the day as possible.

2. You can’t put flowers in an asshole and call it a vase.

3. Complaining is one of, if not the lowest value expressions humans make. It’s incredible how much we partake in an activity so conversely related to our well being. 

4. Bless and sit down. Forgive and forget. Practice kindness all day to everybody and you will realize you’re already in heaven now. 🙏

   1. Kerouac said this ⬆️

VIDEO // ^{_{SOME THINGS JUST HAVE TO BE SEEN}}

👶 Watch as a momma bear waits for her two cubs to cross the road. Alright, i’ll admit it. This is cute as hell - here’s to hoping they survive the spring.

Oh, and one more thing…