Now that wolves have returned to California after a nearly 90-year absence, where are they most likely to live? Will their new territories overlap significantly with grazing lands and create conflicts with livestock? What kind of proactive strategies are most feasible for northern California ranchers to implement on their operations to keep both livestock and wolves safe from harm? With our partners from the Bren School, we started looking for answers.
Category Archives: Animal Rights/Welfare
Nonhuman Rights Project
GR: This page on the Nonhuman Rights Project website has an interactive map that gives you information about each U. S. state’s laws and regulations for animals.
“Each of the 50 states has different laws and regulations concerning how the common law can be used and how it’s been interpreted by judges over the years.
“Here at the Nonhuman Rights Project, our team of attorneys, legal experts and volunteer law students have been working their way through each of the states to see how our key arguments might fare.
At the same time, the science team has been researching the situation of nonhuman animals – especially chimpanzees, elephants and cetaceans (whales and dolphins) – being held in captivity, to help in the selection of our first plaintiffs.
“In this section of the website, we give a brief report on the legal situation in each state, along with a few examples of animals we might select as plaintiffs.” From: states.nonhumanrights.org
Tell your Senators to OPPOSE S.659 – ‘Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2016’
Sportsmen
There are people who kill animals for enjoyment or to demonstrate their skill. Such “sportsmen” are not interested in the future of wildlife; they’re interested in the momentary thrill and praise from fellows. Thus, regulatory protections are required. Sportsmen should be trying to reduce the human population and its expansion into wildlife habitat if they truly wish to support wildlife.
http://www.all-creatures.org/alert/alert-20160419.html
Action Alert from All-Creatures.org
FROM
WolfWatcher / Wisconsin Wildlife Ethic – Vote Our Wildlife
April 2016
ACTION
This bill, under the guise of “Sportsmen”, is loaded with many anti-environmental provisions and is a mirror image of the SHARE Act which has already passed in the House of Representatives. Polls indicate the majority of Americans oppose this.
Tell your Senators to OPPOSE this atrocious act that is pro-hunting, guts environmental protections, decreases endangered species listings.
We call this the ‘Sportsmen Destruction of the Wilderness Act of 1964.’
It has passed in the House. THIS HAS TO BE STOPPED IN THE SENATE!!
PLEASE find and contact your U.S. Senators here.
INFORMATION
This bill, under the guise of “Sportsmen”, is loaded with many anti-environmental provisions and is a mirror image of the SHARE Act which has…
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Global Climate Emergency declared by Scientists at Columbia University Earth Institute
Global Climate Emergency
Climate-change projections published by scientists at the Columbia University Earth Institute have shifted from warnings to emergency alarms. The scientists are ringing 
the emergency bell because of the coming loss of human health and lives. However, the real disaster lies with natural ecosystems. Earth’s webs of life constructed of interacting plants and animals will suffer far greater and more important loses than will human civilization. For one thing, humans can emigrate (if their neighbors let them) from landscapes becoming uninhabitable. Plants and most animals cannot. (If you want a refresher course on climate change, this is an excellent review: Global Warming Basics.)
In addition to the U. S. Southwest:
The tropics and the Middle East in summer are in danger of becoming practically uninhabitable by the end of the century if business-as-usual fossil fuel emissions continue, because wet bulb temperature could approach the level at which the human body is unable to cool itself under even well-ventilated outdoor conditions.[3] —James Hansen and Makiko Sato
The ecosystems of the tropics are the most diverse and complex. Desertification there is an incomprehensible tragedy for the Earth.
I excerpted the following from:
Regional Climate Change and National Responsibilities
“Discussion: We conclude that continued business-as-usual fossil fuel emissions will begin to make low latitudes inhospitable. If accompanied by multi-meter sea level rise,[11] resulting forced migration and economic disruption could be devastating.
The overall message that climate science delivers to society, policymakers, and the public alike is this: we have a global emergency. . . . We argue that country-by-country goals, the approach of the 21st Conference of the Parties[13] cannot lead to rapid phasedown of fossil fuel emissions, as long as fossil fuels are allowed to be the cheapest energy. It will be necessary to include a carbon fee that allows the external costs of fossil fuels to be incorporated in their price. Border duties on products from countries without a carbon fee, would lead to most nations adopting a carbon fee.”–James Hansen and Makiko Sato.
Fossil Fuel CO2 Emissions
(a) Updates of Figure 5 in Hansen and Sato (2001) “Trends of measured climate forcing agents” (also in PDF) and (b)same quantities as in (a) but in linear scale (also in PDF.) [Last modified: 2015/08/07]
Updates of Figure 16 in Hansen (2003), “Can we defuse the global warming time bomb?” [Figure also in PDF. Last modified: 2015/08/08]
[Figure also in PDF. Last modified: 2015/08/08]Data source: Boden, T.A., G. Marland, and R.J. Andres. 2015. Global, Regional, and National Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tenn., U.S.A. doi 10.3334/CDIAC/00001_V2015. Digital data are available at CDIAC web pages and used for 1751-2011. BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2015 data are used for extensions to 2014.
See More Figures.
GR: For a broader discussion of the emergency, go to http://robertscribbler.com.
Patricia Randolph’s Madravenspeak: A prayer for wildlife: Oppose S. 405, which guts the 1964 Wilderness Act
Survival of most species on Earth depends on balanced ecosystems. The balance will be achieved only when humans learn to respect other species. Respect isn’t compatible with killing.
PHOTO COURTESY OF BING IMAGES
Perhaps this otter is asking God to save humans from themselves
Despite its euphemistic title, the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act (H.R. 2406) represents a clear assault on wildlife both at home and abroad.” ~ Animal Welfare Institute
The Animal Welfare Institute issued an alert this past week: “Urge Your Representative to Protect Wildlife and Vote No on H.R. 2406.” This deadly bill has been passed by the House of Representatives.Its sister Senate bill, S. 405, can be stopped by an overwhelming public outcry now. It will be voted on by the entire Senate soon, although the date has not been disclosed.
Madravenspeak wrote against the “Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act” of the same intent in 2014, and before that in 2012. Please examine these repeat efforts closely, as they defile our last peaceful refuges for intact living ecosystems and quiet hiking and reflection.
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Human Supremacy Will be Our End Game –
“Some use the word speciesism. Some use anthropocentrism. While still others use humanocentrism. In the end they all lead to the idea of human supremacy. The thought that humans are the central species on the planet and therefore are intolerant of other species and act in a discriminatory fashion by treating “others” as inferior. This belief will terminate humanity.
“So what to do? We want polar bears, salmon, old growth forests and rain forests. The predicament is we also want grocery stores, municipal water and a house with heat and central air. We love cars, cell phones and Amazon but not the Amazon itself. We want our children to grow old and enjoy the perks of a growing economy. Our existence is all about us. That’s okay, as long as you don’t mind mass extinctions, severe and abrupt climate change, shortened lives for you and your children, and the mental and physical illness that come along with this brief, shiny, bright existence of our industrial culture. We can’t have civilization without eliminating species and ourselves along with it. That fantasy is about over.” From: goodmenproject.com
GR: Here’s an important though intensly fatalistic perspective on nature conservation and the human impact. I would argue that if we acted immediately and drastically to end our harmful impacts, we might save a few of the things we like. Hospitals, schools, libraries, and research institutes would be my picks.
The AWA at 50 — Call for Papers
“The Animal Law & Policy Program at Harvard Law School is pleased to announce The Animal Welfare Act at Fifty, a conference that will bring experts together to assess the first fifty years of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and consider recommendations for the future. The event will include conference presentations as well as a separate academic workshop component.
“We welcome submissions on both broad and specific law and policy issues. In an effort to encourage interdisciplinary dialogue, we encourage submissions from legal scholars and lawyers; government officials and staff; academics in disciplines outside of law, such as sociology, anthropology, political science, and economics; international scholars and regulators; veterinarians and animal behaviorists; and others with perspectives on the AWA. We also encourage submissions from experts in other areas of legislation and regulation who can bring a comparative approach to the study of the AWA. We encourage submissions from advocacy organizations, industry representatives, think tanks, and others outside academia, but emphasize that this is a scholarly conference and abstracts will be judged by academic standards.” From: animalblawg.wordpress.com
GR: I added the graphic to define an important distinction.
International Animal Rights Conference 2016!
Effective nature conservation requires maintenance of stable ecosystems. Because animals and plants are necessary for stability, humans must recognize that they have a responsibility to support other species and must learn to respect them. Had we learned respect a few, or even a single century ago, today there would be far fewer humans, there would be no invasive species problems, there would be no polluted air and water, there would be no deforestation for livestock and crops, and there would be no soil erosion.
Zimbabwe Park to Cull 200 Lions, Cites Lack of Hunters
One of Zimbabwe’s largest wildlife reserves, the Bubye Valley Conservancy, recently announced that it was considering culling up to 200 lions as the c… From: www.outdoorhub.com
GR: Too many people; no place for lions.
GarryRogers Nature Conservation 