Two Hunting Issues

From Today’s Outdoor Wire.  First, it looks like Texas is going to be conducting a study of the effects of lead vs. non-lead shot on Dove populations.  It should be nice to have some real scientific data on this, considering the push to use non-lead ammunition because of the benefits to wildlife.  Next is an issue that was talked about at the NRA committee meeting.  Move to the bottom and you’ll find the featured article about the US Department of Fish and Wildlife winning a lawsuit brought by environmental groups to prevent the creation of water resources for wildlife in wildlife refuges.  Yeah, you read that right.  The dirty hippies were suing the federal government over making sure there was sufficient water for wildlife to drink in wildlife refuges:

The ruling is a significant win for federal and state wildlife management authorities in their ongoing efforts to improve habitat conditions that help support healthy wildlife populations on the refuge. The Arizona Game and Fish Department was granted intervener status by the court and is a partner with the FWS in restoring the desert bighorn sheep herd found on the Kofa.

[…]
Wilderness Watch and several other groups had filed a lawsuit in June 2007 in an attempt to prevent the continued operation of the wildlife water tanks. The groups argued that the FWS had followed an existing refuge management plan rather than the Wilderness Act in allowing the construction work. But the court ruled that the FWS considered both the plan and the act, and was correct in issuing a “categorical exclusion” as permitted by NEPA.

Teddy Roosevelt has to be turning over in his grave about these groups aiming to protect wilderness by ensuring that no animals can survive there.