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Here’s what’s worth reading today, Sunday, July 21, 2019:
Former LSU OL Matt Branch details dying twice after being shot by a dog in hunting accident, plans to hunt again: You might remember hearing about former LSU OL Matt Branch (2008-11) a few months ago. His hunting accident led to a rather unforgettable headline: “Former LSU OL Matt Branch has leg amputated after getting shot by dog in hunting accident.” In a bizarre sequence of events, a dog inadvertently took the safety off and pulled the trigger on a gun when he jumped in a truck bed after Branch and others had loaded their duck hunting gear in the truck for their Eagle Lake, Mississippi annual hunt. Branch was hit in his left thigh, resulting in his leg being amputated. It could have been much worse. For a period, it was, and more than once.
Game-changing, bipartisan wildlife legislation introduced in Congress: Fish and wildlife populations are under increasing pressure from habitat loss, invasive species, emerging diseases, and extreme weather events in Texas and throughout the country. As many as one-third of our nation’s species are on the brink of becoming threatened or endangered. A bill just introduced in Congress seeks to reverse this trend. House Resolution 3742, known as the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, would provide $1.3 billion annually to state initiatives, and $97.5 million to tribal nations, to support at-risk fish and wildlife populations and their habitats. The funding would come from existing revenues, and would not require any new taxes. Texas would get an estimated more than $50 million per year.
Rattlesnake hunting with Miles, did Gundy ever take Mad Hatter? A couple of years back Oklahoma State head football coach became as famous for his outdoors exploits as he has remained with his mullet haircut. The most notable of Gundy’s spring Jack Hanna exploits came when he put out on social media pictures of a rattlesnake hunting excursion with two of his boys, Gunner and Gage. On Monday as Gundy shared the day with fellow Big 12 coaches Matt Wells of Texas Tech, Lincoln Riley of Oklahoma, Gary Patterson of TCU, and Les Miles of Kansas. Now, Wells is a native of Sallisaw, Okla. and Riley grew up in Muleshoe, Texas in the panhandle, so both have probably been rattlesnake hunting at one time or another. Both states, Oklahoma and Texas have rattlesnake hunt festivals. Les Miles, who grew up near Cleveland, Ohio, has not been rattlesnake hunting and one media member remembered that during his time between jobs at LSU and Kansas, that Miles, who acted, did commercials, and did some broadcasting asked Gundy to take him along for a hunt.
Great white shark nearly bites boy on Cape Cod boat: A great white shark was filmed leaping out of the water at a fishing boat — snapping up a fish right next to where a young boy was standing. The wild video starts innocently with a passenger slowly pulling in a fish on the Columbia Sportfishing boat in Cape Cod Bay on Saturday. Without warning, the shark — later confirmed as a great white — leaps out to snatch the fish as young Jack Nelson jerks back in horror.
Conservation groups launch lawsuit to protect dunes sagebrush lizard: Conservation groups Defenders of Wildlife and Center for Biological Diversity on Friday filed a notice of their intent to sue the Trump administration for failing to protect the dunes sagebrush lizard under the Endangered Species Act. “Members of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association are dismayed to learn that the Defenders of Wildlife and the Center for Biological Diversity intend to file suit over the dunes sagebrush lizard,” Ben Shepperd, PBPA president, told the Reporter-Telegram by email. “We strongly believe that the conservation efforts industry has led continue to provide protections for the lizard. The PBPA is committed to protecting the oil and gas industry’s right to operate as well as protecting the lizard’s habitat in meaningful ways.”
Congress considers crackdown on trophy hunting: In April, Congressman Raul Grijalva, D-Arizona, introduced the Conserving Ecosystems by Ceasing Importation of Large Animal Species Act, otherwise known as the CECIL Act. The bill would prohibit all importation and exportation of species listed under the Endangered Species Act, including species proposed to be listed, in order to prevent a surge in hunting of the animal prior to its official listing. The bill would impose a total ban on importing hunting trophies of elephants or lions taken in Tanzania, Zimbabwe or Zambia. It would also ban the import of other sport-hunted trophies of “threatened species or endangered species” unless the country where it was hunted adequately provides for the species’ conservation.
Colorado opens 100,000 acres of state land to hunting, fishing: In a unanimous vote, Colorado’s Parks and Wildlife Commission approved a multiyear expansion plan for the popular Public Access Program. It’s the first step toward an effort to double the 480,000 acres of state trust land already open to the public. And, notably, this is the first time the program has seen an expansion in access since 1993. “Colorado is a growing state with increased demand for recreation, hunting, and angling throughout Colorado. In the coming years, Governor Polis and the Department of Natural Resources will continue to seek additional access opportunities to encourage Coloradans to experience, explore, and enjoy the outdoors,” said Dan Gibbs, executive director for Colorado Department of Natural Resources.
Fishing is not a numbers game — it’s not always about catching the big one: When I was very young, my mother told me an interesting fact about goldfish. “A goldfish will stay small in size”, she said “when it is kept in a small bowl. Likewise, one kept in a larger bowl can grow much bigger.” I’m sure that her intention was a colorful metaphor encouraging her son to seek experience, exceed limitations and “grow” as much as I could in a great big world. Her advice fell on deaf ears … not because I lacked ambition or creative reasoning, but because she spoke of fish. Fascinated by fish since birth, I missed her point and instead considered the life of her goldfish ….or any fish, and wondered how they grow and which factors determine their ultimate size. Some fish never exceed one inch in their lifespan while others grow bigger than my imagination could process. My mother’s story was a powerful one and even today, thoughts like these can keep me awake at night.
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