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Criminal Fraudsters Threaten Wildlands and Wild Animals Steve Kelly Photo: Jeffrey St. Clair. All recent activity
affecting ‘public lands’ today seeks to stop ecological stewardship and promote mercantile relationships. At the
core of American settler-colonialism which began in the late 1490s and continues, uninterrupted today. To colonize is to
plant or establish a colony in; to plant or settle subjects of a native territory in a remote location, for the purpose
of cultivation, commerce, defense – and for permanent residence – conversion of native, natural forest into a
computer-model, forest simulation, i.e. “virtual tree plantation.” Here in flyover country federal land managers
“just follow orders” handed down from reprobate bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. Threatened and endangered wildlife
are methodically murdered as their home territory is stolen by 21st Century pirates. Heavy machines destroy homelands,
causing starvation, terror, and genocide. Deforestation plans and methods resemble the way the apartheid, genocidal
states of Israel and the U.S. exterminate Palestinians and steal their ancestral homeland – just as early Christian
colonial settlers stole territory (land) from Indian nations across the “western hemisphere.” Neoliberalism wants
nothing less than a symbolized subject who neither feels guilt, nor can trust in individual critical free will. Rampant
lawlessness clears the way for plunder, industrial larceny, and a plethora of agency “treatments” (clearcut,
bulldoze roads, thin, burn, scarify, masticate etc.), resulting in desertification here in the arid/semi-arid west.
Untrammeled public forests are a source of cold, clean water that support remnant populations of wild cutthroat and bull
trout. Roadless forests provide the best habitat for deer, moose, elk, and bear. Where roads end is where humans and
wild animals find refuge from the incessant noise, anxiety, and stress of living in a nightmarish post-industrial,
hyper-tech urban world. Desecration of these sacred forest remnants is a crime against Mother Nature and future
generations. Killing Machines Go Roque: The Trifecta 1) The Department of Interior (USDI) unilaterally undercut the
Purpose of the Endangered Species Act to recover species facing extinction. Redefining “harm” to exempt
destruction of critical habitat drives/displaces animals from their home territory. This jeopardizes the survival of all
threatened and endangered species. Congress did nothing! 2) Endangered species were then hit with a double-whammy
when the Department of Agriculture proposed rescinding the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which will expose tens of
millions of acres of de facto wilderness (5,000 or more contiguous, roadless acres) to unregulated oil and gas
development, hard-rock mining, clearcutting and bulldozing new logging roads. Roaded landscapes are Taylor-made for
speed junkies who race around once quiet backcountry haunts. Congress did nothing! 3) The Department of Agriculture
also wants to revise the Travel Management Planning Rule on National Forests. Expanding play areas for off-road
vehicles, snowmobiles, 4-x-4s and mountain bikes is bad news for all wildlife and water quality. Congress did nothing!
States’ New Role: Grizzly Executioner Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s most recently hallucination proposes
turning grizzly bear “management” over to the states. New legal exceptions and exemptions to facilitate killing
more grizzlies mock the (still in full legal effect) Endangered Species Act. State fish and game agencies want to boost
revenue by selling grizzly hunts to international trophy hunters. State Livestock Departments kill grizzlies to
appease subsidized livestock producers. Federal grazing permits are priced at $1.35 per animal unit month (defined as
a cow and calf). Kill, kill, kill. Mismanagement of delisted wolves since 2011 in Montana and Idaho is a sign that
grizzlies and anything wild surviving on wildlands today is targeted for liquidation and extermination. Circling the
Drain Most of western culture has gone stark-raving mad. As the public is cut out of public lands participation process,
Imperial exploitation rackets accelerate production of subsidized commodities. It’s hard not to see the afterglow of
our $40 Trillion national debt. No amount of stolen oil and agricultural land seems to be sufficient to collateralize
the rapidly expanding (unpayable) debt. Oligarchs, plutocrats, and other crime bosses should be nervous. Resistance
Grows In gathering numbers, the debt-slave population (“goyim”) seem to be feeling unusually rebellious. As they
slowly awaken, they sense that the Ponzi scheme is showing signs of collapse. As our ecological and economic situation
worsens, who will save the masses this time? It’s simply a matter of whether Congress can find it in its greedy,
self-serving, soulless existence to give a half a shit or not. If you think big budget “Green” groups are prepared
to fight this fight, smoke another one. This is what the end of our era feels like. There are dedicated individuals and
grassroots groups fighting in the trenches against this imploding madness. Think! Where will we be without clean
water, wild country, and wild animals? Keep this crucial fight alive by supporting Counterpunch.org and the Alliance
for the Wild Rockies.org. Steve Kelly is a an artist and environmental activist. He lives in Bozeman, Montana.
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