I Really Want to Believe, But ...

... I'm pretty sure this is bullshit. At NYPo, ‘Snake the Bigfoot Hunter’ claims he unearthed scientific proof of Sasquatch — and DNA shows it’s part human.

A Bigfoot hunter who claimed to have found the legendary creature’s corpse now says he has scientific proof the remains are a real-life Sasquatch — and its DNA is part human.

Charles Stuart, who bills himself as “Snake the Bigfoot Hunter,” made highly disputed claims in 2024 that he found the decomposing remains of an 8-foot, 300-pound Sasquatch in upstate New York’s Adirondack mountains.

Now he claims he enlisted Cornell University to conduct a DNA test and found the creature is a mixture of Neanderthal and human, according to the hunter’s website.

“After doing a DNA test — we found that this is 58.5% Neanderthal — and this 41.5% remaining, that is human,” Stuart told Local 4 Detroit on Sunday.

“What we have is a Neanderthal-human hybrid — and that neanderthal side that has been evolving over the millennia has remained very aggressive,” Stuart said about Dack, which is what he named the supposed corpse.

I really do root for Bigfoot, just to humble scientists who claim it's not possible. But I really doubt this until Cornell scientists come forward to confirm they were given good samples, and this is what they found, I just can't believe it's her.

Flotsam and Jetsam - 'Simoleans for Somalians' is Still the Story

Is It Over for Tim Walz? asks Power Line's John Hinderacker, hopefully. PJM's Stephen Kruiser hears Bells Are Jingling All the Wrong Way for Tim Walz. NYPo remembers Tim Walz bragged about child care business in Minnesota during VP debate before $9B Somali fraud scandal came to light. Leave no Somali child unattended! Paul @WomanDefiner, "Remember when Democrats tried to make Universal daycare a thing for the last 15 years? Now you know why." Quote Oilfield Rando @Oilfield_Rando, "The same Somali scams are happening in Seattle. And Maine. And Columbus, Ohio. And a Clarkston, Georgia. x.com/thehoffather/s…" The FOO @PolitiBunny, "Democrats claim there’s a problem … for example, childcare is too expensive. Democrats decide to create a government program to fund and support affordable childcare. Democrats explain people will need to pay more in taxes so childcare is more affordable. Dumb people believe them. Democrats fund groups who are friendly to Democrats who turn around and fund more Democrats. Meanwhile, blaming Republicans because childcare is still not more affordable for some reason. Repeat with ANY ‘problem’ Democrats want to fix." From Fox, Tim Walz pushes back on Minnesota fraud allegations following viral daycare video claiming he "has spent years working to "crack down on fraud" and has taken steps to strengthen oversight of state programs, including initiating investigations into several facilities." He was either complicit or incompetent, or both. Nick Arama at RedState sees New Twists in Viral MN Daycare Story Amid Response From Officials That Won't Go Over Well The Drunk Republican @DrunkRepub, "I cannot stress how important it is for Trump to make an example of Walz and Minnesota. While his term thus far has been very successful (border, foreign policy, BBB, etc.) much of MAGA is dissatisfied because so many crooks and conspirators from the past 10 years have yet to face justice. This is the perfect opportunity to change that! . . . ?" From ET, FBI Surged Resources to Minnesota Early in Federal Fraud Investigation, Patel Says, "‘The FBI is aware of recent social media reports in Minnesota,’ he said, referring to a recent viral video about an allegedly fraudulent day care in the state." From Da Caller, Kash Patel Says FBI Investigation Into Alleged Minnesota Fraud Will Broaden As New Details Emerge. At PM, FBI threatens to denaturalize, deport Somali scammers in Minnesota. "Many are also being referred to immigrations officials for possible further denaturalization and deportation proceedings." Peter St Onge, Ph.D. @profstonge, "In case you're looking for a side gig, whistleblowers on federal fraud receive between 15% and 30% of the recovered amount." Quote JD Ross @justindross, "There is a $10B+ startup just waiting to be built in identifying and successfully litigating against federal and state fraud, double that if you can go after health and disability fraud Like an apolitical, decentralized for-profit DOGE." The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee, "Walz Announces $8 Billion Grant To Somali Company To Investigate Fraud https://buff.ly/92fvWoA."

This new Tim Walz ad goes hard.

Come for the learing, stay because you were carjacked.pic.twitter.com/blalJNdjPE

— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) December 28, 2025

NotTheBee

Scott Adams @ScottAdamsSays "I'm starting to detect a pattern," Quote Wall Street Apes @WallStreetApes "Attorney Mehek Cooke says massive fraud is taking place in Ohio She says fraudulent Somalian healthcare companies are being created charging as much as $250,000 per family per year FOR DOING NOTHING, it’s all fraudulent It’s all being billed to Medicaid and taxpayers are payingShow more" Elon Musk is on a Xroll: Elon Musk @elonmusk, "The fraud of your taxpayer money is happening nationwide and is liberally applied to attract illegal (and some legal) immigrants who will reliably vote Democrat. The more you look, the more you find. And you don’t need to be a world-class detective to figure it out. This is brazen, daylight robbery," "My lower bound guess for how much fraud there is nationally is ~20% of the Federal budget, which would mean $1.5 trillion per year. Probably much higher," "Wow," "More than any the daily readership of all newspapers in America combined" Quote DogeDesigner @cb_doge "BREAKING: Nick Shirley’s Minnesota Somali fraud video just crossed 100 million views on X. You are the media now!" Elon Musk @elonmusk, "Just stop caring whether they call you racist or not. They do that to scare away inquiries. Doing so used to work, but not any more. Fraud is fraud and it doesn’t matter what race someone is," Quote Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh, HOLY CRAP! Nick Shirley just DROPPED THE MIC on Tim Walz after he called anyone "racist" for pointing out Somali fraud "You're going to call a white person 'RACIST' for calling out FACTS?"

At Da Signal, Minnesota Fraud Controversy Shakes Capitol Hill. Austen Allred @Austen, "Kinda funny that the two stories dominating my X feed are: 1. Needing to take 5% of net worth from billionaires to prop up government spending 2. Fraudsters brazenly taking billions of dollars of taxpayer money with little being done to stop it." Christopher F. Rufo @christopherrufo, "We opened the discourse with the Somali fraud story. Now it's built into a massive social reaction. But the question is whether the Trump Administration will deliver results: investigations, arrests, mugshots, prosecutions. Ultimately, only action matters." Ace, More Somali Piracy: In Ohio, Somalis Are Defrauding the State Home Health Care System for $250,000 Per Year "Caring" for Phantom "Aged Parents." Ted Cruz @tedcruz, "Um, wut?" Quote Kristen Mag @kristenmag, "There are 539 childcare centers in Washington state that list Somali as the primary language. Most don’t even give a street address. I don’t know how many of these are submitting fraudulent claims for state grants and subsidies, but I have a strong hunch the number is not zero." Matthew Marsden @matthewdmarsden, "Um, what are you going to do about it?" At Insty, SOMEONE SHOULD LOOK INTO THIS: Katie Miller @KatieMiller, "BLS data confirms home health aides as the fastest-growing U.S. occupation with a 10% surge to over 500,000 in 2024. It's MOSTLY Medicaid-funded. 42% are foreign-born across the US. 78% are foreign-born in NYC where most home health aides are used. Want to guess where the fraud is?" Cathy Salgado at PJM reports Small Business Administration Cuts Off All Minnesota Grants Over Somali Fraud. It's a start. DataRepublican (small r) @DataRepublican "I'm glad this is all being flushed out, but can we please get some messaging on why it is so difficult to prosecute or deport fraudsters & accomplices? Like Keith Ellison and Ilhan Omar. Is it a state jurisdiction thing? Are you being slow-walked in the administration? So many questions..."

Bad Hombre @Badhombre "A YouTuber who started his career making prank videos in high school just gave a masterclass in journalism to all the entities on the right." Doug Ross has Nick Shirley's Exposé - The Infographic ""With 𝕏, _you_ are the media" proven correct, again." Tom Bevan @TomBevanRCP, "Still no coverage in NYT, WaPo, CNN, or Minneapolis Star-Tribune of massive fraud being uncovered in Minnesota. The media's willingness to ignore stories that hurt Democrats is truly astonishing." TMK @TheMagaKing2_0, "The New York Times and The Washington Post were rewarded with Pulitzer Prizes for the now-debunked Russia collusion hoax, built on fake intelligence and anonymous sources. Meanwhile, an independent YouTuber uses public records, real documents, firsthand investigation, and on-the-ground video to expose an $800 million daycare fraud scheme in Minnesota, and the mainstream media ignores it. That’s why they’re called fake news." At Twitchy, Un-EFFING-Believable: Drew Holden's LENGTHY Thread of Media Actively HIDING MN Somali Fraud a MUST-Read. Drew Holden @DrewHolden360 "THREAD The legacy media didn’t miss the Minnesota Somalian fraud story. They actively dismissed it as made up, racist, or xenophobic. Before the stories are quietly edited, I’ve got screenshots." TownHall's Matt Vespa asks What Do You Notice About All These Stories About Somali Fraud in the Press? Ace, YouTuber Exposes Another Huge Ring of Somali Pirate Fraud as Legacy "Journalists" Refuse to Investigate or Report Others' Investigations.

PJM's Stephen Kruiser notes Mamdanigeddon Is Almost Here — Time to Take Bets on NYC's Survival. It'll survive. Rome survived the Goths, after all. Just barely. Althouse catches a modern puff piece, "The most new York couple is: very sweet man that everyone loves with a wife way out of his league that he’s obsessed with." "That's the top rated comment on this TikTok about Rama Duwaji, the wife of Zohran Mamdani:" At the Manhattan Contrarian, Doubling Down On The Worst Possible Public Policy ("Affordable Housing" In Manhattan).

At PJM VodkaPundit says Insert Completely Gobsmacked Pacific Palisades Fire Headline Here "An hour after midnight Jan. 1, as a small brush fire blazed across Topanga State Park, a California State Parks employee texted the Los Angeles Fire Department’s heavy equipment supervisor to find out if they were sending in bulldozers. “Heck no that area is full of endangered plants,” Capt. Richard Diede replied at 9:52 a.m, five hours after LAFD declared the fire contained. “I would be a real idiot to ever put a dozer in that area,” he wrote. “I’m so trained.”"

VodkaPundit at Insty thinks IT’S NICE TO SEE EUROPEAN NATO GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT ITS DEFENSE AGAIN: Russia vs. NATO Video Roundup. USNI News, Chinese Forces Fielding Intercontinental Anti-Ship Ballistic Missiles Capable of Reaching U.S. West Coast, Pentagon Says. Shouldn't that be the "left coast?" Sundance at CTH hosts U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer Giving a Strong Recap of President Trump Trade Policy. 

Atop Da Hill, California drops lawsuit over Trump pulling high-speed rail funding. "An authority spokesperson said in a statement that “the federal government is not a reliable, constructive, or trustworthy partner in advancing high-speed rail in California.”" Good. Hat Hair's Beege Welborn warns we may still be Possibly Looking at Bi-Coastal Energy Price Shocks for 2026.

From TNP, Far Left Embarks on Formal ‘Boycott’ of ‘Occupied’ Trump-Kennedy Center. Althouse, "The artists who have protested in recent weeks include Kristy Lee, a folk singer from Alabama, who announced she was pulling out from a free concert...." ""'I won’t lie to you, canceling shows hurts,' she said in a social media post. 'This is how I keep the lights on. But losing my integrity would cost me more than any paycheck.'" From "New Year’s Eve Concerts at Kennedy Center Are Canceled/The jazz drummer Billy Hart said the decision was 'evidently' connected to President Trump’s name being added to the arts center" (NYT). Art is not logic." Take the whole Kennedy Center and move it to a site along the Missouri River in Bismarck, ND. Why should the hinterlands pay tribute to DC so they can build themselves pleasure palaces? Clay Travis @ClayTravis, "Democrats have called Trump Hitler for a decade. Now he’s the most honored non-Israeli in most of our lives." Quote Fox News @FoxNews "BREAKING: Netanyahu announces Israel is awarding President Trump the Israel Prize. It is the country's highest cultural honor, and has not been won by a non-Israeli in nearly 80 years." Readers added context "This is incorrect as the last non-Israeli to win the award was Indian conductor Zubin Mehta in 1991." Roger Kimball at Am Great on The Pence Mirage: Why the Right Isn’t Leaving Trump, "The Heritage Foundation “mutiny” isn’t a conservative realignment so much as the latest anti-Trump mirage, with Mike Pence cast as a moral standard-bearer no one is following."

Matt Margolis at PJM sees The J6 Pipebomber Explains His Motive, and the Left Won’t Be Happy. From the Victory Girls, DOJ: J6 Pipe Bomber Hated BOTH Political Parties. Ace, J6 Pipebomber Says He Wanted to Hurt Both Parties. "I'm glad he isn't confirming the media's claim that he was animated to plant the bombs over Trump's completely-false claims of the election being rigged. Because if he did, he'd be eligible for an insanity plea, because we all know 2020 was the most secure and fraud-free election in history.

From Mediaite ‘Dangerous!’ CBS’s Jan Crawford Skewers Liberals Over Attacks on the Supreme Court. Shipwreckedcrew finds it amusing The Supreme Court Tells Pres. Trump He Can Only Use The Insurrection Act To Assist ICE In Enforcing Immigration Law. "The language of the statute relied upon is a historic anachronism that only Congress can fix, or it can watch as the Executive uses the only tools SCOTUS says he has -- the Army and Marines " and reports that Judge's Order To Release All ICE Detainees Is Stayed by Seventh Circuit Pending Appeal. "Biden Admin. entered into "consent decree" to not detain certain illegals scheduled for deportation hearing and Chicago Judge ordered enforcement of that agreement -- paused for now." Teri Christoph at RedState says More of This, Please: Utah GOP Refuses to Fold After Judge Forces Democrat-Friendly Map. From Front Page, Obama Judge Legalizes Assaulting ICE Personnel "The sanctuary state is becoming an insurrection."

At the College Fix, the Latest on the Brown shooting: Custodian warned about shooter, police chief put on leave.

WokeSpy hears Tom Homan Drops the Mic on Child Separation “It’s unfortunate families got separated, but it happens to American families every day. It’s going to happen in Albany today, that American family will be separated by law enforcement because the child can’t go to jail with a parent,” Homan said.. . . . Homan then shifted focus to child trafficking, stating that a large number of children were trafficked into the United States during Joe Biden’s tenure and that many remain unaccounted for. “We want to talk about family separation. A half a million children Joe Biden were trafficked in this country. They can’t find 300,000 of them. That’s a separation,” Homan said." Front Page wants you to Imagine America With Only 450,000 Immigrants a Year "Liberals are horrified at the idea."

Ace finds it As Predictable As the Setting Sun: After Conspiracy Theorist and Lunatic Marjorie Taylor Greene Turns on Trump, the NYT Offers Her a Puff-Piece with an Attempted Glamour Shot. From Twitchy, The Easiest Grift Flip from The Bulwark: MTG Bashes Trump, Jonathan V. Last Falls in Love.

Michael Patrick Leahy @michaelpleahy, "BREAKING: New Covenant killer documents released by the FBI confirm @TheTNStar reporting the killer bought guns with Pell Grant money." John Sexton at Hat Hair reads the Washington Post: It's Not Cheating If You Feel Like a Girl "Yesterday the Washington Post published a story which was clearly intended to paint a trans-female athlete in the most positive light possible. The story is titled "For young transgender runner, racing wasn’t the hardest thing." The hardest thing, the story argues, was poverty or maybe opposition to her competing as a girl and repeatedly beating out actual female competitors in various races." Yeah, we get the WaPoo. This story was a couple full pages and mores, all weepy about how hard it was when people booed him for still medals from the real girls. It almost filled up the news 'taint.

At RCP Chris Barnard celebrates The National Movement to Trim Higher Ed Bloat.

The Wombat has FMJRA 2.0: On An Even Keel up on time and under budget at The Other McCain.

Maryland Legislators Getting Ready for the Next Round of Bay Dieting

CBS News Maryland lawmakers urge clear timelines, community oversight in updated Chesapeake Bay restoration plan

A group of Congressmembers representing the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Region is calling for a new agreement to restore the health of the Chesapeake Bay and the rivers and streams throughout its watershed.

On Thursday, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, along with 22 other bipartisan Members of Congress, pushed for a new Chesapeake Bay agreement that "sets ambitious, measurable, and achievable targets, especially for water quality improvement and pollution reduction, in order to restore and protect the Bay," according to a press release.

In a letter written to the Chesapeake Executive Council (CEC), lawmakers addressed the numerous problems the Bay faces, including:

• Falling populations of key fish and wildlife species
• Emerging pollutants of concern
• Agricultural land and forest depletion
• Shifting environmental dynamics
• And the prevalence of invasive species

"While federal resources will continue to play an essential role in achieving our vision of a healthy Bay, we know that we cannot arrive at our many goals through such funding alone," the letter said. "A robust Watershed Agreement that sets measurable targets that are both ambitious and achievable is key to unlocking the full potential of federal support for the Bay and its watershed. Therefore, we are closely monitoring the PSC's work to update the agreement to meet current and future challenges."

A good start, but I suspect when they get in the back room to actually set the goals, every interest group will be pushing for more than is reasonable. 

Extinction is Forever!

Appalachia hebardi, the Appalachian grasshopper

Except sometimes. WHRO Virginia, Appalachian grasshopper, thought to be extinct, rediscovered in Augusta County

A species of grasshopper native to Appalachia, believed to be extinct, was spotted last year in Augusta County. It’s among several rare and never before seen plants and animals that were discovered in Virginia recently.

Andrew Rapp spent hours one summer day, his back crouched as he walked near a blueberry thicket. Net in hand, he was hoping to get a glimpse of a grasshopper, called Appalachia hebardi, more commonly called Appalachian grasshopper.

“I was looking for it,” Rapp said, describing a gravel pile where he finally saw the insect he had been searching for. “I locked eyes with it. And I was like, ‘Oh! I think that’s probably it!’”

This was the first such sighing of this species in Virginia in nearly 80 years. The Appalachian grasshopper normally lives in forests that are in the early stage of succession, where there are shrubs and tall grasses. It’s a non-flying grasshopper, about an inch to an inch-and-a-half long, and it’s only known to have lived in three states. Citizen scientists have spotted it in Pennsylvania and West Virginia in recent years, so Rapp had a hunch it was still around, well camouflaged by its olive and brown coloring. Loss of habitat may have driven down the insect’s numbers, and it could also be threatened by insecticides used to control invasive spongy moss caterpillars.

Thank goodness! I'll bet they're good bait for trout.

NOAA Denies Wind Power Role in Whale Deaths

 At WUWT, NOAA’s “no evidence” that wind kills whales violates the Information Quality Act

NOAA persists in claiming there is no evidence that offshore wind development is causing whale deaths. This is a false claim that is repeated endlessly in the press. There is lots of evidence some of which I have documented over the last two years.

It is actually illegal for Federal agencies to make false claims like this. There is a 25 year old law called the Information Quality Act (IQA) enforced by OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. IQA mandates that agencies provide accurate unbiased information.

Here are the two key definitions from NOAA’s IQA guidance:

1. “Quality is an encompassing term comprising utility, objectivity, and integrity.”

2. “Objectivity consists of two distinct elements: presentation and substance. The presentation element includes whether disseminated information is presented in an accurate, clear, complete, and unbiased manner and in a proper context. The substance element involves a focus on ensuring accurate, reliable, and unbiased information.”

Unfortunately NOAA’s repeated claim that there is no evidence of wind development causing whale deaths is neither accurate no unbiased. It is false and typical of NOAA’s actions biased in favor of development.

Moreover this wind-whale information falls under the special IQA category of influential scientific information which NOAA defines as “Influential scientific information (ISI) means scientific information the agency reasonably can determine will have or does have a clear and substantial impact on important public policies or private sector decisions.”

In fact it qualifies as highly influential scientific assessment: “The term Highly Influential Scientific Assessment (HISA) refers to a subset of Influential Scientific Information and means an influential scientific assessment that: …. (i) could have a potential impact of more than $500 million in any year, or (ii) is novel, controversial, or precedent setting or has significant interagency interest.”

The viability of the multi-billion dollar a year offshore wind program crucially depends in part on this wind-whale information. This evidence assessment is a HISA and IQA guidance rightfully calls for extra care and caution in making such assessments.

This HISA care is clearly not being given. NOAA has conducted no systematic studies on the issue of evidence. They have simply shrugged off the issue in favor of wind development. This is a glaring violation of the Information Quality Act.

 

Of particular interest is the adverse impact of sonar site surveys as until recently that has been the primary activity. NOAA’s website says the following:

“At this point, there is no scientific evidence that noise resulting from offshore wind site characterization surveys could potentially cause whale deaths.”
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/new-england-mid-atlantic/marine-life-distress/frequent-questions-offshore-wind-and-whales

In reality there is lots of evidence. Bear in mind that evidence comes in pieces. NOAA may be confusing evidence with certainty, that is thinking that because the specific impact on whales is uncertain that constitutes no evidence. Such reasoning is completely wrong.

Here are three simple examples of existing evidence that wind development is causing whale deaths.

First, the year site development got fully underway the Atlantic coast humpback whale death rate roughly tripled and it has remained high. This is strong evidence of a development induced tipping point. Wind defenders talk about the impact of increasing ship traffic and climate change but neither jumped at this specific time.

Second, NOAA itself has predicted and authorized thousands of noise “harassments” of whales where so-called harassment includes causing temporary deafness (which us actually an injury). That deafening a whale could lead to its death is obvious and NOAA even discusses this possibility. Thus these authorizations count as evidence supporting the hypothesis of development caused death.

Third, last year Professor Apostolos Gerasoulis found a high statistical correlation between the specific local activity of sonar survey boats and clusters of whale deaths. This is very strong, some would say compelling, evidence that wind development is causing whale deaths. Correlation is not causation but correlation in the context of a causal hypothesis is strong evidence. (This is the basis for clinical trials.)

NOAA’s response to this compelling study is simply preposterous. They consider it in an obscure single paragraph in a 160 page defense of their harassment authorization for the Vineyard Wind project. Here they say: “Overall, while NMFS considered this information, it did not provide new information that links whale strandings to offshore wind vessel movement or surveys.”

NOAA falsely claims this groundbreaking study provides no new information linking wind development and whale deaths! That is precisely what it does. This ridiculous claim is clearly biased and far from objective. It is typical of NOAA’s handling of the wind-whale evidence issue.

NOAA’s blatant violation of the Information Quality Act by ignoring the evidence that wind development is killing whales needs to be investigated and corrected.

There's plenty of evidence, but as they say in court, it's all circumstantial. But then, you can be convicted on circumstantial evidence.  I remain agnostic on the question of whether the offshore wind activity is killing whales, but it's certainly worth investigating.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Meanwhile, Back In The Kitchen up on time and under budget at The Other McCain.

The Snail Darter is a Modern Day Myth

Snail Darter

At Althouse, "'There is, technically, no snail darter,' said Thomas Near, curator of ichthyology at the Yale Peabody Museum."

"Dr. Near, also a professor who leads a fish biology lab at Yale, and his colleagues report in the journal Current Biology that the snail darter, Percina tanasi, is neither a distinct species nor a subspecies. Rather, it is an eastern population of Percina uranidea, known also as the stargazing darter, which is not considered endangered. Dr. Near contends that early researchers 'squinted their eyes a bit' when describing the fish, because it represented a way to fight the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plan to build the Tellico Dam on the Little Tennessee River, about 20 miles southwest of Knoxville. 'I feel it was the first and probably the most famous example of what I would call the "conservation species concept," where people are going to decide a species should be distinct because it will have a downstream conservation implication,' Dr. Near said."

Stargazing Darter

From "This Tiny Fish’s Mistaken Identity Halted a Dam’s Construction/Scientists say the snail darter, whose endangered species status delayed the building of a dam in Tennessee in the 1970s, is a genetic match of a different fish" (NYT).

When else have scientists "squinted their eyes a bit" to see a way to achieve a result they desired? When have they not? Who can ever feel secure that we know whether the "snail darter" is something specific or just another stargazer?

Far be it from me to defend taxonomists, who earned my ire when I was in high school by renaming a host of my favorite African Cichlids, but officially the Snail Darter exists as a separate species because scientists, with some (from their point of view) altruistic  reason, went through the motions of identifying it as one with a paper. While a very useful concept, the species is an attempt to impose order on a continually shifting collection of organisms. Generally thought of a distinct if they are incapable of fertile interbreeding with another similar species, that is not the test that is normally done when declaring a new species, and in fact, many named species may fertilely interbreed. At some level, the distinction between closely related species that may or may not overlap in range, and may interbreed if they do is essentially arbitrary Somebody has to decide, and since Linnaeus is dead, it's left to individual scientists and the process of peer review (which as we know is far from perfect). 

The darters (a group of small fish in the perch family) are perfect choices if you want to stop a dam, or other project near water. Often confined to relatively small streams and river, evolutionary drift and different environments often drive small differences in the appearance, and niche of populations in different areas, while migration and rare flooding events allow enough genetic mixing in a few places keep the underlying genes of the organisms from diverging too much. Grab a few from the area you want to stop development in, get a friendly scientist to re-describe them as a new, rare species, (endangered by the mere fact that it allegedly exists only where you looked for it), and voila! the perfect excuse. 

The Monday Morning Stimulus

Aljazeera, The Colombian coffee growers protecting the spectacled bear "South America’s only native bear is under threat. A small group of coffee farmers in the Andes is doing something about it."

Above the small town of El Aguila, a coffee-producing community that straddles a mountainous ridge with sweeping views of valleys and forest-cloaked slopes, a handful of farmers are freeing up portions of their land used for coffee cultivation, hunting and logging. The goal: helping to restore the natural habitat of the spectacled bear.

In return, they are receiving support and financial help that allows them to maximise productivity and grow higher-grade coffee on smaller plots of land.

The coffee growers are part of We Conserve Life, a collaboration between local farmers, the nonprofit Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the government agency National Natural Parks of Colombia (PNN) and a small collection of other public and private entities.

“We’ve learned about the bears and how to conserve their habitat. But as coffee producers, it’s also been a huge benefit,” says Liliana Grisales, as she tends to the carefully planted rows of coffee plants in front of her house.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: At The Pump & Munch up on time and under budget at The Other McCain.

Bees Sting Facebooks AI Expansion Plan

 Ars Technica, Endangered bees stop Meta’s plan for nuclear-powered AI data center

Plans by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta to build an AI data center in the US that runs on nuclear power were thwarted in part because a rare species of bee was discovered on land earmarked for the project, according to people familiar with the matter.

Zuckerberg had planned to strike a deal with an existing nuclear power plant operator to provide emissions-free electricity for a new data center supporting his artificial intelligence ambitions.

However, the potential deal faced multiple complications including environmental and regulatory challenges, these people said.

The discovery of the rare bee species on a location next to the plant where the data center was to be built would have complicated the project, Zuckerberg told a Meta all-hands meeting last week, according to two people familiar with the meeting.

The blow comes as rivals Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have all struck deals recently with nuclear power plant operators to fulfill rising energy demands from data centers as they race to train and maintain power-hungry AI models. One AI query consumes up to 10 times the energy of a standard Google search.

Meta is continuing to explore various deals for carbon-free energy, including nuclear, one of the people said. Meta declined to comment.

Nuclear is increasingly viewed as a way to get stable, round-the-clock power during the AI wars between Big Tech groups.

Rusty Patched Bumblebee

The article doesn't explain what bee species is causing the problem, but at SAN, Rare bee discovery halts Facebook parent Meta’s nuclear power plans

According to Financial Times, CEO Mark Zuckerberg informed Meta employees that the decision to halt the project stemmed in part from concerns surrounding the bee species. Although the specific type of bee has not been disclosed, the rusty patched bumblebee is the only type of bee in the continental U.S. that is protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Palm Sunday

with Coco Nady, 

Fox 28 Spokane, Ultra rare species of palm tree first found in 2006 planted at new home

An extremely rare species of palm tree only discovered in 2006 has been planted in its new home at The Eden Project.

The Tahina spectabilis is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and will now be the rarest plant in the Rainforest Biome in Cornwall.

It is thought that there are only 29 adult individuals growing in the wild and a very small number in cultivation.

The distinctiveness of this rare palm meant that a new, unique plant genus – a category normally grouping similar plants together – was created just for this single species.

 Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. 

A Sparrow's Fall

Saltmarsh Sparrow

At the Virginia Mercury, ‘Frisky little songbird’ needs protection from sea level rise, environmental group tells feds. "Center for Biological Diversity petitions to put saltmarsh sparrow on Endangered Species list."

An environmental organization is asking the federal government to list the saltmarsh sparrow, a bird living on wetlands on the east coast, including Virginia, for protection under the Endangered Species Act due to expected losses from sea level rise and human development.

The Center for Biological Diversity’s petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the saltmarsh sparrow population dwindled from 212,000 in 1998 to 60,000 in 2012. That number was expected to be 28,215 in 2020, according to projections from the 2012 survey.

“The fate of these frisky little songbirds is inextricably tied to our ability to protect the tidal marshes they call home,” Stephanie Kurose, deputy director of government affairs at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “Saltmarsh sparrows are creeping dangerously close to extinction and could disappear within the next 50 years.”

The sparrows were abundant in Virginia in the early 1900s, according to the petition. There are two kinds — a northern and southern — with the southern, which has more striping on its back and a darker crown, breeding in Maryland and Virginia.

The birds reside primarily between Virginia and Maine with trips as far south as Florida for the winter. The birds feed on insects and build nests on higher wetlands away from taller structures like trees and buildings.

According to the petition, sea level rise is causing flood waters to consume wetlands and is preventing the accumulation of sediment for the sparrows to build their nests on. Human development in coastal areas further deprives wetlands of dirt buildup, as heat stress also stunts the growth of vegetation that can be used to protect the birds from predators.

“Between 2030 and 2060, a tipping point will be reached after which the spring tide will come too early and too high, essentially ensuring that saltmarsh sparrows, which exist nowhere else on Earth, will be entirely unable to reproduce and will slip into extinction,” the petition states.

Well, except for the fact that salt marshes will grow upward with sea level rise, if they are allowed to, and not starved of sediment, or burned to make them prettier.  

Separate research from the Center for Conservation Biology found that the rising tides may also pose harsher winters for the sparrows’ wetland habitats, thereby pushing the birds more inland where more food may be available.

In order to be listed as a protected species under the Endangered Species Act, there must be a demonstration of at least one of five hardships: loss of habitat, overuse for commercial, science and research purposes; disease or predation; a lack of existing regulatory protections in place; or other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence.

Under the regulation component, the petition states there are no federal protections of the animal in place, and the only state protections are in Massachusetts and Maine. In Virginia, the Department of Conservation and Recreation does list the species as “rare” in its Natural Heritage Resources of Virginia document.

But just as important as protection of the species is ensuring their habitat remains intact, the petition adds.

Salt Marsh on Hoopers Island

I think I saw one sitting on the Spartina at Hoopers Island the other day. I should have taken a picture, but I was concentrating on the fish I wasn't catching. Lots of salt marsh out there still.

Willis Eschenbach at WUWT does a pretty good job of debunking the accelerating sea level rise myth: SEA LEVEL! EVERYONE PANIC!

Save the Whales!

At Virginia bloggers Bacon's Rebellion, Wind Project Sued Over Claimed Threat to Whales

A coalition of public interest groups has now filed its expected lawsuit seeking to halt construction of Dominion Energy Virginia’s offshore wind facility off Virginia Beach. Its key complaint is the federal permits were issued without a full and fair evaluation of the potential impact of the turbines on the shrinking North Atlantic Right Whale population.

The Heartland Institute, based in Illinois, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, with offices in Washington, D.C. and the National Legal and Policy Center of Falls Church, along with two individuals, are the listed plaintiffs. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and federal office holders are among the named defendants, along with Dominion.

The 61-page complaint to a District of Columbia federal court seeks relief under the Endangered Species Act. It claims the law requires the federal government to study the combined impact of all the planned East Coast wind projects, from New England waters down to North Carolina’s outer banks. Instead, the federal permitting authorities to date have looked at individual projects without regard to cumulative effects when issuing wildlife impact opinions and permits.

From the article on the CFACT website:

In issuing its “biological opinion” in September, NMFS only examined the impact that each of these projects, individually and in isolation, would have on the North Atlantic right whale. The agency did not, as it should have, issue a comprehensive and cumulative analysis examining the combined harm that all of the projects, together, would inflict on the whales during their annual migration path.

The courts, including the federal courts of the District of Columbia, have uniformly ruled that this approach is illegal in other endangered species cases because it misconstrues the language of the Endangered Species Act and creates, in the words of one court, “a type of slow slide into oblivion that is one of the very ills the Endangered Species Act was designed to prevent.”

The amount of federal waters leased for these projects constitutes an area larger than the states of Rhode Island and Connecticut combined. The North Atlantic right whales would be forced to navigate a gauntlet of 32 separate lease areas from Georgia to Maine twice each year.

This lawsuit would cause Dominion to halt construction on the project until BOEM has developed a new “biological opinion”, providing verifiable protection against potential harm to the North Atlantic right whale caused by these projects.

A total of 55 dead right whales have washed up on the beaches of the East Coast since 2017, causing the federal authorities to declare an “unusual mortality event” and create two areas of “critical habitat” for the whale – one off the coast of Maine and one off the coast Georgia. The North Atlantic right whale is a critically endangered species with only about 70 females capable of producing newborn calves.

The North Atlantic right whale is so critically endangered that NMFS has issued a determination for the chances of survival for the species called the Potential Biological Removal Rate (PBR). The PBR for the NARW is 0.7, which means that if the species is to survive, there must be zero human-caused mortalities of the NARW on an annual basis.

As I've noted before, I don't believe that various aspects of offshore wind power are killing whales, but I'm not willing to rule it out either. Plausible mechanisms by which such effects could occur have been offered, and they are almost impossible to test. If this were anything other than the left's coveted "renewable" energy program, whale lovers and other "environmentalists" would be screaming to shut it all down.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Blast From The Past up and ready for your digital pleasure.

Can Mud Save the Chesapeake Bay?

Salt Marsh Sparrow

No, but mud and $13 million can possibly help an endangered sparrow. Bay Journal, Officials spray mud onto Chesapeake island to save imperiled saltmarsh sparrows. 

About a decade ago, a bird species facing a rapid population decline vanished from one of its previously documented haunts on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. What had once been a swath of ideal high-marsh habitat for saltmarsh sparrows near Deal Island now flooded too often.

Experts cite sea level rise as one of the main drivers of the increased flooding, which in turn accelerates erosion and, ultimately, the loss of the marshes.

Saltmarsh sparrows build their nests close to the ground amid wetland grasses. With high tides and storm surges inundating those nests more often, the birds fled, said David Curson, director of bird conservation for Audubon Mid-Atlantic.

“If we don’t take action, nearly all of the marshes in the [Chesapeake] Bay will be lost to erosion by the end of this century,” said Curson, who has surveyed the Deal Island population for years. “This would be a real disaster because of the essential ecosystem services they provide.”

Actually, marshes will move backward, up the slope as seawater advances, if they are given room to grow. 

After four years of planning, a $13 million effort is underway to test a possible solution. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is using mud dredged from a nearby river to raise the height of a section of marshland that once hosted the sparrows.

A dredge operated by Cottrell Contracting Corp. of Chesapeake, VA, started siphoning muck from the bottom of the lower Wicomico River in mid-October. That is routine. Since the 1890s, the river has been dredged every few years to maintain adequate depth for ships traveling to Salisbury. The port handles 1 million tons of cargo per year, making it the state’s second-largest water hub after Baltimore.

What’s different is where the dredged material is being placed. Typically, it has been unloaded wherever a willing landowner could be found and environmental hurdles could be cleared.

When Wicomico County and the Army Corps could no longer locate a suitable site on the lower half of the river a few years ago, they began looking farther afield. The partners prioritized sites at the greatest risk of washing away. A spot within the state’s 13,000-acre Deal Island Wildlife Management Area (WMA) easily fit the bill, they said.

This is a portion of Deal Island, MD, where
 dredged sediment is being pumped in

“You can see the marsh is breaking up,” said Curson as he displayed photographs during a virtual public meeting for the project.  The project entails mixing the dredged silt with water and pumping the resulting slurry through a temporary 9-mile pipeline. There, workers spray the material onto a 75-acre plot of badly eroded wetlands that lie between the Manokin River and the WMA’s main impoundment.

That phase of the project is scheduled for completion by mid-February. If all goes according to plan, the targeted acreage will receive 140,000 cubic yards of fresh earth, raising its height an average of 1.5 feet. The Army Corps plans to restore vegetation over two years by spreading seeds from the air and planting grasses by hand.

A second phase of dredging on the upper portion of the river is scheduled for late 2024, but that spoil is ticketed for a site near Salisbury.

Fortunately, there is no shortage of mud on the Eastern Shore. I'm shocked that they actually have to pipe it 9 miles. For a sparrow. 

Judge Declares Hellbenders Endangered

Bay Journal, Federal judge strikes down ruling that hellbenders are not endangered

A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to take another look at its 2019 decision denying endangered status protection for the eastern hellbender, the nation’s largest aquatic salamander that is found in low numbers in all Chesapeake Bay drainage states.

On Sept. 5, Judge Lewis Liman in a U.S. District Court in New York voided the federal agency’s 2019 decision. Liman ruled that one of the agency’s determinations that hellbenders were not threatened or endangered because of emerging conservation and reintroduction efforts could not be assumed to head off population declines.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association, Waterkeeper Alliance and Waterkeeper Chesapeake had sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2021 over denying endangered protection status for the hellbender, Pennsylvania’s state amphibian.

“There are few creatures as symbolically significant to our work in the Susquehanna River watershed as the eastern hellbender, a misunderstood and underappreciated species that is a critically important litmus test of water quality,” Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper John Zaktansky said after the court ruling.

Eastern hellbenders are found in 15 states. Their biggest threats are degraded water quality and sedimentation that fills in nests and breeding areas.

Information submitted in the application that seeks to declare hellbenders endangered said that the number of known healthy populations in the U.S. had declined by 61% and that 63% of the remaining populations were in decline.

The Fish & Wildlife Service had countered that conservation efforts would prevent hellbenders from becoming endangered throughout a significant portion of its range.

It may be the the right decision, but I'm not happy that judges are taking on the job of deciding which animals are worthy of protection. 

US Selects Wind Energy Sites Off Atlantic Coasts

 Offshore, BOEM finalizes wind energy areas offshore Delaware, Maryland and Virginia

WASHINGTON, DC — The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced three final wind energy areas (WEAs) offshore Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, which were developed following extensive engagement and feedback from states, Tribes, local residents, ocean users, federal government partners and other members of the public.

If fully developed, the final WEAs could support between 4 GW and 8 GW of energy production.

I guess they're not really worried about whale migrations routes.

North Atlantic Right Whale - Endangered species 

Palm Sunday

WRAL, Tar Heel Traveler: NC farmer is on a mission to save endangered palm trees. "On Juneteenth, our Tar Heel Traveler is in Johnston County with an African American historian and palm tree grower."

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Elisabeth Giolito up on time and under budget at The Other McCain.

New Park Land for Slower Maryland?

 Bay Journal, Federal wildlife refuge looks to expand in Southern Maryland

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced in early March that it is looking to conserve up to 30,000 acres of land over the next 30 years in five counties: Prince George’s, Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s.

Officials envision creating a “landscape scale” refuge similar to the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia, said Dan Murphy, chief of habitat restoration and conservation in the service’s Chesapeake Bay Field Office. Established in 1996, that refuge encompasses about 10,000 acres in a series of mostly unconnected tracts across five counties along the river corridor.

As was done for the Virginia refuge, USFWS officials plan to identify a large acquisition boundary in Southern Maryland, then target the most ecologically important parcels within it for protection by either buying them from willing sellers or paying them to surrender development rights via conservation easements.

The move comes as development presses in on the Patuxent Research Refuge, the only national wildlife refuge in the region. Its 13,000 acres spanning Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties sit midway between Baltimore and the District of Columbia.

Prince George’s County is looking to develop 97 acres of forest and ponds between the refuge and Bowie State University.

Just last year, an effort by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to sell 105 mostly wooded acres bordering the refuge got put on hold after refuge supporters protested.

Murphy said the announcement of the regional refuge plan wasn’t triggered by any specific threats to the Patuxent refuge but more out of a desire to preserve critical habitats that are in danger of being degraded or destroyed. The idea, he said, grew out of former President Obama’s 2009 executive order directing all federal agencies to develop a coordinated strategy for protecting and restoring the Bay.

Over the last dozen years, USFWS staff have identified roughly 180,000 acres of ecologically valuable land in the region that is currently unprotected, Murphy explained. At the same time, he said, they recognized that the Patuxent Refuge was being increasingly hemmed in by development and in jeopardy of becoming an “ecological island.”

The service says it is primarily concerned with safeguarding native animals and plants that are in jeopardy of disappearing from the region. All of them face the threat of habitat loss from land use changes, climate change, competition from invasive species and other external population stressors.

The five counties targeted by the USFWS plan were among the fastest growing in Maryland over the last decade, trailing only Howard and Frederick counties.

Murphy said the USFWS plans to focus on protecting habitat in the watersheds of Mattawoman and Nanjemoy creeks, Zekiah Swamp and the St. Mary’s and Patuxent rivers. They’re also keen to protect more of Calvert County’s crumbling Bayshore cliffs, which are home to endangered Puritan tiger beetles.

The Puritan Tiger Beetle has been used as an excuse to prevent cliff protection here at Calvert Cliffs. A house was condemned because they weren't allowed to shore up the cliff that was encroaching on the house.

In addition to the tiger beetles, the five-county area is home to several other endangered or threatened species. Dwarf wedgemussels hang on in Nanjemoy Creek and McIntosh Run in Charles County.

Increasingly rare plants, namely swamp pink and a flowering legume called sensitive joint-vetch, grow in the region’s remaining marshes, while endangered northern long-eared bats lurk in its forests. The tidal waters also provide critical habitat for Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon.

The service hopes over the next 30 years to protect about one sixth of that vulnerable acreage, using the federal Land and Water Conservation and Migratory Bird funds. Those funds draw revenue from sales of federal duck hunting stamps, wildlife refuge entrance fees, import duties on arms and ammunition and the sale of offshore oil leases.

Lands purchased to become part of a national wildlife refuge will be removed from the property tax rolls of the counties in question, but the USFWS pointed out that it annually reimburses localities for some of its lost real estate tax revenue.

"some"

I think I'd have to see what tracts of land they have their eyes on, and how they intend to restrict their usage before I decide whether it's a good or bad idea.