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Steven Rinella and Rob Bishop

Here's a couple of things from my perspective.

- I went into this podcast thinking that it was going to be more of a discussion and less of a debate.

- It was good for me to hear Bishop's talking / selling points straight from him. I don't agree with them, but I wanted to hear them.

- Bishop may believe that "land managers" can just make decisions that are capricious - but it is clear to me that Bishop's intentions are insidious.

- It is good for Rinella's audience that he took this tone for the podcast. I imagine that the majority of subscribers are not well versed on each issue. I see this as laying ground-work for things to come. You aren't going to change folk's opinions by just being divisive - it's going to take some education along the way.

I would have liked Rinella to counter-point more aggressively - take for instance the case Bishop laid out for how many Antiquities Act designations that Obama had made. Many of those designations were made because Congress had failed to act - and Bishop was a lead contender in the inaction. I just don't see how he would have made that point - and kept the continuity of the interview moving forward.
 
I think Steve did well all things considering. This isn’t a easy situation to find yourself in as a host. The idea was to listen to Bishops position on the issues, while still being cordial host yet still articulating your opinion. We all know Steve’s option on these matters. if this episode was to be just another dictatorial on that option then there is no reason to have Bishop on it the show in the first place. The idea that we some how do ourselves and stance a disservice by allowing the apposition a voice makes us look fragile. We have strong argument, we should act like it. You do that buy engaging others and allowing them to see the strength and benefits of your ideas in contrast to you opponents. Good job Steve.
 
What good can come from this? I mean I don't see how letting the opposition snake oil salesman go on helps.

Helps to know more intimately what you're fighting, helps to spur on better discussion, creates more engagement in the issue.

Well said! I know I’m more informed and now have a reference for those I talk to where they can hear and see both sides.
 
I'm not saying Rob Bishop was not guilty of politician speak and he is completely capable of saying what he thinks people want to hear--but lets be honest, as it was pointed out in the podcast, both sides of these issues are capable of inaccurate hyperbole. Bishop did make some sense on the LWCF - he never said he did not want to reauthorize it, but wants to reform it to ensure a balance of funds directed to state matching grants and other purposes. National monuments - he had the facts right about the history of the act and again wants to reform it, not repeal it - perhaps his proposal is too narrow (5,000 acres?), but the vagueness of the Antiquities act is something everyone can agree on. Same with reforms for ESA, does not have the answer, but knows it is not working as it should. On the "Access" definition being repurposed to mean "easy-access" ie the "elite hunter/wilderness" issue - I think Steve did a poor job of articulating what he was getting at and was unable to get Bishop to understand what his argument was.

State Transfer is the issue that Bishop was most concrete on and is one issue that you will not get him to budge on. He is a state transfer proponent - as are many in the GOP, considering it is in the party platform.

Overall Bishop did not say anything, other than the state transfer issue, that gives me heartburn. The interview was well done, with reasonable dialogue.

If only everyone on both sides of various issues kept an open mind and negotiated in good faith it would be easier to get things done in government. Certain issues are cold-dead-hands issues and they need to be, but when that applies to every issue we get what we have now--gridlock and widening partisan divides. How I long for the days of pork-barrell spending so we can actually get something accomplished.

Respect your opinion but I gotta disagree, especially on the portion about LWCF. From what I could gather, one of his big complaints about LWCF was some story about unnamed groups that bought land and then sold it to the government, which used LWCF money, so that the unnamed non-profit groups could make money. He was insinuating that people in government were intentionally buying land from non-profit groups they liked or agreed with. In my mind, this is completely anecodotal and not based in any fact. I would venture to say it was complete bullshit. Same with his stance that a land manager of a national monument could end grazing, hunting, etc. just on a whim.
 
Respect your opinion but I gotta disagree, especially on the portion about LWCF. From what I could gather, one of his big complaints about LWCF was some story about unnamed groups that bought land and then sold it to the government, which used LWCF money, so that the unnamed non-profit groups could make money. He was insinuating that people in government were intentionally buying land from non-profit groups they liked or agreed with. In my mind, this is completely anecodotal and not based in any fact. I would venture to say it was complete bullshit. Same with his stance that a land manager of a national monument could end grazing, hunting, etc. just on a whim.

While it may be anecdotal, I'd say it is no less problematic. We on this forum cannot sit back and complain about abuses of the ESA and NEPA then turn a blind eye if abuses occur with LWCF. I don't have any issue with Steve giving a "platform" for this discussion. If nothing else, we get the opportunity to know thine enemy. Two years ago I would have never have thought the federal government being control of large swaths of land was a good thing. With out this forum I would have never had the opportunity to understand the issue. Seeing how the other side works and thinks is very important to these discussions.
 
While it may be anecdotal, I'd say it is no less problematic. We on this forum cannot sit back and complain about abuses of the ESA and NEPA then turn a blind eye if abuses occur with LWCF. I don't have any issue with Steve giving a "platform" for this discussion. If nothing else, we get the opportunity to know thine enemy. Two years ago I would have never have thought the federal government being control of large swaths of land was a good thing. With out this forum I would have never had the opportunity to understand the issue. Seeing how the other side works and thinks is very important to these discussions.

What is underlined above is an example of how spreading false information, as Bishop excels at, can get taken as fact if not clarified or rebutted. I wouldn't expect most folks to know the intricacies of LWCF, unless they are very involved with LWCF and projects completed with that program.

I'm not aware of any abuses of LWCF, even if Rob Bishop might claim such exists. I suspect I've got more experience with LWCF projects than Rob Bishop. I've been to DC testifying before his committee on the program, asking for renewal and full funding. I can attest to the fact that he dislikes the program and will do all he can to see it deep-sixed.

I've been too busy to listen to the Meateater podcast, so I'm not sure if Bishop did say LWCF is being used as a profit center by non-profits. If Bishop said that, he's asking to be challenged on that claim. To my knowledge, and I am closing involved with an organization that has acquired 700,000+ acres and turned it over to state and federal management agencies, occasionally getting LWCF money to match other funds in the transaction. The agency taking eventual ownership cannot pay more than appraised value if they are a governmental organization. And if the acquiring group is a non-profit organization and they are augmenting any matching funds from LWCF or other funds, the non-profit is held to no more than appraised value.

I've been involved in many dozen of these transactions over the last 25 years. The appraisals and the transfer/sale agreements have been, and are required to be, public record. Maybe I've been sheltered or it is just merely a coincidence, but I've never seen a single transaction where the charitable organization that coordinated the project sold it at some large profit that is being implied. I have seen where the non-profit gets reimbursed for some of the costs they have incurred, but they are very small relative to the entire transaction. If Bishop wants to stand by the rumor that non-profits are getting rich via LWCF funding, I might ask his office for the documents that support examples of what he is claiming. My expectation is they could provide me that list of abusive transactions in the margins of a business card.
 
Like I said, I've not listened to the podcast. I plan to do that this weekend. I did have a chance to visit with Steve and Janis before they did the podcast with Bishop. I was excited when they told me it was going to happen. We talked about some of the issues and complexities Steve was mulling.

I am confident that Steve is playing a long game on this. I would be hesitant to jump to any conclusions of Steve being played by Bishop. Steve is a very smart guy. I expect this is one step, of many steps, Steve and Janis have in mind as it relates to using their platforms toward these efforts.
 
I'm not aware of any abuses of LWCF, even if Rob Bishop might claim such exists. I suspect I've got more experience with LWCF projects than Rob Bishop. I've been to DC testifying before his committee on the program, asking for renewal and full funding. I can attest to the fact that he dislikes the program and will do all he can to see it deep-sixed.

I've been too busy to listen to the Meateater podcast, so I'm not sure if Bishop did say LWCF is being used as a profit center by non-profits. If Bishop said that, he's asking to be challenged on that claim. To my knowledge, and I am closing involved with an organization that has acquired 700,000+ acres and turned it over to state and federal management agencies, occasionally getting LWCF money to match other funds in the transaction. The agency taking eventual ownership cannot pay more than appraised value if they are a governmental organization. And if the acquiring group is a non-profit organization and they are augmenting any matching funds from LWCF or other funds, the non-profit is held to no more than appraised value.

I've been involved in many dozen of these transactions over the last 25 years. The appraisals and the transfer/sale agreements have been, and are required to be, public record. Maybe I've been sheltered or it is just merely a coincidence, but I've never seen a single transaction where the charitable organization that coordinated the project sold it at some large profit that is being implied. I have seen where the non-profit gets reimbursed for some of the costs they have incurred, but they are very small relative to the entire transaction. If Bishop wants to stand by the rumor that non-profits are getting rich via LWCF funding, I might ask his office for the documents that support examples of what he is claiming. My expectation is they could provide me that list of abusive transactions in the margins of a business card.

Well Fin, he did. To paraphrase he said that NGO's would buy land at below market then sell back via LWCF at a profit to fund their litigation. I respect you and what you do for everything for hunting and conservation. I also value having all facts when going to my Midwest congressmen who likely have no clue as to the fine points of public land issues. That was the point of me bringing this up here.
 
I am confident that Steve is playing a long game on this. I would be hesitant to jump to any conclusions of Steve being played by Bishop. Steve is a very smart guy. I expect this is one step, of many steps, Steve and Janis have in mind as it relates to using their platforms toward these efforts.

I would expect this as well. Even podcasters are Limited in how you can present an argument and articulate a position while at the same time giving the other person a respectable amount of room as well.... whenever I've heard Rinella speak in person, read His work, listen to his podcast or watched his TV show, I never got the opinion that he was anything less than extremely well-spoken and well-thought-out. A consummate professional. No way in hell he went into this podcast unprepared or winging it.
 
i would expect this as well. Even podcasters are limited in how you can present an argument and articulate a position while at the same time giving the other person a respectable amount of room as well.... Whenever i've heard rinella speak in person, read his work, listen to his podcast or watched his tv show, i never got the opinion that he was anything less than extremely well-spoken and well-thought-out. A consummate professional. No way in hell he went into this podcast unprepared or winging it.

this^^^^^^^^^
 
Lessons learned (or at least reinforced).

1. Rob Bishop has a completely different set of values concerning public land and wild places than I do and most hunters I know.

2. Bishop knows his history well and is skilled at picking specific anecdotal instances that may or may not be factually accurate to make a point.

3. I respect Steve for biting his tongue and allowing Bishop to not feel threatened. I think Bishop opened up way more than he would have if Steve had been confrontational.

4. Bishop is fully aware of and a bit drunk on his position of power.

5. We are damn lucky to have smart guys like Steve and Randy who have created these platforms for so many hunters to educate themselves.

As Fin said, I think this is step 1 in a long-play that will eventually help show a wider audience of hunters that Bishop is public enemy #1 for western hunting.

One more thing, Bishop said the West is plenty big for us to have Development, Recreation and Conservation with no negative impacts. Go ask any western state wildlife or habitat biologist about that statement. A lot of what Bishop said was sketchy but that statement was flat out wrong/dangerous/deceitful/ignorant.
 
What makes you think this was a debate with a winner and a looser. Rinnella expressed his desire to allow someone with a differing view point come on and explain themselves. He allowed just that. I would be very surprised if he didn't make some sort of rebuttal himself to some of Bishops erroneous ideas at some point but i really doubt Bishop would of agreed to an open debate on public lands on a obvious pro public land podcast. I personally thought it was really interesting to see the categorical differences between someone who shares my view of public lands and someone like Bishop who spouted off craziness like there's enough land to do everything we want with and my deck will eventually turn into wilderness if we leave it alone. It's valuable to see what we are up against in the public land battle and I think the podcast well illustrated the other side. Don't get me wrong I was angrily screaming BS at several things that bishop said and generally got the impression Rinnella bit his tounge but I don't think this means that there was nothing to gain. Bishop came out sounding even loonier than I had imagined far from "winner" status.

Bishop was only talking crazy if you knew it in advance. At no point in that podcast did Renella stopped dancing around a topic to point out any of the craziness. Bishop was allowed to take irrational illogical ideas and spin them as rational facts, that every casual listener would agree with. I mean what's the point if you're not challenging crazy? He might as well of just posted a youtube video of Bishop talking at a fund raising dinner party or something if the only intent is to allow free-flowing crazy
 
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The fact that I've already had two hunting friends mentioned "how much sense" Bishop made, and asking why BHA is so against this guy when he clearly has hunters and anglers best intentions in mind, is proof enough that this discussion was an overall negative not a positive.
 
I suppose it would be counter productive to present the end game - if this was a step in the direction of interest for Rinella, et al... However, Those that chose to listen that were on the fence or sided with Bishop's KoolAid I believe sided further on Bishop's agenda. I do not see how this was a positive.

In the interest as shared in Randy's posts that this holds a measured plan (generalizing the words used), I do not see it. How did this better enhance the pro fed/public land side for the current/long term? Open dialogue seems to be a potential though to me it took a couple steps back to open this... Maybe a good move...(?)
 
As a new hunter trying to learn about public lands and conservation I have to say I am mostly disappointed by the discussion here. Nobody is talking specific policies, numbers, facts, or history. All I've learned is that according to most of you I'm not suppose to like this Rob Bishop guy for some reason...

If the message failed to reach me, a person who is interested in hunting and conservation. There is no way this will reach the general public.
 
Something that needs to be taken away from this is a better understanding of what we are up against. Bishop made it very clear that from ideological stand point these lands need to be managed by the state regardless of practical considerationss.
We often make the agrument that federal management of public is better or rather has a better track record then state management of lands. It’s a logical argument except if your up against an ideologue who honestly belives that any state management is better then federal involvement because “ its the way it should be”. In his mind these lands belong to the state to manage or miss manage as they deem fit. The fact that he and his corhorts can garner favor through The quasi-ownership that they are trying to achieve is just icing on the cake.

We need to come to better understanding of the mindset that fuels the motivation behind this. If we don’t change and keep using the same tired arguemnts I fear we will lose to a stacked deck.
 
As a new hunter trying to learn about public lands and conservation I have to say I am mostly disappointed by the discussion here. Nobody is talking specific policies, numbers, facts, or history. All I've learned is that according to most of you I'm not suppose to like this Rob Bishop guy for some reason...

If the message failed to reach me, a person who is interested in hunting and conservation. There is no way this will reach the general public.

aman, let me take a stab at it:

1) Bishop said that LWCF funds are being funneled into "special interest" groups. Randy spelled out above that that is not true. If RB has proof of this happening, I want to see it. RB supposedly avoided using specifics to protect his "family." I call BS. He didn't use specifics so no one could check into it and definitively call him on it.

2) RB said that acquisition of lands via LWCF does not equal access. I call BS. What he means is that federal acquisition does not mean roads and extraction. Almost all USFS and BLM land is open to public access, just not RB's form of access (roads and drilling rigs).

3) RB wants to use LWCF funds for college tuition?!?!?! Talk about changing the intent of the law.

4) According to RB there is unlimited space in the West and there is no real contention between industry, recreation, and wildlife. If there is so much space then why are land prices sky-rocketing? Why is the #1 reason for hunters quitting (or never getting started) access? Why are there groups like BHA, RMEF, TU, etc, etc, fighting and spending billions of dollar to conserve habitat?

5) RB says that the Antiquities Act was written to protect "human structures." The first monument was Devils Tower, which is a rock formation. Is he just making this stuff up as he goes?

6) RB says Carter took half of Alaska via the Antiquities Act. I will assume he was using hyperbole about the percentage, but as Steve and he agreed, designating land as a monument does not change it's ownership. It was Federal land. It is now Federal land. No one took anything.

7) RB would not agree that land transfer would not equal privatization. "No one is talking about it." Everyone is talking about it, he just doesn't want to spell it out because then the happily uninformed would wise up and be against it.

8) RB says that National Parks should be "wide open" to people with almost no restrictions. I was at Yosemite last Spring during the free parks week. It was bumper-to-bumper traffic (cars literally did not move for hours at a time) on the single paved road in the narrow valley. Apparently this is RB's vision or how the parks should be all the time.

9) RB says wilderness can be reclaimed. I have personally been in quite a few wilderness areas and even the ones that have been closed to motorized access for decades are still littered with old mining machinery and eroded roadways and other ecological footprints. So maybe in a few centuries the land will be able to actually reclaim an area, but personally, I would rather see a few more places that just never get ruined in the first place.
 
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Bishop was only talking crazy if you knew it in advance. At no point in that podcast did Renella stopped dancing around a topic to point out any of the craziness. Bishop was allowed to take irrational illogical ideas and spin them as rational facts, that every casual listener would agree with. I mean what's the point if you're not challenging crazy? He might as well of just posted a youtube video of Bishop talking at a fund raising dinner party or something if the only intent is to allow free-flowing crazy

There were lots of statments that Bishop made that were crazy and you needed no prior knowledge to know they were crazy. I do understand what your saying overall but I don't think any of the dialog would of occurred had Rinnella jumped him. I think Steve let him express his points and lots of mis information that can be used against him in the future. I will be absolutely shocked if the Meat eater crew does not put out their own rebuttal soon.

Your two buddies are prime examples of the dangers of not doing some fact checking and believing everything you hear as fact. If you take any sniper of an issue without getting the whole story it can paint a very distorted picture. That's the biggest battle we are facing right now with public land issues is dismissing the mis information and getting the masses informed.
 
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