The NYSDEC takes the lead on lead

 

Last year, while hiking on our spread in Gasport, I encountered an incredibly sick, nearly immobilized raccoon likely affected by rabies and approaching death.

 

I unholstered my handgun and planned to dispatch the suffering creature. But, I had second thoughts and put the gun away.

 

I pondered a possible outcome that I didn’t want to happen had I gone through with it. Within a couple miles of where I was live two pairs of bald eagles. The magnificent birds are opportunistic feeders -- they fly around our community in search of their next meal that, most often, is carrion. My concern was that one of them would discover the dead raccoon, eat it, and ingest the bullet I was going to put into it. 

 

A small piece of lead the size of a rice grain can poison a bald eagle. Once bits of lead are in the very acidic stomach of the bird, they are dissolved and absorbed into the bloodstream. Lead will give an eagle brain damage and harm its nervous system. It can suppress growth, harm fertility, and cause weakness, organ failure, and anemia.

 

When eagles are brought into rescue clinics, most are suffering from lead poisoning. The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota treats 160 to 180 bald eagles a year and 90% percent test positive for lead and about 30% have levels high enough to be fatal. Closer to home, a wildlife pathologist with the New York State Departments of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) found that 14% of the eagles he investigated had died from lead poisoning.  

 

It is believed that in the northeast United States the growth of the eagle population has been suppressed by more than 5% due to lead poisoning – a significant impact for an uncommon species that needs further population recovery.

 

And, that’s where the NYSDEC and its friends come in.

 

This year, the agency is continuing its multi-year cooperative study of how increased use of non-lead ammunition for deer hunting can improve the survival of eagles. Carcasses and entrails left after a successful hunt could have chunks of slugs or bullets in them, a legitimate concern considering more than 200,000 deer were taken by New York hunters last year and the statewide eagle population is around 500 breeding pairs.   

 

To get deer hunters engaged in abandoning lead ammunition, the NYSDEC’s research partners – Hunters For Eagle Conservation -- are incentivizing the change.  All hunters statewide are eligible for a rebate up to $60 for the purchase of non-lead ammunition for use during the 2024 deer hunting season. Last year, the effort was put on only a few wildlife management units. Now, the entire state is in the sights of this endeavor and it is expected that it will be in play for at least a couple more years.

 

If you are looking to stock up on non-lead ammo in advance of next week’s firearms opening day, do so now. The rebate comes after your hunt – successful or not. The rebate is good for one box of factory loaded non-lead ammunition or one box of lead-free bullets for reloading. To receive it, you need to visit https://huntersforeagleconservation.org/new-york/ and complete a survey, which is an invaluable part of the state’s study.

 

When applying for the funds you need to submit your contact information (including mailing address and email address), the name of the store where your box of lead-free ammunition was purchased, and a copy (photo or PDF) of your receipt for one box of the qualifying ammunition. It’s helpful to them if you circle the item on your receipt.

 

A list of certified non-lead ammunition can be found at wildlife.ca.gov/Hunting/Nonlead-Ammunition/Certified

 

Participation in this program is encouraged, even without the financial sweetener. Bald eagles suffered for far too long. In 1976, only one breeding pair of eagles lived in New York. They are on the rebound now and we need to keep that momentum going. The emblem of our nation deserves our best so they can be their best.

 

 

From the 08 November 2024 Greater Niagara Newspapers and Wellsville Sun

A look at Proposal One

 

This is the twentieth election cycle during which I’ve been a columnist.

 

Over those two decades I’ve hardly written about the candidates – politics isn’t my bag; policy is.

 

But, I’ve always taken the time to write about statewide ballot proposals. They tend to get lost in the theater, glamour, and money of political campaigns, so I’ve seen it as my duty to educate the masses about them, to give reasoning and both -- or all – sides. My goal is to help voters better understand their duty when heading into the polls and not be caught unaware of the decision they have to make.

 

Most ballot items are relatively benign and free of political intrigue. For example, recent proposals have been things like increasing the monetary level for cases that a specific court could hear or letting lawmakers have access to electronic -- instead of printed – bills. It’s difficult to get worked up about things like that.

 

This year is a little different. This column might actually be irrelevant because most voters have already heard about and made up their minds about Proposal One. If you’ve spent any time on social media or listened to talk radio you’ve no doubt been inundated with posts, memes, and advertisements about it.

 

For those who haven’t, here you go.  

 

Proposal One reads as follows:

 

Concurrent Resolution of the Senate and Assembly proposing an amendment to section 11 of article 1 of the constitution, in relation to equal protection

 

Section 1. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That section 11 of article 1 of the constitution be amended to read as follows:

 

§ 11. a. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws of this state or any subdivision thereof. No person shall, because of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed [or], religion, or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy, be subjected to any discrimination in [his or her] their civil rights by any other person or by any firm, corporation, or institution, or by the state or any agency or subdivision of the state, pursuant to law.

 

b. Nothing in this section shall invalidate or prevent the adoption of any law, regulation, program, or practice that is designed to prevent or dismantle discrimination on the basis of a characteristic listed in this section, nor shall any characteristic listed in this section be interpreted to interfere with, limit, or deny the civil rights of any person based upon any other characteristic identified in this section.

 

   §  2. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That the foregoing amendment be submitted to the people for approval at the general election to be held in the year 2024 in accordance with the provisions of the election law.

 

Explanation – Matter in underscored is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted.

 

The proposal was made with the intent of enshrining in the state constitution the right to an abortion and ensuring that LBGTQ individuals be protected from discrimination. The proposal outright lacks the word “abortion” and the acronym “LBGTQ”, much to the frustration of top Democrats like Senator Liz Krueger and Attorney General Letitia James who wanted the proposal to be more widely understood in clear, plain language as required for such measures (judges dictated that the current language was sufficient to get that point across).

 

Organizations backing the proposal – such as NYCLU and the state’s Democratic Party – cite the state as being behind in enshrinement of abortion and gender rights as 22 states already have something similar to the proposal on their books. They also look at its need with urgency and fear, what with Roe v. Wade having been overturned by the Supreme Court and the increasing likelihood of a second Trump presidency.   

 

Those who are against the proposal – the most vocal and powerful being the state’s Republican Party – have been saying that it’s a Trojan horse, that it will bring with it a series of intended and unintended consequences. Among them, the GOP believes that it will remove parental consent from health decisions impacting their children; allow boys to compete in girls’ sports; and grant taxpayer-funded benefits to non-citizens.

 

I strongly suggest that voters spend time – outside of social media – researching the proposal because there are substantial theatrics and doom-and-gloom being cast by both sides. When it comes to those extremes, one side would have you believe if it doesn’t pass pregnant women will die while the other side has you thinking if it does pass kids will be mutilated.

 

If you were to further research this issue, a good place to start is the Empire Center’s take written by Cam Macdonald which can be found at tinyurl.com/NYProposalOne. In a reasoned, detailed approach he notes that the proposal does not protect abortion rights by itself nor does it take away parental consent. It does lift more people into protected classes while not affording any extra rights. Macdonald’s and the Center’s big concern with the proposal is that the courts (not lawmakers) will set public policy through litigation outcomes because the proposal does not provide the appropriate guide rails for the courts.  

 

Proposal one. Is it good? It is bad? That’s for you to decide at the ballot box.

 

 

From the 29 October 2024 Greater Niagara Newspapers and Wellsville Sun

Remembering Belva Lockwood, local presidential candidate

 

Much has been said and written by others about Kamala Harris possibly becoming our nation’s first woman president. But, politics and political coverage being what they are – that is, a focus on the now and the short-term – we tend to overlook both the future and the past. Little if anything has been said in recent weeks, even as a much-needed moment of reflection to get away from the immediate theater of presidential politics, about the modern role of women in government and the trailblazers who opened up the opportunities now present.

 

Among those who led the way is Belva Lockwood, someone who should be a household name in Western New York but is not for the most part outside of the communities she had called home in her formative years -- Royalton and Lockport.

 

Lockwood was historically significant. She was officially the first woman on a presidential ballot from any party, large or small. She ran for the office of the president in 1884 and 1888, both times via the National Equal Rights Party. In 1884 she received 4,100 votes, a fraction of those received by winner Grover Cleveland -- ironically, another candidate with a substantial Western New York background -- who garnered 4.87 million votes.

Limited numbers notwithstanding, Lockwood’s performance was a significant step in advancing women. Since Lockwood’s passing in 1917, women have had a long history of holding federal office dating back to that year in the House (when Jeanette Rankin was elected) and 1932 in the Senate (when Hattie Caraway was elected). Today, women make up 29% of the House of Representatives and a quarter of the Senate.

 

Back when Lockwood ran for president, women were looked at as second-class citizens; they couldn’t even vote. The common sentiment was that they belonged in the home and shouldn’t participate in more manly pursuits like governance and law. The majority of the “gentlemanly” press painted her as a joke when she campaigned, just as they did any other woman who counted herself as a suffragist fighting for women’s civic rights.

Lockwood was incredibly instrumental in changing those disgusting ways in which we viewed and treated women in the public arena. She overcame the negative coverage and showed that she was up to the task of debating and developing a platform, a deep 15-position masterpiece that was arguably more substantial than that of Cleveland or his Republican foe, James Blaine. Had women possessed the right to vote, she would have been a formidable opponent and definitely a game changer (the 1884 election was ridiculously close: Cleveland had 48.5 percent of the vote while Blaine had 48.02 percent). The 19^th Amendment, guaranteeing the right of woman to vote, wasn’t ratified until 1920.

Outside of politics, she was just as impressive.

 

As a teacher – a career she started at just 14 years of age -- she developed new curricula in schools in Lockport, Gainesville, and Owego whereby she expanded the knowledge base afforded young women, exposing them to studies that only men once took.

 

She also became one of the first female lawyers to practice in the U.S. – something she did for 43 years -- and ultimately became the first one allowed to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court. She was a successful lawyer at that: She fought the case of the Eastern Cherokee Indians against the federal government, winning them a settlement of $5 million (which in today’s dollars is $154 million).

 

Somehow, she managed all this while running boarding houses and tirelessly fighting for women’s rights.

She was an entirely self-made woman. Her achievements were not the result of privilege. Lockwood empowered herself and gave women the hope that they could do the same. In her time she ranked with Susan B. Anthony (who was immortalized on a dollar coin) as one of the most powerful and well-known women in the country.

 

There have been attempts to highlight her legacy, such as a World War II merchant marine ship in her name, a postage stamp in 1986, and a historical marker that stands in front of her childhood home in Royalton. But modern America – and even modern Western New York -- has all but forgotten about who she was and what she did.

 

It’s time Belva Lockwood got her due, especially when Kamala Harris and Donald Trump seem neck-and-neck in the polls. Not only was she the first woman to appear on a presidential ballot she was also, as made evident by everything she accomplished and inspired, truly presidential material in the traditional sense of the office -- a leader and a doer, someone to believe in and emulate.

 

 

From the 11 October 2024 Greater Niagara Newspapers and Wellsville Sun