Thanks to the tech skills of Wasatch Front Volunteer, Devin Bayles Hancock we discovered some interesting facts May 26, when the deadline ended. By running a simple search engine on the collection site, we discovered six form letters that were used. There could even be more. That means that 75,437 of the 149,669 comments received were form letters submitted by various environmental proponents nationwide. That is 50% of the letters submitted. Here is the break down:
6) Sixth place goes to the "50 Years Ago" form letters. There were 2160 replicas of this copy-cat message which began: "Dear Secretary Ryan Zinke,
Bears Ears Monument should have been protected 50 years ago and deserves to be protected for future generations. Please [dont] rescind or...." Note the typo which didn't even get fixed on most letters!
5) Fifth place for most repetitive message goes to the "judicious use of the Antiquities Act" form letter with 3181 repeats.
4) Jumping up to 4th place is the "ecologically rich and culturally valuable" form letter with 4,102 comments submitted.
3) Third place for "Most Repetitive Message" goes to the Bird Watchers who can't watch without a Monument!! 15,333 results began: Dear Secretary Ryan Zinke. As a supporter of bird conservation and our public lands, I strongly urge you to protect . . .
2) The runner up with a whopping 21,427 copies is this form letter beginning: (Some people didn't even fill in the blank!)
1) And the #1 most repeated form letter as of June 9 begins: "Dear Secretary Ryan Zinke, Our public lands are vital to our national legacy. [Theyre] economically beneficial to our local communities, and to our nation as a whole." This form letter was used 29,234 times and most users did not correct the typo.
I hope Gold Butte fared better, but there are probably thousands of form letters submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity about protecting the endangered tortoises from cattle. (Toothless tortoises cannot eat woody plants and soft green forage is only available for a few weeks a year, so they survive by consuming the partially digested food the cattle ate, as well as what came from rabbits, coyotes, etc. So, the more cattle, the more tortoises will survive. if the dung is still moist, it provides moisture as well as soft food.)
ReplyDeleteInteresting facts about the synergistic relationship of cows and tortoises!
ReplyDeleteShenny Bradford, that is a fascinating bit of information. If you have additional knowledge about foraging habits of desert tortoises, please contact me. editor@freerangereport.com
ReplyDelete