Author: @SoDakCampaigns

Delegation Concerned by Misguided ESA Listing of Northern Long-Eared Bat

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Delegation Concerned by Misguided ESA Listing of Northern Long-Eared Bat

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Representative Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) expressed continued concern over the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) misguided approach to addressing the decline of the northern long-eared bat population by listing it as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). A fungal disease, white-nose syndrome, not habitat loss, is the primary cause of northern long-eared bat deaths that have resulted in a sharp decline in population throughout many states in the bats’ range.

“I’m disappointed by today’s announcement because the FWS’ approach does not focus on the real problem, which is that northern long-eared bat deaths are due to white-nose syndrome, not habitat loss,” said Thune. “This is why I recently introduced legislation that would prohibit FWS from listing the northern long-eared bat as threatened under the ESA.”

“This is another example of federal overreach by this Administration,” said Rounds. “I applaud Sen. Thune and Rep. Noem for being leaders on this issue and will continue to work with them to rectify this misguided decision.”

“While I am relieved to see South Dakota land outside the buffer zone for now, I remain concerned that the Fish and Wildlife Service continues to elevate an unproven environmental agenda rather keeping the focus on a disease that truly jeopardizes the long-eared bat’s population in certain areas of the county,” said Noem. “It’s a disappointing conclusion that will pull critical and limited resources from the real threats facing the species.”

In 2011, the FWS reached a secret sue-and-settle agreement with two radical environmental groups to require listing determinations on more than 250 species across the United States, including the northern long-eared bat. While this syndrome has been found in 22 states across the country, it has not been found in South Dakota. Today’s listing was accompanied by an announcement of publication of an interim regulation with a 90-day public comment period under Section 4(d) of the ESA for the northern long-eared bat. This interim rule will be published in the Federal Register on April 2, 2015. Under the interim 4(d) rule, because the white-nose syndrome is not present in South Dakota, forest management restrictions are limited; however, if the white-nosed syndrome is detected in South Dakota, far-reaching timber management restrictions will be imposed on the Black Hills timber industry, impacting 1,500 jobs and $119 million in revenue to Black Hills economies.

On October 14, 2014, Thune and Noem sent a letter to the FWS encouraging the agency to withdraw its proposed listing of the northern long-eared bat as endangered, and to refocus its attention on combating white-nose syndrome. On January 14, Thune and 12 of his Senate colleagues called on the FWS to revise the misguided and harmful forest management restrictions accompanying the endangered species listing released in 2014, and instead issue a regulation to allow normal forest management practices and minimize economic impact on states. On March 4, Thune introduced legislation to prevent the FWS from listing the northern long-eared bat under the ESA, and on March 24, Noem introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

The FWS has not listed a U.S. species as threatened or endangered with disease as a primary cause of widespread death loss for more than ten years. FWS acknowledges that the white-nose syndrome is the primary cause of devastating northern long-eared bat deaths.

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Isn’t there a residency requirement? Cory Heidelberger trying to tell Aberdonians what to do already?

@SoDakCampaigns

Back in state how many weeks, and Cory Heidelberger is already trying to tell Aberdeen residents what to do?

Four people filed nominating petitions for open spots on the Aberdeen Public Board of Education and three others turned in petitions for the Aberdeen City Council.

and…

Petitions for the City Council were submitted by incumbents Laure Swanson and David Bunsness who represent the southeast and southwest districts, respectively. Challenging Swanson in the Southeast District is Cory A. Heidelberger.

Read it here.

Update – Always good to see Cory make my arguments for me regarding his carpetbagger status…

I took up residency in Aberdeen the night of February 2. I registered to vote in Brown County on February 3. The city election is June 2.

Read that here.

Press Release: Senate Majority Leader Rave To Resign; Governor Invites Public Input

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(And it’s official…. -PP)

Senate Majority Leader Rave To Resign; Governor Invites Public Input

PIERRE, S.D. – State Sen. Tim Rave has announced his resignation from the South Dakota State Senate. Rave, a Baltic Republican who serves as senate majority leader, is resigning to accept a position with Sanford Health as enterprise vice president for public policy.

“I am very sorry to see Sen. Rave go,” said Gov. Dennis Daugaard. “Tim is widely respected by his peers, who chose him to serve as speaker of the House and as senate majority leader. As Dell Rapids natives, Linda and I were always proud to have Tim as our legislator. I wish him and his family the very best.”

Rave has served in the state Senate since 2011, after serving four terms in the state House. He served as speaker of the House from 2009-11 and as senate majority leader since 2013, making him the only South Dakota legislator to have held both positions.

Rave represents District 25, which includes north and east Minnehaha County, including the cities of Dell Rapids, Baltic, Garretson, Colton, Lyons, Valley Springs and Rowena. It also includes the area in eastern Sioux Falls near South Sycamore Avenue and East 26th Street.

The resignation was effective March 31 and will create a vacancy that will be filled by gubernatorial appointment.  The Governor is asking the public to nominate candidates to fill the position.

Those wishing to be considered for the appointment, or to offer nominations, should contact Grace Kessler in the Office of the Governor at 605-773-3661. Nominations should include the candidate’s name, current address, telephone number and relevant background information.

Gov. Daugaard expects to name an appointee by late spring or early summer.

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With Rave and Lederman gone from the Senate, where do they seek their rudder?

@SoDakCampaigns

With the twin resignations of Senate Assistant Majority Leader Dan Lederman, and Majority Leader Tim Rave coming like a 1-2 punch, there’s a new void in Senate Legislative Leadership that even the Democrats couldn’t have envisioned were they competent or effective in winning elections.

President Pro Tempore Corey Brown is still there as leader of the Senate, but there’s no one to help steer the Republican Caucus. It’s as if the steering mechanism has now come off of the ship, leaving Senate Republicans in a position where they now need to seek amongs themselves the people who will be their rudder.

Will they look to their current whips, Senators Holien, Ernie Otten, or Deb Soholt?  Or will they look to the ranks of the Senators – many of whom have significant experience, but aren’t in one of the six official leadership positions?

Who else does that leave for them to choose from?  The list….

Jenna Haggar, Blake Curd, Bob Ewing, Brock Greenfield, Terri Haverly, Phyllis Heineman, Phil Jensen, Jeff Monroe, David Novstrup, Craig Tieszen, Larry Tidemann, Alan Solano, Bruce Rampelberg, Betty Olson, David Omdahl, Ernie Otten, Deb Peters, Art Rusch, Bill Van Gerpen, Jim White, Gary Cammack and Mike Vehle.

If you peruse the list, the thing that strikes me is that there’s a lot of new people there. As well as some busy ones.

Blake Curd might be a choice, but given how busy he is with his own new position, I’m somewhat doubtful he has an interest in dividing his time further. Tieszen, Vehle and Tidemann had ran or expressed interest in leadership positions previously.  And you have people like Deb Peters, who while not leadership at the moment has been a point person on caucus election efforts – some of these Senators are Senators because she made it happen.

There’s a particular political functionality and increased level of partisanship that goes with the leadership positions. They have to be able to build a coalition within the caucus between those that lean to the middle, as well as those that are hard right. They are peacemaker, as well as messenger for the gods… or at least the one that resides on the second floor.

Depending on what happens, with the departure of the Majority & Assistant Leaders, this caucus could also become more prickly, depending who is in charge. There are definitely a few possibilities who march to the beat of their own drummer, and interpret the Republican Party Platform in a more strict fashion.

What do you think? With the voids to be filled, who will emerge to lead the State Senate Republican Caucus?  Where do they seek their rudder?

BREAKING: SD Senate Majority Leader Tim Rave resigning, effective immediately for promotion at Sanford.

@SoDakCampaigns

An announcement is coming this morning that District 25 State Senator and Senate Majority Leader Tim Rave has resigned from the South Dakota State Legislature, effective immediately.  This comes on the heels of Senate Assistant Majority Leader Dan Lederman on Monday after session, leaving a large void in Senate Republican Leadership.

In a note that went out last night from Rave to his colleagues, Rave noted:

raveRecently, the position of Enterprise Vice President of Public Policy at Sanford Health became available and I was honored to be offered that promotion.  As I weighed this opportunity, I gave careful consideration to the fact that this new role would mean I could not continue my public service as an elected official.

After much thought, I decided to accept the promotion to Enterprise Vice President of Public Policy effective April 1st, 2015.  Accordingly, I am hereby resigning as a member of the South Dakota State Senate effective March 31st, 2015 at 11:59 PM.

It has been an honor and privilege to work with all of you, and to represent and serve the citizens of District 25 and the State of South Dakota for thirteen legislative sessions.  The relationships I have built and experience I have gained during my years of service have been exceptional.  I am a better person for it.

I spoke with Rave this morning, who is already moving at a more frenetic pace. Regarding his resignation, Tim noted to me:

The job is right in my wheel house doing public policy for Sanford health both at the state and federal level  The timing of the opportunity could’ve been better had it waited a couple years, but I couldn’t pass it up. I’ve done my public service for 13 years and decided it was time to move on and do what was best for my career and for my family.

The Governor’s office is set to issue a press release at 10 AM to note the resignation officially, and to speak to the processes they will follow in making a replacement appointment.  Current house members in the district are Representatives Kris Langer and Roger Hunt.

With both Lederman and now Rave leaving a massive void in Senate Leadership, sources inside the Senate indicate to the SDWC that the caucus will be be meeting sometime in the next few months to select a new Majority Leader and Assistant Majority Leader as they move to the 2016 elections; an election cycle which will start far earlier for 2016 as a result of the passage of petition reform legislation this past session.

At the SDWC, we wish Senator Rave the best, both thanking him for his years of service for the time he’s given to the people of South Dakota, and congratulating him on the opportunity.

Was the Argus really featuring Scott Hoy …again?

@SoDakCampaigns

The Argus Leader’s February’s tale of Scott Hoy’s woe was odd enough, as it brought everyone up to date and told us how he was getting on after being mocked for an equally odd commercial. (Not that we cared.)

And again today, Argus reporter Stu Whitney felt we needed another dose of Scott Hoy on the Argus webcast he started named “Su Fu Stu.”

Is there some man crush thing the Argus has going on with Scott Hoy?

 

Noem Urges USDA & HHS to Base Food Guidelines on Nutrition, Not an Environmental Age

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Noem Urges USDA & HHS to Base Food Guidelines on Nutrition, Not an Environmental Agenda

kristi noem headshot May 21 2014Washington, D.C. – In a letter to the Secretaries of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) Tuesday, Reps. Kristi Noem, Vicki Hartzler and more than 65 other Members of Congress urged the agencies to base upcoming food guidelines on nutrition factors, not an environmental agenda.  The congressional attention was sparked after the administration revealed it was taking a food’s carbon footprint into account when developing recommendations for new dietary guidelines – the first time such considerations have been made in U.S. history.

“The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Council has no business entering into environmental activism,” said Noem.  “The new environmentally friendly nutrition guidelines would largely leave meat – especially beef – out of what is considered to be a healthy dietary pattern.  This is not based on the work of nutritionists or epidemiologists, but the belief that the carbon footprint left by animals is too large.  It’s a misguided approach to nutrition that undermines the trust folks put into these recommendations.”

Every five years, USDA and HHS review the dietary guidelines for American food consumption. The new report recommends what should be included in the final dietary guidelines that will be issued later this year.  Once approved, the guidelines will be used as an educational tool and to help develop federal nutrition policy.  Today’s letter raises concerns that the report exceeds its Scope of Work by straying from purely nutritional evidence and venturing into areas like sustainability and tax policy.  It also highlights concerns that the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Council, which is responsible for drafting the proposed guidelines, may have subjectively hand-picked data to support pre-determined conclusions when making dietary recommendations for the report.

“The USDA is currently accepting public comments on these new guidelines and I encourage you to participate,” continued Noem.  “Just visit www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines and submit a comment by midnight on April 8, 2015.”

Scroll down for a full copy of the letter.

—

March 31, 2015

The Honorable Tom Vilsack
Secretary
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave. SW
Washington, D.C.  20250

The Honorable Sylvia Mathews Burwell
Secretary
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Ave. SW
Washington, D.C.  20201

Dear Secretaries Vilsack and Burwell:

We are writing today to express our sincere disappointment with the recent report issued by the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) and certain recommendations for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA).  The DGA play a critical role as the scientific basis for federal nutrition policy development and form the basis of Federal nutrition policy, education, outreach, and food assistance programs used by consumers, industry, nutrition educators, and health professionals. Therefore, it is essential that the DGA be based on sound nutrition science and not stray into other areas outside of this specific discipline.

However, after reviewing the DGAC report that was released February 19, 2015, we believe that the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee greatly exceeded their scope in developing recommendations for the Secretaries of USDA and HHS to the detriment of the American diet. It is the responsibility of the Secretaries to ensure that this advisory committee stay focused on nutritional recommendations and not the wider policy realm of sustainability and tax policy, in which members of this committee had neither expertise, evidence, nor charter.

We are disappointed with reports from observers that the approach of the 2015 DGAC suggests studies were either selected or excluded to support pre-determined conclusions.  For example, the DGAC’s recommendation on lean red meat directly contradicts years of peer reviewed scientific research on the benefits of lean red meat as a high quality source of protein in a healthy diet.  It is crucial for HHS and the USDA to recognize the need for flexibility in the American diet that reflects the diverse population of this country.

It is extremely difficult to reverse or change public policy, once enacted, without causing consumer confusion. Inaccurate and conflicting dietary guidance messages are detrimental to consumer understanding of nutrition and the ability to build healthy diets. At a time when consumers are already subjected to conflicting and often contradictory nutrition and health information, providing the public with science-based, realistic and achievable information is more likely to contribute to improved public health outcomes.

We encourage you to focus the development of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines based on a “preponderance” of current scientific and medical knowledge and to ensure that the 2015 DGA are irrefutably science-based, consistent with advice from other federal agencies, and are communicated in terms easily understood by the public.

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Top 5 places for Obama to visit in SD

@SoDakCampaigns

Since South Dakota is soon to be the only state left on Obama’s bucket list, which may inflict us with a visit from the most unpopular president in modern history, a reader offered us a list of the top 5 places that the President should visit:

Top Five Places Obama Should Visit in South Dakota

The press is reporting that as of later this week, South Dakota will be the only state left for President Obama to visit during his presidency. We offer the following top five destinations for the President’s consideration:

1. Belle Fourche Sale Barn. It would likely serve President Obama well to spend some time around West River ranchers who know a thing or two about supply and demand, small businesses and hard work.

2. A ditch. (Or is it a navigable waterway?) Any Ditch in Eastern South Dakota. A few hours examining ditches East River might prove to be an enlightening experience if it helps change the President’s mind on the misguided EPA ‘Waters of the United States’ rule.

3. Mitchell Gun Show. Perhaps an afternoon mixing and mingling with a room full of freedom-loving, responsible gun owners would do the President some good.

4. Big Stone Power Plant. Another real life example of the President’s runaway regulatory regime that does nothing but increase the cost of doing business. The proposed EPA carbon rule will increase energy costs and hit energy-intensive states like South Dakota especially hard. He should see the plants, like Big Stone, that his rule will impact.

5. Walleye Fishing. According to the new book by former aide, Reggie Love, President Obama hates walleye. The only way to get the President to appreciate this delicacy is to head up to West Whitlock for a day of walleye fishing.