In response to Congressional pressure, the Department of the Interior is proposing new regulations allowing park visitors to carry guns in areas managed by the National Park Service and/or the US Fish & Wildlife Service’s National Wildlife Refuges. While there has been no groundswell of park goers seeking a right to carry concealed weapons in those management areas, the new regulations in this election year would allow concealed weapons. by Fran Sage    more »

While the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) affirms in its mission statement that it “strives to protect our state’s human and natural resources,” that protection has a qualifier: “consistent with sustainable economic development.” In any showdown between profit and health, profit usually wins out. In Texas, the regulatory agency for the environment is open for business. Following are four recent examples in which business interests were dominant over public and environmental health.... by Fran Sage    more »

We stood there in that mass of big birds (there were thousands and thousands of them there) and suddenly the snow geese rose and flew overhead in wave after wave honking and flying and filling the air, vivid white against the blue skies with the mountains nearby. by Fran Sage    more »