There's already been a  boatload of bloviation expressed on the recent reversal of the ban on loaded firearms in our national parks, some of it sensible but most of it (predictably) bordering on  hysterics.

This column from the Huffington Post is a perfect example:
 
"In fact,  the new rule is likely to make national park visitors less safe around  wildlife. Packing heat could give some people a false sense of security and  make them more likely to approach bison, elk, moose, and grizzly bears,  rather than keep a safe distance which is better for both people and  animals."

But the most certain outcome of this congressional action is  that it will promote poaching. The National Park Service warned in its fiscal 2006 budget submission each year for the past several years ... The data  suggests that there is a significant domestic as well as international trade  for illegally taken plant and animal parts." Poaching, the agency said, "is suspected to be a factor in the decline of at least 29 species of wildlife  and could cause the extirpation of 19 species from the parks." 

By Chad Love

When I first thought up the idea for the six-word story contest I expected the usual response my blogs generate: a dozen or so comments, the obligatory question about which picture at the top is me (yes, sir, I am indeed the "slack-jawed hillbilly" on the left...) and that one guy who always chides me about my alleged bashing of the Dubya/Darth Cheney administration (Do you maybe have me confused with Bill Maher?).
 

By Dave Hurteau

F&S is the best magazine of its size on the planet. Okay, I’m a little biased on that point--but it’s not just me who thinks so. Last night, the country’s top magazine editors representing the country’s top magazines met at New York City’s Lincoln Center for the 44th Annual National Magazine Awards. Known as Ellies, these are basically the Oscars of the magazine industry, and “General Excellence” is “Best Picture.”

By Chad Love

The USDA's Wildlife Services division illicits a strong response from virtually everyone. The controversial trapping and predator control program has been called everything from a rancher's best friend to a ruthless war on wildlife.
 
From the story in the New York Times: