Wildlife Management Battles and Media Accountability

On February 3, 2022, Kim Monson explored the intersection of government overreach and media responsibility with conservation advocate Lisa Bennett, examining how well-funded activist groups manipulate legislation while a Danish newspaper’s unprecedented apology exposed journalism’s pandemic failures.

Mountain Lion Hunting Ban Threatens Colorado Agriculture

Start listening at 17:11 – Hour 1

Lisa Bennett of Wild Skies sounds the alarm on Senate Bill 31, which would ban mountain lion hunting in Colorado. Bennett, who has no direct economic stake in lion hunting, breaks down how the Humane Society and similar activist groups bypass scientific wildlife management processes when they cannot get career biologists to support their agenda. When lobbying state legislators fails, these groups take their campaigns directly to urban voters who remain insulated from the consequences.

The ripple effects extend far beyond hunting. Ranchers already operating on razor-thin margins rely on landowner vouchers as supplemental income. Without controlled hunting, taxpayers would foot the bill for professional hunters to cull lion populations, shifting costs from sportsmen to the general public. Bennett points to California’s 1990 mountain lion hunting ban as a cautionary tale, noting that 68% of predator-caused mule deer mortality in that state comes from mountain lions, driving deer into populated areas and increasing human-wildlife conflicts.

“We have to contend with the fact that the majority of people, whether it’s our state legislators voting on a bill or the general public voting on a balloted initiative, are not sportsmen. They mostly live in urban areas that are unaffected by these bills, and they’re unaware of the ramifications or repercussions of a bill like this passing.”

Lisa Bennett, Wild Skies

Danish Newspaper Shatters Media Silence on COVID Coverage

Start listening at 49:14 – Hour 1

Kim and Producer Steve analyze a remarkable admission from Denmark’s Extra Bladet newspaper, which apologized to readers for failing to question government COVID-19 data for two years. Journalist Brian Weishart wrote that the press had been “almost hypnotically preoccupied” with official reports, failing to ask what it meant when patients were hospitalized “with” corona versus “because of” corona, a distinction that inflated official numbers by 27 percent.

The discussion connects this media failure to the Johns Hopkins study released the same week, which found that COVID-19 lockdowns had “little to no effect” on mortality while imposing devastating economic and social costs. Kim highlights the irony of super hospitals remaining “maximally pressured” despite populations armed with “super weapon” vaccines, questioning why American media outlets have not followed Denmark’s example of introspection.

Government Transparency Bills Die in Committee

Start listening at 05:36 – Hour 1

Kim reviews two transparency bills killed by Democrats in the Colorado legislature. Senate Bill 22061 would have required the Office of Saving People Money on Health Care, headed by Lieutenant Governor Diana Primavera with a combined $184,000 salary, to comply with the SMART Government Act. Senate Bill 22038 would have required hospitals to itemize the hospital provider fee on patient bills. Both died on party-line votes, prompting Kim to observe that Democrats claim to support transparency while systematically blocking accountability measures.