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Time Magazine
29-05-2025
- General
- Time Magazine
Unfettered Capitalism Nearly Wiped Out America's Wild Animals Once. It Just May Again
Here is an inconvenient truth: our forebears used the unrestrained free market to effect a staggering destruction of continental wildlife, an unforgivable crime against evolution in America. They believed all life was created by a deity, and therefore extinction was impossible. Biblical ideas about the utility of animals encouraged them to think of creatures like beavers, sea otters, bison, passenger pigeons, and many others as simple market commodities, without value except for the money they might bring. The end result was myopic, almost casual obliteration of one ancient species after another. As a 2018 article in the National Academy of Sciences put it, since the start of the colonial age, here and elsewhere, we have destroyed half a million years of Earth's genetics, a near 'worst case scenario.' Enacting that history, many Americans enriched themselves. Southerners who slaughtered snowy egrets on their nests for fashion industry feathers, westerners who shot down entire bison herds for tongues and hide leather, 'wolfers' who poisoned predators on behalf of the livestock industry—for their efforts, many of them joined the middle class. In a single year, market hunters in Bozeman, Mont. shipped out the body parts of about 7,700 elk, 22,000 deer, 12,000 pronghorns, 200 bighorn sheep, 1,680 wolves, 520 coyotes, and 225 bears at the time. It was a haul of wild animal parts that netted them $1.6 million in today's dollars. They told Yellowstone's superintendent that so long as the government stood aside, they planned to continue doing exactly as they wished. To be sure, the unrestrained freedom to destroy the country's wild legacy for money bought many of these people houses, islands, and ranches. John Jacob Astor, one of the country's first millionaires, became a famous and wealthy celebrity through the near eradication of beavers and otters and the vital, ancient ecologies they created. During the years after the Civil War, America embraced an economic philosophy called laissez-faire, celebrating the notion that government should stand aside and let capitalism work. Both political parties believed in it so ardently that the federal government failed to act to save bison (now our National Mammal) or passenger pigeons, both among America's most numerous and iconic species. In the 1870s, Congress twice considered bills to make the non-Native market hunt for female bison illegal. Neither attempt became law. The first successful federal law the U.S. established to halt the slaughter of wildlife was place-specific when Congress created the country's first national park, Yellowstone, and banned hunting in the area. In an environment so regulation-free, America's bison population plunged from roughly 30 million in 1800 to fewer than 10 million in 1865. At that point, railroad transport and new uses for bison leather ramped up a post-war, industrial level of animal destruction. In a too-late effort to halt the mayhem, General Philip Sheridan enlisted the departments of War, Interior, and Indian Affairs to drive market hunters off Indian lands. But few animals of any kind were left to save. In 1885, an estimate of 1,000 bison remained alive in the West, so few it was a scramble to preserve enough genetic diversity to save the species at all. When Congress in 1894 imposed stiff fines for killing bison and other animals in Yellowstone, Sheridan's troops were the only protectors a weak government could muster. Then there's the pigeon story. Of all the grim capitalist crimes against American animals (and there is competition), among them are the 1840s extinction of our northern hemisphere penguin, the great auk, and an 1886 sale in London of the skins of 400,000 American hummingbirds. But the passenger pigeon's fate occupies a special place on the shelf of historical horrors. Having thrived on the continent for 15 million years, pigeons couldn't survive a mere three centuries of the free market. By 1914, they were entirely erased. Extinction is one of those non-ideological 'objective facts' and 'truths' it's hard to deny. While I'd love to see passenger pigeons de-extincted, that wouldn't change the historical lesson. Until Congress passed a mild federal law called the Lacey Act in 1900, which banned interstate shipment of some market-killed animals and their body parts, America never stepped up to rein in capitalism's assault on the natural world. We allowed the Singer Sewing Machine company to log down the last habitat with a verified ivory-billed woodpecker population as late as the 1940s! Destroying species for money was an American freedom. Some argued it was part of our 'franchise.' In truth, it was the best example of what we mean now when we say something is 'Like the Wild West,' a place where human nature goes entirely unrestrained. Economists have long used the fate of America's bison and pigeons in particular to argue that, sans effective regulation, market forces inevitably diminish nature's diversity. The truth is, if you're an American, an often unacknowledged result of our past of unfettered capitalism is to diminish the world you get to experience. As early as the 1850s, Henry David Thoreau lamented all the species already gone from his time: 'I should not like to think some demigod had come before me and picked out some of the best of the stars. I wish to know an entire heaven and an entire earth.' The past does not remain in the past for us, either. A great many charismatic creatures are missing from 21st-century America because of the actions of our ancestors. Yet as part of the Trump administration's blizzard of executive orders and business-friendly policies, in March, Lee Zeldin, the new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, reframed the purpose of his agency, announcing 'the largest deregulatory announcement in U.S. history.' President Trump followed that with an executive order, titled Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History, that accused historians of 'a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation's history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.' Both these signal an effort to reframe our national story, emphasizing a return to the kind of unbridled economic freedom that once characterized the country's history, and coincidentally compromised many of America's most dramatic wild spectacles. Much of this history, however, is in danger of being scrubbed, canceled, or banned from libraries. If that were to happen, it would leave future generations perplexed about why a half-century ago the U.S. needed to pass legislation like the Endangered Species Act in 1973. It would also create a public consciousness that is unable to understand our country's long practice of extending rights to those who lack them. While a new, politicized version of history is bound to deny it, expanding the circle of moral inclusion and compassion has long characterized Americans as a people. It is who we are. Is this story ideological? I don't think so. It calls on an undeniable history to point out how nature will fare when governments are missing in action with respect to environmental regulation. It's an American story that urges us to be very suspicious of a future of unregulated capitalism. The purpose of history, after all, is not to make some look good and others bad. Its purpose is, or should be, to let us consult the past so we can create the future we want.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Gorsuch, Thomas dissent as Supreme Court declines to take up Apache challenge to copper mine
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to take up a challenge to a land swap enabling mining at a sacred Indigenous site, garnering pushback from conservative justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas. A 2014 law enabled a land transfer between mining company Resolution Copper and the federal government, allowing the miner to take control of a site called Oak Flat in Arizona, which is sacred to the Western Apache. A group called Apache Stronghold, which says it represents Apaches, other Native peoples, and non-Native allies, appealed the case to the Supreme Court, asking it to reverse a 9th Circuit decision on religious freedom grounds. The high court declined to take up the case Tuesday without explaining its decision. However, Gorsuch issued a dissent, joined by Thomas. 'For centuries, Western Apaches have worshipped at Chí'chil Biłdagoteel, or Oak Flat. They consider the site a sacred and 'direct corridor to the Creator,'' Gorsuch wrote. ' Now, the government and a mining conglomerate want to turn Oak Flat into a massive hole in the ground.' 'Before allowing the government to destroy the Apaches' sacred site, this Court should at least have troubled itself to hear their case,' he added. Apache Stronghold said in its petition that Oak Flat 'is the site of religious ceremonies that cannot take place elsewhere,' including ceremonies for boys entering manhood and girls entering womanhood. For the court to take up a case, it needs at least four votes in favor of doing so. It's not clear whether any other justices voted with Gorsuch and Thomas. Justice Samuel Alito recused himself. In its own filing, Resolution Copper argued the court should not have taken up the case because the land exchange was authorized by Congress and because Apache Stronghold is a nonprofit 'with no religious claim of its own and thus no standing' to bring the case. Resolution Copper is a joint venture between mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP. Zach Schonfeld contributed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
27-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Gorsuch, Thomas dissent as Supreme Court declines to take up Apache challenge to copper mine
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to take up a challenge to a land swap enabling mining at a sacred indigenous site, garnering pushback from conservative justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas. A 2014 law enabled a land transfer between mining company Resolution Copper and the federal government, allowing the miner to take control of a site called Oak Flat in Arizona, which is sacred to the Western Apache. A group called Apache Stronghold, which says it represents Apaches, other Native peoples, and non-Native allies, appealed the case to the Supreme Court, asking it to reverse a Ninth Circuit decision on religious freedom grounds. The high court declined to take up the case on Tuesday without explaining its decision. However, Gorsuch issued a dissent, joined by Thomas. 'For centuries, Western Apaches have worshipped at Chí'chil Biłdagoteel, or Oak Flat. They consider the site a sacred and 'direct corridor to the Creator,'' Gorsuch wrote. ' Now, the government and a mining conglomerate want to turn Oak Flat into a massive hole in the ground.' 'Before allowing the government to destroy the Apaches' sacred site, this Court should at least have troubled itself to hear their case,' he added. Apache Stronghold said in its petition that Oak Flat 'is the site of religious ceremonies that cannot take place elsewhere' including ceremonies for boys entering manhood and girls entering womanhood. For the court to take up a case, it needs at least four votes in favor of doing so. It's not clear whether any other justices voted with Gorsuch and Thomas, though Samuel Alito recused himself. In its own filing, Resolution Copper argued that the court should not have take up the case because the land exchange was authorized by Congress and because Apache Stronghold is a nonprofit 'with no religious claim of its own and thus no standing' to bring the case. Resolution Copper is a joint venture between mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP. Zach Schonfeld contributed.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Wyoming lawmakers consider addressing health insurance fraud concern by Blue Cross
CHEYENNE — The state's ability to curb a spike in fraudulent health care filings under Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming is limited, but lawmakers agreed Thursday to do what they can to navigate this issue in their respective committees. An 'unusual uptick' in Native American health care enrollment set off alarm bells at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming (BCBSWY). As of March 2025, Native American enrollment in BCBSWY health care plans on the federal marketplace is up 500%, and Native American claims are up by more than 1,000%. Overall, mental health and substance abuse disorder claims have increased over 300% in 2025. Investigators suspect Wyoming is the latest target in a nationwide health care scam of illegal claim filings. 'Body brokers' are scouting out homeless shelters to find victims and ship them to out-of-state facilities, where the insurance company is then billed for substance abuse treatment that is not actually being provided. Stories collected by BCBSWY found that Wyoming victims are showing up in these fraudulent treatment centers, most of them in California, with others in Arizona and Florida. Furthermore, an internal investigation found many health insurance enrollees are not legitimate Wyoming residents. Out of more than 1,500 potentially fraudulent enrollees identified in Native and non-Native federal health care plans, less than 40 have been confirmed as legitimate, according to a BCBSWY news release. BCBSWY representatives raised this issue before state lawmakers during the Legislature's Select Committee on Tribal Relations meeting in Fort Washakie. Co-Chairman Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, found the situation alarming, and asked how the state can help. 'Awareness is the main reason that we're here today,' said BCBSWY Government Affairs Principal and Privacy Officer Kelsey Prestesater. 'We want to get this news out to as many people as we possibly can, and encourage individuals if they feel like they have fallen victim to this, or know somebody who has, to certainly reach out.' Potential state solutions Prestesater offered a few remedies for state lawmakers to pursue. One solution is to draft a bill that requires stronger oversight of licensing requirements for in-state behavioral health and substance abuse treatment facilities. 'Currently, there are virtually no regulations for these types of residential treatment centers,' Prestesater said. 'While these treatment centers are not here now, we've seen a pattern where these treatment centers move from state to state, where they can find the least amount of regulation and begin to victimize those people.' She also suggested revisiting a bill that was filed in the recent legislative session by the Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee, but failed to be introduced. House Bill 71, 'Insurance fraud reporting,' would have required insurers to report suspected and known fraud. 'That would really help us and give us some teeth in being able to report these bad actors and provide a shield from civil liability,' Prestesater said. Case, who is also co-chairman of the Joint Corporations Committee, said he will bring up HB 71 at the committee's next meeting for consideration. He told the WTE in a phone call after the meeting 'there's more of an urgency now with the story out there.' But it's ultimately up to the committee, he said. Sen. Eric Barlow, R-Gillette, who co-chairs the Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee, said he will speak with his co-chair about studying professional licensing requirements as an additional interim topic for the committee. BCBSWY Vice President of Legal Services Rocky Redd suggested a third option, which is to allow a pause in claim payments to fraudulent actors if the insurance company finds credible evidence of fraud. In Wyoming, the insurance company has 45 days to sift through thousands of pages of records before making a claims payment. 'Some of the other states have … passed legislation that would allow you to pause that, to take a little bit more time to look into it before you have to go ahead and pay them,' Redd said. Otherwise, Blue Cross risks getting sued for not making the payment by deadline. A federal government issue Since Native American health insurance is regulated only at the federal level, there is little action the state can take on this issue, Deputy Commissioner Tana Howard at the Wyoming Department of Insurance told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle earlier this week. 'The solution needs to come from the feds. It needs to come from (the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services), since they are the ones who regulate these plans,' Howard said. From her understanding, Blue Cross cannot deny claims in question under federal law, as these are federally regulated plans. Howard said she was recently informed that the case was forwarded by CMS to the Center for Program Integrity, an internal division of CMS that detects fraud, waste and abuse. North Dakota has reported a similar issue in health insurance fraud with its own Blue Cross insurance company, Howard added. The northern state implemented a waiver program in response that requires insured members to justify out-of-state health care. But this isn't a solution that would fit in Wyoming, she said. 'North Dakota is completely different than Wyoming. They have a lot more providers. They have a lot more hospital systems,' Howard said. 'There are not very many facilities in Wyoming that really offer (substance abuse treatment). And so it's not uncommon for it to go out of state.' A similar situation Cowboy State Daily reported a 'mysterious' incident in 2023, where a dozen unhoused individuals were taken from Fremont County and dropped off at a homeless shelter in Casper. Northern Arapaho Business Council Co-Chairwoman Kimberly Whiteman Harjo reminded lawmakers of this situation during Thursday's meeting. She told committee members the scheme described by Blue Cross representatives reminded her of that incident. 'There are places in Riverton that will say that they help homeless people, but I don't know what their rules are, the procedures,' Harjo said. 'But a lot of our people were put out in the freezing cold during the wintertime, and it was at night.' The Wind River Indian Reservation is a constant target of fraudulent companies, she said. Case recalled the incident when he later spoke with the WTE. The committee co-chairman said he was disappointed the 'kidnapping,' as he referred to it, was not taken more seriously by local entities. Authorities never discovered who was behind taking people and dropping them off at the Casper shelter, he said. 'People were rounded up, given promises (for treatment),' Case said. 'And they were taken to Casper and kind of dumped off, and that just made me really angry.' A Blue Cross spokesperson confirmed to the WTE this situation is not related to the health care insurance fraud reported by the insurance company.
Business Upturn
22-05-2025
- Business
- Business Upturn
Native Communities Are a High-Impact, Often Overlooked, Opportunity for Funders, Research Finds
Boston, May 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Native communities are driving innovative solutions across climate justice, education, economic development, thriving cultures, and more—offering compelling opportunities for transformative social change. Yet, despite this potential, Native communities have long been overlooked, underfunded, and misunderstood by mainstream philanthropy, according to new research released today by The Bridgespan Group and Native Americans in Philanthropy. Native communities receive less than 1 percent of philanthropic funding, and Native-led organizations receive roughly only half of that, according to the First Nations Development Institute. 'However, Native Peoples have long exhibited the tenacity and ingenuity needed to address today's most pressing challenges,' said Rohit Menezes, a Bridgespan partner and part of the research team. 'The current uncertainty around federal funding levels to Tribal Nations and Native communities heightens the need for more philanthropic engagement.' The report is broken into three parts that address 'why,' 'how,' and 'whom' to fund. Drawing from listening sessions, interviews with more than 60 Native and non-Native philanthropic leaders, and case studies, the research offers strategic reasons for funders to engage and offers a roadmap for how to do so effectively. Key findings of the research include: Place-Based Potential : Many Native communities lie within funders' existing geographic portfolios, offering overlooked opportunities to increase impact. : Many Native communities lie within funders' existing geographic portfolios, offering overlooked opportunities to increase impact. Innovative Solutions : From regenerative agriculture to constitutional reform, Native-led innovation is producing scalable models with global relevance. : From regenerative agriculture to constitutional reform, Native-led innovation is producing scalable models with global relevance. Economic Impact : Tribal Nations employ hundreds of thousands and contribute billions annually to regional economies, yet they face chronic underinvestment. : Tribal Nations employ hundreds of thousands and contribute billions annually to regional economies, yet they face chronic underinvestment. Cultural Strength: Native organizations preserve vital languages, restore ecosystems, and build intergenerational wealth and wellness despite limited resources. The report also explores the 'Five Rs of Indigenous Philanthropy,' championed by Native Americans in Philanthropy and building on the work of International Funders for Indigenous Peoples. The 'Five Rs' serve as a values-based framework for funders seeking to build meaningful and impactful partnerships with Native communities: Respect: Honor Native cultures, traditions, and lived experiences; acknowledge the impact of colonization and historical trauma. Honor Native cultures, traditions, and lived experiences; acknowledge the impact of colonization and historical trauma. Reciprocity: Approach funding as a two-way exchange, where knowledge and resources flow in both directions with mutual benefit. Approach funding as a two-way exchange, where knowledge and resources flow in both directions with mutual benefit. Responsibility: Be accountable to Native communities and support long-term investments that align with community priorities. Be accountable to Native communities and support long-term investments that align with community priorities. Relationships: Build authentic, trust-based connections by showing up consistently and sharing decision-making power. Build authentic, trust-based connections by showing up consistently and sharing decision-making power. Redistribution: Recognize the origins of philanthropic wealth and intentionally return resources to Native communities as a matter of justice and equity. According to Menezes, 'Perhaps, most important, over the course of our research, Native leaders shared their advice for funders who want to engage with Native communities. That advice, coupled with the five Rs of Indigenous Philanthropy, offers actionable guidance for donors.' Additionally, the report surfaces immediate entry points for funders to start or deepen support; next-level opportunities for systemic investment in areas such as land return, data infrastructure, and Indigenous education; and real-world success stories from funders including the Bush Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and the Northwest Area Foundation. 'Native communities have always been sources of innovation, strength, and solutions,' said Erik Stegman, chief executive officer of Native Americans in Philanthropy. 'This research affirms what we at Native Americans in Philanthropy have long known: when philanthropy shows up with respect and commitment, the impact is profound and the opportunities ahead are limitless.' Read the full report at: ### About The Bridgespan Group The Bridgespan Group is a global nonprofit that collaborates with social change organizations, philanthropists, and impact investors to make the world more equitable and just. Bridgespan's services include strategy consulting and advising, sourcing and diligence, and leadership team support. We take what we learn from this work and build on it with original research, identifying best practices and innovative ideas to share with the social sector. We work from locations in Boston, Delhi, Johannesburg, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Singapore, and Washington, DC. About Native Americans in Philanthropy For over 30 years, Native Americans in Philanthropy (NAP) has promoted equitable and effective philanthropy in Native communities. We do this through leadership development, education, research, and strategic partnerships with funders and philanthropic organizations. The cornerstone of our work is our relatives and our networks. NAP supports several communities of stakeholders that work together to build knowledge, community, priorities, and power in the sector. These networks include Native professionals in philanthropy, elected Tribal leaders, Native youth leaders, Native philanthropic executives and board members, Native nonprofit leaders, and allies. Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with GlobeNewswire. Business Upturn takes no editorial responsibility for the same.
