Blue Planet Journey

  Hunter education student taking shooting test. I may be unique in the world for having taught more non-hunters the basics of hunting than anyone else. Let me explain. For years, I taught a course titled "Living With Wildlife" at Utah State University. Obviously, and especially in Utah, one of the ways people interact with wildlife is by shooting and eating them. It was a large class, averaging about 100 students from a variety of majors. I wanted all students to understand the education requirements for hunters in the state, so I made all students, hunters and non-hunters alike, take this course. Yes, even the hunters, who had already gone through hunter education (HE) and may have had years of hunting experience. The only ways to opt out of this were to demonstrate that you had taken HE within the past year (happened once), a judge said you couldn't be around firearms (once), you were ethically opposed to touching firearms (usually one student per semester), or firearm...

  Everyone has had to adapt to the 2020-2021 Covid-19 pandemic. Wearing masks (single or double layers), trying to interpret muffled speech, and avoiding or being avoided by family and friends are all part of this new reality. Thankfully, with vaccination programs well underway, life will soon be a bit more relaxed - and less deadly. However, I am concerned about the stall in the decline of active cases nationwide, the surge in some countries, and those pesky virus variants that may be more transmisible. Our adaptations may continue for the year. One company that has been a boon during the past year (and the stock price increase reflects this) is Zoom . Zoom is a video communications company, and has both a free basic version and a fee-based professional or business version. This means it is available to practically anyone with a device that has a camera and can connect to the Internet. I've used Zoom on a regular basis, for everything from a weekly family visit, to church service...

Requiring a demonstration of proficiency with firearms seems to be a no-brainer. Unless you've been living secluded in a one-room cabin in Lincoln,  Montana, you've heard about the most recent school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. What a terrible event, and what a terrible thing to even write, "the most recent school shooting."  I can't fathom how I would think or react if a shooting happened at Noelani Elementary School, or Logan High School, or other schools where my children attended.  Students, parents, teachers, and school administrators are clamoring for something to be done.  Gun enthusiasts are pushing back... "Guns don't kill people.  People kill people." I'm no expert in policing, community safety, school administration, or constitutional law. My frame of reference is shaped by avoiding the likes of Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh as if they were carriers of the plague (with apologies ...