The laws that guarantee eminent domaine come from the 5th Amendment of the USA Consitution.

When the 5th Amendment was written by our founding fathers, they never expected to allow Britain the right to come in with gold and take back the colonies. 

Below is an ad from an Oklahoma law firm. I've never been to Tulsa, Oklahoma to know for sure they are located at 1500 South Utica Avenue, Suite 400; but, if they weren't there it would be false advertisement.

If lawyers in Oklahoma, one of the states that have enormous interests in the petroleum industry, stands up for the ABUSE of power in allowing eminent domain to foreign countries, then there is a battle to be fought.

Foreign Entities Using Eminent Domain Set a Precedent (click here)

TransCanada used United States eminent domain law from the northern border of North Dakota all the way to Port Arthur, Texas to secure right-of-ways for their pipeline. While the project itself will serve the general public and create jobs, it is the foreign corporation (TransCanada) who stands to profit immensely from this taking of land for the Keystone pipeline.
Many will argue that the pipeline is necessary, but the rulings set a very dangerous precedent to the national security of the United States by providing foreign investors and foreign countries with the power of eminent domain in the United States. Our nation’s court system believes very strongly in ‘precedents’ whether they are right or wrong. 

Foreign Use of Eminent Domain Power is Dangerous

Many farmers and ranchers in Oklahoma are adversely affected by the federal government and state courts allowing a foreign corporation to use the power of eminent domain to take private property. These rulings on property takings may seem insignificant, especially since the pipeline is beneficial to a majority of Americans. However, these rulings do in fact set a precedent and grant the very far reaching powers to a foreign company or government.

Early Evolution of Eminent Domain Cases (US Department of Justice website - click here)
The federal government’s power of eminent domain has long been used in the United States to acquire property for public use.  Eminent domain ''appertains to every independent government.  It requires no constitutional recognition; it is an attribute of sovereignty.”  Boom Co. v. Patterson, 98 U.S. 403, 406 (1879).  However, the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution stipulates:  “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”  Thus, whenever the United States acquires a property through eminent domain, it has a constitutional responsibility to justly compensate the property owner for the fair market value of the property.  See Bauman v. Ross, 167 U.S. 548 (1897); Kirby Forest Industries, Inc. v. United States, 467 U.S. 1, 9-10 (1984). 

On September 4, 1985 Rupert Murdoch became a USA citizen after being born in Melbourne, Australia. Why would he do that? He loved the USA so much he wanted to live here? No, that is not the reason why Murdoch took a US citizenship.

September 04, 1985

United Press International

NEW YORK — Rupert Murdoch, (click here) Australian-born publishing magnate, became a U.S. citizen today, removing an obstacle to his acquisition of a network of independent American television stations.

Murdoch, 54, has been living in the United States since 1973. He was joined in the courtroom ceremony by 185 other aliens....

If Murdoch had to change his citizenship to purchase major media networks, where does anyone believe the US State Department can use eminent domain to benefit a foreign company?

The power to take private property for public use by a state, municipality, or private person or corporation authorized to exercise functions of public character, following the payment of just compensation to the owner of that property.

Easements

I want people effected by foreign companies seeking easements to understand how 'conservation' easements work.

Private Land (click here)
Private property subject to a conservation easement remains in private ownership. Many types of private land use, such as farming, ranching and timber harvesting, can continue under the terms of a conservation easement, and owners can continue to live on the property. The agreement may require the landowner to take certain actions to protect land and water resources, such as fencing a stream to keep livestock out or harvesting trees in certain way; or to refrain from certain actions, such as developing or subdividing the land. Conservation easements do not mean properties are automatically opened up to public access unless so specified in an easement. 

This argument with TransCanada has existed since 2011. This is an entry about citizens in Oklahoma that dearly love their country and oppose the building of pipelines by foreign companies through eminent domain.

Oklahoma landowners challenge TransCanada’s pipeline (click here) (foreign company can use eminent domain?)
Globe and Mail ^ | 1-17-11 | SHAWN McCARTHY

Posted on Tuesday, January 18, 2011 6:55:18 PM by dynachrome
Oklahoma resident Sue Kelso and her siblings have filed a motion in district court to block TransCanada’s plan to exercise eminent domain in order to build across their property. Ms. Kelso, 69, lives on a farm where she grew up near the Texas border in southern Oklahoma.
“My objection is that a foreign company has no right to condemn our property, come in and take what they want, where it does not benefit us or our neighbours,” Ms. Kelso said in an interview Monday. “It only benefits them and their investors. It is for their gain – it is not helping me at all.”

There was an article in the NY Times: 

By LESLIE KAUFMAN and DAN FROSCH

Published: October 17, 2011

...Randy Thompson, a cattle buyer in Nebraska, (click here) was informed that if he did not grant pipeline access to 80 of the 400 acres left to him by his mother along the Platte River, “Keystone will use eminent domain to acquire the easement.” Sue Kelso and her large extended family in Oklahoma were sued in the local district court by TransCanada, the pipeline company, after she and her siblings refused to allow the pipeline to cross their pasture.

“Their land agent told us the very first day she met with us, you either take the money or they’re going to condemn the land,” Mrs. Kelso said. By its own count, the company currently has 34 eminent domain actions against landowners in Texas and an additional 22 in South Dakota....

Now, TransCanada has imposed it's will through a twisted use of the US State Department. TransCanada wants the US State Department to look the other way while citizens across this country stand in opposition of it. This decision by the US State Department and any decision by President Obama will set a very dangerous precedent. I am surprised this issue has gotten this far. It has yet to submit a legitimate Environmental Impact Statement. It is fraudulent. No doubt in my mind. Public opinion closes the beginning of April. 

Eighty of four hundred acres. 

Eighty of four hundred acres.

Eighty. 

That is 20% of Ms. Kelso's farmland.

Twenty percent of a privately owned FARM is an imposed loss through eminent domain to a foreign company.

That is 20% less income to that farm. It is 20% less taxes to the local tax base to pay for schools and infrastructure. 

It is outrageous and there is no reason for it. 

Eminent domain is supposed to be a last resort for a city or state to supply public access to land for it's use. This is not providing access to land for the public use. Oil is NOT a utility. Not even close.  

Oil is a privately owned commodity. It impacts the global price of that commodity. When utilities appear in the stock market it is not a global commodity. There is nothing about oil that is public. The petroleum industry LEASES public land, but, the US government never embarks on a national petroleum commodity to effect global prices. The USA allows companies to access public lands, in some areas, to conduct economic incomes. The USA collects lease fees, not a percentage of the global commodity. 

Private Land

Private property subject to a conservation easement remains in private ownership. Many types of private land use, such as farming, ranching and timber harvesting, can continue under the terms of a conservation easement, and owners can continue to live on the property. The agreement may require the landowner to take certain actions to protect land and water resources, such as fencing a stream to keep livestock out or harvesting trees in certain way; or to refrain from certain actions, such as developing or subdividing the land. Conservation easements do not mean properties are automatically opened up to public access unless so specified in an easement.
- See more at: http://www.nature.org/about-us/private-lands-conservation/conservation-easements/all-about-conservation-easements.xml#sthash.YgK59lPO.dpuf

First ask the question WHY do troop numbers have to be cut back?

Troops, like employees, are fluid. They are cash liquidity. So, when cuts occur the troop numbers are the ONLY place it can happen. That would not be necessary if the USA hadn't over spent to their Military Industrial Complex. 

The monies spent to providing wealth to the private military sector are by contract. So, the USA is locked into contracts for stupid projects like the F35 and is slowly but assuredly dismantling it's readiness. 

If a country invests in stupid infrastructure like replacing soldiers with drones in a warehouse, then it's sincere readiness is profoundly impacted.

WASHINGTON 

February 24, 2014 (AP)

By ROBERT BURNS 

AP National Security Writer

Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel (click here) is recommending shrinking the Army to its smallest size in decades in an effort to balance defense needs with budget realities, according to defense officials.

Hagel is expected to announce that and other recommendations Monday in a speech at the Pentagon outlining his priorities for next year's defense budget.

Army leaders have been saying for months that they expected to absorb additional troop reductions as the nation prepares to end its combat role in Afghanistan this year. The Army is already scheduled to shrink to 490,000 active-duty members from a wartime peak of 570,000. Hagel is expected to propose cutting it further to between 440,000 and 450,000.

Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said Monday that Hagel consulted closely with the military service chiefs on how to balance defense and budget-saving requirements.

"He has worked hard with the services to ensure that we continue to stand for the defense of our national interests — that whatever budget priorities we establish, we do so in keeping with our defense strategy and with a strong commitment to the men and women in uniform and to their families, Kirby said....

The USA has supplied a military presence globally. It has put the USA in a position whereby zealots like Cheney and Bush can simply build faux wars and actually invade sovereign nations without remorse.

That level of military presence has driven a build up of military presence by other major power, not for the purpose of being an ally, but to protect themselves from the USA's military shadow. 

The more a country spends on it's military, the less it has to spend on it's people AND development of a modern day economy. If Russia and China were to seek to spend the monies the USA does on war readiness it would impoverish every person in the country, every business and would use nationalism to justify the pain of the people.

Does that sound familiar? What was the USA doing during the Bush administration to justify the abandonment of Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq? Nationalism. The people pledged their lives to war for the greater good of the country. It was bullshit.

The point is the USA has to allow other nations to grow their military and their own national security rather than relying on the USA to do it. That includes the reality of Europe building their own missile ships and parking them on their shoreline. That means Europe builds it's own missile defense shield, if that is what they want. The American people sincerely don't like being the world's enemy. 

The most promising ally the USA has is France. It has capacity and capability. That is the relationship the USA needs to have with every nation. In the year 2014 we should be growing TRUST and not hatred or mistrust. 

No one should believe the USA should never have a military or assign it's national security to hope, but, the enemy isn't the Cold War anymore. There is a huge challenge for the Asian nations to end GENERATIONAL tugs of war over islands. And Africa is simply a mess with warlords and agrarian economies. South America has taken the reins of it's own power and charted a course for success. The Mideast is in chronic flux right now, with the latest being the resignation of the Prime Minister's cabinet in Egypt.

The USA has come through a century of self-indulgent wealth justified by promoting democracy. It instilled dictators in the Middle East for the sake of oil. The methods of it's intelligence agencies were to begin rebel attacks that would unseat governments not friendly to the USA. Some would say that is legitimate as a national security strategy. Maybe. But, what is guaranteed to follow is the USA backing the rebels for the sake of democracy and then USA troops die. I don't believe war has to solve the problems of a nation and it's international relations. 

USA Imperialism 'feels right' to many, many of it's citizens. But, it is a faux god the USA has to shed.  

The wealth of the country has found it's way into the hands of a few while the country itself has turned surveillance on it's own people. There has been no defense of the Middle Class and the status of the unions that guarantee it's long life in the country. Washington under estranged political leaders and parties have turned against the well being of it's own people. There is no reason to believe this trend is benevolence in any way. Citizens should not have to survive but thrive. Thriving by a majority of it's citizens guarantees an enviable brain trust and a growing economy. 

The Techno USA Military is an absolute abhorrence to this planet. A computer doesn't need air to breath, food to eat or water to drink. It doesn't need anything except a reason for action and those that push the buttons. Sorry, I just don't see it. 

The USA has to take a breath after a century of military dominance. It needs to allow it's allies to grow their own defenses, while seeking diplomatic solutions in REALISTIC outcomes. If the USA is to remain a strong and steadfast nation mired in democracy, it needs to promote peace. Peace does not mean every country is "Little America" honed by war. 

The USA is at a new horizon with it's military. It has to promote a national defense while finding a balance with a peaceful profile. The extravagant military spending has to end. The USA has to measure it's military ability against the nations of the world. I like the "Balance of Power." It makes sense and promotes demilitarization of the world. Non-proliferation has to become sincere non-proliferation.

The Ukraine has every right to seek a return of monies to their treasury. Resort, perhaps?

By Associated Press 

Published: February 22

NOVI PETRIVTSI, Ukraine — The opulent residence of President Viktor Yanukovych (click here) has always been a closely guarded secret — and a symbol of the alleged corruption at Ukraine’s highest levels. On Saturday, after he fled the capital and its gates were thrown open, thousands streamed into the compound to get a first-hand look.

Inside the walled compound known as Mezhyhirya, posh mansions stood amid manicured lawns. There were parks dotted with statues, ponds with fountains and wild ducks, a tennis court, a golf course and a colonnaded pavilion....
     

A quarter trillion over ten years? That is $250 billion over 10 years or $25 billion per year.

$469.16 billion were the sales and revenues for Walmart in 2013. It is expected to have sales and revenues of $476.29 billion in 2014.

Walmart has the worst operational models in retail sales. The ad is simply playing with 'ideas' to insure sales. If Walmart doesn't increase it's pay rates and invest in manufacturing in the USA it is out of the game. It is already losing it's sales base.

 











Walmart has aggressively pursued a strategy of slash and burn. It has constructed big box stores simply because it could, not because it should. The strategy is to make Walmart the ONLY story in any neighborhood. 

Monopoly. 

All these 'cheap merchandise' stores use that strategy to build wealth. Their  buying tactics are ruthless because of their size which also continues to bring down the cash flow in the work force. The less monies manufacturers have in profit, the less employees are paid. 

Simply because Walmart wants to invest in purchasing more in America, doesn't mean there is going to be more or better paying jobs. Walmart has to change it's business model and treat suppliers with respect rather than as if it is doing them a favor to purchase their manufactured merchandise. I mean let's face it if a manufacturer actually made real money it could replace Walmart, right?

 












Walmart is putting itself out of business because of it's ruthless policies. This is not rocket science. When Walmart builds store after store after store while putting competition out of business, they actually begin to compete with itself. Hello? This is a well managed company that actually understands where it belongs in the market place? NO!

Does Walmart have a future? Who knows? With this methodology for profits I don't see it has much of a future.

I mean is Walmart going to start building cars, too, as their ad tries to portray? Walmart destroyed the Middle Class in the United States of America. Now, because they are failing in sales in the USA and can't raise wages in their outsourced jobs it is pleading for a redress of its' worthiness in the American landscape. With the history Walmart has, does that company actually think the American consumer is going to run to support their comeback?

I don't think so!

It's tactics are ruthless and the wind will change as soon as it serves the companies best interest.

Bye, bye, Walmart. Everyone say good-bye to Walmart. 

Telling the truth is a "DIRTY JOB," but, someone has to do it.

"Morning Papers" - It's Origin (click here)

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

by Ken Kremer 
February 22, 2014

NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER, MARYLAND - Weather researchers (click here) and forecasters worldwide are gushing with excitement in the final days leading to blastoff of the powerful, new Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory – built by NASA in a joint effort with Japan.

GPM is a next-generation satellite that will provide global, near real time observations of rain and snow from space and thereby open a new revolutionary era in global weather observing and climate science. Therefore it will have a direct impact on society and people’s daily lives worldwide.

The team is counting down to liftoff in less than 5 days, on Feb. 27 at 1:07 PM EST from the Tanegashima Space Center, on Tanegashima Island off southern Japan, atop the highly reliable Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-IIA rocket....

"Good Night, Moon"

Waning Crescent
  
34% Full

23.7 days old

Southern Cross Stargazers for February 23 - March 1. 2014 (click here)
Sunday
Mid-evening, outer planet blue-green Uranus, in Pisces Fish, descends toward the western horizon. Aries, Ram, chases Pegasus, Winged Horse, onto the western horizon. The Royal Family swings low in the northwest. Capella guides Auriga, Charioteer, toward the northwest.
The delicate Seven Sisters lead Taurus, Bull westward. Aldebaran (Bull’s red eye) winks from the V-shaped Hyades cluster (Bull’s face). Bright Jupiter glows overhead on the right of the Gemini Twins, Castor and Pollux. The dim Beehive cluster shimmers in Cancer, Crab, below the Twins.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/22/3948816/southern-cross-stargazer-for-feb.html#storylink=cpy

When are we going to do vital work for this country and stop allowing potential polluters? Our waterways are more important and should never be overlooked in any EIS.

The Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee (click here) has nearly 70 members who represent a wide array of local, state, tribal, and federal interests throughout the Missouri River Basin.

The Committee has 28 stakeholder members who represent 16 non-governmental categories. Stakeholder representatives, and their alternates, are selected by the US Army Corps of Engineers with input from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Stakeholder members serve for three year terms.

The Missouri is America's longest river; (click here) its basin spans 10 states. But human engineering has compromised its magnificent habitats and the fish and wildlife that depend on them. To promote positive change, the League launched its Missouri River Initiative (MRI) in 2007.

The League is working with federal and state agencies and private stakeholders to assess the environmental challenges facing the river and find solutions that work for the region’s ecology and economy. These solutions include restoring areas of  river wherever possible including backwater and side channel habitats, and increasing opportunities for recreation. Paul Lepisto, the League’s Regional Coordinator for the Missouri River Initiative said: “Activities, policies, and practices involving navigation, agriculture and energy development have altered river flow regimes impacting the well-being of the Missouri River. We want to protect and enhance a productive river environment for everyone—individuals, families, and businesses—in the region.  This will provide improved habitats for fish and wildlife, additional recreational opportunities and economic growth throughout the basin.” 

The US Army Corp has a management plan to recover the Missouri River and it's species.

The Missouri River Recovery Management Plan (click here) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is a 3-year effort that will evaluate the effectiveness of current habitat development and recommend any needed modifications to more effectively create habitat and avoid jeopardy to the species. The plan will...

...Reviewing Species Objectives and Conceptual Ecological Models

In addition to the above scoping comments, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has drafted Missouri River Recovery Management Plan Species Objectives and Conceptual Ecological Models for review by November 4, 2013 . Please click on the first link to read the open invitation and instructions. The draft objectives and models are grouped by species below...
 

This vital river has been a true friend to Americans, but, it has been abandoned.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012 (Sec 120) (click here) included language that currently prohibits the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) from funding the Missouri River Ecosystem Restoration Plan (MRERP).

Let's get this right for the Missouri. The Midwest needs a clean and vibrant Missouri River. It can't do without it. It is time to get this done.

SOUTH DAKOTA: Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation: In 2000, 42 ferrets were released on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation and those releases are continuing. In 2005 it was reported that the reservation had 115 ferrets.

Reintroduction of the Black Footed Ferret is along the Missouri River as well as sites in Montana and South Dakota.

70 years is a long time for a species to be near extinction.

The people of the United States and Canada care about natural world and sincerely don't like it when it is out of balance.

On September 26, 1981 (click here) a ranch dog near Meeteetse, Wyoming killed a black-footed ferret and brought it home to John and Lucille Hogg who took it into to taxidermist Larry LaFranchie who identified it as a black-footed ferret. A population was discovered and studied on white-tailed prairie dog colonies occupying private lands near Meeteetse. The population peaked at 129 individuals in 1984 but declined to 58 in 1985. Sylvatic plague and canine distemper were decimating the population and eventually the decision was made to capture some animals. Six were captured but died of canine distemper. The remaining wild black-footed ferrets were captured in the Fall of 1985 and Fall/Winter of 1986-87. A total of 18 were removed (11 females, 7 males) and formed the nucleus of a successful captive breeding program. By 1991 enough kits were produced in captivity that reintroductions back into the wild began and continue today. Black-footed ferrets have been reintroduced at 19 locations in 8 US States, Mexico and Canada. Future recovery of the species is completely dependent upon managing healthy prairie dog populations, requiring tools to mitigate plague and overcoming the negative social attitudes towards prairie dogs from the agricultural community.

Grus americana critically endangered throughout it's range.

The Whooping Cranes have to natural flocks. Eastern and Western.

Distribution (click here)
Whooping cranes once ranged throughout most of North America, and wintered primarily in Louisiana. For many years, no one knew where they bred until, in 1954, a pilot sighted a pair of whooping cranes in Wood Buffalo National Park in
Northwest Territories, Canada. Today, most whoopers make a semiannual migration of 2,500 miles, nesting in Canada and
wintering in the salt flats and marshes of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. In South Dakota, whoopers sometimes can be sighted as spring and fall migrants along the Missouri River drainage and in the western part of the state. 

There have been rare sightings in eastern South Dakota.

Flyways aren't just air space. They are also land and wetlands where migrating species can stop to rest, eat and continue on their way.

Nebraska and South Dakota have layover spots for the very endangered whooping crane.

Whooping cranes like Blue Crabs as a diet.

Pollinators. Speyeria idalia is petitioned to be listed an endangered species.

The problem with this beautiful butterfly is habitat loss. Butterflies are pollinators as are bees. They are very important if one is growing crops or simply to propagate nature.

Significance (click here)
Butterflies pollinate flowers and fill important roles in the food chain as food for spiders and birds. Owing to their sensitivity to environmental changes, butterflies are used as indicator species. Many people enjoy watching and photographing butterflies. 



Conservation Measures
Regal fritillary populations have declined in the Midwest mainly due to the conversion of tallgrass prairies into cropland.
Pesticides have also contributed to the species' decline. Large tracts of native prairie with abundant wildflowers are needed
to protect this beautiful butterfly. One such area is the Samuel Ordway Prairie near Leola, S.D., managed by The Nature
Conservancy. The regal fritillary is a candidate for listing as a federally threatened species. Currently, South Dakota does not have any invertebrate species listed as threatened or endangered.

Haliaeetus leucocephalus

This is the range of the American Bald Eagle, the national symbol of the USA. The purple color is it's permanent range. Right there along the Missouri River in Montana and South Dakota.

Distribution (click here)

Bald eagles are widely distributed throughout the United States and Canada. They winter in open valleys in the Black Hills, in the lakes area of northeastern South Dakota, and along the Missouri River and its tributaries. Winter roosts of eagles are especially common below the reservoir dams from Pierre to Yankton. Although historically bald eagles nested in southeastern South Dakota, there have been no confirmed nesting records in the state during this century. In the spring of 1992, a pair began nesting in Sand Lake NWR in Brown County in northeastern South Dakota, but abandoned their nest before laying eggs....

...Strict guidelines to manage and protect existing bald eagle populations have been implemented by federal and state conservation agencies. One effective measure establishes buffer zones around eagle nesting areas to help minimize disturbance from humans. It is illegal to disturb bald eagles when they are nesting. It is also a federal offense to shoot, trap, or harm these birds in any way. The National Wildlife Federation offers a reward of $500 for information leading to the conviction of anyone who kills a bald eagle. Even possession of eagle feathers is illegal except for those American Indians who obtain a permit to have the feathers for religious ceremonies. 

REASONS FOR CURRENT STATUS: (click here)

The major factors leading to the decline of the bald eagle were persecution by humans and lowered reproductive success following the introduction of the pesticide DDT in 1947. DDT residues caused eggshell thinning which led to broken eggs. Bald eagle populations began to show signs of recovery 10 to 20 years after DDT use was banned. Population increases have been assisted by protective buffer zones around nests, reduced shooting, and restoration of aquatic habitat.  Currently, shoreline development may be the most limiting factor impacting populations.

The Black Footed Ferret is critically endangered across it's range.

Conata Basin /Badlands site: (click here) Black-footed ferrets were reintroduced into the Conata Basin/Badlands area of southwestern South Dakota in 1994-1999. Thirty-six ferrets were released in 1994. In 1995, there were at least two wild-born litters. Thirty-three more ferrets were released in 1995 and in 1996 there were as many seven as wild-born litters. Releases at this site indicated that “preconditioning” ferrets to the site prior to release resulted in higher success. As of 2000, this site had at least 200 ferrets and appeared to be the first established, self-sustaining wild population since reintroductions began. In 2005 245 ferrets were reported and because plague was confirmed in prairie dog colonies near the ferrets, a preventative treatment program was initiated.

In 2004, 93 ferrets were released onto the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. In 2005 42 survivors were counted and 15 new kits were observed later that year.

Charadrius melodus is endangered throughout it's range.

This is there range. They primarily live and eat in the Midwest and Southern Canada during the summer.

The Piping Plover is endangered, except where it spends some time in the summer along the New England coast where it is considered Threatened. But, New England coastal communities are not it's greatest preference. These lovely little birds are most often found along the Missouri River.

They like the sand along waterways. they eat a wide variety of aquatic marine worms, insects, mollusks, and crustaceans.

They live and nest on land. They fly, but, they don't nest in trees.
 
When pairs are formed, the male begins digging out several scrapes (nests) along the high shore near the beach-grass line. 

The males also perform elaborate courtship ceremonies, including stone tossing and courtship flights featuring repeated dives. Scrapes, small depressions in the sand dug by kicking the sand.. Females will sit and evaluate the scrapes, then choose a good scrape and decorate the nest with shells and debris to camouflage it.

Size: 18 cm (7.25 in) in length. Color: Breeding season: Pale brown above, lighter below; black band across forehead; bill orange with black tip; legs orange; white rump. Male: Complete or incomplete black band encircles the body at the breast. Female: Paler head band; incomplete breast band. Winter coloration: Bill black; all birds lack breast band and head band.

The mighty Missouri River is actually connected to the Yellowstone River.

It's true.

Right there at the border of Montana and North Dakota.

How did Exxon manage to build an oil refinery on the Yellowstone River?

This is the beauty of the Yellowstone River.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 5:57 pm 
Updated: 5:47 pm, Thu Feb 13, 2014.  
 LAURA LUNDQUIST, Chronicle Staff Writer
 
A Bozeman environmental group (click here) was disappointed but not surprised to hear that a Billings Exxon refinery had an oil spill.

On Tuesday afternoon, an unknown individual from the refinery called the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Response Center to report that the ExxonMobile refinery in Billings had spilled an unknown quantity of petroleum product into the Yellowstone River....

...Montana Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Chris Saeger said a foot-wide oil sheen around 100 yards long was visible in the river.

John Meyer, executive director of Cottonwood, said the spill occurred at one of dozens of facilities that his group has tried to bring to the attention of the DEQ.

In April, Cottonwood, formerly known as the Cottonwood Environmental Law Center, and Montana River Action sued the DEQ under the Clean Water Act for failing to monitor several facilities, including the ExxonMobile refinery....

Scaphirhynchus albus, endangered species of a ray-finnned fish in the Missouri River throughout.

Pallid Sturgeon

Reasons for Decline: All of the 3,350 miles of riverine habitat within the pallid sturgeon's range have been adversely affected by man. Approximately 28% has been impounded, which has created unsuitable lake-like habitat; 51% has been channelized into deep, uniform channels; the remaining 21% is downstream of dams which have altered the river's hydrograph, temperature and turbidity. Commercial fishing and environmental contaminants may have also played a role in the pallid sturgeon's decline.

They were once a sporting fish and there have been programs to recover the fish through releases in the Missouri River.

US Counties within South Dakota in which the Pallid sturgeon, Entire is known to or is believed to occur: (click here)

The current recovery plan was signed January 28, 2013 (click here)

These fish are known to live beyond 60 years old, grow to six feet in length and weight over 100 pounds. As game fish they are valued for their meat which is considerable at maturity.

The pallid sturgeon, an ancient species that has existed since the days of the dinosaurs, is also one of the most poorly known and infrequently seen freshwater fishes in North American. It was listed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as endangered on September 6, 1990, in accordance with provisions of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. Similar in appearance to the shovelnose sturgeon, the pallid has a flattened and shovel-shaped snout and is distinguished by pale, bony plates instead of scales, a reptile-like body, a sucker-type mouth and large barbels (whisker-like growths next to it’s mouth). The barbels, used to sense the river bottom and identify prey, allow the protrusible, vacuum cleaner-like mouth to quickly capture it. Prey consists of aquatic insects successfully fed goldfish, crayfish, and minnows.

It is interesting how the Missouri River supports so many rare, threatened and endangered species.

Beautiful flower. It grows in areas where there are rocks and where no other flower will grow. It is Rare and Threatened.

Astragalus barrii

Barr's Milkvetch

Centered in the Powder River Basin of northeastern Wyoming (Campbell, Johnson, Natron, Niobrara, Sheridan and Weston counties) and adjacent southeastern Montana (Big Horn, Carter, Powder River and Rosebud counties), to southwestern South Dakota (click here) (Fall River, Shannon and Pennington counties) and northwestern Nebraska (Dawes County).

Number Left 

Montana: 33 occurrences (Fertig 2000).
 
Nebraska: 1 occurrence (Weedon 2001).
 
South Dakota: 7 occurrences (Ode 1988).
 
Wyoming: 26 occurrences (Hartman and Nelson 1995)

The primary flyway (click here) for the Missouri River is number 2, the Central Flyway – Over the Great Plains, east of the Rocky Mountain.

A flyway is a pathway used by migratory birds and insects.  Birds tend to take predictable routes to get from the winter feeding grounds to the summer breeding grounds and back.  Flyways usually occur along coastlines, major rivers and near mountains.  Conservationists can help threatened bird and butterfly populations by protecting habitat along major migratory flyways.

Flyways are important to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act(click here) makes it illegal for anyone to take, possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, purchase, or barter, any migratory bird, or the parts, nests, or eggs of such a bird except under the terms of a valid permit issued pursuant to Federal regulations....

The Missouri River is a magnificent river that flows through many states in the Midwest. If flows through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska.

The Missouri River (click here) drains one-sixth of the United States and encompasses 529,350 square miles. It flows 2,341 miles from its headwaters at the confluence of the Gallatin, Madison, and Jefferson Rivers in the Rocky Mountains at Three Forks, Montana, to its confluence with the Mississippi River at St. Louis, Missouri.

The basin is home to about 10 million people from 28 Native American tribes, 10 states (Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming), and a small part of Canada.

Precipitation in the basin varies from an annual mean of 40 inches in the interior highlands of the Missouri Ozarks to 10 inches in the dry upland plains of North and South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. The basin’s elevation drops from 14,000 foot peaks at its northwestern boundary to about 400 feet where it joins the Mississippi.

It is Sunday Night