The White House has released Obama’s proposed budget. The final budget won’t look exactly like this one, but it’s another one of those “hey look, we have a new president with a new vision” moments. On the economic front, as Robert Reich explains, the tax structure is going to get a little bit more Robin Hood-y. You can take a look at the whole thing here in a cool in-line document reader. DOI starts on page 83 of the reader (77 of the document). Technically, the budget for ’09 is about $400 million less than ’08 (about a 3% cut) and ’10 is projected to be $300 million more than ’08, but neither of those include the ~$3 billion in the stimulus.

NSF is on page 111 of the reader (105 of the document… seriously, PDFs do this, too. Why can’t the document page number be embedded in the document reader?). In this case, we’re getting a bump! An extra $800 million this year (16% increase) and another $100 million next, plus $3 billion from the stimulus. I love the sound of this: “Ensuring America’s economic competitiveness requires that we develop the future scientific and technical workforce for our universities, national labs, and companies. To help accomplish these goals, the Budget provides substantial increases for NSF’s prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship.” Emphasis mine. So either NSF GR Fellows are about to make a lot more money, or it’s about to get a bit less prestigious. For my sake, let’s hope it’s the latter.

In case you missed this article from the Times on Obama’s environmental policy, and are curious what the plan is for Interior, here’s all you need: “‘We are putting together an inventory of all of those actions,’ Mr. Salazar said. ‘Some we will reverse, some we will change and some we may keep.’”

All clear? It’s that kind of in-depth coverage that has brought the newspaper industry to such great heights.

• Salazar is canceling all those last-minute oil and gas leases in Utah.
• A thoughtful piece on the status of the Endangered Species Act, by Verlyn Klinkenborg in Nat Geo.
• Fascinating article in Seed on using ecological principles to re-think or economic ideology. Please read it thoroughly. Perhaps my favorite line comes from Alan Greenspan: “Everyone has [an ideology] … to exist, you need an ideology.”
• Ecosystem services: still sexy.
• A mysterious disease known as “White Nose Syndrome” is wiping out bat populations in the northeast. One potential problem may be amatuer cavers (aka spelunkers) spreading the disease. If you want a truly bracing look into the misunderstandings of conservation, look no further than this conversation taking place at Metafilter, a supposedly well-educated and well-informed group blog site (e.g. “Such a weird form of conceit…. Bats are dying, clearly we humans are killing them. Only humanity is capable of killing animals.”)
• At least the Santa Catalina Island foxes are doing well — up from 103 to 784 in just 8 years. I love this: “‘In 2007, we had an extreme drought with less than 3 inches of rain,’ she said. ‘As a result, mule deer were dying in great numbers, and the foxes were able to scavenge off the carcasses. By the time breeding season arrived in 2008, we literally had obese foxes, and females in such good condition that they were having larger-than-normal litters.’ … In addition, 2008 was ‘a good rain year, so the rodent population exploded,’ she said. ‘The mice were convenient to-go packages of protein for females to retrieve and feed to their pups.’” Tails foxes win, heads their prey loses. Now that’s stability.

• Conservation Biologist is one of the ten best green jobs.
• Watch what happens to Britain’s electric and water grid after East Enders (award-winning evening soap opera) ends. 1 million tea kettles go on within 5 minutes, that’s what happens. Seems a little strange (or perhaps an exaggeration) that such an important operation isn’t carried out by computers
• William Laurance weighs in on the claim that extinction in tropical rainforests isn’t going to be as bad as predicted.
• Despite the conflict, Virunga’s gorilla population appears to be doing okay.
• CI is offering free software for mapping hotspots, or something.
• Here’s a nice article on Santiago Espinosa, a grad student at UF-Gainesville and WCS Research Fellow, and his camera traps in Yasuni NP.
• Salazar’s saying he’ll review midnight regulations from the Bush administration’s Interior Department.

• Remember how David Hayes might’ve once could’ve been Interior Secretary? He’s going to be Deputy Interior Secretary instead.
• Native plants in your backyard really do increase native diversity of wildlife.
• $93 million has been spent conserving the Mojave desert tortoise. Meanwhile, the Barneby reed-mustard (of the Utah Reed-Mustards) received $6. I know we’ve put a value on a human life. Has anybody estimated the value of a species? Whatever it was, it was too high for the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit, which is now genetically extinct.
• It’s fun pretending to read this interview with David Attenborough in his voice. To wit: “I can find you a new species without any problem at all. Take you to the rainforest and spend three or four days just scooping up insects. The difficulty is not finding the species, it’s finding the one man who specialises in thrips or whatever, who can tell you that it’s a different thing. Taxonomy is unfashionable.”
• “Mythical glorification of trees first reached its zenith in the songs, prose and paintings of the Romantic period. The Nazis were likewise obsessed with the concept of the forest.” Uh, Brian? Little help?
• Foreigners appear to be driving demand for snow leopard pelts in Afghanistan.
• From Minnesota Birdnerd, here is a picture of a real live bilateral gynandromorph cardinal: half-male, half-female, down the center:

It’s condensend Conservation Blog, January 1 – 8. Back on a regular schedule tomorrow.

• Some thoughts on the Salazar nomination in the New West. Probably the key lines: “In the list of things that Obama has on his plate for the coming term, public lands reform is not at the top…Obama, no doubt, did not want to begin his administration’s tenure with a fight over his appointment to Secretary of Interior and use up any political capital over something that would distract him from his larger goals.” Watching Obama roll out his other cabinet picks was sort of satisfying because I had no dog in those fights. “Ah, another sensible pragmatist! Excellent. Good government,” I would think, “Best not to appoint too many ideologues.” To people who don’t really care about Interior, the Salazar nomination probably looks the same way. It’s a strange feeling realizing you’re that far out of the mainstream.
• George Bush, working on his legacy, just designated huge swaths of the Pacific as Marine National Monuments. Who knew that the U.S. had jurisdiction over the Marianas Trench? The Washington Post is eating it up. Well, okay, the Pew Environment Group is saying that “Mr Bush has protected more special places in the sea than any other person in history.” Maybe we all have Laura Bush to thank. Regardless of what he’s doing in the middle of the Pacific, Bush is passing a lot of midnight regulations on his way out of town. Pro Publica is keeping track.
• A nice piece on gorillas, conservation and livelihoods in Rwanda. Meanwhile, WCS says that the key to saving mountain gorillas is funding the guards that protect them.
• A beautiful poster of recently-introduced species to the Amazon.
• It doesn’t take a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, but the piglet squid is always smiling.

Let’s get everyone back up to speed. Here’s part 1, through December 15.

• Bush did, indeed, change some rules in the ESA, but it’s probably not as bad as it could’ve been.
• It’s time to re-read the Lorax.
• Otters are moving back into towns and cities in England.
• Snow geese eggs may become a larger part of polar bears’ diet. Do you smell a Red List upgrade (downgrade)?
• Remember the Laotian rock rat that was discovered in a market in Laos? WWF has released a report (PDF) on its findings in the Mekong, with more than 1,000 new species described.
• An Inspector General report of the Bush-era Interior Department was released. It’s not pretty.

• “In December 2007, the Bush administration removed specific monitoring requirements for indicator species, plants and animals that must be studied before the U.S. Forest Service can approve logging, road building and other forest-related projects that could destroy sensitive habitat for threatened or endangered species.” People are suing.
• Crazy things have been happening at the Interior Department, but I wouldn’t exactly classify it as surprising. “Allegations of financial self-dealing, accepting gifts from energy companies, cocaine use and sexual misconduct.” Wait, there were gifts in addition to the sex and the cocaine? At least they drove a hard bargain.