Alex Jones Show - Alex Jones Exposes Salamander Harassment

00:00:00.000 Due to the salamander's listing as an endangered species, they cannot allow the public to be walking around where they may be apparently harassing or squishing them.

00:00:11.000 So that's the salamander's favorite area, the scientists believe is right there below the diving board?

00:00:17.000 Just upstream from the diving board, right across from the diving board is an area.

00:00:21.000 There's some changes that are happening to Barton Springs.

00:00:23.000 We just got done talking to the head of public relations, Jim Hallbrook, down at...

00:00:29.000 Austin Parks and Recreation and he told us how they have to save the salamanders so people can't swim down here where they've been swimming for over a hundred years before that where the Indians were swimming.

00:00:38.000 So let's go on down there and talk to the park police, who I've heard are very friendly people.

00:00:44.000 Generally if they catch you swimming in an area you're not supposed to be, or if your dog's swimming where it's not supposed to be, and let's find out how the feds are saving us from ourselves. and let's find out how the feds are saving us Enforcing the law.

00:01:03.000 Look at them.

00:01:07.000 How y'all doing?

00:01:09.000 Y'all protecting the salamander?

00:01:15.000 Down here enforcing the federal edict, I see.

00:01:19.000 Keep an eye on the project that they're building.

00:01:22.000 What's the project?

00:01:24.000 Building a fence, huh?

00:01:26.000 To protect the salamanders.

00:01:30.000 Jim Holbrook.

00:01:31.000 We were just over at his office.

00:01:32.000 Yeah, we're...

00:01:33.000 You say we probably got more information?

00:01:37.000 Than we do.

00:01:38.000 Oh, yeah.

00:01:38.000 We know about the feds and their land grabs.

00:01:40.000 Getting us used to them telling us how to live.

00:01:41.000 For our best interest.

00:01:44.000 But, uh...

00:01:45.000 No, you guys are just doing your jobs.

00:01:47.000 So people aren't allowed to swim down here anymore.

00:01:50.000 Is what y'all been told.

00:01:52.000 As far as I know.

00:01:53.000 People just aren't even allowed to go down.

00:01:54.000 Can I ask who you're with?

00:01:55.000 Yeah, I'm with KJFK Radio and I have an Access TV show.

00:01:58.000 How you doing?

00:01:59.000 Doing fine.

00:02:00.000 Y'all are out here making sure.

00:02:02.000 42, bro.

00:02:06.000 Yes, sir?

00:02:06.000 We're instructed not to speak with the media.

00:02:08.000 We have to.

00:02:09.000 And it's just not because of this.

00:02:10.000 It's any issue.

00:02:11.000 That's why he's heading to the house.

00:02:12.000 He's going home now.

00:02:13.000 But that's why we're not giving much information.

00:02:16.000 We're under our general order to say we're not supposed to talk to the media.

00:02:20.000 I understand.

00:02:21.000 That's what's going on.

00:02:22.000 We're not trying to evade your questions, you know.

00:02:24.000 But that's what's going on.

00:02:27.000 I think APD would be the same way.

00:02:29.000 They have a public information officer, and that's probably why I saw a lot of chitchat going on.

00:02:36.000 Oh, I understand.

00:02:37.000 I understand.

00:02:39.000 It's just funny.

00:02:39.000 In America now, we see police everywhere protecting areas that the feds say we can't use.

00:02:44.000 Meanwhile, they're selling crack on East 11th.

00:02:46.000 And I realize y'all are park police, but how many people are in the park police?

00:02:50.000 How many officers?

00:02:50.000 About 32, I believe.

00:02:52.000 32 commissioned officers.

00:02:55.000 Commissioned on the street, and then how many in the bureaucracy?

00:02:58.000 I don't know what you mean by bureaucracy, sir.

00:03:00.000 People with desk jobs. 0.96

00:03:02.000 I think just the chiefs.

00:03:04.000 Just the chiefs.

00:03:05.000 Just one.

00:03:05.000 So 32 people to protect the parks.

00:03:08.000 Yes, sir.

00:03:08.000 Well, that seems reasonable.

00:03:09.000 I've actually heard there's some other areas off around in Austin where people aren't allowed to swim.

00:03:16.000 What kind of areas do you mean?

00:03:18.000 I've just been told about friends of mine being in other areas with their dogs and things and being told they can't have dogs swimming.

00:03:24.000 I haven't heard about those.

00:03:25.000 What about right down here below?

00:03:27.000 Are they planning to restrict down below the spillway?

00:03:31.000 I haven't heard about that.

00:03:32.000 You haven't heard about that?

00:03:33.000 Yes, sir.

00:03:33.000 What's your name, sir?

00:03:34.000 Meg Larino.

00:03:35.000 Officer Meg Larino.

00:03:35.000 Officer Meg Larino?

00:03:36.000 Yes, sir.

00:03:37.000 Nice to meet you, Alex Jones.

00:03:38.000 Nice to meet you.

00:03:38.000 Thanks a lot.

00:03:39.000 The lines and things, is it alright if we go down and just film it?

00:03:43.000 Sure.

00:03:44.000 Okay, thanks.

00:03:44.000 Are you ready?

00:03:46.000 Well, here we go.

00:03:48.000 The last few days, as they construct a fence around the area, a place where people have been swimming for over a hundred years, and before that, the Indians, as we said earlier. 0.63

00:03:59.000 So let's go down and take a look at the area that the EPA's here to keep us safe from ourselves, because we're so evil.

00:04:06.000 Let's go.

00:04:07.000 Oh yeah, I'm in on it.

00:04:15.000 Yep.

00:04:25.000 From this angle or is he gonna come down here?

00:04:26.000 No, no.

00:04:27.000 We'll just zoom up to him.

00:04:30.000 You know, as we walk down here to film this historic area where Austinites have been enjoying nature for a long time, this gentleman out of the clear blue said something that made absolute sense.

00:04:42.000 What'd you say, sir?

00:04:43.000 First they lock you out, then they lock you up.

00:04:45.000 First they lock you out, then they lock you up.

00:04:49.000 That's how systems have always worked.

00:04:50.000 That's how it always works.

00:04:54.000 Thanks a lot.

00:05:00.000 Okay Mike, start with me and then zoom in.

00:05:11.000 Here you have it.

00:05:12.000 As we speak, they're putting in these poles to create a fence around the sunken gardens which were constructed for people's enjoyment.

00:05:22.000 It's a real shame that we're losing our sovereignty here locally as the country is losing its sovereignty internationally.

00:05:31.000 And with executive orders and other unconstitutional acts, the executive branch is robbing Americans of their birthright.

00:05:40.000 You see, if they can restrict you from using your own park lands, what's next?

00:05:46.000 What else will you accept?

00:05:48.000 This is insanity.

00:05:50.000 And make no mistake, it's aimed directly at private property, watering down property rights, right here in the good old U.S. of A. You know, I have trouble even seeing any salamanders in this pool.

00:06:11.000 Salamanders are very common amphibian.

00:06:16.000 I would venture to guess, if I could capture one of these salamanders and go compare it with other stream and river salamanders, that you would find that it's a very common salamander.

00:06:26.000 But that would be a federal crime.

00:06:28.000 I would be put in federal prison, as others have been, for what they call endangering endangered species.

00:06:36.000 A Trojan horse to get your private property.

00:06:41.000 Ready?

00:06:42.000 Yeah.

00:06:43.000 You're talking about right here?

00:06:52.000 Now we're discussing an area what's...

00:06:54.000 We were just talking to a lady and we'll talk to her more in the future and she says that earlier this year she was here swimming with her son and they helped save some fish that are getting caught in a crack over here, kind of like what happens to salmon when they go into dams.

00:07:14.000 And of course you don't hear...

00:07:16.000 The EPA trying to fix these fish traps that have been created by the wall falling down here.

00:07:23.000 No, they're just concerned about getting you used to doing what they say.

00:07:26.000 So let's go down here and check this out.

00:07:28.000 Ma'am, is this what you're talking about right here? is this what you're talking about right here?

00:07:46.000 Right here?

00:08:01.000 Right here?

00:08:02.000 Come on up.

00:08:04.000 Yeah, look straight down.

00:08:06.000 Back this way there, we're going to try to walk.

00:08:10.000 Probably not a bit late for a little bit.

00:08:16.000 Good job.

00:08:17.000 I've got somebody's watch if they want it.

00:08:20.000 Okay, uh...

00:08:26.000 We're told that there are cracks in the rock here that creates a powerful suction that small fish get stuck in and I'm sure a precious salamander could also get stuck in there.

00:08:36.000 And we hope that the EPA, they really care about wildlife, will try to check into this, some of the real threats to wildlife.

00:08:47.000 And not people.

00:08:48.000 But as you can see, this entire area is being fenced off because they say we are causing a problem.

00:09:03.000 You ready?

00:09:12.000 This is the last time that any human Unless you're an environmentalist priest of the modern age, that Austinites or anyone else will be allowed in this area.

00:09:26.000 And it's, again, been used for a long time.

00:09:28.000 people actually built this structure and no longer will it be allowed for public use.

00:09:35.000 Well, let's go down here and get this and get out of here because I've got to go. - Woo!

00:09:50.000 This entire area is being restricted to human use.

00:09:53.000 What's next?

00:09:55.000 We hear that there may even be plans to restrict the spillway area where you're allowed to bring your dogs.

00:10:01.000 Take a look at the lush Eden that the federal government and pencil-necked bureaucrats, the type of people that tattled on you in high school and would try to steal your lunch money, Are engaged in.

00:10:19.000 Hoorah! 1.00

00:10:20.000 Yeah, I'm with the radio station.

00:10:21.000 I was going to act.

00:10:23.000 Come on, let's go. 0.98

00:10:35.000 Hey, radio station.

00:10:37.000 KJFK. What do you think of this area being fenced off and people not being able to use it?

00:10:41.000 I think it sucks.

00:10:43.000 I'm from Canada, where people have freedom, freedom of speech, freedom to do what they want.

00:10:47.000 And over here, you guys are putting up fences in Austin, left and right, man, around the park downtown.

00:10:51.000 Now you're fixing on doing it down here.

00:10:53.000 You're going to restrict this whole waterway?

00:10:56.000 I don't think so, man.

00:10:58.000 I think the people ought to get up, stand for their rights.

00:11:02.000 Freedom of speech, freedom to go where they want.

00:11:05.000 This is the land of opportunity, this is the land of freedom.

00:11:07.000 You're putting up fences everywhere.

00:11:10.000 What's free?

00:11:11.000 Well, sir, it's for your best interest, please.

00:11:13.000 My best interest?

00:11:14.000 Yes, the government wants to help you.

00:11:15.000 Now give up your private properties next.

00:11:17.000 We're going to help you out of your money.

00:11:18.000 You want to help me?

00:11:20.000 Yes.

00:11:21.000 Let me enjoy myself.

00:11:23.000 Leave me alone.

00:11:24.000 Sir, you're causing...

00:11:25.000 Keep the places that people enjoy.

00:11:26.000 What about the university professors that want to control your life?

00:11:31.000 University professor?

00:11:32.000 Yeah.

00:11:32.000 What, you talking about those that are concerned with the salamander?

00:11:35.000 Yeah.

00:11:35.000 I think they ought to put them in the backyard and they have a stinking pool.

00:11:38.000 They want to observe them.

00:11:39.000 Alright?

00:11:41.000 Salamanders are very rare.

00:11:43.000 They're only on every continent on the planet except for Antarctica.

00:11:47.000 I'm pretty close to Antarctica, and I'll vouch for that.

00:11:49.000 There are no lizards there.

00:11:51.000 But we don't need any if they're going to restrict the way we live.

00:11:55.000 Well, sir, they're very rare.

00:11:56.000 There's only thousands of species of them.

00:11:58.000 They're only all over the place.

00:12:00.000 We must take your property, please.

00:12:02.000 No, no, thank you.

00:12:03.000 How about just dump a gallon of chlorine in that bass, and we'll exterminate them once and for all. 0.99

00:12:06.000 Overall, we can keep on enjoying ourselves.

00:12:08.000 Well, we don't subscribe to that type of behavior.

00:12:19.000 But, you know, that's how they do it in Russia.

00:12:22.000 They take everybody's rights away, and then nobody cares anymore, and the whole country goes to crap, and everything falls apart.

00:12:28.000 And then you can sit up on top of it, bureaucrats, and control the whole mess.

00:12:34.000 Yes, we know how you operate, slime, and we're going to stop you.

00:12:39.000 Everybody's saying it.

00:12:40.000 The rumor's in the air.

00:12:42.000 And bureaucrats won't give us a straight answer. 1.00

00:12:45.000 What's next?

00:12:46.000 Shut down the lower part of Barton Springs where it feeds into Lake Austin?

00:12:55.000 This belongs to the people of Austin.

00:12:58.000 And it's very frightening to me that control freaks that lie to you have control of your minds out there.

00:13:05.000 They should not be shutting down sunken gardens and they should not be restricting Barton Springs and the area that feeds out of it.

00:13:12.000 This has been the Freedom Report.

00:13:14.000 Stay tuned.

00:13:17.000 ...protecting the king's land.

00:13:19.000 You know, there's nothing new in history with elitist wanting to control property.

00:13:25.000 It's as old as feudalism itself.

00:13:28.000 It's as old as slavery.

00:13:30.000 It's an institution.

00:13:31.000 Teach populations that they don't have access to lands that they pay to maintain, and you've created a public that can be subverted and controlled.

00:13:41.000 And manipulated.

00:13:45.000 Let's go, Mike.

00:13:46.000 Earlier as we first got here, this gentleman called from a distance away.

00:14:00.000 And what he said rings absolutely true. 1.00

00:14:03.000 Tell us what you said, sir.

00:14:04.000 First they lock you out, then they lock you up.

00:14:06.000 First they lock you out, then they lock you up.

00:14:09.000 Feudalism, my friends.

00:14:11.000 Showing us who's boss, who controls the situation.

00:14:13.000 The bureaucrats downtown, the bureaucrats in Washington, not the people of this country.

00:14:18.000 And the way most Americans behave, we deserve what's happening. 0.91

00:14:21.000 And someday you'll be paying 30 bucks a pop to go in Barton Springs, and there'll be some elitist, cult-like environmental priestess, or priest, who has nothing to do with environment and everything to do with your bank account, making you say some strange incantation.

00:14:35.000 Governments need religions, and modern environmentalism is that religion.

00:14:39.000 Of course, it's controlled by a bunch of transnational banks that want to steal your property, but that's a little bit too intellectual for most Americans, so we'll continue to go on and be slaves.

00:14:48.000 Meanwhile, they'll continue to pillage the third world in the name of environmentalism. 0.99

00:14:53.000 Just give up your private property and all your problems will be solved.

00:14:56.000 Maybe they're right.

00:14:58.000 Thanks a lot, man.

00:15:00.000 Take care.

00:15:03.000 You see this picture?

00:15:06.000 People pass by my door.

00:15:08.000 To tell me paradise on earth, it looks with water.

00:15:11.000 You know, is there always water?

00:15:14.000 And I don't drink, I don't do drugs, I don't smoke.

00:15:18.000 And I come here and bring my nine and a half year old, because it's within two miles of our home.

00:15:23.000 And you see how special this ring is?

00:15:26.000 It's man-made since the 1930s.

00:15:28.000 And if you go to the middle of that water, when you sing, you get echoes all around.

00:15:37.000 There are people playing drums and guitar here every day.

00:15:41.000 And I'll be a 51-year-old next month.

00:15:44.000 But the bureaucrats don't like that. 0.98

00:15:45.000 They don't want you to have a good time.

00:15:46.000 And you know, the last time...

00:15:47.000 They want you to go to the shopping mall with the cameras watching you.

00:15:51.000 The last time, some early 20-year-old there, and he said, this is a professional killer because he gets hired to go to Hong Kong and foreign places.

00:16:03.000 Kill people for lots of money.

00:16:04.000 He said, you really need a massage, because they know I do alternative healing.

00:16:09.000 So I just massaged him right here on the wall, and I was talking to him.

00:16:12.000 I said, you know how long?

00:16:14.000 It takes maybe 3,000 diapers pampered to change for a mother to raise a child. 1.00

00:16:19.000 I said, how do you feel if someone's professional killers kill you, how your mother would feel?

00:16:26.000 I was talking to him the whole time.

00:16:28.000 Before I knew it, there was people massaging all along the walls.

00:16:32.000 You know?

00:16:33.000 They were engaged.

00:16:35.000 They were just normal kids.

00:16:36.000 And it was such a beautiful sight.

00:16:39.000 There was music.

00:16:39.000 There was drums.

00:16:41.000 There were kids.

00:16:42.000 There were dogs.

00:16:43.000 And they were massaging, touching.

00:16:45.000 And they really looked like a paradise on earth.

00:16:48.000 But this is free.

00:16:49.000 We must shut it down.

00:16:51.000 I know.

00:16:52.000 You be the cynical one.

00:16:54.000 I be...

00:16:55.000 I'm being sarcastic.

00:16:55.000 I'm illustrating.

00:16:56.000 I'm sorry.

00:16:57.000 Okay, here.

00:16:59.000 My statement is a waterhole.

00:17:02.000 It's where human race congregates and where all culture mingles and starts.

00:17:08.000 No, it's shopping malls.

00:17:11.000 Go ahead.

00:17:13.000 And I'm an environmentalist.

00:17:16.000 I have 100% no garbage in my household.

00:17:21.000 I can live without money, without electricity, without refrigerator.

00:17:26.000 I spent 25 years in the Eastern world.

00:17:29.000 25 years in the Western world.

00:17:31.000 And I have something to say.

00:17:32.000 This should stay open.

00:17:39.000 This park police over here Mike.

00:17:47.000 I passed out some numbers to people who would want to do something besides just...

00:17:58.000 Hi, how you doing?

00:18:06.000 Yeah, my name is Alex Jones and my friends and others and people have been calling me about what area below Barton Springs that they're going to be closing.

00:18:16.000 Sure.

00:18:18.000 Debbie Kelton's office, can you help me?

00:18:24.000 What's his first name?

00:18:26.000 Okay, can I have your name?

00:18:28.000 Howdy.

00:18:28.000 Hey, what's your name, sir?

00:18:29.000 Jim Halbrook.

00:18:30.000 Jim Halbrook.

00:18:31.000 I'm Alex Jones from KJFK Radio.

00:18:32.000 I also have an AXS TV show.

00:18:34.000 When did I talk to you?

00:18:36.000 What was the...

00:18:38.000 Because I was on KJFK one time doing...

00:18:43.000 Shannon Burke show?

00:18:44.000 Yeah, Blowing Smoke.

00:18:45.000 Shannon Burke.

00:18:45.000 And then I think I talked to you on another issue.

00:18:48.000 Oh, cool.

00:18:49.000 And I had to get it recorded because I couldn't go...

00:18:52.000 To his show, it was being broadcast from Central Market.

00:18:55.000 That's right.

00:18:56.000 Can we just spend a few minutes with you and ask you about what area down below Barton Springs is getting closed?

00:19:01.000 Yeah, sure.

00:19:02.000 You're going to just go to the office or go outside?

00:19:04.000 Nice and cool in here.

00:19:05.000 I just came down here to find out exactly what the rumors are and what I've been hearing about an area below Barton Springs being closed to the public.

00:19:13.000 There is an area that is salamander habitat at Sunken Gardens.

00:19:20.000 Which is the concentric stone rings that are downstream from Barton Springs that the Environmental and Conservation Services Department has decided they need to put a fence around to keep litter, debris, and people from intruding upon that salamander habitat.

00:19:40.000 Well, I know that those springs are natural, but aren't the gardens themselves man-made?

00:19:45.000 The gardens themselves are man-made.

00:19:46.000 It's the concentric walls.

00:19:49.000 And the area that I've learned that they're looking at putting them in would come in basically right at the second ring.

00:19:59.000 You know, you've got your top ring and you've got a second ring.

00:20:02.000 And then the third ring is the little spring area.

00:20:05.000 And putting the fence there after the second ring and before the third one.

00:20:10.000 And then fencing off.

00:20:13.000 The water area, which is the salamander habitat, and bringing that fence down from the spring to where the spring flows to the trail itself.

00:20:23.000 I heard also that it was to keep some of the vagrants and people from congregating down there at night.

00:20:29.000 That's not true, because obviously we're sitting here with endangered species, and if that was the case, if that was a problem, one, we wouldn't deal with a problem that way.

00:20:40.000 And you would be seeing fences in other places.

00:20:44.000 Now the fences there, the reason for the fence is for salamander habitat.

00:20:49.000 Yeah.

00:20:49.000 Why then have they not shut down Barton Springs Pool proper if it's salamander habitat, but they're shutting down some smaller springs?

00:20:57.000 They have roped off areas of Barton Springs Pool and restricted and limited, actually restricted, no access to some of the areas.

00:21:06.000 And those areas, the fissures right next to the diving board.

00:21:09.000 We'll no longer have any public access to them because the springs are coming up right there, and due to the salamanders listing as an endangered species, they cannot allow the public to be walking around where they may be apparently harassing or squishing them.

00:21:26.000 So that's the salamanders' favorite area.

00:21:28.000 The scientists believe it's right there.

00:21:31.000 Below the diving board?

00:21:32.000 Just upstream from the diving board, right across from the diving board is an area.

00:21:36.000 There's some changes that are happening to Barton Springs Pool in getting the 10A permit that had been proposed.

00:21:41.000 One of the changes is the beach area, deeping in it, so that there's less chance of salamanders being treaded on by swimmers.

00:21:50.000 So there's actually going to be perhaps some construction or some altering of the pool?

00:21:54.000 There seems to be, for environmental reasons.

00:21:58.000 A lot of proposed changes to the Barton Springs area, including Sunken Gardens.

00:22:02.000 Wasn't the salamander originally...

00:22:05.000 I mean, this is a whole other debate in and of itself.

00:22:08.000 But we had Lake Line Mall being held up because of a cave beetle.

00:22:13.000 I'm sure you remember that, don't you?

00:22:14.000 Yeah.

00:22:15.000 And then it was found that the beetle was actually all over the place.

00:22:19.000 Do you remember that?

00:22:20.000 I remember Lake Line Mall still got built.

00:22:22.000 I'm not familiar with all of the...

00:22:25.000 Well, the only point I'm trying to make...

00:22:28.000 Sir, is that either...

00:22:32.000 I understand that people needed a reason to say Barton Springs.

00:22:34.000 I've been swimming there since I was a little kid.

00:22:36.000 But there are salamanders all over the country.

00:22:40.000 Tens of thousands of different subspecies and variations.

00:22:44.000 One salamander might have a tail that's a millimeter longer and might have two black spots on its back rather than one.

00:22:51.000 This is species variation.

00:22:53.000 You will have, say, some pools in the mountains of Arizona.

00:22:57.000 Which are spring-fed, where you'll have a type of fish that has a different color spot, and actually that stopped construction and development and actually made people that have lived in Arizona for hundreds of years have had to move out of their property.

00:23:11.000 Of course, they were paid for it for fish that really can't even mate with other fish, but since they're localized to a specific pool and have a few characteristics that are different, I just have a lot of problems with the so-called science.

00:23:26.000 Behind this, because I've seen so much corruption, I don't mean you personally, I know you're just a public information officer.

00:23:32.000 People that mean well go out and find something like the spotted owl, say, because most people don't want to just clear-cut that beautiful timber, destroy our old-growth forest.

00:23:42.000 So they go and say, well, this is hurting this owl.

00:23:45.000 And then later they find out that the owl could actually live in barns and many other places.

00:23:50.000 Species have a lot of...

00:23:52.000 It's like we have parakeets.

00:23:54.000 The monk parakeets live right down here, and monk parakeets have never lived in this part.

00:23:59.000 Yeah, they're definitely an exotic.

00:24:00.000 Of North America, they're in Guatemala and southern Mexico, but because of the climate changes, which are either cyclical or...

00:24:11.000 I mean, I don't mean to be diatribing, it's just that...

00:24:16.000 I've heard about the Environmental Protection Agency now trying to actually classify some forms of bacteria as endangered down in the Houston Ship Channel and other areas, and it seems like a Trojan horse.

00:24:26.000 So, I don't mean to be diatriping.

00:24:28.000 This probably won't even be on the air.

00:24:29.000 I'm just trying to get to the point of where you understand where I'm coming from, sir, is that I don't understand why we're allowing more and more of our properties, public lands, to be restricted in the name of things like a salamander.

00:24:46.000 Do you have any of the Environmental Protection Agency's information about the salamander?

00:24:53.000 That information and the questions that you're really presenting, which are good questions, really need to go to Robert Hanson, who's the endangered species biologist on staff who's dealing with this issue.

00:25:02.000 Is he here?

00:25:03.000 No, he's in a different building, but I'd be glad to give you his phone number.

00:25:06.000 I mean, it's just that I heard all about Barton Springs over and over again.

00:25:13.000 And I heard about how we should do this and we should do that.

00:25:16.000 And then they said, well, the people in the springs are hurting the salamander.

00:25:20.000 And if we're really going to be honest about it, we need to shut the springs down.

00:25:23.000 See, that's not going to happen because people want to use it.

00:25:25.000 And they've been using it for 69 years.

00:25:27.000 But, again, with the questions about the species and the habitat, I really have to refer you to the Environmental Conservation Services Department because they're who we're getting basically...

00:25:39.000 Our instruction from to some degree on this as far as what needs to be done.

00:25:44.000 And we're just trying to keep the pools and places open and operational.

00:25:48.000 So basically y'all are just doing what you're told.

00:25:51.000 Yes.

00:25:51.000 And then you're just, it's Mr. Holbrook, right?

00:25:54.000 Yeah.

00:25:55.000 We're doing what we're being told to do to comply with environmental laws.

00:26:01.000 So Mr. Holbrook, all you're really doing is, you're the public information officer here in Austin for Parks and Recreation.

00:26:08.000 And you're just saying, hey, the Environmental Protection Agency is saying that the salamanders are endangered, so they're going to...

00:26:18.000 Yeah, and they're telling us, stop doing this, start doing this.

00:26:23.000 You know, we held up some cleanings and then we got permits to...

00:26:27.000 The city got the permits to allow our department to go in and clean the pool again while they monitored our cleaning efforts.

00:26:34.000 And while they were monitoring, they were evaluating what works, what doesn't work, what harms the salamander, what doesn't harm the salamander.

00:26:40.000 Do those permits cost money?

00:26:41.000 Yeah, we can change.

00:26:42.000 You need to talk to Robert Hanson.

00:26:44.000 My guess is that the money that it costs is basically in staff time.

00:26:50.000 Why can't Austin have a referendum on the salamander?

00:26:57.000 Why can't Austin do its own work, or why can't Texas?

00:27:02.000 Why do we need the Environmental Protection Agency and Carol Browner to do that for us?

00:27:08.000 That's an environmental question that I can't answer.

00:27:12.000 I don't have any information on that one.

00:27:14.000 I don't know how the federal regulations work on that.

00:27:16.000 So, Mr. Holbrook, basically what you're saying is they're going to shut down the sucking gardens areas, the pools that have water in them.

00:27:24.000 Right.

00:27:25.000 Right.

00:27:25.000 Which would be the third ring.

00:27:27.000 It's the pool area.

00:27:29.000 And then the outflow to the trail itself.

00:27:33.000 Because the salamanders live in there.

00:27:36.000 Because the salamanders are living there.

00:27:38.000 And people are stepping on them.

00:27:40.000 Yeah, it's a matter of people being in the salamander habitat just like they roughed off the areas in Barton Springs as well as other things that come with people.

00:27:50.000 You know, the trash that gets in there and stuff like that.

00:27:53.000 So it's just...

00:27:56.000 How old are the sunken gardens?

00:27:58.000 When were they first constructed?

00:27:59.000 I believe that they were built by the CCC, one of the Depression Area Work Corps, as a lot of the things in Circle Park were.

00:28:07.000 It has the look of a Roosevelt program.

00:28:10.000 Yeah, it's a beautiful old structure.

00:28:12.000 So basically, I guess that's all my questions then, Mr. Holbrook.

00:28:16.000 Look, it just comes down to the Environmental Protection Agency is allowing Barton Springs, in their graciousness, in their splendidness, to keep the parks open.

00:28:30.000 But there's going to be some restrictions.

00:28:32.000 Certain areas are going to be shut down.

00:28:34.000 That's correct.

00:28:34.000 Roped off, and they may actually alter the depth of the pool.

00:28:37.000 That's correct.

00:28:38.000 In some areas.

00:28:39.000 And I have something to say.

00:28:40.000 This should stay open because our medical industry, our government industry, is not dealing with the homeless people on the route.

00:28:52.000 The ground root level to deal with their blood sugar, to settle their chemistry and blood sugar where the homeless people gather.

00:29:03.000 It should be people there to deal with their blood sugar and to help them. 0.50

00:29:07.000 And then all the other existing organizations is not helping them to do that.

00:29:13.000 And this is their last of the oasis here.

00:29:16.000 Because that's the only thing healing for them to jump in.

00:29:20.000 Get rid of their alcohol and jump out.

00:29:22.000 I stay away from them because they might trip on my feet and so forth.

00:29:27.000 And this place, since the 30s, man-made.

00:29:32.000 And the salamander was once disturbed already.

00:29:36.000 And in the winter, my son and I were jumping in this cold water, trying to get the crawfish's claws tight and pull them straight out so we don't yank them.

00:29:45.000 They were still alive.

00:29:47.000 I can't imagine how many salamanders got sucked in there.

00:29:50.000 Oh, you said there's a crack in the wall?

00:29:51.000 Many cracks on the wall.

00:29:53.000 It sucks my hair right through it.

00:29:55.000 I had to pull all the way back.

00:29:57.000 So you're saying the government's not really concerned about the welfare of the salamanders?

00:30:00.000 No, no.

00:30:02.000 See, the focus point should be fixing the wall so it's not detrimental to the marine biology in this pond.

00:30:10.000 You know?

00:30:11.000 And then the next flood comes, the wall's going to be so expensive to fix it.

00:30:17.000 Because right now, you still can fix it with little money, maybe for the same money that using the fence.

00:30:23.000 Okay, ma'am, listen, we got to go, but thanks for the information.

00:30:25.000 Yes, thank you for taking the interest.

00:30:27.000 Hey, I'm glad.

00:30:28.000 You know, and I want to give you this.

00:30:31.000 Ma'am, what's your name again?

00:30:33.000 My name is Wing Bo.

00:30:34.000 Wing Bo.

00:30:35.000 W-I-N-G, B-O-W, SUN. SUN stands for Servant of Mother Earth.

Alex Jones Show - January 01, 1999

Alex Jones Exposes Salamander Harassment

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