Celebrated my birthday yesterday, so this is a shortened version.

PETA calls for changes at Winn-Dixie The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has submitted a shareholder resolution calling on Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. to report any progress it has made toward adopting animal welfare policies that pertain to the purchase of eggs, pigs, chicken and turkey. PETA acquired 180 shares of the Jacksonville-based grocer just in time to attend its last annual shareholder meeting Nov. 7, 2007. Members of the media were not permitted to attend the meeting, but according to a representative of PETA who was there Winn-Dixie CEO Peter Lynch pledged to study the controlled-atmosphere method of killing PETA proposed. PETA alleges in the resolution that the poultry that Winn-Dixie purchases are conscious during slaughter, the eggs are from suppliers that give hens very little space and that the pigs are kept virtually immobilized. The non-profit also said other grocery stores, including Safeway and Harris Teeter, have updated their purchasing practices to improve animal welfare standards for some animals by using suppliers that utilize controlled-atmosphere killing....
New ethanol plant bets on a better method than corn The fabled road to U.S. energy independence has wound its way to this small town east of Lake Charles, where a plant opening today could help usher in a new era for ethanol. The 1.4 million-gallon-per-year demonstration plant will attempt what others have found difficult — to produce large quantities of ethanol as cheaply from agricultural waste and nonfood crops as from corn, the main crop used to make the fuel in the U.S. It may be a big bet. Some experts say that so-called cellulosic ethanol still costs at least $1-per-gallon more to produce than corn-based ethanol. But Verenium Corp, the Cambridge, Mass.-based energy firm behind the project, has developed a process it believes will help reduce costs, pave the way for wide-scale cellulosic ethanol production and silence ethanol's detractors. "The issue isn't, 'is there going to be ethanol,' " Verenium Chief Executive Carlos Riva said Wednesday as he stood outside the just-completed plant. "But how can we do it right?" President Bush has signed legislation calling for production of 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022, five times the current level, to help reduce what he has called the nation's addiction to oil....
The Carbon Curtain Czech President Vaclav Klaus warns that environmentalism is becoming a new totalitarianism. There is still a bear in the woods, but it's no longer the Russian bear. This time, it's a polar bear. Having lived much of his life in a nation once ruled by communists, Klaus recognizes a tyrannical ideology where elites trample on individual freedoms for the greater good when he sees one. Speaking Tuesday at the National Press Club to introduce the English version of his book, "Blue Planet, Green Shackles," Klaus said that global warming is being used as a means to erode our freedoms. Klaus called alarms about man-made climate change a "quasi-noble idea that transcends the individual in the name of something above him" and that it is being exploited by a new elite "certain they have the right to sacrifice man and his freedom to make their idea a reality." On June 2, the Senate is going to take up the America's Climate Security Act, a cleverly titled assault on both our freedoms and our economy offered up by Sens. Joe Lieberman and John Warner. The bill essentially limits how much gasoline and other fossil fuels Americans can use, as Klaus puts it, "in the name of the planet." A study by Charles River Associates puts the cost (in terms of reduced household spending per year) of Senate Bill 2191 at $800 to $1,300 per household by 2015, rising to $1,500 to $2,500 by 2050. Electricity prices could jump by 36% to 65% by 2015 and 80% to 125% by 2050. The Heritage Foundation says the bill would raise gasoline prices by $1.10 per gallon by 2030. More importantly, Heritage notes, the act "represents an extraordinary level of economic interference by the federal government" that "promises extraordinary perils for the American economy."....
BLM imposes restrictions for grouse Coal-bed methane development plans of more than one well per 500 acres will be shelved in certain areas of the Powder River Basin for the next two years, according to federal land regulators. Federal officials are drawing boundaries over large blocks of areas spanning the industry's "fairway" down the center of the basin between Gillette, Buffalo and Sheridan where the temporary limitations will be enforced beginning this summer. "The oil and gas (industry) is certainly the most significant issue in terms of people, jobs and money," said Bureau of Land Management Buffalo field office manager Chris Hanson. Grazing, recreation and other land uses could also be limited. Hanson and other federal land managers faced a hostile crowd of more than 300 coal-bed methane workers and landowners here Wednesday as they laid out a sage grouse planning process that will shelve numerous pending developments and likely lead to layoffs in the industry....
Climate Debate Rejects Science For Ideology I'm not a global warming believer. I'm not a global warming denier. I'm a global warming agnostic who believes instinctively that it can't be very good to pump lots of CO2 into the atmosphere, but is equally convinced that those who presume to know exactly where that leads are talking through their hats. Predictions of catastrophe depend on models. Models depend on assumptions about complex planetary systems — from ocean currents to cloud formation — that no one fully understands. Which is why the models are inherently flawed and forever changing. The doomsday scenarios posit a cascade of events, each with a certain probability. The multiple improbability of their simultaneous occurrence renders all such predictions entirely speculative. Yet on the basis of this speculation, environmental activists, attended by compliant scientists and opportunistic politicians, are advocating radical economic and social regulation....
U.S. District Court: Groups ask to shield wolves Conservationists who oppose the removal of wolves from under federal protection - and who call the delisting unlawful - sought an emergency injunction Thursday to stop the animals' killing. Last month, a coalition of 11 environmental groups sued the U.S. Department of the Interior in an effort to keep gray wolves in the Northern Rockies region on the endangered species list. At a hearing in Missoula on Thursday, the coalition's attorney, Doug L. Honnold of Earthjustice, tried to convince U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy to extend federal protections until the lawsuit is resolved. About 17 lawyers representing as many state agencies and nonprofit policy groups defended the management plan, which requires states to maintain a minimum of 300 wolves. Agency officials say they are committed to maintaining at least 450 wolves and that the actual population likely will be about 1,000. The region's wolf population is increasing by about 24 percent annually, according to wildlife officials. But environmentalists say state officials and ranchers have already killed 77 wolves since the delisting, at a rate of more than one wolf per day, and that the states' wolf management scheme represents a return to many of the policies that resulted in wolves' eradication from the Western landscape....
Liberty Is Worth the Abuse We get a lot of abuse, those of us who publicly defend private property rights and voluntary arrangements against the varied depredations of government. Having to constantly face such attacks is a substantial part of the cost of speaking out, and probably explains why more people don't take the risk. For those who might be considering publicly taking up the cause of "life, liberty, and property," I offer the following example to give you a taste of what you can expect. Note that it is far from the most egregious example I could relate; it is not intended to discourage you, but only to prepare you for the cost you may have to bear — to help you develop the requisite toughness. In California, there are two competing eminent-domain propositions on the June 3 ballot. One (Proposition 98) would offer some real protection against such abuses, while the other (Proposition 99), written and qualified for the ballot by those who inflict the abuses (i.e., government entities) and those who gain from them (e.g., big developers), is designed to confuse voters into overriding the real reforms....

Foggy Science In London Back in London, though, the world’s oldest science academy, the Royal Society of London, recently has become a vocal advocate of climate alarmism. RS fellows have included Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. But, under the previous leadership of Lord Robert May, the Society seems to have taken a wrong turn. They even tried to enlist other science academies into joining them in an alarmist manifesto. However, the U.S. National Academy, though sharing some of these views, decided not to sign up, and the Russian Academy of Sciences has taken an opposing position. In June 2007, the Royal Society published a pamphlet, titled “Climate Change Controversies: a simple guide,” designed to undermine the scientific case of climate skeptics. They presented what they called “misleading arguments” on global warming and then tried to shoot them down. In countering the RS pamphlet, I have prepared a response that is being published tomorrow by the London-based Centre for Policy Studies under the title “Not so simple? A scientific response to the Royal Society’s paper.” Throughout, the Royal Society has relied heavily on the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which used to be regarded as a reliable source of scientific information. The RS thus adopts the IPCC claim that current warming is almost certainly anthropogenic (human-caused) but presents no independent evidence to support such a claim. In its pamphlet, the Royal Society purports to speak on behalf of a consensus of scientists. But no such consensus exists. Direct polling of climate scientists has shown that about 30% are “skeptical” of anthropogenic global warming. More than 31,000 American scientists recently signed the Oregon Petition, which expresses doubt about the major conclusions of the IPCC, and opposes the drastic mitigation demands of the Kyoto Protocol and the proposed “cap-and-trade” legislation of the U.S. Congress. My response to the RS is based on the work of some two dozen independent climate scientists from 16 nations who contributed to the report of the Non-governmental International Panel on Climate Change, or NIPCC, titled “Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate.” NIPCC corrects many of the errors and misstatements made in the IPCC report, discusses evidence ignored by the IPCC, and cites evidence available since May 2006, the cut-off date for the latest IPCC Report of May 2007....
Publishing convention not quite green BookExpo America, the publishing industry's annual showcase and trend-spotter, is admittedly a little behind in the race to go green. This weekend's convention in Los Angeles will include much discussion about the environment. Three panels will review recent trends and initiatives and a featured speaker, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, will promote his new book, "Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution - and How It Can Renew America." Virtually every major publisher, from Random House Inc. to Scholastic Inc., has announced environmental goals, mostly through the increased use of recycled paper and fiber from forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, an international environmental organization. But the revolution has not quite arrived at BookExpo. Around 30,000 event guides, just over 40 pages long, will be distributed at the Los Angeles Convention Center, along with 19,000 copies of the 700-page program guide. More than 10 million pages in all will be printed, none on recycled paper....
Odd Falcon Behavior May be Linked to Chemicals Used to Fight Wildfires New research on wild falcons has uncovered strange behavior which may be linked to chemicals used in wildfire suppression. Last year a digital video camera mounted in a remote area of western Montana by wildlife biologist Byron Crow captured an established peregrine falcon pair nesting in an cliff aerie, Crow said. It was rare footage because of its intimacy and volume—weeks of 24-hour-a-day recordings from a few feet away. Crow’s camera recorded the mother falcon lay its first clutch—four eggs. At first, the camera captured what might be termed “awesome but regular” falcon doings. The wild peregrine falcons ate fish, for instance, which was new to researchers of the bird. More interestingly, the peregrines allowed pack rats to clean out their nests. The rats actually collected bones and other stuff under the beaks of the birds. “Then the first egg starts hatching. The mother looks at the chick, and as soon as it moves, she destroys it and eats it. Pardon my language, but we were, like, s---!” Crow said. “Then she destroys the other eggs and eats the material.”....
Judge partially rejects claims over endangered falcon A federal judge has rejected part of a challenge by environmental groups to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision to designate the northern aplomado falcon as a nonessential, experimental population in New Mexico and Arizona. U.S. District Judge William Johnson last week denied claims that the agency violated the Endangered Species Act by not responding to a petition from the environmentalists within a set period and did not rely on the best science in designating the population in the two states as experimental. Johnson, however, agreed with the environmentalists' argument that Fish and Wildlife unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed action on critical habitat for the bird in Texas. He stressed that his decision meant only that Fish and Wildlife is required to answer the environmental groups' 2002 petition within 30 days. Johnson said Friday he was not requiring the agency to designate critical habitat in Texas....
ONDA wins grazing injunction A U.S. District Court judge is barring cows from two grazing allotments in the Malheur National Forest (MNF) this summer. The May 16 injunction ordered by Judge Ancer L. Haggerty is intended to protect fish habitat, but observers say it comes as part of a larger movement to challenge grazing rights on public lands across the West. "This was a real blow," said Loren Stout, a Dayville rancher who won't be able to turn his cows onto the forest as he had planned on July 15. "They are putting an industry in jeopardy." Haggerty granted a temporary restraining order and injunction on two MNF allotments, one in the Murderers Creek area and the other on the Lower Middle Fork John Day River. The injunction affects six permittees who had been given permission to run cattle between June and October. The injunction was sought by the Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA), the Center for Biological Diversity and the Western Watersheds Project, which contend that the grazing practices threaten habitat for steelhead and bull trout, two species of fish that are federally listed for protection. They also contend that the U.S. Forest Service isn't adequately monitoring the conditions of the allotments and any damages caused by grazing....
Delisting of wolves raises hackles Ever since humankind first huddled around a fire, the eerie howl and piercing amber eyes of wolves have been both fascinating and fearsome. Today, some of those primal emotions are at play as ranchers and politicians, bureaucrats and environmental activists work out the future of Canis lupus in the northern Rocky Mountains. Like many contested issues involving wildlife, this one is in federal court. Federal agencies, affected state governments, and ranching and hunting interests say there are so many gray wolves in the Rockies now that it’s time to remove them from the list of endangered species. Wolf advocates say it’s too soon to do that, and later this week a federal judge in Missoula, Mont., will decide how the case should proceed. In many parts of the rural West, the federal government controls much of the landscape (64 percent of Idaho), and Uncle Sam is seen as big brother imposing an environmentalist view. “It should be the people in Idaho deciding whether we have wolves or not,” says Rex Rammell, a veterinarian, former elk rancher, and independent candidate for the US Senate seat being vacated by Larry Craig (R). A native Idahoan and lifelong hunter who lives in Rexburg, Idaho, Dr. Rammell contradicts official reports in asserting that elk and moose herds in many places have dropped substantially due to wolves. He also takes a strict state-rights position: “All of these western states should have the land turned over to them.”....
Ranchers go to court over bison Cattle ranchers upset over a herd of bison still lingering outside Yellowstone National Park went to court Wednesday, seeking to compel the Montana Department of Livestock to move the animals and accusing the agency of jeopardizing the state's brucellosis-free status. The Department of Livestock said it already planned within days to haze the bison into the park and off of private land whose owners want the state to leave the animals alone. To do so would be a violation of a federal-state agreement that calls for killing or removing bison that migrate outside Yellowstone to prevent the spread of brucellosis – a disease that can cause cows to abort their calves. Since February, 1,728 Yellowstone bison have been killed or removed under the program. "They have to be hazed back in, captured or shot," said Errol Rice with the Montana Stockgrowers Association. "Now's the time to be extremely cautious, not more tolerant of bison in Montana." For the last three years, state officials have allowed bison to linger outside the park past a May 15 deadline outlined in the 2000 federal-state agreement. On Wednesday, the stockgrowers group and two ranchers went to court in Helena to compel the Department of Livestock to comply with the agreement – just hours before the state said between 85 and 100 of the animals would be pushed back into the park from 700 acres owned by the Galanis family....
Court rulings resolve little in packhorse flap In the ongoing legal battle between the U.S. Forest Service and environmental groups over commercial horsepacking in two Sierra Nevada wilderness areas, the only loser seems to be the taxpayer. Months after throwing out a $7.5 million plan to manage horsepacking in the John Muir and Ansel Adams wilderness areas, a federal judge has ordered only slim reductions in usage levels for commercial operators. In her May 8 ruling, Judge Elizabeth D. Laporte reinstated the Forest Service's 2001 management plan and trimmed trail quotas for commercial stock use by 5%. Laporte's latest decision, however, seems unlikely to halt the 8-year-old tussle between environmental groups, the Forest Service and 17 horsepacking outfits. Last October, Laporte ordered the Forest Service to vacate its 2005 management plan, ruling that some elements violated federal laws designed to protect wilderness areas. She ruled the plan allowed for "significantly increased commercial packstock use in some parts of the wilderness, including areas previously recognized by the Forest Service as already being heavily damaged from excessive stock use." By reverting to the 2001 plan, horsepack operators again will be governed by a trail quota system that limits the number of stock that can enter a trail on a single day....
New Threat To Spotted Owl Exposed A new study provides a baseline distribution of blood parasites and strains in Spotted Owls, suggesting a more fragile immune health than previously understood for the already threatened Northern and California Spotted Owls. The study, co-authored by San Francisco State University biologists, is the first to show a Spotted Owl infected with an avian malaria (Plasmodium) parasite. According to the researchers, the infected Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) may have been exposed to the parasite by coming into contact with mosquitoes that fed on a Barred Owl (Strix varia). The increasingly invasive Barred Owls compete with Spotted Owls for food and nesting sites. Ishak and Sehgal expect their findings will prompt more research into this species and enhance general knowledge of the role and effects of blood-borne pathogens in wild bird populations....
Climate Change to Bring Storm to US Livestock The U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) released the report entitled: "Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.3 (SAP 4.3): The Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture, Land Resources, Water Resources, and Biodiversity in the United States." "The report issued today provides practical information that will help land owners and resource managers make better decisions to address the risks of climate change," said Agriculture Chief Economist Joe Glauber. The report finds that climate change is already affecting U.S. water resources, agriculture, land resources, and biodiversity, and will continue to do so. USDA agencies are responding to the risks of climate change. For example, the Forest Service is incorporating climate change risks into National Forest Management Plans and is providing guidance to forest managers on how to respond and adapt to climate change. The Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Services Agency are encouraging actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration through conservation programs. USDA's Risk Management Agency has prepared tools to manage drought risks and is conducting an assessment of the risks of climate change on the crop insurance program....
Air quality concerns halt drilling A Denver energy company's plan to drill hundreds of natural gas wells in Nine Mile Canyon should not proceed until an environmental study is rewritten to include more information about air quality, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says. In a May 23 letter to Selma Sierra, the Utah director of the federal Bureau of Land Management, EPA Region 8 administrator Robert Roberts said BLM's draft environmental impact study (EIS) for the West Tavaputs Plateau full-field development didn't satisfy requirements of the Clean Air Act. The EPA is particularly concerned with a study finding that the Bill Barrett Corp. project would cause only very small increases in ground-level ozone, a conclusion EPA said "is not technically defensible." The EPA's recommendation could slow Bill Barrett Corp.'s plan to drill 807 wells on 138,000 acres. The public land includes Nine Mile Canyon, which holds more than 10,000 known Ancient Puebloan rock-art images and ruins. But Duane Zavadil, Bill Barrett's vice president for government and regulatory affairs, said the unprecedented action makes no sense because EPA's new ozone standards mean hundreds of counties across the nation now are out of compliance with the Clean Air Act. "Is it appropriate to require this sort of project-specific ozone analysis?" Zavadil said. "The notion that we should go back and remodel and say the same thing is in my opinion tantamount to obstructionism and bullying by the EPA. The models aren't meant to be regulatory tools."....
Ranchers use sun to power water pumps Though ranchers want rain, the hot, sunny weather has been helping some of them get water to cattle in remote pastures. Velva-based Verendrye Electric Cooperative started installing solar-powered pasture well systems for its members in 1991, after about 10 years of studying the idea. More than 130 systems are installed in Verendrye’s seven-county area around Minot. Tom Jespersen, the co-op’s energy adviser, said about 50 or 60 more will be installed this year. AP photo Randy Hauck, left, member service manager, and Tom Jespersen, energy adviser, both of Verendrye Electric Cooperative, stand next to a solar-powered pasture well west of Velva Thursday. Randy Hauck, a member service manager for Veren-drye, said the company was looking for alternatives to building power lines to remote sites....
USDA Opens Conservation Reserve Land to Grazing, Haying The USDA today announced that it will authorize 24 million acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, about 65 percent, to be grazed or hayed for “critical feed” for livestock. The agency cites rising crop prices, high demand for feed and steep competition for acres as its reasons for opening up the CRP lands. The USDA estimates the critical use program will generate 18 million tons of feed worth $1.2 billion. For the 2008 season, 36.8 million acres are enrolled in CRP, which pays landowners to take their land out of production for 10-15 years to restore habitat, curb erosion and improve water quality. For 2007 enrollments, landowners will get a total of $1.8 million in rental payments, at an average of of $49.49 per acre and per farm, about $4,130 a year, according to recent USDA statistics....
Ritter's animal care bill ensures that farmers and ranchers have a voice Governor Ritter's recent signing of a new farm practices bill was welcome news to Colorado farmers and ranchers. It will, over the long term, help make sure our agriculture and livestock community has a strong voice in the regulation of animal care practices in this state. That seems entirely reasonable. After all, farmers and ranchers have a rich heritage in Colorado, and that heritage is inseparable from the well-being of the livestock we raise. It's only natural we care for the interests of our animals and consider their humane treatment one of our greatest responsibilities. As any farmer or rancher could tell you, animals don't know about holidays, days off or vacations. They need care twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. They need care on the snowiest winter nights and the hottest summer days. It's hard work. But it's what we do to ensure the health and safety of our animals. In the last few years, concerns have been raised about some of the standard practices we've used for many years in raising farm animals. All of these practices, it's important to note, have been developed over time by livestock veterinarians and other animal scientists. And while in most cases the people who are raising these concerns are well meaning, they're not farmers or ranchers, haven't raised livestock or lived around farm animals, and don't know how much care we give them....

U.S. Forest Service cancels agreement with energy company The U.S. Forest Service has canceled an arrangement with an energy company seeking to drill for oil and gas along a scenic western Wyoming mountain range. The arrangement between the Bridger-Teton National Forest and Denver-based Stanley Energy raised protests from Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal and others. The Forest Service had agreed to let Stanley Energy pay for an environmental analysis of proposed oil and gas leases that the company was seeking to acquire on the Wyoming Range. Freudenthal said the arrangement was inappropriate and compromised the environmental analysis. Bridger-Teton Forest Supervisor Kniffy Hamilton says the arrangement with Stanley was a mistake and the Forest Service will now take over the analysis. Freudenthal welcomed the move but says the Forest Service is still proceeding too quickly....
Wyden proposes Badlands wilderness area near Bend Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Tuesday he would introduce a bill to create a desert wilderness area east of Bend. Wyden made the announcement amid the juniper and sagebrush of the area known as the Badlands, which is overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. "After years of increasing interest and excitement about protecting this beautiful place, I am ready to introduce the legislation necessary to create the 30,000-acre Oregon Badlands Wilderness," he said. The Oregon Natural Desert Association, a Bend group integral in creating the Steens wilderness during the Clinton administration, has been advocating for converting the Badlands to wilderness. The area 15 miles east of Bend is managed as a wilderness study area by the BLM, which bestows some of the same protections. But only Congress can designate a wilderness, which would exclude motorized recreation from the Badlands. Motorized groups, such as ATV users, have provided the primary opposition. Three years ago their testimony helped lead Deschutes County commissioners to refrain from endorsing the Badlands proposal....
U.S. Forest Service to fill hundreds of vacancies The U.S. Forest Service wants to fill more than 500 positions in California in its next round of hiring. Forest Service officials say they will be ready for this year's fire season. "Absolutely," said spokesman Jason Kirchner. Earlier this month, Mark Rey, undersecretary of Agriculture, wrote in a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, that there were 363 firefighter vacancies in California. The difference between the 500-plus number spelled out in a Forest Service document and the vacancy number Rey gave is because as the agency fills positions internally, new vacancies will be created, Kirchner said. "The reason why it's a lot higher is that we fill most of our vacancies with current employees," he said. An April Forest Service report on firefighter retention said the highest attrition rates in the Southern California forests were among entry-level firefighters. Kirchner said the region has recruited so many that 206 will be promoted to the next level, known as GS-05. At that level, the agency has 729 vacancies, but that number will be reduced to 523 once the 206 firefighters are promoted, Kirchner said. Those remaining 523 openings will be filled with temporary employees....
Landowners Beware Under the guise of making more land accessible for the public's use and providing tax relief for land-rich but cash-poor landowners, the government has found a convenient way to restrict the use of private land - often without the original landowner's knowledge. Enter The Nature Conservancy and other large land trust conglomerates that approach farmers or large landowners with what seems like a "win-win" for all involved. In return for donating their land for conservation purposes, the landowners are provided with federal and state tax breaks and agree never to convert, develop or use the land for any purpose other than farming or ranching. A total of 37 million acres of land throughout the United States are currently under the control of land trusts. However, according to a new report by the National Center for Public Policy Research titled, "Conservation Easements: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," all-too-often that acquired land, placed under "conservation easements," goes from the land trust right into the governing hands of the largest landowner in the United States, the federal government. Dana Joel Gattuso, author of the report and senior fellow of the National Center, explains these "prearranged flips" provide a back door approach to acquiring land control that is good for the government and the original land trust, but bad for the unsuspecting landowner, who has been kept out of the loop. How profitable is it for conglomerates like The Nature Conservancy to participate in flips? Gattuso cites their annual report, which states about a fifth of the land trust's annual support and revenues come from the sales of easements to the government. "In one example, The Nature Conservancy bought an easement for $1.26 million, then directly sold it to the federal Bureau of Land Management for $1.4 million," she says....
Wolf Shot Near West Yellowstone for Frequenting Campgrounds Montana wildlife officials shot a wolf near West Yellowstone because it had been frequenting campgrounds and residential areas over the past two weeks. State Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials say the wolf was exhibiting aggressive behavior toward people and dogs and showed no fear of people. It was shot Tuesday. Regional Wildlife Manager Kurt Alt says most wolves post no threat to people or domestic animals, but occasionally there can be problems. He says such incidents are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Montana has 420 wolves, mostly in the western portion of the state. The Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf population was removed from protection under the Endangered Species Act in late March.
Killing the wolves again This year, on Feb. 27, given the reintroduction's success, the Bush administration removed the gray wolves of the northern Rockies from the federal Endangered Species List. It's now legal to shoot a wolf in more than 85 percent of the state of Wyoming, even if the wolf being shot has no history of preying on livestock or domestic animals. On March 28, the day that new state wolf policies went into effect, a hunter stationed near elk feeding grounds in Daniel, Wyo., shot and killed Limpy. In the parlance of wolf management, Limpy was a "clean" wolf who'd never been known to prey on livestock or domestic animals. Limpy is not the only victim. In the past two months, wolf-hunting parties in Wyoming have been gathering near elk feeding grounds. "They're having weekend wolf-hunting parties by snowmobile," says Suzanne Stone, Defenders of Wildlife's northern Rockies wolf conservation specialist. "It's very easy to kill wolves during this time of year because they're so stationary. The whole pack tends to keep very close to their den sites." Some wolves have been chased by snowmobiles for miles before being gunned down. In Idaho, wolves suspected of "molesting or attacking livestock or domestic animals" can be killed without a permit. Montana and Wyoming have also made it easier to shoot a wolf that threatens livestock, and all three states plan to hold wolf-hunting seasons this year. While the wolves that stay in national parks, like Yellowstone and Grand Teton, are still protected, those that stray out of them are at risk of being shot. Since late March, at least 40 wolves in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho have been shot dead....
Polar bear is the linchpin to greens' agenda A preventive war worked out so well in Iraq that Washington has launched another. The new preventive war — the government responding forcefully against a postulated future threat — has been declared on behalf of polar bears, the first species whose supposed jeopardy has been ascribed to global warming. The Interior Department, bound by the Endangered Species Act, has declared polar bears a "threatened" species because they might be endangered "in the foreseeable future," meaning 45 years. The bears will be threatened if the current episode of warming, if there really is one, is, unlike all the previous episodes, irreversible, and if it intensifies, and if it continues to melt sea ice vital to the bears, and if the bears, unlike in many previous warming episodes, cannot adapt. But Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne says the "threatened" label is mandatory because sea ice has been melting and computer models postulate future melting caused by human activity. So, now that human activity is assumed to be the primary cause of warming, the decision to classify the bears as threatened has become a mighty lever. Now that polar bears are wards of the government, and now that it is a legal doctrine that humans are responsible for global warming, the Endangered Species Act has acquired unlimited application. Anything that can be said to increase global warming can — must — be said to threaten bears already designated as threatened. Want to build a power plant in Arizona? A building in Florida? Do you want to drive an SUV? Or leave your cell phone charger plugged in overnight? Some judge might construe federal policy as proscribing these activities....
Sue, Sarah, Sue The polar bears are doing just fine, thank you very much. So says Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who announced last week that her state would sue to block Washington from listing the animals as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. And it's a good thing, too - because the new bear-population protections mask what may be the most serious threat to American economic might in decades. Yes, polar bears. The polar bear, you see, marks the first species on the "threatened" list whose supposed predicament is linked directly to global warming. The current Alaskan polar-bear population may be near an all-time high. But Interior Department computer models - such as they are - project widespread melting of the polar ice the bears need to hunt. And that's a big problem, given the near-limitless powers embedded in the Endangered Species Act. The act, for one, requires the department to ensure that "all actions authorized, funded or carried out" by all federal agencies aren't likely to "result in the . . . adverse modification of habitat" of listed species. This was odious enough when the presence of a few worthless snail darters was sufficient to derail massive public-works projects. But because polar bears are now imperiled by global warming (officially, anyway), any carbon emissions anywhere in the country could conceivably be judged an illegal threat to their habitat....
Polar bear listing is big win for area group This month's listing of the polar bear as a threatened species was the biggest victory in the 19-year history of Tucson's Center for Biological Diversity. It was also the single biggest step to advance the cause of global warming on the worldwide stage of public opinion, according to the environmental group's friends and foes alike. One legal observer, University of Denver law professor Fred Cheever, likened it to the effect of the endangered-species listings of the bald eagle and peregrine falcon, which led the U.S. to ban the pesticide DDT a quarter-century ago. "If you had to rank them, what single thing has brought the most attention in the U.S. to the climate-change issue?" asked Oliver Houck, a Tulane University law professor who specializes in environmental law. "Would it be Al Gore winning the Nobel Prize, the movie 'Inconvenient Truth,' or a picture of a polar bear on shrinking ice? I say maybe the picture would win. "That image is so much in the public mind that the Bush administration didn't want to list it but had to. Not listing it would be like killing Flipper or Smokey Bear," Houck said. But like scores of other species-protection cases won by the Center for Biological Diversity in the past, this is but the first step in a long, arduous process to translate the listing into action. The center petitioned for the polar bear's listing back in 2005. It later sued along with Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list it. The center's blueprint for saving the polar bear is ambitious and complex. It includes: ● Challenging offshore oil and gas leasing in Alaska within six months. ● Launching a large-scale challenge to the licensing of coal-fired power plants around the country sometime after that. ● Finally, challenging large-scale, local government development plans in major cities....
Group announces intent to sue over walrus petition A conservation group gave notice Tuesday that it will sue to force federal action on a petition to list the Pacific walrus as a threatened species because of threats from global warming and offshore petroleum development. The deadline was May 8 for an initial 90-day review of the petition by the U.S. Department of the Interior, according to Center for Biological Diversity attorney Brendan Cummings. The group filed the petition in February. Shaye Wolf, a biologist and lead author of the petition, said Arctic sea ice is disappearing faster than the best predictions of climate models. "As the sea ice recedes, so does the future of the Pacific walrus," she said. The conservation group was one of three that successfully petitioned to have polar bears listed as threatened because of sea ice loss caused by global warming, a decision announced May 14 by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. That listing also followed court action to force deadline decisions....
Protesters Fear Prairie Dogs Will Be Fed To Ferrets Protesters were trying to stop a large colony of prairie dogs from being destroyed in Douglas County Tuesday. The colony is on 87 acres near the corner of Lucent Boulevard and Highlands Ranch Parkway. Shea Properties owns the land and is planning a retail development. The protesters say Shea Properties has backed out of a deal to help relocate the prairie dogs. The protesters represent a group called Douglas County Citizens for Wildlife. The group had a verbal agreement with Shea Properties to safely relocate the prairie dogs, according to spokeswoman Leslie Johnson. It's estimated that 1,000 prairie dogs live there and something will need to be done with them before the land can be developed. The protesters say the developer intends to use some of the prairie dogs as food for an endangered species -- the black-footed ferret. CBS4 was able to confirm there is a ferret-breeding project in Larimer County. A biologist with the program said prairie dogs are typically captured and shipped still alive to the program. But protestors say they are afraid many of the animals would simply be eradicated....
'Critical habitat' set for sturgeon Eight years after the federal government put the Alabama sturgeon on the endangered species list, it is poised today to name 326 miles in the Mobile River Basin as "critical habitat" needed to keep the species in existence. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service will announce a plan to apply the habitat designation to 245 miles of river channel on the Alabama River and another 81 miles on a connected stretch of the lower Cahaba River, according to a Monday e-mail notice from Jeff Powell, a biologist in the agency's Daphne field office. The proposal, which carries a 60-day public comment period, is required by a federal court order. A final decision is due by mid-May of next year, Powell said in the notice. Under federal law, critical habitat refers to specific areas essential for conservation of a threatened or endangered species, he said, and may require "special management and protection."....

Domestic Drilling OK, Just 'Not in My State,' Senators Say The United States should increase its domestic oil supply by opening up more drilling sites, several members of the Senate told Cybercast News Service Thursday, when surveyed on the issue at the U.S. Capitol. But some senators also said they are wary of allowing increased drilling in many locations - especially in their own states. "There may be places that make sense, I am not saying, 'Let's not drill anywhere,' " Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) said in response to the question. "But do I want to drill off the California coast? No. Do I want to drill in the Arctic in endangered areas? No." Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), strongly endorsed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) -- but not in his home state of Florida. "I just don't think we should do it in areas like the Florida Keys, which are environmentally very sensitive," Martinez told Cybercast News Service. "But I am very supportive of what we did a couple of years ago which opened eight million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for exploration," he added, referring to the Domenici-Landrieu Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act. The bill, which was signed into law by President Bush on Dec. 20, 2006, opened up a part of the Gulf of Mexico to oil-drilling leases. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who joined Feinstein in limited support, echoed her exact words, saying, "We can't drill our way out of this crisis." "I can't say categorically we shouldn't open any drilling," Levin said. "I mean, I oppose drilling obviously in the Great Lakes if that's what you're referring to. I would not endanger any fresh water and surely not the Great Lakes. In terms of drilling in the ocean it depends on where and how much protection there is of the shoreline."....
Caterers find eco-standards tough to chew Fried shrimp on a bed of jasmine rice and a side of mango salad, all served on a styrofoam plate. Bottled water to wash it all down. These trendy catering treats are unlikely to appear on the menu at parties sponsored by the Denver 2008 Host Committee during the Democratic National Convention this summer. Fried foods are forbidden at the committee's 22 or so events, as is liquid served in individual plastic containers. Plates must be reusable, like china, recyclable or compostable. The food should be local, organic or both. And caterers must provide foods in "at least three of the following five colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple, and white," garnishes not included, according to a Request for Proposals, or RFP, distributed last week. The shrimp-and-mango ensemble? All it's got is white, brown and orange, so it may not have the nutritional balance that generally comes from a multihued menu. Caterers praise the committee and the city for their green ambitions, but some say they're baffled by parts of the RFP. "I think it's a great idea for our community and our environment. The question is, how practical is it?" asks Nick Agro, the owner of Whirled Peas Catering in Commerce City. "We all want to source locally, but we're in Colorado. The growing season is short. It's dry here. And I question the feasibility of that." Agro's biggest worry is price. Using organic and local products hikes the costs....
A Texas Timeout on Biofuels The state of Texas is now in official opposition to the federal ethanol mandate. Governor Rick Perry has petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency for a one-year reprieve, and the reason is simple and increasingly familiar: Washington's ethanol obsession is hurting the state. We all know that corn farmers everywhere love ethanol. Don't tell that to Texas cattle ranchers. Because of the mandate to add this biofuel to gasoline, ranchers are being forced into bidding wars with ethanol plants for the grains they feed their cattle. They don't appreciate being hammered on price because of a subsidy to corn growers. Thus, Governor Perry's petition. The Governor's goal is to win a ruling from the EPA that suspends half the federal requirement that nine billion gallons of this product be added this year to the nation's fuel supply. Last week the EPA opened a 30-day public comment period on the Texas waiver request, the first step in what could lead to granting his request. The most interesting thing revealed by this effort is that EPA holds the power to stand down from the ethanol fiasco. Congress gave EPA the authority to grant such waivers in the event the ethanol mandate had unforeseen consequences. Governor Perry argues that the mess in Texas qualifies. By his calculation, if the mandate helps to push the price of corn to $8 a bushel (it's at nearly $6 now, up from $2 in 2004), it will cost the Texas economy nearly $3.6 billion this year. He says the dramatic spike in food prices may be due to a complex set of reasons, but the ethanol mandate is something that public officials can alter. The EPA has until late July to make a decision on the Texas petition. Meanwhile, Congress merely throws more corn onto the ethanol bonfire. Under its 2005 mandates, Americans would be required to use 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol in 2012. But in December that was increased by 1.5 billion gallons and advanced to this year. Congress's target for 2022 is 36 billion gallons. They'll be growing corn on the Washington mall....
Water users fight Pathfinder plan For Saratoga resident Joe Glode, opposing a request to change the use of 54,493 acre feet of water in Pathfinder Reservoir is a simple matter. "I like this area the way it is," he said. "I like the open space, the clean, the green, watching bald eagles swoop through the valley. I like all of that." Simply, he says, "nothing is more important than your water." Glode has rallied the support of members of two Upper North Platte Valley organizations which are leading the charge to oppose the change of use requested by the federal Bureau of Reclamation. In January, the Bureau of Reclamation filed a petition with the state Board of Control seeking a change in use for 53,493 acre feet of Pathfinder's water and asking that water be assigned a 1904 water right. The petition seeks a dedication of 33,493 acre feet for fish and wildlife purposes in Nebraska and asks that the other 20,000 acre feet be changed to municipal uses that would be made available to the state of Wyoming and leased to Wyoming cities and towns. BuRec officials say the change is needed to comply with an agreement involving Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado to provide water for endangered species in Nebraska. Wyoming has agreed to contribute $6 million for an extension of the Pathfinder Dam, an effort to compensate for storage capacity lost to sediment buildup. The program calls for some reservoir water to be sent downstream to preserve endangered species....
Public comment sought on changes to wolf removal policy State and federal officials are considering changes to a controversial rule that requires a Mexican gray wolf to be removed from the wild if it preys on livestock three times in a one-year period. Gov. Bill Richardson has called for the suspension of the rule, known as Standard Operation Procedure 13, to halt the removal of wolves, which numbered about 52 at the end of 2007. Removal can be either by capturing or killing the wolf. The proposed policy change attempts to address a scenario in which a rancher might intentionally lure a wolf to attack cattle and force its removal, said Terry Johnson, endangered species coordinator for the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Johnson said he had "zero information" that such a scenario has occurred, but it's a possibility the program's policies have not addressed. The wolf recovery program's Adaptive Management Oversight Committee, which consists of six federal, state and tribal agencies, is seeking written comment on the proposed policy change until June 25. A decision on whether to adopt the change is expected at a July 31 meeting of agency directors. Under the proposal, a wolf would not be penalized for a livestock kill if federal investigators conclude that that "intentional attraction or repeated knowing attraction of wolves contributed or likely contributed to causing" the depredation....To find out about the alleged "wolf baiting" incident, see this post with pictures at Wolf Crossing.
Allard still uncertain on conservation area support Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., is withholding support of a bill to establish the Dominguez- Escalante National Conservation Area until some concerns about agriculture are allayed, his office said Friday. One issue still outstanding, said a rancher with lands inside the proposed conservation area, is whether the wilderness area inside it will stretch down to the Gunnison River. “One of the recommendations was to move the wilderness boundary on the rims” overlooking the river as it cuts along the base of the Uncompahgre Plateau, said Dick Miller of the Escalante Canyon Ranch. “And that didn’t happen.” Letting the wilderness reach down to the river could leave the ranch vulnerable to trespassing, Miller said. “There was a last-minute flurry to try to resolve some issues,” Miller said. “I don’t think it got done.” Miller said he was told the measure needed to be introduced before the Memorial Day holiday to have any chance of passage this year. “I hope there is still some flexibility to where issues can be resolved,” he said. U.S. Rep. John Salazar and Sen. Ken Salazar, both Democrats, on Thursday introduced a bill to establish the Dominguez-Escalante Canyons National Conservation Area and the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness Area within it. Allard is “90 percent of the way there” to supporting the measure, his office said. Still outstanding are some local agriculture-related concerns, Allard’s office said, noting his Grand Junction office still is collecting comment on the proposal....
Ranchers' stamp left on valley "Neighbor" is a verb in ranch country. And for generations in the Wet Mountain Valley, it has meant mending fences and digging one another out of snow drifting down from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. But neighboring here now involves something new: complex land deals in which a pioneering mix of cowpunchers and environmentalists agree to forfeit development rights and share hits in property values as a way to fend off sprawl and preserve a long tradition of ranching in this valley. "Time was, if somebody said conservationist, I would have thought tree huggers that I'd never want to know," said rancher Randy Rusk, 58. "But now that we've preserved all the land from the highway to the mountains to the north horizon, well, that says something about us as neighbors." The valley has changed since Rusk grew up in an era when everyone here worked in ranching. Most families sold out to developers, who in turn built mini- ranches for city folks hankering to spend their weekends like J.R. Ewing. Soon came subdivisions of retirement estates and the galleries and cafes that inexorably followed. "We've got all these newcomers who are appalled by our dirt and smell," griped rancher Bill Donley, whose family started working cows in Wetmore in 1918. Custer County has 4,000 residents but only a dozen families still living off the land. A blow came in April when the city of Fountain bought the aptly named H20 Ranch for its water rights. Like many ranchers, Rusk first scoffed at the notion of a conservation easement, fearing interference from Big Brother....
Climate report adds more gloom A landscape plagued with dust storms and drought, rangeland that won't support cattle, streams too hot for trout, forests felled by beetles and fire - it's all part of the scenario painted in a new report on climate change by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The projections are not exactly new. Many of them have been reported by scientists and the media in the past five years. But they do offer a clearer picture of how the impacts of global climate change are not limited to Arctic ice and tropical islands and that climate change will have profound impacts on the mountains, streams and range familiar to Utahns and others in the West. "The trends are in place," said Fee Busby, a rangeland ecologist at Utah State University who has seen parts of the USDA's draft report. "The trends are going to continue." Attempts late last week to reach the USDA's Washington office were unsuccessful. But, in advisories about the report, the agency points out that its conclusions will be used to help set priorities for "research, observation and decision support needs." Part of a broader federal review of climate change, the 200-plus-page report focuses on the next 25 to 50 years. It had 38 authors, was reviewed by 14 scientists and uses more than 1,000 references, the agency said....
Bear killed after feeding on livestock near Reno Wildlife officials shot and killed a 540-pound black bear last week that had been killing livestock in Washoe Valley about 25 miles south of Reno. It was the first nuisance bear euthanized in the area this year. The 9-year-old bear, which had been feeding on sheep and goats, is one of the largest recorded in the area for its age, said Chris Healy, spokesman for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. They typically weigh closer to 300 pounds. "That is a really big bear," Healy said Friday. Bears that wander into neighborhoods or campgrounds routinely are shot with dart guns, trapped and relocated. "We do all we can to try to keep them alive. But once they start killing livestock or breaking into homes, that is not an option," Healy said. "When they are killing livestock, that is one of the zero-tolerance things. If you move it, all you are doing is moving a problem to another area," he said. Ranchers in the south end of Washoe Valley and west of U.S. Highway 395 near Bellvue Road first started reporting attacks on livestock about two weeks ago. "It had killed some goats and today it killed three sheep," Healy said Friday....
Millican ranch owners fight to put house on their land When Janet and Keith Nash bought Evans Wells Ranch in the wide-open bowl of the Millican Valley 12 years ago, the cattle ranchers figured they were in it for the long haul. “I thought I’d stay here forever,” Janet Nash said Thursday, in the dining room of her home on the 2,200-acre ranch. Evans Wells Ranch lies about 25 miles southeast of Bend, in the sparsely populated area where buildings are few and far between. But the Nashes’ plans changed, they say, as increased off-road vehicle use, hunting and tighter rules for grazing on federal land make it harder to earn a living from their 250 cattle. They tried for two years to sell the ranch, without success. Now, the couple want to build a house on a 160-acre parcel, in hopes that a home on a smaller piece of land will attract a buyer. The Nashes are only asking for one house, but it is a request that, according to a county staff analysis, could open up historic farmland to hundreds of homes in the vast eastern end of Deschutes County. The change would also run contrary to policy established by a past County Commission in the 1990s, of minimizing new-home building on farmland in the remote Millican Valley....
Small Utah Town Takes On Federal Government Over Wetland Project Ranchers and residents from the small town of Myton, Utah are declaring a legal battle against the federal government in opposition to an environmental wetland project. The government wants to recreate wetlands in Duchense County that were destroyed by the Central Utah Water Project. The wetlands supply much needed water to the Wasatch Front. But residents say that the wetlands have mosquitoes, infected with the West Nile virus. They say the bugs have gone on to infect birds and horse. They believe that more marshes would only attract more mosquitoes. Friday, Myton residents drove to the Salt Lake City Federal Building to tell officials that they are not doing anything without a fight. “It’s not done until we finish suing them. If we have to,” said Myton Mayor, Kathleen Cooper. Cooper’s town is home to only 589 residents. But for most, the talk of the new project has brought many emotions. “It’s going to be taken. I cry when I leave my ranch. It’s terrible,” said Floyd Cox with tears in his eyes. Commission Executive Director, Michael Weland says he listened to the concerns but says he still supports the wetlands project. He says that fair market value will be given to anyone that loses land and that the project will actually reduce the risk of West Nile....
Corn Costs Signal Biggest Beef Surge Since 2003 as Herds Shrink Enjoy your next steak, because prices from Shanghai to San Francisco are only going up. The highest corn prices since at least the Civil War, based on Chicago Board of Trade data, mean U.S. feedlots are losing money on every animal they sell, discouraging production as rising global incomes increase meat consumption and a declining dollar spurs exports. Cattle may rise 13 percent by the end of the year on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Brazil's Bolsa de Mercadorias e Futuros, futures contracts show. Not since 1996, when corn reached what was then a record $5 a bushel, have cattle been this cheap relative to their primary source of feed. Cattle prices haven't kept pace with the grain used to feed the animals. Corn surged to a record $6.39 a bushel on May 9 from $3.6625 a year earlier. Feedlots lost money on animals sold for slaughter the past 11 months, including $139.56 a head in April, compared with a profit of $46.79 a year earlier, said Erica Rosa, an economist at the Livestock Marketing Information Center in Lakewood, Colorado. Losses were a record $169.80 per animal in March, and feedlots may not be profitable until after October, she said. As of May 1, feedlots held 11.1 million head, down 1.4 percent from a year earlier, the government said. Ranchers last year cut the number of young females they held by 3.5 percent to 5.67 million on Jan. 1, the second straight annual decline....
J.R. Simplot Dies at 99 Billionaire J.R. Simplot is dead at the age of 99. He passed away just before 11:00 a.m. at his home at the Grove Hotel in downtown Boise. According to the coroner's report he died of natural causes. J.R. Simplot himself, described how he'd like to be remembered during this 1992 interview filmed at his company. "Oh , hell I don't care what they say. I'm not a publicity hound. I think we made enough marks around here, there'll be somebody who says that guy was pretty smart , hung on and made a few things work," said Simplot. The business that supply's McDonald's with half it's french fries, even put together this tribute to their founders life. Simplot had simple roots as a farmer and rancher, who began his career at 14. He started out raising hogs and then eventually went into the potato business. By World War II, he accumulated dozens of warehouses and become the largest shipper of fresh potatoes in the country, even selling to the military. But the real turning point, came in the 1950's when Simplot took advantage of new technology to create frozen french fries, and went into business with McDonald's founder, Ray Crock over a simple handshake. After that, the savy business moves just kept coming....
Cowboy church ropes'em in “You have to earn the right to speak about Jesus,” said 70-year-old Dave Taff. One look at his lumpy and beaten hands, and it’s obvious to a cowboy that he’s earned some rights by his choice of trade. “I’m just a horseshoer and rancher. But horseshoing is how I paid for my ranch,” he said. But it wasn’t horseshoing that brought Taff to Dayton Days on Sunday. (Though he did bring his equipment and managed to fix the roping chute early that morning.) And it wasn’t team roping; he hasn’t entered a rodeo for 20 years — but he still ropes his own cattle. What brought him to these parts was the opportunity to give a sermon at the first Dayton Days cowboy church. “It all started with a lot of people asking us about having a cowboy church,” said Dayton Days committee member Phoebe Pettichord. So the committee called Taff to ask if he would lead the service, which he did for free on Sunday morning to 50 people in the grandstands. “I used to sit down with the New Testament with five or six guys and we would just share the Gospel,” Taff said, remembering almost 50 years ago when he first started holding Bible studies on Sunday before team-roping events. In the background the cows bellowed as the jockeys warmed up on prancing thoroughbreds. And behind them Dayton’s green hills were overshadowed with majestic colors of gray, white and blue from overcast skies....
Reunion draws Farrell family back to beginnings From far and near, members of the Farrell family are gathering to celebrate a pioneer legacy dating back to 1898 on the Grapevine Springs Ranch in the foothills of the Guadalupe Mountains. "The Farrell family is very dear to my heart. They left a mark on this land and all of us with a rich heritage," said Nancy Beard, third-generation Farrell. Beard's grandparents, Joel Fletcher Farrell and Addie Bodenhammer Farrell, came to the area in search of a high and dry climate. Joel came in 1898 to homestead and Addie and the four oldest children joined him around 1901. Together they established the Grapevine Springs Ranch, a 128-section spread located halfway between Guadalupe Peak and the Carlsbad Caverns. The ranch house was on eight sections located in New Mexico, while the remaining120 sections were in Texas. The Ussery's XT Ranch bordered Grapevine to the northwest, Tom Gray's ranch to the west and 9K Ranch to the southeast. The Witherspoon Ranch and the old Pecos Highway were to the east. The D Ranch bordered the ranch to the southwest and the Butterfield Stagecoach route crossed through the ranch's south pasture. Beard said her earliest memories are of the majestic ranch setting: the green fields, the orchard trees around the ranch house and the spring-fed creek running through the property. Beard remembers hearing stories of men rodeoing, smoking and spitting and the women washing, cooking and canning fruit. The abundant fruit in late spring brought welcome neighbors from far and near to share in the bounty and the women made a day of picking and canning fruit....
Little buckaroo Everywhere Darron Provost goes, they know him simply as “Cowboy.” It’s not as if his wardrobe leaves room for any other nicknames: wide-brimmed rancher hats for blocking out the merciless Wyoming sun, black and red boots with worn-out toes for navigating rugged terrain, and tan leather chaps for wiping off leftover pieces of Nutty Bar. Each morning, he suits up for a long day of bucking and roping, with just a bit of help from his mother. Darron, age 3, wants to ride bulls. “We wonder at the wisdom of encouraging him, but he loves it so much, and rodeo is such a family sport,” says his mother, Jamie Provost. Every member of the Provost clan rides or rodeos, but Darron has taken the family pastime to a new level of obsession. Besides the authentic cowboy getup (which includes a miniature pair of jingling spurs), Darron spends his mornings romping on stuffed rocking animals, roping any object his lariat can fit around, and belting out twangy rodeo anthems. He proudly takes his act on the road for public outings. In his wild imagination, the whole of Gillette has been enclosed in a giant bullring, making everything fair game for his cowboy hijinks. “This is so cute right now,” Jamie says. “Then when he hits high school, it will be terrifying.”....
On Butch Cassidy's Trail On the Parker homestead in the Sevier River Valley 200 miles south of Salt Lake City, Butch learned to be a cowboy first and, later, how to brand on other peoples' livestock. Apparently, he pulled only one big job in Utah, the 1897 Pleasant Valley Coal Co. payroll robbery at Castle Gate. Between heists, he and his Wild Bunch gang often hid on Utah's Colorado Plateau. St. George is the capital of Utah's Dixie, so named because Mormon church leaders dispatched pioneers such as Butch's father, Maximillian Parker, to settle and grow cotton around the time of the Civil War. Panguitch is where Butch's youngest sister, Lula Parker Betenson, spent her last years after writing "Butch Cassidy, My Brother," published in 1975. The book confounded Western scholars with its assertion that Butch arrived at the Parker home in nearby Circleville in 1925 driving a new black Ford, unscathed by the bullets of Federales, who supposedly had killed him and Sundance. Lula was a toddler when her big brother left home, but in the 1930s she believed claims that William T. Phillips of Spokane, Wash., was Butch. Later, she changed her mind, saying she knew where the real Butch was buried but planned to take the secret to her grave. She died in 1980....

Know when to hold 'em, know when to run
Cowgirl Sass & Savvy

Julie Carter

Kenny Rogers was wise with years when he sang " You gotta know when to hold 'em ... a song that finished with "know when to run."

Every cowboy with any amount of experience has been in that place in time when he knows it is just better to bail out, or off, to save his life.

Johnny had a new job and a new wife. His first assignment on the new ranch was to gather a fence-jumping bull out of a set of heifers where he didn't belong.

When he asked the cow boss which horse would be good enough to take on this mission, he was directed to a big, rawboned, feather-legged dun.

Johnny saddled the big horse, loaded him and his new wife, and off they went to the pasture. So far, so good.

Instructions for the new wife included watching him rope the wandering Romeo, after which she was then to bounce across the cactus, sagebrush and rocks with the pickup and trailer so Johnny could load the bull.

Johnny cut the bull out of the herd of heifers, roped him handily and waved to his wife.

Simultaneously, the bull decided to get on the fight. He made a run at Johnny and the dun and, in the process, he somehow got the rope caught under the rubber wrap on the saddle horn.

The horse remembered what the cow boss had forgotten to tell Johnny - that he would buck at the first opportunity he sensed the cowboy's attention was not fully on riding.

Johnny couldn't get his dally off, couldn't get the horse to quit bucking, couldn't find a soft spot to land, or at least, one without cactus. And worse, he couldn't hurry his wife up. At any rate, he was in big trouble.

Finally, he decided that it might be a good time to let the horse and the bull have it and he bailed off. The horse stopped bucking, the rope came off the horn and the bull came on the fight. "Know when to run."

The only thing that saved Johnny's life was that he was jumping over the sagebrush and the bull was going around them.

Eventually, the wife pulled the truck and trailer in between Johnny and the bull and he bailed in, but not without words of gratitude. Although a few years later, in divorce court, the wife mentioned she wished she had let that bull run over his sorry hide.

Dan had a big outlaw horse in his string named Cobra, named such because no tie-down in the world would keep his head from that "cobra" position. Dan had nightmares about Cobra coming out of a basket, swaying that head at him.

About that time, Robert Redford arrived on the big screen with the Horse Whisperer and Dan decided that laying Cobra down and sitting on his head might be the treatment of choice.

Redford looked pretty good doing that, he thought, and little children could ride the horse afterward, so it must work. Tim came to help, and beer was involved.

They roped Cobra, saddled him, laid him over and Dan was sitting on his side. Cobra objected and was fighting the weight planted on his side. The big horse somehow caught a hole in Dan's britches on the saddle horn and he could find no good way to get loose.

Dan was aware of the theory that you should always wear clean drawers in case you're in a wreck, but he didn't have on any drawers at all that day. He would have been happy to let old Cobra up but he really didn't want to be shucked out of his britches right then.

That's where the "know when to hold 'em" wisdom came in handy.

Julie, also wise with years, can be reached through her website at www.julie-carter.com.

It’s The Pitts: A Fate Worse Than Debt

Recently I gained some insight as to how farcical our credit problems are in this country when Aussie Pitts received a letter in our mailbox offering her a $100,000 home equity line of credit. First of all, Aussie Pitts is my dog and I doubt that her dog house is worth anywhere near $100,000 after the recent real estate collapse. Then there is the fact that Aussie has been dead several years now.

Besides dogs being offered credit cards in the mail there are other signs of an economic ill wind all around us. It’s bad enough that 28% of Americans have their total retirement savings tied up in lottery tickets but even more distressing is the fact that a Bangladesh bank has opened what it hopes will be the first of many branches in the U.S. When the only way people can get their hands on lunch money is to borrow from a third world bank you know we are in trouble.

I’m already hearing the blame being laid at the muddy feet of “greedy” farmers and ranchers for the impending recession. Before we all get too carried away let’s put things in proper perspective. It’s true, food prices are up 7% over the last year, but compare that with an increase in gas prices of 27% and banking fees that are up 25%. The Post Office is charging me 50% more per year to mail one of my books this year than they did last year and they are getting ready to raise their rates yet again. The water company is talking about tripling our water rates, trash collection charges are up 10% and electricity 11%. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics health insurance premiums for the average American have risen 78% since 2002 and it now costs more to send your son and daughter to an Ivy league college than the median income in this country. Just one textbook for one college class can now cost more than I paid in 1972 for a full year’s tuition. And yet people are mad they are paying 7% more for food!

Even that figure distorts how much farmers and ranchers are really receiving. My wife works in a grocery store and hears the complaints every day from people wailing that a head of lettuce costs $1.99. What they don’t know is that the farmer who cared for the crop for three months received just 36 cents of that. Top sirloin steak may be $7.99 per pound but I don’t think the 89 cents of that the rancher received is too much to ask for a year’s worth of work. It’s true, food prices have gone up 7% this past year but when you consider that the producer gets just 20% of the food dollar it means that the producer received an increase of 1.4% this year.

When I was in college I recall that the average American paid 16% of their disposable income for food. Know what it is now? Less than 10% and that includes all food, even eating out. That’s the lowest rate in the world, by the way.

The Farm Bureau has an eye-opening way of putting all this is proper perspective. Farm Checkout Day was February 6 of this year. This means that your average American earned enough money in 37 days to pay for their family’s food for an entire year. By comparison, it takes 60 days to pay for housing, 50 days for health and medical care and 50 days for recreation and clothes. And get this. Tax Freedom Day, the date when your average American earned enough to pay his family’s taxes for the year, occurred on April 23, the 114th day of the year!

I hope that the city folks who read this column won’t be so quick to blame the farmer and rancher the next time they go to church just to get something cheap to eat at communion. What they should be doing is getting down on their knees and thanking God that our farms and ranchers are not being run by the DC fat cats who are taking three times more of your money than what it costs to feed your family for a year! Even the Wall Street speculators who got us into this mess could tell which of the two is the better investment.

FLE

Lock-'em-up border policy gains favor Many enforcement hawks in Congress are counting on border walls to discourage illegal immigration and drug smuggling. In Del Rio, authorities are using prison walls instead. The ever-expanding Val Verde County Jail is filled with illegal immigrants ranging from would-be yard workers and maids to hardened gang members. They've been caught in a law enforcement dragnet known as Operation Streamline, a zero-tolerance program that began here and has spread east and west along the border. The lock-'em-up approach has its share of critics. They question the skyrocketing costs, complain of poor conditions in the detention facilities and predict that it ultimately won't stop immigrants and drugs from making their way north. But supporters here say the long arm of the law is reducing crime and pushing the numbers of illegal immigrants caught in the Border Patrol's Del Rio sector down to their lowest levels since the early 1970s....
A storm over Border Patrol policy Think back for a moment to images from September 2005 when long lines of cars, trucks and buses lined Interstate 45 north out of Houston as Hurricane Rita veered down on the Texas coast. Imagine now that a Category 4 or 5 hurricane is bearing down on the Rio Grande Valley, and there is little time to get out. But now, because of a new Border Patrol policy, tens of thousands of poor people will have to go through Border Patrol processing at three central sites before they can board buses to evacuate. Immigration officials are concerned that illegal immigrants, drug traffickers and others -- perhaps terrorists -- would take advantage of a storm to head deeper into the U.S. by boarding those buses. The announcement by Border Patrol officials in the Valley that they plan to screen all evacuees for citizenship status has stoked all kinds of dark scenarios in which thousands of people, including U.S. citizens, would rather ride out the storm than evacuate because someone in their family doesn't have or can't find the necessary documents. Although hurricane season begins June 1, most of the tropical depressions and hurricanes that have threatened the Valley usually have come late in the season. So the Border Patrol's argument could be that citizens and legal residents have time to find passports, birth certificates or other documents to prove that they are in the country legally. Even so, the Border Patrol's policy has many local officials dismayed and concerned about the safe movement of more than 200,000 from the area. Valley leaders worry that they won't be able to fully protect residents who choose to remain....
Illegal Alien's Defense Attorney Works for Mexican Government An illegal alien is facing the death penalty after being convicted May 8 of capital murder in the 2006 death of Houston police officer Rodney Johnson. The attorney who tried and failed to have him found not guilty by reason of insanity was paid by the Mexican government, according to newspaper and television reports. The Mexican government retained Danalynn Recer to defend Juan Leonardo Quintero through its Mexican Capital Legal Assistance program, which pays for the defense of Mexican citizens whose conviction in U.S. courts could result in a death sentence -- even those, like Quintero, who confess to the crime. Quintero's confession was videotaped, and days before his trial started in April, Recer said her client would plead guilty if he could be sentenced to life in prison, a plea bargain prosecutors rejected, according to The Houston Chronicle. On Oct. 13, 2006, Houston television station KTRK, Channel 13, reported that an argument took place in pre-trial hearings about who would defend Quintero and who would pay for his defense. "Quintero, a Mexican national in this country illegally, says he's too poor to pay for his defense," KTRK Channel 13 reported. "So now the Mexican government has stepped in. Danalynn Recer, hired by the Mexican Consulate, wants to be lead attorney. But Jim Leitner, appointed by the courts, does as well." State District Court Judge Joan Campbell said both attorneys could conduct Quintero's defense, a decision prosecuting District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal took issue with, the station reported. "Harris County should not have to pay for something that the Mexican government already plans to pay for," the station quoted Rosenthal as saying. On Nov. 29, 2006, The Houston Chronicle reported that Judge Campbell had reversed her earlier ruling and dismissed the appointed attorneys defending Quintero. "She ruled instead that the man's choice of attorneys, a Houston capital murder specialist hired by the Mexican Consulate, would be his attorney," the paper reported....
Mexico Town's Police Force Quits in Fear A southern Mexican town's 15-member police force has quit for fear of being assassinated in retaliation for a shootout with gunmen, a security official said Thursday. Zirandaro was the second town in less than two weeks to be left without its police force as Mexico's drug cartels wage increasingly bold attacks against security forces. On Monday, the military took over a town near Texas after all 20 of its police officers were either killed, run out of town or quit. Eight members of Zirandaro's police never returned to work after a May 13 shootout with gunmen that left a 32-year-old man dead, said Juan Heriberto Salinas Altes, the public safety secretary of the southern state of Guerrero. The other seven officers -- including the police chief -- quit days later. "The Zirandaro police quit the service because they feared the criminals would return to seek revenge," Salinas Altas told a news conference. The identities of the gunmen were not known, but Salinas Altas said cells of both the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels were operating in the area. President Felipe Calderon has said the attacks against Mexican police show that cartels feel threatened by his crackdown against drug trafficking. Since taking office in 2006, he has sent more than 25,000 troops to drug hotspots. But the disintegration of two municipal forces shows how vulnerable police feel in a country where, despite efforts to fight corruption, they can't be sure their colleagues are not on the cartels' payrolls....
11 more bodies found in Juárez Juárez recorded at least 11 more homicides linked to organized crime Friday, leading U.S. law enforcement officials to urge El Pasoans to use caution when traveling across the border. The deaths included the discovery of five bodies wrapped in blankets in an empty lot in an upscale east Juárez neighborhood about a mile from the border, near Prolongación Vicente Guerrero and Antonio J. Bermúdez streets. The grizzly find came less than a day after an anonymous e-mail warning predicted this would be the "bloodiest and deadliest" weekend in the city's history. Two of the bodies were decapitated and wrapped in white plastic. Attached to them was a note calling them "traitors" who were associated with a reputed leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel. The note was signed "La Linea," or The Line, a name given to corrupt police officers who allegedly protect drug traffickers, according to police documents. Also Friday, municipal police found three unidentified male bodies in the Santa Teresa colonia in a gold 1994 Oldsmobile, where police found a note in blue ink that read "X marranos traicioneros," or "treasonous pigs."....
270 Illegal Immigrants Sent to Prison in Federal Push In temporary courtrooms at a fairgrounds here, 270 illegal immigrants were sentenced this week to five months in prison for working at a meatpacking plant with false documents. The prosecutions, which ended Friday, signal a sharp escalation in the Bush administration’s crackdown on illegal workers, with prosecutors bringing tough federal criminal charges against most of the immigrants arrested in a May 12 raid. Until now, unauthorized workers have generally been detained by immigration officials for civil violations and rapidly deported. The convicted immigrants were among 389 workers detained at the Agriprocessors Inc. plant in nearby Postville in a raid that federal officials called the largest criminal enforcement operation ever carried out by immigration authorities at a workplace. Matt M. Dummermuth, the United States attorney for northern Iowa, who oversaw the prosecutions, called the operation an “astonishing success.” The illegal immigrants, most from Guatemala, filed into the courtrooms in groups of 10, their hands and feet shackled. One by one, they entered guilty pleas through a Spanish interpreter, admitting they had taken jobs using fraudulent Social Security cards or immigration documents. Moments later, they moved to another courtroom for sentencing. The pleas were part of a deal worked out with prosecutors to avoid even more serious charges. Most immigrants agreed to immediate deportation after they serve five months in prison....
Immigration Officials Arrest 905 in California Sweep Federal immigration agents have arrested 905 people in California in the past three weeks after a statewide search for those who had violated orders to leave the country. The operation was the latest in a series of national sweeps by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The arrests were the result of collaboration among teams in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco that began on May 5. “The focal point of this operation were people who had exhausted all of their due process in the courts,” said Lauren Mack, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Diego. “They have a final order of removal issued by a U.S. immigration judge, and they’ve failed to depart.” In the process of seeking each person on the list, Ms. Mack said, agents often encountered friends, family members and others who had violated immigration laws. “Agents may come to a house looking for a target, and someone answers the door, or there are other people in the house who have also violated immigration laws,” she said. Brian DeMore, acting director of the federal Office of Detention and Removal Operations in Los Angeles, said agents took into custody any person they encountered during an arrest who had violated immigration laws. Agents set out with a target list of just over 1,500 “fugitive aliens,” Mr. DeMore said, referring to people who have ignored orders to leave the country....
Fake border crossing hits home Gunshots ring out and sirens shriek, mixing with the ragged breath of muddy, panting humans. Suddenly, the full moon sweeping the ground like a searchlight reveals a disturbing scene: a group of illegal immigrants being handcuffed and led away by U.S. Border Patrol agents. But the U.S. border is 700 miles from this rugged municipal park in Hidalgo state, a three-hour drive north of Mexico City. The spectacle unfolding here isn't an actual border crossing attempt but a live simulation-adventure that attempts to give participants a taste of what it's like for the thousands of Mexican and other Latin American undocumented migrants trying to enter the promised land of "el norte." Dubbed the "Caminata Nocturna" (Night Hike), the three-hour simulation is a combination obstacle course, sociology lesson and PG-rated family outing. Founded in 2004, it's run by members of a local village of Hnahnu Indians, an indigenous people of south-central Mexico, whose population of about 2,500 has been decimated by migration to the United States. Every Saturday night, dozens of the remaining several hundred villagers take part in the Caminata. Many work as costumed performers impersonating Border Patrol agents, fellow migrants and masked "coyotes" and "polleros," the Mexican guides who escort migrants for a fee. The 7 1/2-mile hike, which involves quite a bit of running, costs about $10 per person....
FBI too badly organized to stop attacks: agent The FBI's counterterrorism section is too badly organized and too understaffed to be able to protect the United States effectively against attack, an FBI agent told lawmakers. "The FBI's counterterrorism division is ill-equipped to handle the terrorist threat that we're facing," Bassem Youssef, a top agent within the FBI's communications analysis unit, told a congressional hearing on Wednesday. "FBI's counterterrorism program cannot properly protect the United States from another catastrophic and direct attack from Middle Eastern terrorists," he added. Egyptian-born Youssef, who has been an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) since 1988, said only 62 percent of posts were filled in the counterterrorism unit. This chronic staff shortage was forcing the FBI to recruit staff with no relevant experience, specifically with Middle Eastern counterterrorism, possibly lacking pertinent language skills and cultural understanding. "The counterterrorism division is unable to keep agents, supervisors and analysts within the division, and 62 percent is an alarmingly low figure," he told a House subcommittee hearing on FBI whistleblowers....
Unmarked chopper patrols NY city from high above On a cloudless spring day, the NYPD helicopter soars over the city, its sights set on the Statue of Liberty. A dramatic close-up of Lady Liberty's frozen gaze fills one of three flat-screen computer monitors mounted on a console. Hundreds of sightseers below are oblivious to the fact that a helicopter is peering down on them from a mile and a half away. "They don't even know we're here," said crew chief John Diaz, speaking into a headset over the din of the aircraft's engine. The helicopter's unmarked paint job belies what's inside: an arsenal of sophisticated surveillance and tracking equipment powerful enough to read license plates—or scan pedestrians' faces—from high above the nation's largest metropolis. The NYPD also plans to spend tens of millions of dollars strengthening security in the lower Manhattan business district with a network of closed-circuit television cameras and license-plate readers posted at bridges, tunnels and other entry points. Police have also deployed hundreds of radiation monitors—some worn on belts like pagers, others mounted on cars and in helicopters—to detect dirty bombs. The helicopter's powers of observation come from a high-powered robotic camera mounted on a turret projecting from its nose like a periscope. The camera has infrared night-vision capabilities and a satellite navigation system that allows police to automatically zoom in on a location by typing in the address on a computer keyboard. The surveillance system can beam live footage to police command centers or even to wireless hand-held devices....
Fingerprint Registry in Housing Bill Fingerprints are considered to be among the most personal of information, and fingerprint databases created and proposed in the name of national security have generated much debate. Recently, “Server in the Sky” — a proposed international database of the fingerprints of suspected criminals and terrorists to be shared among the U.S., U.K. and Canada — has ignited a firestorm of controversy. As have cavalier comments by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that fingerprints aren’t “personal data.” Yet earlier this week, a measure creating a federal fingerprint registry totally unrelated to national security passed a U.S. Senate committee almost without notice. The legislation would require thousands of individuals working even tangentially in the mortgage and real estate industries — and not suspected of anything — to send their prints to the feds. The database and fingerprint mandates were tucked into housing and foreclosure assistance bills that on Tuesday passed the Senate Banking Committee by a vote of 19-2. The measure the committee passed states that “an indvidual may not engage in the business of a loan originator without first … obtaining a unique identifier.” To obtain this “identifier,” an individual is requiredto “furnish” to the newly created Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry “information concerning the applicant’s identity, including fingerprints for submission” to the FBI and other government agencies. And the database would cover a broad swath of individuals involved with mortgage lending. The amendment defines “loan originator” as anyone who “takes a residential loan application; and offers or negotiates terms of a residential mortgage loan for compensation or gain.” It states that even real estate brokers would be covered if they receive any compensation from lenders or mortgage brokers....
US residents in military brigs? Govt says it's war If his cell were at Guantanamo Bay, the prisoner would be just one of hundreds of suspected terrorists detained offshore, where the U.S. says the Constitution does not apply. But Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri is a U.S. resident being held in a South Carolina military brig; he is the only enemy combatant held on U.S. soil. That makes his case very different. Al-Marri's capture six years ago might be the Bush administration's biggest domestic counterterrorism success story. Authorities say he was an al-Qaida sleeper agent living in middle America, researching poisonous gasses and plotting a cyberattack. To justify holding him, the government claimed a broad interpretation of the president's wartime powers, one that goes beyond warrantless wiretapping or monitoring banking transactions. Government lawyers told federal judges that the president can send the military into any U.S. neighborhood, capture a citizen and hold him in prison without charge, indefinitely. There is little middle ground between the two sides in al-Marri's case, which is before a federal appeals court in Virginia. The government says the president needs this power to keep the nation safe. Al-Marri's lawyers say that as long as the president can detain anyone he wants, nobody is safe....
EPA tests plans to protect water from terrorists Water utilities would get earlier warning of viruses, bacteria or chemicals that could be introduced into drinking water systems by terrorists under a test monitoring program set for expansion beyond Cincinnati. The pilot program ordered by the Department of Homeland Security in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks uses continuous monitoring of public water for contaminants that could sicken or kill millions of people. Some utilities only do spot checks now for such germs, pesticides or radioactive materials. Some utilities might find that they need additional video cameras and alarms to warn of intruders at water tanks or other sites. Once the pilot program is complete, the Environmental Protection Agency hopes to have a national water security model that utilities could adopt at their own expense. "Water supplies are very, very accessible targets for biological or chemical weapons," said Donna Schlagheck, a Wright State University political scientist who specializes in American foreign policy and international terrorism. "There are so many potential targets — whether you are taking water from the ground or a river or a lake — and the vulnerability there is enormous."....
Gamblers' shuttle gets terrorism funds Colorado Springs-based Ramblin Express, which shuttles gamblers to mountain-town casinos, including Cripple Creek, has received $382,000 in anti-terrorism grants. The most recent grant, for $184,415, was announced this month as part of the Department of Homeland Security's $844 million Infrastructure Protection Activities program. Ramblin Express' grant is among the $11.2 million allocated to the Intercity Bus Security Grant Program, which is intended to assess risks and prevent attacks on that part of the nation's transportation system. It's not clear what threats Ramblin Express is addressing or what the grant money has gone for because the company's owner, Todd Holland, couldn't be reached for comment. A Federal Emergency Management Agency official said in written responses to questions the Ramblin Express' money is for vehicle security and GPS systems. FEMA also said spending is monitored. Homeland security expert James Carafano derided the program as a "ridiculous" expense. "This is checkbooks gone wild," said Carafano, a senior research fellow at conservative Washington, D.C., think tank The Heritage Foundation. "This is so stupid."....