Sunday, September 16, 2012

The Cat Burglars



Make believe World
The Cat Burglars
The planned 53 million acre heist
By Stephen L. Wilmeth

            Wow, what a headline! The Sun-News headline read, ‘Pussy Riot-like justice is served!’
Such a headline could mean only one thing. Surely, the courts had finally had enough of the antics of the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) in Tucson.    
            What was disappointing, though, was the story had nothing to do with the three stage plan to put the wraps on over 53 million acres of lands in Arizona and New Mexico for nonexistent big spotted cats. Rather, the story was about some female punk rock band from Russia. It seems the girls had run afoul of the Putin allowances for blasphemous church displays. Even in Russia, there appears to be some degree of nonsense that will not be tolerated.
            Jaguar Alley
            The southern border is one of the most hotly contested borders in the world. In just over 100 miles from New Mexico’s Bootheel into the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, a.k.a. Jaguar Alley, more than half of all drugs and human smuggling apprehensions and interdictions now take place. That is not just those matters on the southern border. That is the interception of those things on combined US borders.
            For scoring purposes, it is useful to array the players in the war zone. The list should start with the remnant community of American citizens. They are the folks who have duties, responsibilities, and investments in the lands being ravaged by the illicit smuggling trade.
            The gate keepers, the Customs-Border Protection (Border Patrol) forces of the Department of Homeland Security, would be next. Ostensibly, their job is to protect our borders.  
            The Mexican drug cartels come next. The Sinaloan Cartel has become the major player on that border expanse. They have battled the Juarez Cartel for domination to the east and other rivals to the west. They seem to be the favored operation within the Calderon Mexican administration.
            The next collaborative dynamic are the combined United States land management agencies. That would include the Park Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Services, the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
            Following them would be the other cabal complex which includes the combined forces of the Environmental movement. That network of trust and funding sponges espouses its mission to be the salvation of the natural world.
            Next comes the more niche based federal policing agencies. These would include alphabet soup spook brigades from CIA, DEA, ATF, ICE, and FBI.
            Finally, there are the state agencies and engaged state and local governments including law enforcement. For the most part, those groups have been limited to those areas close to the border. As miles from the border increase, the direct involvement and concern of border leadership tends to diminish.  
            The Sides
            Like urban wars, the border war in Jaguar Alley is extremely difficult to dissect with clarity. Many locals would argue they believe only the second and last groups, the local citizenry and the local governments, consistently support full and unrestricted policing of the border. Most believe the Border Patrol is committed to the task if there is adequate operational freedom allowed by the Administration.
            As for the others, there is too much evidence that mission and ideological agendas take preference over national security concerns.
            Restated, a list of those most supportive of protective measures and most weary of conditional protection of the border includes the historic border community. They are joined by state and local government which includes law enforcement. The Border Patrol is a willing and capable protective force if Washington allows it to act without political restraints.
            All other participants will very from neutral to antagonistic regarding strict border enforcement. Three of the four federal land agencies (Park Service, USFWS, and Forest Service) have demonstrated antagonistic characteristics varying from indifference to open opposition to demands of stricter border enforcement allowances. Only BLM has demonstrated a more neutral stance in matters that inhibit aggressive border protection.
            The alphabet soup brigades are largely silent in regards to local border concerns. Their missions seemingly elevate them above any requirement of issue debate. They exist, but they are hidden from the public view.
            That leaves the two groups that view the border much differently from the citizenry, most local and state government, and unrestrained Border Patrol.
The environmental and drug cartels seek an open border. The former wades through the court of public opinion on a make believe platform upheld by liberal leadership and the prevailing press. The latter has grown its trillion dollar industry on those smuggling corridors that have been staked on federal lands in Jaguar Alley.
Bottom line, the environmental and drug cartels have not and will not support congressional leadership that has any inclination to allow unrestricted policing actions on federal border lands.
Cats and corridors
During the week of August 13, Fish and Wildlife Service announced their much anticipated 838,232 acre critical jaguar habitat. That acreage will overlay the majority of the border area of Jaguar Alley.
In a statement by CBD, the effort was praised, but a secondary intention was announced. The CBD spokesman, Michael Robinson, divulged the group was going to demand the area be increased to include the nearby Gila and Apache National Forests or another 3.5 million acres.
The story doesn’t stop there. CBD is on record of supporting not just the 838,232 acres with its 4,348,000 acres expansion in their Gila/Apache demand. Their long term plan advocates a combined Arizona and New Mexico area of 53,000,000 acres!
All indications suggest the first installment of the Fish and Wildlife’s 838,232 acre Jurassic Park is just the first of a three part series of expansion for the big cats. Why should such an expansive project worry Americans?
For starters, the first phase of this brainchild is larger than the state of Rhode Island. The elevated restrictions on the land will substantively add constraints to the efforts of Border Patrol in that border area. It will also place future development of that border area in jeopardy.
If this occurs, “critical habitat” status will be layered over existing federal lands management. That means the federal agencies cannot fund or authorize any activities that might “adversely modify” those earmarked lands. For the uninformed, that means elevated access restrictions along with a mandatory public comment process that will be manipulated and managed by the environmental cartels.
De facto wilderness will be installed and one additional step toward an open borders policy will be accomplished. The cartels, all of them, will love it.
Flying saucers and shenanigans
The story of the jaguar, like the story of any species, is compelling. The cat purportedly evolved in North America and spread to South America. It is a big cat. The experts will say it is the third largest feline species in the world.
Anecdotal evidence suggests it roamed variously through historic times, but recent year confirmed sightings have been limited to occasional single adult males in the proposed recovery area. That implies the conditions of the area are not conducive for resident breeding pairs. In the most optimistic of outlooks, the area must be considered no more than occasional transient domain.
This is evidenced by statistics. Even with discredited and unsubstantiated references, only 17 jaguar sightings are recorded in New Mexico since 1825! That computes to less than .09 jaguar sightings per year in New Mexico’s modern history. That compares to .10 confirmed UFO sightings per day in New Mexico in 2011! Albuquerque alone had more UFO sightings in 2011 than New Mexico has jaguar sightings since early 19th Century.
This being said New Mexico was, at one time, the best place in the Western Hemisphere to hunt and shoot a jaguar. A fellow by the name of C.J. Prock, a veritable cat hunting magician, served jaguars up almost like jack rabbits to gung ho hunters back in the ‘70s. The problem with Mr. Prock was his propensity for hauling the cats in from jaguar territory and releasing them about the time his hunters arrived. His success was good enough to land him in the slammer.
That same suggestion of impropriety came to light last July when a mature jaguar was discovered along with drugs and guns by the Mexican military in a cartel stash house in the Mexican frontier town of Piedras Negras. What on earth would a mature jaguar be doing with loads of marijuana, cocaine, and AK47s?
Come on folks! The cat wasn’t there on contract to guard the merchandise.
Isn’t it a bit ironic just about the time a wondrous 838,000 acre jaguar park is announced a mature jaguar emerges? Odds are he turned up at the wrong place a bit too early for his planned game camera coverage at some release site. The question should be … which cartel moved him there?

Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico."Westerners have learned ... the border mission isn't predicated on sovereign Americans with property rights at risk."

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