The Westerner

The Westerner's Radio Theater #019

2012-01-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

This Saturday we bring you 10-2-4 Ranch Time from March 10, 1944. Don't forget to buy those War Bonds and to have your Dr. Pepper at 10, 2 and 4

Albuquerque firefighter, southern NM pecan growers caught up in federal drug trafficking busts

2012-01-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

Federal authorities said Friday they’ve taken down two major drug trafficking and money laundering operations in different parts of New Mexico, one involving an Albuquerque firefighter and the other southern New Mexico pecan growers. Agents have seized caches of drugs, cars, cash, guns and even a tractor from a pecan growing operation near the New Mexico-Texas border. In one case, 15 men living in the Albuquerque area were named in a 29-count federal indictment that was announced Friday by U.S. Attorney Kenneth Gonzales. Prosecutors said those arrested included Steve Chavez, 32, a seven-year veteran of the Albuquerque Fire Department. In the other case, authorities arrested nine people, including the owners of a southern New Mexico pecan farm, in connection with a trafficking and money laundering ring that involved cocaine and heroin. Prosecutors said the owners and operators of Pettit Farms and Nursery in Anthony, N.M., and their two sons were among those arrested Thursday. They were identified as Oscar Portillo Sr., his wife Sandra Portillo and sons Matthew Portillo and Oscar Portillo Jr. According to a 24-count indictment, the farm was used as a place to store and sell drugs. A team of federal, state and local law enforcement officers arrested the defendants Thursday and executed four search warrants, including one at the farm and three others at residences in El Paso, Texas. Federal prosecutors said the Portillos allegedly sold drugs to an undercover agent on five separate occasions. The indictment claims the couple asked the undercover agent to pay for the drugs with money orders which they subsequently cashed and deposited into bank accounts in the name of the farm. The agent was provided with invoices asserting that the agent had purchased pecan trees...more

President Obama leaves event promoting clean energy in a motorcade of 22 fossil-fueled vehicles

2012-01-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

On January 26, 2012, President Obama visited a Las Vegas UPS plant. Stimulus subsidy for said UPS plant to purchase natural-gas-powered trucks: 5.6 million dollars. Stimulus subsidy for North Las Vegas green energy plant that laid off 200 workers yesterday: 5.9 million dollars. Using taxpayer dollars to leave an event promoting clean-energy vehicles in a motorcade of twenty-two fossil-fueled vehicles: Priceless...more

Here's a video of the departing motorcade:

http://youtu.be/oB1ZxyhO9p0

Wolves to be considered for culling elk herds

2012-01-27T09:45:00.000-07:00

An examination of wolf reintroduction to the San Luis Valley didn't come at the prompting of federal wildlife officials. But they'll still have to take a look at it, thanks to public comment last year urging the idea be considered as a means of controlling elk herds on the Baca National Wildlife Refuge, where elk have taken a heavy toll on the cottonwoods and willows lining stream banks. "Right now, it's a question. You have a lot of elk, a lot of people would say you need a large predator," said Laurie Shannon, a planning team leader for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "We may not move forward with it, but right now it's on the table." The mention of wolves takes up only one sentence in a 13-page document laying out the potential management strategies for the Alamosa, Baca and Monte Vista national wildlife refuges. Steve Russell said the move would be bad for livestock producers. "I would like it kicked out regardless of how we merge alternatives," he said. Paul Robertson oversees the Nature Conservancy's Medano-Zapata Ranch, which neighbors the Baca. ‘‘I don't think ‘C’ is a politically wise decision,’’ he said of the alternative that included the mention of wolves...more

This will certainly add fuel to the fire that the USFWS will declare all of NM and southern Colo. as habitat for the wolf.

Bear Canyon skirmishes unresolved

2012-01-27T09:44:00.000-07:00

Governmental skirmishes in Bear Canyon over an obliterated road and an ensuing new trail has been ongoing for about five years and the issue still remains unresolved. Gallatin National Forest Supervisor Mary Erickson and Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Director Mary Sexton sent the county a Jan. 4 letter seeking a solution to the issue. In 2006, the Forest Service “obliterated” the road and replaced it with a trail, the county has said. The trail runs through state land before entering federal ground and took the place of what the county says was its road. The state Department of Environmental Quality had called for the removal of a portion of the road, which the agency identified as a main cause of sediments entering Bear Creek. County officials have argued the feds had no legal right to remove the road, Chief Deputy County Attorney Chris Gray has said. The county has fielded numerous complaints that the new trail is too steep and too narrow for cross-country skiing, motorized use and moving cattle to summer pasture. The feds, the state and the county entered an agreement in May 2010 that called for meeting seven points that included the state granting an easement to U.S. Forest Service who would maintain the trail. The Forest Service would in turn grant an easement to the county for the entire trail to the Park County line as long as the county abandoned any “legal statues of any prior county road in Bear Canyon.” The feds and the state gave the county a Jan. 20 deadline to reply. In a Jan. 20 letter, the county basically said, thanks for calling, but no thanks...more

Arizona: Forest Service grazing plan deemed illegal

2012-01-27T09:41:00.000-07:00

As so many times before, a federal court has overturned a U.S. Forest Service grazing permit because federal land managers violated the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. The court ruling at least temporarily blocks cattle grazing on 42,000 acres in the Fossil Creek watershed on the Coconino National Forest in central Arizona. The drainage is a stronghold for threatened Chiricahua leopard frogs. Download a copy of the ruling here. The Forest Service has made great efforts to help with the recovery of the frogs elsewhere in Arizona. The permit holder, J.P. Morgan-Chase & Co., which maintains interests in the historic Ward Ranch of Rimrock, Ariz., reintroduced about 290 cows in September 2009. The court ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to adequately consider the potential effects of cattle grazing on the threatened species when it issued a “biological opinion” authorizing the grazing plan. The court also ruled that the Fish and Wildlife Service failed to adequately quantify the amount of incidental “take,” or harm, to the leopard frog, and failed to analyze the effect of the approved plan on the frog’s chances of recovery — all violations of the Endangered Species Act. “The court’s ruling is significant because it will help protect the last known population of Chiricahua leopard frogs on the Red Rock Ranger District,” said Todd Tucci, a senior attorney at Advocates for the West who argued the case on behalf of the Center. The court also ruled that the Forest Service violated NEPA by using inaccurate information to assess grazing impacts. Even though the Forest Service documented unsatisfactory, impaired or inherently unstable soil conditions across 96 percent of the allotment, rangers authorized the grazing...more

Couple challenges federal assault charges

2012-01-27T09:39:00.000-07:00

A Roundup couple say they have been wrongfully charged with assaulting a federal officer during a family hunting trip. Bill and Tammie McCutcheon were arraigned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Billings and pleaded not guilty to two counts each of assault on a federal officer for an incident Nov. 26 in the Little Belt Mountains. In a criminal indictment, federal prosecutors allege that Bill McCutcheon assaulted the officer with a weapon and that both McCutcheons "forcefully assaulted, resisted, opposed, impeded, intimidated and interfered" with the officer. The charges against Bill McCutcheon carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a $250,000 fine. If convicted, Tammie McCutcheon could face up to eight years in prison and a $100,000 fine. A trial date will be set later. The criminal indictment filed against the McCutcheons contains no details of the incident that resulted in the charges, but a complaint filed by U.S. Forest Service Officer Shawn Tripp after the incident provides his official account of the run-in with the McCutcheons. In an interview with The Billings Gazette before their court appearance, the couple said they encountered an overly aggressive officer who they allege sexually assaulted Tammie McCutcheon and nearly started a gunfight. The couple said that despite the criminal charges, they are considering a lawsuit alleging that the officer violated their civil rights. "I want the government to be held responsible for putting people in positions of responsibility who abuse it," Tammie McCutcheon said. "I'm charged for assaulting a federal officer, and he's the one who was laying on top of me."...more

Oil and water still don't mix

2012-01-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

"You can't believe the flood of money that's pouring into San Antonio!" That's Steve talking, a close friend and an accountant with his finger on the financial pulse of the nation's seventh largest city. At a time when many other communities are struggling to make ends meet, the Alamo City is flush. The source of this new pelf lies a couple of hours to its south, down I-35 and US 281, deep in the brush country of south Texas. To be more precise, its origins lie 8,000 feet below the rolling coastal plain, in the gas-and-oil deposits locked in the Eagle Ford Shale formation; this seam runs beneath more 20 counties that stretch from the Rio Grande Valley north and east into central Texas. To tap those resources, major energy companies (and smaller ones, too), are offering upwards of seven-figures for an annual lease, eye-popping dollars for hardscrabble ranchers who in the past have had to take a second or third job just to hold on to their lands, let alone maintain their livestock operations. To that kind of payday, Steve observed, "not many are saying no."...more

Conservation groups challenge watershed plan for third time

2012-01-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

Conservation groups on Tuesday challenged a proposed thinning and prescribed-burn project in forests south of Bozeman that aims to protect the city’s drinking water. It’s the group’s third time challenging the proposal. “Simply stated, the agency’s proposal breaks a number of laws and this time around is no different,” said Michael Garrity, executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies. The Gallatin National Forest’s plan, called the Bozeman Municipal Watershed project, calls for burning, harvesting and thinning 4,800 acres in the Hyalite and Bozeman Creek drainages. Those drainages supply more than 80 percent of the Bozeman community’s water, and thinning efforts there are intended to reduce the extent of any potential wildfires. A severe wildfire could put so much sediment and ash in the creeks that the treatment plant couldn’t handle it and would have to shut down, according to Marna Daley, forest spokeswoman...more

Forest policy affects acequias

2012-01-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

Northern New Mexico's Acequia del Llano de San Juan Nepomuceno is the kind of place where sweeping federal policy changes get up close and personal. It's the kind of place Paula Garcia, executive director of the New Mexico Acequia Association and president of the Mora Land Grant, will be thinking about as she reads the new federal forest management rules unveiled Thursday by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The rules are intended to govern the management of 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands, establishing a new blueprint to guide everything from logging to recreation and renewable energy development. Garcia wants to know if the rules will help or hinder traditional communities with ties to the national forests dating back centuries. "More environmental regulations can mean more red tape for traditional communities," she said. "That's what creates a lot of tension. Even though the rules are well intentioned, that's what creates hardship on the ground." The Acequia del Llano de San Juan, which is older than the U.S. Forest Service, brings water to about 100 families. But when ditch commissioners from Llano de San Juan and four other ditches in the area needed to make repairs in 2009, they ended up in a tiff with Carson National Forest officials. Portions of the ditches and their diversion structures are on Carson National Forest land. Garcia claims the Forest Service wanted the commissioners to get a special use permit, something never previously requested. The process was time-consuming, stalled much-needed repairs and, Garcia believes, was unwarranted...more

Hunting animals to save them?

2012-01-27T09:34:00.000-07:00

You don't have to go to Africa to hunt exotic animals. In fact, Texas may have more of some endangered exotics than live in the wild. That's because breeding them is a billion dollar business in Texas, where over 100 species roam large ranches and can be hunted for sport. The hunters and the ranchers they pay to hunt the trophy animals say the money generated by hunting these animals is helping to save them. They claim only 10 percent of any species can be killed annually. But to animal rights people fighting to shut them down, they're nothing more than slaughter houses. Lara Logan reports on this little known practice on "60 Minutes" Sunday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. ET/PT. It all began decades ago, when ranchers took in surplus animals, some endangered in the wild, from zoos. Now there are more than 250,000 exotics living on ranches, mostly in Texas, in a business that supports 14,000 jobs. "That's why these animals thrive...because of that value they have to the hunting community," says Charly Seale, a rancher and executive director of the Exotic Wildlife Association in Texas. Priscilla Feral, president of Friends of Animals, an international animal rights organization, believes such rationale is "ludicrous. I think it's immoral," she tells Logan. "They are saying it's an act of conservation and that's lunacy," says Feral, who would rather them not exist in Texas than thrive on a ranch there purely as prey for sportsmen. "I don't think you create a life to shoot it."...more

Great Lakes farmers eager to be allowed to shoot attacking wolves

2012-01-27T09:33:00.000-07:00

John Koski is itching to pick up his rifle after losing dozens of cows to hungry wolves on his farm in Michigan's Upper Peninsula -- and it appears he'll soon get his chance. A legal shield that has protected gray wolves in the western Great Lakes region for nearly four decades will disappear today when the animal leaves the federal endangered species list. With that milestone, a primal struggle that was waged in this rugged backcountry for more than a century will resume, although in a more restrained fashion. "It's about time," said Koski, 67, one of many ranchers eager to begin shooting wolves that prey on livestock. Likewise, hunters are pushing for the chance to stalk a foe legendary for its cunning that has long been off-limits. "There has to be a hunt. We're just saturated with wolves here," said Al Clemens, who already pursues coyotes in the Upper Peninsula backwoods. But opponents of killing wolves for sport promise a stiff fight before state agencies...more

Deer runs into student in Pa. Junior High School

2012-01-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

Students and parents watched at dismissal time Wednesday as a doe ran through the main doors of Red Lion Area Junior High School and collided with an eighth-grade student, knocking them both to the ground. The eighth-grader got up and hurried outside while Principal Kevin Peters and teacher Nate Resh trapped the deer in the foyer and got other students out of harms way. The student, who collided with the deer, was taken to a hospital as a precaution, Peters said. He had reported that his foot was sore, Supt. Scott Deisley said.
"We’re incredibly lucky it was not more serious with so many students being there," Peters said. Dismissal had been well underway by the time the deer had arrived around 2:45 p.m. The school buses had already left the campus, and about 150 students who walk home or are picked up by parents remained. The father of the victim saw the deer hit a fence near third base on the softball field, Peters said. It then ran across the parking lot and entered the main doors, running into the son who was walking out...more

Cattle Herd Drop to 1958 Low Boosting Cost for McDonald’s, Tyson

2012-01-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

The cattle herd in the U.S. may be the smallest since 1958, when McDonald’s Corp. had just 79 hamburger restaurants, signaling tighter beef supplies and higher costs for companies including Tyson Foods Inc. Ranchers held 91.24 million head of cattle as of Jan. 1, down 1.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. That would be the smallest since Dwight Eisenhower was president. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is set to release its herd report at 3 p.m. in Washington. A record drought in Texas last year and rising feed costs prompted ranchers to cull herds, even as beef exports surged from the U.S., the world’s largest producer. Cattle futures are up 15 percent since the end of June, reaching a record seven times this month, and the Livestock Marketing Information Center says retail-beef prices that reached an all-time high on an annual basis in 2011 will keep rising through next year...more

Song Of The Day #759

2012-01-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

Ranch Radio closes out this week of Rockabilly with the Carl Perkins classic Honey Don't.

Expo, Downs ordered to clean manure

2012-01-26T15:12:00.000-07:00

Expo New Mexico and the downs at Albuquerque are being ordered to clean up massive mounds of manure. The Environmental Protection Agency claims animal waste on the grounds is getting into the Rio Grande. "It’s like having a horse in your backyard,” Julia C De Baca said. "That you never clean that crap up." Neighbors are complaining about the smell coming from the state fairgrounds, the extremely high piles of manure and swarms of flies. The complaints prompted the Environmental Protection Agency to get involved. They ordered an inspection this past November. The inspection found that during heavy rains some of that manure was making its way into storm drains, which lead right to the Rio Grande. The report says between 2007 and 2011, it happened 18 times. That animal waste can contain everything from nitrogen and phosphorus to dangerous bacteria like coliform...more

Obama-backed electric car battery-maker files for bankruptcy

2012-01-26T11:48:00.000-07:00

An Indiana-based energy-storage company, whose subsidiary received a $118.5 million stimulus grant from the Energy Department, filed for bankruptcy Thursday. Ener1 is asking a federal bankruptcy court in New York to approve a plan to restructure the company’s debt and infuse $81 million in equity funding. The Energy Department in 2009 approved a $118.5 million stimulus grant for EnerDel, a subsidiary of the company that develops lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. The grant was part of a broader program aimed at promoting the development of electric-vehicle battery technology. EnerDel had received support from Republicans, including more than $4 million in Defense Department research grants under the George W. Bush administration. Ener1’s decision to file for bankruptcy will likely draw the attention of House Republicans, who are investigating the bankruptcy of Solyndra, the solar panel maker that received a $535 million Energy Department loan guarantee in 2009...more

Robert J. Samuelson: Rejecting the Keystone pipeline is an act of insanity

2012-01-26T11:06:00.000-07:00

President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico is an act of national insanity. It isn’t often that a president makes a decision that has no redeeming virtues and — beyond the symbolism — won’t even advance the goals of the groups that demanded it. All it tells us is that Obama is so obsessed with his reelection that, through some sort of political calculus, he believes that placating his environmental supporters will improve his chances. Aside from the political and public relations victory, environmentalists won’t get much. Stopping the pipeline won’t halt the development of tar sands, to which the Canadian government is committed; therefore, there will be little effect on global-warming emissions. Indeed, Obama’s decision might add to them. If Canada builds a pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific for export to Asia, moving all that oil across the ocean by tanker will create extra emissions. There will also be the risk of added spills. Now consider how Obama’s decision hurts the United States. For starters, it insults and antagonizes a strong ally; getting future Canadian cooperation on other issues will be harder. Next, it threatens a large source of relatively secure oil that, combined with new discoveries in the United States, could reduce (though not eliminate) our dependence on insecure foreign oil. Finally, Obama’s decision forgoes all the project’s jobs...more

Samuelson then tells us there are three things to remember on this issue:

First, we’re going to use lots of oil for a long time. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that U.S. oil consumption will increase 4 percent between 2009 and 2035. The increase occurs despite highly optimistic assumptions about vehicle fuel efficiency and bio-fuels. But a larger population (390 million in 2035 versus 308 million in 2009) and more driving per vehicle offset savings. The more oil we produce domestically and import from neighbors, the more we’re insulated from dramatic interruptions of global supplies. After the United States, Canada is the most dependable source of oil — or was, until Obama’s decision. Second, barring major technological breakthroughs, emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, will rise for similar reasons. The EIA projects that America’s CO2 emissions will increase by 16 percent from 2009 to 2035. (The EIA is updating its projections, but the main trends aren’t likely to change dramatically.) Stopping Canadian tar-sands development, were that possible, wouldn’t affect these emissions. Finally, even if — as Keystone critics argue — some Canadian oil were refined in the United States and then exported, this would be a good thing. The exports would probably go mostly to Latin America. They would keep well-paid industrial jobs (yes, refining) in the United States and reduce our trade deficit in oil, which exceeded $300 billion in 2011.

Cartoon

2012-01-26T10:20:00.000-07:00

US to unveil new forest rules

2012-01-26T09:20:00.002-07:00

The Obama administration says new rules to manage nearly 200 million acres of national forests will protect watersheds and wildlife while promoting uses ranging from recreation to logging. The new rules, to replace guidelines thrown out by a federal court in 2009, are set to be released Thursday by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. A summary was obtained by The Associated Press. Vilsack said in an interview that the rules reflect more than 300,000 comments received since a draft plan was released last year. The new rules strengthen a requirement that decisions be based on the best available science and recognize that forests are used for a variety of purposes, Vilsack said. "I think it's a solid rule and done in a collaborative, open and transparent way," he said. The guidelines, known as a forest planning rule, will encourage forest restoration and watershed protection while creating opportunities for the timber industry and those who use the forest for recreation, he said. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell said the guidelines would allow land management plans for individual forests to be completed more quickly and at a lower cost than under current rules, which date to the Reagan administration. Several attempts to revise the 1982 planning rule have been thrown out by federal courts in the past decade. Most recently a Bush administration plan was struck down in 2009. Environmentalists had fought the rule, saying it rolled back key forest protections...more

Timber industry files lawsuit against murrelet designation

2012-01-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

The American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) brought suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) claiming the agency violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) when it designated millions of acres of forest land in Washington, Oregon and California as critical habitat for the marbled murrelet. “There is nothing straight forward in how the FWS requires federal forest managers to deal with this bird,” said Tom Partin, President of AFRC. “Because humans almost never see the bird, the FWS seems to think it can throw a net over millions of acres of federal timber land that not only aren’t being used by the bird, but don’t even have the characteristics it is looking for when it flies inland to lay its eggs. Someone has to speak up about this violation of the limits of the ESA.” The ESA requires that critical habitat be limited to areas occupied by the species at the time of listing. Under an exception, land not occupied at the time of listing may be designated as critical habitat only if they are essential to the survival of the species. Much of the land FWS has classified as critical habitat doesn’t have the large trees the murrelet is believed to use. When the FWS designated all Late Successional Reserves (LSRs) on federal land as murrelet critical habitat, it did so assuming those areas would develop into nesting habitat over the next 400 years. “There is nothing in the law that allows the FWS to tie up currently unsuitable land hoping it turns into habitat that will support an endangered species,” said Partin. “That’s like the government denying you a building permit because it hopes someday your neighborhood will become a city park.”...more

Local activists head to D.C. to push for Fort Ord National Monument.

2012-01-26T09:19:00.000-07:00

With more than 60 public agencies and a dozen-plus citizens’ groups claiming a stake in the former Fort Ord, consensus on how to manage it is as rare as the black legless lizard. So the solidarity in a push to designate up to 14,650 acres as a national monument is something of a shocker; stakeholders from Fort Ord Reuse Authority to the Sierra Club are asking the feds to protect the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Ford Ord acreage in perpetuity.  Next week, local activists Henrietta Stern of FORT Friends and Gordon Smith of Keep Fort Ord Wild are hoping to find as much agreement among the many federal agencies with a hand in the designation. At the invitation of the Conservation Lands Foundation, Stern and Smith are headed to Washington, D.C., from Jan. 30-Feb. 2. “The issue is making sure people understand why the public land needs to be protected,” foundation spokeswoman Meghan Kissell says. ..more

Not much of a story, but does allow for another picture of the BLM'er in her pink hat. Hurry, hurry to have this area managed by a federal Pink Panther.

Keystone Kops energy policy

2012-01-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

In his State of the Union speech, President Obama had barely cleared his throat when he outlined his vision for an American “future where we’re in control of our own energy, and our security and prosperity aren’t so tied to unstable parts of the world.” Just days before, he had delivered a crippling blow to his own plan. Mr. Obama’s decision to kill the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil from Alberta, Canada, to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast, is one more example of his administration’s ongoing war on fossil fuels - and the most recent example of how the president promises the exact opposite of what he is delivering. What better way to sever our dependence on those “unstable parts of the world” than to switch a major portion of our oil imports from dictatorships to a stable democratic neighbor, starting now? Instead, the administration continues to squander taxpayer funds on “green energy” debacles such as Solyndra and the entire renewables/electric-car agenda - which, even in Mr. Obama’s plan, will only yield significant benefits in the far future...more

EDITORIAL: Drawing a pipeline in the sand

2012-01-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

Washington watchers weren’t so much surprised by the White House’s decision on the pipeline as they were by the suddenness of the Jan. 18 announcement. Just one day earlier, the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness had called for an “all-in approach” to energy production, including increased oil- and gas-drilling and construction of distribution pipelines. Mr. Obama’s subsequent rejection of Keystone XL apparently was intended to put to rest any notion that a large-scale conventional-energy project would be built while he occupies the White House. There is little Republicans can do to change Mr. Obama’s no to a yes. Still, ample opportunities exist to expose his order for what it is: a payoff to left-wing supporters who style themselves as environmentalists. They’re banking on the White House to shield their expensive and pointless windmill and solar-energy projects from the competition of affordable fossil fuels like oil. As author Peter Schweizer detailed in his recent best-seller, “Throw Them All Out,” 80 percent of $20.5 billion in Energy Department loans went to Mr. Obama’s top donors...more

LISTEN: Justice Alito Fired Up in Case Pitting Property Owners Against EPA

2012-01-26T09:12:00.001-07:00

Justice Samuel Alito seemed none too pleased last week with the government’s argument in a case pitting property owners against the Environmental Protection Agency. Listen to this heated exchange with the government lawyer:

video platform video management video solutions video player

Listen to the entire oral argument by going here.

Genetically-engineered salmon caught in tangled regulatory net

2012-01-26T09:10:00.000-07:00

A Senate hearing placed a spotlight on the regulatory tangle surrounding the approval process for genetically-engineered salmon. Potentially the country’s first GE animal for human consumption, the salmon have raised a host of worries among critics including the impact on the environment should they escape fish farms. However, what came to the fore during the mid-December hearing was the complicated morass of government approval, oversight, and trade when dealing with the GE fish. Other GE animals are surely being developed and the current approval process outlined during the hearing seems ill-equipped to deal with the new technology. Questions to the expert panel from the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard mostly came from the chairman, Alaska Sen. Mark Begich, and Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe. Both have large salmon industries in their states and Begich has introduced S.1717, which would ban interstate commerce of genetically engineered salmon...more

With winter underway, battle over bison management rages on

2012-01-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

Each winter when snow drives bison out of Yellowstone National Park, conservationists, ranchers and others disagree over how the wild animals should be managed. This year will likely be just as tense as several controversial issues surrounding bison unfold. Efforts to allow bison on land outside the park — throughout the Gardiner Basin and on two reservations in northern Montana — face litigation from local groups that fear the spread of an animal disease and threats to private property. If bison are allowed on those state and tribal lands, it would symbolize growing tolerance for the animals. A mild winter so far has enabled bison to mostly stay inside the park, but once they leave, it remains unclear how they’ll be managed. They could be left to roam, hazed, fenced, shot or sent to slaughter. The bison create controversy when they move onto Montana lands because some may carry the disease brucellosis, which causes pregnant animals to miscarry. Ranchers fear the sickness could spread to cattle. There are also concerns about bison damaging property or creating public safety issues...more

Agriculture mission continues for former Miss America

2012-01-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

Though her reign as Miss America may have ended, Teresa Scanlan is continuing her mission to advocate for agriculture. KTIC Radio reports that Scanlan broke the mold when she was crowned Miss America in 2011. A native of Nebraska, she embraced her agriculture background and established partnerships with several agriculture organizations during her reign, including The Hand That Feeds U.S., U.S. Cattlemen's Association and Real Farmers, Real Food. While traveling across the country, Scanlan noticed a massive disconnect geographically. By taking the role of non-traditional spokesperson for agriculture, Scanlan set out to bridge the gap between urban and rural America. Scanlan’s agriculture mission also impacts the pageant that first propelled her into the national spotlight. As a result of Scanlan’s agriculture advocacy, more state title holders have stepped forward to support their state’s farmers and ranchers. In an article written for FoxNews, Scanlan pointed out the importance of agriculture producers...more

Fewer Cows’ Hides May Bear the Mark of Home

2012-01-26T09:05:00.000-07:00

In the half-light of a winter evening in Morgan Hill, a tawny calf skittered across the pasture after its mother, a Lazy T brand visible on its right hip. To rancher Janet Burback, the brand is a matter of pride and tradition. It is also a matter of necessity. When a cow strays or falls into the hands of rustlers - still a significant threat - it is the brand she counts on to bring the animal home. Like other ranchers in California and other Western states, Burback looks with suspicion on a federal plan to institute an identification system for cattle that emphasizes numbered ear tags rather than brands as the official markers of a cow's identity. Ranchers worry that the regulation, in the final phase of revision, represents a first step toward ending branding, a method they regard as the most visible, permanent and reliable way of identifying who owns which cow. Aware that it is treading on delicate territory, the Department of Agriculture has included an exception in the rule, allowing brands to be used as unofficial identification in trade between states that agree to accept the method. Fourteen states have brand inspection laws, most of them in the West and Southwest. Yet many ranchers remain deeply skeptical. The department received close to 1,600 comments on the proposed regulation, many of them negative. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association has given qualified support to the proposal but said it would also like some parts clarified, and the inclusion of branding as an official identification method. Opposition is especially strong among ranchers in California and other Western states. Although the Agriculture Department has said it will initially provide metal ear tags at no cost — the electronic versions cost $2 to $4 apiece — many ranchers believe the program will prove more costly than federal officials have predicted. And they are leery of federal intrusion into their business practices. “It all comes down to a bureaucrat in Washington, D.C., behind a desk making the rules and deciding what’s best for you as a rancher and you as a ranching family, and that’s what people distrust,” said Kevin Kester, president of the California Cattlemen’s Association. The association, Mr. Kester said, opposes the rule in its current form and has written to the Agriculture Department asking for revisions, including greater recognition of branding and raising the age at which cattle must be tagged...more

Song Of The Day #758

2012-01-26T09:01:00.001-07:00

Ranch Radio will continue with Rockabilly Week. Elvis the Pelvis, along with Carl Perkins, got this genre started. Here's Mr. Presley and That's Alright.

Now Playing: The Sustainability Con

2012-01-25T10:18:00.000-07:00

Although the issue of "sustainability" has been around a while, recently it has grown in popularity and influence. The way it's happening follows an all too familiar pattern. There are several common ingredients in how the left enlarges its control over our lives. The first is the selection of some aspect of reality -- global warming, carbon footprints, population growth, inequality, diversity, for example. The second element involves designating the selected aspect of reality as a crisis. The third step is to explain that the only way to avoid Armageddon is by reducing everyone's freedom and by giving more centralized power and control to those who understand the magnitude of the crisis. The rest of us are told that our freedoms are a luxury we simply can no longer afford. Another common element of the process is defining the crisis as ambiguously as possible. Ordinarily, a desirable characteristic of a definition is that it draws a bright line between what is included and what isn't. Clarity, however, is contrary to the objectives of the crusaders -- in regard to defining the problem, the slipperier the better. For example, climate change (or climate disruption) beats global warming. Global warming is too quantifiable in comparison to climate change. No one is quite sure what "climate change" is or isn't or how it can be measured. Sustainability is even more ambiguous than climate change and thus has more sustainability as a ruse...more

Not to worry. The Academic Palaces are educating your children about "sustainability". The article continues:

At Arizona State University you can get a B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in sustainability. ASU has an entire "School of Sustainability." The school's website offers several answers to the question, "What is sustainability?" Here are four of the answers they offer:

"Sustainability is a concept with as much transformative potential as justice, liberty, and equality."
Michael Crow
President
Arizona State University

"Sustainability is larger than one person, one company, or one country. Its scope, scale and importance demand unprecedented and swift solutions to environmental protection and other complex problems."
Julie Ann Wrigley
President
Julie Ann Wrigley Foundation

"Sustainability is living in harmony with our social and natural environment, based on a sense of justice and equity.
"Sander van der Leeuw
Dean
School of Sustainability

"Sustainability is a process that engages every discipline to provide dynamic solutions to complex problems."
Brian McCollow
Student
School of Sustainability

Now you know what sustainability is and how your taxes are being spent. Feel better?

NM Hispanic ranchers send letter to Obama

2012-01-25T09:59:00.000-07:00

A group of northern New Mexico ranchers is reaching out to the White House over the alleged mistreatment of Hispanics by the U.S. Forest Service. The president of the Northern New Mexico Stockman's Association, Carlos Salazar, fired off a letter to the White House on Tuesday. Salazar says ranchers and farmers in the area have been loyal Democrats in the past but are "bailing out" on the Obama administration due to the negative economic impacts its policies are having on those who depend on New Mexico's forests for their livelihoods. The letter comes a day after ranchers and Rio Arriba County announced they were suing the Forest Service over a reduction in grazing opportunities on two allotments in the Carson National Forest. They claim an institutional bias against Hispanics exists within the agency. AP

Committee hears bills to open public lands to shooting

2012-01-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

Federal officials are eyeing shooting restrictions on more than a million acres of public land, half of which are in Arizona, said Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Mesa, who wants to block the restrictions. Flake’s measure was one of two Arizona shooting bills – along with Rep. Trent Frank’s proposal to transfer 315 acres of federal land in Mohave County to the state for use as a shooting range – taken up Tuesday by a House Natural Resources subcommittee. The National Rifle Association testified in support of both bills, saying their passage is important to protecting the Second Amendment. “You have to be able to exercise your rights,” said Susan Recce, NRA director of conservation, wildlife and natural resources. “If you don’t have places where you can practice your right, then it is a limited right.” Recce said the Bureau of Land Management’s actions show a bias against recreational shooting, a claim that BLM officials at the hearing denied. Flake’s bill, HR 3440, would limit BLM’s ability to close national monuments to recreational shooting to six months. The bill has 30 cosponsors, including Franks, R-Glendale, and Arizona Reps. Paul Gosar, R-Flagstaff, and David Schweikert, R-Scottsdale...more

Report: Removing Klamath dams would help fish, provide jobs, cost millions

2012-01-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

The ambitious proposal to remove four Klamath River dams would add jobs and aid fish, a new federal report asserts, but the idea still leaves California lawmakers badly divided. As they approach a make-or-break decision on whether to recommend the dam removal, U.S. Interior Department officials on Tuesday touted anticipated benefits that include improved salmon habitat and 1,400 construction jobs during the year it would take to remove the hydroelectric dams. Long-term Klamath Basin restoration efforts would add an estimated 4,600 jobs, the report says. But the dam removals would also cost somewhere between $238 million and $493 million, potentially increase flooding risks and cut electricity production, the new Interior Department compilation shows. The new report pegs the most probable dam-removal cost at $291.6 million. "The science and analyses presented in these reports are vital to making an informed and sound decision on the Klamath River dam removal," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said. Salazar must decide by March 31 whether to recommend the long-debated removal of the four dams near the Oregon border. Three of the dams are in California's northernmost Siskiyou County...more

Pinon Canyon - Group slams Army

2012-01-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

Southern Colorado ranchers and critics of the proposed expansion of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site said Monday that the Army is now trying to take over Southeastern Colorado through the "back door." The Army released a draft environmental assessment Jan. 18 that states there would be no significant impact on the maneuver site from adding a new 113-helicopter Combat Aviation Brigade at Fort Carson and conducting training missions at Pinon Canyon northeast of town. But members of Not 1 More Acre! are disputing the Army's plan. Fort Carson has long been preparing for the new aviation brigade and was required to do an environmental impact study on the potential damage to the 238,000-acre maneuver site. "We all agree that this is a terrible abuse of public disclosure law. They are actually saying this configuration will have no significant impact at Pinon Canyon?" said Jean Aguerre, president of Not 1 More Acre! prior to the meeting. Aguerre called the assessment half-baked and said that more traffic at Pinon Canyon would cause detrimental, mind-blowing damage to the grasslands. During the meeting, Las Animas County Commissioner Gary Hill read a letter to Army officials asking them to conduct a full environmental impact study, which would be more in-depth. "An EA (environmental assessment) is just a shortcut and doesn't address everything, in our opinion," Hill said. Lon Robertson, of the Pinon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition, agreed that the study is not complete. "Once again it's the nose of the cantaloupe. The military is not doing anything to win support or show that they can be trusted," Robertson said. Robertson said, some of the facts in the new study simply were not true...more

Woman Claims Neighbor’s Energy Efficient Windows Are Melting Her Toyota Prius

2012-01-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

A SoCal woman says the energy efficient window installed in a neighbor’s condominium is melting the plastic components on cars parked in her carport. Heather Patron of Studio City was dealing with a mystery regarding her Toyota Prius. “The side view mirrors were melting,” says Patron. “Anything that was plastic on the car was melting.” Toyota told Patron nothing was wrong with the car. After having the mirrors replaced, she noticed the mirrors on the car parked next to hers were also melting. Patron then observed a powerful beam of light that was reflecting off the window of a next door condominium, casting a concentrated beam over her carport. CBS2’s Randy Paige placed a thermometer in the pathway of the beam on a partially cloudy day. The temperature registered over 120 degrees in less than five minutes...more

This is too good to be true...but it apparently is. There is a video news report at the link provided.

Federal dollars funding conservation easements in Montana

2012-01-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

For the first time ever, a well-established federal program is helping to fund new conservation easements in the Bitterroot Valley. The Federal Farm and Ranchlands Protection Program invested $6.5 million in conservation easements across Montana last year. Three of those were in the Bitterroot Valley. The Severson and Sunset Bench ranches in the Burnt Fork area east of Stevensville and the Downey family property up Willow Creek each qualified for funding under the federal program. "We're excited to see this program as a viable source for voluntary agricultural land conservation in the Bitterroot," said Gavin Ricklefs, executive director of the Bitter Root Land Trust. "It fits really well in the Bitterroot. It's nice to see those dollars coming here." The program focuses on conserving high-quality agricultural lands through conservation easements. The federal money is used to match other funding sources to pay for the easements. The program was established in the 2002 federal Farm Bill...more

What they don't own they still want to control. There are land trusts who operate without federal or state money so this is one area Congress should look to cut.

Court Overturns 42,000-acre Grazing Plan Threatening Arizona's Fossil Creek, Endangered Species

2012-01-25T09:34:00.001-07:00

Citing violations of the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act, a federal district court judge on Monday overturned a U.S. Forest Service decision allowing cattle grazing across a 42,000-acre area of the Fossil Creek watershed on the Coconino National Forest in central Arizona. “Fossil Creek is one of the Southwest’s most important river reaches,” said Taylor McKinnon, with the Center for Biological Diversity in Flagstaff. “The court’s ruling is a victory for this beautiful creek, its diverse array of native species and the public investments that have been made to recover them.” The ruling holds that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to adequately consider the potential effects of cattle grazing on the endangered Chiricahua leopard frog when it issued a “biological opinion” authorizing the grazing plan. The court also ruled that the Fish and Wildlife Service failed to adequately quantify the amount of incidental “take,” or harm, to the leopard frog, and failed to analyze the effect of the approved plan on the frog’s chances of recovery — all violations of the Endangered Species Act. Under the National Environmental Policy Act, the court ruled that the Forest Service had relied on inaccurate information in its environmental assessment concerning the impacts of grazing on soils in the Fossil Creek watershed. Specifically, the agency made an incorrect assumption that a two-thirds ground-cover objective would be effective across the entire allotment, when in fact it would not. The permit holder, J.P. Morgan-Chase & Co., which maintains interests in the historic Ward Ranch of Rimrock, Ariz., reintroduced about 290 cows in September 2009...Press Release

Can the Cowman and the Panther Coexist?

2012-01-25T09:29:00.000-07:00

Ranchers in south Florida have long been accustomed to losing calves to coyotes, buzzards, even alligators. They may have to steel themselves for another predator: the Florida panther. Until very recently, the endangered cats were no threat to Florida cattle. The panther nearly went extinct in the 1970s, when as few as 20 cats remained in the wild. But since a project in the 1990s introduced eight female panthers from Texas that successfully mated with local cats, there are now as many as 160 adult cats in south Florida, said Dave Onorato, a researcher with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The program also introduced much-needed genetic variation into the inbred population. The first reports of panther depredation (the technical term for cattle loss to panthers) emerged in 2010. Among the first to notice something amiss was Liesa Priddy, a rancher who noticed that more calves than usual were missing at JB Ranch, which she owns and operates in Immokalee, a town in southwest Florida. Before long, ranch workers found a few dead calves with bite marks resembling those of a panther. Similar reports followed at other ranches, but there was little proof to back up these claims. Researchers from the University of Florida began a study in late 2011 to find out what was going on, placing nearly 400 ear tags on calves at two ranches near Immokalee. The tags send out a special radio signal after several hours without movement — a sign that something may be wrong. Caitlin Jacobs, a graduate student, checks on the calves four times a week, seeking out those that radio transmissions suggest are not moving and then recording any fatalities...more

Utah officials grant use of water for nuclear plant

2012-01-25T09:28:00.000-07:00

Critics of a proposed nuclear power plant near Emery County's Green River say the state dodged its only real chance to say no to the deal and instead waffled by granting water rights necessary for its operation. "It is devastating news," said Matt Pacenza, HEAL Utah's policy director, reacting to Utah State Engineer Kent Jones' Friday decision to grant water rights for the Blue Castle project. "This was the only opportunity for a Utah official to weigh in on the wisdom of building nuclear reactors on the Green River, and unfortunately he made the wrong decision." Under state law, applications for water rights must be approved if it can be demonstrated to the state engineer that a number of factors have been met, including if the water is available from the source, existing rights won't be impaired and if the project is financially feasible. Those requirements were met, Jones said, and criticism was weighed during an evaluation process that took more than two years. The water — 53,600 acre-feet per year — is owned by Kane County and San Juan County water conservancy districts, which have proposed leasing the water to Blue Castle Holdings for use at the two-unit nuclear power plant...more

BLM approves Dubois wildcat spot

2012-01-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

The US Bureau of Land Management’s Lander, Wyo., field office said that a finding of no significant impact (FONSI) and decision record have been signed for a proposed oil and gas exploratory well and associated facilities 10 miles north of Dubois, Wyo. Hudson Group LLC proposed to drill the Scott-2 well, in 28-43n-107w, Fremont County, on an existing lease on surface land administered by the US Forest Service’s Shoshone National Forest and mineral estate administered by BLM, the US Department of the Interior agency said on Jan. 24. The USFS has approved Hudson’s surface use operating plan, and the producer’s mitigation measures have been incorporated into Hudson’s application for a drilling permit, BLM noted. The well is in the Wind River basin. link

Everything about this is great, except Wyoming spells DuBois wrong.

Sacramentos suffer from bark beetles

2012-01-25T09:24:00.000-07:00

Bark beetles have "drastically affected" pine trees on approximately 65,000 forested acres around the Sacramento Mountains. Property owners and others around the region were told of the bark beetle outbreak that ramped up last year and were provided with ways to deal with the infestation during an informational meeting Tuesday afternoon. "What's happening is natural but out of proportion," Andrew Graves, a entomologist with the USDA Forest Service's regional Forest Health section, told the audience of nearly 100 people. "We're seeing dead trees. Mostly where we're seeing the dead trees is on the tops of the hillsides and on the south-facing slopes, the really drought prone areas. It makes me think it's really linked into the drought." Entomologists annually fly the state looking for tree mortality. The current conditions around the Sacramento Mountains are without boundaries, involving federal, state, tribal and private areas. Stressed trees have become a favorite for bark beetles. Graves said there are a dozen or so different bark beetles in the area that have attacked Ponderosa pines...more

Domestic terror attack on cattle feeding operation chilling

2012-01-25T09:20:00.000-07:00

The January terrorist attack on 14 trucks and trailers at Harris Feeding Co. near Coalinga, Calif., drew quick and unequivocal condemnation from many fronts. Bill Donald, president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, condemned the alleged attack, saying, “This extremist behavior goes above mere activism and the freedom of speech. These criminals are threatening lives and causing substantial economic harm.” Animal Liberation Front (ALF) did not admit directly to torching the trucks, but said “containers of an accelerant were placed beneath a row of 14 trucks with four digital timers used to light four of the containers and kerosene-soaked rope carrying the fire to the other 10 … We were extremely pleased to see that all 14 trucks ‘were a total loss.’” ALF is listed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a domestic terrorist organization. Several of the FBI’s most wanted domestic terrorists are believed to be affiliated with ALF. The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI and ATF are investigating the Harris terror attack. Harris Ranch’s feedlot holds about 100,000 head of cattle on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. Harris also operates a large farming operation along with a world famous Thoroughbred horse operation. John Harris, one of the most respected agriculturists in the nation, responded to the attack by saying he was “gratified by the support and concern we have received from the public and the outrage this attack has created. We must live in a society that is safe for all, and no one can tolerate violence such as this. ALF and similar terrorist groups pose a real threat, and I am confident that the many law enforcement agencies working on this case will bring them to justice soon.” However, it is interesting to note not one so-called “environmental/consumer watchdog” group condemned the attack. Not a peep out of the likes of the Organic Trade Association or the Center for Food Safety. They are free with propaganda news releases, but say nothing about a radical environmental peer group that commits a violent felony to publicize its anti-society values...more

Terrorist activity has no place in US agriculture

2012-01-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

One reward of ranch life in rural Montana is that after a hard-days' work, I get to fall asleep listening to the bawl of mama cows near the house. I imagine farmers and ranchers across the nation can relate to that calming sound. While there are many sounds that come from farms and ranches, one thing we don't expect to hear is the sound of our farm equipment exploding outside our windows. Unfortunately, for the men and women who make their home at or near the Harris Ranch feedyard in Fresno County, Calif., that is no longer a foreign sound. Early in the morning of Jan. 8, 2012, they were awakened to the sound of 14 cattle trucks exploding and burning near the feed yard. I thank God that no person and no animals were injured in this senseless act. But make no mistake - this was a horrific act of terrorism against a fellow agricultural producer. Whoever is responsible - be it an individual or a group of people - they must be brought to justice and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Opening Christmas presents or celebrating birthdays is often put on hold until after our animals are fed, watered and cared for - that's a fact for my family and for many others as well. That is why I was extremely alarmed to learn that animal rights extremists are taking credit for the Harris Ranch attack. How can anyone who claims to care about the health and safety of animals commit such an act that could very easily have harmed or killed many animals?...more

To keep ‘em coming, dude ranches add mainstream amenities to Old West-style fun

2012-01-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

Cowboys. Horses. Guns. Booze. And tennis? When it comes to dude ranches, hosts are adopting John Wayne’s, “A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do,” and are offering options unheard of just a few years ago in order to attract guests. Dude ranches still have horses and wranglers, and an aura of the Old West. But today, many also offer extras like conference centers, spas, zip lines, paintball, ATV rides, naturalists, kids’ clubs and rock walls. “Fifteen years ago you probably wouldn’t have found a swimming pool at a dude ranch, or very seldom. Now they all have swimming pools,” said Colleen Hodson, executive director of the Dude Ranchers’ Association, based in Cody, Wyo. “At least half — probably more like three-quarters — are adding new activities and amenities every year.” Dude ranches date back to the late 1800s, according to the association, which was established in 1926 at a meeting that included ranchers, railroad officials and National Park representatives. Today, the association represents about 100 ranches west of the Mississippi in the United States and Canada. There are also unaffiliated ranches, as well as some in the East. Originally, dude ranch stays were intended to immerse guests in a ranch experience, and would require at least a weeklong stay...more

Song Of The Day #757

2012-01-25T06:51:00.000-07:00

Secretary Salazar has withdrawn right at a million acres from uranium mining. So we'll have a little rockabilly this morning on Ranch Radio. Warren Smith wouldn't be happy with the Secretary as he hunts for that Uranium Rock.

Lawmakers aim to wrest control of Colorado's public lands from federal goverment

2012-01-24T09:09:00.000-07:00

A Northern Colorado lawmaker has a message for the federal government: Get your hands off our Fourteeners. Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, said Monday he plans to sponsor a bill that will require the state to wrest control of most of Colorado’s Fourteeners and more than 23 million acres of federal public land across the state, including most of Roosevelt National Forest west of Fort Collins and most of Colorado’s BLM and U.S. Forest Service land. The state would either sell the land off to private individuals or manage it itself. He said he envisions the bill excluding all national parks and monuments, including those on BLM land. “When is enough enough for the amount of land that the state owns or the federal government owns?” he said, adding that the federal government hasn’t been taking care of the land. “Quite frankly, they allow noxious weeds, they don’t manage the land the way they need to be managing it,” he said, citing restrictions on timber harvesting in national forests. Sonnenberg, who said he is working on the bill with Sen. Scott Renfroe, R-Greeley, and Sen. Mark Scheffel, R-Parker, is following the lead of Republican Utah state Rep. Ken Ivory, who is proposing legislation in that state to use a provision in Utah’s enabling act to attempt to force the federal government to cede control of millions acres of federal land there, excluding national parks. Utah’s enabling act designates the federal government as a “trustee” of federal land in Utah. Ivory proposes for the state to reclaim public land from its Washington, D.C., caretakers, giving the government a December 31, 2014 deadline to hand over public land to the state, the Logan, Utah, Herald Journal reported Jan. 14...more

Alaska lawmakers, protesting federal encroachment, propose takeover of Central Park

2012-01-24T09:08:00.000-07:00

Some Alaska lawmakers, hoping to make a point about federal encroachment on state rights, are urging the federal government take over Central Park and designate it as a wilderness area. Rep. Kyle Johansen, the lead sponsor of HJR31, says such a takeover would never happen. But he wanted an extreme example to make a point about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and its being off limits to development. State leaders, including a Democratic member of Alaska's congressional delegation, have pushed for opening ANWR's coastal plain to oil and gas development. Legislation is currently pending in Congress to open ANWR to drilling as a way to spur domestic energy production. According to the resolution, the plain takes up about 8 percent of ANWR and Central Park about 6 percent of Manhattan. AP

Federal lawsuit targeting Forest Service alleges bias against Hispanic ranchers

2012-01-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

A group of ranchers and one county said Monday that they are suing the U.S. Forest Service over its decision to limit grazing on historic land grant areas in northern New Mexico. The group of Hispanic ranchers and Rio Arriba County officials contend the agency is trying to push them from land that has been ranched by their families for centuries. They say at stake is a piece of Hispanic culture and the economic viability of several northern New Mexico communities that depend on access to surrounding lands for everything from grazing to fire wood. "Without the ability to access and utilize natural resources, our communities are drying up. We're not economically sustainable. We're losing our customs and our culture," said David Sanchez of the Northern New Mexico Stockman's Association. The lawsuit centers on a 2010 decision by El Rito District Ranger Diana Trujillo to cut grazing by nearly one-fifth on the Jarita Mesa and Alamosa grazing allotments, which are part of an area recognized by the federal government for special treatment aimed at benefiting land grant heirs...more

EPA hunting bullfrogs with shotgun in Sackett case

2012-01-24T09:05:00.000-07:00

The EPA has 17,000 full time employees and approximately an $8.4 billion budget. It also has a fondness for hunting bullfrogs with a shotgun. Case in point: Mike and Chantell Sackett began building on "waterfront" property at Priest Lake, Idaho, in 2007. Their lot was less than a single acre (.63), bordered by other residential properties, and 500 feet from the water. As they were laying gravel and grading the property, EPA officials arrived, claimed they were acting on an anonymous tip, and declared the location a “wetland without a federal permit.” Essentially, EPA issued a compliance order directing the Sacketts to restore the site to its previous condition. The order demanded they “remove all fill, replace any lost vegetation, and monitor the fenced-off site for three years,” or else face “great cost” and a “threat of civil fines of tens of thousands of dollars per day, as well as possible criminal penalties.” The fines in the Sackett case ranged up to $37,500 per day. For average Americans, EPA compliance orders carry the weight of law because options are, well, extremely limited. The lucky recipients of a compliance order basically have two choices: (1) They can obey the EPA and comply. In the Sackett case, the cost of cleanup and restoration would have exceeded the $23,000 they had originally paid for the property. (2) The other choice is to force the EPA’s hand and wait for a suit. This option comes with a kicker for the property owner — the daily EPA fine meter ticks on until the court date comes. If the landowners choose door No. 2, the EPA can bleed them dry: little bit of paperwork, little dab of lawyering, little incident of lost files, little spot of miscommunication — and bang, presto, the court date finally arrives after a mountain of fines have stacked up. Lovely. (The Sacketts currently owe the EPA close to $40 million.)...more

Oil rig arrives off Havana; drilling 70 miles from Keys

2012-01-24T09:04:00.001-07:00

An offshore oil drilling operation has begun less than 90 miles from the coast of Key West. The Scarabeo 9 giant, semi-submersible rig finished its months-long trek from China and is now visible from the shores of Havana, Cuba, according to Jorge Piñon, visiting research fellow at the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University. It arrived in the Florida Straits late last week. Safety inspectors with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Interior gave the $750 million platform a passing grade earlier this month in Trinidad and Tobago. It set sail for Cuba for the final leg of its journey on Jan. 11. Drilling is expected to get under way immediately by Spanish energy company Repsol. The exploration operation will occur about 70 miles from the Keys, Piñon said. Repsol is paying Eni S.p.A., the Italian company that owns the rig, $511,000 every day its workers are aboard the vessel. Repsol is the first of several international companies that will use the Scarabeo 9 to look for oil in the Florida Straits, where the U.S. Geological Survey estimates about five billion barrels of oil sit under the ocean floor. The Cuban government thinks the amount is much higher — around 20 billion barrels...more

What Will Evolve From America's Summit on National Parks?

2012-01-24T09:01:00.000-07:00

A two-day conference designed to explore the future of national parks in America draws a wide range of speakers. There's the obvious -- National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis -- and the not-quite-so-obvious -- Alan Latourelle, the chief executive officer of Parks Canada. By the time America's Summit on National Parks winds down Thursday afternoon, the roughly 350 attendees will also have heard from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar; former NPS Directors Fran Mainella, Mary Bomar, and Robert Stanton; Carlos Alcazar, the president and CEO of the Hispanic Communications Network; Angelou Ezello, executive director of the Greening Youth Foundation; Sally Jewell, the president and CEO of REI; John Podesta, the chair and counselor of the Center for American Progress; and Milton Chen, senior fellow and executive director emeritus of the George Lucas Educational Foundation. Many others will lend their voices to the mix in a variety of ways, from experts on branding the parks in the eyes of prospective toursists, and interactive gaming experts, to even high school students. Not only educational, the speakers could be provocative in some eyes as well. Should gaming experts be seen as consultants to the National Park Service? What can Parks Canada's CEO, who is grappling with issues similar to those in the U.S. -- stagnant if not declining visitation, budget woes -- offer his cross-border colleagues? Why is someone from The Walt Disney Co. on the agenda? But, with the National Park Service turning 100 just four years from now, a little provocative conversation could be a very good thing...more

Supreme Court rules warrant needed for GPS tracking

2012-01-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

In a major decision on privacy in the digital age, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that police need a warrant before attaching a GPS device to a person's car. The ruling, which marked the justices' first-ever review of GPS tracking, was unanimous. The justices divided, however, on how the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures applies to such high-tech tracking. The case, which during November oral arguments prompted justices' references to George Orwell's futuristic novel 1984, ensures that police cannot use the Global Positioning System to continuously track a suspect before presenting sufficient grounds and obtaining a warrant from a judge. Monday's decision specifically applies when police install a GPS tracking device on a person's car, but five justices suggested in concurring statements that a warrant might similarly be needed for prolonged surveillance through smartphones or other devices with GPS capabilities...more

BLM seeks help mediating OHV flap at Johns Peak

2012-01-24T08:57:00.000-07:00

After decades of wrangling with controversy over off-highway-vehicle use on Timber Mountain/Johns Peak, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has brought in outside help. Since 1995, the agency's Medford District has been developing a management plan for the area but has been stymied by the seemingly opposing concerns of OHV enthusiasts, horse riders, hikers, environmentalists and private property owners. The BLM recently retained the Institute for Conflict Management Inc. through Portland State University's Oregon Consensus Program to smooth the way for conflict resolution. John Gerritsma, BLM field manager for the Ashland Resource Area and the one who initiated the conflict-resolution effort, believes there is enough common ground to plant the seeds of collaboration...more

Collaboration, collaboration, collaboration...

Group sues over herbicide use on federal land

2012-01-24T08:55:00.000-07:00

An environmental group claims the federal government should have reduced grazing instead of relying solely on herbicides to battle invasive weeds in an Oregon national forest. The group has asked a federal judge to block a herbicide spraying project on more than 20,000 acres of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, which was finalized by the U.S. Forest Service in 2010. The League of Wilderness Defenders-Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project challenged the project in federal court, claiming it unlawfully failed to analyze the impact of increased herbicide use on fish. The Forest Service counters that the group is overly restrictive in its understanding of regulations aimed at protecting aquatic species. Under the environmental group's interpretation of the rules, the agency would be unable to take on any restoration project with even the slightest effect on fish, said Jason Hill, an attorney for the agency. "Plaintiffs are trying to argue that you should have absolutely zero impact," he said. "It would basically bar the agency from doing anything. You could never get to the point of zero impact." During oral arguments on Jan. 23, the environmentalists requested that U.S. District Judge Michael Simon halt the herbicide project and order the agency to reconsider the plan. The agency should have evaluated ways to deter the spread of invasive weeds, such as excluding livestock from parts of the national forest, said Tom Buchele, an attorney for the group...more

Song Of The Day #756

2012-01-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

Ranch Radio brings you Benny Martin's recording of Me And My Fiddle.

The tune is on his Benny Martin's Greatest Sounds.

Home, Home … on Less Range

2012-01-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

Estimates of how much California rangeland (yellow) could be lost to climate change by 2100. Among the other landscapes illustrated are conifer forests (green), desert shrub (light brown), woody shrub growth (pink), oak woodlands (purple) and hardwood forests (blue).

To see how thoroughly the concept of ecosystem services — the economic analysis of the natural world’s intersection with human endeavors — is embedded in climate change research, check out this forecast from a group led by researchers at Duke University and the Environmental Defense Fund. It examines the future of cattle ranching, an industry that is bound up with America’s self-image, thanks to Hollywood, pulp novels and Cormac McCarthy, through the lens of a climate-changed California landscape. It concludes that, whether the state’s climate becomes warmer and wetter or warmer and drier, it will be more expensive to raise cattle because there will be less forage to sustain the animals. Significant amounts of forage — nature’s free “service” to the cattlemen — will either be dessicated (under the warmer and drier projection) as the arid conditions in southeastern California inch northward or will be replaced by less-digestible scrub and brush (under the warmer and wetter projection), the study projects. The loss will cost California ranchers tens of millions of dollars annually if it is warmer and wetter over the next 60 years or so, and $123 million to $209 million a year if it is warmer and drier, the article suggests. In coming decades, “there will be fewer places to graze cattle and cattle grazing lands will be less productive,” said Linwood Pendleton, one of the study’s lead authors, an ecosystems services specialist at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment. “And because we’ve built up cities and highways around them, there’s nowhere to move to.”...more

Biodiversity Crisis Is Worse Than Climate Change, Experts Say

2012-01-23T08:44:00.000-07:00

Biodiversity is declining rapidly throughout the world. The challenges of conserving the world's species are perhaps even larger than mitigating the negative effects of global climate change. Dealing with the biodiversity crisis requires political will and needs to be based on a solid scientific knowledge if we are to ensure a safe future for the planet. This is the main conclusion from scientists from University of Copenhagen, after 100 researchers and policy experts from EU countries were gathered this week at the University of Copenhagen to discuss how to organise the future UN Intergovernmental Panel for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, IPBES -- an equivalent to the UN panel on climate change (IPCC). Species extinction and the degradation of ecosystems are proceeding rapidly and the pace is accelerating. The world is losing species at a rate that is 100 to 1000 times faster than the natural extinction rate. Mass extinctions of species have occurred five times previously in the history of the world -- last time was 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs and many other species disappeared. Previous periods of mass extinction and ecosystem change were driven by global changes in climate and in atmospheric chemistry, impacts by asteroids and volcanism. Now we are in the 6th mass extinction event, which is a result of a competition for resources between one species on the planet -- humans -- and all others. The process towards extinction is mainly caused by habitat degradation, whose effect on biodiversity is worsened by the ongoing human-induced climate change. "The biodiversity crisis -- i.e. the rapid loss of species and the rapid degradation of ecosystems -- is probably a greater threat than global climate change to the stability and prosperous future of humankind on Earth. There is a need for scientists, politicians and government authorities to closely collaborate if we are to solve this crisis. This makes the need to establish IPBES very urgent, which may happen at a UN meeting in Panama City in April," says professor Carsten Rahbek, Director for the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, University of Copenhagen...more

Global warming alone wasn't getting the job done, so...

Obama to drop nomination for wildlife-and-parks post

2012-01-23T08:34:00.000-07:00

President Obama will abandon the nomination of Rebecca Wodder as assistant secretary for the Interior Department's park and wildlife programs, ending a tumultuous six-month battle with Senate lawmakers. Wodder, who was nominated last June to replace Tom Strickland as the assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, was asked to remain with Interior as a senior adviser to Secretary Ken Salazar to oversee conservation issues and the president's Great Outdoors initiative. Rachel Jacobson will continue to serve as acting assistant secretary until the president picks a new nominee, Interior said. Confirmation will be more difficult in an election year. "As a result of the prolonged nomination process, Rebecca Wodder has asked the president that she not be re-nominated," Interior spokesman Adam Fetcher said. The decision comes weeks after the Senate returned the Wodder nomination to the White House (E&E Daily, Dec. 19, 2011). Wodder, who served as CEO of the conservation group American Rivers, was strongly opposed by several Republicans and at least one Democrat over her past statements on hydraulic fracturing, mountaintop-removal coal mining, Clean Water Act regulations and the removal of dams in the Pacific Northwest. Her nomination passed the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on a party-line vote last month, but it was unable to gain unanimous Democratic support in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which shares jurisdiction over her post...more

All Sides Suspicious of OSM/BLM Consolidation Plan

2012-01-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

The U.S. Department of the Interior has proposed consolidating the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Many have expressed surprise and suspicion about the plan. The BLM is much larger, concentrated in the West and leases public land for mining, grazing and drilling. The smaller OSM regulates surface coal mines and has more offices in the East. Aimee Erickson is the executive director of the national coalfield community group, Citizens Coal Council. She says she is afraid the already weak and smaller agency could see its mission watered down to nothing. "If the OSM's ability to enforce and do oversight is diminished, we can't afford that in the coal fields." One argument for consolidation is that OSM is much better at reclaiming abandoned mine lands, using funds from a per-ton fee on coal. Jason Bostic, vice president of the West Virginia Coal Association, says his constituents do not want to see the reclamation fund used to clean up BLM's backlog of abandoned non-coal mines...more

Picking ranchers' brains, from Colorado to Mongolia

2012-01-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

As a college student in the mid-1980s, Maria Fernandez-Gimenez worked as a seasonal interpreter for the National Park Service. That’s when she was first exposed to the great Western debate over public-lands ranching. She soon became familiar with environmentalists’ gripes about grazing impacts, but realized she knew nothing about the ranchers’ point of view. So she went to work on a distant cousin’s ranch in northwestern Colorado, where she spent the summer sleeping in a hayloft. She went on to study the traditional ecological knowledge of Western ranchers –– the information and experiences that guide how individual livestock growers and communities work the land and manage local resources. Most of the researchers in her field focus on indigenous cultures; Fernandez-Gimenez was one of the first to concentrate on ranchers in the West, whose ecological knowledge and practices risk being lost as rangelands are transformed by development and environmental change. In addition to working in rural towns and Native American communities around the West, she’s studied nomadic pastoralists in Mongolia and, most recently, Spanish sheepherders in the Aragonese Pyrenees. Now a Colorado State University professor, Fernandez-Gimenez recently shared her unique perspective on ranchers’ global habits with High Country News...more

Rancher blogs of home on the range

2012-01-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

Debbie Lyons-Blythe describes the genesis of her blog as a “BOOM” moment. She had been considering ways to tell people about what she does as a Flint Hills rancher. The White City rancher and mother of five was talking with a relative at a family function, and the talk turned to hormones in milk and antibiotics in beef. Lyons-Blythe explained to a concerned relative that no milk is hormone-free and all beef is tested to make sure that there is no antibiotic residue in it. “If she was just one generation away from the farm and has all of these questions and concerns, then how can I expect everybody else to understand it?” Lyons-Blythe asked. “That was my epiphany moment.”Seeing it as her duty, she started her blog “Life on a Kansas Cattle Ranch,” http://kansascattleranch.blogspot.com...more

This lady is certainly active, and consider this idea:

She is now involved in an adopt-a-rancher program with two second-grade classrooms, one in Kansas and one out of state. The students write her letters, and she responds with emails that include math problems and other tasks that they are learning. “I can do most all of the topics that teachers are teaching and help reinforce that, plus give them a little bit of insight into what I do out here. And they love it,” Lyons-Blythe said. “I Skyped one classroom, and that was so much fun. The kids were crazy, excited and had lots of good questions. In everything I do, I’m looking for a way to tell people about what I do.”

Arizona's ranchers are the genuine article

2012-01-23T08:27:00.000-07:00

The honesty and integrity that define ranchers is illustrated clearly by Cochise County rancher Frank Krentz in the photograph hanging at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. His look is simple, yet definitive: white Western hat with a pressed Wrangler shirt and working blue jeans. His gaze conveys a sense of purpose, a sense of knowing what it means to understand the land and how to understand and treat animals. Actually, if you look closely at any of the 100 photographs of Arizona ranchers on display at the airport, you'll find those same admirable traits. And they're all genuine. They're real Arizonans whose families have been ranching in the state since at least statehood and are part of an exhibition called "100 Years 100 Ranchers." The expressions, settings and characters are endearing...more

The Murder of Gila County’s First Sheriff

2012-01-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

In 1885, ranchers in Texas were going broke because the bottom dropped out of the market for sheep, wool and cattle. Among those selling out was cattleman Jesse Ellison. He brought his remaining herd to Arizona in hopes of starting over, and with him was fellow rancher Glenn Reynolds, who had thrown his small herd of cattle in with the Ellisons’. Reynolds returned to Texas the next year for a second herd on behalf of his brothers. Upon reaching Holbrook, he was joined by his wife of 10 years, “Gustie,” and their four children, two sons and two daughters. The Ellison and Reynolds families established their ranching claims in the Rim Country. Just as the Reynolds family was settling down, the Pleasant Valley War broke out, and no one felt safe as sheep and cattle ranchers ambushed one another. Glenn Reynolds determined to take his family to a more secure location, and moved to Globe.[1] In 1889, Gila County was expanded by the 15th Territorial Legislature to include the northern areas that had been Yavapai County. At this reorganization of the county, Glenn Reynolds ran for sheriff, and with the help of Rim Country ranchers like Jesse Ellison, he won. In his favor was the fact that he had held the office of sheriff for one year in Throckmorton County, Texas. He had been in office only a few months when the 35-year-old family man was murdered while transporting a group of Apaches by stagecoach to the territorial prison in Yuma...more

Song Of The Day #755

2012-01-23T07:38:00.000-07:00

It's Swingin' Monday on Ranch Radio and here is Aaron Watson performing Something With A Swing To It.

The tune is available on his 14 track Shutupanddance on Sonnet records.

Cowgirl Sass & Savvy

2012-01-22T09:17:00.001-07:00

Tales of a horse sale

by Julie Carter

Horse sale stories beget more stories. Over the centuries, the time –honored tradition of “horse trading” has changed only in the price tag.

One cowboy summed up the industry. “Last year I bought a horse at the Spring Horse Sale for $900 and sold it at a December sale for $500 and never looked back. I finally got a set of shoes on him before the sale. It took two of us and a lot of drugs. We even gave the horse some. The outlaw never learned to neck rein but I did get the buck out of him long enough to sell him. He sure was purty though!”

I personally bought one of those really “purty” ones that was represented as a “little cinchy once in a while.” It wasn’t long before I realized I owned a horse that needed a shot of drugs before you could saddle him up. He only flipped upside down when you pulled the cinch too tight or too fast and sometimes he waited until you were sitting the saddle.

Another was the nearsighted barrel racing horse. He could and would turn like a rat in a barrel but the problem was he would do it about ten feet in front of the barrel. Now that’s a scary ride.

Then there was the big, very pretty palomino that was the answer to a dream. It had rained a foot in the Panhandle, something that rarely happens. So when the cowgirl went to look at the horse, he was standing knee deep in mud.

She fell in love with him at first sight, wrote the check and trudged him through the mud to the trailer to take him home. On dry ground she could see he was about as pigeon-toed as he could be and still walk.

Tales of a horse sale

Since it didn’t rain again for a long time, it took her awhile to find him a new home. It was the first time a horse had been bought from a trader and it would take another trader to get rid of him.

The most honest reply I got when asking folks about the horse they should not have bought was, “Really, almost every horse I ever bought I shouldn’t have.”

The horse market seems to bear both ends of the dollar spectrum and has buyers that fit the bill for both.

One time a regular cow-trailing, colt-riding Panhandle cowboy got mixed up with a bunch of big-bucks horse people and ended up on a plane to Dallas to a big dispersal sale for a name-brand horse breeder.

A limo met the plane and hauled the prospective buyers to the sale where the cowboy toured the barn of sale horses with the troop.

He spotted a truly outstanding 2-year-old bay stallion and he decided that colt would be a perfect fit for him. He tells his wife, “This one would make a nice gelding. I'm gonna make somebody pay for that horse. I'll get him for $1,500 or let him go and we'll get him started this summer."

The sale started, everybody moved into the barn, took seats and held up their buyer number cards. The cowboy was on high alert for the bay colt and was not going to be outbid. He already was making plans to fly home to get his rig to come back and pick up the colt.

The bidding started at $10,000 and the first bid out was $15,000. He may not have been outclassed but he sure was outbid.

Julie can be reached for comment at jcarternm@gmail.com

Cow Country and Energy

2012-01-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

Oh, Canada

Cow Country and Energy

Smokin’ Joe and his brother, Smokin’ Joe

By Stephen L. Wilmeth

If we were wealthy, we would stay home in New Mexico through the fall works and shipping time until early winter, live in the cow country of the California Central Coast from then until the grass turns golden, and then head north to Alberta for the summer. For those who know what I mean …you might agree.

Cow Country is Cow Country

The early morning flights I took out of San Francisco were filled with awe. They didn’t have anything to do with the city itself, nor would they have been viewed similarly by another traveler, but I was always breathless looking across the Bay.

The feeling was always the same, especially if it was spring. Looking out through that soft air to the Oakland Hills conjured up what it must have been when ‘a thousand cows and more’ dotted that expanse. God created nothing more beautiful than California in the spring.

The feeling reoccurred when we saw Canada. The first trips were into British Columbia to visit David Lane at Summerland. He ran the great apple program at Agriculture Canada. How beautiful that grass was!

We thought we had seen the best until we saw Alberta. It started at the Calgary airport with a greeter welcoming visitors to the Stampede. He was standing on some hay roping an occasional traveler as he or she exited the concourse. He and I made eye contact and I directed his attention to a fellow who surely didn’t live around cows.

The cowboy threw the most beautiful little hoolihan and caught that fellow in mid stride. To our surprise, the guy freaked out flipping around like he was trying to get away from a grizzly bear. He was terrified! He left there pointing and jabbering. We could only imagine what he was saying!

We were still laughing when we stepped out into the sun only to stop in our tracks. There it was … Alberta summer grass.

The Stampede

Perhaps the most patriotic ‘American’ event we ever witnessed took place over the next two days. It even culminated in a spectacular Fourth of July celebration!

We felt at home. Big American (North American!) diesel pickups, gooseneck trailers, cow people, cowboys, good horses, and in every direction from the city was that grass. We felt it in Airdrie, Cochrane, Turner Valley and up to Banff.

We didn’t feel like foreigners at all. We were all grass people … of the West.

Smokin’ Joe emerges

The first time we saw Joe Lucas rope in person was that performance at Calgary. He was riding that little bay horse that surely had more heart than he was big. All cool and collected he backed quietly into the box. He carried Smokin’ Joe to one of his two Stampede victories. They shared that victory.

We saw all the stuff that is purely Alberta. The Mountie horse team with those maple leaves somehow teased onto their horses’ hips, free style bronc riding, the chuck wagon races, the Heritage Museum at Cochrane, the beauty of Banff, and the allure of Lake Louise.

It was at the latter that one of my favorite rooms in the entire world was found. There is no better place anywhere to drink Glenlivet than looking out over the lake at the lounge at Lake Louise.

Smokin’ Joe II emerges

Few people are aware that very important discussions have begun in Canada. The public hearings are pursuing the likelihood of pumping the Alberta tar sand to the British Columbia coast at Kitima for export to the Pacific Rim.

The Obama decision to render the Keystone Pipeline an environmental victory has not set well with the Canadian government. We have been led to believe Canadians are content to sit there and let the President flaunt his ideology unchallenged. We need to think again.

There is a new generation of politicos in Ottawa, and they are displaying spine that their American neighbors only wish they had. In an open letter to the public, Canadian Natural Resources Minister, Joe Oliver, has served notice this game is now managed for Canada’s best interests.

While we assume we must endure the continuing Obama juggernaut, the Canucks are amazed the American citizenry has allowed the environmental movement to seize control of the Keystone process. There is also an annoyance that a polarized, emasculated American Congress has allowed it to happen.

“Canada will not allow environmental and other radical groups to hijack our regulatory system to achieve their radical ideological agenda,” Minister Oliver has written.

Finally, and thankfully … a new Smokin’ Joe has arrived!

A welcome war

Never before has a Canadian challenged the lock on the environment wielded by Big Green in the manner of Jack Oliver. He and his counterparts appear to have no intention of being patient with Obama in the Keystone process.

It appears the heretofore taboo suggestion of naming names has also been thrown out. The first barrage takes aim at funded radical efforts from the States. Pushed by the press to name what foreign money is flowing into Canada to fight the pipeline, Minister Oliver provided two names … The Tides Organization and the Hewlett Packard Foundation.

He also divulged a partial list of the “jet set” Hollywood crowd who is pushing the issue. Among his list were Robert Redford, James Cameron, Daryl Hannah, and Leonardo DiCaprio “all whom have lent their personas to various movements aimed at shutting down portions of the Canadian economy”.

Big Green is not used to being called out. They have enjoyed mutual exclusivity in the past by having their efforts always couched in sacred environmentalism while being exempt from any suggestion of economy wreckage. It makes them nervous.

Minister Oliver is dealing with one of the tactics of the foreign funded attacks. Big Green has demanded podium space at the hearings for 4000 speakers which adds up to 200 testimony days. How is the Canadian government going to handle it?

“This is a federal jurisdiction and so we can either through regulation or legislation deal with these issues,” Oliver continued. “There are some $500 billion of projects in the works. We can’t take them for granted.”

Other fronts

Meanwhile, the green vision of Valhalla is showing signs of cracks on all horizons. The Japanese company JOGMEC has discovered a deposit of frozen methane hydrate that could provide the entirety of Japan energy requirements for … 300 years.

This product joins the cavalcade of shale and tar oils along with emerging technologies of existing fuels that continues to shatter the expectation that skyrocketing oil prices will push the world toward renewable energy.

Methane hydrate has traditionally been a nuisance in oil drilling, but new technologies are changing that. The Norwegian oil company, STATOIL, has announced that the product must be reclassified as a fuel. They believe its time has come as a source of natural gas. The frozen product occurs in huge deep water deposits around the world.

STATOIL has also offered an estimate of the abundance of the product. It potentially contains more energy than the world’s reserves of coal, oil, and gas … combined!

The facade

Who believes that Big Green will support Renewables even if they were viable? Any person who has witnessed the big scale wind farms invariably walks away with a different attitude.

Who thinks for a moment that when the technology advances to the point that somebody is making profits that the frenzy for Renewables will remain gushy? When the open land of the West is invaded by heavy equipment and the land is stripped of fauna and flora for mirrors and more windmills, will Big Green have their cheerleaders out on the sidelines cheering?

To make Renewables work, profits that equal or exceed oil will have to be achieved. If that happens, the fight over sensitive habitat will take a new direction. Endangered species are already poised to cover every square mile of federal land. Just wait for the bull dozers to arrive!

The Truth

I prefer grass covered hills dotted with cattle alongside a robust harvest of subterranean fuel … real fuel that spews forth real BTUs. Is my view archaic?

Standing there in the San Francisco Airport visualizing what those hills must have been like when Henry Miller first saw them lies at the core of my argument. I have nothing against the Americans who live and exist in those expanding neighborhoods, but I’ll suggest something. Which is truly more environmentally friendly . . . those hills covered with a thousand and more cows …or all that humanity?

Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher. “I read an account of a Texan. He had ridden out into a California spring and didn’t return on time. When he arrived, he was asked about his tardiness. It was the grass he said. He had to ride to yet one more valley to see if it was all real.”

Environmentalism and the Leisure Class

2012-01-22T09:14:00.000-07:00

This week President Obama handed down what may prove to be one of the most fateful decisions of his entire administration when he rejected the plan to build the Keystone XL Pipeline carrying oil from the tar sands of Canada to the refineries of Houston. The decision did not win him one new vote but was crucial in protecting his environmental flank. The movie stars and Sierra Club contributors were getting restless and had drawn the line in the sand. In turning down Keystone, however, the President has uncovered an ugly little secret that has always lurked beneath the surface of environmentalism. Its basic appeal is to the affluent. Despite all the professions of being "liberal" and "against big business," environmentalism's main appeal is that it promises to slow the progress of industrial progress. People who are already comfortable with the present state of affairs -- who are established in the environment, so to speak -- are happy to go along with this. It is not that they have any greater insight into the mysteries and workings of nature. They are happier with the way things are. In fact, environmentalism works to their advantage. The main danger to the affluent is not that they will be denied from improving their estate but that too many other people will achieve what they already have. As the Forest Service used to say, the person who built his mountain cabin last year is an environmentalist. The person who wants to build one this year is a developer. Environmentalism has spent three decades trying to hide this simple truth. How can environmentalists be motivated by self-interest when they are anti-business? Doesn't that align them with the working classes? Well, not quite. You can be anti-business as a union member trying to claim higher wages but you can also be anti-business as a member of the aristocracy who believes "trade" and "commercialism" are crass and not attuned to the higher things in life. Environmentalism is born from the latter, not the former. It has spent decades trying to pretend it has common cause with the working people. With the defeat of the Keystone Pipeline, this is no longer possible. Too many blue-collar and middle-class jobs have been sacrificed on the altar of carbon emissions and global warming...more

The Secret Document That Transformed China

2012-01-22T09:01:00.001-07:00

In 1978, the farmers in a small Chinese village called Xiaogang gathered in a mud hut to sign a secret contract. They thought it might get them executed. Instead, it wound up transforming China's economy in ways that are still reverberating today. The contract was so risky — and such a big deal — because it was created at the height of communism in China. Everyone worked on the village's collective farm; there was no personal property. "Back then, even one straw belonged to the group," says Yen Jingchang, who was a farmer in Xiaogang in 1978. "No one owned anything." At one meeting with communist party officials, a farmer asked: "What about the teeth in my head? Do I own those?" Answer: No. Your teeth belong to the collective. So, in the winter of 1978, after another terrible harvest, they came up with an idea: Rather than farm as a collective, each family would get to farm its own plot of land. If a family grew a lot of food, that family could keep some of the harvest. This is an old idea, of course. But in communist China of 1978, it was so dangerous that the farmers had to gather in secret to discuss it...more

A lesson learned 350 years earlier by our own Pilgrim Colony:

One of the more familiar incidents in American history, at least within conservative circles, is the disastrous experiment with a common storehouse in the Pilgrim colony in 1621-23. Governor Bradford describes in some detail in his history of the colony how young men refused to work in the common fields in order to lay up produce for a common storehouse, only to see all goods divided equally among families. Upon petition of the planters, the Governor and his council decided to follow their advice: assign families their personal plots of farm land (according to family size) and abolish the common storehouse. Immediately, men and women returned to the harvest fields. What is less known about this incident is how the little colony ever made such a disastrous decision in the first place. The fact of the matter is that the colonists had never wanted to inaugurate a system of totally common property. The group of British "adventurers" that had supplied the Pilgrim exiles in Holland with traveling money and capital had insisted that the colony be made a part of the joint-stock company. The assets of the colony therefore were the assets of the company, headquartered in Britain, and the agricultural products were to be shared equally among company members, both colonial and British. Governor Bradford was the chief agent of the company in New England; hence, he was compelled to impose the common storehouse system...

An Inconsistent Truth Official Movie Trailer

2012-01-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

The official movie trailer for An Inconsistent Truth. The movie they don't want you to see. Visit http://AnInconsistentTruth.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=z0mxL-BekLE

Song Of The Day #755

2012-01-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

Ranch Radio's Gospel tune this Sunday morning is Rise Up Lazarus by Patty Loveless.

The tune is on her 14 track CD Mountain Soul.

Cartoons and Humor

2012-01-22T08:56:00.001-07:00

“I came up with a great slogan for Romney. “It’s time to Mitt or get off the pot.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“Fidel Castro declared that a robot would do a better job as president than Barack Obama. After hearing this, Mitt Romney thanked Castro for his endorsement.” – Conan O’Brien

“In Saturday night’s Republican debate, Jon Huntsman spoke Chinese. Why Chinese? If you want to reach the American people, you’ve got to speak Spanish.” – Jay Leno

The Westerner's Radio Theater #018

2012-01-21T07:30:00.001-07:00

Here's Gene Autry's Melody Ranch with a story about Aunt Martha.

Labor union quits alliance with greens over Keystone pipeline

2012-01-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

The Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) left the BlueGreen Alliance on Friday, citing a disagreement with the group’s members over the Keystone XL pipeline. LIUNA, a vocal Keystone supporter, took aim at other unions for opposing the project. “We’re repulsed by some of our supposed brothers and sisters lining up with job killers like the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council to destroy the lives of working men and women,” LIUNA General President Terry O’Sullivan said in a statement. The BlueGreen Alliance, a coalition of environmental groups and labor unions, confirmed LIUNA’s exit Friday afternoon...more

TransCanada considers new plans: Keystone pipeline may be built in stages in U.S. first

2012-01-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

TransCanada Corp. is considering building U.S. portions of its Keystone XL pipeline and later seeking approval of an Alberta link to circumvent the Obama administration's rejection of the $7-billion project. There is no requirement for a presidential permit to lay pipe anywhere in the United States, provided the line doesn't extend across the border into Canada. On the table is a segment between the oversupplied oil storage hub of Cushing, Okla., and Gulf Coast refining centres in Texas, as well as a longer line from Montana to the Gulf Coast, executives said Thursday. "I think that clearly, with yesterday's decision, we are now open to amending or changing our plans to building this in segments," TransCanada chief executive Russ Girling told an investor conference in Whistler, B.C. "As we've said before, that's dependent on the interest of our shippers in doing that." Building an Oklahoma-to-Texas section alone would cost TransCanada $2 billion, said Girling, who told investors the company has already spent $1.9 billion on the Keystone XL project...more

Judge dismisses suit challenging Texas' concealed carry law

2012-01-21T07:23:00.000-07:00

A federal judge in Lubbock on Thursday threw out the National Rifle Association's move to overturn a Texas law prohibiting 18- to 20-year-olds from carrying concealed handguns. In dismissing the case that had drawn national interest, U.S. District Judge Sam Cummings ruled that "Texas has identified a legitimate state interest — public safety — and passed legislation that is rationally related to addressing that issue." Under current law, Texans must be 21 or older to get a concealed-handgun permit. Members or veterans of the armed forces who are younger than 21 can also be licensed. The ruling was seen as a win for the state, gun control advocates and university groups — including two student-government groups at the University of Texas at Austin — who had argued that Texans younger than 21 should not be licensed to carry handguns. The case was filed by three Texans between 18 and 21 — Rebekah Jennings , Brennan Harmon and Andrew Payne — and the National Rifle Association, which argued that the Texas handgun licensing law was discriminatory and unconstitutional. In his decision, Cummings ruled that the Second Amendment — the right to bear arms — "does not confer a right that extends beyond the home." He noted that under current law, Texans can possess guns in their homes without a state license...more

Federal prosecutor cites Fifth in ‘Fast and Furious’ probe

2012-01-20T14:45:00.000-07:00

The chief of the criminal division in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona has cited his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination in refusing on Friday to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in its ongoing investigation into the failed “Fast and Furious” gunrunning operation. Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican and committee chairman, said the prosecutor, Patrick J. Cunningham, had been subpoenaed by the committee to testify on Tuesday but his attorney notified the panel that Mr. Cunningham intended to exercise his right not to incriminate himself at his scheduled deposition. “The assertion of the Fifth Amendment by a senior Justice official is a significant indictment of the department’s integrity in Operation Fast and Furious,” Mr. Issa said. “The former head of the [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] has previously told the committee that the Justice Department is managing its response to Operation Fast and Furious in a manner designed to protect its political appointees. “This is the first time anyone has asserted their Fifth Amendment right in this investigation and heightens concerns that the Justice Department’s motivation for refusing to hand over subpoenaed materials is a desire to shield responsible officials from criminal charges and other embarrassment,” he said...more

Obama Administration Says No to Oil, Yes to Biofuels

2012-01-20T13:44:00.000-07:00

Two days after President Barack Obama blocked construction of a major oil pipeline, his administration is touting its efforts to expand domestic production of renewable energy. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Friday that his agency has approved a $25-million conditional loan guarantee to build a 55,000-square-foot biorefinery plant in Iowa. The Fiberight facility will produce cellulosic ethanol by converting municipal solid waste and other industrial pulps into "advanced biofuels," the news release said. The project is expected to create 38 jobs and save 16 jobs. By contrast, expansion of the Canada-Texas Keystone XL pipeline would create thousands of jobs; some estimates say as many as 20,000...more

Congress plots new moves to sidestep Obama on Keystone pipeline

2012-01-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

Key Congressional leaders are determined to find a legislative end-run around President Barack Obama’s decision this week to kill the Keystone XL pipeline project. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, will begin hearings next week and has asked State Department Secretary Hillary Clinton to testify. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) says all options are on the table including new legislation to make an end-run around the president to okay the $7 billion project that would create 20,000 new jobs and boost the country’s struggling economy. Republicans will also look at legislation already moving through the approval process to see whether language authorizing the pipeline can be attached, Boehner said. “I’ll just say this: this is not the end of the fight,” Boehner said. “Republicans in Congress will continue to push this because it’s good for our country and it’s good for our economy and it’s good for the American people, especially for those who are looking for work...more

Local Outfitter loses mule to wolf attack - Video

2012-01-20T13:41:00.001-07:00

Early morning on January 14, 11 ½ miles outside of Joseph where the wind is blowing hard and cold on what is called “Divide”, another probable wolf predation investigation is happening yet again on private property. Wolf supporters have said in the past, that wolves would rather feed on their natural prey such as elk and deer, then going after livestock, companion animals and pets. There are an estimated 2,000 head of elk just over a butte from here. So far the Imnaha pack has killed 21 cows and calves according to ODFW, US Wildlife Services reports 30. But this time, the Imnaha pack did not chase down another cow or calf; they killed one of Steen Wilderness Adventures’ mules, owned by Shawn and Shelly Steen. The mule’s name was Annie, Shawn Steen said. “When I saw her even with what little was left of her body I knew exactly who it was.” Steen runs about 40 head of mules and horses on the Divide and can call every single one by name. “They are companion animals, and not just mules and horses,” he said...more

Here's a video produced by Wallowa Valley Online

http://youtu.be/DYJX-gLz6sk

A Math Lesson

2012-01-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

Dunes Sagebrush Lizard Named One of 10 U.S. Species Most Threatened by Fossil Fuel Development

2012-01-20T07:40:00.000-07:00

The dunes sagebrush lizard, a small, rare lizard that lives only in Texas and New Mexico, was named one of 10 U.S. species most urgently threatened by fossil fuel development in a report released today by the Endangered Species Coalition. The report, called Fueling Extinction: How Dirty Energy Drives Wildlife to the Brink, highlights the top 10 U.S. species whose survival is most threatened by fossil fuels. The dunes sagebrush lizard is currently proposed for protection under the Endangered Species Act. “America’s outsized reliance on dirty and dangerous fuels is making it much harder to protect our most vulnerable wildlife,” said Mark Salvo with WildEarth Guardians. “We should not sacrifice our irreplaceable natural heritage in order to make the fossil fuels industry even wealthier.” The report highlights the 10 most endangered animals, plants, birds and fish at risk of extinction due to fossil fuel development, and shows how wildlife suffers displacement, loss of habitat and the threat of extinction from the development, storage and transportation of fossil fuels. Coalition members nominated candidates for inclusion in the report; submissions were then reviewed, judged and voted on by a panel of scientists. The report identifies the home range, conservation status, remaining population and specific threat facing each of the 10 finalists. The dunes sagebrush lizard occurs in slivers of shinnery oak-sand dune habitat within the Permian Basin, the largest onshore oil and gas field in the United States. The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the lizard under the Endangered Species Act in 2002, and WildEarth Guardians submitted an emergency petition for the species in 2008. Long threatened by fossil fuel development and other land uses, the species was finally proposed for an endangered listing by the Service in December 2010...Press Release

New Mexico Land Grant Expands AF Training

2012-01-20T07:39:00.000-07:00

The U.S. Air Force accepted a land gift offer from the State of New Mexico during a ceremony in Santa Fe Jan. 18, hosted by the New Mexico State Land Office. The 11,000-acre land gift, valued at approximately $3.2 million, will support the Joint Air Force Special Operations mission at Cannon Air Force Base. On June 23, 2008, the State of New Mexico and the Air Force entered into a Memorandum of Understanding that initiated the framework for gifting the land. The Air Force Real Property Agency, the 27th Special Operations Wing, the Air Force Special Operations Command, and Headquarters Air Force have worked with the State of New Mexico to receive this gift...more

DOJ: Sinaloa Cartel’s Influence Extends Well Beyond Border Into ‘Much’ of the U.S.

2012-01-20T07:38:00.002-07:00

The Sinaloa criminal cartel uses its control of drug corridors on both sides of the Arizona-Mexico border to extend its influence well beyond the border area into “much of the United States,” according to the Department of Justice. U.S. prosecutors have described Sinaloa as “one of the largest narcotics trafficking organizations in the world.” A member of the cartel, who is facing federal charges in Chicago, claims that he was allowed to traffic tons of drugs into the United States under an immunity deal granted by the U.S. government in exchange for information on rival cartels – a deal allegedly linked to the aborted law enforcement operation known as “Fast and Furious.” The DOJ’s 2011 analysis focuses on HIDTA regions in Arizona. “The Arizona HIDTA region is a major entry point for illicit drugs, particularly marijuana and heroin, transported from Mexico to the United States,” it states. “Approximately half of the marijuana smuggled from Mexico typically transits Arizona HIDTA counties. Seizure statistics indicate that Mexican traffickers are increasing marijuana and heroin smuggling from Mexico into the region. “The Sinaloa Cartel represents the greatest organized criminal drug threat in the Arizona HIDTA counties through its continued dominance over drug trafficking into and through the region.”...more

Here are some excerpts from the report:

Mexican-based TCOs dominate the supply,

trafficking, and wholesale distribution of

most illicit drugs in the United States. Various

other TCOs operate throughout the country,

but none impacts the U.S. drug trade as significantly

as Mexican-based traffickers. Reasons

for Mexican organizations’ dominance include

their control of smuggling routes across the

U.S. Southwest Border and their capacity to

produce, transport, and/or distribute cocaine,

heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine.

The Southwest Border remains the primary

gateway for moving illicit drugs into

the United States. Most illicit drugs available in

the United States are smuggled overland

across the Southwest Border, although increased

border security appears to be forcing

traffickers to increase their use of alternative

methods such as noncommercial vessels and

ultralight aircraft.

Increasing cooperation among Sureños

gangsi in the Southwest Region, including

alliances within correctional facilities, will

increase their involvement in wholesale smuggling

and will help the southern Californiabased

La Eme prison gang solidify its influence

over most Sureños gangs in the border

region.43 Sureños gang members have migrated

from southern California to cities in Arizona,

New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas,

increasing cooperation among Sureños gang

members within and outside correctional

facilities in the Southwest. Such migration

will continue for the foreseeable future.

Sureños gang members, particularly those

from southern California, are also migrating to

other areas of the country, including locations

in the Great Lakes, Pacific, and West Central

Regions, in an apparent effort to expand their

drug distribution operations.

The primary gateway for illicit drug smuggling

to the United States is the Southwest

Border. Smugglers under the direction of

Mexican traffickers move most of the cocaine,

heroin, foreign-produced marijuana, and

foreign-produced methamphetamine available

in this country through, between, and around

land border crossings in Arizona, California,

New Mexico, and Texas (see Figure 1). Traffickers

use every other avenue imaginable—

air, sea, and the U.S.–Canada border—to

smuggle drugs into the United States, but the

volume moved across the U.S.–Mexico border

significantly exceeds that moved through all

other routes combined.

Mexican TCOs are increasingly avoiding

Southwest Border security by smuggling

illicit drugs using ultralight aircraft. Smuggling

via ultralights has increased since 2008,

with several hundred incidents reported in

FY2010.69 Most incidents occur in central

Arizona and western New Mexico.70 Loads

can exceed 100 kilograms and mainly involve

marijuana.71

Violent infighting among rival Mexican
TCOs, at least partially attributable to
competition over control of lucrative crossing
points along the Southwest Border, is
occurring mainly on the Mexico side of the
border. Criminal activity such as kidnappings
and home invasion robberies directed
against individuals involved in drug trafficking
has been reported in some U.S. border
communities, but limitations on the data
make it difficult to assess whether such
activity is increasing. Despite an overall
decline in general violence from 2009 to
2010, incidents of violence directed against
U.S. law enforcement officers over the past
year increased in many areas along the
Southwest Border, apparently as a result of
heightened counterdrug operations.

One Mexican State Bordering NM Was Deadlier Than All of Afghanistan Last Year

2012-01-20T07:36:00.000-07:00

Organized crime-related deaths in one Mexican border state during the first nine months of 2011 exceed the number of Afghan civilians killed in roughly the same period in all of war-torn Afghanistan. According to the Mexican government, from January through September 2011 2,276 deaths were recorded in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, which borders Texas and New Mexico. A Nov. 2011 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report states that over nearly the same period – January through October 2011 – 2,177 civilians were killed in Afghanistan, where a U.S.-led war against the Taliban is underway. It did not provide a breakdown of responsibility for that period, but said that in 2010, 75 percent of civilian deaths were attributed to the Taliban and other “anti-government elements.” Per capita, a person was at least nine times more likely to be murdered in Chihuahua last year than in Afghanistan. (Chihuahua has 3,406,465 inhabitants, according to Mexico’s 2010 census; the CIA World Factbook reports that in July 2011 the estimated population of Afghanistan was 29,835,392.)..more

Mexican army raids 'torture house' in Border Town

2012-01-20T07:35:00.000-07:00

The Mexican Army discovered evidence of a torture house in Nogales, Sonora this weekend. During a Sunday morning raid of the house, the Army found an electric cattle prod and a bloody wooden stick with nails sticking out, according to a story from El Imparcial newspaper. The residence is located in the Del Rosario neighborhood, located in northwest Nogales; a few miles from the Nogales border with Arizona. The Mexican Army also found several rifles, ammunition, two trucks and seven police-style uniforms during the raid, the newspaper says. link

Decoding the Murder Rituals of the Mexican Drug Trafficker

2012-01-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

The killing of a Juarez policeman who was burned alive on a city street could signify a new escalation of “narco-horror,” with criminals committing ever more grotesque acts in order to intimidate their rivals -- and for fun. This article was inspired by a concrete act: the burning alive of a police officer in Ciudad Juarez in December. Why was this done? Why commit such a grotesque act? What kind of sense does this killing make, and what can it tell us? According to the current logic of Mexican President Felipe Calderon, the spiral of violence that is hitting Mexico (by the end of 2011 46,000 had died as a result of the militarization of the battle against drug trafficking organizations) are desperate actions of people who are losing the war. But today, with a narco-society that is increasingly urbanized, the new forms of killing are atrocious: cooking a victim until their meat and bones become soup, cutting them in pieces and burning them to ashes, decapitating them with saws or wooden knives, or crushing them under the hooves of cattle. Women are increasingly targeted, like in the case of political aide Adriana Ruiz, in Tijuana. She was kidnapped and tortured, a broomstick inserted into her anus and then, in response to her own pleas, killed. She was decapitated. Her crime was to be the girlfriend of an undercover soldier. The increasingly violent nature of these messages sent by drug traffickers tells us something...more

Napolitano: DHS Is Working with Mexico on ‘Special Interest Aliens’ Threat Along U.S.- Mexican Border

2012-01-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Tuesday said her agency is working with Mexican officials on the threat posed by individuals from countries with terrorist links or “special interest aliens.’ Napolitano’s remarks came during a panel discussion in Washington about the global role of DHS in fighting terrorist threats to the United States, including efforts to stop threats abroad before they arrive at U.S. airports or seaports. CNSNews.com asked the secretary about the threat posed by individuals linked to terrorist groups in countries such as Somalia and Yemen who might enter the U.S. from Canada or Mexico and how the DHS is tracking that threat. Napolitano said DHS is addressing that issue, “recognizing that there are many things that could transit these huge land borders that we have. “With respect to Mexico, we’ve been working very closely with them – there’s a whole category called SIAs – Special Interest Aliens is what it stands for,” Napolitano said, adding that DHS watches that category “very carefully...more

The Mexico drug war: Bodies for billions

2012-01-20T07:21:00.000-07:00

There are kingpins with names like the Engineer, head-chopping hit men, dirty cops and double-dealing politicians. And, of course, there are users -- millions of them. But the Mexican drug war, at its core, is about two numbers: 48,000 and 39 billion. Over the past five years, nearly 48,000 people have been killed in suspected drug-related violence in Mexico, the country's federal attorney general announced this month. In the first three quarters of 2011, almost 13,000 people died. Cold and incomprehensible zeros, the death toll doesn't include the more than 5,000 people who have disappeared, according to Mexico's National Human Rights Commission. It doesn't account for the tens of thousands of children orphaned by the violence. The guilty live on both sides of the border. Street gangs with cartel ties are not only in Los Angeles and Dallas, but also in many smaller cities across the United States and much farther north of the Mexican border. Mexican cartels had a presence in 230 cities in the United States in 2008, according to the U.S. Justice Department. Its 2011 report shows that presence has grown to more than 1,000 U.S. cities. While the violence has remained mostly in Mexico, authorities in Arizona, Georgia, Texas, Alabama and other states have reportedly investigated abductions and killings suspected to be tied to cartels...more

Song Of The Day #754

2012-01-20T07:01:00.001-07:00

Ranch Radio will stick with 1966 and here's a song for all you party goers this weekend: Jean Shepard with Many Happy Hangovers To You.

Under Obama, Oil and Gas Production on Federal Lands Is Down 40%

2012-01-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

In his announcement rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline today, President Obama boasted that under his administration, “domestic oil and natural gas production is up.” Obama, of course, failed to mention that his administration can’t actually take any credit for the increase.
The vast majority of America’s new oil and gas production is happening on private lands in states like North Dakota, Alaska and Texas.
It’s not that Obama is devoid of responsibility. His administration oversees oil and gas production on federal lands by issuing leases. But when measuring oil and gas production in areas under Obama’s jurisdiction, the numbers tell a different story.
Citing publicly available federal data, the House Natural Resources Committee noted these figures:

Oil and natural gas production on federal lands is down by more than 40 percent compared to 10 years ago.

Under the Obama administration, 2010 had the lowest number of onshore leases issued since 1984.

The Obama administration held only one offshore lease sale in 2011.

Despite the Obama administration’s restrictive policies for oil and gas production on federal lands, overall production still increased thanks to the pro-energy policies in states like North Dakota...more

Ken Salazar's plans for tourism in San Luis Valley generates protests

2012-01-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar surfaced in Alamosa, surrounded by state leaders, to present the results of a federal study aimed at promoting tourism and conservation in the San Luis Valley. The National Park Service's study pushes for conservation easements, recreational trails and landmark designations for many of the area's cultural treasures -- but somebody forgot to check with the locals about some of the nominated sites. As it turns out, not everybody in the crosshairs of the NPS survey is enthused about having historic local structures, including the meeting place of a private religious society, included in tourist brochures promoting the so-called "American Latino Heritage." They question how the selections were made and the seeming rush to tout tourism and development at the risk of other cultural and economic priorities. The most vocal critics of the plan have been Arnold and Maria Valdez, longtime environmental and political activists who run a design and preservation consulting firm in the town of San Luis. Arnold, an heir of the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant and land use planner whose master's thesis deals with Hispanic vernacular architecture in the area, wrote a lengthy letter to NPS assistant regional director Greg Kendrick expressing his concern about how the survey was conducted. He also questioned its emphasis on conservation deals with large landowners -- including owners of the former Taylor Ranch, which was involved in a lengthy legal battle over local access rights. "The broader community is unaware of what is occurring," Valdez writes. "You are dealing with heirs of the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant who have been awarded historical use rights on the property by the Colorado Supreme Court and are preparing their own land use management plan." Valdez is offended that the NPS is considering making a tourist destination of the San Francisco Morada, a kind of penitente chapel, and ran a photo of the interior in its report. The religious society that uses the morada doesn't "under any circumstances permit pictures of the interior to be shown to the public," he notes. (The photo in question has since been removed from the report.)...more

Heavy Metal Politics

2012-01-19T11:19:00.000-07:00

President Obama's Keystone XL abdication (see above) is all too typical of his Administration's general hostility to domestic energy production. Only last week Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that he is banning new uranium mining on one million acres of federal land in northern Arizona. The 20-year withdrawal of these lands from "mineral entry" blocks access to hundreds of millions of pounds of the highest-grade uranium ore to be found in the country. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the northern Arizona parcels contain uranium that, mined to capacity, would generate enough electricity to power Los Angeles for 154 years. Expect the Obama campaign to tell its green funders how the Administration "saved the Grand Canyon" from corporate despoilers as the Presidential race heats up. What is surprising is the extent to which the mining ban seems to have been made without regard for the Interior Department's own conclusions about the potential environmental effects. According to the Bureau of Land Management's environmental impact statement on the withdrawal, mining would have "no direct impacts" on protected wilderness areas. The impact on drinking-water supply in the Colorado River was also found to be "negligible." We love the Grand Canyon as much as anyone, but protecting treasured landscapes is not incompatible with job creation and economic growth. Why bother with an environmental impact assessment if the decision was always going to be made for political reasons?...more

BLM to expand buffer around historic trails from a quarter-mile to 5 miles

2012-01-19T11:18:00.000-07:00

The plan covers topics ranging from energy development to livestock grazing to sage grouse habitat in the 2.5 million acres in Fremont, Natrona, Hot Springs, Carbon and Sweetwater counties. But one of the most significant aspects of the plan deals with historic trails. Currently, as established in the 1987 plan, the trails have a quarter-mile buffer on each side to limit development. However, Yannone said more people now use the trails and there is a better understanding and appreciation for the trails’ views — instead of just the physical trails, or ruts, in the ground. The preferred plan for trail management calls for five miles on each side of the trails. The proposed buffer is seen by many people as the crux of the new trail management plan and has garnered criticism and praise. Fremont County commissioners think the buffers in the preferred alternative are too large. “We can’t live with that 10-mile impregnable barrier across our county,” commission Chairman Doug Thompson said, noting that there needs to be a way to create corridors and roads while still protecting the trail system. Thompson doesn’t want the historic trails to stymie future development or take away potential income from the county. He said disallowing structures and developments within several miles of the trails isn’t acceptable. “That’s very extreme,” Thompson said. Fences or energy development below the hills might not be seen from the trails and should still be allowed, he said. There also are public health issues, specifically snow fences, which might obstruct the views but are needed to ensure safety on highways...more

Sheep vs. bear, agency vs. agency

2012-01-19T11:16:00.000-07:00

In many ways, the tale of Yellowstone's grizzly bears is one of remarkable success. When the species was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1975, there may have been as few as 136 of the bruins wandering in and around Yellowstone National Park. By 2006, there were more than 500, and in the spring of 2007, the US Fish and Wildlife Service declared the area's population officially recovered. Then in 2009, a federal judge ruled that the bears should remain protected given the number of threats they yet face. Still, their population has continued to expand outward. As grizzly bears turn up in habitat they haven't occupied in years, though, they've raised the specter that old human-bear conflicts will rise in number as well. To minimize the risk that those conflicts will include livestock predation, and to ease the way for grizzlies' and other contentious species' spread, the National Wildlife Federation and other groups have worked closely with the US Forest Service to retire all the sheep grazing allotments and some of the cattle allotments -- totaling more than 600,000 acres and millions of dollars in incentives to buy out willing ranchers -- on federal lands surrounding Yellowstone National Park. But there is a significant holdout, and it's not some stalwart rancher determined to stick it to the feds. It's the U.S. Agricultural Research Service's Sheep Experiment Station (USSES), based in Dubois, Idaho, which runs sheep on thousands of acres of high altitude grazing parcels in the Centennial Mountains on the Montana-Idaho border, smack dab in the middle of the so-called "High Divide." Conservationists and federal wildlife officials say the area (map) is key to the grizzlies' long-term survival because it provides a path of mostly wild country connecting them and other dispersing Yellowstone wildlife to large chunks of prime habitat further north in Montana and Idaho. The bears have already begun to use it: At least five collared grizzlies have turned up on sheep station grazing lands alone in and around the Centennials since 2001...more

The Reasons Behind Obama’s Decision Rejecting the Keystone Pipeline

2012-01-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

Republicans could hardly pick their jaws off the floor when word leaked Wednesday that the White House would deny a controversial oil pipeline. House Speaker John Boehner sat shocked while his aides distributed outraged statements. “President Obama is about to destroy tens of thousands of American jobs and sell American energy security to the Chinese,” said Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck, referring to the oil Obama refused that may now be sold to China. “The president won’t stand up to his political base even to create American jobs. This is not the end of this fight,” Buck harrumphed. News of the Keystone pipeline denial was surprising for one main reason. The last-minute congressional compromise over the payroll tax in December included a provision that compelled Obama to make a decision on Keystone XL within 60 days. That would prevent him, Republicans believed, from running out the clock until December, when the issue would no longer affect the election. But when given two months, Obama only took one. A White House aide suggests that there was no point in waiting the full stretch for a decision that was fairly obvious. That’s not because Obama opposed the pipeline outright. As the candidate, Obama ran on a broad environmental agenda, including addressing climate change and shifting the nation toward a renewable energy economy. When the State Department offered provisional approval for the project and Obama hinted at lukewarm support last year, environmentalists freaked. Green groups organized repeated protests–the largest one garnered 5,000 people who encircled the White House–holding Obama to his campaign rhetoric against dirty energy.No, the primary reason for Obama’s rejection was because of the bed Republicans had made him, demanding a decision before the State Department could facilitate a full review of the pipeline’s environmental impacts. Nebraska became ground zero over the fight after environmental officials in the state highlighted concerns about ecological risks...more

Bill McKibben, the man who crushed the Keystone XL pipeline

2012-01-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

On November 6, 2011, Bill McKibben arrived at Washington, D.C.’s, Lafayette Park to protest the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, designed to carry oil 1,700 miles from Alberta, Canada, to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico. McKibben, a Vermont writer and environmentalist, had been one of 1,252 people arrested in front of the White House in August and September, protesting the same pipeline. He’d spent two nights in the district’s Central Cell Block, and now was back with thousands more people and a bold new plan. “We can’t literally occupy the White House,” McKibben had told his fellow protesters, “so the next best thing is to surround it.” And that’s what they would do, encircle the White House in a “giant hug” to remind President Obama of his campaign promise to “end the tyranny of oil.” McKibben wasn’t sure how many people he would need to “hug” the White House, though, and was worried that he wouldn’t have enough. It turns out he had plenty. At least 12,000, actually, making it the largest protest ever for an environmental cause outside the White House. The protesters circled the White House several times and in some places stood five deep...more

New guidebook provides framework for managing US forests in face of climate change

2012-01-19T11:12:00.000-07:00

Resource managers at the nation's 155 national forests now have a set of science-based guidelines to help them manage their landscapes for resilience to climate change. Developed by the Forest Service's western research stations, the four-part framework details a practical and credible management approach, grounded in strong partnerships between local resource managers and scientists, that will help national forests meet their management mandate. The guidelines are published in Responding to Climate Change on National Forests: A Guidebook for Developing Adaptation Options, a new report published by the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station. "This guide lays out an important foundation and provides useful, real-life examples to help managers and citizens build their climate-smart adaptive capacity," said David Cleaves, the Forest Service's climate change advisor. "It will be an important source for practices and tools for enhancing the future of our Nation's forests. The guidebook is available online at http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/39884 and in print by request. Printed copies can be requested by emailing pnw_pnwpubs@fs.fed.us or calling (503) 261-1211 and referencing "PNW-GTR-855." Press Release

Audubon Wins a Round on Spotted Owl

2012-01-19T11:09:00.000-07:00

The federal government withheld from the Audubon Society documents about government efforts to conserve the northern spotted owl, a federal judge found. The Audubon Society sued the National Resource Conservation Service in September 2010, for its failure to produce documents in a safe-harbor agreement between the agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Oregon Department of Forestry. The NRCS released 17 documents to Audubon, but withheld 28, claiming they were exempted by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act (FCEA). Audubon appealed, then sued in Federal Court. The agency claimed the documents were exempt from disclosure because they deal with "agricultural producers" on private forest lands at issue, and the timber produced on those lands are "agricultural commodities." Hernandez disagreed, and denied the NRCS motion for partial summary judgment. "Because Congress has failed to expressly define 'agricultural' or 'agricultural commodities' as used in § 8791 of the FCEA, I find that plaintiff's argument is more persuasive," Hernandez wrote. "Because the FCEA makes a distinction between 'agriculture' and terms related to forests, I find that wood, timber, and forest products are not agricultural commodities under the FCEA."...more

Alaska sled dog race cancelled because of ttoo much snow

2012-01-19T11:07:00.000-07:00

The Copper Basin 300 sled dog race is the latest victim of Alaska’s weird winter weather pattern as race officials canceled the event Sunday morning, less than a day after the race started. The race came to a halt when a section of trail was deemed impassible. A statement by race marshal Greg Parvin said the trail between Meier’s Lake and Sourdough had unusually deep snow conditions, with high winds and bitter cold. Two Rivers musher Allen Moore, who was one of the race leaders, told his handlers that the trail got bad about 12 miles out of Meiers Lake and snowmachines were getting stuck in attempts to break a trail for the race. Meier’s Lake is about 75 miles into the race route. Temperatures were consistently 45 to 50 below zero, according to race officials. Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Copper Basin 300 canceled because of impassible trail conditions...more