Monday, November 07, 2005

DANIEL MARTINEZ---USFS

For background on this issue, go here, here and here.


November 8, 2005

Elaine Zieroth Express Mail: EQ 196764084 US
Apache Sistgraves Supervisor
P.O. Box 640
Springerville, Arizona 86938

Don Butler
Arizona Dept. of Agriculture
1688 W. Adams St.
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
______________________________
Notice to Agent is Notice to Principal
Notice to Principal is Notice to Agent
______________________________

Dear Elaine Zieroth:

I received your extortion letter dated November 1, 2005 on November 2, 2005. You, the USFS and your agents the Binghams, have stolen my cattle and are holding my property. This is without my consent and without a Court Order. You are doing an unjust enrichment to yourselves because I haven’t had any Due Processes of Law. If you sell my property, my cattle, you will be selling stolen property.

There has been no determination of a Court of proper jurisdiction that has ruled that I am trespassing. I am on my private property. My cattle were on my private property prior to them being stolen and removed from my property. How can you get a notice of impound without a determination of trespass first? In order to do a lawful impound the USFS has to take me to Court and get a Court Order to give you authority to impound my cattle.

The law is clear on authority of public officers and employee’s of Federal and State government and the requirement that they have the delegated authority to act. Your CFR’S only apply to you, federal employee’s. I am not a Federal or State employee. The CFR’S do not give you any authority to act outside of your delegated authority. Please reference C.J.S., “officers,” Sec 190-199; C.J.S., “Public Admin.Law,” Sec 49-58; Am.Jur 2d, “Public Officers,” Sec 298-311; Am Jur 2d, “Admin. Law,” Sec 69-74 and 221-226. Related: 65 ALR 811, and 107 ALR 1483.

“No man in this country is so high that he is above the law. No officer of the law may set that law at defiance with impunity. All the officers of the government, from the highest to the lowest are creatures of the law and are bound to obey it. It is the only supreme power in our system of government and every man who by accepting office participates in its functions is only the more strongly bound to submit to that supremacy and to observe the limitations which it imposes upon the exercise of the authority which it gives,” 106 U.S., at 220.

“Shall it be said….that the courts cannot give remedy when the citizen has been deprived of his property by force, his estate seized and converted to the use of the government without any lawful authority, without any process of law and without any compensation, because the president has ordered it and his officers are in possession? If such be the law of this county, it sanctions a tyranny which has no existence in the monarchies of Europe, nor in any other government which has a just claim to well-regulated liberty and the protection of personal rights.” 106 U.S. at 220, 221, United States v. Lee 106 U.S. 196 1 S. Ct. 240.

“ A regulation dies with the statute from which it gains its life” United States v Hawthorne, 31 F. Supp. 827, 829.

“The extent of authority of the people’s public agents is measured by the statute from which they derive their authority, not by their own acts and assumption of authority.” “Public officers have and can exercise only such powers as are conferred on them by law…” Sittler v Board of Control of Michigan College of Mining and technology. 333 Mich. 681, 53 N.W.2d 681 (1952).


The Organic Act of 1897 that set up the Forest Reserves as codified in 16 USC Sec 475 did not grant you the authority to be doing this criminal activity that you are doing.

You have gone to great lengths to create the illusion that my cattle are on Forest System Lands when in fact they are on my property. You are going to great lengths to protect that illusion, even doing so outside of any delegated authority and totally contrary to the U.S. Constitution, Federal Statutes, the Arizona Constitution and Arizona statutes.

Under the Federal Torts Claims Act codified at 28 U.S.C. Sec 1346 under this law, the United States is liable for torts committed by its employees if committed within the scope of their employment. If the act in question was not committed in the scope of employment the employee is liable and the United States is not.

If your actions are outside of Agency policies and General Orders, Risk Management will not pay the damages, you will. This is Vicarious Liability. You and everyone employed will be personally liable to me for the damages. Criminal Activity has no immunities.

Immunity depends upon delegated authority. The following cases demonstrate that a government employee must have some specific delegated authority, based upon statutes, regulations or delegation orders, in order to be authorized to act. The absence of such authority, when challenged, therefore requires a holding that the employee’s acts were unauthorized and thus beyond the scope of his employment. Paly v United States 125 F. Supp. 789 (D.Md 1954), Jones v. F.B.I. 139 F Supp. 38, 42 (D.Md 1956), James v. United States, 467 F. 2d 832 (4th Cir 1972), White v. Hardy, 678 F.2d 485, 487 (4th Cir 1982), Hughes v United States, 662 F. 2d 219 (4th Cir. 1981), Mider v United States 322 F. 2d 193 (6th Cir. 1963), Bellis v. United States, 635 F. 2d 1144 (5th Cir. 1981), Turner v. United States 595 F. Supp. 708 (W.D. La 1984), Doggett v. United States 858 F. 2d 555 (9th Cir 1988), Lutz v. United States, 685 F.2d 1178 (9th Cir. 1982).

It was established long ago that whenever an officer exceeds his authority and wrongfully seizes or levies upon property, he is personally liable in tort for that act.

You are still on my property and I want you to pack up and leave and return my chattels. You have been warned about trespassing on my rights before. Now it is criminal. Everyone involved is personally liable to me for the damages. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU PERSONALLY CONTACT RISK MANAGEMENT TO SEE IF THEY COVER CRIMINAL ACTIVITY.

I will pay any reasonable amount requested as long as you can show me where I have consented to you impounding my chattels, or a proper Warrant or Court Order or where you have the authority as per an act of Congress or a Federal Statutes that applies within the state of Arizona. If you cannot provide the above said documentation you are in fact extorting me and I ask that you show contrition for your criminal acts and return my chattels to my property.

Respectfully,

_________________________________
Daniel Gabino Martinez
NEWS ROUNDUP

Timothy Treadwell’s deadly obsession The short, heartless version of the story was simply: "The Doofus Dies." At least, that's how some Alaskans saw it, says Nick Jans, the Juneau-based author of a new book, "The Grizzly Maze," about Timothy Treadwell's fatal obsession with Alaska's huge coastal brown bears. Two years ago, he might not have argued, knowing only the earliest details of how a big grizzly had just killed Treadwell and his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, in a bear-haunted thicket of Katmai National Park. While German filmmaker Werner Herzog, in his critically acclaimed documentary “Grizzly Man,” appropriated more than a hundred hours of Treadwell’s films to paint a vivid portrait of his volatile persona, Jans used his own knowledge of the Alaska Bush — as a nature writer and longtime teacher in northwest Alaska — to analyze Treadwell’s special relationship with bears. In fact, his book is as much about bears as Treadwell, Jans said. “Timothy Treadwell is just the lens. Timothy Treadwell is dead as a doornail on Page 111, and the book is 274 pages long,” he said. “The book is dedicated to bears, and I think he would have liked that.”....
Keeping them out of the haystacks Tucked into the hillsides near the Gros Ventre River, down a long dirt road at the base of the giant landslide near Kelly that created Slide Lake, Glenn Taylor and his family pass their days with cattle and wildlife. Taylor, 71, moved with his parents in 1950 to the Taylor Ranch, where they raised cattle. He later took over the business. Although not an "old-timer" by early Jackson Hole standards, Taylor is certainly an old-timer for today. He lived up the Gros Ventre before the three elk feedgrounds there -- Alkali, Patrol Cabin and Fish Creek -- were officially established and stocked by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. "The elk have always been here," Taylor said. "But we haven't encouraged them to stay." The Taylors have maintained elk-proof haystacks with fencing since 1955. Game and Fish provide the fence, which the Taylors install. It is because of people including Taylor who came to Jackson Hole as homesteaders -- and ultimately the 18,000 people in Teton County today -- that the elk feedground system was established....
'Fence Pulling' Becomes a Wilderness Pastime If you had wanted to visit with John Witzel one recent warm and cloudless day, you would have driven 20 miles outside town, along a dusty ranch road here in the high desert of southeastern Oregon, then jumped on a horse. You would have ridden five miles through the bull thistle cactus, juniper trees and lupin that dot the brown hills. Once you got to Straw Hat Pass and let your horse have a drink at Wildhorse Creek, you would have traveled up a rust-colored canyon and come upon Witzel, a sinewy man wearing jeans, chaps and a purple cowboy shirt. He stood firmly, his arms circling as he cranked a large aluminum spool, and his face was dripping sweat. Witzel looked as if he were trying to land a giant fish — though he was reeling in a 100-foot strand of rusty barbed-wire fence. Here in the nation's first officially designated "cow-free wilderness," Witzel and dozens of other volunteers have been using Witzel's invention, a non-mechanized roller, to remove mile after mile of fencing, not far from the border with Nevada....
Buffer zone around Fort Hood draws fire from landowners Army officials here hoped they could create a buffer zone around the nation's largest military base through friendly negotiations – offering neighbors cash to keep their land rural. What they didn't expect was that landowners would view the buffer zone as a battle front in an epic war over property rights. Fort Hood is seeking to participate in the new “Army Compatible Use Buffer” program, which is intended to prevent residential and commercial development near military training ranges. Authorized by Congress in 2003, the program is also intended to help protect wildlife habitat around Army bases and relieve the pressure to protect endangered species on bases. Fort Hood is considering a buffer of about 90,000 acres, said Maj. Gen. James Simmons, III Corps deputy commanding general and the post's No. 2 official. Gen. Simmons said the agreements would be completely voluntary, and the terms, such as the length of the agreement, would be negotiated on a case-by-case basis. “It is an incentive program that says, we want to pay you to keep your land in its current rural condition, as opposed to selling your land for a subdivision or business entity,” Simmons said....
House passes property rights protection act The U.S. House of Representatives is moving to curb the actions of local government and states that receive federal economic development funds who use eminent domain to acquire property for such purposes. The Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2005 (HR 4128) was co-sponsored by Rep. Heather Wilson, R-New Mexico, who said the passage of the bill reaffirms owners' private property rights as a value of American society. But the bill, which now goes before the U.S. Senate, could have serious implications for the city of Albuquerque, which has already expended $1.6 million dollars to acquire blighted property in the Southeast Heights quadrant of the city that it would like to redevelop into affordable housing. If a version of the legislation is agreed to by both the House and Senate, President Bush must sign it before it can become law. Under the newest bill, a court can reimburse attorneys' fees to a property owner who was the target of an improper eminent domain action. The bill also extends its protection to farmers and ranchers with rural or agricultural properties. The bill does not prevent the continued use of eminent domain for public health and safety or other public uses, such as roads and public utilities....
Judge's land-use suit adds ethics to Measure 37 saga Just when Oregon's property rights drama seemed to be stabilizing, a Marion County judge wrote a Shakespearean twist. Paul Lipscomb, who overthrew Measure 37's predecessor four years ago, sued the state this week for approving his neighbor's application to split farmland into 5-acre plots. His litigation comes weeks after colleague Mary Mertens James tossed out Measure 37. The clincher: The case will be heard in Marion Circuit Court, where Lipscomb is the presiding judge. "You don't see this every day," said Kevin Neely of the state attorney general's office. No kidding. The saga -- which is raising new questions about Measure 37 and judicial ethics -- started in earnest five years ago....
Wolf v. Elk: Jury Still Out On Which Totemic Beast Will Rule The West Robert Fanning, Jr. calls the whole idea of wolf recovery a "fraud." He's the founder of the congenial-enough sounding "Friends of the Northern Yellowstone Elk Herd," a Montana-based faction of 3,742 hunters, big game outfitters and fans of blood sports who, like Wyoming, are challenging the federal government's dominion over state wildlife rights. Admittedly, the group's name rings ironic‹ as a principal FNYEH goal is to restore elk to happy-making numbers, so members can resume hunting them before, as they say, wolves gobble up the last of their dearly beloved and decimated herds. "The introduction of the gray wolf, canis lupus, on top of the indigenous timber wolf, canis irremotus, well," Fanning paused, measuring his words, "I hesitate to even call it a 'reintroduction,' because it's not." While at a loss for the Latinate nuances in this crazy-making tongue of eco-speak, my inner city slicker still recognized potent fighting words when it heard them. Fanning is a gregariously well-spoken, passionately devout Catholic, ex-Notre Damer. At 55, the Pray, Mont., rancher, retired CEO and corporate refugee, with a degree in biology, is on a crusade to make "wolf control" a national debate. He'll even take it all the way to the Supreme Court, he says, if he has to....
Cattlemen oppose grazing cuts in wilderness bill A congressional hearing last week on a wilderness bill proposed by Rep. Mike Simpson R-Idaho, brought together some unlikely forces. The Idaho Cattle Association, federal land management agencies and singer-songwriter Carole King all expressed concerns about the bill, which sets aside 300,000 acres in the Boulder-White Cloud mountains in central Idaho as wilderness. The opposition, however, came about for quite different reasons. Cattlemen are concerned because the bill would end livestock grazing in much of the region. Ranchers have already had their grazing permits drastically reduced in the region, said ICA President-elect Mike Webster, a rancher from Roberts, Idaho. “Livestock grazing is a wise and sustainable use of the land and, as a sound management tool, should never be removed from consideration,” Webster said. In addition to its role is sustaining local economies in Idaho, public lands grazing fosters a good ecological balance as it promotes good grass growth, prevents or lessens the threat of wildfires and controls the spread of weeds, he said....
Island rounds up resident roamers -- In 1893, bison -- all but wiped out after decades of slaughter -- came to Antelope Island, but not because of the Endangered Species Act or a firestorm from environmentalists. They came because businessmen, cattle ranchers and hunters wanted their chance -- so common in 1850, so rare in 1890 -- to drop the one-ton beasts. By 1893, an Antelope Island State Park brochure estimates there were only about 800 bison -- down from a high of at least 45 million -- remaining in the United States that year, when the first dozen were shipped to the island. It wasn't a reintroduction. There is no evidence that bison roamed Antelope Island before Kit Carson named it for the herds of antelope found there. There were mule deer, coyotes, bobcats and bighorn sheep, and maybe the occasional mountain lion or elk, according to Clay Shelley, curator of Fielding Garr Ranch. But no bison. It wasn't an attempt to save the species, either. Opportunity simply knocked -- when William Glasmann couldn't draw people to his Buffalo Park on the Great Salt Lake's south shore, he put his dozen bison on the auction block -- and Antelope Island owner John Dooly answered....
Snowy plover hatchlings thrive on coast The western snowy plover had another good year on the Oregon Coast, with hatchlings reaching 77, the second-highest numbers on record. The 77 survived long enough during this year's nesting season to fly and leave their parents, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. There were 107 last year, but it's still more than twice the average of 37 since biologists began tracking the birds in 1990. As of now from 153 to 158 plovers live on the Oregon Coast, the highest number since monitoring began. In 1993, the shorebirds were listed by the Fish & Wildlife Service as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. "We are thrilled to see another record year for nesting plovers," said Kerrie Palermo, senior wildlife biologist for the Bureau of Land Management in Coos Bay. "We believe it shows all the effort we put into coordinated plover management is worth it. Of course, nature has a hand in this success as well." Biologists credit restored habitat, predator control and separation of beach users from plover nesting areas....
Bigfork bears like lunch served tall, thin Imagine a 300-pound beaver with a propensity for power poles. That's essentially what they're dealing with at Bigfork in northern Minnesota. It seems that tough-mouthed black bears there have a strange hankering for wooden power poles. The bruins are standing on their rear feet and chewing the poles to the core about 6 feet above ground, threatening a bear-induced blackout.
About 22 poles owned by North Itasca Electric Cooperative might need to be replaced, at a cost of up to $60,000....
Column: The big rush to drill There's a big push by the oil and gas industries and their political allies to reduce public oversight and roll back protections for wildlife in order to increase energy production in the West. For decades, the industry has complained that it is locked out of Western public lands that could free America from dependence on foreign oil. "We've taken large chunks of the country and put it off limits to any kind of exploration or development," Vice President Dick Cheney, a former oilman, told a town hall meeting in Arkansas last year. "Large parts of the Rocky Mountain West are off limits." Government data tell a far different story: Oil and gas companies have enjoyed widespread access to public lands but have produced precious little energy to show for it....
Old claims being mined for new digs At 11,400 feet, the chilly mountain wind whistles through the blank windows of the abandoned Paris Mill, a ghostly relic from the mining boom and an improbable anchor for a modern-day land rush. Here in Buckskin Gulch, 2 miles up a washboard road from the collection of false-fronted buildings of Alma, developers Bill Cincilla and Jeff Wright envision five new homes on some of Colorado's last affordable mountain real estate: patented mining claims. "This is one of those rare opportunities where we have a unique site, just absolutely drop-dead gorgeous surroundings, where we can do something like this," said Cincilla, an engineer describing his first foray as a developer. They have a contract on four adjacent mining claims that cover 94 acres and currently are listed together for $445,000, while similar undeveloped home sites 20 minutes away in Breckenridge fetch as much as $1 million an acre. Cincilla and Wright are among a growing legion of real estate investors driven by high prices out of Colorado's resort towns and up into the nearby hills, where mining claims dating from the late 1800s remain available for development - and present a lingering conundrum for government agencies, conservation groups and historical preservationists....
Congressmen believe criticism is misleading Congressman Greg Walden said criticism by some environmentalists of the bill he and fellow Northwest Rep. Brian Baird introduced to speed up logging dead timber and planting new trees after catastrophic storms and wildfires has been misleading or downright preposterous. Walden, a Republican from Oregon, and Baird, a Democrat from Washington state, introduced the Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act on Thursday in the nation’s capital. It has 98 co-sponsors representing both parties. “Today in America’s forests, it can take three years for the federal government to cut a burned, dead tree after a fire,” Walden said, and by then, most trees have rotted or become bug infested. His bill would speed up the scientific and environmental review process to about 120 days but still provide 90 days for public comment and preserve the right to administrative and judicial appeal....
Ferret recovery blooms in prairie "mansion" Unceremoniously named "Son of Alice" after his mother, the recent transfer from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs is one of about 200 ferrets housed at the new Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center. The $8 million facility north of Wellington in Larimer County is the epicenter for national efforts to help recover North America's only native ferret, among the nation's most endangered species. Once abundant in the West, the ferrets began disappearing at the turn of the century as a result of prairie dog eradication efforts and disease. In the mid-1970s, wildlife experts thought the ferret was extinct, until finding a small group near Meeteetse, Wyo....
Eskimos turn to supersonic 'grenade' for humane whale kills A supersonic explosive has begun to replace Yankee whaling-era black powder as Alaska Natives seek more humane weaponry in the traditional hunt for bowhead whales. "It's a lot safer," said Eugene Brower, a Barrow whaling captain who chairs the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission's weapons improvement program. Brower trains Native whaling captains to handle a harpoon-launched grenade loaded with penthrite, a World War I-era explosive used in demolition. "They love it," Brower said of captains from the North Slope villages of Kaktovik, Nuiqsit and Barrow who have converted to the penthrite device for the spring and fall hunts. "It's four times the strength of black powder. With black powder, the meat has a gas taste."....
Lawmaker warns of water concerns in arid Nevada Nevada, the most arid state in the nation, needs a thorough inventory of its water resources because of an unrelenting, growth-induced demand on those resources, a state lawmaker said Friday. Assemblyman Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka, also said at a Carson River symposium that there are many questions about water right transfers and the point at which the state water engineer steps in to prevent excessive pumping. Goicoechea, a rancher who serves on an interim legislative panel studying possible water law changes, also said in an interview that he'd favor a new law calling for forfeiture of a water right for violations such as pumping too much. Currently, he said such violations are considered misdemeanors punishable by a fine of up to $500, so there's not much pressure on a violator to honor a cease-and-desist order from the state....
Conservationist: Rio Grande is headed for a train wreck It happened in late October 2001. The mighty Rio Grande, storied river of cowboy lore, icon of the West, petered out before it reached the sea. And the same thing happened the next year. A river that once disgorged a vast plume of fresh water into the Gulf of Mexico was transformed into little more than a brook that finally disappeared in the dry, flat country on the Texas and Mexico border, about 100 yards from the sea. To be sure, the mouth of the Rio Grande dried up during a drier-than-normal year that parched the western United States. But the drought was not the only reason the Rio Grande ran out of water, or even the major reason. From Colorado through New Mexico and all along the Texas and Mexico border that the river forms, the Rio Grande is tapped for agriculture and, in places, drinking water; so much so that the river’s flow is but a fraction of what it once was — and demand for its water continues to grow....
When Cleaner Air Is a Biblical Obligation In their long and frustrated efforts pushing Congress to pass legislation on global warming, environmentalists are gaining a new ally. With increasing vigor, evangelical groups that are part of the base of conservative support for leading Republicans are campaigning for laws that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which scientists have linked with global warming. In the latest effort, the National Association of Evangelicals, a nonprofit organization that includes 45,000 churches serving 30 million people across the country, is circulating among its leaders the draft of a policy statement that would encourage lawmakers to pass legislation creating mandatory controls for carbon emissions. Environmentalists rely on empirical evidence as their rationale for Congressional action, and many evangelicals further believe that protecting the planet from human activities that cause global warming is a values issue that fulfills Biblical teachings asking humans to be good stewards of the earth. "Genesis 2:15," said Richard Cizik, the association's vice president for governmental affairs, citing a passage that serves as the justification for the effort: "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."....
Sentries in U.S. Seek Early Signs of the Avian Flu With the country waiting nervously for avian flu to arrive, catching wild birds is no hobby. It has become part of a national early detection effort, and Ms. Lee, a researcher at the University of California here, is a sentry on the country's epidemiological ramparts. She is one of hundreds of ornithologists, veterinarians, amateur bird-watchers, park rangers and others being recruited by the National Wildlife Health Center to join a surveillance effort along the major American migratory flyways. They will test wild birds caught in nets; birds shot by hunters on public lands, who must check in with game wardens; and corpses from large bird die-offs in public parks or on beaches. The plan also calls for sampling bodies of water for the influenza virus, which is shed in bird feces. And it is designating some ducks and geese - like those in backyard flocks or living year-round in park ponds - as "sentinels" to be captured, tested, released and periodically retested....
Help sought in cattle shootings The Oregon State Police put out a call for help, and the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association pledged up to $1,000 in reward money after a roadside cattle shooting in rural Douglas County. On Wednesday, Smith River landowners added $4,000 to the reward, according to rancher Paul Bailey. Trooper Levi Harris said two black Angus cows were shot and killed in the Oct. 29 incident. Bailey, who lives at milepost 22, east of Reedsport up the Smith River, said it’s the second livestock shooting incident in as many years. In 2004 Bailey found a gunshot-killed calf near the county road. This time, he recalled hearing explosions – he thought maybe it was thunder – then hearing a diesel pickup truck drive off. Bailey found one cow, a bullet in its skull, Oct. 30. He called OSP. Harris said he found the second body while processing the crime scene Oct. 31....
85-year-old resident sells fresh eggs from his Menifee Road home The original sign was as sparse as the dirt road along which it was posted: "I got eggs." Frank Gomez never intended to spend his retirement selling eggs, however. The lifelong rancher and 13-year Menifee resident just wanted to keep active, and maintaining animals seemed second nature to him. "I bought so many chickens, so I had too many eggs," said Gomez, 85, whose street, Menifee Road, has since been paved. "So my wife said to put up a sign. That started the egg business." Soon after he bought the Menifee property, he was tending to sheep, goats, rabbits and chickens. "Now all I got are chickens," he said. "At my age, I couldn't handle anything else."....
McWhat? When Veronica Crowell walks her dog, Roscoe, in Riverside Park, as she often does, people always ask what kind of dog he is. When she tells them he's a McNab, they say, "A what?" McNabs were originally bred by a rancher named Alexander McNab, who moved from Scotland to Northern California in the mid-1800s. They are still bred in the area, mostly as cattle dogs, said Art Goldsmith of West Sacramento, Calif., who has owned and bred McNabs for 17 years. McNabs "are probably the toughest cattle dog in the world" and smarter than most people, Goldsmith said. "It's amazing what you can teach them. You can teach them anything." McNabs are not recognized by the American Kennel Club but are registered with the National Stockdog Registry. Goldsmith said McNabs are one-person dogs that are natural retrievers and tireless workers. "They will work all day and all night," he said....
Hall Ranch: A heritage of hospitality The Hall Ranch in Bruneau River Valley is not just a gathering place for horses and cattle. For more than 100 years, the 300-acre site and its 1879 two-story farmhouse have been a social center for the valley’s rural community. “At one time it was the finest home in Bruneau Valley,” said Berklee Cudmore of Boise, 80, whose grandparents, Albert and Mary Loveridge, owned the ranch prior to 1917. “The upstairs was a big room where they used to hold dances. At that time it was probably the only place large enough to have a big crowd.” The population was smaller back then, she said, and “of course, everybody knew everybody else.” In 1917, Fred and Betty Hall bought the ranch, moving in from a more remote homestead so their children could attend school. Their last child, Tom, the youngest of five, was born at the ranch house in 1923 and still lives there....

Sunday, November 06, 2005

SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE WESTERNER

Sacred Horses

by Larry Gabriel

Congress has decided the French and Germans should stop eating American horses. Why? Because the American horse is a sacred cow in Washington, DC.

Of course, being professional politicians they never mentioned Frenchmen or Germans or sacred cows. They just changed the language of federal meat inspection laws in a way to prohibit horse slaughter in the United States for human consumption.

Out here on the prairie we don't eat our horses, although some of our ancestors found it necessary to do so at times, up to and including during World War II.

Generally, we don't eat bugs, bird nests, kangaroos and snails either, but we don't care if others do.

Our horses were a sacred cow in only one regard. You could be hanged for stealing one.

Congress has no idea what sacred means. The buffalo are sacred to the Indians, but they eat them. Many things in nature were sacred to the natives of America. That meant they had proper respect for those things. It was not a prohibition on using them.

Congress seems to have taken the Hindu view of sacred cows and applied it to the horse. They can't eat one, but they can dump the carcass in the nearest river when it dies.

Do you think that doesn't happen in India? Do you think something like it won't happen here? Do you think every owner of an old sick horse will pay $200 to euthanize it? If so, you might qualify for Congress.

One of the original supporters of this measure reversed his position when he found out that it will not help horses, may move the slaughter to Canada or Mexico, or may cause thousands of old horses to suffer slow and agonizing deaths from disease. Slaughter is more humane.

But, a good set of facts has never deterred Congress from doing the politically correct thing, once it determines what that is.

I heard about an old dog like that. He got "brain lock" about every six months and would just take off. You could see it coming in his face. His eyes would glaze over and his brows would knot up. No bribe and no threat could dissuade him from his course while that look was there.

Congress has brain lock on this issue. There is no talking to them about better, wiser, more efficient, more humane alternatives. They are going to make their run.

When its over, they will find this: the federal government owns about 56,500 wild horses and burros. The herd doubles every five years. About 24,000 of those are in holding facilities and cost us $20 million a year. That can't continue forever.

Don't worry. Brain lock doesn't last forever. Sooner or later the dog catcher shows up.

Larry Gabriel is the South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture.


Cotton and the cow buyer

By Julie Carter

Cotton was a cowboy by trade. He could day work and ride colts with the best of them and with a confidence that only comes from lots of hours in the saddle.

Owning cattle had always seemed riskier than riding green broke colts in snowstorms tending to somebody else’s sick yearling cattle. So he opted to simply draw wages.

He had a dependable reputation and while not having a regular boss, he almost always had work. Those that needed his help would find him at the filling station, feed store, at home or as happened this time, the local watering hole.

The Buggy Wheel Bar was one of the regular stops on his route and served as his post office and message center. It was the kind of place you could drink with your hat on and make sure the appropriate amount of bull was shot before heading home.

One day when he had just about finished his first cool one, a new cattle owner of his acquaintance wandered into the Buggy Wheel Bar. This wealthy but foolish man had just purchased on the highest market in recorded history 150 head of young crossbred cows with calves by their side.

These cattle had been gathered, penned and shipped without being worked. They were not branded, inoculated or pregnancy tested. They were not accustomed to horses or people and were in no mood to get that way. They were currently standing in this man’s pens and he had come to give Cotton a chance to make a little extra money.

Cotton asked the intelligent correct questions about the pens, the medicine, history of the cattle and what the owner had in his mind to have done. The owner was open to suggestion having no idea that any of that made any difference. Cotton outlined the standard procedure and gave a rough estimate of the cost of doing what needed done minus the labor.

After the new owner sat down awhile and caught his breath, he asked what Cotton would charge to do the work. Cotton stated his normal fee and indicated he would need a couple other good hands to help move the cattle through the chute and administer the required shots, brands and ear marks. These hands would have to be paid standard day wages.

The owner with all these high priced cattle standing in pens, could not in good conscience pay that much to get done what they didn’t even do in the movies. He left the Buggy Wheel Bar; Cotton finished his beverage and headed home to sleep.

In the morning Cotton’s phone was ringing and he listened patiently to the cow owner’s counter offer on wages. He passed on the offer and left the man with absolutely no idea what to do. Same thing happened the next morning.

By this time the cow owner was getting tired of putting out feed for the penned cattle and so he accepted Cotton’s price. The only catch was that he didn’t see the need for any extra cowboy day help. His proposal this time was “I’ll pay your price and I have a couple carpenters working on the house. I’ll send you those boys to help.”

Last time Cotton heard, the new owner was still feeding and had given up trying to find somebody to work that bunch of crossbred cows and calves. He is now looking for a new owner for them.

© Julie Carter 2005
OPINION/COMMENTARY

Blight loophole could allow cities to grab homes, land

For most people, urban blight means crumbling homes, abandoned offices, and toxic waste sites. But for many municipal authorities blight is anything that comes in the way of their grand redevelopment plans. The Michigan Senate today is likely to vote on a constitutional amendment to protect property owners from government seizures after the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Kelo decision. This decision allowed New Haven city authorities in Connecticut to use their eminent domain powers to condemn property owned by poor homeowners and transfer it to rich developers. But if supporters are serious about deterring property grab abuses in Michigan, they should allow only a narrow exception for blight. Anyone who doubts this should consider the case of Nancy Kurdziel, president of Prime Housing Group Inc. in East Lansing. For eight years, Kurdziel, a mother of two, has worked hard to maintain the seven apartment buildings she jointly owns with her parents and rents out to Michigan State University students. Some buildings were under receivership when her parents bought them. Keeping them profitable requires constant, daily attention, Kurdziel says. But East Lansing city authorities have declared her properties blight. Why? Not because they are unsafe or unkempt: Rental properties have to pass city inspections to renew their license every year. Rather, they are located in a 35-acre area near the university where authorities have decided property values of homes are not rising fast enough and the conversion of single-family homes to multifamily rental properties and commercial buildings is undesirable. Most would regard such real estate fluctuations as a normal and necessary market response to shifting demographics and demand. Not East Lansing authorities. They see them as evidence of creeping blight....

The Environmental Disaster That Wasn't

Of all the energy-related bad news brought on by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, one piece of good news has gone largely unnoticed. The two powerful storms did not cause any major offshore oil spills despite dealing a knockout punch to America’s biggest oil producing region. This remarkable accomplishment in environmental safety should not be ignored in the upcoming debate over expanding domestic oil drilling to new areas. The hurricanes swept through the central and western Gulf of Mexico, home to 25 percent of the nation’s domestic oil production, and the impact was extensive. Over 100 offshore oil facilities were completely destroyed, and many others have yet to start up again. Production is still low and will not reach pre-hurricane levels for months. “One might have expected the entire Gulf to be blackened with oil,” said Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton at an October 27th Senate hearing on post-Katrina energy issues. Instead, “there were no significant spills from any of our wells.” The Department of the Interior, which has authority over most offshore drilling, had mandated a number of safety features to prevent massive spills from the sea floor, such as those that occurred off the Santa Barbara coast in 1969 and in the Gulf of Mexico in 1979. Katrina and Rita provided what Norton calls “the toughest test of our offshore safety,” and the results are highly encouraging....

Trusting the land trusts

In the latest issue of the PERC Policy Series, PERC Senior Fellow Dominic Parker examines the impact federal tax policy has on land trusts and conservation easements. Land trusts are nonprofit organizations that conserve land in order to preserve biodiversity or protect open spaces. They have been used in recent decades to address issues related to sprawl, development and wildlife conservation. In 2003, land trusts came under fire, as critics alleged that some trusts were providing what amounted to tax shelters for developers. Parker summarizes the history of land trusts and conservation easements, examines their effectiveness, takes a close look at tax policies and the incentives they provide to private landowners to conserve open spaces, and recommends alternatives. Parker’s “Conservation Easements: A Closer Look at Federal Tax Policy” is available as a .PDF.

Media Myths: Gas Hysteria

October was a month for scares and the broadcast news shows did their part. Even though gas prices fell 45 cents in a little more than three weeks, the media continued to talk about “record-high” or “soaring” prices. Gas prices dropped every day for 17 straight business days, but the media covered rising or high prices roughly four times as often as falling prices. Gas prices fell steadily from October 6 and continued through the end of the month. The decline had little impact on media coverage. Stories about falling prices still made up just 21 percent of the coverage through October 30. In fact, the national average price for regular gasoline isn’t just lower than it was before Rita, it’s now more than 10 cents per gallon below pre-Katrina levels, according to AAA’s Fuel Gauge Report. ABC was the worst of the three broadcast networks covering gas prices. Its reporters acknowledged falling prices only once since prices began to fall – just 9 percent of the time. On October 27, with gas prices at $2.57, down 37 cents per gallon from its post-Rita high of October 5, reporter Betsy Stark of ABC’s “World News Tonight” claimed that “consumers [are] still paying close to $3 a gallon to fill up.” She was off nearly 17 percent. Even though gas fell every business day from October 6 through October 30, only one of ABC’s 11 stories about gasoline during that period mentioned it. One of the common themes for gasoline reporting all summer was to claim “record prices,” even though the reality was much different. Inflation raises overall prices over time, causing the raw number to go up. A gallon of gas might have cost 25 cents decades ago. That’s why inflation-adjusted prices are the only accurate way to compare costs from one decade to the next. According to the Energy Department, the inflation-adjusted high for a gallon of regular gas is $3.11, set in 1981. But Katrina and Rita sent the media scurrying for stories, and “record highs” were mentioned at least eight times. CBS was especially fond of the term. It appeared three times during the CBS stories....

Phony Animal-Rights “Physicians” Group Ranks Airport Food

Today the deceptively named Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), an affiliate of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) that masquerades as a mainstream health charity, congratulated airport restaurants for serving “healthy” meals. Consistent with PCRM’s animal-rights agenda, its annual survey awards points to restaurants solely on the basis of how many vegetarian entrees they make available. Today the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom called on PCRM to stop misleading holiday travelers by implying that all non-vegetarian fare is unhealthy. When PCRM’s 2004 airport-food survey was released, The New York Times concluded: “[T]he physicians' committee has a PETA link, and its food rankings reflect that agenda.” Also in 2004, PCRM was exposed in Newsweek as an animal rights group with connections to violent activism. “This is just another page from PCRM’s well-worn animal rights playbook,” said David Martosko, the Center for Consumer Freedom’s Director of Research. “The only thing that’s changed is the group’s choice of spokesperson. Last year it was a former PETA activist who had previously bragged about stripping for animal rights. But PCRM’s ridiculous message -- that vegetarian eating is the only healthy option -- is just as absurd as it’s always been.”....

Friday, November 04, 2005

FLE

Justice Department Not Appealing Cell Phone Surveillance Cases

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has told the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) that it will not appeal a New York decision that forcefully rejected its request to track a cell phone user without first showing probable cause of a crime. It also appears that DOJ will not appeal a similar opinion recently issued in Texas. Last week in the Eastern District of New York, Federal Magistrate Judge James Orenstein, in a scathing opinion, rejected DOJ's request to track a cell phone without a warrant, agreeing with a brief EFF filed in the case. Describing the government's justifications for the tracking request as "unsupported," "misleading," and "contrived," Orenstein ruled that tracking cell phone users in real time required a showing of probable cause that a crime is being committed. Earlier this month, another federal magistrate judge in the Southern District of Texas published his own opinion denying another government application for a cell phone tracking order. DOJ has failed to file timely objections with the District Court in that case, too. Although DOJ may still decide to appeal that case to the Fifth Circuit, its choice not to appeal the nearly identical opinion in the New York case makes that seem unlikely. "The government's decision not to appeal either of these cases is disappointing," explained EFF staff attorney Kevin Bankston. "The magistrate judge in New York explicitly encouraged the government to appeal the decision so that he and his fellow judges around the country could get some guidance from the higher courts. The very important question of when the government can track your cell phone remains an open question that should be argued openly in the appeals court, not litigated piece-meal in lower-court proceedings where the government is secretly presenting cell phone tracking requests." An October 28 story in the Washington Post reported that, when questioned about the court decisions, "Justice Department officials countered that courts around the country have granted many such orders in the past without requiring probable cause." "The Justice Department has been arguing for warrantless cell phone tracking in secret proceedings with magistrate judges across the country, probably for years," said Bankston. "My biggest fear is that DOJ intends to continue these illegal surveillance orders in secret, while avoiding scrutiny from higher courts." You can read the full text of Judge Orenstein's opinion, and the similar Texas opinion, at http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/USA_v_PenRegister.


CONGRESS CONFIRMS LACK OF ATF TESTING STANDARDS

We're proud to announce a major breakthrough in the long battle to curb the abuses of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The Congressional Research Service (CRS), an arm of the U.S. Congress, has issued a memo telling the world what we've always said that ATF "experts" use arbitrary, made-up standards when they bring charges against gun owners and testify against us in court. You can read the CRS report here: http://www.jpfo.org/ATFguntests.pdf YOUR work was instrumental, too, if you were one of the many Americans who asked their representatives to get a copy of the ATF's testing procedures manual. No such ATF manual exists. One after one, at gun owners' urging, congressmen asked the CRS to get the manual. The CRS asked the ATF to produce the manual. And they hit a wall. Then something ominous happened. For several weeks, the CRS, urged on by a frantic Justice Department, planned to bury this information. Why? Because these revelations could potentially overturn hundreds, even thousands, of criminal prosecutions of innocent gun owners, going back decades. Finally the CRS had no choice but to reveal the truth: the ATF simply "makes it up as they go along." The CRS memo changes nothing by itself. It has no legal force. But it is the first light Congress has shone on the ATF in 23 years. It is a _beginning_. It is a tool concerned gun owners -- and defense attorneys -- can use....

Bipartisan Call for Modest Reforms Rejected by Congressional Negotiators, "Freedom to Read" Amendment Would Have Fixed Some Patriot Act Problems

Negotiators reconciling differences between the House and Senate bills to fund the Justice Department today dropped the "Freedom to Read" amendment, which was passed by a bipartisan majority in the House. The American Civil Liberties Union today expressed its disappointment that conferees dropped the provision authored by Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), which would have denied funding for the FBI to access library and bookstore records under section 215 of the Patriot Act. The Sanders amendment had been adopted on a vote of 238-187 this summer. The Patriot Act expanded the power of the federal government to obtain any record or tangible thing in an intelligence investigation and eliminated the requirement that federal agents demonstrate that there are facts connecting the records sought to a suspected foreign terrorist. The Bush Administration opposed the bipartisan amendment to exempt library and book records from these secret search powers and threatened to veto the funding bill if it were included....

Detainee Policy Sharply Divides Bush Officials

The Bush administration is embroiled in a sharp internal debate over whether a new set of Defense Department standards for handling terror suspects should adopt language from the Geneva Conventions prohibiting "cruel," "humiliating" and "degrading" treatment, administration officials say. Advocates of that approach, who include some Defense and State Department officials and senior military lawyers, contend that moving the military's detention policies closer to international law would prevent further abuses and build support overseas for the fight against Islamic extremists, officials said. Their opponents, who include aides to Vice President Dick Cheney and some senior Pentagon officials, have argued strongly that the proposed language is vague, would tie the government's hands in combating terrorists and still would not satisfy America's critics, officials said. The debate has delayed the publication of a second major Pentagon directive on interrogations, along with a new Army interrogations manual that was largely completed months ago, military officials said. It also underscores a broader struggle among senior officials over whether to scale back detention policies that have drawn strong opposition even from close American allies. The document under discussion, known as Department of Defense Directive 23.10, would provide broad guidance from Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld; while it would not spell out specific detention and interrogation techniques, officials said, those procedures would have to conform to its standards. It would not cover the treatment of detainees held by the Central Intelligence Agency. The behind-the-scenes debate over the Pentagon directive comes more than three years after President Bush decided that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to the fight against terrorism. It mirrors a public battle between the Bush administration and Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, who is pressing a separate legislative effort to ban the "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" of any detainee in United States custody. After a 90-to-9 vote in the Senate last month in favor of Mr. McCain's amendment to a $445 billion defense spending bill, the White House moved to exempt clandestine C.I.A. activities from the provision. A House-Senate conference committee is expected to consider the issue this week....

CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons

The CIA has been hiding and interrogating some of its most important al Qaeda captives at a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe, according to U.S. and foreign officials familiar with the arrangement. The secret facility is part of a covert prison system set up by the CIA nearly four years ago that at various times has included sites in eight countries, including Thailand, Afghanistan and several democracies in Eastern Europe, as well as a small center at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, according to current and former intelligence officials and diplomats from three continents. The hidden global internment network is a central element in the CIA's unconventional war on terrorism. It depends on the cooperation of foreign intelligence services, and on keeping even basic information about the system secret from the public, foreign officials and nearly all members of Congress charged with overseeing the CIA's covert actions. The existence and locations of the facilities -- referred to as "black sites" in classified White House, CIA, Justice Department and congressional documents -- are known to only a handful of officials in the United States and, usually, only to the president and a few top intelligence officers in each host country. The CIA and the White House, citing national security concerns and the value of the program, have dissuaded Congress from demanding that the agency answer questions in open testimony about the conditions under which captives are held. Virtually nothing is known about who is kept in the facilities, what interrogation methods are employed with them, or how decisions are made about whether they should be detained or for how long....
GAO CORRESPONDENCE

Department of Energy: Preliminary Information on the Potential for Columbia River Contamination from the Hanford Site. GAO-06-77R, November 4.

http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-77R
NEWS ROUNDUP

Landowners stand up for rights Scores of North Coast and North County ranchers tromped into San Luis Obispo on Tuesday and told supervisors to keep the government's hands off their property. The ranchers brought along an L.A. lawyer to underscore their point. They warned the county Board of Supervisors to junk a plan that would regulate development on the ridges visible from Highway 1 and in the "Cayucos Fringe" -- 53 square miles of rugged canyon and ranchland north and east of Highway 1 from Morro Bay to Cambria. More than 100 people filled the often sparsely populated supervisors' chambers. Many of them said their pioneering San Luis Obispo County ancestors have owned land here since the 1800s. They complained that the ridgetop regulation plan would take away their rights in order to satisfy "the fleeting visual pleasure of the general public," as rancher Dawn Dunlap put it. They said they had worked the land for generations and wanted to pass it on to their children. They also use their property as collateral on loans, and some said the ordinance would create bankruptcies....
Cattle hunt postponed for Hilo ranchers The state has postponed open hunting of cattle in the Hilo watershed area until next week to give ranchers time to recover animals that might have trespassed in forest reserves. The Department of Land and Natural Resources had originally scheduled the eradication effort to begin tomorrow. The hunt will now start Nov. 11 and target feral and trespass cattle found above the city each weekend and state holiday through Nov. 26. The state has worked with ranchers on the Big Island to fix their fences and remove wandering cattle from state forest reserves. But the estimated 400 cows in the area that stretches north from Saddle Road and along the slopes of Mauna Kea to Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge are sufficient to warrant a public hunt, according to the department....
Wildlife Service reduces land area intended to protect frog The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reduced by more than 80 percent the habitat it originally said was needed to protect the threatened California red-legged frog, the species believed to be the inspiration for the famous Gold Rush-era tale by Mark Twain. The agency last year proposed setting aside more than 4 million acres as critical habitat for the frog, including parts of 28 of the state's 58 counties. It would have been the largest critical habitat designation in California and one of the largest in the nation. The designation released Thursday would set aside 737,912 acres in 23 counties. The Fish and Wildlife Service said updated information about the frogs' habitat needs and better maps allowed it to exclude areas such as homes and roads, reducing the area needed for protection....
Habitats May Shrink by Leaps, Bounds The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would eliminate federally protected critical habitat on 150 million acres of largely undeveloped public and private land. The Senate could act on the legislation by year's end. But even without legislative action, the Bush administration is eliminating critical-habitat designations around the country. Administration officials say that habitat protections cost landowners billions and that voluntary plans work better for landowners and wildlife. In numerous cases, Interior Secretary Gale Norton and her top deputies, citing their own cost estimates, have agreed with builders and property owners that the financial burden of habit protections outweighed any benefit to species. The frog is a case in point, they said. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a study that showed nearly $500 million in costs to homebuilders for protecting the frog's habitat....
Illegal kills dominate grizzly deaths The highest number of illegal kills in seven years accounted for nearly half the 24 grizzly bear deaths so far this year in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem. The 2005 tally of 11 illegal kills represents a continuing increase in the number of grizzly bears that are misidentified by hunters or simply shot by poachers, said Chris Servheen, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services grizzly bear recovery coordinator. The biggest problem is this illegal mortality, Servheen said, adding that his office will soon announce a substantial increase in the reward available for people who provide information leading to the arrest of those responsible for illegal kills. Servheen said this years total of known human-caused bear deaths includes the 11 that were illegally killed; seven that were destroyed by bear managers because of conflicts with people; four that died due to management handling; one killed in self-defense and one killed by a car....
Utah bear likes toothpaste Forget the honey. Bears apparently like toothpaste, and Troy Larsgard learned that the hard way. The 26-year-old Brigham Young University student was camping with his younger brother in Rock Canyon Park two weeks ago when a bear slashed through his tent and pawed at a bag containing toothpaste and other toiletries before taking a swipe at his leg. The bear was trying to reach for a bag containing the toothpaste, but couldn't get it through the mesh. After a few tries, Larsgard said the bear simply ripped through the screen window. Seemingly encouraged by the first hole, the bear made a giant swipe and created a large opening, which he climbed through, entering the tent. The bear sniffed Larsgard's brother — who was lying motionless in his sleeping bag — then turned to Larsgard, who had made a small sound as he curled up into a ball in his sleeping bag. Perhaps startled or maybe just curious, the bear swiped at Larsgard's leg. Then, for some reason, the bear seemed to lose interest in the two figures in sleeping bags and backed out of the tent....
Editorial: Now the fight is over dead trees This country's policy on dead trees is rotten. The government spends many months and millions of dollars writing salvage plans after wildfires and windstorms, and then environmental groups fight those plans until most of the trees decay and topple over. There must be a better way. Congressmen Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Brian Baird, D-Wash., on Thursday introduced legislation that generally looks like a more sensible approach to salvage logging and reforestation. Their bill would accelerate planning after fires and other catastrophes strike forests, and allow for more timely salvage of dead trees and reforestation of damaged areas. Environmental groups started attacking the Walden-Baird bill long before they read a word of the legislation. In Oregon, where the Biscuit fire and other blazes have left hundreds of thousands of acres burned, fire salvage has become one of the most bitter disputes on the national forests....
Panel gets earful about river access Under Montana law, the state owns most rivers and streams and the public can access them as long as they stay below the normal high-water mark. That means boaters can float a river and anglers can fish any stream regardless of whether it flows through public or private land. At issue Thursday was what happens when a public bridge crosses a steam. In 2000, then-Attorney General Joe Mazurek issued a formal opinion saying that when a public road crosses a stream, the public can access the stream from the bridge without ever trespassing onto private property. Attorney general decisions carry the weight of law until the Legislature enacts its own laws or a court overturns them. In this case, the Legislature has remained silent on the issue. Many people who spoke at Thursday's meeting said it's time for that to change....
Senate sends $100 billion food and farm spending bill to Bush The Senate on Thursday sent a $100 billion food and farm spending bill to President Bush that includes a two-year delay on labels telling grocery shoppers where their meat comes from. In a separate action, the Senate voted to continue allowing big farms to collect millions of dollars from the government to subsidize their operations. Approved on an 81-18 vote, the food and farm spending bill would postpone mandatory meat labeling until 2008. Originally sought by Western ranchers and required by law in 2004, country-of-origin labeling has stalled under pressure from meatpackers and supermarkets who call it a record-keeping nightmare. The measure also unravels a court ruling on whether products labeled "USDA Organic" can contain small amounts of non-organic substances. Earlier this year, an appeals court ruled that non-organic substances such as vitamins or baking powder can't be in food bearing the round, green seal. More than 200 companies and trade groups said the ingredients are processing aids needed for making organic yogurt and many other products, and congressional negotiators agreed....

===

Thursday, November 03, 2005

NEPA Task Force To Scrutinize Lawsuit Trend

The Task Force on Updating the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) will hold a hearing on NEPA Litigation: The Causes, Effects and Solutions Thursday, Nov. 10 at 10:00 a.m. in 1324 Longworth House Office Building. “Lengthy litigation has become a standard delay and obstruction tactic in the NEPA process, as we learned from witnesses throughout the past six months,” said Task Force Chairwoman Cathy McMorris (R-WA). “Agencies and communities not only face a complicated process and tough decisions, but sometimes they are met with endless litigation and troubling consequences when considering certain projects. The Task Force will evaluate the use of litigation, its impact on the NEPA process and the way it can redefine NEPA requirements.” In the course of conducting five field hearings, the Task Force members heard that litigation was the primary cause for delays as well as the best method for enforcing NEPA. It was also clear that certain groups and individuals opposed to a project will litigate, using NEPA claims, to stall or stop a project entirely. The Task Force hearing will study the causes and effects of litigation through two case studies. The first case study will focus on the 1977 lawsuit filed in New Orleans against construction of flood barriers. The second study will examine the numerous lawsuits across the West filed over the issuance of grazing permits on public lands.

===
KELO---Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2005

Hastert Applauds Passage of Private Property Rights Protection Act

House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) released the following statement after the House passed H.R. 4128, the Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2005. The bill passed 376-38. "In recent months, we have heard from thousands of constituents questioning the Kelo decision. Many of these landowners are families trying to raise their children or senior citizens who have lived in the same home most of their adult lives. Private property owners are angry and worried -- and rightly so. They don't deserve to live under a cloud of uncertainty. People own their property. Eminent domain should be rare. This legislation restores homeowner rights and protects these landowners from the whims of city officials seeking more tax revenue." Note: This summer, in a 5-4, far reaching decision, the Supreme Court ruled that local governments can take private property simply because they think someone else can put it to a more lucrative commercial development use. The case is Kelo v. City of New London.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are the key provisions of the bill as approved by the House Judiciary Committee. I do not know if it was amended on the floor.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON EMINENT DOMAIN ABUSE BY STATES.

(a) In General- No State or political subdivision of a State shall exercise its power of eminent domain, or allow the exercise of such power by any person or entity to which such power has been delegated, over property to be used for economic development or over property that is subsequently used for economic development, if that State or political subdivision receives Federal economic development funds during any fiscal year in which it does so.

(b) Ineligibility for Federal Funds- A violation of subsection (a) by a State or political subdivision shall render such State or political subdivision ineligible for any Federal economic development funds for a period of 2 fiscal years following a final judgment on the merits by a court of competent jurisdiction that such subsection has been violated, and any Federal agency charged with distributing those funds shall withhold them for such 2-year period, and any such funds distributed to such State or political subdivision shall be returned or reimbursed by such State or political subdivision to the appropriate Federal agency or authority of the Federal Government, or component thereof.

(c) Opportunity to Cure Violation- A State or political subdivision shall not be ineligible for any Federal economic development funds under subsection (b) if such State or political subdivision returns all real property the taking of which was found by a court of competent jurisdiction to have constituted a violation of subsection (a) and replaces any other property destroyed and repairs any other property damaged as a result of such violation.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON EMINENT DOMAIN ABUSE BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

The Federal Government or any authority of the Federal Government shall not exercise its power of eminent domain to be used for economic development.

SEC. 4. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.

(a) Cause of Action- Any owner of private property who suffers injury as a result of a violation of any provision of this Act may bring an action to enforce any provision of this Act in the appropriate Federal or State court, and a State shall not be immune under the eleventh amendment to the Constitution of the United States from any such action in a Federal or State court of competent jurisdiction. Any such property owner may also seek any appropriate relief through a preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order.

(b) Limitation on Bringing Action- An action brought under this Act may be brought if the property is used for economic development following the conclusion of any condemnation proceedings condemning the private property of such property owner, but shall not be brought later than seven years following the conclusion of any such proceedings and the subsequent use of such condemned property for economic development.

(c) Attorneys' Fee and Other Costs- In any action or proceeding under this Act, the court shall allow a prevailing plaintiff a reasonable attorneys' fee as part of the costs, and include expert fees as part of the attorneys' fee.

SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING RURAL AMERICA.

(a) Findings- The Congress finds the following:

(1) The founders realized the fundamental importance of property rights when they codified the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which requires that private property shall not be taken `for public use, without just compensation'.

(2) Rural lands are unique in that they are not traditionally considered high tax revenue-generating properties for State and local governments. In addition, farmland and forest land owners need to have long-term certainty regarding their property rights in order to make the investment decisions to commit land to these uses.

(3) Ownership rights in rural land are fundamental building blocks for our Nation's agriculture industry, which continues to be one of the most important economic sectors of our economy.

(4) In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in Kelo v. City of New London, abuse of eminent domain is a threat to the property rights of all private property owners, including rural land owners.

(b) Sense of Congress- It is the sense of Congress that the use of eminent domain for the purpose of economic development is a threat to agricultural and other property in rural America and that the Congress should protect the property rights of Americans, including those who reside in rural areas. Property rights are central to liberty in this country and to our economy. The use of eminent domain to take farmland and other rural property for economic development threatens liberty, rural economies, and the economy of the United States. Americans should not have to fear the government's taking their homes, farms, or businesses to give to other persons. Governments should not abuse the power of eminent domain to force rural property owners from their land in order to develop rural land into industrial and commercial property. Congress has a duty to protect the property rights of rural Americans in the face of eminent domain abuse.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For a complete copy of the bill go here and enter H.R. 4128.

===
Senate Backs Drilling in Alaska Refuge

Senate opponents to drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge failed Thursday to strip the measure from a massive budget package as supporters of exploration argued that the oil is needed to help break America of its import habit. Environmentalists, who believe strongly the refuge should continue to be off limits to oil companies to protect the area's wildlife, had acknowledged that it was a long shot to get the provision killed and now are concentrating on defeating the overall budget bill. A vote on the budget measure, which includes a myriad of spending cuts from food stamps to welfare funds, was expected later in the day. An amendment offered by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., that would have removed drilling authority for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), was defeated 51-48. She called the drilling proposal a gimmick that will have little impact on oil or gasoline prices, or U.S. energy security. Later the Senate in an 86-13 vote, required that none of the oil from ANWR can be exported. Otherwise "there is no assurance that even one drop of Alaskan oil will get to hurting Americans," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a drilling opponent who nevertheless sponsored the no- export provision. Drilling supporters, including President Bush, who has made opening the refuge a top energy priority, argued that the country needs the estimated 10.5 billion barrels of oil that lies beneath the coastal plain. The oil represents a key to improving the country's energy security, they said....

===
DUBOIS RODEO SCHOLARSHIP

I've started the fall fundraising campaign. Please help me assist these outstanding student athletes by clicking here for the donation form.

You can go here for news about the student athletes.

Thanks,

Frank DuBois

===
NEWS ROUNDUP

Conservation groups say new forest off road vehicle regulations not tough enough A national coalition of conservation interests today said the U.S. Forest Service’s new off-road vehicle regulations fail to adequately address urgent threats and pressed the agency to halt the continued creation and use of unauthorized, renegade routes in America’s forests. While welcoming the Forest Service’s recognition of the serious problem, the Natural Trails and Waters Coalition said threats from these unplanned routes made by ATVs, dirt bikes, jeeps and other off-road vehicles will not be controlled under the new regulations. Such routes damage wildlife habitat, create conflicts with other forest users, and facilitate trespass onto adjacent lands. In fact, the regulations weaken the agency’s authority granted by President Nixon’s Executive Order requiring off-road vehicle use to be "controlled and directed . . . to protect the resources of (public) lands . . . and to minimize conflicts" with other forest users, like hikers, hunters and ranchers....
Governor gets primed for water dispute A potential water dispute pitting residents of Utah's West Desert against Las Vegas water officials has gotten the attention of Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. Huntsman traveled by plane and automobile Tuesday to meet with residents of Callao, Trout Creek, Partoun and Eskdale, who oppose a proposal by the Southern Nevada Water Authority to pump groundwater from the Snake Valley just over the state line in Nevada to meet the rapidly growing water needs of Las Vegas and surrounding Clark County. Residents fear that the plan to take 25,000 acre-feet annually out of the valley and its aquifer - both of which sprawl into Utah - will deplete their water resources and dry up the area's ranch and farm lands. Because Utah's groundwater supply could be impacted by the project, the state has congressionally backed veto power over the proposal. Huntsman has taken no official position on the Southern Nevada plan, which is still early in the environmental study process. But he told a town hall-style gathering at West Desert High School that he would not approve any project that would compromise peoples' lives and livelihoods....
Governor seeks to restore "roadless-rule" protections Gov. Christine Gregoire has formally asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to revive protections for roadless national-forest land in Washington that were scrapped by the Bush administration earlier this year. Gregoire's request Wednesday is her first clear indication of how she wants to treat 2 million acres of federal land in Washington that have been untouched by roads. It allies her with environmental groups that embraced the sweeping Clinton-era "roadless rule" barring road building for logging, mining and other work on 58 million acres in national forests nationwide. But the request also is likely to set up a confrontation with the U.S. Forest Service. A similar request last week by Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski was swiftly rejected by Agriculture Undersecretary Marc Rey. Elliot Marks, an environmental adviser to Gregoire, predicted the same fate for her request....
Editorial: A roadless exercise in futility Like so many empty exercises in that irony-free zone known as American politics, the great roadless-area states-rights parade is proceeding apace toward no conceivable useful end. The current chapter in the decades-long debate over whether wilderness land on federal property should be protected from development started at the tail end of the Clinton administration, when the president signed the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule preventing the construction of roads on 58.5 million acres of federal wild lands. The move was applauded by conservationists, but they and the president and everybody else knew that the rule could be easily overturned by the incoming Republican president, George W. Bush. Sure enough, Bush did just that earlier this year, opening the land to logging, mining and other possible uses. As part of this process, the Bush administration gave governors the option to petition the Agriculture Department to recommend how roadless areas in their states should be managed. And why would the federal government want input from the states, which generally lack the money, expertise or interest to provide it, rather than from the Forest Service professionals who are supposed to be managing the land? One can only suppose that administration officials had visions of a bunch of sagebrush rebels giving their policies a political boost. Of course, it hasn’t turned out that way, especially in the several western states with Democratic governors....
Ex-Interior Deputy Testifies Lobbyist Offered Him Job The former No. 2 official at the Interior Department acknowledged to Congressional investigators on Wednesday that he had received a job offer while at the department from the lobbyist Jack Abramoff and that he had other contacts with Mr. Abramoff, the focus of a corruption inquiry. The official, former Deputy Secretary J. Steven Griles, insisted in testimony to a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee that there was nothing improper in his ties to Mr. Abramoff and that he had immediately reported the job offer, in 2003, to ethics officials in the department. It can be a crime for federal officials to open job negotiations while working for the government. Mr. Griles, who left the department to set up his lobbying firm, acknowledged the offer after being confronted by the committee chairman, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, with an e-mail message from Sept. 9, 2003, by Mr. Abramoff. In it, Mr. Abramoff told his lobbying colleagues that he had met with Mr. Griles that evening, that Mr. Griles was "ready to leave Interior and will most likely be coming to join us" and that "I expect he will be with us in 90-120 days." Despite the job offer and other e-mail messages that showed contacts between the lobbyist and Mr. Griles, the former official insisted he did not have a special relationship with Mr. Abramoff. "I don't recall intervening on behalf of Mr. Abramoff's clients ever," he said....
Bill would speed up salvage logging and tree planting after wildfires in national forests Two Northwest congressmen are preparing a bill to speed up logging dead timber and planting new trees after storms and wildfires, but environmentalists fear it will harm forests more than help them. Reps. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Brian Baird, D-Wash., were expected to introduce their Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act on Thursday in an effort to do for salvage logging what was done for forest thinning with the 2003 Healthy Forests Restoration Act: streamline environmental analyses and challenges from the public. With the size and severity of wildfires increasing, the bill demands that areas hit by fires, storms and insect infestations greater than 1,000 acres be restored quickly. It seeks to establish standardized approaches to restoring forests, taking into account differences in ecosystems, arguing that both wildlife habitat and timber production would benefit. It also promotes research....
States submit plans to keep threatened species off endangered list Utah last month submitted a wildlife action plan to the Interior Department that charts a future course for species and habitat protection and restoration. Now, so has everybody else. Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced Wednesday that wildlife agencies from all 50 states and six territories have finalized similar plans to establish a national framework for species protection. The goals: to enhance habitats, and in doing so, keep at-risk wildlife off the federally managed Endangered Species List. "We all recognize that the federal government can't do this alone; it can't conserve and protect everything that needs to be protected," Norton said during a morning news conference. "If we're going to succeed, it must be by working hand-in-hand with partners. Today, we're creating a new conservation legacy." The action plans were required by the Interior Department for states to continue receiving funds from the State Wildlife Grant Program, which has doled out $400 million for state conservation efforts since 2001. Just over $63 million will be distributed next year....
Editorial: Parks vs. profits In August, the Interior Department proposed new rules that would have defined livestock grazing and mining as legitimate uses of national parks, even those as important to this nation's heritage and tourism as Yellowstone. The rules also would have allowed liberal use of noisy, polluting off-road vehicles and snowmobiles in the parks. The plan's author, Paul Hoffman, deputy assistant Interior secretary, advocated greater use of snowmobiles in Yellowstone in his former job as director of the Chamber of Commerce in Cody, Wyo. The revised proposal removes the cows and the chickens, but it still smells of goat. It does not openly allow mining or grazing, but it would weaken standards on air quality and noise pollution in the parks. More important, it would change an important policy dating to 1918 that said conservation must take priority over recreation when there is a clash between the two. That's simply sound stewardship; without conservation, parks would become so dilapidated by overuse that there would be little left for future generations to enjoy....
Judge hears arguments in wilderness mine case State officials put Montanans’ constitutional rights at risk by granting a permit for a proposed copper and silver mine beneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, lawyers for an environmental group said in court Wednesday. Lawyers for the Montana Environmental Information Center and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality presented arguments in a case challenging a water-discharge permit granted for the Rock Creek mine, planned by Revett Minerals Inc. of Spokane, Wash. In its court case, MEIC said the mine threatens Montanans’ right to a clean and healthful environment, a right set forth in the state constitution. The organization also said DEQ’s approval of the permit violates a state law intended to control water pollution. Arsenic contamination is among the concerns, said Matt Clifford, representing MEIC. He told District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock that water discharged from the mine site would require treatment ‘‘in perpetuity,’’ to protect the environment. DEQ lawyer Claudia Massman said the agency’s issuance of a permit was based on an analysis that spanned 14 years and took into account more than 6,000 comments from the public. There is no evidence the agency acted arbitrarily, as MEIC contended, Massman said....
Minnow listed as endangered species A minnow native to the Southwest was listed Wednesday as an endangered species by federal wildlife officials. The Gila chub has been under consideration for federal protection for years and has been the subject of ongoing litigation by environmentalists, but on Wednesday the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added it to the endangered species list and designated critical habitat to help protect the fish from further decline. The chub, a small-finned dark-colored minnow, was once the most abundant fish in the Gila River drainage in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. "Over a long period of time, our activities in the Southwest have brought the decline of the chub," said Jeff Humphrey, a spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Overgrazing and the damming and diversion of waterways left the chub in only 15 percent of the habitat it historically occupied, said Humphrey. The fish, more recently hurt by drought and wildfires that sent suffocating ash into creeks and waterways, now live in only 29 isolated pockets....
BLM gets thumbs down on Missouri Breaks In a national review, the Bureau of Land Management received poor to failing grades from The Wilderness Society for its management of the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument in north-central Montana. Although the agency "strongly disagrees with the Wilderness Society study," said Celia Boddington, a Washington, D.C., BLM spokeswoman, she noted that the National Landscape Conservation System is still a work in progress. "We've come a long way and continue to move forward," she said. "We're working with national and local partners to make still further improvements to the system." The study's release came in the same week that the BLM's Lewistown field office unveiled its draft resource management plan for the Missouri Breaks, which is already drawing fire from local conservation groups....
As bear film debuts, some worry about its message The troubled life and death of bear activist Tim Treadwell finally makes its way to the silver screen in Missoula this week. The film “Grizzly Man,” directed and narrated by German filmmaker Werner Herzog opens at the Carmike 10 on Friday. But accompanying the film's Missoula debut will be a panel of bear experts concerned about the message Treadwell's behavior in the film seems to promote. “Tim's behavior makes it seem like a good idea to get up close and personal with brown bears,” said Chuck Bartlebaugh, of the Missoula-based Center for Wildlife Information. “He wanted to depict bears as this cuddly species that we could all get out there and pet. That's just so wrong.” Herzog's film depicts Treadwell as a psychologically complex figure, a former drug abuser who still suffered mental instability in his quest to “protect” bears. Treadwell was grandiose and naive in his effort to integrate his life with those of bears, but he was also a fierce advocate for the bruins. Bear experts like Bartlebaugh didn't begrudge Treadwell his sense of connection with bears and his willingness to work on their behalf, but his methods were beyond troubling. And ultimately, his methods cast his entire operation in a troubling light....
Experts Worry About Colorado River Estimates Some Colorado River experts worry a new federal process aimed at figuring out how to operate Lake Mead and Lake Powell in times of drought is being overly generous in its assumptions of how much water is available. They caution the overestimate could cause problems in the future, echoing the mistake the West's water honchos made in the early 1920s when they divided up the river's water during a time of plenty. Years after the 1922 Colorado River Compact, the document that divided the water among seven western states, officials discovered the allocation was much higher than the river's historical flow. The result was a serious water deficit that left water lawyers in the 21st century to figure out the mess....
Code of the West is the backbone of cowboy movies Last year Turner Classic Movies called inviting me to be part of a month of shows featuring old Western movies. First I declined, explaining that although I enjoyed them, I was not an authority on the subject. I suggested they try some of the veteran Western actors that were still around such as Buck Taylor or Jerry Potter. No, what they wanted was me to elaborate on what real cowboys thought of the old Western movies. I agreed to do it with the caveat that I actually knew some real cowboys. Among the observations I made were that Western movies actually put some real cowboys such as Ben Johnson, Richard Farnsworth and Slim Pickins, to work. Also it was kinda like home movies in that it is always fun to try and guess where they were filmed. If there were Saguaro cactus, it was not the Dodge City they claimed! But to me the most important part of old Westerns was that they portrayed The Code of the West, as it still exists today. In a nutshell, "doin' the right thing." Recently, James P. Owen, an investment consultant, wrote a book called, "Cowboy Ethics: What Wall Street Can Learn From the Code of the West." He boiled the cowboy ethics down to 10 principles:....

===

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

DANIEL MARTINEZ---USFS

For background on this issue go here and here.

November 1, 2005 Certified Mail#7005 1160 0003 1174 3865

Elaine Zieroth
United States Forest Service Supervisor
P.O. Box 640
Springerville, Arizona 85938

Dear Elaine Zieroth:

I received your letter of extortion today, November 1, 2005. I would be happy to pay for the damages as soon as you can provide me with the evidence:
1. That there is a condition precedent for the demand for lawful assessment.
2. You provide the document where Daniel Gabino Martinez consented to you, United States Forest Service employees and their agents to enter my private property and take chattels without compensation or a warrant.
3. Produce a COURT ORDER, obtained on notice and opportunity to be heard that authorized you to violate the law.

If the United States Forest Service, its agents cannot produce the evidence/documents, then show contrition for your crimes by returning my cattle to my property, and perhaps that will mitigate your sentences in the event you are tried and convicted of rustling, armed robbery, grand theft, breaking and entering and all the other felonies you have committed.

I would also like to point out there is a prior chattel mortgage, a prior lien hold interest in the chattels, and no one is authorized to sign off as mine or the lien holders agent in order to transfer title.

Please provide the authority to circumvent state law as it applies to property. Please provide the authority for you or the United States Forest Service to violate Federal Statutes, Arizona Statues and your charter the United States Constitution.

Respectfully,

Daniel Gabino Martinez/Victim/Arizona citizen



November 3, 2005

Donald Butler
Arizona Dept. of Agriculture
1688 W. Adams St.
Phoenix, Arizona
_________________________________
Notice to Principal is Notice to Agent
Notice to Agent is Notice to Principal
_________________________________

NOTICE OF CLAIM

Dear Don Butler:

Pursuant to ARS 13-108 Territorial Applicability you as an officer of the state of Arizona has jurisdiction in these matters. ARS 13-108 (A) (4) an omission to perform a duty imposed by the law of this state constitutes an offense. ARS 13-201 Requirements for criminal liability includes the omission to perform a duty imposed by law which the person is physically capable of performing.

Pursuant to ARS 3-1372 I am claiming my livestock branded 07 on the left hip. Brand certificate attached. Bill of Sale attached. If my livestock are not redeemed to me as per Arizona statutes, I expect full compliance to the law. I expect compliance with ARS 3-1377 and ARS 3-1372 (C) you notice it is clear “to the persons entitles there to under the judgment of the court.”

Any attempt to transport these cattle without my consent or a valid court order will be in violation of ARS 3-134. You have been noticed. ARS 13-204 Justification is not a defense. (A) Ignorance or a mistaken belief as to a matter of fact does not relieve a person of criminal liability. Any transportation of these cattle without my consent is a violation of ARS 3-1341. I have given no consent or authorization for anyone to handle my livestock as per ARS 3-1334. Let me remind you of your Oath of Office and the provision in ARS 3-1331 and Title 13 Livestock Officers…………….shall pursue and arrest on probable cause any person who violated any provision of this title or Title 13 relating to livestock.

Keep in mind since I have filed my claim and without an acknowledged bill of sale as provided by ARS 3-1291 this is prima facie evident of illegal possession as per ARS 3-1308.

Mr. Don Butler since you have been noticed you or your assigns will be liable to me the owner for damages three times the value of such animals as provided for in ARS 3-1307.

The USFS and the Daryl Binghams have intentionally driven my cattle off its range without a Court Order and without my permission. These persons are guilty of a class 5 felony as per ARS 3-1303. They are also in violation of ARS 13-1802 Theft (A)(1) controls property of another with the intent to deprive the other person of such property. (E) Theft of property or services with a value of $25,000 or more as in a class 2 Felony.

Attached for your reference is a letter dated October 28, 2005 and one dated November 1, 2005 from USFS employee Elaine Zieroth. These are clearly letter of extortion. This is in violation of ARS 13-1804 Theft by extortion. This is a class 2 felony. The sentencing guidelines for a class 2 Felony is 5 years as per ARS 13-701.

My cattle were on my property “lawfully, owned or possessed” owned in Fee, pre-emption by the Acts of Congress and the Laws and Customs of the state as defined in ARS 3-1298 (B).

If the USFS has a valid lien they may perfect the lien as required by ARS 3-1295 by filing an action in either Superior Court or Justice Court in the Jurisdiction of Greenlee County. Without a Court Order perfecting the amount of the lien any attempt to circumvent the law would be criminal.

Mr. Butler, pursuant to ARS 3-1203 I am reporting these crimes to you so that you may report them to the central investigation group to investigate these crimes.

As per the definitions in ARS 3-1201 my cattle are not strays and to call them such would be stretching one part of the ARS beyond its legislative
Intent. My cattle are on my range. These are “Range Livestock.”

Please notify me so that I can properly claim my cattle as per the law of the State of Arizona.

Respectfully,


Daniel Gabino Martinez
Santa Fe, NM 87501

===