NEWS ROUNDUP

Wyoming begins second year of test-and-slaughter program State wildlife managers captured and tested 79 adult elk for brucellosis this week, the second year of a pilot test-and-slaughter program that Wyoming hopes will reduce the prevalence of the disease. Thirteen of the elk tested positive for brucellosis and were shipped off to slaughter, according to a news release Wednesday from the state Game and Fish Department. Brucellosis is a disease that can cause pregnant elk, cattle and bison to abort their fetuses. Ranchers who worry about the elk spreading the disease to cattle support the test-and-slaughter program. But some environmentalists oppose the program, saying eliminating state elk feedgrounds would be a better way of controlling the disease....
Death of Horse Blamed on Endangered Wolf Pack A horse belonging to a Catron County, N.M., family has been killed by a pack of endangered Mexican gray wolves, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Mark Miller and his family returned to their homestead on the Diamond Creek in southwestern New Mexico about three weeks ago to find the remains of their horse. Tracks show the wolves apparently chased the horse from a pasture into a corral and killed it. Miller said his family has tried yelling at the wolves, throwing rocks and installing noisemakers, but the Aspen Pack--particularly the alpha male--continues to be problematic. Miller said personnel with the wolf reintroduction team responded quickly to the report of the horse kill, but he thinks they may be just giving the family "lip service." Elizabeth Slown, a Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman based in Albuquerque, said attempts by the team to scare the male wolf from Miller's property haven't been successful and that helicopters have searched for the wolf three times in an effort to dart it. "It hasn't worked," Slown said. "We would like to try trapping it, but we are waiting for the weather to clear up a bit. We know the wolf is a problem because hazing hasn't modified its behavior." Miller and his wife said they are concerned about their 8-year-old daughter's safety....
Column - The Wolf’s At the Door John B. Kendrick was a classic rags-to-riches western story. A penniless, half-educated, Texas orphan, he moved to Wyoming, rising in the livestock industry until by the beginning of the 20th century he was one of the region’s biggest cattleman, with nine separate ranches in two counties in Wyoming and four counties in Montana. In 1910, Kendrick was elected to the Wyoming state Senate. He became governor in 1914 and the first popularly elected U.S. Senator in 1916. He served in the Senate until 1933, when he died of a brain hemorrhage. Like other ranchers of that era, Kendrick was plagued by wolves. In 1912, Kendrick paid a trapper $10 for dead pups and $20 for killing grown wolves, according to Cynde Georgen’s biography, One Cowboy’s Dream. His records indicate he paid out about $1,000 a year—somewhere between 50 and 100 wolves annually removed from the gene pool. Yesterday, in a widely expected action, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed removing the timber wolf in the Rockies from its list of threatened and endangered species. The outcry from the cattle and sheep producing states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming when the wolf was originally reintroduced was shrill. The reaction to the “delisting” proposal is nearly as shrill, though spread a little more evenly among the population....
Group wants Prairie Dog Day to take groundhog's place It's time for Punxsutawney Phil to share his moment in the sun - or shadow. A nuisance to many ranchers, the prairie dog would be widely honored if one group has its way. At least that's the goal of a Denver-based conservation group that wants to make Feb. 2 a celebration of the groundhog's smaller, Western kin, the prairie dog. So far, the Forest Guardians group has persuaded four communities - including Boulder, Colo., and Sante Fe, N.M. - to designate Feb. 2 as Prairie Dog Day. An official with the group says it hopes to spread the idea across the West. "Not Nebraska this year, but maybe next year," said Lauren McCain, desert and grasslands coordinator for Forest Guardians, a group dedicated to conservation of forests and threatened and endangered species. But what the group calls a "new twist" on the Groundhog Day tradition is viewed as totally twisted by many ranchers and horse owners, who cuss prairie dogs like a cockleburr in a cowboy boot. "Most people you call around here will tell you they're a nuisance," said Mike Roumpf, a horse owner and city council member in Crawford, in far northwest Nebraska. "Guys come up here to shoot them," Roumpf said. "They don't shoot groundhogs." He predicted that Crawford wouldn't jump aboard the Prairie Dog Day bandwagon. That doesn't faze the Forest Guardians, which has offices in Sante Fe and Denver. McCain said the main goal of a Prairie Dog Day is to celebrate the critter's role as an icon of the West....
Busting five myths about our car-happy culture How much of the United States is developed? Twenty-five percent? Fifty? Seventy-five? How about 5.4 percent? That's the Census Bureau's figure. And even much of that is not exactly crowded: The bureau says that an area is "developed" when it has 30 or more people per square mile. But most people do live in developed areas, so it's easy to get the impression that humans have trampled nature. One need only take a cross-country flight and look down, however, to realize that our nation is mostly open space. And there are signs that Mother Nature is gaining ground. After furious tree chopping during America's early years, forests have made a comeback. The U.S. Forest Service notes the "total area of forests has been fairly stable since about 1920." Agricultural innovations have a lot to do with this. Farmers can raise more on less land. Yes, American houses are getting bigger. From 1970 to 2000, the average size ballooned from 1,500 square feet to 2,260. But this hardly means we're gobbling up ever more land. U.S. homeowners are using land more efficiently. Between 1970 and 2000, the average lot size shrank from 14,000 square feet to 10,000. In truth, housing in this country takes up less space than most people realize. If the nation were divided into four-person households and each household had an acre, everyone would fit in an area half the size of Texas. The United States is not coming anywhere close to becoming an "Asphalt Nation," to use the title of a book by Jane Holtz Kay....
Grijalva to head National Parks subcommittee U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva D-Ariz., was named chairman of the National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee of the Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday. This is Grijalva's first chairmanship since his election to Congress in 2002. The subcommittee handles matters concerning the Bureau of Land Management, National Wilderness Preservation System, U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service. His first order of business was to introduce a bill to expand the boundaries of Saguaro National Park.... You will recall that Mr. Grijalva is the primary sponsor of the grazing buyout legislation. Do you reckon Jimmy Bason will be lobbying him?
Natural gas project set to move into moose habitat Drilling rigs soon will move into moose habitat on the Grand Mesa National Forest near Vega Reservoir, and the U.S. Forest Service wants to hear public opinion about the project. Beginning late this year, Laramie Energy plans to drill 32 natural gas wells on five well pads near Hightower Mountain on Grand Mesa and construct 3.5 miles of gas lines and a compressor station. The wells will be spaced 40 acres apart. The company plans to develop leases it purchased during a Bureau of Land Management lease sale last year, but its plans must be approved by forest officials before construction can begin. The Forest Service is not looking for public comment about whether the project should move forward; rather, it seeks comment about the placement of the wells and how the project will impact the land, said Niccole Mortenson....
Burst pipe causes oil spill near condor sanctuary About 200 to 300 gallons of oil were spilled in the Los Padres National Forest on Tuesday and ran into a nearby creek, the Bureau of Land Management said Wednesday. It happened in the Sespe Oil Field when a pipe containing a mixture of groundwater and oil burst, said BLM spokesman David Christy. The mixture was about 90 percent groundwater. The oil field is on private land within the forest's boundaries, north of Fillmore. The spill made its way about two miles down Tar Creek, Christy said. An oily sheen on the water due to natural seepage of oil and tar into the water made it difficult to determine if the oil made it farther downstream, he said. Tar Creek runs along the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, but the oil is not believed to have reached that far downstream....
Column - Declining park visits: Good news, or ominous? The number of visitors to many national parks in Utah and around the country is dropping. According to a recent article by The Los Angeles Times' Julie Cart, overnight stays in national parks fell 20 percent between 1995 and 2005, and tent and backcountry camping dropped 24 percent during the same period. The Federal Parks and Recreation newsletter reported visitation decreased 1.9 percent from 2005 to 2006. But the numbers were actually worse. An extra 2.1 million who attended the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. were counted in 2006, but not in 2005. In Utah, park visitation fell 1.8 percent in 2005. Bryce Canyon and Hovenweep both experienced a 17 percent decline. The decreases raise issues for those of us here in Utah who love national parks, as well as for gateway-community residents and gear manufacturers relying heavily on the money park visitors generate. From a purely selfish standpoint, I view the decline favorably. Increased visitation can detract from the experience. Many parks, trails and campgrounds have reached their "people capacity," and resources were becoming damaged. There are many reasons for the decline....
Rey says new forest worker business model planned A top Bush administration forestry official announced Wednesday the Forest Service will try a new business model for contract work in federal forests to help prevent worker abuse and encourage investment in rural communities. Mark Rey, Agriculture Department undersecretary for natural resources and the environment, said test programs are planned this year for three national forests — the Colville in Washington state, Shasta Trinity in Northern California, and the Allegheny in Pennsylvania. The goal is to make forest management projects into long-term projects stretching over 10 years to allow contractors to invest in equipment and training for workers, and to allow them to build stronger ties to the community, Rey and other federal officials said. "What we're trying to do with this new business model is see if we can respond to some of the problems that the current contracting system creates in terms of making it more difficult for local communities to participate," Rey said. Bids for work such as reforestation or forest thinning projects typically cover only one year and rely heavily on the lowest bidder — too often a "fly-by-night" or unscrupulous contractor who abuses immigrant workers mostly from Mexico, Rey and other officials said at a public hearing on forest worker conditions at the University of Oregon....
Geothermal Energy Controversy In Central Oregon The reason the hot water exists is because Newberry sits on top of millions of dollars worth of high-value pumice and geothermal energy. The popular recreational area where I sat that night is the focus of one of Oregon’s most controversial Measure 37 claims and the West’s future of sustainable energy resources. Several companies, most specifically the Portland-based LPP Resources, which owns some of the Newberry property, have plans to build a geothermal power plant on the west flank of the crater. These kinds of power plants use heat and steam from the earth’s core to crank turbines and generate electricity. The upside is the plants work without all the emissions associated with coal energy. The downside is they are often located in remote and scenic areas - such as the case with Newberry, one of only three national monuments in Oregon. In addition to the power plant, James Miller, a general partner with LPP Resources, and his company have drawn up plans to construct a large scale pumice mine and 100 homes inside the monument. All told, the partnership values the developments at $203 million. Basically the question we’re dealing with here is what’s more important, taking advantage of a natural, efficient power supply or conserving the beauty of a state treasure? It’s a question with passionate support on each side. Let’s take a look at some of the facts....
Government has a new plan for fire season With wildfires burning a hole in the U.S. Forest Service budget, the federal government has a new plan for the 2007 fire season. And already officials are anticipating cries of concern from Western governors and municipal leaders. "It's going to make them very nervous. It's a very sensitive political issue," Mark Rey, under-secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment, told reporters after outlining the plan to Western senators at a Senate Energy Committee hearing led by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a Silver City Democrat, on Tuesday. Instead of allocating resources among nine fire regions, the plan calls for a single commander over Forest Service smoke jumpers, Hotshot crews, planes and helicopters. Assets will be moved more often from state to state to meet predicted threats, Rey said. The new plan comes at a time of increasing alarm in Congress over the cost to the federal budget of fighting wildfires, which last year burned almost 9.9 million acres. The cost has tripled since 1999, up to a record $2 billion last year on fire suppression alone, said Bingaman. At the current trend, Congress could have to find an additional $900 million by this summer's end, he warned....
Coyote traps catch wolves In recent years as wolf populations have expanded, the number of incidents of wolves caught in coyote traps has increased. On many occasions, the wolves can be released without major injury. But there have been a few wolf deaths. For example, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service euthanized an old female wolf in the LaBarge area last week. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf recovery leader Mike Jimenez said he was notified by a coyote trapper on a private ranch west of LaBarge that a wolf had been caught in a coyote trap, but had broken away, taking the trap and its drag chain with it. The landowner had seen two wolves together in the area, Jimenez reported. He entered the area and tracked the two wolves, following the trail where the wolf would get the chain tangled and stuck, then break free and once again be on the move. Jimenez finally located the wolf with the trap, and because of damage to the animal’s leg, put the wolf down. The second wolf remains in the area....
Nez Perce Tribe welcomes delisting of Idaho wolves Officials with the Nez Perce Tribe in northern Idaho say they support the federal government's plans to remove wolves from the list of protected animals, and attribute much of the success of wolves in the state to the tribe's wolf management efforts. "Wolves are such a highly regarded species historically to our people," Rebecca Miles, chairwoman of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee, told The Lewiston Tribune. "It's a huge accomplishment by all the parties. We know it is time for delisting. In spite of any debate elsewhere, the tribe is very supportive of that effort." The Interior Department on Monday said it would like to remove about 1,200 wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming from the endangered and threatened list within a year, making state and tribal governments responsible for keeping their numbers at healthy levels. "The Nez Perce Tribe has been leading wolf management efforts from about the first time we put wolves back into north central Idaho, and they have been doing an outstanding job," said Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at Billings, Mont....
Wild pigs march on California Using computer-aided mapping and records of hunting tags, a scientist supported by the University of California Exotic/Invasive Pests and Diseases Research Program has calculated how far wild pigs have expanded their range in California to encourage using alternative methods to control their spread. Wild pigs have long been considered a threat to native species and especially native plants in California. But what has been irritating is moving toward threatening as the wild pigs encroach on less-wild locations. “Unless we find better ways to manage wild pigs, California will risk losing many of its unique plants and animals,” says Rick Sweitzer, a wildlife ecologist at the University of North Dakota. “Equally important, agricultural losses might become enormously costly if wastes from wild pigs spread into croplands.” Mr. Sweitzer and his research team compiled a database of more than 70,000 wild pig harvest locations, which they used to determine the pace of range expansion by the species in California over the last 13 years. Preliminary results indicate they expanded their range by more than 7,000 square miles between 1992 and 2004....
Fish agency considers petition to remove or kill sea lions The federal government will consider a petition by three states to remove or kill troublesome sea lions in order to protect endangered salmon and steelhead headed upriver through Bonneville Dam to Columbia and Snake river spawning grounds. The action applies to fish protected by the federal Endangered Species Act, which includes about a dozen Columbia and Snake river fish populations, Brian Gorman, spokesman for the NOAA Fisheries Service, said Tuesday. A decision to remove or kill the sea lions, he said, likely will be a year or more away. The Marine Mammal Protection Act, established in 1972, protects California sea lions and many other species, although the sea lions are far from endangered. Accepting the application starts a process that will set up a task force and request public comment on the petition from Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Fishermen contend the sea lions, who gather at the base of the dam as salmon head upriver, eat too many of the fish and reduce the available catch....
Case pits bald eagle against sacred rites Winslow Friday needed a bald eagle. A sacred Northern Arapaho Indian religious ceremony was approaching, and Friday needed an eagle's wing, plume and feathers to perform his part of an ancient ritual Sun Dance so that his prayers would be carried up to God. So Friday went out with his rifle one day in March 2005 and shot one of the rare birds as it soared above the sprawling Wind River Indian Reservation in western Wyoming. In killing the eagle, Friday believed, he was answering a higher calling and fulfilling a solemn religious duty. But he also was breaking the law - a strict federal statute intended to safeguard the nation's symbolic bird that bars anyone from even touching a bald eagle feather without explicit government permission. Friday's own uncle, a wildlife officer on the reservation, reported the shooting to federal officials, and Friday soon was arrested and charged with violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, a crime punishable by up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. Now, as Friday's case makes its way through the courts - possibly on its way to the U.S. Supreme Court - it has become a closely watched test of the federal government's ability to balance two sharply conflicting obligations: the congressional mandate to protect a fragile national symbol, and the constitutional requirement to protect a fragile Native American way of life....
Bald eagle flies out of peril The bald eagle, America's signature bird, is likely to be removed from the endangered species list within two weeks, after one of the most successful conservation efforts in history. But the delisting itself isn't the result of direct action by environmentalists. The eagle is about to leave the federal nest because of a lawsuit by the conservative, Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation, a nonprofit law firm that has waged war against environmental regulation. Former President Clinton first promised to delist it in 1999, with a bald eagle at his side during a White House ceremony. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service never followed through, claiming the bird's wide-ranging nature and diverse habitats complicated planning for the status change. So the Pacific Legal Foundation agreed to represent Edmund Contoski, a Minnesota property owner who claims he was prevented from subdividing a lakefront parcel because bald eagles nested in the trees. The foundation sued in 2005, hoping to force delisting. In August 2006, a federal judge agreed with Schiff and Contoski, ordering the government to rule on the eagle's status by Feb. 16. Most observers expect the decision will be to delist the eagle. Environmental groups support that. The eagle's numbers for 2006, still estimates, indicate there are 9,350 breeding pairs in the lower 48 states, a dramatic improvement from about 417 in 1963....
Lawsuits threaten traditional outdoor activities Sportsmen and women, and the many activities they enjoy, continue to be targets of anti-hunting, anti-trapping and anti-fishing groups. The tactics used by many of these groups have changed in recent years, with less emphasis on public demonstrations and more on creating havoc through frivolous lawsuits. One such lawsuit was filed last fall against the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife concerning the status of the Canada Lynx. The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation, affiliated with the U.S Sportsmen’s Alliance, filed to represent sportsmen in Maine in this precedent-setting lawsuit brought by animal activists to derail hunting, fishing and trapping for abundant game wherever endangered or threatened species exist. In October 2006, the animal rights group sued to expand endangered and threatened species protections to healthy and abundant wildlife populations. "Our goal is to prevent the animal rights movement from manipulating the Endangered Species Act to ban hunting, fishing and trapping," said Rob Sexton, USSAF vice president for government affairs. "The case could set a precedent that affects the future of hunting, fishing and trapping and how they are used as wildlife management tools."....
Polar bears put Alaska oil development at risk Until now, the Alaskan oil industry and polar bears have coexisted peacefully, but proposals by the U.S. government to list polar bears as endangered by global warming have cast a shadow on oil development on Alaska's North Slope. Until now, the Alaskan oil industry and polar bears have coexisted peacefully, but proposals by the U.S. government to list polar bears as endangered by global warming have cast a shadow on oil development on Alaska's North Slope. A "threatened" listing for the struggling bears, proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, could bring new regulatory hurdles for future exploration and drilling, industry advocates say. Listing the bears as threatened "has the potential to damage Alaska's and the nation's economy without any benefit to polar bear numbers or their habitat," Gov. Sarah Palin wrote in a letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne that argued against the listing and its protections....
Beefy Security Last week Charles Benbrook, chief scientist at the Organic Center in Oregon, told farmers gathered at Asilomar that the key to preventing another deadly E. coli outbreak is not more self-imposed regulation, but collaboration with livestock owners. “I don’t believe farmers and food processors in California can solve this alone,” Benbrook told the audience at the 27th annual Eco-Farm Conference. “Part of the solution is going to entail changing how cattle are managed when they exist in and around important fruit and vegetable growing areas.” It’s an idea that has taken hold in the Salinas Valley in the months since last fall’s outbreak, amid much confusion and with mixed popularity. Lou Calcagno, county supervisor and owner of Moonglow Dairy in Moss Landing, says in the last two or three months many Salinas Valley cattlemen have voluntarily removed animals from confined areas near productive ag land. “I’m getting very disappointed and angry with this situation and the way it’s being handled,” says Soledad rancher Clem Albertoni, who recently sold 15 roping steers and horses that had been corralled near the fields after hearing that regulations were on the way barring confined cattle operations near crops....
Calves, cows continue dying We're getting a clearer picture of what our winter weather's doing to ranchers and cattle east of the I-25 corridor. The farther southeast you go, the more disturbing the picture gets. In the very southeast corner of our state, cattle are big business in Baca County. It's calving season right now, but County Commissioners say they're getting reports from some ranchers that 50 percent of the calves that are born are dying. The arctic cold and snow is too much for them. Rancher Bill Brooks says he's lost about 25 calves in the past couple of weeks. "That's twice what we normally lose in the whole year for all the cows, so we're just getting started and we got 200 to go," he says. A lot of ranchers say they're spending five times more than usual on feed this year. Rancher Leroy Haddock said he usually has enough hay and feed for his cows, but this year he's frequently driving 200 miles to Pueblo to buy feed. "I went to Pueblo yesterday, got a load of feed, cost me $100 a day to feed my animals right now 'cause all of our pastures are under 2 feet of snow," he says....
Cattle dispute continues Canadian cattle at a Swift packing plant in Nebraska were delivered directly from Canada, not by a South Dakota livestock producer, a U.S. Department of Agriculture investigation has determined. Federal law requires Canadian cattle to be shipped only in sealed trucks to feedlots or slaughterhouses. However, the South Dakota cattleman involved believes some cattle he bought at livestock auctions in the state came from Canada. The USDA investigation started after the Swift plant informed Jan Vandyke of Wessington Springs that it was withholding payment for seven head of cattle he sold to the packer in November. Vandyke then contacted the USDA, state ag officials, livestock groups and politicians to see what had happened and how he could be paid for the cattle. A USDA official said Wednesday that the investigation revealed that the Canadian cattle were never at Vandyke's operation. Instead, the investigation showed the cattle in question were shipped directly to the plant from Manitoba, Canada, as is allowed by law. The USDA was able to use import documents to determine that the animals entered the United States legally, the ag department spokesman said. But Vandyke said he's sure the cattle were in his yard. He said he remembers seeing the distinct ear tags. Vandyke said his family members also remember the eartags. "I have unanswered questions galore," Vandyke said....
USDA Announces Farm Bill Plan The opening salvo of the Farm Bill battle was fired by USDA on Wednesday as it presented a wide ranging plan for the 2007 Farm Bill. While the recommendations are simply proposals for Congress to consider, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns said these ideas were based on farmer input from listening sessions held across the nation. Most of the recommendations are restructuring of current programs and not totally new initiatives. The Secretary said that the message he heard over and over from farmers that they like the way the current Farm Bill was structured. Critics of the administration plan said USDA is simply rearranging the deck chairs to hide the fact they are cutting funding from farm programs. The more than 65 proposals correspond to the 2002 Farm Bill titles with additional special focus areas, including specialty crops, beginning farmers and ranchers, and socially disadvantaged producers.... Go here for the USDA info packet.
Plans under way for endurance ride on Santa Fe Trail For the past year, the 62-year-old retired real estate developer and his wife, Beverly, have been putting together The Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race. It starts Sept. 3 in Santa Fe, N.M. and ends Sept. 15 in Missouri, broken down into 10 rides of about 50 miles a day over 515 miles. Phillips got the idea after hearing the story of Francis X. Aubry, a trader who in 1848 made a $1,000 bet that he could traverse the trail from Santa Fe to its start in Independence, Mo., in six days. He took five days and 16 hours to cover the 800-mile route that normally took a month and established a record that stands to this day. "When I heard that story, I thought we've got to do something about the Santa Fe Trail and get the world excited about it again," Phillips said. The riders will cover the sweeping landscape of open prairies and rolling plains that greeted travelers heading west with trade goods or in search of a better place to live. "It will always be near to what we consider the trail. We're in real close proximity and I doubt we'll spend a night on land that wasn't camped on by people in covered wagons," Phillips said. The trail opened in 1821 when Missouri trader William Becknell became the first to use it to haul goods by mule train to Santa Fe, then part of Mexico....
It’s The Pitts - Bumper To Bumper He promised her a life of travel and culture, of meeting interesting people and constant companionship. So here she was behind the wheel of an eighteen wheeler stuck in Denver traffic while her "sleeping bag" was sawing logs in the sleeper. She had a South Dakota address, her home on wheels was a Kenworth and her only constant companion was the trailer in her mirrors. The only people this gear-jamming-mama ever met were at the truck stop or on the C.B. The only culture she was exposed to was if they happened to stop at a TCBY for some yogurt. Her hobby was reading, not books, but billboards and bumper stickers. Stuck in the stop-and-go traffic she had read all the classics. The commuters wore their feelings on their car bumpers. She pulled on the air horn as a car passed with a sticker that read, Honk If You Love Jesus. Then she got embarrassed when another car passed with a bumper that crudely said, Honk If You Are Horny. A four-wheel drive pickup passed that was Insured by Smith and Wesson. A patriotic bumper simply stated The Marines Could Use A Few Good Men. The lady trucker muttered to herself, "Couldn't we all?"....