Monday, March 07, 2011

Ironwood Monument will be 1st test of policy

A new policy from U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's office will make it easier for authorities to protect remote, primitive lands containing some wilderness qualities. The first place in Arizona that might get such protection is the Ironwood Forest National Monument, where many saguaros and ironwood trees have lived for hundreds of years about 25 miles northwest of Tucson. But unlike the Pusch Ridge and Mount Wrightson wildernesses north and south of Tucson, such lands in the Ironwood Monument won't be officially called "wilderness." They would be called "wild lands." Salazar's new policy tells the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to consider giving that moniker to areas with appropriate wilderness characteristics. They wouldn't get all the protections of wilderness areas set aside by Congress, where most motorized and some non-motorized vehicles are banned. But they would be eligible for more protection than they have now. Environmentalists in Arizona have identified more than 2 million acres of BLM lands that they believe should be eligible for protection under this policy. They include more than 35,000 acres in Ironwood Monument and more than 100,000 acres in the Sonoran Desert National Monument between Tucson and Phoenix. They want to remove off-road vehicles from as much of this land as possible on the grounds that the vehicles are too noisy and destructive. "This isn't about grabbing new wilderness areas,"said Matt Skroch, director of the Arizona Wilderness Coalition. "It's about protecting wilderness characteristics. It gives BLM management the flexibility to ensure that these areas have opportunities for solitude and non-motorized recreation. Ironwood Monument is where Salazar's new policy will get its first Arizona test, because it's enmeshed in a lengthy process to prepare a new management plan...more

National Forests: a battle over mapping roads and trails

A 2005 Bush administration law, called the Travel Management Rule, mandated that the U.S. Forest Service determine which of its roads were legal for public use, and publish Motor Vehicle Use Maps. Before that, thousands of miles of roads and trails in the national forests hadn’t been well-defined; the chaotic mix of fire, mining, logging and private roads, ORV trails, user-created two-tracks, and even ad hoc racetracks were mostly open for use unless specifically designated as closed. The new rule reversed that logic, allowing driving only on newly designated routes. Now, however, activists are finding that many user-created trails and roads that were meant to be temporary are turning up on the maps. But removing them from the maps has been unpopular with off-road-vehicle enthusiasts, hunters and others who want more motorized access. Roads in the National Forests have been a hot-button issue since President Richard Nixon ordered the management of ORV traffic on public lands in 1972, and jumped to center stage in 2001 with rules keeping public lands roadless where possible. The process of analyzing the existing roads in the forests and putting them on maps is now about 68% done, Steadman said, citing USFS reports. The process is expected to be done by the end of 2011. However, the procedures for getting public comment and making changes to these maps varies by Forest Service district, leading to frustration among activists...more

Rivals of Gila Forest Plan Speak Out

Here is the video report from KOB-TV.

Wolves find few friends at the Capitol

As the Legislature moves into the second half of the session, the gray wolf is proving to be one creature with few friends in the Capitol. Lawmakers are advancing a slate of bills that call for decreasing protections for the gray wolf, while Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer encouraged ranchers and state agents last month to kill wolves in defiance of the federal Endangered Species Act. This year's bills against wolf protection underscore a long time Montana frustration with the animals. The majority of the Legislature, as well as the livestock and wool industry, say the wolves have recovered beyond expectations and prey on lucrative livestock and fragile elk populations. Some conservationists and biologists on the other hand, say the animals still need protection to survive and could be driven toward extermination if state officials have their way. Suggestive of the general animosity toward wolves inside the state Capitol, a resolution urging their removal from the federal endangered species list passed the House with 99 of 100 votes. One of the most aggressive measures against wolves calls for Montana to reject federal authority over the species and start curbing the population regardless of their endangered status...more

Former wolf hunter turns advocate in new book

Biologists have documented just a couple of dozen wolves that live in eastern Oregon. Nevertheless, the Legislature is considering four bills this session to control them. One state senator e-mailed his Klamath Falls constituents last week that these "vicious, imported predators" killed two pregnant cows outside Enterprise in "the most cruel way imaginable. These sadistic creatures," wrote Sen. Doug Whitsett, R-Klamath Falls, need to be confronted. He introduced two of the bills "before we are forced to take up arms to protect our communities and our children." Cattlemen call them Canadian gray wolves who don't belong here. Suzanne Stone of Defenders of Wildlife counters such animosity, saying that three of the bills would upend the 2010 Oregon wolf plan, a broad compromise reached last fall between cattlemen, wool growers, hunters and conservationists on how to manage wolves until they are no longer listed as endangered. "The hardest part of wolf management," she says, "is people." So it takes a big man who would stand between the two sides to explain the astonishing biology and sociology unleashed when wolves were returned to the American West. At 6-foot-6, Carter Niemeyer arrives in Portland just in time to elaborate. The author of "Wolfer, A Memoir" is an unlikely guide, an Iowa farm boy who spent most of his career as the federal government's hit man against predators...more

Another case of Mad Cow discovered in Canada

Yet another Canadian cow with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) has been detected. The cow was a dairy cow, nearly six and a half years old. It is 19th confirmed case of mad cow disease in Canada’s cattle herd since the first case in 2003. The cow would have been born in 2004 and infected with BSE either in 2004 or 2005, noted U.S. beef cattle advocates with the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund. The age of the infected cow shows that the BSE agent was circulating in Canada’s feed system long after the U.S. Department of Agriculture declared that Canada had its BSE problem under control, R-CALF said. The cow is the 12th BSE-positive animal to meet USDA’s age requirement for export to the United States under a November 2007 rule, R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard said. The USDA allows the U.S. to import cattle from Canada that are over 30 months of age, as long as such cattle were born after March 1, 1999...more

Beef Industry Carves a Course

Colorado native Jen Johnson loved raising cattle and eating steak, a lifestyle some of her friends at Princeton University found a bit hard to swallow. Ms. Johnson tried winning them over with sheer enthusiasm. But she soon realized she needed help persuading her salad-nibbling sorority sisters to order steaks. So she went back to school to get her MBA—Masters of Beef Advocacy. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association, which represents beef producers, launched the MBA two years ago. The course trains ranchers, feedlot operators, butchers, chefs—anyone, really, who loves a good, thick rib-eye—in the fine art of promoting and defending red meat. Nearly 2,000 graduates have completed the program. The cattlemen aim to train at least 20,000 more, in the hope of building a forceful counterweight to the animal-rights advocates who denounce beef production as inhumane, and the vegetarian activists who reject beef consumption as unhealthy. The advocacy effort comes at a tough time for the beef industry. Beef consumption in the U.S. plunged from a high of 94 pounds a person in 1976 to less than 62 pounds in 2009, according to the American Meat Institute, a trade group representing beef processors. School districts across the country have adopted "Meatless Mondays" and are dishing out bean burritos in lieu of burgers. And this winter, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued new dietary guidelines advising consumers to replace some of the meat in their diet with seafood. Meanwhile, veggie evangelists at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have turned heads with ever-more-racy campaigns, including sending models clad only in strategically placed leaves of lettuce to hand out tofu hot dogs on street corners nationwide. PETA says its tactics work. Last year, the nonprofit fielded 850,000 requests for "vegetarian starter kits" packed with recipes like Tofu Tamale Pie and testimonials from celebrity supporters like actress Natalie Portman...more

Branding: Part work, part play, all chaos

With the sun struggling to break through the thick overcast hovering above the Salsipuedes Ranch near Jalama Beach on a recent morning, cowhands readied horses and equipment as hundreds of nervous calves and their mothers mooed and moaned in a nearby paddock. The Buellton-based Williams family, a long-time mainstay in the Central Coast’s ranching community, met with friends and relatives for a day of cattle branding — a ranching tradition that is part work, part social gathering and 100 percent controlled chaos. “We want experienced people out here working with us, because this can be dangerous work,” said Jerry Williams. “Our biggest thing is safety, especially for the people working on the ground with the calves.” Armed with large needles, cowgirls injected each secured calf with vaccines and wormer. The team quickly castrated each bull calf, then applied an ear tag and the Williams’ brand with lightning fast speed before the slackening the ropes and allowing the calf to spring back up in search of its mother. The entire process lasted a minute and a half or less for each animal...more

The 'Iron Horse' Comes to San Juan

Throughout most of the 19th century, San Juan Capistrano remained a quiet, little town, fairly isolated, even from Los Angeles and San Diego. This began to change in 1887, when the California Central Railroad began constructing a route from Santa Ana to Oceanside. The tracks were the final piece of California’s coastal rail network and would usher in a world of change for San Juan Capistrano. The railroad in general became the symbol of the technological feats produced by the 19th-century industrial age. In 1869, upon the completion of the first transcontinental railroad, travel and transport from coast to coast was reduced to just eight days. The far more dangerous cross-continent voyages on overland stagecoaches, taking weeks to complete, suddenly became a thing of the past. Every small town the railroad passed through became drastically altered, and San Juan Capistrano was no different. Vast new markets became accessible to San Juan farmers and ranchers. No longer were they forced to slowly move their products by wagon to buyers in the north or south, or only use trading ships to get the goods delivered to far-off markets. The railroad made its products available to virtually anywhere in the United States...more

Song Of The Day #522

It's Swingin' Monday on Ranch Radio and we've got an uptempo tune by the Willis Brothers: Gonna Swing Till The Rope Breaks.

Fighting back: To avoid falling victim of a vicious drug war, some resort to taking up arms

NUEVO CASAS GRANDES, Mexico -- On the ranch lands near the U.S. border, people no longer take security for granted and have turned to weapons to stave off drug thugs. Teachers, ranchers, town officials, business owners and lawyers in rural towns of northwest Chihuahua near New Mexico have armed themselves. Legal or not, they are ready to use their guns for protection. In a country caught in the clutches of a vicious drug war, people have decided it's better to fight than to fall victim to the violence, which has claimed about 35,000 people nationally. It is estimated that 15.5 million weapons -- including small-caliber handguns, shotguns and semiautomatic rifles -- are owned by residents of Mexico while the army and the police have just under 1 million weapons at their disposal, according to a organization in Australia that tracks weapons worldwide. Fed up with chronic violence, some Mexican residents might be ready to push their government to make weapons more easily available. Life in areas southwest of Juárez has been cruel in the past two years. Besides slayings, a string of extortions, kidnappings and armed invasions of businesses and homes have taken them by surprise, many said. Fearful, these residents said they can't just sit and watch while criminals attack callously. Guns are necessary, they said. It is a reality that Alex LeBaron, a state representative in northwestern Chihuahua, wants the government to confront. Domestic gun laws have remained a taboo subject among Mexican politicians for decades. LeBaron believes times have changed, and he wants Mexico to revisit gun politics. "The right to bear arms is an important matter we shouldn't be afraid to discuss," LeBaron said. "People are armed in their homes. This is not a secret." The eight municipalities LeBaron represents surround Juárez and have been hit hard by cartel violence. "People won't allow more kidnappings," he said. "They are determined to defend themselves."...more

Sunday, March 06, 2011

Cowgirl Sass & Savvy

Ropers --Keeping priorities in line
by Julie Carter

"There's just one thing that keeps him from being the best cowboy ever - he's worthless."

That quote from John Erikson covers a lot of things, not just cowboys. However, as usual, my story heads down that trail.

Troy is cowboy, a roper, a contractor, husband, father, grandfather and a horse trader. 

The trader qualities likely negate the credibility of the others and the stated order is probably not in proper priority according to Troy. However, the story will set that straight.

This week Troy has four good rope horses. They come and go. Sometimes he's afoot and has to borrow horses to rope on. 

When he will finally, actually buy a horse for his own use, some fool will come along and offer him big bucks and it's gone.

He is the quirky kind of roper/horseman -- one that can make any plug look like a winner. People buy his horses because they think that the horse will make them as good a roper as Troy.

When Troy is afoot and needy for a horse to rope on, he gets pitifully melancholy. 

He'd been to a benefit roping over the weekend and it set his mind to thinking perhaps he needed such a roping for himself.

The roper benefiting from the roping had an appendectomy. He was a truck driver, working for a big company and had health insurance, but was having trouble meeting the $500 deductible because he had to save his money for entry fees.

He also needed some time off to recuperate. He was running out of sick leave and didn't want to use any of his vacation days. He needed those for ropings come summer.

The "benefit" package of such a roping was looking good to Troy.

His personal pity party included the recall of all his most recent woes.

He'd spent a couple days sitting around a distant hospital waiting on a grandbaby's arrival. Once that happened, his wife gave him permission to go home. 

He hit the ranch gate at in full anticipation of fun. He went directly to gather up his horses, get them saddled and head over to this local benefit roping. 

As he led the horses to the trailer, he noticed one of them was limping. A close examination revealed he needed to call the horseshoer. 

So he headed back to the house to use the phone and simultaneously remembered he was supposed to be watching his other two grandchildren who had been dropped off just as he arrived.

He called his father-in-law to come get the kids, called the horseshoer and then went back out to the barn. 

When he got there, his hired hand yelled at him that water was "coming out of the house."

He remembered that he had to gather clothes for the kids anyway, so he went back to the house.
He found massive amounts of water gushing out of a wall. 

Quickly taking the siding and the insulation off, he found that the pipes that had been frozen earlier in the week, were now thawing and broken.

Recognizing that the repair was going to be a major job, he shut off all the water to the house. After all, the wife was still off with the new grandbaby business, what did he need water for?

Eventually, the father-in-law showed up and Troy had to shortcut him from going into the house.
He got the clothes gathered up for the kids, the horseshoer arrived and did his thing and finally, Troy left for the roping. 

There was a nice big buckle to be won and Troy took it as part of his plunder for the day. He roped all day long, rode down his two good horses and only came out $16 in the hole. Success is relative. 

What sealed the deal for is desire for a personal benefit roping was when Troy greeted another roper he knew.

"Hey man, haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been?"

"Aw, I've been working three days a week," was the pitiful reply from the accomplished #8 roper.

"Three days? How's that working for you?" Troy asked.

"Well, had to go to three, two didn't work out, I couldn't pay my bills."

Julie can be reached for comment at jcarter@tularosa.net

Wilmeth's West


Lessons learned
The Etiquette of the Hat
The Gospel according to Nana
By Stephen L. Wilmeth


     There had been a table reserved to place the hats.  At first glance, there may not have been any obvious order, but there was.  There was not a hat touching.  The majority of them were placed there on their crowns.  Another number were placed on the edge of the table with the fronts extended over the edge suspended.  Others were placed at the back of the table on their crowns, but tipped up with the fronts supported against the wall.
    Inside the chapel, Lee’s funeral service was in progress.  Friends and neighbors were gathered to pay their respects.  The men sat there in their starched white shirts, a distinct sun line on their brow, and clasped hands in their laps.
     If there was a time for a lesson in social science, it was there at that place.  It should have been started with an analysis at the table of hats.  It could have continued outside after the final amen when the families gathered to talk.  The hats were all back in place protecting heads from the sun.  Lee would have been no different.  Glad to be back outside, he would have shaken hands and hugged like everybody else.
     To the beginning        
     To the children of the ‘50s, most view that decade with increasing fondness.  We had no idea how tidy our world was.  It wasn’t necessarily innocent, but it was controlled around our edges.  We had mentors who could and would influence our lives.
    So many things in the modern world are no longer bound by rules or boundaries.  There were still rules then and they were enforced.  A sense of right and wrong prevailed.  It was a time that manners were expected.  Hats were part of that broad category of social etiquette.
    The lessons start
     Long before those little cowboys knew what they had on their heads, they were attached variously to their elders.  Grandparents were most influential.  The big outside was the domain of granddads where little cowboys could ride stick horses or the big gentle kid horse that would stand all day long in the shade saddled for any bank heist getaway that might happen to take place. 
    Hats, and boots, and imaginary .30-.30s were all part of it.  Old corrals, dirt and sun, hay bales, and ditch banks were there for fighting bad men of all shades and sizes.  It was a rough and tumble world where real men acted first and then thought about the consequences.  That was not the case at the house.
    The house was the domain of grandmothers.  “You may act uncivilized out there with your grandfather, but you sure aren’t going to do that here!” was the constant reminder.  “Take that hat off in this house and go wash your hands and face!” was the first order.  “And, I better not find that hand towel dirty!  Use the soap!” was the second, and, constant, threat.  We were broken much like any colt to the rules that existed inside the house. 
     Those in an environment of consistency and good hands responded like colts, too.  The hammer didn’t have to fall very hard if good manners were followed by clear and consistent cues.  I still remember visions of cousins and friends around those dinner tables.  There we sat with flushed faces from scrubbing.  Our hair was combed and we waited somewhat patiently for the order to start.  We were on our way to being civilized. 
     Beyond the door
     Those lessons of grandmothers were extended to all houses.  We were expected to act civilized each and every time we walked into any house.  In the case of my trainer, my maternal grandmother, gentlemen took their hats off when he entered any dwelling with doors, electricity (or propane), and people. 
     “I don’t care what those other boys do.  They are not civilized,” was her approach to the issue.   “You, take your hat off!”
    Later, she reminded me of extended etiquette.  Take your hat off when you meet a lady for the first time.  At least tip your hat thereafter, but taking it off when greeting a known or unknown lady was still the best practice.  Courtesy was always important to her and she tried her best to make it important to me.
    Dances, pool halls, ball games were no different to her.  “Take your hat off!”
    The reality, though, things got complicated and there was and is a gradient of allowance.  When you were with your granddad things were usually different.  Sitting in the back room with my granddad and Blackie Amberson watching them drink a little something, I wore my hat just like they did. 
     Generally, if you were in the presence of a group of men with their hats on, you were expected to wear yours.  It elevated your presence in a fraternity of your future peers.
     From Orthodoxy to Heathenism
     In the days of the first half of the 20th Century, the rural West was dominated by a hat culture.  It was in those days that the influences of grandmothers altered the etiquette standards of the hat.  If you went to most dances, you checked your hat at the door. 
    Likewise, alcohol wasn’t allowed in the hall.  If you were going to imbibe, the proper thing to do was to go outside.  In fact, if you were going to do anything that bordered on my grandmother’s interpretation of uncivilized, you went outside. 
     A gradient of protocol was loosely bound into the structure of the gathering.  The gradient ran from standards of acceptable behavior inside, strict orthodoxy, to various actions of questionable behavior outside. 
     “If you want to act like a heathen you just go out there with the rest of those heathens!” was her interpretation.  She was tough and she made her point loud and clear.  If you strayed off the straight and narrow, you paid dearly for it, but she laid the foundation for behavior that will be honored forever.  Her standards of acceptable and unacceptable extended to all facets of life and most things beyond wearing a hat.  Her hat lessons, though, were foundational.
     The Dilemma of Today
     Most of our world today is not dominated by hats.  A whole different view of our world is now the norm.  One of the most profound reminders is to visit most land grant universities.  What used to be hat schools are no longer that way.  The once domination of hats is visibly reduced.
     Likewise, what used to be agriculture dominated influences on our politics and regional identity is changing.  We all know what has happened and those of us who maintain a strict sense of our surroundings have some decisions to make.  Do we adjust our responses based upon the actions of the heathens outside or do we adjust our responses based upon the orthodoxy in the hall?
     The answer is that our actions will be a blend of the two . . . just like it has always been.  When we attend those functions that elevate our lives onto a community stage, we must applaud those who are willing to wear their hats with less than full confidence to that one time a year event.  We must remind them that they, just like us, are part of this community and we thank them for their participation. 
     Likewise, there will be times when we might wear our hats into a setting that may need a reminder of our presence.  For that particular event it might be appropriate to conditionally disregard those foundational teachings that remain imbedded in us.  We must, however, know when it appropriate and when it is not.
     The old rock
    Not long ago, my wife and I attended a 50th anniversary.  The setting was rural and gray heads were represented in abundance.  As a result, the standards of the old time dances were partially in play.  I say partially because the hall was configured with one side open to the outside and the result was a blend of outside and in. 
    The dilemma of old and new was also in play with folks who were willing to attend that once a year event where wearing a hat symbolized honor to folks with cow heritage.  The matter was cleared up for those who recognized something they witnessed.  It was offered by an older fellow who I did not know. 
     I watched him walk in from outside.  He left his hat on until he reached the point he bent over to greet a seated lady.  He then removed his hat, and he asked her to dance.  They moved onto the dance floor, and, there, took up a proper dance position.  At that point, he continued to hold his hat in his right hand behind the lady’s left shoulder.  Across the floor they flowed to the waltz. Round and round they danced with him leading her with artistry and fluid grace. 
     When the song was over he walked her back to her chair with her hand on this elevated left wrist while he continued to hold his hat in his right hand.  He bowed to her as she sat down and obviously thanked her for the dance.  He turned, put his hat on, and walked into the waning light where he stood just outside the hall.
     From time to time he would return to dance floor with various ladies and each time he acted similarly.  It was interesting watching the other folks.  Many older fellows reacted to his simple reminder of courtesy.  They responded and honored a time gone by when such simplicity was the norm.
     My grandmother would have approved.  She would have reminded me how it looked, and how folks responded.
    I can still hear what she would have said.  “Wear your hats, gentlemen . . . wear them proudly with confidence . . . but wear them with the grace and dignity that they represent to your heritage and to those who came before you . . . simply wearing a hat doesn’t make you a cowboy.”

Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico.  “Leona Moss Rice, my Nana, taught me two things that I remember each and every time I do them.  The first is to clean the ring out of the tub and the second is to endeavor never to offend someone with how I wear my hat.  Perhaps the whole world would be better off to learn those two simple acts . . . maybe so.” 


THE WESTERNER says:

As a fresh graduate of NMSU in 1973 I was hired by the New Mexico Dept. of Agriculture as a Weights & Measures Inspector.

Each summer the inspectors would load 2,000 lbs. of weights in a pickup truck and check livestock scales all over the state.  At least most had pickups.  Some supervisor decided vans would be more economical, and being a new hire I was the “lucky” one who got to field test the van.  I can testify they were gutless wonders when it came to backing up to a livestock scale.

On this particular day I was on a dirt road north of Clayton, NM.  I had read about “blue northers” but had never experienced one.  I saw a few clouds building and then suddenly I was in the damndest snow/sleet/wind storm you ever saw.  Figuring only a fool would continue to head on into this, I decided to back up to place where there was a ranch gate and turn around.

The road was already muddy, the van was meandering, the weights shifted to the right side of the van and I was stuck in the bar ditch.  The gutless wonder was going nowhere.

I looked at my maps and there was a ranch house listed two miles north.  I’d had just enough experience to know that just because there was a ranch house listed didn’t mean anyone lived there.  I had passed a house about 5 miles back and had seen a vehicle there, so decided to walk out and headed south.  Hadn’t got very far and one side of me was frozen, the other side completely dry;  it was getting dark and I decided I’d better spend the night in that wonderful van.

At dawn the next morning I headed south.  My suitcase was in the van, so I had on several shirts and put t-shirts under my hat and stuffed in the back of my shirts.

Finally reached the ranch house, an elderly lady answered the door and I explained my predicament and asked if I could use her phone.

She invited me in, I called my boss, told him where I was and offered a very calm and concise opinion of the van. 

While we were waiting for help to arrive the lady fixed me breakfast. Before I finished eating the elderly woman asked, “Young man, do you know why I let you in this house?”  I set my fork down and thought here’s an elderly lady living alone and miles from any neighbor. I suddenly realized what I must have looked like standing there on the porch.

“Now that I think about it, I really don’t know why you let me in” I replied.

And she said, “Because when I opened the door,  you removed your hat and I knew you were a gentleman.”

Sure glad I was raised right, or I’d probably still be wandering about somewhere between Clayton and the Colorado line.







  

Pearce decries Gila trail closures plan at Silver City rally

More than 700 New Mexicans from around the state packed the Grant County Business and Convention Center on Saturday at a rally opposing a U.S. Forest Service plan to close some roads and trails in the Gila Wilderness. U.S. Congressman Steve Pearce, who was the featured speaker at the event organized by Keep Our Forest Open, said the road closure proposal is just a continuation of the federal government's "War on the West." Pearce said the plan was part of a larger assault by the federal government on Western lands and values. "This is a war on our lifestyles, quality of life, our history and our culture," Pearce said, adding that the U.S. Forest Service was overstepping its legal powers and its proposal is unconstitutional. "We're talking about human justice and what is right and what is wrong." Those who spoke at the rally included officials from Grant, Do-a Ana, Luna, Catron and Sierra counties. Most pushed the point that the federal government was overstepping its bounds and infringing on the rights of the American people. The Rev. Mike Skidmore, chairman of the board of directors for Keep Our Forest Open, said those attending the event needed to get organized like the environmental groups. "The problem is, unlike the environmentalists, we have jobs," Skidmore said. "They get to sit around and get their government grants while the rest of us are working."...more

Budget Dramatically Increases Spending for Government Land Acquisition

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 3, 2011 - Today, at a House Natural Resources Committee Hearing on the Department of the Interior’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget proposal, Interior Secretary Salazar said: “The 2012 budget reflects many difficult budget choices, cutting worthy programs and advancing efforts to shrink Federal spending...by eliminating and reducing lower priority programs...”     There might be something wrong with the calculators over at the Interior Department because the President’s budget actually INCREASES spending or maintains funding levels for numerous programs that Americans simply cannot afford during these tough economic times.
    For example, the President’s budget more than doubles funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), from $346.1 million in FY ’08 to $900 million in FY ’12 (see chart below). The primary purpose of the LWCF is to purchase more federal land at a time when we cannot afford to maintain the lands the government already owns. There is currently a maintenance backlog on federal lands that measures in the billions of dollars. The government has a responsibility to maintain and care for areas before acquiring more land.
    “America has a debt that is costing jobs and putting future generations at risk,” said Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings. “There need to be priorities and we must question if spending more money on a program is worth further indebting ourselves and our children to foreign countries. While many proposals are worthwhile objectives, the harsh reality is that our nation is broke and we have to take an objective look at what we can truly afford.” 

Where exactly are the “efforts to shrink federal spending”?


Contact: Jill Strait, Spencer Pederson or Crystal Feldman 202-226-9019

Song Of The Day #521

Ranch Radio's Gospel tune today is Jesus Wept by Hank Snow.

Saturday, March 05, 2011

OVER 700 PACK CONVENTION CENTER TO URGE FOREST SERVICE TO KEEP ROADS OPEN

Office of Congressman Steve Pearce
Serving New Mexico’s Second Congressional District

Contact: Eric Layer, Press Secretary                                                  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tel. 575-517-7382
Email: eric.layer@mail.house.gov

OVER 700 PACK CONVENTION CENTER TO URGE FOREST SERVICE TO KEEP ROADS OPEN
Congressman Steve Pearce Promises to Speak Out Alongside New Mexicans

Silver City, NM (March 5, 2011) Today, an estimated 750 New Mexicans rallied at the Grant County Business and Convention Center in Silver City, New Mexico to oppose the Forest Service’s proposal to close roads in the Gila National Forest.

The rally was organized by the Reverend Mike Skidmore of Truth or Consequences, who has established an organization called “Keep Our Forest Open” to oppose the closures.  Skidmore said he has taken his children, grandchildren, and members of his congregation into the Gila for years, and is upset that the Forest Service plan could jeopardize his ability to do so in the future.

Congressman Steve Pearce has heard an outcry from New Mexicans in opposition to the proposed closings, and said he wanted to lend his support to the effort to make sure that his constituents’ voices are being heard.

"I'm here today for all of those who have spoken out before, but haven't been listened to. I'm here for all the elderly, the disabled, the families...all those who would lose access to their favorite places to spend time with loved ones. I'm here today for all the forgotten men and women who go to work, and pay their taxes, and quietly go about their lives.  And the reverberations from all the hundreds of you here today will be heard all the way to Washington."

Pearce emphasized the importance of conservation and of preserving the state’s treasures.  He also argued that enjoyment of those treasures is a freedom that must be preserved for everyone.

The Forest Service’s public comment period for the issue ends Monday.  New Mexicans are strongly encouraged to voice their concerns before the deadline.

Supporters of road closures rallied Friday


Supporters of a plan to close some roads in the Gila National Forest say it's a good compromise. About 100 backers of the forest's travel management plan gathered Friday in downtown Silver City. Many are avid hunters, backpackers and hikers. The plan would limit vehicles to designated roads and trails and restrict vehicle camping to areas along the sides of roads or near them. New Mexico congressman Steve Pearce was behind the "Keep Our Forests Open" rally Saturday protesting the forest's proposal that will close some roads but still leave more than 3,000 miles of roads open. The Silver City Sun-News reports that the comment period on the plan ends Monday at midnight. Forest Service officials say they hope to reach a decision by May or June. AP

Friday, March 04, 2011

Southern New Mexicans to Rally to Keep Gila Roads Open

Congressman Steve Pearce Expected to Attend, Along With Hundreds of New Mexicans>

Hundreds of New Mexicans are expected to rally in Silver City on Saturday, March 5th against the U.S. Forest Service’s plans to close access roads inside the Gila Forest. The rally will begin at 12:00 noon at the Silver City Convention Center, which is located at the intersection of East Highway 180 and 32nd street.

“This is the time to come together and say, ‘enough is enough’”, Congressman Steve Pearce told about 100 residents of Truth or Consequences Thursday night. “It is time for the Forest Service to keep those roads open to the public. This is about an attempt to take away another of our freedoms as Americans.”

The meeting in Truth or Consequences Thursday night was organized by the new group, “Keep Our Forest Open.”  It was created by individuals that have voiced frustration over the Forest Service’s proposed Travel Management Plan, which calls for thousands of miles of roads inside the Gila to be closed.

“Can we count on you to be at the rally March 5th in Silver City?” Reverend Mike Skidmore asked at the meeting.  Nearly every hand was raised. “We’re just regular people leading everyday lives, but it’s time for folks like us to rise up and let our voice be heard,” said Skidmore.  “We are against the Forest Service taking away our access, and we need to let them know it.”

Congressman Pearce is expected to be one of several speakers at the rally in Silver City. The “Keep Our Forest Open” organization said it is working with other organizations that use the forest, including ATV users, hunting and gun clubs, Tea Party activists, and other concerned citizens. All are planning to rally March 5th in Silver City, just two days before the deadline set by the Forest Service for public comments to be made on the issue.

“I see everyday people getting energized and motivated to get involved when their freedoms are being threatened such as with the proposed road closures,” Pearce said. “It is amazing what can happen when citizens want freedom.  These organizations in New Mexico are gathering momentum, and I anticipate the Forest Service will hear the voices of freedom at the March 5th rally.”

###

Environmental activist convicted for making false bids on energy leases

A federal jury in Salt Lake City on Thursday convicted a 29-year-old environmental activist of two felonies for bidding for public lands being auctioned off to energy companies by the George W. Bush administration. Tim DeChristopher won bids in December 2008 totaling $1.79 million for more than 22,000 acres near Arches and Canyonlands national parks that the administration was offering to lease for oil and gas exploration. DeChristopher did not have the money, and he has said he bid in an attempt to delay or block the energy leases — or at least to drive the prices up. Prosecutors charged him with making false statements and violating the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act. He could face up to 10 years in prison. "I'm as prepared as I can be" for prison, DeChristopher said after the verdict. He said he was not surprised that the Obama administration pursued the case against him. "I can't point to many examples where they've sided with future generations over corporate interests," he said...more

Michael Blake And Wild Horse Advocates Petition To Impeach BLM Director

Wild horse advocates call for the impeachment of federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) director Bob Abbey, based on a little-known—and rarely used—provision in the Rules of the House of Representatives (Jefferson's Manual, Section LIII, 603) which states that citizens may initiate impeachment charges against "Officers of the United States" through a petition referred to as a "memorial." Vivian Grant, president of the Int'l Fund for Horses (IFH), joins with Oscar-winning screenwriter Michael Blake (Dances With Wolves), alleging the BLM under Abbey's watch has violated the Free-Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971, resulting in fraudulent use of public funds. "I believe crimes are being committed against our wild horses and burros," states Grant, "Crimes that must be prosecuted and responsible federal officials removed." "After the first Thanksgiving, Indians began to be destroyed," explains Michael Blake. "In addition to many others, the American Government allowed millions of Wolves and Buffalo to be executed. For more than a hundred years millions of Wild Horses have been devastated forever...all for money. Stopping the incessant removal of life on this small planet could provide humanity with a chance to maintain existence. Stop the killing now!"...more

Environmental groups ask judge to bar vehicle routes

Five environmental groups are asking a federal judge to bar 500 miles of expanded motor vehicle routes in the Pike and San Isabel National Forests. Groups are the Quiet Use Coalition of Salida, the national Wilderness Society, the Wildlands CPR of Montana, the Center for Native Ecosystems of Denver and the Great Old Broads for Wilderness of Durango. They jointly sued the U.S. Forest Service Jan. 31 in U.S. District Court in Denver. They allege Jerri Marr, supervisor of the two forests, violated several federal laws by approving, from 2007 through last year, expanded motor vehicle routes in the forests. The lawsuit asserts expansion authorizes "motor vehicle travel on approximately 500 miles of routes that have never been designated" as part of the transportation system of the forests. "As a result, the impacts of motorized vehicle use along these routes has never been considered in a National Environmental Policy Act analysis or Endangered Species Act consultation," which the lawsuit claims is required by those laws. The lawsuit asks for a court order known as an injunction to bar the forest service from initiating expansion on routes that have never had an analysis under the Environmental Policy Act or a consultation under the species act. The five groups claim expanded routes for motorized vehicles damage forests, wildlife, plants, water quality and recreation in numerous ways...more

Judge shuts down some Jarbidge grazing allotments

Six local cattle producers must now organize rapid roundups to move their herds off public land. On Monday, following a five-year reprieve, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill reasserted his 2005 ruling prohibiting grazing on some of the land in the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Jarbidge Field Office. Monday’s ruling suspends grazing on 17 of 28 contested allotments, including three near China Mountain. In 2005, Winmill agreed with the Western Watersheds Project that the BLM violated federal law in reissuing the 28 permits. He elected to prohibit grazing because “irreparable harm warranted an injunction.” Rather than kicking ranchers off the land, Winmill allowed the parties to negotiate. Agreements were reached on 11 allotments to allow grazing. After three months, the parties reached a temporary settlement, which Winmill approved, allowing continued grazing on the remaining 17 allotments until a new Jarbidge management plan could be published in 2009. The BLM has since operated using an interim plan that was extended to 2010 since the management plan was not completed on time. Vander Voet said the permanent management plan won’t be done until 2012; he’s just begun to review 1,200 pages of comments on the draft. Once the plan is finalized, permit approvals can take up to three years, pushing the date to 2015, far later than allowed in the settlement. The BLM requested that the settlement be extended, but Winmill refused. “Because there is no agreement on the (grazing plans) beyond 2010, the (plans) cease to exist, and the Court’s remedy — the injunction — takes over,” Winmill wrote...more

Some are misusing the Wilderness Act

I've read and reread the Wilderness Act, and for the life of me, I can't see where it prevents two wilderness shelters from being replaced in Olympic National Park or a fire lookout in Glacier Peak Wilderness from being restored. Yet the shelters are rotting away and the Green Mountain Lookout may be torn down if a group of environmental nuts from Wilderness Watch prevail in their suit against the Forest Service. The shelters at Low Divide and Home Sweet Home, built long before the Wilderness Act, are old news. Destroyed by snows and age, they were rebuilt outside the wilderness area of the park according to historic plans by Olympic National Park workers and were scheduled to be flown, piece-by-piece, to their original locations. But a lawsuit claimed the helicopters that would tote the shelter parts would violate the Wilderness Act. Now the new shelters are rotting away somewhere and the matter is forgotten. Not so with the Green Mountain Lookout, which was restored partly with original pieces from the historic lookout, using hundreds of hours of volunteer work. The lookout on the west side of Glacier Peak Wilderness was built in the 1930s by Civilian Conservation Corps workers and was on the National Register of Historic Places. The severe winter of 2002 and flooding the following year ended restoration efforts until last year, when a state recreation grant helped the Forest Service and volunteers rebuild the lookout. That caught the attention of the Wilderness Watch, a Montana-based group that claims to be one of the great defenders of our wild places as defined by the Wilderness Act. What a crock. It's groups like Wilderness Watch that give environmentalists a bad name...more

Better get used to it. Local wilderness groups sell their legislative proposals by saying "but you can do this and you can do that" in Wilderness areas. After the law is enacted Wilderness Watch comes along and says"oh no you can't."

NM Gov. Martinez is elected Vice-Chair of Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus

Members of the Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus gathered with industry leaders at a reception on Saturday in the nation’s capitol and announced Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour and Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer as Co-Chairs and Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe and New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez as Vice-Chairs. The bipartisan Governors Sportsmen's Caucus (GSC), a group of sitting governors committed to protecting and promoting the interests and agenda of sportsmen and women now has 17 participating Governors. The caucus is charged with educating GSC member offices on public policy issues of importance to sportsmen; providing a conduit for hunting and fishing organizations to work with GSC member offices in support of pro-sportsmen’s policies and regulations; and developing a coordinated resource base for sportsmen’s policy issues addressed by the states...Press Release

Raccoons Chasing People From DC Metro Station

WASHINGTON - It's not unruly teens or broken escalators at one D.C. Metro stop that’s keeping people away. According to one rider, it’s raccoons! Lisa Campbell says there's a family of raccoons chasing passengers as they enter and exit the Fort Totten Station on Galloway Street in northeast D.C. Lisa says she has even spotted a raccoon inside the station near the ticket machine and that Metro has posted a sign asking people not to feed the raccoons reports Fox News.

Maybe they're not as high on wildlife in DC as they claim. Now if it was a family of wolves...

Forest chief takes heat on timber sales

The Chief of the U.S. Forest Service defended its plan today (March 3) to reduce the number of ten-year timber sales in Southeast Alaska. Tom Tidwell appeared before the Senate Energy Committee to explain the President’s budget requests for next year. He admitted to Senator Lisa Murkowski that if the goal is to sustain communities in Southeast, things must change. Murkowski is upset because in 2008 the Forest Service promised to have four decade-long timber sales in the Tongass National Forest, of up to 200 million board feet each. But now instead it wants to convert two of those sales to what are called “stewardship” contracts, and only offer half the board-feet in small parcels. Murkowski asked Tidwell what happened to the commitment made by his agency. The director says the goal is to make sure timber harvests go forward. But Murkowski says the second largest remaining mill in Southeast just closed and now only has six employees, and the only large mill left is, in her words, desperately worried about its timber supply. “You say that the trend is improving, going from 600 employees to six is not a trend I want to see. Recognizing that we’ve got one remaining large mill, the second largest timber-related construction company is gone. So to me these are not trends I want to continue. I want to take it back the other way,” Murkowski says...more

USDA Economic Action Program

Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) issued its weekly spending cut alert aimed at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Action Program (EAP). Its elimination would save taxpayers $5 million in 2011 and $25 million over five years.Originally established under the Forest Service’s dubious mission of helping rural communities take advantage of natural resources, the EAP has become an annual source of pork. Its funding, which is controlled entirely by Congress, has been heavily earmarked (often anonymously) and wasted on tasks clearly outside the Forest Service’s mission. It provided $10,000 to Washington’s Pacific County Water Music Festival in 1997, and has funded wastewater treatment studies, community centers, and manufacturing facilities, mostly in the Pacific Northwest.A March 1, 2011 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that federal economic development programs are duplicative and wasteful. The GAO identified $6.5 billion in funding for 80 separate economic development programs at the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, and the Small Business Administration, 46 of which may be addressing overlapping issues or populations. According to the GAO, USDA manages 31 economic development programs and lacks “quality data on program outcomes.” The GAO has repeatedly advocated consolidation of development programs, but USDA has “taken only limited steps to fully address GAO’s concerns.”...more

But the R's could only find $61 billion in cuts and they're getting ready to negotiate part of that away. 

U.S., Mexico Agree to Settle Truck Feud

The U.S. and Mexico unveiled a deal Thursday to resolve a longstanding dispute over cross-border trucking, an agreement that could help ease tense relations between the two neighbors. The deal seeks to end a nearly 20-year ban on Mexican trucks crossing the U.S. border, a violation of the North American Free Trade Agreement that subjected $2.4 billion of U.S. goods annually to punitive tariffs by Mexico. Half of the tariffs will be suspended when the deal is signed by both nations, expected in about 60 days. The remainder will be lifted when the first Mexican hauler complies with a series of U.S. certification requirements, including English-language, drug and safety tests. The new requirements for Mexican trucks are tougher than those established in Nafta and somewhat tougher than those currently in force for American truckers. Specifically, Mexican trucks will have to carry electronic recorders to ensure they do only cross-border, not domestic, runs and to track compliance with U.S. hours-of-service laws. Nonetheless, the agreement appears to be a setback for U.S. labor unions, which have backed the ban in its various incarnations...more

Bill intended to crack down on rustlers, trespassers wins Oklahoma House approval

Hunters and neighboring ranchers and farmers may have to get the owner’s permission to go on private land and retrieve hunting dogs, wounded prey or livestock if a proposal becomes law. The House of Representatives passed a measure Thursday that would delete language from existing law that allows people to go on private property to fetch livestock or other animals. Rep. Wade Rousselot, author of House Bill 1249, said the measure is intended to crack down on cattle rustling. “This legislation will make it a whole lot better for the DA to prosecute,” Rousselot said. “We’re addressing people that are using the law to come onto your property to steal things or to tear things up.” The measure passed 80-11 in the House. It now goes to the Senate. With a 500-pound steer bringing about $700, rustlers are finding it worth the risk to steal a trailer or truckload of cattle, said Rousselot, D-Wagoner. A common ruse is for a rustler to bring a cow onto land where cattle are kept and start rounding up the cattle into a truck or trailer, Rousselot said. If a law officer stops by to inquire, the rustler can say he’s trying to retrieve the cow. Rousselot said most neighboring farmers and ranchers have standing agreements to go on each other’s land to round up stray cattle...more

Food Prices Reach Record High

World food prices rose 2.2% in February from the previous month to a record peak, the United Nations' food body said Thursday, as it warned that volatility in oil markets could push prices even higher. The Food and Agriculture Organization price index rose by 2.2%—the eighth consecutive rise since June—to an average of 236 points last month, the highest record in real and nominal terms since the agency started monitoring prices in 1990. Global cereal supplies are also expected to tighten sharply this year due low stock levels, the FAO said. The body raised its estimate for world cereal production in 2010 by eight million metric tons from its December estimate to 2.2 billion tons but said it expects that to be outpaced by an 18 million-ton increase in world consumption. But while the world isn't yet facing a food crisis, the secretary of the FAO's Intergovernmental Group on Grains, Abdolreza Abbassian, said the recent rise in Brent oil prices to above $120 a barrel could create the same potent mix of factors that pushed grain prices to record highs three years ago...more

Court says fence law complaint should be heard

A lawsuit by a Blanchard horse rancher who challenged North Dakota's century-old fence law has been revived by an appeals court. A federal judge threw out the complaint by La Verne Koenig, who was convicted by a jury of allowing livestock to run at large because authorities say he failed to maintain a legal fence. He was ordered to pay $5,400 for injuries allegedly inflicted on a neighbor's horse by one of Koenig's horses. Koenig raised several issues, including a claim that a creek and ditch on his property qualified as a legal fence. The 8th U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that several of Koenig's claims should be heard in federal court. AP

Scratchin' my head wondering how a lawsuit over a state fence law wound up in federal court.

Ranchers, guides ask lawmakers for immunity from legal action

An Assembly committee was told today that ranchers, guides and rodeo operators should be granted immunity from a lawsuit if an individual is injured while riding on a horse through no fault of the employee. Assemblyman Peter Goicoechea, a rancher from Eureka, told the Assembly Judiciary Committee there should be protection from frivolous suits, but the rancher or guide should be held liable if he or she was negligent. Bill Bradley, a Reno lawyer, said Assembly Bill 140 creates immunity and that an individual couldn't sue. He said a judge and a jury should decide if the act was negligent. Goicoechea, a Republican, and Bradley both said they couldn't think of any such suits in which an inexperienced rider was bucked off a horse. There were also arguments over whether spectators who were injured by a horse during a parade would be barred from filing suit. Bradley said the bill would grant immunity for owners to be personally responsible in such hypothetical cases. Ranchers, farmers and guides said their insurance rates have gone up without such protection, which is afforded in 46 other states...more

Cattlemen claim a better weigh

A pair of father-and-son ranchers say they have a better method of weighing cattle that avoids the stress of forcing animals onto a scale. Joey Spicola Sr. and his son, Joey Jr., are the inventors of ClicRweight, a device that looks like a tablet computer with an accompanying stylus that allows users to determine a cow’s weight simply by pointing and clicking. The patent-pending technology was presented recently to the Gulf Coast Venture Forum. Based in an office on North Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa, ClickRweight is designed and made by technical professionals who seek to simplify the cattle-weighing process by using algorithms and 3-D modeling. The device, accurate within a few pounds of a conventional scale, reduces the time it takes to weigh a herd from days to minutes, the elder Spicola says. So far, the device is getting the attention of various cattlemen across the country, including country music stars David and Howard Bellamy, who own a ranch in Pasco County. link

Song Of The Day #521

Ranch Radio will conclude this weeks visit to the 60s with a foursome: Hank Williams Jr. from a 1968 album - It's All Over But The Crying, Jimmy Dean from a 1961 album - I Won't Go Hunting With You Jake, Charlie Walker from a 1965 album - Close All The Honky Tonks, and Mel Tillis from a 1966 album - Walk On Boy.






Thursday, March 03, 2011

Video - Does BLM have statutory authority to prioritize "Wild Lands" over other multiple uses?

This is from Monday's hearing before the House Natural Resources committee. BLM Director Bob Abbey testifying, Committee Chairman Doc Hastings asking the questions.

'Wild Lands' Policy Would Allow Limited Development, BLM Chief Says

The Bureau of Land Management will consider allowing limited development in areas designated for wilderness protections, the agency director said in an interview yesterday. "Wild lands" could accommodate rangeland improvements, wildlife-habitat enhancements or mountain biking as long as those activities don't impair wilderness characteristics, BLM Director Bob Abbey said. "As long as it's not impacting the wilderness characteristics out there and wild lands, then that can continue," Abbey told Greenwire after a nearly five-hour hearing on the wilderness policy before the House Natural Resources Committee. While widespread concerns persist in the West that the Obama administration will use the policy to lock up public lands, BLM issued a final guidance Friday that suggests the agency intends to be flexible in its wild lands management. "A wider range of actions and activities may be allowed in Wild Lands than can occur in Wilderness," a BLM manual says. For example, rangeland improvements could include construction of limited fencing or water catchment facilities for ranchers and include limited vehicle use typically banned in designated wilderness areas, Abbey said. Mountain biking is also typically off limits in formal wilderness areas but could be allowed on wild lands, he said...more

Government to decide soon on offshore permits

The Obama administration will comply with a federal judge's order and decide later this month whether to approve a batch of deep-water drilling permits that have been stalled for months, even though the government may appeal the ruling, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday. At issue is U.S. District Court Judge Martin Feldman's Feb. 17 decision giving the government 30 days to decide whether to grant permits for five proposed drilling projects, in response to a challenge by Ensco, a drilling contractor whose rigs would be used for the work. On Tuesday, Feldman said the mid-February ruling also applied to two drilling applications submitted by Houston-based ATP Oil & Gas Corp. "The judge in this particular case, in my view, is wrong, and we will argue the case," Salazar told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "I don't believe the court has the jurisdiction to basically tell the Department of Interior what my administrative responsibilities are." Salazar later told reporters he was "examining our options in terms of an appeal." If they challenge Feldman's order, Obama administration officials would be fighting a potentially precedent-setting ruling that they say chips away at the Interior Department's authority. But no matter what happens in court, the government will comply with the court order "and make a decision, up or down," on the permit applications within the time limit, said Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes...more

Steve Forbes Blasts Obama's 'Anti-Energy Policies'

With gas prices spiraling ever higher, former GOP presidential candidate and Forbes Magazine Publisher Steve Forbes slammed the Obama administration’s reluctance to drill for oil on Wednesday, accusing the administration of having “anti-energy policies.” Forbes said Congress should rake administration officials “over the coals” on the oil-exploration issue. Republicans have been increasingly critical in recent weeks that the need to drill safely in pristine Gulf of Mexico waters must be balanced with America’s economic and energy needs — an issue that grows more salient with each hike in gasoline prices at the pump. “The Interior secretary is blocking these things, not allowing the permits to go forward,” Forbes said Wednesday morning on Fox News. “So even though the [drilling] moratorium since that terrible spill last summer has been removed, the fact of the matter is permits have been frozen. “So in effect the moratorium is continuing. That’s an administration decision. And when [Interior] Secretary [Ken] Salazar goes before Congress in testimony, I hope the Congress rakes him over the coals on it, and asks him, ‘What in the world do you think you’re doing?’” Also today, Forbes said in an Op-Ed piece for Politico that, "By freezing U.S. energy assets in the Gulf and keeping 97 percent of our offshore oil and gas off limits, our government, willing or not, is fueling an energy crisis that could bring this nation to its knees. Continued inaction in the Gulf threatens to force us to import an extra 88 million barrels of oil per year by 2016, at a cost of $8 billion."...more

Interior chief to Congress: Want faster drilling permits? Show us the money

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday that accelerating the pace of offshore oil drilling permit approvals will be heavily dependent on receiving more funding. The department is asking Congress for a major cash infusion for offshore oil-and-gas oversight, in part to substantially increase the staff for reviewing permits at a time when Interior is requiring drillers to meet toughened safety standards. Asked by a reporter when the pace of permitting might return to levels seen before the blowout of BP’s Macondo well last year, Salazar replied: “So much of it depends on this budget. If we can’t get the horsepower to be able to process permits under what now is a greater degree of scrutiny, we may never return to the pre-Macondo rate of permitting.”...more

Salazar is positioning himself to lift the moratorium, but issue no permits and blame it on the R's for lack of funding.

Funding bill would delay Forest Service route designations

The U.S. Forest Service would not be able to designate routes off-limits to motor vehicles for the rest of this year if the House-passed FY 2011 Continuing Resolution (H.R. 1) passes. The House sent the rest-of-the-year measure to the Senate, which is currently working on a two-week extension of temporary funding of the federal government through March 18. The 2005 Travel Management Rule, which the resolution would suspend through the end of the fiscal year in September, requires each national forest or ranger district to determine which roads are open to which type of motor vehicles at different times of the year...more

America's Third War: Texas Farmers Under Attack at the Border

In Texas, nearly 8,200 farms and ranches back up to the Mexican border. The men and women who live and work on those properties say they’re under attack from the same drug cartels blamed for thousands of murders in Mexico. “It’s a war, make no mistake about it,” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples said. “And it’s happening on American soil.” Texas farmers and ranchers produce more cotton and more cattle than any other state, so Staples is concerned this war could eventually impact our food supply, and calls it a threat to our national security. “Farmers and ranchers are being run off their own property by armed terrorists showing up and telling them they have to leave their land,” Staples said. To raise awareness, Commissioner Staples launched the website ProtectYourTexasBorder.com. It’s a place where frustrated and scared farmers can share their stories. Another farmer, Joe Aguilar, said enough is enough. After walking up on armed gunmen sneaking undocumented immigrants into the United States through his land, Aguilar decided to sell his farm.“It’s really sad to say, you either have to beat ‘em or join ‘em and I decided not to do either,” Aguilar said. Aguilar's family farmed 6,000 acres of land along the Texas-Mexico border for nearly 100 years...more

Tire dump on NM trust land?

The massive and growing pile of tires outside the village of Wagon Mound is on New Mexico State Trust land, but the man responsible for it won't call it a dump. He said the project helps the land despite the possibility that taxpayers may one day have to pay to clean up all that rubber. "With the blessing of the environmental department, we started that project down there," said Harold Daniels, a Wagon Mound-area rancher and businessman who has leased the state land in question for at least the last decade. "It's not a tire dump. It's an erosion-control project." Officials at the New Mexico Environment Department admit they originally authorized tires to be used as erosion control in a 15-foot-deep arroyo that runs through the property. Pictures from 2006 seem to support that project as a form of erosion control...more

Here's the KRQE-TV report:


Saddle mystery solved

Sixth-generation Petaluma rancher Doug Dolcini was sure he'd never again see the custom-built saddle his father won at a 1964 Reno Rodeo competition and that he'd cherished as a young cowhand. Then, more than six years after it was taken during a burglary on his family's ranch along Highway 37, Dolcini got a call from Jay Palm of Jay Palm's Saddle Shop in Penngrove. “Come on down, I think there's something you'd like to see,'” Palm told him. A Sonoma man had brought in the saddle to get it repaired and appraised for consignment sale. Palm recognized the saddle and told the man he'd need a few weeks to work on it. The man left. Palm phoned the sheriff's office and then Dolcini. “I walked in and said, ‘Holy smokes,'” Dolcini said. “I didn't expect to see it again.” The dark brown leather was worn in the seat, but otherwise the trophy saddle was in fine condition, its ornate hand-carved flowers and Reno Rodeo logo unscuffed...more

Song Of The Day #520

Today Ranch Radio brings you Jerry Lee Lewis and his 1968 recording of What's Made Milwaukee Famous.

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

How Green Is Your Lost Job?

A study of renewable energy in Scotland shows that for every job created in the alternative energy sector, almost four jobs are lost in the rest of the economy. We've seen this movie before. Not only has the sun set on the British Empire, but the promise of wind apparently is deserting it as well. A new study called "Worth The Candle?" by the consulting firm Verso Economics confirms the experience of Spain and other countries: The creation of "green" jobs destroys other jobs through the diversion of resources and the denial of abundant sources of fossil fuel energy. The economic candle in the U.K. is being blown out by wind power. The Verso study finds that after the annual diversion of some 330 million British pounds from the rest of the U.K. economy, the result has been the destruction of 3.7 jobs for every "green" job created. The study concludes that the "policy to promote renewable energy in the U.K. has an opportunity cost of 10,000 direct jobs in 2009-10 and 1,200 jobs in Scotland." So British taxpayers, as is the case here in the U.S., are being forced to subsidize a net loss of jobs in a struggling economy...more

House Republicans: Salazar’s ‘Wild Lands’ order is a ‘War on the West’

House Republicans today began a week of what will no doubt be heated hearings aimed at blocking Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s Wild Lands order that directed the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to protect millions of acres of federal land for its wilderness value. Western lawmakers, mostly Republicans, are up in arms about what they perceive as the federal government locking up public lands, blocking energy extraction and mining interests and killing jobs in areas already hard-hit by the global recession. “Millions of acres of multi-use land in the West are at risk of being locked up if the administration carries out this [wild lands] policy,” said Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash. Hastings chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, which held a hearing today on Salazar’s order. Next up is a hearing on the Department of Interior’s budget on Thursday, followed by a BLM budget hearing on Monday. Also today, Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., and Rep. Raúl Labrador, R-Idaho, held a press conference with Idaho Gov. Butch Otter to both blast Salazar’s Wild Lands order and announce pending legislation that would require congressional approval of new “Wild Lands” and national monument designations in Montana. The bill will be titled the Montana Land Sovereignty Act...more