Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.
Wednesday, November 07, 2012
Green groups tout election results as victory for clean energy
Green groups are touting their spending in key congressional races, claiming their efforts helped elect candidates supportive of their push for clean-energy sources. This election cycle, environmental groups spent heavily in races across the country and saw many down-ballot candidates they backed win election. “Where we’ve played, we feel like it’s been great. I think all across the country, you’re going to find whether it’s us, Sierra Club or the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), our issues resonate,” Heather Taylor-Miesle, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund, told The Hill. While environmental groups are painting their election work as a victory over the fossil fuel industry, the effect of spending by green groups in races is hard to gauge. Polls show voters ranked environmental issues below the economy and healthcare. The LCV, though, is pointing to a number of new senators who received outside spending from green groups and whom it says will be vocal advocates for clean-energy policies in Washington, including Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Rep. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D), Rep. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and former Maine Gov. Angus King (I)...more
State wants court to dismiss suit that would ban use of lead ammunition
The Arizona Game and Fish Department wants a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit by conservation groups that aims to ban the use of lead ammunition in the Kaibab National Forest. The suit, filed in September against the U.S. Forest Service by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club and the Grand Canyon Wildlands Council, says that spent lead ammo in the forest can poison condors and other birds there. But state officials have asked the U.S. District Court in Prescott
to let them intervene in the suit, calling a ban counterproductive and
arguing that the federal government could not enforce a ban anyway. “They’re asking the Forest Service to ban lead when it does not have
jurisdiction over the area,” said Lynda Lambert, a spokeswoman with
the state game department. “The state is the only one with authority to
make changes in hunting regulations.”...more
Harsher energy regulations seen in Obama's second term
Energy companies likely will see more regulation in President Barack Obama's second term, with less access to federal lands and water even as the administration promotes energy independence. With a pledge to cut oil imports by half by 2020, Obama during the campaign advocated what he called an "all of the above" approach to developing a range of domestic energy sources. He said, however, that he would roll back subsidies for oil companies and reduce the nation's reliance on oil by mandating production of more fuel-efficient vehicles. "You are going to have less access to federal lands and tougher government agencies," said Dan Pickering, chief investment officer at TPH Asset Management in Houston...more
Song Of The Day #966
Ranch Radio moves up to the 60's with Jonie Mosby's He Wouldn't Take Me Home To Meet His Mother. What a rascal.
Patterson wins third world championship
GUTHRIE, Okla. – Two-time world champion Rocky Patterson came into the second night of the Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping Nov. 3 with the lead in the 2012 world standings. But with 16-time world champion cowboy and defending world champion steer roper Trevor Brazile just $303 behind him and holding the lead in the average after five rounds, Patterson knew he would have to press for go-round money to have a chance to add the 2012 gold buckle to his collection. “A lot of people were saying, ‘Unless Trevor messes up you other guys don’t have a very good chance.’ But you don’t want to count on Trevor messing up. We’re used to Trevor roping flawlessly. That’s Trevor every day.” And Brazile didn’t mess up. He roped all 10 steers over the two days to join Phil Lyne as the only men in ProRodeo history to win average titles in three different National Finals events (team roping 2008 and tie-down roping 2010) and he won by a margin of 61.7 seconds over Mike Chase. Only a funny thing happened on the way to the coronation. Patterson had a better night. He toppled the king. He earned checks in all five rounds, clinching his third world championship in four years by winning the 10th round in 10.3 seconds and edging Brazile for the gold buckle by a margin of just $418. It was as close a competition as one could hope to have to decide the world championship and it was tension-filled from the first moments...more
Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping Guthrie, Okla., Nov. 2-3
First round: 1. Chet Herren, 10.8 seconds, $5,077; 2. Trevor Brazile, 11.9, $4,077; 3. Dan Fisher, 12.0, $3,077; 4. J.P. Wickett, 12.1, $2,077; 5. Ralph Williams, 12.5, $1,077. Second round: 1. Vin Fisher Jr., 10.8 seconds, $5,077; 2. (tie) Chance Kelton and Dan Fisher, 12.0, $3,577 each; 4. Mike Chase, 12.5, $2,077; 5. Chet Herren, 13.1, $1,077. Third round: 1. Rocky Patterson, 12.2 seconds, $5,077; 2. Chet Herren, 12.6, $4,077; 3. Trevor Brazile, 12.8, $3,077; 4. Cody Scheck, 12.9, $2,077; 5. Cody Lee, 13.7, $1,077. Fourth round: 1. Vin Fisher Jr., 12.0 seconds, $5,077; 2. Trevor Brazile, 12.2, $4,077; 3. Chance Kelton, 12.9, $3,077; 4. Dan Fisher, 13.2, $2,077; 5. Rod Hartness, 14.0, $1,077. Fifth round: 1. Chance Kelton, 10.8 seconds, $5,077; 2. (tie) Cody Lee and Rocky Patterson, 10.9, $3,577 each; 4. Jess Tierney, 11.0, $2,077; 5. (tie) J.P. Wickett and Landon McClaugherty, 13.3, $538 each. Sixth round: 1. Rocky Patterson, 10.2 seconds, $5,077; 2. Vin Fisher Jr., 11.0, $4,077; 3. Rod Hartness, 11.4, $3,077; 4. Trevor Brazile, 11.5, $2,077; 5. Kim Ziegelgruber, 11.8, $1,077. Seventh round: 1. Rod Hartness, 11.2 seconds, $5,077; 2. Rocky Patterson, 11.6, $4,077; 3. Ralph Williams, 11.8, $3,077; 4. Trevor Brazile, 12.0, $2,077; 5. Vin Fisher Jr., 13.6, $1,077. Eighth round: 1. Cody Scheck, 12.1 seconds, $5,077; 2. Mike Chase, 12.5, $4,077; 3. Rocky Patterson, 13.4, $3,077; 4. J.P. Wickett, 13.5, $2,077; 5. Chance Kelton, Mayer, Ariz., 13.9, $1,077. Ninth round: 1. Cody Scheck, 9.5 seconds, $5,077; 2. Ralph Williams, 11.0, $4,077; 3. Jess Tierney, 11.1, $3,077; 4. Dan Fisher, 11.8, $2,077; 5. (tie) Rocky Patterson and J.P. Wickett, 12.0, $538 each. Tenth round: 1. Rocky Patterson, 10.3 seconds, $5,077; 2. Vin Fisher Jr., 10.8, $4,077; 3. Kim Ziegelgruber, 11.1, $3,077; 4. (tie) Trevor Brazile and Ralph Williams, 11.5, $1,577 each. Average: 1. Trevor Brazile, 131.7 seconds on 10 head, $15,231; 2. Mike Chase, 193.4, $12,231; 3. Vin Fisher Jr., 128.7 on nine head, $9,231; 4. J.P. Wickett, 133.2, $6,231; 5. Rocky Patterson, 94.6 on eight head, $3,231.
Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping Guthrie, Okla., Nov. 2-3
Enviros quickly press victorious Obama to nix Keystone pipeline
Environmentalists are planning a demonstration on Nov. 18 to put fresh pressure on President Obama, the projected winner of a second term, to reject the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline. Climate activists including 350.org founder Bill McKibben and Sierra Club head Michael Brune announced the White House demonstration Tuesday shortly after Obama was projected the victor over Mitt Romney. The White House in late 2011 delayed a decision on whether to permit TransCanada Corp.’s project to bring Canadian oil sands to Gulf Coast refineries. The decision followed demonstrations — including a large number of civil disobedience arrests in August 2011 — by environmentalists who bitterly oppose the project. The administration plans to make a decision as soon as next year on Keystone. Republicans, business groups and a number of unions support the project...more
Arizona lands bill goes down to defeat
PROP 120
Voters defeated Proposition 120 by a 2-1 margin. It would have amended the state Constitution to read, “Arizona declares its sovereign and exclusive authority and jurisdiction over the air, water, public lands, minerals, wildlife and other natural resources within its boundaries.”
Backers say it would have helped reduce federal bureaucracy and increase state revenue. The proposition was co-sponsored by Rep. Chester Crandell, R-Heber, Rep. Brenda Barton, R-Payson, and Sen. Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake.
Crandell said federal mismanagement of national forests has led to massive wildfires, such as the Wallow Fire, which burned more than 538,000 acres in 2011, and the Rodeo-Chediski Fire, which burned 468,638 acres in 2002.
Critics said the proposition was unconstitutional and the state could not afford to maintain the land it already owns. The measure, they said, was largely symbolic.
Close to half of Arizona is made up of public land.
Several conservation groups came out against the proposition, including Grand Canyon Trust, Maricopa Audubon Society, Arizona League of Conservation Voters and the Sky Island Alliance.
Tuesday, November 06, 2012
Priefert World Series of Team Roping Officially Richest Rodeo/Roping Event Ever!
Las Vegas, NV – The World Series of Team Roping Grand Finale
returns December 9th thru December 15th at South Point
Equestrian and Events Center, in Las Vegas, NV. Twelve months ago the
World Series of Team Roping made headlines when it became the fifth richest
horse event in the world, and continues with that trend this year by breaking
two more world records.
In its seventh year, the World Series of Team Roping Grand
Finale’s overall payout has caught up to Las Vegas’ National Finals Rodeo
record of $6 million dollars. The WSTR Finale jumped from 5th
internationally to move into a tie for the 3rd richest horse event
in the world. The richest horse related events of 2012 are the Breeders Cup at
$20 Million, the Dubai World Cup at $10 Million, the World Series of Team
Roping at $6 million, the National Finals Rodeo at $6 Million, and the Prix de
L ‘Arc de Triomphe at $5.4 Million.
Recreational team roping has been outperforming all the
cowboy disciplines, including pro-rodeo for years, but the National Finals
Rodeo has pretty well been untouchable until now. This year the World Series
Bloomer Trailers #10 Finale,
which is essentially a low-amateur division, will set a new record at $1.77
million dollars. This breaks the $1.5 million dollar NFR team roping payoff as
a single division, rodeo/roping event.
Las Vegas can proudly lay claim to two of these top five
equine events. Individually they are both impressive, but together they
distribute $12 Million in prize money into the cowboy industry within a 10-day
period. Team Roping is the largest economical component of the recreational
horse world producing over $60,000,000 in purses each year. The World Series of
Team Roping Grand Finale is the richest and most prestigious showcase for the
sport.
In addition to the daily roping competition, South Point’s
“Cowboy Central” will be presenting a western Gift show, nightly entertainment,
the WNFR buckle presentations, and the Benny Binion Bucking Horse Sale.
Action will
start Sunday December 9th as more than 2,000 team ropers head to Las
Vegas for their chance at a piece of the large purse. During the 2012 season,
team ropers competed at 125 WSTR qualification events for the right to
participate in this event. Ropers from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil,
Australia, and Italy are expected to attend. The event will run December 9th
through December 15th, with action starting each day at 8 am and
ending at 6pm. A live webcast will run throughout the event and can be
found at wstroping.com and priefert.com
For
more information and a full schedule of events, go to
www.WSTRoping.com or call
505.898.1755.
Denny Gentry strikes again! Will Arizona voters choose sovereignty?
As Americans head to the polls for Election Day 2012, major media
outlets are fixated on the changes that will occur in Washington, D.C.
But state leaders across the West should focus their eyes elsewhere —
specifically, on the results of an important ballot question now before
Arizona voters. That’s because Arizona’s Proposition 120 has
important implications for the federalist system of government with
ramifications that are particularly powerful for Western states like
Nevada. Its passage could well be the populist rallying cry that
solidifies Westerners’ resolve against the land dominion of federal
agencies. Proposition 120 has three components. First, it would
declare that each state possesses full attributes of sovereignty on an
equal footing with all other states. This “Equal Footing Doctrine” is
rooted in U.S. constitutional law and is frequently referenced by
Westerners who believe that congressional requirements for Western
states to forever give the federal government right and title to much of
the land within their borders are unconstitutional. Eastern states were
never subject to these punitive conditions, say Westerners. Second,
Proposition 120 would amend Arizona’s constitution to remove the
disclaimer of interest in public lands that Congress, through the
state’s Enabling Act, extorted from the state’s founders...more
Another Layer Of Bureaucracy For Oil and Gas Exploration In The U.S.?
by Don Groves
On May 11, 2012, the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) published proposed regulations governing “Oil and Gas; Well Stimulation, Including Hydraulic Fracturing, on Federal and Indian Lands.” BLM is a latecomer to this party. Its belated meddling lacks practical or economic justification. Instead, the proposed BLM rule would drive oil and gas developers off federal and tribal lands. Complying with the rules is too complicated and costly. Producers can realize a much faster and much better return on their capital investment by developing oil and gas reserves on adjoining private lands.
Federal and tribal lands hold large reserves of oil and natural gas. At a time when the United States desperately needs to move toward, not away from, energy independence, it makes no sense to let bureaucratic meddling effectively place these valuable domestic reserves out of reach. The problems with BLM’s approach are myriad.
BLM Misses the Mark
First, a central, federal, one-size-fits-all approach does not work. The reserves that the oil and gas industry wants to access using hydraulic fracturing occur in areas with different geographic, topographic, hydrological, population, precipitation and umpteen other characteristics. The oil and gas deposits are found at different depths; the water table is at different depths. The surface and subsurface vary dramatically, ranging from the Marcellus Shale Formation in the Northeast to the San Juan Basin in the Southwest. States and tribes have long ago stepped up to the plate with sensible regulations suitable to their individual conditions. They are way ahead of BLM.
Second, even if states and tribes did not already have this under control, BLM’s proposed regulations are inappropriate. The BLM regs are based on inaccurate assumptions, flawed economics and a perceived but actually nonexistent need.
On May 11, 2012, the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) published proposed regulations governing “Oil and Gas; Well Stimulation, Including Hydraulic Fracturing, on Federal and Indian Lands.” BLM is a latecomer to this party. Its belated meddling lacks practical or economic justification. Instead, the proposed BLM rule would drive oil and gas developers off federal and tribal lands. Complying with the rules is too complicated and costly. Producers can realize a much faster and much better return on their capital investment by developing oil and gas reserves on adjoining private lands.
Federal and tribal lands hold large reserves of oil and natural gas. At a time when the United States desperately needs to move toward, not away from, energy independence, it makes no sense to let bureaucratic meddling effectively place these valuable domestic reserves out of reach. The problems with BLM’s approach are myriad.
BLM Misses the Mark
First, a central, federal, one-size-fits-all approach does not work. The reserves that the oil and gas industry wants to access using hydraulic fracturing occur in areas with different geographic, topographic, hydrological, population, precipitation and umpteen other characteristics. The oil and gas deposits are found at different depths; the water table is at different depths. The surface and subsurface vary dramatically, ranging from the Marcellus Shale Formation in the Northeast to the San Juan Basin in the Southwest. States and tribes have long ago stepped up to the plate with sensible regulations suitable to their individual conditions. They are way ahead of BLM.
Second, even if states and tribes did not already have this under control, BLM’s proposed regulations are inappropriate. The BLM regs are based on inaccurate assumptions, flawed economics and a perceived but actually nonexistent need.
Song Of The Day #965
Ranch Radio is dusting off the old 78s today, and here is Arthur Smith & His Crackerjacks with New York To New Orleans.
Monday, November 05, 2012
2012 Election: Ag Ballot Issues Include GMOs, Farmland, More
by Boyce Thompson
A variety of issues on U.S. ballots Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012 will have implications for people employed in agriculture. Here’s a quick look at some of those initiatives by category.
Genetically modified food
In California, approval of Proposition 37 would require manufacturers to label food made using "genetically modified (GM), biotech or genetically engineered (GE) crops," NBC News reported. Supporters say that some animal studies indicate genetic modification of food can contribute to health problems for consumers and that more safety testing should be done. Meanwhile, Hanford (Calif.) Sentinel columnist Don Curlee–an opponent of the initiative–says farmers and producers would be "negatively affected, as new labels will be required for practically everything they supply."
Companies such as General Mills and Coca-Cola collectively have spent nearly $10 million in an effort to defeat the measure, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Farming rights
In North Dakota, approval of Constitutional Measure No. 3 would amend the state’s constitution to include this text: "The right of farmers and ranchers to engage in modern farming and ranching practices shall be forever guaranteed in this state. No law shall be enacted which abridges the right of farmers and ranchers to employ agricultural technology, modern livestock production and ranching practices."
Farm Bureau’s president in North Dakota says the measure would keep "outside interests from interrupting farming and ranching operations by imposing costly, unnecessary rules," the Minot Daily News reported.
Farmland preservation
In Maine, approval of Question 3 would allow the state to issue no more than $5 million in bonds to help raise money for the preservation of farmland, acquisition of land for conservation and other uses. Supporters say investing in land creates opportunities that put money back into the local economy, the Bangor Daily News reported.
Animal cruelty
Voters in North Dakota also will decide whether to adopt Measure No. 5, which would criminalize malicious and intentional harm to dogs, cats and horses. While ballot language specifically states that the measure "would not apply to production agriculture," one opponent–North Dakota farmer Val Wagner–says its primary backer has a history of "wreaking havoc with animal rights and agriculture."
A variety of issues on U.S. ballots Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012 will have implications for people employed in agriculture. Here’s a quick look at some of those initiatives by category.
Genetically modified food
In California, approval of Proposition 37 would require manufacturers to label food made using "genetically modified (GM), biotech or genetically engineered (GE) crops," NBC News reported. Supporters say that some animal studies indicate genetic modification of food can contribute to health problems for consumers and that more safety testing should be done. Meanwhile, Hanford (Calif.) Sentinel columnist Don Curlee–an opponent of the initiative–says farmers and producers would be "negatively affected, as new labels will be required for practically everything they supply."
Companies such as General Mills and Coca-Cola collectively have spent nearly $10 million in an effort to defeat the measure, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Farming rights
In North Dakota, approval of Constitutional Measure No. 3 would amend the state’s constitution to include this text: "The right of farmers and ranchers to engage in modern farming and ranching practices shall be forever guaranteed in this state. No law shall be enacted which abridges the right of farmers and ranchers to employ agricultural technology, modern livestock production and ranching practices."
Farm Bureau’s president in North Dakota says the measure would keep "outside interests from interrupting farming and ranching operations by imposing costly, unnecessary rules," the Minot Daily News reported.
Farmland preservation
In Maine, approval of Question 3 would allow the state to issue no more than $5 million in bonds to help raise money for the preservation of farmland, acquisition of land for conservation and other uses. Supporters say investing in land creates opportunities that put money back into the local economy, the Bangor Daily News reported.
Animal cruelty
Voters in North Dakota also will decide whether to adopt Measure No. 5, which would criminalize malicious and intentional harm to dogs, cats and horses. While ballot language specifically states that the measure "would not apply to production agriculture," one opponent–North Dakota farmer Val Wagner–says its primary backer has a history of "wreaking havoc with animal rights and agriculture."
Horses Allegedly Used to Launder Zetas Money Sold at Auction
More than 300 horses allegedly used to launder proceeds of a Mexican
drug cartel were sold at auction for about $8.8 million, prosecutors
said. Two-thirds of the horses were sold this past weekend, including A
Dash of Sweet Heat for $1 million, at Heritage Place Auction Facility in
Oklahoma City, according to a statement (pdf). About 100 broodmares were sold for $35,000 prior to auction, the statement said. The horses were part of an indictment
handed up against 15 individuals in connection with an alleged scheme
by the Zetas cartel to launder part of their money through the purchase,
training, racing and breeding of American quarter horses. Prosecutors seized the horses
in the wake of the indictment, and sold many of them over the weekend.
The proceeds from the sale of the quarter horses will be held in escrow
pending a forfeiture action, the statement said. The government still holds about 45 quarter horses, prosecutors said,
including Tempting Dash, winner of the Dash for Cash at Lone Star Park
race track in Grand Prairie, Texas and Mr. Piloto, the $1 million All
American Futurity winner at Ruidoso Downs...more
Predation alone doesn't explain elk population reductions
Wolves reduce elk numbers by killing them, but it’s likely that they also decrease elk reproduction, according to a Montana State University study. In a seminar at MSU on Thursday, ecology professor Scott Creel presented more evidence indicating that reintroducing wolves into the ecosystem has affected elk populations in some unforeseen ways. Creel and co-author David Christianson also presented the study to the Society of Conservation Biology last week. Creel’s research was based upon 12 elk management units in Montana, Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park that all had 30 years of data on elk populations, predators and climate characteristics. Several factors act together to affect elk population swings, including the severity of the winter, elk population density, human hunters and animal predators — including wolves, lions and grizzly bears. For areas without wolves, scientists can predict what elk populations will do if there is a severe winter or if the herd density gets too high. In both cases, populations will drop because fewer calves are born or survive. But for areas with wolves, winter severity and elk density no longer produce the same population responses. Calf survival still declines in a bad winter, but it doesn’t increase as much again in a mild winter. The likely explanation, he said, is that elk are more vigilant and feed less around predators. Diet and activity changes can cause females to have less energy to produce calves, a response that has been shown to occur in several animal species. “I think the cost of anti-predator behavior explains a significant proportion of those missing calves,” Creel said. “When we did the EIS, we didn’t deal with the possibility that elk will start doing things differently to avoid predation, but those things that they do may carry physiological consequences.”...more
Montana's free-roaming bison plan in judge's hands
A legal dispute over whether migrating bison can roam freely across 70,000 acres outside Yellowstone National Park is before a Montana judge after attorneys offered closing arguments in the case Monday. State officials opened the Gardiner Basin just north of the park to migrating bison last year after they had been barred for decades. It was an attempt to curb periodic slaughters that have killed thousands of the animals to prevent the spread of the disease brucellosis to cattle. But county officials and ranchers who live outside the park want state District Judge Wayne Phillips to restore restrictions on the animals' movements. They say the bison threaten the safety of residents in the basin and could spread brucellosis to livestock. A trial in the case that began earlier this year concluded Monday. State veterinarian Marty Zaluski testified that the disease transmission risk is unchanged or slightly lower since bison were let back into the Gardiner Basin. That gave state and federal officials more room to manage the wild animals, while newly-constructed fences will keep them away from the two cattle ranches that still operate in the area, Zaluski said. During prior testimony in the lawsuits, an undersheriff from Park County said dozens of complaints came in from residents worried about their safety. And county officials have said public property was damaged by bison that pushed up against or knocked down fences and other structures. Plaintiffs in the case also said there should have been more environmental studies done on the potential for brucellosis exposures and other problems before the free-roaming policy was adopted in April 2011. That formal adoption came after hundreds of bison already had been allowed into the basin. Scientists and state officials have said that another wild animal, elk, are the biggest threat for the spread of brucellosis because they are more numerous and their movements are unrestricted...more
IRS Regulations Give Drought Stricken Ranchers A Break
It isn’t just ranchers in the Southwest who have been forced to sell off parts of their cowherds due to drought this year. Cattle producers in much of the Great Plains, Midwest and Southeast have also seen parched pastures that succumbed to the worst drought for many since the 1980s. The droughts of 2011 and 2012 have led to liquidation of hundreds of thousands of cows and other cattle. The lack of native pasture, quality hay and/or water left ranchers no choice but to sell. However, this unexpected increase in revenue likely won’t create terrible tax requirements for a ballooning income resulting from cow sales, says a Texas AgriLife Extension economist. Internal Revenue Service Section 1033 provides livestock producers with flexibility in having to declare these sales as income for 2012, says Stan Bevers, AgriLife Extension economist in Vernon, Texas. “Many ranchers in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma had a lot of cowherd liquidation in 2011,” Bevers says. “As we entered 2012, many ranchers found themselves with excessive income because of all of the cows they had sold." Many ranchers are wondering about federal income tax implications and if they have to declare all of the additional revenue received as 2012 income. Bevers says ranchers who faced liquidation can defer the tax on the gain by using IRS Section 1033. “With this provision, producers can postpone the gain on the abnormal sales of breeding cows as income,” he says. “However, proceeds from the sales due to drought have to be used to repurchase the same type of females. But with Section 1033, a typical two-year designation can be extended to four years. ” In addition, ranchers who were forced to sell weaned calves that would have normally been sold the following year may also take advantage of deferring that income...more
Restoration of historic railing recalls history of Alberta ranches
Progress does not always run over history in Calgary. A current restoration project is preserving a piece of our ranching past. Back in the early 1950s, Calgary lawyer Marsh Porter commissioned a railing for a new home he was building in southwest Calgary. He had it made up of 34 symbols, many of which were the branding stamps from ranches in the region. It was unique, and quintessentially Albertan. “He had a good sense of history,” recalls Dan Hays, whose parents Harry and Muriel Hays bought the house from the prominent Calgarian in 1969. No one knows why Porter chose the brands he did, a strange collection that calls to mind ranches from all over southern Alberta. George Lane’s famous Bar U cattle brand is there, alongside brands that belonged to other early cattlemen, including Quirk, Gardner and Burns. They all ranged cattle in the High River area of southwestern Alberta. Not all came from the area, however. The Bow River Horse Ranch, which was located near Cochrane, was also included in the mix. “I assume he was trying to recognize the contribution of those early ranchers,” says Hays, offering his best guess for the reason for the brands in the railing. An ambitious rebuild of the property is underway, and a talented Calgary woodworker is restoring the railing to its former glory. Some parts have to be repaired, but most of the woodwork is solid...more
Mescalero's own Tonto:10-year-old cast as young Tonto in the Lone Ranger
Joseph, Depp & Lynelle |
Quote
In order to prevent those who are vested with authority from becoming
oppressors, the people have a right, at such periods and in such manner
as they shall establish by their frame of government, to cause their
public officers to return to private life, and to fill up vacant places
by certain and regular elections. - John Adams
Song Of The Day #964
It's Swingin' Monday on Ranch Radio and here's the Horse Creek Band with Florida Blues.
The tune is on their 12 track LP Album Don't Be Ashamed Of Your Age.
Sunday, November 04, 2012
Cowgirl Sass & Savvy
Moonlight cowboying
by Julie Carter
You’ll appreciate this story even if you don’t own yearling
cattle that might escape out onto the highway after you have gone to bed on any
given night.
Like most ranch folk, you’ll appreciate the humor and
necessity of being thankful for even the little things.
The rancher’s wife had been trying to fight off a Boone and
Crockett sized head cold for days so she wasn’t in the best of humor. A lack of
sleep several nights in a row didn’t help the situation.
About 9 p.m. on this particular night, she took some cold
medicine hoping it would help both the cold and the sleep problems. She tossed
and turned, got up at 1 a.m. and took more medication and went back to bed an
hour later.
At 2:30 a.m. the phone rang. That is never a good thing no
matter where you live. It was their neighbor who relayed the unwanted message.
They had lots of cattle on the highway and they were on the move -- headed
north up the canyon.
The wife slapped her still-sleeping husband upside the head,
mostly to wake him up but more so out of simple frustration. After 30-plus
years of marriage, she was fairly certain he didn’t know the difference.
Pulling on their cowboy clothes, they jumped in the pickup
and drove up to the highway. Their
neighbor had managed to get in front of most of the cattle and had them headed
back down the highway towards home.
The local sheriff was on the scene in his fancy car and was
managing to hit the ranch wife in the eyes with his high powered spotlight
whenever possible. When the sheriff wasn’t blinding her, her husband was with
his own mega bright Q-Beam. She noted that one million candle power in your
face at 3 a.m. is not in any way soothing.
She was leading the cattle with the pickup while the
neighbor was bringing up the rear of the herd. Her husband was riding in the
back of her pickup, ready to jump in front of any critter trying for a fast get
away.
The bride was slightly amused that at this point he trusted
her driving. However, she realized he still hadn’t figured out that she hit him
earlier.
They get the cattle to the gate of the pasture where they
belonged and as cattle will do, especially in the dark, they came untrained and
headed back north up the canyon again.
The wife wheeled out to go help the neighbor as they were
both trying to out run the cattle up the highway. Her husband was hanging out
the back of the truck telling her something that sounded like “stop” so she hit
the brakes. He had said “stop” but
didn’t intend for a slam-the-brakes kind of stop. He rolled over the side of
the truck and recovered on his feet enough to block a side road off the
highway.
The cattle finally went through the gate on the second try
while the sheriff was still waving his spotlight around and trying to figure
out who was on first.
They got home about 4:30 a.m., and tossed and turned until
6:30 when the wife got up and fixed sandwiches for the crew that would be
arriving soon to drive those same cattle to the mesa top.
Her “thank God” was for good neighbors, gentle cattle and a
full moon.
How did her neighbor know the cattle were on the highway you
ask? He got up sometime after 2 a.m. to
go to the bathroom and saw car headlights slowing down and weaving to miss the
cattle.
She then thanked God for old men with weak bladders.
Julie can be reached
for comment at jcarternm@gmail.com.
Jaguars, NEPA & Coordination
Zoo Masters, NEPA, et al
Self Protection
National Tragedy
By Stephen L. Wilmeth
Our oldest
granddaughter got her first zoo master software before her fourth birthday. She
would be upstairs building monstrous zoo layouts. We’d sit down beside her and
she would be so immersed in the construction of the complicated labyrinths in
her mind and on the screen she would barely acknowledge our presence.
“Show us was
you’ve done,” we would urge her.
She would
show us all the wondrous marvels laid out in expansive avenues and theme
settings. She would eventually get more sophisticated soft ware. It would even allow
her to stock her zoos with dinosaurs and extinct animals. We were amazed at her
imagination. That equated, or course, to our assessment of how smart she was.
As we look
back now, though, she may not have been the only one building grand imaginary
schemes. The environmental cartels were applying the same science fiction to
the real world.
Deadlines
October 19, 2012 was an important date. It was
the final day comments were accepted for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
and those environmental cartels’ proposed critical jaguar habitat in New Mexico’s Bootheel
and Arizona’s
Jaguar Alley. The first phase of this pipedream includes 838,232 acres of, at
best, occasional transient domain of single, bachelor cats in that area.
It is the
first phase of a gargantuan real life project. Already, it is known that the
Rewilders are pushing for the inclusion of the Gila and Apache National Forests
in this critical habitat plan. That would increase the acreage from less than a
million acres to about 4.5 million on the American side of the border.
That would
dovetail conveniently into the 1.3 million acre Janos Biosphere Reserve already
in place adjacent to the proposal on the Mexican side of the border.
But, that
is not the real plan.
That plan
is 26 million acres in New Mexico
and 27 million acres in Arizona
or 53 million acres on the north side of the border. If current habitat
concepts remain fixed, that would marry into a minimum of 34 million acres in Mexico.
Our once four year old
granddaughter would have been mucho impressed!
In comments
submitted to USFWS, Terrell Shelley and I assessed our family’s Gila occupation
since 1884. We traced 243 ranch years on parallel tracks of history where not a
single jaguar was seen, trailed, or killed in what is being described by
supporters as favorable jaguar habitat.
It must be
remembered those people lived each day starting at sunup and ranched for survival.
They managed predators aggressively and most had packs of dogs. For example,
the Shelleys would take hounds with them each and every time they rode just to
keep the dogs in shape. If there had been a jaguar in the country in all those
years, they would have found traces of its existence.
Even the
Nat Straw reference to a jaguar on Taylor
Creek that adds to
nebulous 10-17 cats documented, suggested, discounted, removed or added to the
list of sightings in New Mexico
since 1825 has baggage. Too many of us have read Nat’s account of how he rode
the wrong grizzly bear off the mountain top trying to escape a blazing bear
fight in order to save his own life to put full faith in his colorful accounts
of life.
But, the
jaguar segment of the imaginary world theme park expansion is but one of a
myriad of make believe goals being sought. In the last several years there have
been no less than eight land designation proposals in southern New Mexico that
carry similar implications. That doesn’t include the public battles over forest
travel management decisions, forest management of fuel loads, the wolf project,
and the egregious step wise loading of Agenda 21 treaty in our community growth
concepts. Government assault … environmental assault has erupted in all quarters.
Emerging Theme
To those
who have responsibilities, duties, and investments on the lands under this environmental
assault, the realization of our existence has become one of protecting
ourselves from our government rather than our government protecting us.
Is that not
astounding?
Several
weeks ago there was a refresher course in Albuquerque
on the implications of the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA). In the
detail of that act there was the reminder of what coordination implies. Coordination
was clearly intended to be the tool explicit in federal legislation that
promises local government equal partnership in federal action that impacts their
surroundings. Those governing bodies shouldn’t have to resort to it, but they
must uphold their sworn duty and protect their constituencies from the
environmental agenda that has been the guiding force in the public land
decisions they were promised they would drive.
For too
long, local governments have learned of such plans by reading about them in the
Federal Register or the local newspaper. In other words, this and similar
environmental passion legislation sets forth wording that ostensibly maintained
local input at the highest level, but the sovereignty of local input was
displaced by a contrived agenda.
The law has been applied in that
manner for so long policy and court decisions have moved the spirit and intent
of the action. Americans who have duties, responsibilities, and investments on
western lands have become outside observers looking inward. They are increasingly
vilified, minimized, and assaulted.
In the cattle business, the results
of such public lands assault are finally taking a quantitative form. New Mexico State University
research of the Gila
National Forest now
confirms that federal land agency management equates to a continued reduction
of cattle at the rate of about one percent per year. That reduction is constant
and it does not tie to any market or drought influence. It is Forest Service
management that has become dedicated to wilderness and de facto wilderness
priorities. The diminishment of revenue yields for cattle is real and no amount
of government action has done anything to alter the rate of contraction.
The logging business has suffered
even greater casualties. The Gila is again the example. From scores of logging
operations in 1960, not a single full time logging operation now exists. The
Forest Service proclaims that the lumber business in the American Southwest is
no longer viable. Try to find a single piece of research that supports such a
claim.
And, mining … the jaguar project
threatens the most economically viable new copper extraction opportunity that
exists in our country today, the Rosemont Copper Company’s Santa Rita Mountain project. The main objectors are the
Forest Service and the juxtaposition cartels.
Yes, Americans at risk must find ways
to protect themselves from their government.
Zoo Master 2.013
In the once flowing spring behind
our ranch headquarters, we are told that university paleontologists removed a
wooly mastodon skeleton. Where it is today is beyond any guess, but it must be
within some hallowed institution for an important, tenured scientist to guard.
The fact that it was removed from private land for such safe keeping is another
story yet, but that is for another day.
The real interest is the DNA
archive that the skeleton and others like it present. Can any of us just wait
until technology allows the cloning of more Pleistocene fauna?
The real kicker would come with the
real grand cat … the saber tooth tiger. Now there was a cat of distinction …
ol’ muscle, blood and guts himself! He might even stimulate the fear of the
real God in the hearts of the Rewilding crew if they had to share their nature
walk with him!
There is every indication that such
a wild idea would come to pass if the technology lent itself to such an
outcome. Therein, though, resides the growing catastrophe of the improvisation
that has given rise to our dilemma. Our world is a dynamic, ever changing
arena. It ebbs and flows. It gives and it takes away, and, ultimately, we can
control only those things we can touch and manage.
The words we try to arrange to describe
what we face in the midst of our government’s action too often don’t even make
sense to us.
We are reminded, though, how important
local controls are. The outcome of local actions is driven by conditions and
constraints that actually exist. They are shaped by the ability of the
combinations of local means to support their perpetuation. That is no different
from the reality of the jaguar. He doesn’t exist because natural conditions,
regardless of the presence of man, disallow his presence.
No amount of manipulation will
change that outcome. The message, though, is clear. If we refuse to manage
predicated on local conditions, we are all subject to extinction. We see it
everywhere we look, and … our government is the willing facilitator.
Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New
Mexico. “We must have balance in these schemes. If we must contend with the
jaguar, New York City must accept eastern diamondbacks.”
Obama EPA set to derail fracking, kill 1.7 million jobs
To begin with, despite President Obama’s rhetoric about an “all of the above” energy plan, his Environmental Protection Agency has been systematically trying to undercut the development of unconventional energy – notably natural gas from shale. In what critics have rightfully assailed as a “shoot first, get the facts later” approach, the agency has worked to appease its environmentalist allies (and would-be contributors to the Obama campaign) by plotting to derail hydraulic fracturing, the process by which gas is extracted from rock formations deep in the Earth. For example, pushed by charges from national anti-drilling activists that fracturing was contaminating drinking water in Dimock, Pa., the EPA charged to the rescue – only to discover that no rescue was necessary. In July, the agency concluded the town’s drinking water was safe. In Parker County, Texas, EPA said that Range Resources’ natural gas operations – which included fracking – were responsible for contaminating local water supplies and ordered the company to fix its wells. In March, it was forced to withdraw the order after being unable to prove that Range was responsible for the presence of methane in water. And now, after running roughshod over state regulators in both cases and losing, the agency is undertaking a national study on fracking. Given EPA’s attitude toward drillers – one former regional administrator said the agency’s general philosophy was to “crucify” oil and gas companies – it doesn’t take a soothsayer to see where this path is likely to lead...more
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