Monday, March 07, 2016

'Money trail' leads from Mexico border straight to Mideast

Just a few months after six Middle Eastern men who entered the U.S. illegally through Mexico were arrested in Arizona state, authorities have now uncovered a “disturbing money trail” between terror-sponsoring countries and Mexico, according to a Judicial Watch report. This includes more than a dozen wire transfers sent from the Middle East to known Mexican smugglers in at least two different regions of Mexico, Judicial Watch reported, citing information from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. “A report issued by the AG exposes the disturbing money trail between Mexico and terrorist nations in the Middle East as well as evidence of smuggling routes tying the region to America’s southern border,” Judicial Watch reported. WND reported nearly a year ago on Judicial Watch’s findings that ISIS had established a camp inside Mexico just a few miles from the Texas border. An excerpt of the AG’s new findings was published by a local media outlet this week. It states that the city of Tapachula, a known human smuggling hub near the Guatemalan border in the Mexican state of Chiapas, was the top destination of Middle Eastern money transfers. Nogales, adjacent to the Arizona border in northern Mexico, is the second destination, the investigation found. “Agents conducted a comprehensive geographic analysis of possible terrorist related transactions and/or money transfers involving human smuggling networks,” the state report says. Officials launched the probe shortly after six men – one from Afghanistan and five from Pakistan – were arrested in Patagonia, a quaint ranching town that sits 20 miles north of Nogales, on Nov. 17, 2015...more

NM ranchers outraged by lack of security at border

The story goes like this: A ranch hand working in New Mexico’s Bootheel stumbles upon men and two or three vehicles stranded in remote cattle country. They turn out to be drug runners from Mexico who take him hostage, load his vehicle with narcotics and force him to drive to Willcox, Ariz., where they leave him alive but warn him not to go to the police. The story goes like this: That alleged incident and a host of recent break-ins have ranchers across Hidalgo County and in southeastern Arizona outraged about what they say is a decline in border security. The cattle growers associations of both states are hosting a meeting this week in the tiny town of Animas to air their grievances to elected officials – including pleas for more boots on the ground – and they expect to draw a crowd. The Bootheel’s rugged terrain of ridges and arroyos, sparse roads and sprawling desert has historically presented challenges for law enforcement charged with keeping the region safe, particularly from illegal traffic coming from Mexico. It’s a corridor favored by traffickers moving dope north to the drug-hungry U.S. market. The ranch hand was working for Elbrock Water Systems on the Gray Ranch on Dec. 7 when he was allegedly hij acked by drug runners, according to Tricia Elbrock, who co-owns the Animas-based company that provides well and septic services from Tucson to El Paso. The Elbrocks, their employees and law enforcement searched for him all night before he called from Willcox before noon the next day, she said. “They kidnapped him, tied him up, threw all our tools out and fittings and loaded our company vehicle with all the drugs,” Elbrock said. “They waited till dark to leave the ranch. They needed him to help guide them through to the highway.” On the phone, Elbrock gasped back a sob as she said: “This is still pretty raw. We got him back safe. They did rough him up, but we got him back. It’s a mess. I don’t know what to tell you. We have got to have help down here.”...more

Sunland Park cancels points races for Kentucky Derby

Sunland Park Racetrack has been a stop on the road to the Kentucky Derby for horses looking to earn qualifying points for a much-coveted chance at running in the prestigious race. Not this year. Officials confirmed Monday there will be no Sunland Derby or Sunland Park Oaks as the New Mexico track recovers from an equine herpes outbreak that infected dozens of horses and placed the track along the Texas-New Mexico border on lockdown. No horses have been allowed on or off the property since Jan. 21. Track officials say they hope that will change Wednesday when New Mexico livestock officials are expected to lift the quarantine. No new cases of the fast-spreading virus have been reported in more than a week, but there’s reluctance from some horse owners to ship their animals to New Mexico for fear of another positive case derailing the track’s recovery and prompting another quarantine. Some tracks have banned the import of horses that have been in New Mexico due to virus concerns...more
Struggling with IRS instructions and forms all night, RE: The DuBois Western Heritage Foundation.
Will have posts later today...

Ranch Radio Song Of The Day #1570

Its Swingin' Monday and here's Carolyn Martin performing Take It Slow And Easy.  The tune is on her 2014 CD A Platter of Brownies - The Music of Milton Brown

https://youtu.be/8KFOcsOjPHY

Sunday, March 06, 2016

Cowgirl Sass & Savvy

Accidental death policy 

 by Julie Carter

An alarm went off in Jenna's head. Not a ringing bell kind of alarm, but the one that starts out in your gut, crawls up your spine and sends involuntary shivers to your body.

It was the same alarm you might feel when you realize your mother-in-law is coming to spend a week and the main ranch well just conked out or the sewer backed up again for the third time in a month.

Jenna had just come home from her honest job in town where she made a valiant attempt to support her husband's ranching habit. On this day, his welcome home news was that their trusty insurance agent had come by and made him a deal he couldn't refuse.

The agent had talked Rusty into "trying out" a $1 million accidental death policy with Jenna the insured and Rusty the beneficiary. Not quite sure how one would "try-out" a pay-on-death accident policy, Jenna mentally listed other options including cancellation of the policy in 60 days if it wasn't used.

It was the "if not used" part that caused her the most concern. Her mind quickly went to all the times, when in the course of helping him on the ranch, her close calls with danger would warrant such a policy. There were those days of helping him sort cattle in the alley afoot while he was horseback and the subsequent stampedes of cattle she was expected to stop, cut, turn or control.

And the days she had gone alone through brushy, snake-infested canyons riding colts that "needed the miles." Or those long days in the branding pen when calves were drug to the fire and not infrequently over the top of her.

There was the tractor with the cranky clutch that she sometimes drove and the feed truck with no brakes that was hers to use in the pastures with steep hillsides. She distinctly remembered helping at the chute by giving shots and thanks to a fighting cow, gave herself the vaccination instead.

The more she considered the insurance "try out" idea, the more her anxiety level rose.

Jenna recalled the years of their marriage and working together. It was her belief that 99.4 percent of the time it had been good. She allowed that a time or two - surely no more than that - she had inadvertently and innocently gotten something slightly wrong.

At the time she thought Rusty, with his normal good humor, had just let it slide. However, just to be safe, she decided that during this policy "try out" period, she needed to watch her back.

A week or so later, when the policy discussion had faded somewhat, she began to relax again. Then one day, coming into the house through the back door, Rusty jumped out, hollered and scared her. She screamed as she fell away from him and into the closed door that led to the basement stairs. The impact caused the door to pop open and instantly her life and a $1-million check passed before her eyes.

She managed to catch herself (without his help) before she took the plunge into the depths. Quite contrite, Rusty apologized profusely and told her it was just a joke. He helped her sit down to catch her breath, re-claim her composure and hopefully, not get a gun. Many times over the years, he pulled similar practical jokes and she laughed with him.

But this time Jenna began telling her friends about Rusty's free $1-million policy on her and the subsequent "trying out" period. Collectively they began keeping an eye on Rusty and counting down the days. Several offered to hang Rusty should anything happen to her.

Rusty is typical of someone who had spent his life in cattle and ranching. His business sense simply would not let him pass up any good deal offered for free. However, this time his reasonable intelligence overruled the monetary pressure. He called the insurance agent and gave him back 45 days of the "trying out" period.

He also requested written notification of the termination to be sent by registered mail, addressed to his wife. It was to be accompanied by a dozen roses.

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

The Adventures of Gutshot and Shades




The Federalist gene
The Adventures of Gutshot and Shades
Stimulus!
By Stephen L. Wilmeth


            The more things change … the more things stay the same.
Alexander (Gutshot) Hamilton and Harry (Shades) Reid lived 225 years apart, but will be remembered for sharing what must be considered a federalist gene. The manifestation is a general disdain for any ability of people to make decisions for themselves. Arguably, Hamilton was the most vocal opponent of citizenry being projected as our cornerstone. Unabashedly, he campaigned to ‘array property on the side of government’ which fully intended central government control of property.
His obsession for governance by important people was not even masked. He believed the Constitution needed to elevate the importance of the upper, ‘propertied’ class. He lobbied aggressively, but was soundly defeated in the battle of ideas. He packed up his writing quills and disappeared back into his world of contracts and arbitrage while Madison and company put the initial, nominal stamp of uniqueness on the law of our land that was unprecedented in history.
Since his battle with either a man or mean machine that left him hidden behind shades, the modern version of Gutshot Hamilton, Shades Reid, has adequately filled his predecessor’s role. We can remember his condescending reference toward American citizenry entering their capital building in wide eyed wonder but smelling of sweat. The need to dampen the stench with ventilation and air conditioning was the point of his comments which accompanied a major renovation of the capital which would more efficiently rout the commoners into and out the midst of his Senate’s important business proceedings.
Governance by important people of permanence shan’t be disturbed!
Shades of propertied class
There is so much political intrigue in Clark County, Nevada that a soap opera should be produced. For starters, running battles of government agencies against the county’s diminishing booted, spurred, and sweaty stewards could fill at least a month of the first episodes. Next, the green revolution could be featured. In fact, the Searchlight chronicles should be part of that segment. Searchlight, the gold mining center of the county, is the birthplace of none other than past majority leader, Reid. He remains the senate minority leader and the Democratic Party’s leading advocate of green energy.
Should there be little surprise that Searchlight is the target for a 19,000 acre, 87 turbine, and 200 megawatt wind farm? A more important question then becomes, “is there any surprise that the project is near Shades’ property?”
The project happens to be on federal lands which would never be considered if it wasn’t part of a well connected, special interest effort with allies in high government. It simply wouldn’t happen.
The hypocrisy is stifling.
Clark County ranchers have largely been evicted because of nominal threats to a desert tortoise species that might be harmed by their cattle presence, but grading of the desert lands for the installation of the turbines some of which reach 428’ passes muster by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the BLM (at the same time, the latter agency has put a notice in the Federal Register prohibiting any mining claims in the area for several years. This follows on the heals of prosecuting two ranchers for terrorism relating to setting two fires that burned less than 200 acres of federal land in Oregon).
The threat from grading the 19,000 acres of Clark County desert land with the resulting potential release of the fungi that causes valley fever or coccidioidomycosis, however, has been used by local citizens to halt the process. This grassroots effort now stands poised to secure an unexpected and unprecedented legal victory over the government and its wealthy minority leader power structure.
History demonstrates, though … government eventually gets what government wants.
Stimulus I
Our first Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, was claimed to be a genius by most biographers. He was also a cocky, womanizing progressive rooster that failed to agree with any of the benchmark strategies of the Constitution. He lamented that he and the Constitution were simply at odds. He wanted “important” people permanently at the helm of the new government. He opined that the government should control the property of the nation, and, with that, the revenue sources.
He also conceived of the methodology from which to create our nation’s credit system which largely remains today. When it is studied, it must be elevated into the hierarchy of what we now know in modern parlance as Economic Stimulus.
Gutshot and Shades stand in unitary juxtaposition!
He got it done in two steps both of which were spawned in his “Report” that, at once, stunned and amazed the first Congress. While many of the near frontier representatives wanted to sell public lands to reduce the war debt of the new nation, Gutshot conceived a process that would a) reward and elevate the “important” people and b) transfer the burden of the debt to the citizenry without relying on the sale of public lands. The vehicle of implementation was the paper held by the original war effort creditors.
Most of the securities were held in “the hands of soldiers, farmers, and merchants in the remote interior”. To most of them, the counterpart to the modern sweating masses, the certificates had come to mean “so much worthless paper”. They had given up hoping it would be redeemed. Hamilton, however, held to the idea to hold par the promises to pay for all those securities. What took place was that the moneyed class, the important people, got wind of the idea long before the news of the idea reached the back country of Georgia, North Carolina, and elsewhere. They were ready and able to make fortunes.
Four days after the “Report” was read in Congress, expresses with large sums of money were on the trails and roads south, west, and north and at least three sea going vessels were sailing to southern ports for the purposes of buying those securities up before the holders got word of the idea. It is believed that 29 of the elected Congress were party to the frenzy. What those “plundering harpies” accomplished was to buy up the majority of the debt by preying on the ignorance of the poor. The gallant veterans, driven by economic necessity in the wilderness were robbed by the “by speculators of the pittance a grateful country had bestowed”. So thoroughly did the money holders skewer the commoners that they were able to buy the majority of the certificates for “two to five shillings on the pound” … dimes on the dollar.
The process advanced to the government paying full face value for the paper, one hundred cents on the dollar for a purchase of fifteen to twenty cents, by taxing the citizenry to pay the obligations. The cornerstone not only got robbed, they had to pay the bill.
The wealth accumulation was immense. Robert Morris benefited to the tune of $18M dollars of that day! Jeremiah Wadsworth cashed his in for $9M and New York Governor George Clinton bankrolled $5M.
Gutshot Hamilton secured the first phase of his credit vision. He had private capital in banks started by “important” people.
The second step of securing his dream was the move to assume the debt of the states. This action effectively triggered the process of eliminating state rights and sovereignty by transferring monetary power to the central government. It was the ultimate move to mortgage the government to the “important citizenry”. The process was the same. The speculating gentry, fully flush through the first wealth transfers, were ready to act. All they needed was government approval and they got it. The state certificates were soon in their hands with the promise of the government to pay in full by taxing the populous. What made the second phase of Hamilton’s credit creation so distasteful was the relatively heavy debt that remained in the northern states. The southern states had retired a greater portion of their debt, but when the remaining debt was purchased, they were faced with added taxes to pay for North’s debt as well!
Important citizenry … only got more important.
The Trade
What is most revealing in this whole sordid affair was the trade that secured the debacle of “Assumption”. The north wanted the relief of debt along with the rabid desire of the neuveau rich capitalists to increase their banking strength through another grand round of stimulus. The South wanted the nation’s capital.
Both got what they wanted. Washington became the capital and Hamilton got his credit system. It was the citizenry and the states that were permanent losers … just as the Nevadans will likely become the permanent losers on their federalists’ desert.


Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico. “Jefferson later tried to explain his support for Assumption, but he may have negated all his contributions by the agreement to support Hamilton in this ruse that permanently created a ruling class of gentry … attached to the central government.”

Baxter Black - The tranquilizer gun

Unless you’re a tiger trimmer in Tanganyika, the tranquilizer gun has not lived up to its potential.  During its preliminary promotion, it was touted as the greatest invention since the rope.  But, in the livestock business, it has never quite fulfilled its expectations.  The biggest problem seems to be its predictable unpredictable results.

Most large-animal vets have tranquilizer guns.  Some of my colleagues learned the fine art of using one.  The rest of us have stuck away with our fleams and hog cholera vaccine.  I suspect “operator error” had a lot to do with our failures.

Dr. Green said he and Dr. Corley used it with success when they were gatherin’ wild cattle down in Mississippi.  It gave them an advantage over better ropers in the area. Even a good roper has to get within throwin’ distance.

The Outlaw family had eight cows and one uncatchable wanderin’ bull.  The bull was part Braymer…the uncatchable part. Mr. Outlaw kept ‘em in a scrubby pasture next to his neighbor.  This neighbor practiced rotational grazing and his pasture was lush. Mr. Outlaw’s bull spent most of his time at the neighbors.  Since the bull managed to crawl back through and breed the eight cows every spring, Mr. Outlaw saw no reason to be concerned.

When the threats became unbearable, Mr. Outlaw finally agreed to sell his wanderin’ bull.  He called on Drs. Green and Corley to expedite the matter.

Last-Gasp Assaults on Affordable Energy

By Paul Driessen

...Right now, 82% of all US energy and 87% of world energy comes from oil, natural gas and coal. Less than 3% is non-hydroelectric renewable energy – and globally half of that is traditional biomass: wood, grass and animal dung that cause millions of respiratory infections and deaths every year. Thankfully, the transition to fossil fuels and electricity continues apace, replacing biomass and lifting billions out of abject poverty, with small solar and wind units serving basic needs until electricity grids arrive.

In the USA, hydraulic fracturing has taken petroleum production to its highest level since 1972, and oil imports to their lowest level since 1995. America now exports crude oil, natural gas and refined products.

The fracking genie cannot be put back in the bottle. In fact, it is being adopted all over the world, opening new shale oil and gas fields, prolonging the life of conventional fields, leaving less energy in the ground, and giving the world another century or more of abundant, reliable, affordable petroleum. That’s plenty of time to develop new energy technologies that actually work without mandates and enormous subsidies.

So much for the “peak oil” scare. Indeed, in some ways, the world’s current problem is too much oil.

...Amid this turmoil, as if to ensure more petroleum industry bankruptcies, President Obama wants to slap a $10.25 tax on every barrel of produced oil, and use the revenues to bolster his climate change and renewable energy agenda. Under her presidency, says Hillary Clinton, a ban on oil, gas and coal production from federal lands would be a “done deal” and the United States would have “at least 50% clean or carbon-free energy by 2050.”

Such policies would kill millions of jobs, torpedo the manufacturing renaissance, eliminate the assumed revenues by strangling the oil production that generates them, impact croplands and wildlife habitats, and prolong America’s economic doldrums...

Some Cold Facts on Global Warming

By Ed Feulner

...Search all the data for evidence of the accelerated warming projected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change, and you come up empty-handed. Sometimes temps go up, but not always. There’s no constant warming. Indeed, the data show a significant moderation of the warming trend. At times it appears to have leveled off or even cooled a bit.

Should we be surprised? Not really. When you throw in variables such as measurement errors, as well as El Niño and La Niña, it makes sense that the average temperature for some years will be higher even if the overall trend is flat.

“Will the trend stay flat? Probably not,” Kreutzer writes. “The Earth has been recovering from the Little Ice Age for a couple of centuries and recovering from a real ice age for thousands of years. So there is a reasonable chance that we will revert to an overall warming trend, but there is no guarantee. Who knows? We might even be headed into another ice age (as was predicted in the 1970s).”

...No data points to catastrophic warming, hysterical predications aside. And, it should be noted, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change show that there have been no upward trends in hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, or droughts.

Small wonder then, that liberal groups who are vested in global-warming alarmism often ignore data that contradict their agenda. They tell us repeatedly that the debate is over, as if there is an expiration date on free speech. Unfortunately, too many in the media comply. Some outlets, such as the Los Angeles Times, won’t even accept letters to the editor that question the gospel of man-made climate change.



Utah joins other EPA-wary states to monitor rivers for more Gold King Mine pollution

As much as 80 percent of the 880,000 pounds of metals released into the Animas River by last summer's Gold King Mine disaster remain upstream, according to recent estimates, which has Utah and other downstream governments concerned that spring snowmelt could trigger another plume of pollution in the coming months. That possibility has led Utah, New Mexico, the Navajo Nation and Colorado's La Plata County to launch an independent effort to monitor and respond to water quality crises in the San Juan and Animas rivers. Ultimately, the partnered governments would like to create a real-time reporting system capable of sending risk estimates and warnings to residents when metals-laden sediment is on the move.  The plan, said Erica Gaddis, assistant director of water monitoring at the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, is to place multiple probes in key locations along the river to gather real-time data on the water's turbidity — the amount of stirred-up sediment flowing through the water column. The partners will also collect weekly water samples and test them for heavy metals from the mine spill, including lead, cadmium, zinc and copper. The data will then be analyzed to determine the correlation between turbidity of the two rivers and the concentration of heavy metals. The cooperative agencies, as well as representatives of the state of Colorado and the Environmental Protection Agency, met this week in Durango, Colo., to hammer out details. Utah and New Mexico have begun to implement parts of the plan, though it is unclear whether the EPA will help fund the initiative...more

Ranch Radio Song Of The Day #1569

Our gospel tune today is Heaven's Radio by Molly O'Day and the Cumberland Mountain Folks.  The tune was recorded in Nashville on June 20, 1950 and released on the Columbia label. 

https://youtu.be/ueVKUt3cL6s

Saturday, March 05, 2016

How to write Ammon Bundy, others.

This website provides the following info:

 
Jon Ritzheimer, SWIS ID# 795601
Ryan Bundy, SWIS ID# 795070
Ammon Bundy, SWIS ID# 795069
Brian Cavalier, SWIS ID# 795072
Ryan Payne, SWIS ID# 795073
Peter Thomas Santilli, SWIS ID# 795071
Jason Patrick, SWIS ID# 795104
Sean Anderson III, SWIS ID# 795442
Corey Lequieu Oma, SWIS ID# 795604
David Fry, SWIS ID# 795444
Darryl Thorn, SWIS ID# 795438 (they have him as Daryl, one r)
Dylan Anderson, SWIS ID# 795098 
Kenneth Medenbach, SWIS# 794840Blaine Cooper SWIS ID# 795818
Jason Charles Blomgren SWIS ID# 795822Wesley Kjar SWIS ID# 795823 


You can write these political prisoners at
Name inmate was booked under, SWIS#
11540 NE Iverness Drive
Portland, OR 97220  


Main phone: 503-988-3689

Interactive Map: Dozens of rallies in memory of LaVoy Finicum planned Saturday nationwide

Dozens of rallies are scheduled Saturday in Oregon and around the country in memory of Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, an armed occupier of an Oregon wildlife refuge who was killed by state police in January. Hundreds have indicated on Facebook they will attend the rallies at state Capitols, federal buildings and courthouses in at least 35 states.  One of the goals for the rallies is to collect signatures for a petition urging state and federal authorities to investigate how Finicum died, said Cherilyn Eagar, a spokeswoman for the Finicum family. Many dispute the FBI's account of the confrontation and insist Finicum's death was preventable. Organizers also hope to spread awareness about and protest the arrests of 25 refuge occupiers, Eagar said. They're all facing federal charges of conspiracy to obstruct a federal officer with intimidation or threats, a charge with a maximum six-year term...more

See the map here.

Friday, March 04, 2016

Ammon Bundy says jail 'most difficult thing I've ever done'

    Ammon Bundy, leader of the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, has gone from counting the days of the occupation to counting the days behind bars.
    Thursday marked his 37th day in a single cell at Portland's downtown jail on federal conspiracy charges.
    "It's the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life,'' said Bundy, his hair cut short and wearing the standard blue jail smock over a pink T-shirt in a visiting room of the Multnomah County Detention Center. "But I don't regret what we did because I knew it was right.''
    ...Bundy said he misses his wife and six children in Idaho -- three daughters and three sons ages 1 to 13 -- and struggles to maintain contact with them through letters and phone calls.
    To pass the time, he takes inspiration from the jailhouse words of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. about the importance of civil disobedience, reads passages from Scripture, keeps a journal and tries to respond to the more than 220 people who have sent him letters since his arrest. He also runs in place and does jumping jacks in his 7-by-12-foot cell to keep in shape.
    During an hourlong interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive, the 40-year-old spoke about the surprise of his arrest, his father's influence on his beliefs, the police shooting of occupation spokesman Robert "LaVoy" Finicum and his future.
    He said he had gone to Burns to rally behind two local ranchers who were returning to prison for burning federal land and even his wife didn't know he was planning to end up at the wildlife refuge.
    "I began to look at what we can do to make a stand, to make a point, demonstrate that this is not OK, much like many others have done in our history,'' he said. "We needed to make a lot of noise to get people to understand what is happening.''
    He's satisfied that the occupation drew national attention to his cause.
    He doesn't feel responsible for Finicum's death or his 24 co-defendants who also face federal indictment, he said.
    "Everyone made their own decision,'' Bundy said. "We're all adults.''

    Bundy said he knew his arrest was a real possibility, but he was surprised when the FBI and state police moved in while they were traveling to John Day to meet with residents there.
    "We were headed with weapons of laptops, projectors and PA systems and they attacked us – literally ambushed us with a standing army,'' Bundy said. "Yeah, we were surprised because we were going peacefully to a community meeting. We were legally moving about the country peacefully the way that people should be able to do.''
    ...He hung his head and talked softly when he described how hard it is being away from his wife and children.
    "We are in here locked away and our families are trying to survive, and they're struggling out there especially when we were the primary breadwinners,'' he said. "My babies are at home. My beautiful wife is at home. Everything is at risk right now for us, as far as our income, our house. But we have to ask ourselves – was it worth it? I believe it was.''


A sure sign of warmism in decline: Yale closing down its ‘Climate and Energy Institute’

Peak warmism has already hit, and the global warming movement is now on its long glide path through loss of government funding, budget and hiring cuts, less media attention, on the way to unfashionability, embarrassment, and eventually obscurity, a historical footnote like phrenology (which was once the rage in elite academic circles).  In retrospect, the December 2015 Paris Climate Accord, which was still able to draw heads of state but which could accomplish nothing substantive other than promise money, may well be seen as the definitive moment at which the movement began its official decline.

Now elite institutions, which always have their antennae attuned to the ebb and flow of the concerns of the world’s power elite, are acting out the consequences of decline.  If you are a university president responsible for raising mega-donations by convincing the holders of wealth that they can achieve prestige and maybe a little immortality by funding your Good Works, then you have to be aware of their changing concerns.

Only a few years ago, global warming seemed like a sure winner to Yale’s then-president Richard C. Levin, when he announced in 2009 the establishment of the Yale Climate and Energy Institute and secured Rajendra K. Pachauri as its first head.  Pachuari was the head of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the major force pushing global warming as a central battle to be fought to save humanity, and he was to serve both the U.N. and Yale at the same time, locking them together as leaders of the fight to rescue us all from doom. 
That was then; this is now.  The Yale Daily News announced three days ago:
After a University decision to cut all its funding, Yale’s Climate & Energy Institute will close by the end of June. The loss of the institute, which for the last eight years has conducted research related to issues of climate change, leaves a hole in climate and energy studies at Yale.

Blue Ribbon Panel Recommends $1.3 Billion Investment in Conservation

A task force including business and energy leaders along with conservation groups is pushing a strategy to combat wildlife habitat loss and species decline. The blue-ribbon panel's recommendations include tapping $1.3 billion in royalties from energy production on public lands to protect non-game species. Whit Fosburgh, president and chief executive of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, said the struggle to keep the greater sage-grouse off the endangered species list has shown it pays to be proactive. The panel warned that if action isn't taken, the list of federally threatened and endangered species could grow from nearly 1,600 today to thousands more in the future - which Fosburgh said would put up significant roadblocks to economic development. Fosburgh noted that hunters and anglers already help subsidize management of game species through licenses and other fees. Since state fish and wildlife agencies already are being asked to do more with less, he said another source of funding is needed to protect the wildlife that draws people to the outdoors. To implement the plan, Fosburgh said, it's going to take pressure from states, industry and everyone who supports wildlife to move Congress to release a portion of the $13 billion collected each year in oil and gas royalties. The recommendations are online at fishwildlife.org.

Can't help but notice these proposals for increased spending are almost always accompanied by a threat.  In this case, "thousands more" added to the endangered species list, resulting in "significant roadblocks to economic development."  Pay me now or pay me later.  All roads lead to increased spending, but its oh so much smarter to spend now.  No thought is given to amending the ESA so it can be administered in a more efficient and effective way.    
                  

Sedona Is the New Mountain Bike Mecca

Sedona, we discovered, is possibly one of the finest riding destinations in the country. It definitely provided the best bike test in the 11-year history of the event. Of course the mountain bike trails are ridiculously fun and extremely varied. If you thought that Moab has a corner on red-rock desert riding, think again. Trails here range from Chutes and Ladders-style twists and turns on dusty singletrack through loose piñon pine and junipers, to nonstop rollercoaster ups and downs with blocky sandstone step-ups and step-downs, with big basins and swells of slick rock to play in at every turn. There’s loose and chunky stuff, nicely constructed flow trails, high-consequence technical challenges, and even cruisey riding in the ponderosas if you’re willing to pedal for it. “One of the best things about Sedona is the variety,” says Matt Mcfee, whose company Hermosa Tours guides visiting riders. “There’s trail for everyone, and you can’t call any of it, even the easy stuff, boring.” Another big bonus is the proximity to riding. “Here, you don’t have to drive at all. The trails are all close enough to ride to, and the network can connect to everything else in town,” says Mike Raney, co-owner of Over The Edge Sports Sedona. There’s 239 miles of bike-friendly trails, most of which is well signed and mapped and strung over town like a giant spider web. During the time we spent testing in Sedona, we drove to ride only twice. But really what sets Sedona apart is its attitude. The city wants cyclists to come ride. In Sedona, the Forest Service has actually collaborated with the mountain bike community to retrofit old trails to better suit cyclists needs (think: banked turns, no switchbacks, rock armor instead of steps). They also worked with riders and the city to build 60 miles of new trails to accommodate the increase in riders. “Trails are a natural way to protect the land,” says Jennifer Burns, who worked as the recreation staff officer for Sedona’s district of the Coconino National Forest from 2009 until her retirement earlier this year. “The policy here has been to reach out and build back relationships with mountain bikers. It’s the surest way we have to fulfill our charge to protect the land.”...more

Clean Power Plan stay spurs enviros into action

by Elizabeth Shogren

It’s hard to overstate the high that environmentalists were feeling as this year began. President Obama had finally rejected the Keystone XL pipeline that they had fought against for years. New Environmental Protection Agency rules for reining in greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants had helped Obama lead the world to a new international climate change agreement in Paris in December. As icing on the cake, the Interior Department in January surprised environmentalists and announced a moratorium on leasing federal coal. “We had come off of the best six months ever,” says Tiernan Sittenfeld, senior vice president for government affairs of the League of Conservation Voters.

Then last month, the Supreme Court delivered the movement an unexpected defeat by staying the Clean Power Plan. The blow showed environmentalists just how fragile their victories are, but it also re-energized their efforts to influence the coming elections. “When you contrast the incredible progress we’ve had and the stay, it does underscore that the stakes couldn’t be higher,” Sittenfeld adds.

The group’s rank-and-file supporters apparently understand those stakes. Online donations to the League of Conservation Voters started pouring in the evening the stay was announced. Within 24 hours, the organization had received $100,000 – making it one of the largest days for online contributions in the group’s history, Sittenfeld says.

Inside the Arizona prison where inmates train horses for U.S. Border Patrol

In a wide field hedged in by high fences topped with razor wire, Johnny Stankovic, dressed entirely in orange, stands almost motionless in the climbing morning heat. From his hand, a synthetic rope sags to the sun-bleached grass and then up again to the head of a young roan colt. The colt dips its head to tear at the sod but keeps a wary eye on Stankovic. “He’s not used to people yet,” Stankovic says evenly. “He’s a new one. Gotta take it slow. They’ve only run from people before coming here.” Stankovic is one of 40 to 45 inmates chosen to work in the Wild Horse Inmate Program at the Arizona State Penitentiary in Florence, Arizona. Randy Helm, a former undercover narcotics agent and experienced rancher, runs the program within the prison walls. He helped to found the program in 2013, which couples new skills training with a for-profit venture. Helm says the monetary profits are minuscule -- barely enough to keep the program afloat, in fact, but the sociological results are tremendous. While the program does not profess a “rehabilitative” aspect, prisoners involved in the program show a substantially lower recidivism rate, Helm says. Prisoners who are interested in the program can apply, just like all the other jobs in prison; they are chosen for various reasons including good behavior, prior animal experience, and general interest in the work. “It really does change their people skills,” Helm says about the inmates in the program. “With a wild horse, you can’t take a shortcut because there’s no place to go. Life is that way: You have to go through this process, one step at a time.”
The Buenos Aires National Wildlife Reserve in southern Arizona is a treacherous, wild terrain filled with patches of tall whip-like Ocotillo cactus and bristling bunches of cotton-spired Jumping Chollas. The reserve’s southern edge flattens against the Mexican border and makes it a favored entry point for migrants and smugglers. The horses are already slick with sweat and we’re only halfway through the patrol. We are looking for "bodies" -- agent slang for blips picked up from the multitude of electronic motion and heat sensors that dot the area. The technology can spot people crossing the border, but retrieving them is where the horse patrol comes in. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been buying horses from the inmate program since its inception. The animals are well-suited for the slow tracking of smugglers; the “chase” creeps along in the rugged terrain. There are no high-speed chases out here on the rocks. Horses can also move further distances much faster and more quietly than other forms of vehicular movement or humans on foot can. Plus, horses are naturally intelligent. While an agent may think he can tear through a wash on an ATV and then end up misjudging the depth and getting stuck, a horse knows its limitations and can gauge which path is best.
The connection between agents and horses is undeniable, as is the connection between the inmates and horses. Trust is the underlying current. The horses must reach a point where they trust humans, and the inmates are being entrusted with that job. This also requires putting trust in themselves to accomplish something very unique, perhaps for the first time in their lives.

El Chapo entered US twice while on the run after prison break

The drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán bankrolled the election of senior Mexico politicians and twice secretly entered the United States to visit relatives, according to his eldest daughter. Rosa Isela Guzmán Ortiz said that shortly after an interview with Hollywood star Sean Penn last year, her father dodged a massive manhunt with the complicity of corrupt Mexican officials and evaded US border controls to sneak into California – despite being one of the world’s most wanted fugitives. She also accused senior Mexican politicians of accepting donations from El Chapo when they ran for office, and said that in return officials turned a blind eye to his escapes from prison. “My dad is not a criminal. The government is guilty,” she told the Guardian. The explosive allegations made by Guzmán Ortiz could not be independently verified and are likely to be vigorously contested by Mexican and US authorities. Guzmán Ortiz, 39, made the claims in a series of interviews which she said were given in consultation with her father...more

New Mexico Tech to be featured on last episode of popular TV show

SOCORRO, N.M. (KRQE) – On Saturday, fans of a popular TV show will bid farewell to an explosive series. If you watch closely, you’ll see a New Mexico link. One local university is so good at blowing things up, they’ve been featured several times and will be in the final episode. “We have a blast,” said Dr. Van Romero with a chuckle. For nearly a decade, Vice President of Research at New Mexico Tech, Dr. Van Romero, alongside other explosive researchers, have helped two special effects experts and their team debunk common misconceptions, like whether a snowplow can split a car in half. The show is called “Mythbusters.” “It’s always been a big hit around here,” Romero said. “We’d like this to go on forever.” Unfortunately for fans, the show has reached the end of its run, but not before one last shoot in New Mexico. “We knew it would happen eventually and we had always been thinking about what we could do. We were a little bit surprised. About a year ago, they contacted us and said, ‘Okay, we’re ready to do our final show.'” explained Romero. Dr. Romero first appeared on the show as an expert in 2007, but gladly welcomed cast and crew to New Mexico Tech when Mythbusters wanted to up the ante on their explosions. In fact, the finale promises the series’ biggest explosion, yet, and Romero and his team deserve a lot of credit. Romero tells us they begin work on these project more than six months before they ever shoot them. Mythbusters gets in touch with what ideas they have, but it’s up to the brainpower at New Mexico Tech to develop the engineering solutions. Once both teams agree on a plan, the hard part’s over, right? Not even close...more

Google's hush-hush 100kW transmitter in New Mexico desert: What's going on at SkyBender test site?

An application filed with the FCC reveals Google's request to install a nearly 100kW radio transmitter at Spaceport America, the New Mexico-based hangar where it's running SkyBender, its secretive project using drones to test millimeter-wave radio. The highly-redacted document doesn't reveal much about what Google is doing beyond conducting field tests in the 2.5GHz band, 5.8GHz band and 71-76GHz and 81-86GHz bands. It also confirms that Google is testing millimeter-wave technology at Spaceport. Google is paying about $1,000 a day to test its technology from 15,000 square feet of hangar space at Spaceport that was originally designated to Virgin Galactic's stalled spaceflight program. Also, SkyBender is being run by Google Access, the group responsible for its Gigabit Fiber service in the US. Project SkyBender is employing third-party drones as well as drones made by Google Titan, which have wingspans of up to 50 meters, or 164ft.  Whatever Google is building, the company does not want rivals figuring out its plan....more

NM wildlife officials OK endangered wolves at Turner Ranch

The southwest New Mexico ranch owned by media mogul Ted Turner will temporarily shelter five Mexican gray wolves on their way to Mexico. The New Mexico Game and Fish Commission gave unanimous approval Friday, more than a month after the panel denied Ladder Ranch's appeal for a permit to host Mexican wolves as part of a federal species recovery program, the Albuquerque Journal reported. "I don't have a problem with the Ladder Ranch," Commissioner Ralph Ramos said after Friday's meeting. "I think they are doing a good job. I'm concerned about Fish and Wildlife. They need to get that recovery plan completed." The Ladder Ranch had held its permit to participate in the recovery program since 1988. Federal wildlife officials will transport the animals from Wolf Haven International in Washington state to Mexico. The Ladder Ranch stop is intended to relieve travel stress and work around breeding season. Turner Endangered Species Fund Mike Phillips attended Friday's meeting via telephone from Bozeman, Montana. He said one plan moves the wolves to Ladder Ranch next week and moves the animals to Mexico before pups are born. The other plan moves the wolves to Ladder Ranch in early April, and then to Mexico in July after the female wolf gives birth...more

NM right to farm bill signed into law

Gov. Susana Martinez visited Southwest Cheese in Clovis Thursday afternoon to sign two pieces of legislation, Senate Bill 72 and House Bill 270. A crowd from both agricultural and medical industries gathered around to witness the signing of these two bills. Senate Bill 72, sponsored by Sen. Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, took an existing piece of legislation, the Right to Farm Act, and updated it to better protect New Mexico farmers and ranchers. Walter Bradley, director of government and business relations at Dairy Farmers of America, Inc., said the bill amends the law to protect farm operations from nuisance claims. A claim may not be brought by a person if there is a purchase, lease, or rental of property near an existing operation unless the farm substantially changes its nature and landscape of operation, Bradley said. “Basically, if you’re new to the neighborhood and you move in near an existing operation, ranch, or farm, that business is allowed to grow without fear of a nuisance lawsuit being brought against it,” said Katie Goetz, public information officer of the New Mexico Department of Agriculture. Regarding Senate Bill 72, Martinez said there are nearly 25,000 farms and ranches across the state and are diverse in their sizes and end products. “The bill I’m signing today further protects this industry,” she said. “I understand the value of this industry. Supporting the agricultural industry has never been more important than it is today,” She said there’s been an increase in New Mexico of young farmers and ranchers of about 50 percent since 2007. “I think that’s an exciting thing—a trend that we want to see continue.” Martinez said. “With this bill, we assure our farmers and ranchers that they can continue their operations without having to worry about getting dragged into court, simply because a new neighbor thinks they’re too loud or they’re a nuisance.”...more

Ranch Radio Song Of The Day #1568

Idle Rumors, a duet by Red Foley & Evelyn Knight is our selection today.  This pretty tune was recorded for the Decca label in Nashville on Nov. 28, 1950. 

https://youtu.be/GQJd9aLz3-o

Thursday, March 03, 2016

Feds removing protections from Yellowstone grizzlies

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today began removing federal Endangered Species Act protections for Yellowstone-area grizzly bears, marking a conservation milestone that’s been four decades in the making. The federal agency listed the Yellowstone grizzly as threatened on July 28, 1975 when there were perhaps as few as 136 grizzlies left in the ecosystem. Removing federal protection and turning management over to the states comes as the population stands at an official estimate of 717. “The recovery of the Yellowstone grizzly bear represents a historic success for partnership-driven wildlife conservation under the Endangered Species Act,” Dan Ashe, director of the USFWS, said in a statement. “Our proposal today underscores and celebrates more than 30 years of collaboration with our trusted federal, state and tribal partners to address the unique habitat challenges of grizzlies. The final post-delisting management plans by these partners will ensure healthy grizzly populations persist across the Yellowstone ecosystem long into the future.” Federal and state plans seek to maintain a stable population of about 674 bears — the average number between 2002 and 2014. They would be counted in a 19,279-square mile Demographic Monitoring Area with Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks at the core. Gov. Matt Mead responded immediately. “We have been working for several years with the Secretary of Interior and the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service one-on-one, along with our staffs to get to this decision,” he said in a statement. “The proposed rule is to delist grizzly bears. Grizzly bears are recovered and have been for more than a decade. It is a great success story.” Hunting likely to follow In addition, removal of ESA protection would allow some “discretionary mortality,” including hunting, that would be regulated by the three neighboring states. The federal government through the USFWS concerns itself with the population-level view of the species and overall annual mortality. It will leave it to states to decide which bears might be hunted where and when outside the two national parks. Federal officials said they’ve put national park leaders in touch with state game agencies to work out how park boundary bears that are popular tourist attractions might be protected once they leave Park Service sanctuaries...more

States fire head of crucial prairie chicken program

Even as a federal district judge yesterday rejected the Fish and Wildlife Service's request to reinstate federal protections for the lesser prairie chicken, state wildlife regulators fired the man in charge of the plan the judge had instead favored to recover the imperiled bird. Until yesterday, Cal Baca was the lesser prairie chicken program manager at the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA), a coalition of regulators from 23 states and Canadian provinces that created a rangewide plan meant to prevent the need to protect the bird under the Endangered Species Act. Baca's main responsibility at WAFWA was implementing the rangewide plan that Junell concluded could recover the species without the need for federal protections. His termination on the day that the courts made it unlikely the prairie chicken will receive federal protections anytime soon suggested to some observers that the states are no longer interested in following their plan to recover the species. "It's not a good omen," said one so-called mitigation banker, who has closely followed the prairie chicken issue. He spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid negative attention to his company, which preserves habitat for protected species and sells conservation credits to developers that harm listed animals. The exact reason for Baca's dismissal remains unclear. In a brief phone interview, he told Greenwire, "I don't think I'm at liberty to discuss that right now." An email sent out to WAFWA staff around noon yesterday said only that "effective immediately, Cal Baca is no longer an employee of WAFWA and, therefore, no longer holds the position of the [lesser prairie chicken] Program Manager. ... While the LPC Program Manager position is vacant, Bill Van Pelt, WAFWA's Grassland Initiative Coordinator, will be the main point of contact regarding the Lesser Prairie-Chicken Rangewide Plan." The decision to fire Baca was made by the Lesser Prairie-Chicken Initiative Council, a body that includes state wildlife regulators in the bird's five-state range and one at-large member. Alexa Sandoval, the director of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and chairwoman of the council, declined to discuss the reasoning behind the decision but emphasized that it was unrelated to the district court ruling...more

Indictment Accuses Bundy, Followers of Conspiracy in Nevada

A federal indictment accuses renegade Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, two of his sons and at least five other men from several states of conspiracy, obstruction, assault, threatening federal officers and other charges in a 2014 armed standoff over grazing cattle on U.S. land near Bundy's ranch. Bundy and seven other people's names appeared unredacted in an indictment obtained Thursday following the arrest of alleged co-conspirator Gerald "Jerry" DeLemus in New Hampshire. They are Cliven Bundy's sons Ammon Bundy of Arizona and Ryan Bundy of Utah, and supporters Ryan Payne of Montana, Peter Santilli Jr. of California, and Brian Cavalier and Blaine Cooper, both of Arizona. Each was already in custody after being identified by federal authorities as having taken part in the Nevada standoff and the occupation this year of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon. Federal authorities on Thursday arrested DeLemus, 61, of Rochester, New Hampshire, on allegations that he "organized and led armed patrols and security checkpoints" for several weeks after a tense armed confrontation in April 2014 near Cliven Bundy's melon farm and cattle ranch in Bunkerville, Nevada. "DeLemus used guns and threats of violence to intimidate and interfere with federal law enforcement officers," Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Zuckerman wrote. Redactions in the indictment filed Wednesday in Las Vegas appear to black out names and allegations against 11 more people. The nine-count indictment is similar to one filed Feb. 11, a day after Cliven Bundy, 74, was arrested after flying from Las Vegas to Portland, Oregon, to visit Ammon and Ryan Bundy in jail. The Bundy sons were arrested Jan. 26 and accused of organizing an occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Ammon Bundy and 15 other defendants pleaded not guilty last week in Portland to federal conspiracy charges related to the occupation. A total of 25 people are charged in connection with the takeover, which began Jan. 2 and lasted until Feb. 11. The occupiers wanted the U.S. government to relinquish public lands to locals and free two Oregon ranchers who they say were wrongly imprisoned for setting fires. DeLemus also traveled to Oregon to talk with the group at the refuge. But returned home before arrests were made and hasn't been charged with a crime. The new indictment alleges a conspiracy to recruit, organize, train and provide support to armed men and other followers of rancher Cliven Bundy during an aborted round-up of his cattle in a dispute over more than $1 million in unpaid grazing fees and penalties. The charges include conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States; threatening a federal law enforcement officer; obstruction of justice; attempting to impede or injure a federal law enforcement officer; and several firearms charges. It calls Cliven Bundy the leader and beneficiary of the conspiracy, and Ammon and Ryan Bundy leaders and organizers of about 200 gunmen and followers who forced federal agents and contract cowboys to release about 400 cows that had been rounded up from federal land near the Bundy ranch. DeLemus was due to appear federal court in Concord, New Hampshire. Calls to DeLemus' court-appointed attorney and his wife, Republican state Rep. Susan DeLemus, were not immediately returned. At the time of his arrest, DeLemus was running for Strafford County sheriff.   ABC News

Wyoming’s Gov Is Angry Lawmakers Are Trying To Funnel His Coal Revenues To Other States

Wyoming Republican Gov. Matt Mead is not happy with a new bill that goes along with President Barack Obama’s plan to use coal mining revenues from western states to fund “economic development” projects in states where federal regulations have put thousands of coal miners out of work. “The legislation is detrimental to Wyoming’s coal industry and the national economy. RECLAIM would shift $1 billion from states where mining and reclamation occurs to non-reclamation economic development activities in states where federal energy policies decimated viable industries,” Mead wrote in a letter to Wyoming’s congressional delegation obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation. Mead is referring to the Revitalizing the Economy of Coal Communities by Leveraging Local Activities and Investing More, or RECLAIM, Act which shifts $1 billion from abandoned mine reclamation funding in states like Wyoming to economic projects in Appalachian states like Kentucky...more

Bill to restrict conservation easements drawing attention

A state bill that could drastically limit how landowners can arrange for their lands to be handled in the future is drawing scorn from conservation groups and some landowners. If passed, the bill would require county commissions to set regulations for conservation easements, which protect private lands from future development, such as oil drilling, housing developments, and wind farms. Currently, landowners who sign up for easements set conditions approved by groups like the Nature Conservancy of Kansas or the Kansas Ranchland Trust. Such conditions for preservation remain attached to the land for perpetuity. Landowners are usually compensated with hefty tax breaks. Should the bill pass, it could be up to county commissioners how long a conservation easement could last, or if they would even be legal in that county. Proponents of the bill have said they think conservation easements put too much limitation on what future landowners can do with a property...more

An interesting concept.  Counties now control land use designations, so why should we allow state law, often backed by hefty federal subsidies, to overturn those local ordinances and plans?

USDA Removes Labeling Requirements from Beef and Pork

The federal government has wiped off the books the controversial law that required grocery stores to label cuts of pork and beef with their country of origin. The rules around Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) require retailers to note where the animal that produced cuts of meat was born, raised and slaughtered. The World Trade Organization, however, said last year that the labels were an unfair trade barrier for meat producers in other countries. Congress repealed mandatory labeling on beef and pork late last year, after the U.S. lost a World Trade Organization dispute with Mexico and Canada. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has now made repeal official via a notice in the Federal Register, although labels are still necessary for poultry, fish and a list of other foods. Over 90 percent of the beef, pork and poultry consumed in the U.S. is produced by American farms. But some ranchers wanted protection from foreign competition and viewed the labels as the meat version of a "Made in the U.S.A." sticker...more

New Mexico Hispanic ranchers travel to Washington

A delegation of Hispanic ranchers from New Mexico is in Washington, D.C., to meet with congressional leaders about alleged discrimination and civil rights violations. The ranchers talked with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Wednesday, a day before the caucus was scheduled to meet with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The caucus had asked for a meeting with Vilsack in October, saying members had reports from constituents indicating significant civil rights violations and discrimination by the agency. The caucus also pointed to a 2013 review that found noncompliance with civil rights requirements and regulations by U.S. Forest Service offices in New Mexico and Colorado. The USDA contends civil rights have been a priority under the Obama administration and that errors have been corrected over the last several years. AP

Feds to introduce more wolves this summer (between Interstate 40 and the U.S./Mexico border)

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provided an update on the controversial Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program to attendees at the sixth annual Natural History of the Gila Symposium — an update that told a story of poor genetic diversity and a small drop in numbers. The agency’s representative also revealed plans for more wolf reintroductions into the Gila National Forest in coming months. According to changes made to the recovery plan in 2014, the FWS plans to reintroduce several more captive-raised specimens into the wild this year. The changes to the plan expand the possible reintroduction areas to anywhere between Interstate 40 and the U.S./Mexico border in Arizona and New Mexico. That, of course, includes the Gila National Forest here in Grant County. No specific dates have been set for the reintroductions this summer because some of the wolves set for release are pups that haven’t been born yet. This fostering approach to reintroduction has only been attempted once with Mexican gray wolves and was not a huge success. Laudon expressed optimism for the plan, however, saying it is based on a program from the Appalachian Mountain region involving red wolves that worked well...more

Laudon also spoke to the prickly relationship between the wolves and the ranching community. He said that most of the problems between wolves and cows or sheep could be avoided with the alteration of the unique and long-practiced ranching methods in the region. He said the type of year-round grazing done on the public lands here is “done almost nowhere else,” and causes more interaction between livestock and predators.

 No big deal.  Just a change from year around to seasonal grazing.  It will cut their grazing and the value of their permits by 50 percent or more.  No big deal.  Current operations will no longer be viable.  Ranching families will be destroyed.  No big deal.

The new enviro formula:

Year around grazing to---seasonal grazing to---no grazing

Interior Department Not Working On Owyhee Wilderness Designation

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said Tuesday that she is not aware of any coordination between her office and the White House about a conservation proposal for the Owyhee. Last year, Portland-based Keen Footwear launched a campaign to convince President Obama to designate 2.5 million acres in southeast Oregon as an Owyhee Canyonlands national monument. The Oregon Natural Desert Association has been talking about a wilderness designation for years, but that can only happen through Congress. Obama has already created or expanded 19 national monuments. The prospect of a Democratic president designating a monument in the Owyhee has galvanized some local residents in opposition, and Rep. Greg Walden, R-Oregon, opposes the idea. Walden asked Jewell directly if the Interior Department is involved in such an effort. Jewell said, at the moment, she’s not coordinating with the White House for an Owyhee monument...more

Interior, drillers win high-stakes lizard lawsuit

The Obama administration and the oil industry scored a big win in court today as federal judges decided a case surrounding lizards that dwell in prime drilling territory. A unanimous panel of three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled against conservation groups, who challenged the Fish and Wildlife Service's 2012 move to withdraw its prior decision to list the dunes sagebrush lizard -- whose habitat is in New Mexico and Texas -- as endangered. The D.C. Circuit upheld a lower court decision that also sided with the Obama administration. The legal battle over the lizard has been closely watched by the energy industry. State officials and oil interests have feared that an endangered species listing for the tiny species would hamper drilling in the Permian Basin -- historically the nation's largest oil patch (EnergyWire, Jan. 10, 2014). Defenders of Wildlife and the Center for Biological Diversity contended that FWS's withdrawal of the lizard listing was illegal because voluntary conservation agreements in Texas and New Mexico are "not regulatory mechanisms and are too speculative to ensure the conservation of the species."...more

Ranch Radio #1567

Here's Billy Williams and his 1946 recording of Two Silhouettes On The Prairie.

https://youtu.be/CTtBkXITRrE

Wednesday, March 02, 2016

Federal land? Some Westerners say there's no such thing

Phil Taylor, E&E reporter

 The recent armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge stoked long-simmering frustrations over what some Westerners perceive as an inequity.

In the 11 Western states, the federal government controls about half the land, plus more in Alaska. Yet it only controls about 4 percent of the rest of the nation's acres.

"Our system does not work if you have a back-of-the-bus class of states," said Ken Ivory, a Republican state representative from Utah who has spearheaded national campaigns to transfer federal lands to Western states. "To have federal bureaucrats from thousands of miles away who are accountable to no one is not working."

The Malheur occupation, while widely condemned for its tactics, underscored a quieter -- and mostly legal -- push among conservative Western politicians, sheriffs and academics to assert local control over federal lands and their bounty of minerals, trees and grass.

The movement, which targets roughly 640 million acres owned by all Americans, is using a range of tools including education, legislation, litigation and civil disobedience to push the government's divestiture of land.

It seems to have hit a crescendo with Cliven Bundy's armed uprising against the Bureau of Land Management in April 2014 and his sons' seizure of Malheur in January.

And it's found some traction in legal forums, as well -- in county commissions, statehouses and Congress.

Lawmakers in various states last year flooded their chambers with three dozen "land seizure" bills, with six passing full legislatures, according to the Center for Western Priorities. Utah is pondering litigation to seize federal lands the size of Pennsylvania. The Republican National Committee in 2014 adopted a resolution calling for the "imminent" transfer of Western federal lands to willing states.

The activists share many criticisms of federal lands: They can't be taxed. Environmental laws hinder their development. Overstocked forests burn. Locked gates thwart motorized passage.

But the groups involved vary in size, ideology and tactics, and they don't seem to have a unified front.

Border citizens to hold meeting in Animas, N.M., on March 10

Concerned citizens of New Mexico and Arizona border counties, along with the New Mexico Cattle Grower’s Association and the Arizona Cattle Grower’s Association, are “calling Washington home” to a public meeting on Thursday, March 10 at 6 p.m. at the Animas Community Center in Animas, N.M., located at 1 Panther Blvd. The increase of illegal immigrants and drug/human smugglers from Mexico has created a common fear among border residents for their safety and the safety of their loved ones. A recent attack on a local citizen has spurred one local business owner to now use the “buddy system” for any work to be done within 30 miles of the border, meaning that a job that used to require only one employee will now require two. Pleas for help and protection from Washington are falling on deaf ears and the citizens are fed up. Presentations will be made by a diverse group of knowledgeable experts that have been involved with this ongoing issue for years. It is the hope of the planning committee that this meeting will bring the safety and security concerns from those residing south of Interstate 10 to the general public’s attention, as well as to those in Washington that really can make a difference...more

State historian gives lowdown on outlaws

“People think the Old West ended in 1895. Not in Arizona,” official State Historian Marshall Trimble told a full house Friday night at the Pinal County Historical Society Museum. Trimble was speaking about his new book, “Arizona Outlaws and Lawmen,” at a benefit for the museum. One of the state’s great outlaw characters from the late 1800s was Rufus Nephew, also known as “Climax Jim” from the brand of tobacco he constantly chewed. “I couldn’t help but like” Nephew, and the lawmen of his day liked him too,” Trimble said. Nephew once accepted a check as payment for some cattle he had stolen, then was arrested after he altered the check. At his trial, as the prosecutor and defense attorney were arguing, Nephew picked up the key piece of evidence — the check — and added it to the wad of chaw in his mouth. Nephew later spat it out in the judge’s own spittoon. “There was ‘Exhibit A,’” Trimble said. Another time, Nephew had been arrested with some stolen cattle and smelled terrible after many days on the run. As he was about to wash up outside the jail, he saw a very fine horse tied to a hitching post. His priority then became to steal the horse, and he rode naked through Springerville and Eagar, Trimble said...more

Ranchers recall legacy of black cattlemen in Florida

One of John Brown’s earliest memories is of sitting atop his Uncle Lawrence’s horses, pretending he was a cowboy. It was one of his favorite pastimes growing up in Kissimmee, and it became a love that has carried on throughout his life. Brown’s "Uncle Lawrence" was Lawrence Silas, an iconic figure in Osceola County and regarded as one of the greatest cowboys in Florida’s cattle ranching history. Documents show Silas built a cattle empire in Jim Crow-era Kissimmee, cultivating a ranch that spanned thousands of acres and included hundreds of varied livestock. The tradition of black ranch hands tending herds on the Florida frontier dates to the 17th century. The exhibit shares the little-known story of how those ranchers helped develop the state’s cattle industry, two legacies that Florida Agricultural Museum curator Mary Herron says are intertwined. Herron spent nearly two years researching the information included in the exhibit and built a permanent ode to Florida’s black cowboys, which opened at the Palm Coast exhibition hall in 2009. The touring version was based off that exhibit. It chronicles herding traditions from their African roots through Europe to today’s ranch lands in the Sunshine State. “The cattle industry is really a quintessential part of Florida culture and economic life because it spans the entire range of Florida’s history following European contact,” Herron said...more

Refuge workers had 'a sense' about visitors before takeover

Weeks before anti-government militants took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, its manager and other workers kept close watch on the arrival in Harney County of protesters tied to the Bundy family. "There was a change in the type of people you saw in the community," said Chad Karges, who oversees the bird sanctuary for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The refuge employs its own law enforcement officer and Karges kept in touch with other police officials. He said Fish & Wildlife Service workers in December took steps "to prepare for the unknown." He said he maintained normal operations until Christmas, but afterward directed four maintenance workers who live on the refuge to move out. He also told employees to work always in teams. He said refuge employees noticed people parking at the refuge headquarters and coming into the office, describing them as "not quite normal ... it was just a sense you had." Authorities shared a photo of one militant with employees as a precaution...more

Oregon standoff: Workers find 'mess' left behind by occupiers

Restoring life to normal at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters will require accounting for the most mundane of government property – paperwork. Federal workers last week began inspecting the grounds to find out what the armed protesters had done in 41 days of controlling the compound. They discovered no major damage to buildings so far. They still need to assess ditches and roads carved out by some of the militants. Members of the Burns Paiute Tribe are taking the lead to judge if artifacts or sacred grounds suffered. But it's clear the occupiers helped themselves to file cabinets and desks, rifling through and scattering government files. "Everything got moved," said Chad Karges, refuge manager for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Karges on Tuesday described the scene at the compound in his first detailed accounting since the takeover began Jan. 2. For protection, law enforcement officials spirited Karges out of town shortly after the takeover began. Only a week ago officials judged it safe for him to return home. He's now presiding over what he expects could be a lengthy process to restore the refuge to full public access and operation...more