The Tale of Two Nations

Mexico Nuevo

The Tale of Two Nations

Cowdom

By Stephen L. Wilmeth

 

            It was interesting reading about a suggestion this week of separating El Paso from Texas and appropriating it to New Mexico.

“Texas is old and New Mexico is new.”

Actually, the idea makes a lot of sense. El Paso was once promoted as the capital of the state of Sacramento before the turn of the 20^th Century and the eventual statehood of New Mexico. That concept would have taken in five to seven of New Mexico’s southern counties along with three Texas counties, and that city would be the natural capital.

            El Paso has never been a true native of Texas.

            Its personality isn’t Texas. Its focus is so acutely southward it even suffered casualties in the last Mexican revolution. Its politics are dovetailed seamlessly with the Santa Fe corridor where it has always served as a gateway to the south. If there was ever a liberal bastion of geopolitical forces on the border, this conceptual combination would assure another conservative would never be elected. The only city state of our Union would suddenly have its own country, and Beto could have stayed home to race his car up I10 toward Las Cruces without campaigning a day to fill the role of eventually-to-be senior senator from New Mexico. Corruption and differential political courtesy would prevail uninterrupted.

Even the name, New Mexico, couldn’t be more appropriate unless it was correctly set forth in Spanish vernacular … Mexico Nuevo.

            The Tale of Two Nations

            The idea of uniting a liberal border force of epic proportions (remember, California still exists), though, pales in comparison to the geopolitical force of the federal reservation system across the rest of the West. It is there 61% of the soil is held by the absentee ownership of the federal government.

            That is a lot of exposed dirt at risk of blowing.

            Of course, the libs and that once property rights stalwart Rob Bishop of Utah have promoted the full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund to buy more exposed soil all in the guise of good things for the children. Currently, Congress has authorized the fund to accrue $900,000,000 annually from the reconveyance of oil and gas leasing money which is represented to the public as free money.

            It’s no wonder, therefore, for places like Pennsylvania to love the idea of fully funding the LWCF. They are hoping for $1.9B of that free money eventually to do some great things for the children. What would happen, though, if the entire nation had to be treated equally under the federal management of the American footprint?

            In the case of Pennsylvania, collected revenues from school property tax totals equates to about $14B annually. If those folks had to swallow the bitter pill and give the Crown 61% of their land and erasing all the property tax harvest from it, their glowing total in that category would be reduced to $5.46B. That is an annual reduction of $8.54B. It doesn’t take too many of those annual exercises to make that eventual promise of $1.9B free money look pretty putrid.

So, how should the rest of us feel who are not treated as free and equal states under the law and the Constitution?

            Oh, yes, we receive payments (PILT) in lieu of federal lands being taxed. The New Mexico senators and congressmen fight for that and they remind us of their insistence on taking care of us in that regard. For comparison, though, the plan for the coming year was $500M. No, that wasn’t for New Mexico nor was it just Utah where one calculation suggests that state would harvest $6.9B for its annual budget in a conditional management agreement with the federal government to manage certain federal properties.

            No, that $500M is a total to be scattered like bread crumbs across the exposed dirt of the West.

            Cowdom

            Friday morning at 6:00 AM we had a bunch of cows again standing in the Howard pens with the intent of branding 18 late calves as we crossed them into a fresh pasture. It was raining straight down from the remnants of Sergio. We couldn’t brand wet calves and we couldn’t hold them in the corral until it dried out so we opened the gate and turned them out.

            To salvage the day and celebrate Sergio, we got in the pickup and headed to Ruidoso.

            The event was the Lincoln County Cowboy Symposium. That venue has become one of the few gatherings of a wide array of genuine cowmen. Of course, more than half of the attendees are from the free state of Texas, but there is common bond of unity that is indisputable. We all stand for the national anthem and we take out hats off!

            When Billy Mata played his rendition of The Eyes of Texas, he raised his hook’em horns and half the place erupted from their seats, hooked him back, and sang. The rest of us sat and watched with a touch of envy.

We have no such eager demonstration of state loyalty. We don’t have a fundamental, common rallying cry. Our lands are structurally disjointed and disputed. Even what we own is only conditionally ours to manage.

            But, we danced, we visited, we spent too much money, and we vowed to be back with any grandkid that might want to be with us. Although it was a school day, the absence of youth at the gathering was surprising. There was one little cowboy, though, that stood out. He was starched and pressed and he wore his spread brimmed silver belly just like it was part of him. In the middle of a Jodie Nix swing number there he was on the big dance floor with his little sister dancing just like he wore his hat.

            Therein lies the hope for this way of life.

                Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico. “Now we’ve got to worry about regathering those calves.”