Democrats Look for Ways to Undo Late Bush Administration Rules

Democrats are hoping to roll back a series of regulations issued late in the Bush administration that weaken environmental protections and other restrictions. Potential targets include regulations allowing concealed weapons in some national parks and forbidding medical facilities that get federal money from discriminating against doctors and nurses who refuse, on religious grounds, to assist with abortions. “Congress is going to have to roll up its sleeves and review these midnight regulations,” Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, said in an interview, “because it’s clear that they are part of a desire for the administration, as it heads out the door, to put some ideological trophies on the wall.” Mr. Wyden, the chairman of a subcommittee on natural resources, said he was focusing on a series of recently issued environmental rules. Among them are measures relaxing protections for endangered species, allowing uranium mining near the Grand Canyon, and making it easier for coal companies to dump mining debris in nearby streams and valleys. The enactment of such rules has been the subject of a drumbeat of news reports in recent months. Though it can take years for a new administration to complete the process necessary to overturn a rule that has taken effect — allowing a president to tie his successor’s hands — Democrats will have far greater opportunity to rescind Mr. Bush’s late rules than has typically been the case in a period when the party in power changes. With Democratic control of both chambers of Congress and the White House, the political planets are aligned to make much of the Bush administration’s late handiwork unusually vulnerable....

Obama bumps up against egos in Congress

Obama was mindful of the week's perils and, in several cases, managed to resolve the conflicts. But others remain in play to varying degrees of tension. For one thing, even some Senate committees had to scramble to learn Obama's Cabinet choices. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee, led by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), never got official notice of two Cabinet nominees within its jurisdiction: Energy Secretary-nominee Steven Chu and Interior Secretary-nominee Ken Salazar. Rather, the staff of the committee pestered aides on the Obama transition team for clues as to whom the picks might be, ultimately ferreting out the names through their own efforts. "Did Bingaman receive a phone call from Obama, Biden or [transition co-chairman John] Podesta? No, he did not," a committee aide said. "We were very curious and wanted to keep our chairman informed. At our initiative, we pressed these [Obama staff] guys pretty hard. And through breaking news and leaks and our own undisclosed sources and through our own people working on the inside, we did know in advance."...Hat Tip Mathew Reichbach.

Colorado Senators propose land-protection bills

Colorado’s U.S. senators moved to protect cultural and environmental resources in the state last week, introducing a series of bills that would designate new wilderness in Rocky Mountain National Park and in the Dominguez Canyon area on the Uncompahgre Plateau. Closer to Summit County, one of the measures, the South Park National Heritage Act, would protect 19 working ranches along 30 miles of stream corridor and 17,000 acres of wetlands and agricultural lands in the headwaters of the South Platte River. Another measure, dubbed the Front Range Mountain Backdrop Act, would protect open spaces and natural resources between burgeoning cities and suburbs. “I have pushed for these important bills since my first days in the U.S. Senate,” Sen. Ken Salazar said in a press release. “They all reflect the input and support of local communities and will help protect the land and water that is fundamental to our way of life. I am hopeful we will have an opportunity to pass them in the coming days.” Salazar, a Democrat from the San Luis Valley, has been tabbed to be President-elect Barack Obama’s Interior secretary and likely will not shepherd the legislation through Congress....

High court to hear dispute over Alaska gold mine

A case before the Supreme Court on Monday could set a precedent for how mining waste is disposed of in streams, rivers, lakes and even wetlands. The justices are hearing arguments on whether an Alaska gold mine can dump metal waste into a nearby lake. A ruling in favor of the mining company could allow the Clean Water Act to be interpreted to allow mining waste to be dumped into waterways throughout the United States, said Tom Waldo, a lawyer with the environmental group Earthjustice. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit for waste disposal at the proposed Kensington mine north of Juneau in 2005. Under the plan, tailings - waste left after metals are extracted from ore - would be dumped into Lower Slate Lake. Environmentalists sued to halt the practice, saying it would kill fish. A federal appeals court blocked the permit, saying the dumping is barred by stringent Environmental Protection Agency requirements under the Clean Water Act of 1972. The EPA had agreed to a regulatory change in the case defining "fill" as "tailings or similar mining-related materials." The mine's owner, Coeur Alaska Inc., said tailings are inert sandy material, and that almost half of the tailings created by the mine would be recycled back into mine operations. The remaining tailings would be placed in a small unproductive lake, which the company called the best option for disposal....

Where the buffalo roam, so may brucellosis

Paying ranchers to let bison roam in areas typically used for cattle grazing — rather than killing the giant animals — could reduce the risk that the bison will transmit a bacterial disease to cows, ecologists say. Some 1,600 Yellowstone National Park bison were killed last winter to control the spread of brucellosis, a disease that causes miscarriages, weight loss and reduced milk production in cattle that inhale infected bison afterbirth or aborted fetuses. Brucellosis was widespread in cows in the 1800s, but cattle in most states are now free of the disease. No cases of bison-to-cattle transmission of brucellosis outside of captivity have ever been documented, according to the National Park Service, but they are periodically slaughtered as a precaution. Yellowstone's 4,000 bison typically stay in the Montana park's higher elevations, but they sometimes graze at lower levels near cattle-grazing areas if heavy snow or ice makes food scarce. Limited numbers are allowed to roam in those areas as part of the Interagency Bison Management Plan devised by government agencies including the National Park Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Montana Department of Livestock and the state's Fish Wildlife & Parks department. If too many bison leave the park and are found to have antibodies to brucellosis, they're killed....

Texas headed back into drought conditions

Longtime rancher Barbara Mazurek remembers watching her father fall into despair while trying to keep their Central Texas spread afloat during the state's worst drought in the 1950s. Now, looking across her parched ranch near the one where she grew up, those days don't seem so long ago. "It's beginning to look like that," the 72-year-old rancher said. "It was terrible. I remember that well." Despite hurricanes Dolly, Gustav and Ike soaking Texas in 2008, about 58 percent of the nation's second largest agricultural state is in some stage of drought, according to the most recent U.S. Drought Monitor map, released Jan. 6. That's up from about 30 percent in mid-October. Parts of Central Texas and the Hill Country—about 4.2 percent of the state—are in exceptional drought, the most severe stage of dryness. Three months ago none of the state was that parched. Texas received an average of 24.6 inches of rain last year, the 31st driest year since 1884. That's 3.3 inches below the normal average of 27.9 inches. And conditions are expected to worsen before they improve....

Final U.S. Country-of-Origin Labeling Rule Draws Criticisms

Longtime supporters of U.S. regulations requiring meat and fresh produce to be labeled by country of origin say the government’s final rule on the matter doesn’t do enough to distinguish U.S. meat from competitors. The rule announced today allows U.S. meat produced in a domestic facility that also is processing imported animals to carry a multicountry designation. That blurs the distinction between U.S. and foreign meat, according to critics, especially ranchers in northern states who compete with Canadian cattle. They pushed for a U.S.-only label to spur consumer purchases. Country-of-origin labeling, also called COOL, “is supposed to let Americans know where their steaks come from, and to help American ranchers market their products,” said Senator Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, in an e-mailed statement. “It’s not supposed to be complicated or watered- down.” The labeling requirements will take effect March 16. They were originally passed as part of the 2002 farm bill and first took effect under an interim rule Sept. 30. Some lawmakers and consumer advocates have also criticized provisions in the rule that exempt mixed vegetables and many processed foods....

US beef producers hot over COOL flaws

For U.S. cattle producers, the concept of country-of-origin labeling seemed simple: Require all muscle cuts of beef to be labeled with their countries of origin, much like the labels affixed to televisions and furniture. That way, U.S. consumers could easily identify U.S. beef products, and buy them because of their reputation for safety and quality. As it turned out, it wasn’t that simple. Although country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for beef products was originally written into the 2002 Farm Bill, its implementation has been delayed six years because of continued arguments between ranchers and meat packers over how to interpret the law. Labeling for beef finally became “mandatory” last Sept. 30, and the Agriculture Department will begin enforcing its regulations beginning April 30. Yet the battle over country-of-origin labeling still rages. Bill Bullard, chief executive of the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA), said he is “definitely looking forward to the full implementation” of the labeling regulations, as spelled out, once again, in the 2008 Farm Bill. But he added that the USDA, under pressure from politically powerful meat packers, has undermined the intentions of Congress by writing interim rules that restrict the scope and power of the country-of-origin labeling. For example, Bullard said the USDA’s interim final rule for the labeling, issued Aug. 1, excludes any beef products that are cooked, smoked or cured. “The USDA is engaged in mischief in the rule-writing process. We are prepared to go back to Congress if they don’t do it properly,” Bullard said. “We’d ask Congress to amend the law to remove any discretion on the part of the USDA.”....

Outgoing ag secretary defends new labeling rules

The outgoing U.S. secretary of agriculture defended new country of origin labeling requirements, predicted improving conditions for producers and expressed optimism about agriculture's future during a visit Monday to San Antonio. On Monday, the department released details of the final country of origin labeling regulations that came from the new farm bill. The Food & Water Watch repeated its criticism of the regulation, saying “a massive loophole” governing processed foods will allow large quantities of meat products, frozen vegetables and nuts to be sold without a label saying where they were produced. But Schafer said the regulation struck a good balance between the needs of farmers, retailers, food safety interests and others in the production chain. Despite concerns raised by growers in Canada and Mexico, the regulations will comply with world trade agreements and should be given a chance to work, the secretary said....

Hard Times: “Child of Steens Mountain”

Child of Steens Mountain By Eileen O’Keeffe McVicker with Barbara J. Scott Oregon State University Press, 160 pages Child of Steens Mountain is Eileen O’Keeffe McVicker’s fascinating chronicle of her depression-era childhood on Steens Mountain in southeast Oregon and her adolescence spent in the nearby town of Burns. Her Irish immigrant father was a sheep rancher, and her story has a lot to teach readers about not just surviving, but getting the most out of life during hard times. Written with homey eloquence, it reads like a collection of a grandmother’s most memorable stories, and Barbara J. Scott, McVicker’s writing partner, has structured it into a compelling coming-of-age narrative. The small house in which the family of five lived lacked indoor plumbing, necessitating daily treks of a half-mile roundtrip to fill buckets with water from a mountain spring. When McVicker starts high school, she and her younger brother are sent to live in a cabin in town by themselves while their parents continued their ranch work. The kids have to run the household, feed themselves, do their homework, and arrive on time to school every day with no adult help....

Pam Minick was already a legend, but award makes it official

Pam Minick has done so much for cowboy and cowgirl culture that it would be hard to fit them all in this space. Fortunately, she’s been given a title that will sum them all up pretty nicely. From now on, Minick will be officially known as a Cowtown Legend. She will receive the award this weekend as part of the Western Heritage Trail Drive Celebration, a free event put on by Score a Goal in the Classroom on Saturday though Monday in downtown Fort Worth. That wasn’t her first or only foray into acting. She was part of the stunt team for the 1991 movie Necessary Roughness and played a TV reporter on the 2001 movie Cowboy Up. Minick is still on screen as the host for RFD-TVs The American Rancher. Minick got these parts because she is one of the best cowgirls to ever work on an arena floor. She was a Nevada High School Rodeo Barrel Racing Champion and the 1982 Women’s World Champion Breakaway calf roper. She is also known as one of the best rodeo commentators in the business. For her contributions to rodeo culture as a competitor and for all her other successes, Minick has been given several titles and awards, including Miss Rodeo America and induction into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 2000. All of that had already made her a cowtown legend. But now we get to capitalize the title....

Wilderness bill moves forward in the Senate

In a rare Sunday session, the Senate advanced legislation that would set aside more than 2 million acres in nine states as wilderness. Majority Democrats assembled more than enough votes to overcome GOP stalling tactics in an early showdown for the new Congress. Republicans complained that Democrats did not allow amendments on the massive bill, which calls for the largest expansion of wilderness protection in 25 years. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other Democrats said the bill — a holdover from last year — was carefully written and included measures sponsored by both Republicans and Democrats. By a 66-12 vote, with only 59 needed to limit debate, lawmakers agreed to clear away procedural hurdles despite partisan wrangling that had threatened pledges by leaders to work cooperatively as the new Obama administration takes office. Senate approval is expected later this week. Supporters hope the House will follow suit....

Freezing out the facts

The deaths are a sad reminder that cold weather, not warm weather, is the main killer of people, especially the elderly. Last year England had 25,300 elderly die due to cold weather, that was up on the previous year when 23,740 died from the cold. A spokesman for the National Pensioners Conventions says: “Since 1997, we have lost over 260,000 pensioners during the winter months because of cold-related illnesses...” I remember in 2003 that a particularly unusual heat wave hit France while many physicians were on their annual holiday. That summer France saw 14,802 people die from the heat. That got reported in the US. Now we read that cold has killed over a quarter of a million elderly people in just the UK alone in the last decade. The French heat wave from 2003 has not yet been repeated so those 14,802 deaths were in one year only. The UK sees that number of deaths EVERY year from cold plust around another 10,000 more. Did you see that reported in the US media? This is a far more tragic set of statistics but one the media in the US doesn’t find “sexy”. It doesn’t have that “global warming” angle to it that the media loves so much....

Obama climate czar has socialist ties

Until last week, Carol M. Browner, President-elect Barack Obama's pick as global warming czar, was listed as one of 14 leaders of a socialist group's Commission for a Sustainable World Society, which calls for "global governance" and says rich countries must shrink their economies to address climate change. By Thursday, Mrs. Browner's name and biography had been removed from Socialist International's Web page, though a photo of her speaking June 30 to the group's congress in Greece was still available. Socialist International, an umbrella group for many of the world's social democratic political parties such as Britain's Labor Party, says it supports socialism and is harshly critical of U.S. policies. The group's Commission for a Sustainable World Society, the organization's action arm on climate change, says the developed world must reduce consumption and commit to binding and punitive limits on greenhouse gas emissions....

The Dangers of Disputing Warming Orthodoxy

Those of us who refuse to accept calls from proponents of global warming for drastic restrictions on production often confront objections like this: You skeptics, blinded by fanatical devotion to the free market, ignore evidence. True enough, you can trot out a few scientists who agree with you. But the overwhelming majority of climate scientists view man-made global warming as a great threat to the world. The course of inaction you urge on us threatens the earth with disaster. Christopher Horner's excellent book provides a convincing response to this all-too-frequent complaint. But how can it do so? Will not an "anti-global-warming" book of necessity consist of an account of scientists who dissent from the consensus? If so, will it not fall victim to the difficulty raised in our imagined objection? The book will pick a few favored experts to back up a preconceived political agenda. Horner strikes at the root of this objection: it rests on a false premise. Contrary to what our objection assumes, there is in fact no consensus of scientists behind global-warming alarmism....

Decree gives park water right

The last day of 2008 also brought the end of Colorado’s longest-running water-rights contest. On Dec. 31, state water court Judge Stephen Patrick in Montrose signed a decree finalizing a water right for the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The decision recognizes a year-round base flow of 300 cubic feet per second along with seasonal peak and shoulder flows, echoing the natural rise and fall of the river, depending on water availability. “This landmark ruling acknowledges that the Gunnison River offers recreational and natural resource benefits that deserve protection,” said Drew Peternell, director of Trout Unlimited’s Colorado Water Project. The park’s water right goes back to the 1933 establishment of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument. But that water right was never quantified, and in 2003 the state Department of Natural Resources signed a controversial agreement with the U.S. Department of Interior that would have abrogated the park’s water, in effect making it available for other appropriation, including Front Range development. That agreement was challenged by a coalition of conservation groups, and in 2006 a federal court upheld the challenge and set aside the 2003 agreement. Last June, the conservation groups along with state and federal agencies, ranchers and water officials hammered out an agreement that provides for guaranteed minimal flows through the park.....

Veterinarians oppose brucellosis 'hot-zone'

A federal government plan to carve out the Yellowstone area as an animal disease "hot-zone" faces opposition from some state veterinarians, who worry the move would lower cattle industry safeguards. Creation of the zone would recognize Yellowstone as the last remaining region in the country where the disease brucellosis lingers. That could ease sanctions faced by some cattle producers when infections occur. State veterinarians from across the country had backed the idea last year at an annual convention in North Carolina. But several have since said their support hinges on stepped-up efforts to curb the disease in Yellowstone's wildlife - something they say hasn't yet occurred. "You can't address the root problem without addressing the wildlife populations that are infected," said Texas State Veterinarian Bob Hillman. "The wildlife populations know no boundaries ... At some point you increase the risk that transmission is going to occur."....

Merle Haggard sues Nashville's Green Train

Country legend Merle Haggard today filed a lawsuit in Davidson County Chancery Court against the Nashville-based Green Train and its founder, Bob Wolf. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for the alleged unauthorized use of Haggard’s name and forged signature to raise contributions for the organization, which promotes environmental concerns through a national musical train tour. The lawsuit, which has sparked a state investigation, alleged that the defendants have engaged in dishonest and illegal behavior, using substantial amounts of money for personal purposes. Wolf denies the allegations. Haggard’s lawsuit states that the Country Music Hall of Famer acted because such an association wrongly suggests that Haggard is involved with and condones the group’s conduct. Todd Kelley, director of the Tenessee Secretary of State’s Division of Charitable Solicitations and Gaming, said the Green Train has not registered with the Secretary of State's office or filed for an exemption, so fundraising would be in violation of the Charitable Solicitations Act. He said he will launch an investigation. This state division only has the power to assess civil penalties and cannot seek criminal charges....

Alpine farmers harvest snow

Cash strapped Alpine farmers are raking in a fortune harvesting snow and selling it to desperate ski slopes. Despite a freezing winter, snowfall levels at lower altitudes are down and Austrian resorts have had to buy in trailerloads of the stuff from higher up the mountains. In Austria the biggest "snow harvesters" are the owners of the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrassen AG (GroAG), a 40-mile stretch of road 8,200 feet above sea level which is Europe's highest Alpine crossing. GroAG spokesman Dietmar Schondorfer said: "Even if it doesn't snow, every day we have tonnes of snow dumped on the road by the wind, all we have to do is drive back and forward to scoop it up....

Cowgirl Sass & Savvy

Unappreciated gifts come in all shapes

Julie Carter

In this season, just past the giving frenzy of December, there remain those things that were gifted with a subtle message.

The gift and message are not always appreciated with the same humorous sentiment with which they were given.

Ranch wives across the West are dutifully using their new Christmas double-bit axes to break ice on water troughs while the frozen January winds carry their muttered retorts to empty spaces.

Others are marveling over their new set of wire stretchers for fixing hot wire fences that came with an immediate demonstration on how to use them.

Then there is the new mop bucket, an upgrade complete with wheels.

One cowboy carefully counts the number of folks he plans to give a gift to and then purchases that same number of pairs of socks.

He buys equal amounts of small, medium and large and tells each recipient, "If they don't fit, trade them with someone."

Living dangerously or with a credible amount of stupidity - sometimes with cowboys it's hard to tell the difference - one such fellow gave his wife a new set of bathroom scales for Christmas.

Years later, she is still pointing out to him that perhaps he should use them himself as he has reached the appearance of someone about to give birth to twins.

Lex Graham, cartoonist and Western artist, offered his brand of humor with a drawing of a goofy-looking kid with his cap on sideways opening presents and his father talking to his mother saying "I got him that one - it's a job application."

Unappreciated gifts are not exclusive to Christmas. In fact, when cowboys are involved, the gifting continues in the form of joking fun throughout the year and paybacks become an ongoing effort working toward that moment that the recipient least expects it.

The United States Team Roping Championships (USTRC) has a 100,000-plus membership roster.

Their classification system handicaps ropers with a numbering system based on a collection of data on each one that creates a performance profile.

The object, always, is to provide everyone, regardless of age or ability, the fair and equal opportunity to compete.

Renumbering of ropers is an ongoing process and the ropers can find a new USTRC number card in their mailbox at any time.

Keeping in mind that the folks at the USTRC are cowboys and cowgirls first, the opportunity for a little practical joke didn't get by them.

Blonde Sally is ever alert to the possibility of get-evens from her friend and roper Jess.

It started a couple years ago when he gifted her with a bottle of Geritol.

A few months later, he worked some friends into the script and had them "secretly" reveal to Sally that Jess is a retired DEA agent and not unlikely to shoot somebody if necessary.

Dutiful in her job at the USTRC, Sally listed Jess' occupation as Disabled Elderly American, batting her eyelashes with an innocent "Isn't that what it stands for?" look.

Plotting for good get-evens is never ending and most recently, Jess opened his mail from the USTRC to see a new number card bumping him from a #4 to a #7.

While a bit of prestige comes with being such an elite roper as a #7, it also limits the roping options for the everyday amateur roper, and Jess was mortified at the possibility of never being welcome again at Mineral Wells.

He'd been set up. Sally called Jess' wife and had her retrieve the "real" numbering card that followed the joke card and requested a report of "reaction" to come.

When Jess called the USTRC office to plead his case, the crew, in fun, put him on hold, and indefinitely passed him from person to person.

Sally eventually assured him that contrary to his legendary view of himself, being a #1 in this case, was not the top of the list, but the very bottom.

Furthermore, giving him a #10 would have allowed him to think he was a real "hottie" among ropers, also not an option.

It was evident that the USTRC number was quickly becoming about ego, not about skill.

As a disclaimer, names have been changed to protect the guilty and the USTRC office staff and organization are completely blameless for any inference that the business is anything but credible. Find Julie through her website www.julie-carter.com .

It’s The Pitts: I Miss My Boots

Due to neuropathic problems with my feet I haven’t been able to wear my cowboy boots for awhile and it’s driving me crazy. I, like many people, took my boots for granted and now I feel so ashamed. Here are the ten things I liked most about my boots.

#10 Boots hide your socks: When you wear boots it doesn’t matter what color your socks are, or if they have holes in them, because no one can see them. I happen to own exactly one pair of black socks and the rest are white cotton socks from JC Penny, some of them dating back to my high school days. And many of them are holier than a Catholic cemetery.

#9 They aren’t flip flops: Have you ever tried to buckle a pair of spurs on to a pair of moccasins, sandals or flip flops? It would be easier to perform brain surgery while trying to stay on the hurricane deck of a Brahma bull.

#8 They are a status symbol: When you wear cowboy boots other people associate you with a higher class of people, like truck drivers and cow buyers. Whereas, if you wear soft shoes the general public might mistake you for a lowly investment banker, CEO of a failed Fortune 500 company or the Treasury Secretary.

#7 Cowboy boots are sexy: Given the choice, I am told that a woman will pick a man wearing Lucchese cowboy boots every time over some namby-pamby dude wearing the most expensive Italian loafers or wing tips. When I wore cowboy boots I walked with a swagger and had self confidence. I felt more manly, free and brave knowing I could survive any attack by an ankle biting Dachshund. And if I died after being bit by a rattler or munched on by a grizzly at least I’d be a hero and die with my boots on.

#6 They hide your feet and you don’t have to polish them: Or at least I never did! I ask you, is there anything uglier in the world than a person’s feet? The popping veins, ugly ankles and a gnarly big toe that is shaded by that long, crooked appendage next to it. I swear, most people’s feet are as appealing to the eye as a crooked hay stack.

#5 These boots are made for walking (and riding): not running, bowling, mowing the lawn or any one of a number of things that your wife is always harping at you to do. I’ve always found that boots provide the perfect excuse: “I’m sorry, I can’t go the beach because my boots don’t go with my Speedo,” or, “I’d love to go bike riding with you but wouldn’t you be embarrassed being seen with someone wearing a pair of bicycle shorts, skin tight shirt, dorky looking helmet and Tony Llamas? I thought so.”

#4 They are made from leather: I’ve always made my living off the cattle business and I was always proud to wear cowboy boots because they were made from the leather of American cattle. Oh sure, some expensive pairs of dress shoes are made from Italian leather, but they weren’t made in America, like every pair of cowboy boots I own. When was the last time you bought a pair of tennis shoes or house slippers that weren’t made in China?

#3 Your feet stay clean: I hate to admit this but I’ve always had a foot fetish. I never liked getting my feet real dirty. Cowboy boots keep out the dirt, rocks, stickers and squishy stuff that gets between your toes when wearing Nikes or Adidas. Anyone who has ever walked into a feedlot pen while wearing sandals knows what I mean.

#2 Boots make me taller: I am five feet ten inches tall in my bare feet and six feet four in my cowboy boots. Or, at least I feel like it. I’ve got a much loftier view of myself and the world in my boots than I do in a pair of soft shoes or slippers.

And the number one reason I prefer cowboy boots to other forms of footwear...

#1 You don’t have to tie them: And that’s a very big deal amongst fellow members of my social, economic and age demographic who many times can’t bend over to tie their shoes or, in some cases, can’t even see their feet to begin with.

Recession? Not for PETA and friends

In 2008, there appeared to be an increase in well-funded animal-rights activities directed at animal agriculture. Based on their research, the Animal Agriculture Alliance understands why. In 2007, the latest reporting period available for review, charitable donations to animal-rights groups rose 11 percent, providing activist groups with more funds to develop wide-ranging activities such as California’s Proposition 2, undercover video operations, legislative initiatives and legal actions. Donations to the extremist People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and its subsidiaries increased 11 percent.

The alliance research used a variety of sources including independent examinations of some groups’ Internal Revenue Service Form 990, which the IRS requires non-profits to file, and the 2008 Animal People Watchdog Report on 150 Animal Charities — the newspaper Animal People’s annual review of animal-charity budgets. Donations to Humane Society of the United States, the largest animal-rights activist group in the United States, remained about the same as 2006 when including its subsidiary organizations, the Fund for Animals and Doris Day Animal League.

On the international front, the World Society for Protection of Animals, a relatively moderate animal-rights group, increased its donations 80 percent, displacing PETA as the third-largest activist group targeting modern animal agriculture. However, in terms of assets, PETA and FSAP combined still can claim being the third-largest animal-rights groups with assets of $34.5 million. Additionally, UK-based Compassion in World Farming raised revenues 60 percent.

A very significant increase in charitable donations to an animal-rights group was to Acton, Calif.-based Animal Acres which increased donations 443 percent. Animal Acres was founded by Lorrie Bauston, a co-founder of the East Coast animal-rights group Farm Sanctuary. For all who value animal agriculture, this group warrants watching.

Total donations to the most significant domestic and international animal-rights groups reached nearly $330 million in 2007. This level of funding will only improve the ability of animal-rights groups worldwide to continue their multi-dimensional efforts, attacking animal agriculture and other animal-use businesses. Below is a comparison of 2007 and 2006 fundraising for some of the most notable activist groups’ funding.

Though revenue for groups with animal-rights and anti-animal agriculture programs was up in the low double-digits, total assets expanded 31 percent, due to conservative spending by the groups. Animal-rights behemoth HSUS had assets increase about 5 percent, slightly less than the S&P 500 gain of 6 percent for the year. However, the group still retains enough assets to fund itself for over two years and four months at its 2007 budget level.

“Much of this increased funding is attributed to donors who are not fully aware of the anti-animal use campaigns of many of these groups,” Alliance Executive Vice President Kay Johnson Smith said. “It’s unfortunate many portray themselves as mainstream and working to improve animal care, yet their funding is primarily spent on campaigns to ban or restrict essential uses of animals such as being raised for food or for research to find cures for diseases. Even worse, many of their campaigns demand changes that are actually harmful to animals’ overall health and well-being.”

The alliance encourages all potential donors to thoroughly evaluate the true goals and campaigns of all animal-rights groups before making a contribution. American farmers and ranchers work hard every day to provide consumers with wholesome products from humanely raised animals. Be sure your tax-deductible contributions are not going to groups working to eliminate your right to choose those products.

Not So Fast the Electric Cars, Buried Study Says

Contrary to popular belief, all useful information does not emanate exclusively from the United States. Likewise, governments other than ours can, on occasion, be as guilty as ours in suppressing useful information that is inconvenient for governments, not to mention advocates of and special pleaders for suspicious causes.

Thus it was that while Americans were busy holidaying, the Financial Times (FT) reported that the government of French President Nicolas Sarkozy was busily burying an inconvenient study – analyzing options for cleaner and more efficient mass-market cars -- commissioned by that very same government.

The study was conducted by Jean Syrota, a former French energy industry regulator.

According to Paul Betts and Song Jung-a of FT, the study “concludes that there is not much future in the much vaunted development of all electric-powered cars. Instead, it suggests that the traditional combustion engine powered by petrol, diesel, ethanol or new biofuels still offers the most realistic prospect of developing cleaner vehicles. Carbon emissions and fuel consumption could be cut by 30-40 per cent simply by improving the performance and efficiency of traditional engines and limiting the top speed to about 170km/hr [105 mph]....

“Overall, the Syrota report says that adapting and improving conventional engines could enhance their efficiency by an average of 50 per cent. It also argues that new-generation hybrid cars combining conventional engines with electric propulsion could provide an interesting future alternative.

“By combining electric batteries with conventional fuel-driven engines, cars could run on clean electricity for short urban trips while switching over to fuel on motorways. This would resolve one of the biggest problems facing all electric cars – the need to install costly battery recharging infrastructures. The report warns that the overall cost of an all-electric car remains unviable at around double that of a conventional vehicle.”

A single, buried French report cannot and should not curtail the development of electric cars. But it should be a cautionary note to all governments (California among them) rushing to embrace, with taxpayer money, the automobile panacea that could in reality never amount to more than a niche product with negligible impact on energy or transportation needs and considerable impact on consumer and taxpayer cost.

Not a week after FT reported on the buried French study, other news reports indicated that 14 U.S. companies had formed a coalition to seek $1 billion in U.S. government funding to develop batteries for electric cars. (You may have read that all free-market principles having now being discredited, the government will be responsible for all venture capital.)

That’s your money, as the ad slogan says. Call and let us know how far it gets your electric car across Route 66.

Feds have plan if Mexico drug violence spills over

If Mexican drug violence spills across the U.S. border, Homeland Security officials say they have a contingency plan to assist border areas that includes bringing in the military. "It's a common sense extension of our continued work with our state, local, and tribal partners in securing the southwest border," DHS spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said Friday. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who described the contingency plan in an interview with The New York Times this week, said he ordered specific plans to be drawn up this summer as violence in Mexico continued to mount. The plan includes federal homeland security agents helping local authorities and maybe even military assistance from the Department of Defense, possibly including aircraft, armored vehicles and special teams to go to areas overwhelmed with violence, authorities said....

Vilsack Could Be Shifted to Commerce Post

President-elect Barack Obama is trying to find a replacement for New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who has withdrawn his name from consideration to be Secretary of Commerce in the Obama cabinet. Richardson has been sidelined by a federal ethics probe into a $1.5 million state contract to CDR Financial Products of California. There has been some speculation that the President-elect may do some shuffling within the cabinet because of a lack of alternatives for the Secretary of Commerce. According to the New York Daily News, an anonymous source has said that former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack may be moved from the Secretary of Agriculture slot into the commerce position. Some believe there are more viable candidates to select from to head USDA.

Final Rule for COOL Signed

On Thursday before a press briefing, Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer signed the final rule for mandatory Country-of-Origin Labeling, which will be submitted into the Federal Register Friday. "This is not a food safety issue, this is not a competitive issue or a trade issue," Schafer said. "This is a marketing issue; this is the ability for U.S. producers to label our meats and let the consumer decide." Mandatory COOL applies to meats and produce. Modifications to COOL have been advocated by several groups during the waiting period between the interim rule and the final rule. Those modifications will be reflected when the rule is published in the Federal Register. "All in all we struck a good balance with the rules and regulations on the COOL legislation," Schafer said. "Some people wanted it to be more, some people wanted it to be less, but it is a good balance. It's something that we are real proud of finally accomplishing it since 2002 when we've been working on it."

USDA Meeting with Mexican Officials

Mexico will resume imports from 20 U.S. meat processing plants it suspended in December. According to USDA spokeswoman Laura Reiser, Mexico has accepted the corrective action plans submitted by the plants. In addition, action plans from five additional U.S. plants have been received by USDA. The agency is expected to forward those plans to the Mexican government. In the meantime, U.S. and Mexican officials will meet next Monday to discuss a Mexican proposal to ban shipment of U.S. meat products in large containers. The proposal would go into effect Jan. 15. The U.S. Meat Export federation says, under the proposal, Mexico would only allow shipments of carcasses, half carcasses and pieces when packaged in boxes or on pallets. According to USMEF Communications Director Joe Schuele there isn't a lot of justification or explanation for why Mexico wants to make this change. USDA has asked USMEF to gather information from processors ahead of Monday's meeting on what types and how much product would be affected, as well as the cost and time needed to switch from combos to other packaging alternatives. It is believed the change would impact nearly 80% of what is shipped to Mexico.

APHIS is Requiring New Cattle Facility in Mexico

The United States has done its part. Now it is up to Mexico to build a new facility near San Luis, Arizona capable of properly handling cattle being imported into the United States. USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a final rule that adds San Luis as a port to control the import of Mexican cattle infested or exposed to fever ticks or tick-borne diseases. Meant to protect U.S. livestock, federal regulations require that cattle from Mexico be inspected individually at APHIS-approved facilities on the Mexican side of the border. They must be certified as being free of ticks. If ticks are found, the cattle must be dipped in a solution to kill the parasites. The cattle are then quarantined for 10 to 14 days before being re-inspected. If additional ticks are found, the process must be repeated. APHIS will prohibit the import of cattle into the United States through the San Luis port until a new facility for handling livestock is constructed on the Mexican side of the border and equipped with facilities that allow proper chute inspection, dipping and testing required under APHIS regulations.

Inspector General to Investigate Soybean Checkoff

Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer has responded to the petition the American Soybean Association filed on Dec. 10, 2008 asking for an investigation of the United Soybean Board and the U.S. Soybean Export Council to make sure soybean checkoff funds are being properly used. Schafer signed a memorandum recommending that the Office of the Inspector General conduct an audit and if necessary an investigation of the National Soybean Checkoff. "ASA is doing what is in the best interest of soybean farmers ethically, legally and financially," said ASA President Johnny Dodson, a soybean producer from Halls, Tenn. "Ignoring serious allegations of abuse or sweeping them under the rug would have been wrong and would have done a disservice to all soybean farmers who are paying the checkoff. Investigating and then correcting any problem areas is the right thing to do for U.S. soybean farmers. ASA hopes we will have a more responsive and accountable soybean checkoff as a result." Among the allegations that prompted ASA to petition USDA for an investigation are potential evasions of salary and administrative caps, conflicts of interest, an improper sexual relationship that disrupted the management of the Japanese foreign office, misuse of checkoff and federal funds as well as other charges....

Grijalva, Dombeck to push Obama administration for national roadless rule

Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva, a Democrat at one time under consideration for the secretary of the interior post being filled by Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar, is joining forces with former Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck to push the Obama administration for a national roadless rule. And not just any national roadless rule. According to a Pew Environment Group release Thursday, Grijalva, who serves on the House subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, and Dombeck, head of both the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) during the Clinton administration, would like to see Clinton’s 2001 roadless rule reinstated. Grijalva and Dombeck will join William Meadows, president of the Wilderness Society, on Monday for a conference call moderated by Jane Danowitz of the Pew Environment Group. Their goal is to “call on incoming Obama administration to uphold the roadless rule, and to launch a new roadless protection campaign,” according to the release....

Loaded, concealed guns become legal in national parks

A new federal rule takes effect today, allowing people to carry loaded, concealed firearms in national parks in certain cases. The rule has drawn two lawsuits. It's backed by many gun-rights groups, as well as the Bush Administration, but is opposed by several groups representing current and former National Park Service employees.
Here are some answers to what the change means: Q: What's the new rule? A: You can carry loaded, concealed guns in a park controlled by the National Park Service or a wildlife refuge controlled by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service if the state laws where the parks and refuges are located allow concealed firearms — which Arizona does — and you have the proper concealed weapons permit. The rule change, however, does not allow the guns to be taken into federal buildings in the national parks and refuges. A ban remains on hunting and target shooting in national parks. The new rule doesn't affect national monuments such as Ironwood Forest northwest of Tucson that are run by the Bureau of Land Management. BLM doesn't restrict firearms possession. Since 1983, the federal government had allowed in national parks guns that weren't loaded, or that were in a trunk or otherwise inaccessible while driving. Before, no firearms were allowed in national parks....

Federal draft report: Delta system imperils fish

Salmon, steelhead and sturgeon in the Central Valley are being driven to extinction by Delta pumping systems and upstream reservoir operations, according to a draft federal report. The National Marine Fisheries Service has not yet released the report, but it was discussed at a meeting of scientists in Sacramento on Thursday. The impacts are so significant that the agency is also studying whether killer whales in the ocean could be imperiled by declining Central Valley salmon, their primary prey. The grave findings suggest that California's efforts to serve thirsty farms and cities while sustaining healthy fisheries will only get more difficult. A final version of the report, called a biological opinion, is expected by March 2. The Endangered Species Act empowers the fisheries service to impose new rules on state and federal water systems to protect the fish....

Sticker Shock

California is now requiring all cars sold in the state to display a sticker listing its greenhouse gas rating. Forget about considering a car's MPG rating in deciding which one to buy. Next to it will be a new and (in some eyes) far more important sticker providing the car's GHG rating, an arbitrarily concocted measure of its greenhouse gas contribution to climate change. Assembly Bill 1228 requires a sticker displaying a rank comparing "the emissions of global warming gases from all vehicles of the same model year sold in the state" be affixed to all vehicles. As if Detroit didn't have enough to worry about. First, if we believe that cars are causing climate change, it isn't the new ones we need to worry about. Just 10% of the country's almost 140 million privately owned cars and light-duty trucks emit more than half the auto-based pollution. Get them off the road before further micromanaging the auto market. Second, this edict comes in a state that has strenuously opposed nuclear power, the surest way to replace fossil fuel emissions in bulk. We don't envision nuclear-powered cars, but more nuclear plants would give those electric cars that California lists one and two on its Web site something to plug into while fueling America's and California's economic recovery....

Timber companies appeal lynx change

Timber industry organizations have filed an appeal of the lynx amendment to the management plan for national forests in Colorado. The Colorado Timber Industry Association joined the Intermountain Forest Association in appealing the Southern Rockies Lynx Amendment, which was released in November. It would apply to all seven national forests in Colorado, including the San Juan and Rio Grande in Southwest Colorado, and the Medicine Bow National Forest in southern Wyoming. The appeal, filed last month, said the amendment would have adverse effects on forest management and forest health in Colorado. "In particular, our members question the Forest Service's decision to virtually eliminate pre-commercial thinning in lodgepole pine stands in lynx habitat," Carl Spaulding, the president of the association, said in a written statement. "Lodgepole pine typically regenerates in very dense stands. Pre-commercially thinning those dense stands is a critical step in long-term forest management and in avoiding the forest conditions that have contributed to the current pine beetle epidemic."....

American Buffalo: In search of a lost icon

In 2005, Steven Rinella was one of 24 random winners of a bison permit from the Copper River herd in the foothills of Alaska 's Wrangell Mountains. Despite the odds--there's only a 2 percent chance of drawing the permit, and fewer than 20 percent of those hunters are successful--Rinella managed to kill a buffalo on a snow-covered mountainside and then raft the meat back to civilization while being trailed by grizzly bears and suffering from hypothermia. Steven Rinella's fascination with buffalo began in the late 1990s when he unearthed a buffalo skull while hiking in the Madison Range in southwest Montana. A Michigan native who grew up hunting deer and honed his skills in the Upper Peninsula, he is a serious hunter and fisherman. American Buffalo is the story of the many ways in which the buffalo has shaped our national identity. Rinella takes us across the continent in search of the buffalo’s past, present, and future: to the Bering Land Bridge, where scientists search for buffalo bones amid artifacts of the New World’s earliest human inhabitants; to buffalo jumps where Native Americans once ran buffalo over cliffs by the thousands; to the Detroit Carbon works, a “bone charcoal” plant that made fortunes in the late 1800s by turning millions of tons of buffalo bones into bone meal, black dye, and fine china; and even to an abattoir turned fashion Mecca in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, where a depressed buffalo named Black Diamond met his fate after serving as the model for the American nickel.

Lands Bill Update‏ From Senator Coburn

The Senate Majority Leader has rejected offers for an agreement to limit debate or allow amendments on the omnibus lands bill (which has grown in size by several hundred pages since last year and cost by several billion dollars). As a result, it appears that Senator Reid will schedule a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to the bill on Sunday.

New summaries of the Senate lands bill are available at http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=RightNow.Home&ContentRecord_id=b36992bf-802a-23ad-4476-e3362ea94666

The “highlights” of the bill are outlined at http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=73483ca7-1be8-404b-9dd6-3802e027f641

Dr. Coburn filed 13 amendments this morning. Below is a description of each. As soon as amendment numbers are available, I will send those around along with more detailed summaries of each amendment.

1. No funds may be spent on the new units to the National Park Service, new National Heritage Areas, studies, new Wild and Scenic designations, or new wilderness designations authorized by this Act until the Secretary of the Interior certifies that the maintenance backlog at the Statute of Liberty, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, Gettysburg, Antietam, USS Arizona Memorial, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, and the National Mall in Washington, DC have been resolved
2. Nullify all restrictions on energy exploration and production within the bill
3. Strike provision restricting access to a major natural gas reserve in Wyoming
4. Strike $1 billion California earmark to restore 500 salmon
5. Strike $3.5 million earmark for the 450th Anniversary of St. Augustine, Florida
6. Strike $5 million earmark for botanical gardens in Hawaii and Florida
7. Strike earmark allowing for the construction of a “road to nowhere” through a national wild life refuge in Alaska
8. Strike a provision that would allow a cave institute in New Mexico to receive unlimited federal funding
9. Prohibit the use of eminent domain for any provision authorized in the bill
10. Annual report detailing total size and cost of federal property
11. Disallow the National Landscape Conservation System authorization from taking effect until an investigation by the Inspector General of the Department of Interior has been completed demonstrating that there was no criminal wrongdoing by the Department (There are allegations that the employees of the National Landscape Conservation System illegally coordinated with advocacy groups to permanently authorize the office)
12. Prohibits restrictions on hunting, fishing, and the possession or use of a weapon, trap, or net in new public lands created by this Act
13. Ensures that nothing in the Act shall prevent or obstruct the planning, construction, operation, or maintenance of a border fence or immigration enforcement

Off-roading recommendations presented to NM lawmakers

A handful of state agencies has developed recommendations aimed at resolving conflicts with off-road vehicle users and curbing damage to cultural and natural resources across New Mexico. The agencies presented the recommendations to state legislators during a packed meeting at the State Capitol on Wednesday. The hours-long meeting drew off-roaders, land owners and environmentalists, all passionate about their right to enjoy public land. Democratic Sen. Phil Griego of San Jose said he plans to introduce legislation based on the recommendations and that developing an equitable way to manage off-road use is of great importance to New Mexico and the rest of the country. The recommendations — the result of 10 months of work — range from a hot line for reporting off-road violations to requiring off-roaders to get an added endorsement on their driver's licenses that would ensure they are educated on proper trail etiquette. The recommendations also call for the state Game and Fish Department to manage New Mexico's off-road vehicle recreation and for the state to coordinate with the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management as they develop travel management plans for federal lands. Reese Fullerton, deputy secretary of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources, said he plans to meet with off-roaders to hear any concerns about the recommendations. But, he added, he thinks off-road groups will step up to help the state watch for improper off-road vehicle recreation....

Agents Have Suspect in Wolf Killing

Law enforcement agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have wrapped up their investigation of the Aug. 6 illegal killing of an endangered Mexican gray wolf and presented the results to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Nick Chavez, Albuquerque-based special agent in charge of the FWS Southwest Region law enforcement office, said Wednesday that federal agents have a suspect in the killing of the wolf. The animal's corpse was recovered Aug. 15 on private land in the Gila Hot Springs area near the Gila Cliff Dwellings after a mortality signal was emitted Aug. 6 from its radio collar, according to a federal search warrant obtained this week by the Journal. The wolf, the alpha male of the Laredo Pack, was one of seven lobos killed under suspicious circumstances in 2008 and under investigation by Fish and Wildlife. If charges are filed, the case would be the first brought against someone in New Mexico for the illegal killing of a wolf — a violation of the Endangered Species Act punishable by up to a year in jail and fines up to $50,000 or a civil penalty of up to $25,000....

Congress Gets an Early Start to a Banner Year for Wilderness

Congress took an important first step today towards making 2009 one of the most important years for wilderness designation in nearly two decades. Senator Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., today introduced the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, S. 22, which includes 16 separate wilderness bills totaling more than two million acres across nine states. Once passed, this will be the largest expansion of the National Wilderness Preservation System since 1994. The legislation would protect such American treasures as Oregon’s iconic Mt. Hood, California’s scenic Sierra Nevada, and ecologically significant parts of West Virginia. New wilderness would be designated in California, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Michigan, West Virginia, and Virginia. A similar lands act was blocked at the end of 2008 and the Senate adjourned without taking up the measure. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has committed early action on the bill this year, and the Senate could bring the bill to a vote as early as next week. Once the Senate acts, the House is expected to follow suit, and the measure could head to the President’s desk this month. Passing the omnibus lands would be a great start for wilderness in the 111th Congress — but there is much more to do. In addition to the wilderness bills already proposed in omnibus legislation, nearly two dozen other wilderness campaigns may be ready for legislation in 2009 or 2010. These efforts could add another million acres of new wilderness, making the 111th Congress one of the most productive for new wilderness designations in decades.

Key Legislation in Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009(pdf)

Rancher Versus Wolves

More than two dozen animals in Reed Point are dead after wolf attacks and one rancher is fed up. "They can have as many wolves as they want in Alaska, Canada, Yellowstone Park, but don't bring them to the Svenson ranch, they're not needed here," said Sven Svenson. He's a man who's running out of ideas and running out of ways to stop more of his animals from being killed by wolves on 10,000 acres of grazing land. "I've lost with the ones we just looked at this makes 27 head," said Svenson. "I'm sure there's stuff I haven't found yet. I won't know until I get a count in February." Svenson and his two sons have tried just about everything. "We've gone out at night and looked around and we've set up all our non-lethal decoys, the guard dogs, the flashing lights, and the scare crows and it doesn't seem to faze them any," said Eric Svenson. The family's also turned to Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks officials and also brought in federal trappers, so far they've killed one wolf, but another remains on the loose. The family remains hopeful they can get back to business on their ranch sooner rather than later. Defenders of Wildlife are planning on reimbursing the Svensons for lost animals; however the organization is currently out of money....

Oil below $43 after 12 percent fall

Oil hovered below $43 on Thursday after tumbling 12 percent overnight, its largest percentage drop in seven years, as a U.S. government report showed crude stocks rose much more than expected in the world's top energy consumer. The market will be eyeing weekly U.S. jobless claims due later in the day, and December non-farm payroll and unemployment data on Friday, which are likely to be dismal, for further clues on future demand. U.S. crude for February delivery was up 14 cents at $42.77 a barrel by 0230 GMT, after sinking 12.3 percent to $42.63 overnight, the biggest single-day percentage loss since September 24, 2001....

Moving to Flyover Country

In the year ended June 30, 2008, 670,000 people moved between states. This is down substantially from the peak years of 2005 to 2007, when housing prices in California and its suburbs of Nevada and Arizona, Florida, the Northeast and the Northwest reached record heights never seen before. Still, despite the reduction from the most extreme bubble years, last year’s interstate migration numbers still exceeded those of 2001, 2002 and 2003 and nearly equaled 2004. Lost in the discussions of the decline has been the continuation of a seemingly inexorable secular trend: the continued migration to the “Flyover County” that many of the coastal urban elites tend to dismiss as insignificant and even unlivable. What residents of Elitia reject, millions are embracing. The new data shows a strong trend of domestic migration to Flyover Country. Between 2000 and 2008, 3,500,000 residents moved to Flyover Country. This is roughly equal to the movement of the entire population of the City of Los Angeles. Moreover, the trend has been accelerating. In the last four years, the number of people relative to the population leaving Elitia’s promised lands has increased by 60 percent....

Western history celebration will be after Stock Show parade

City kids can enjoy a bowl of campfire beans and a cowboy storyteller after the Stock Show parade Jan. 17. The annual Western Heritage Trail Drive celebration runs from noon to 4 p.m., covering two blocks between Belknap and Taylor streets in the Two City Place parking facility. The Score a Goal in the Classroom school incentive program is sponsoring the free event. "Our purpose is to educate this generation of children and their families about our rich Western heritage and its values," said Ernie Horn, executive director of Score a Goal in the Classroom. The walk-through event will cover the history of Fort Worth from 1849 to the present, Horn said, with presentations and performances by American Indians, Hispanic cowboys, Buffalo Soldiers, the Cowboys of Color, Civil War re-enactors, chuck wagon cooking teams and North Texas schoolchildren. Pam Minick of Billy Bob’s Texas will receive the Western Heritage Cowtown Legend Award, and rancher John Merrill will be honored with the Western Heritage Trail Boss Award.

Bob Lee's art came from 35 years on a ranch

Los Lunas Museum of Heritage and Arts prepares show for beloved artist

Melissa Hubbell
Bulletin Staff Writer

Los Lunas - His name is recognized for many reasons. After all, during his short 59 years of life, Bob Lee was a college track and football legend, a third-generation state senator and a cowboy from a prominent ranching family. However, Lee is perhaps best remembered for his realistic and grand sweeping paintings of the Old West.

Bob Lee, born Aug. 13, 1933, to the prominent ranching family of Oliver M. Lee, wasn't an artistic prodigy. He didn't enter high school art competitions or get a degree in art history from a university. In fact, Lee came to art in the last half of his life, when most artists begin to give up hope of ever becoming well known.

Dubbed a "cowboy artist," Lee used a variety of ways to create the rugged Old West, including oils, gouche, pencil, pen and ink and charcoal.

His paintings are not of current day cowboys but of a time long past, with sprawling desert landscapes and herds of wild horses.

In an interview with the Albuquerque Journal entitled, "Lee's still a cowboy; he rides a canvas now," Lee said he is a Western artist because (1) he knows the art, (2) it's what he cares about and (3) its what some art buyers like to hang on their walls.

When it came to his paintings, Lee was most concerned with "getting the look right." For example, accurately painting "the way the guy sits on his horse." He thought it was important to make things look right to the people you can't fool - the real cowboys.

"It all comes down to a man and his horses," Lee told the Journal. "That's what I paint most because that's what being a cowboy is all about," he said.

Lee, who favored painting snow scenes best, said he got his ideas for his paintings from his memories of living on a ranch for the first 35 years of his life.

As a child living in Alamogordo, Lee was inspired Red Ryder, a 1940s comic book hero who was a tough cowboy.

In high school and college at the University of New Mexico, Lee briefly put Red Ryder and cowboy art behind him to focus on his athletic career, by which he was known as a legend in the college track and football world.

In both sports, Lee made the news for numerous state records, including one for a state meet 100-yard-dash. His time was a new record that stood for 19 years. In Lee's junior year at UNM, he scored 11 touchdowns and was a leader in the nation in combined punt and kickoff returns. Lee graduated in 1956 with a bachelor's degree in education.

Even after college, when Lee and his brother managed the family ranch full-time, art was never too far from his mind, even though Lee said that he thought that he would spend the rest of his life as a rancher.

During his time in the military, Lee earned his first commission on a painting.

"I painted a portrait of a little beagle for some friends while I was in the Marine Corps," Lee wrote in his biography. "I got $15 for it, and I think I was overpaid."

In 1969, at 36, Lee's art career begin to flourish. The Taos Art Gallery owner asked him if he'd be willing to show some of his work there. He agreed, and for four years, his art was shown. During that time, he sold nearly everything he had painted to them.

In 1976, Lee's wife entered him in the Saturday Evening Post's nationwide artists competition without his knowledge.

"I told her that I thought she was wasting her time because it was a cowboy subject, and the painting was smaller than the contest rules had dictated," Lee wrote in his biography. Irene entered the painting anyway and Lee won second placewhich was announced in the June 19, 1976, issue of the magazine.

In 1978, Lee presented his painting titled "The Wild Ones" to President Ronald Reagan at the Hilton Hotel in Albuquerque. In 2005, a letter was sent to Lee's widow, Irene, complete with a picture. In the picture, taken inside the private quarters of President and Mrs. Reagan at their ranch, hung Lee's painting on the wall. Twenty-seven years had passed, but Lee's painting remained in Reagan's residence.

In 1985, Lee was personally invited by the Sidney Turf Club of Sidney Australia, to paint the winning horse of the prestigious and popular horse race, Golden Slipper. Lee titled the painting, an oil-on-masonite, "Rory's Jester."

Throughout his career, Lee's work was featured in places such as the Koshare Indian Museum in La Junta, Colo., Southland and Corp. in Dallas, Texas., The Leanin' Tree Publishing Co., in Boulder Colo., the Albuquerque Museum and the Mountain Oyster Club in Tucson, Ariz. At any given time, Lee had three years worth of customers on a waiting list for paintings.

Lee believed in working on one painting at a time. Normally, an average painting could take anywhere from two days to two months for Lee for complete. If he got an idea for another painting, he'd make a quick thumbnail sketch, which he called, "a rough sketch of what I have in mind," and then go back and complete his current work.

"He portrays an era past," Los Lunas Museum of Heritage and Arts historian, Patty Guggino, said. "He felt that ranching as he knew it was a lost art, and he wanted to portray the beauty of it."

Guggino, who was a longtime family friend of Lee's, said it wasn't only his art but his personality that made him who he was.

"He was multi-talented. A caring person and one who excelled in a great variety of endeavors," she said.

"Through the Eyes of a Cowboy," highlighting the art of Bob Lee and ranching in Valencia County, will open Saturday, Feb. 6, at the Los Lunas Museum of Heritage and Art. It is currently in the process of being assembled.

Bush to Create Three Pacific Marine Sanctuaries

President George W. Bush on Tuesday will designate three remote Pacific island areas as national monuments to protect them from energy extraction and commercial fishing in what will be the largest marine conservation effort in history. The three areas — totaling some 195,280 square miles — include the Mariana Trench, the deepest spot on earth at 36,000 feet below the sea. Each location harbors unique species and some of the rarest geological formations on Earth — from the world's largest land crab to a bird that incubates its eggs in the heat of underwater volcanoes. All will be protected as national monuments — the same status afforded to statues and cultural sites — under the 1906 Antiquities Act. The law allows the government to immediately phase out commercial fishing and other extractive uses. However, recreational fishing, tourism and scientific research could still occur inside the three areas....

Nevada state BLM director going to Washington

The head of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Nevada is headed to Washington, D.C., to serve as acting agency director during the transition to the Obama administration. Ron Wenker is expected remain in the temporary post for about four months until a new director and deputy director are named. Wenker became BLM Nevada state director in October 2005. He began his career with the BLM in 1971 and has served in five states and Washington, D.C. Amy Leuders, associate Nevada state director, will serve as acting state director during Wenker's absence.

Conservation groups threaten suit over oil shale

Environmental groups are threatening to sue the federal government to block plans for commercial oil shale development on nearly 2 million acres of public land in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Twelve groups sent letters to Tuesday to the Interior Department and Bureau of Land Management saying they will sue unless the potential impacts on endangered species are addressed. They argue the final plan and rules approved late last year violated federal law because the agencies didn't formally consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "They cut Fish and Wildlife Service out of it," said Melissa Thrailkill, an attorney with Center for Biological Diversity in San Francisco. Documents obtained by the groups under the Freedom of Information Act show that Fish and Wildlife Service biologists were concerned about "information gaps" in the BLM's environmental analysis. The biologists suggested barring leases in habitat for threatened or sensitive species, the documents show....

How much ‘old growth’ forest is left in the U.S.?

As crazy as it sounds, no one really knows how much old growth is left in America’s forested regions, mainly because various agencies and scientists have different ideas about how to define the term. Generally speaking, “old growth” refers to forests containing trees often hundreds, sometimes thousands, of years old. But even when there is agreement on a specific definition, differences in the methods used to inventory remaining stands of old growth forest can produce major discrepancies. Or so complains the National Commission on Science for Sustainable Forestry (NCSSF) in its recent report, “Beyond Old Growth: Older Forests in a Changing World.” In 1991, for example, the U.S. Forest Service and the nonprofit Wilderness Society each released its own inventory of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest and northern California. They both used the Forest Service’s definition based on the number, age and density of large trees per acre, the characteristics of the forest canopy, the number of dead standing trees and fallen logs and other criteria. However, because each agency used different remote sensing techniques to glean data, the Forest Service came up with 4.3 million acres of old-growth and the Wilderness Society found only two million acres. The NCSSF also studied the data, and they concluded that 3.5 million acres (or six percent) of the region’s 56.8 million acres of forest qualified as old growth–that is, largely trees over 30 inches in diameter with complex forest canopies....

Montana: Policy changes needed to help fight wildfire

The bipartisan committee endorsed about 30 legislative bill drafts, most of which don't involve increased state funding. The committee, chaired by Sen. John Cobb of Augusta, focused on prevention and shared responsibility. For example: • Senate Bill 144 provides for implementing statewide building standards for residences in the wildland-urban interface, the most costly area for fire suppression and the area with highest risk of loss to life and homes. The wildland-urban interface refers to rural or forested areas where subdivisions and other city-like development has taken place. • House Joint Resolution 7 calls on the federal government to mount "safe and aggressive initial attack on wildfires on all federal lands that have the potential to move to state or private land. ..." • Several draft bills would require insurance carriers to provide information on fire risk reduction to their customers and to offer discounts to customers in the wildland-urban interface who meet fire risk reduction standards. Another bill would offer tax credits to homeowners who take defined fire risk reduction actions....

NM: Industry questions board's authority over emissions

New Mexico utilities and energy producers think the state Legislature and the federal government should address greenhouse-gas emissions, not the state's Environmental Improvement Board. Industry representatives Monday opposed a petition that asks the board to create a statewide cap on greenhouse-gas emissions from sources such as the smokestacks of coal-fired power plants and oil or natural-gas production. They think the state board might not have the legal authority to regulate the gases that scientists link to climate change and global warming. The board has scheduled a hearing April 6 to consider arguments about its authority to regulate emissions. Pending results of that hearing, the board set an Aug. 3 date to consider the request for a statewide cap. Anyone in the state can petition the board to change regulations. The petition was filed by a 4-year-old nonprofit, New Energy Economy, headed by physician Dr. John Fogarty. The petition asks the Environmental Improvement Board to regulate global-warming pollution and set a cap to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions levels by 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, similar to a recommendation from an international group of scientists, Fogarty said....

Students Startled After Deer Jump Into School

Officials at a Hamilton Township school are hoping for a return to normal Tuesday, a day after class was disrupted by two deer leaping through a window. Pastor Lance Walker of the Faith Baptist School says the deer jumped into a teacher's supply room Monday morning, startling three students and a teacher who were working on a lesson. They managed to get out and close the door, leaving the deer to trash the room. The school canceled outdoor recess for the day. By early afternoon, animal control officers showed up and tranquilized the animals so they could be taken away from the school.

Cattle group seeks concessions from packer

A Billings-based cattle group is calling on the world's largest meatpacker to surrender its Western feedlots as part of a settlement agreement with state and federal antitrust lawyers. Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund USA contends that getting Brazilian based JBS S.A. to surrender its feedlots is crucial to Montana cow-calf operations, which are faced with fewer buyers and less competition for their product. "Our position is that the market is already too highly concentrated," said Bill Bullard, R-CALF chief executive. R-CALF sued JBS last year over its would-be purchase of Kansas City, Mo.-based National Beef Packing Co. JBS has been on a two-year buying spree of U.S. meatpackers, picking up Colorado-based Swift & Co. in 2007 and Smithfield Beef Group last fall. The National Beef purchase would make JBS the largest beef packer in the United States and would trim the number of major packing companies from five to three. The governments sued JBS and National Beef last year to stop the sale. But all parties agreed in mid-December to set aside litigation and work out a settlement. The first signs of an agreement between the governments and JBS allowing the sale could come Jan. 16 at a status hearing in Chicago, a U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman said. JBS did not return messages left with the company Monday. Early indications were that National Beef might cut one of its packing plants out of the deal to shrink JBS's footprint in the U.S. beef industry. Bullard said R-CALF's concern is that any packing plant cut from the deal wouldn't really stimulate market competition....

NY Times: Is Ken Salazar Too Nice?

The word on Ken Salazar, tapped by President-elect Barack Obama to run the Interior Department, is that he is friendly, approachable, a good listener, a genial compromiser and a skillful broker of deals. That is also the rap on Ken Salazar. What the Interior Department needs right now is someone willing to bust heads when necessary and draw the line against the powerful commercial groups — developers, ranchers, oil and gas companies, the off-road vehicle industry — that have long treated the department as a public extension of their private interests. Conservationists and pretty much everyone else exhausted by the Bush administration’s ideological rigidity and deference to commercial interests have welcomed Mr. Salazar’s appointment. The Colorado Democrat has a solid voting record on issues involving wilderness and wildlife protection and can be expected to bring a strong conservation ethic to the top of the department. Yet that will not be nearly enough to reform and reinvigorate the department....

Everything's Cool

According to DailyTech blogger Michael Asher, "Thanks to a rapid rebound in recent months, global sea ice levels now equal those seen 29 years ago, when the year 1979 also drew to a close." This isn't Asher's opinion, but fact based on data from the University of Illinois' Arctic Climate Research Center. News about growing sea ice isn't exactly what environmentalists who predicted the North Pole would be free of ice in 2008 want to hear. Al Gore and his fellow alarmists have been telling us for years that melting sea ice and glaciers will dramatically and dangerously increase sea levels. In his 2006 movie "An Inconvenient Truth," he needlessly stoked fear by claiming that global warming could cause sea levels to rise 20 feet "in the near future." It was one of three dozen misstatements made in the Oscar-winning propaganda film that was promoted as a serious scientific documentary. We would expect global warmongers to note, as Asher did, that because sea ice freely floats around the oceans, it has no effect on sea level....

N.J. enviros deeply divided over record of Obama's EPA nominee

Depending on who you ask, Lisa Jackson is either the best or worst thing that ever happened to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, which she led from February 2006 to November 2008. For the most part, New Jersey's biggest environmental groups praise her work on climate change and celebrate her nomination to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But she also has a passionate and vocal group of detractors, mainly people who have worked on toxics in the state, both within the DEP and outside it. Her critics say she's a political player who has undermined science within the department. The deep divide between greens in the state has lead to some nasty finger-pointing on both sides. "When she became commissioner we had high expectations, and we thought she was going to come in and move the DEP away from being a failure and actually moving it to an organization that would be strong on the environment, strong on enforcement, exemplify leadership," said Robert Spiegel, executive director of the Edison Wetlands Association, a nonprofit based in central New Jersey. "I was sadly disappointed, as were many folks in the environmental community in New Jersey, by her performance as commissioner of the DEP."....

Timber company drops road deal with Forest Service

The nation's largest owner of timberland disclosed Monday that it will no longer pursue changes in agreements governing its use of U.S. Forest Service roads — changes that critics complained could transform forests into housing subdivisions. Critics of the proposed changes had included President-elect Barack Obama and Montana's junior senator. Changes in the agreements would benefit the public, but "given the lack of receptivity, we have decided not to go forward," Plum Creek Timber Co. Chief Executive Officer Rick Holley wrote in a letter to Missoula County, which opposed altering the agreements. Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey indicated as recently as last week that the changes negotiated privately by the Forest Service and Plum Creek would become final before he leaves office when the Bush administration ends this month. Rey, a former lobbyist for the timber industry, said the company's decision is "not good news for the federal government or the public at large." He had maintained the changes secured new benefits for the government rather than for Plum Creek....

FS settles with enviro group in Idaho timber suit

The U.S. Forest Service settled a lawsuit filed by environmentalists fighting a central Idaho timber sale by agreeing to scale back logging that was meant to reduce fuels near the town of Salmon. In May, the Missoula, Mont.-based Alliance for the Wild Rockies won an order from U.S. District Court Judge Edward Lodge to halt the Salmon-Challis National Forest's 1,486-acre Moose Creek timber sale, which had been approved in 2006. According to a pact signed this week by both sides that resolves the litigation, work will now be limited to timber cutting in several areas that a local logger had purchased before the lawsuit was filed in 2007. The Salmon-Challis National Forest also agreed to stop logging old growth stands greater than 80 acres and apply heightened scrutiny to future commercial logging - at least until it updates the Land and Resource Management Plan it uses to manage its 4.3 million acre territory. The agency also must pay the environmental group's $23,000 legal bill....

Snowbasin withdraws backcountry-permit request

Snowbasin Resort on Monday withdrew its request for a U.S. Forest Service permit to guide backcountry skiers in out-of-bound areas around the resort, including the west face of Mount Ogden. Denzel Rowland, general manager of the resort, said such a permit isn't worth the controversy it triggered. Backcountry skiers and boarders - as well as environmentalists - had been writing to the Forest Service, opposing the permit request. Many said they feared guided recreation would impinge on their own independent recreation; others said it could lead to commercialization of the back side of Mount Ogden, above the city of Ogden. Snowbasin is on both Forest Service and land it owns on the east side of the ridge. "We'll just retract it and forget about it," said Rowland. "People are very suspicious, and there is no reason to be suspicious .. . . It doesn't really matter. It's not that important to me." Chip Sibbernsen, the Ogden district ranger for the Uintah-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, said it's unfortunate that one of Snowbasin's main goals - to better familiarize the resort ski patrol with backcountry routes - won't be realized....

Wolf debate lingers into new year

When it comes to wolves in the Northern Rockies, it's nearly impossible to get all interested parties to concur on anything. But if the Bush administration proceeds as planned, there could be an odd mix of groups all agreeing it's a bad idea. Officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have indicated they plan to remove wolves from protection under the federal Endangered Species Act -- once again -- before President George W. Bush leaves office on Jan. 20. If that happens, conservationists, Wyoming ranchers and the state of Wyoming itself could all file lawsuits against the decision. It will depend on whether the Fish and Wildlife Service follows through on a threat to rescind its approval of Wyoming's wolf management plan. If Wyoming's plan is no longer an officially approved scheme, the Bush administration could delist wolves in Montana and Idaho only -- and continue to classify the predators as an endangered species in the Cowboy State. And that would likely stir up a storm of litigation....

Brady is off-target

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence is out to block the right of individuals to carry concealed weapons on national park property. That’s hardly surprising, given the Brady group’s historic fight against handguns. What is unexpected is the organization’s claim about why the ruling by the Bush administration that allows people with concealed-carry permits to bring their guns into national parks and monuments was wrong: It allegedly violates federal environmental regulations. Oh, come on. Do Brady officials think there will be so much lead flying once guns are allowed in parks and monuments that rivers and streams will be polluted? Do they really believe, as their lawsuit suggests, that concealed weapons pose a serious hazard to endangered species? We understand Brady arguing against guns in parks as a public-safety issue, but even that argument is difficult to sustain. As one of Brady’s own studies says, it’s tough to determine how many crimes have been committed by people holding legal concealed-carry permits. However, statistics from Florida, where a concealed-carry has been in place since 1987, show only a tiny percentage of permits were revoked because of a gun-related crime. Also, people with permits are legally able to carry their guns on Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management property, and there hasn’t been a significant increase in crime on those lands. That’s why 50 U.S. senators, including soon-to-be Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar, urged that guns be allowed in parks....