Feds probe US Census worker hanging in Kentucky Forest

When Bill Sparkman told retired trooper Gilbert Acciardo that he was going door-to-door collecting census data in rural Kentucky, the former cop drawing on years of experience warned: "Be careful." The 51-year-old Sparkman was found hanged from a tree near a Kentucky cemetery and had the word "fed" scrawled on his chest, a law enforcement official said Wednesday, and the FBI is investigating whether he was a victim of anti-government sentiment. The Census Bureau has suspended door-to-door interviews in rural Clay County, where the body was found, until the investigation is complete, an official said. He was found Sept. 12 in a remote patch of Daniel Boone National Forest and an autopsy report is pending. A private group called PEER, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, tracks violence against employees who enforce environmental regulations. The group's executive director, Jeff Ruch, said it's hard to know about all of the cases because some agencies don't share data on violence against employees. From 1996 to 2006, according to the group's most recent data, violent episodes against federal Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service workers soared from 55 to 290. "Even as illustrated in town hall meetings today, there is a distinct hostilityin a large segment of the population toward people who work for their government," Ruch said...AP

Grazing allotment changes proposed

For the first time in 30 years, the way grazing allotments are managed on the Little Missouri National Grasslands will be revised. The revisions will affect hundreds of ranchers in western North Dakota, who lease publicly owned grasslands owned by the U.S. Forest Service. The Medora district of the Forest Service released a draft environmental impact statement last month and is worried that the few comments that it has received will lead to a final plan that lacks public involvement, especially from the ranchers most affected. The Medora District of the grasslands contains 500,000 acres, divided into 253 separate grazing allotments. The document covers grazing revisions for 43 of the allocations, or some 50 to 60 ranch permittees, all mostly in northern Billings County. These are the first allotments in the Medora district to undergo the painstaking environmental review that's now required. Over time, they'll all be put under the same scrutiny, meaning some allotment permittees will be operating under the revisions for years before other ranchers are...Republic

Prairie dog tax ruling's affects still unknown

Almost 10 days after the Utah State Tax Commission granted an appeal to local property owner Bruce Hughes to have his property reassessed because of a prairie dog problem, the county assessor said his office still does not know what effect the ruling will have. "We haven't gotten the whole set of findings about that," Iron County Assessor Dennis Ayers said, adding the county has contacted him over several pieces of land with prairie dog issues that need to be addressed. Hughes appeal came out of the property owner's argument that his land was valued too high and should be lowered because the prairie dogs make it difficult to sell. "Several people are being very objectionable about letting anyone know they have prairie dogs now," Ayers said about the initial reaction he has heard on the ruling. Iron County has until Oct. 10 to appeal the decision, but Ayers said he would speak to Hughes before publicizing the next move, and speak to the commission on whether it would even budget for an appeal...TheSpectrum

Taxes - Politicians won't lower them, but prairie dogs will. A nice summary of today's political world.

Local cowboys rope awards at Roswell competition

A team of working cowboys from two Mimbres Valley ranches took second-place honors recently at a sanctioned Working Ranch Cowboys Association rodeo in Roswell. Now they're aiming for first place at the WRCA ranch rodeo in Deming this weekend in conjunction with the Southwest New Mexico State Fair. A first-place finish will assure the Harrington/Diamond E team of a place in the World Championship Ranch Rodeo to be held Nov. 11-15 in Amarillo, Texas. The team consists of brothers Joe Miller, 31, and David Miller, 41, owners of the Harrington Ranch; Harrington Ranch hand Chad Shannon, 44; and Diamond E Ranch manager Brandon Biebelle, 27. In order to belong to the WRCA and compete in sanctioned ranch rodeos, team members must all be working cowhands on a bona fide cattle ranch. The Harrington Ranch was established in 1902 by the Miller brothers' great-grandparents, Paul and Flora Harrington. Ten years later, Brandon Biebelle's great-grandfather, Walter Biebelle Sr., arrived in the Mimbres Valley and founded the Diamond E Ranch. Both families now own second ranches elsewhere in New Mexico, in addition to the original family ranches. The Biebelles' second ranch is in Corona, and is managed by Brandon's father, Randy. The Millers' second ranch is in Separ, just outside Lordsburg, and is managed by David Miller, while Joe manages the original family ranch in the Mimbres Valley. "Our families have worked with each other for years, helping out where needed," Joe Miller said. So it was natural for the two ranch families to join forces and create a combined team to compete in ranch rodeos...SilverCitySunNews

Ranching - A Great Way Of Life

Ranching is a great way of life, but is it sustainable? Can it produce enough income to support a growing family? Can it be passed on from one generation to the next? Will the next generation want to come back to the ranch? In recent years there has been much talk about a concept called "sustainable agriculture" but most of the so-called experts fail to mention the two most important ingredients - profit and enjoyment. Agriculture that is not profitable and enjoyable will never be sustainable. I'm very troubled by the large number of ranches that are struggling to make a profit. I'm troubled by the number of ranchers who are tired and burned out. I'm troubled by the fact that the average age of ranchers continues to increase because the next generation is not coming back to the family ranch - but can you blame them? They spent their entire lives watching their parents work relentlessly, often with off-farm jobs, just to breakeven. If ranching isn't going to be profitable and enjoyable, why ranch? This is a subject I am very passionate about, but since space is limited I'm just going to hit some of the high points...cattlenetwork

Song Of The Day #139

Today's selection is Jimmie Brown, The Newsboy which was recorded in 1951 by Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs & The Foggy Mountain Boys.

Scruggs is famous for his banjo picking, but that's him playing lead guitar on this track. When Flatt complements it with his famous G run, its a beautiful thing to hear. Damn good song too.

The song is available on many of their collections and on their 12 track CD Songs of the Famous Carter Family.

Justice Department investigating former Interior Secretary Gail Norton

The Justice Department is investigating whether former Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton illegally used her position to benefit Royal Dutch Shell PLC, the company that later hired her, according to officials in federal law enforcement and the Interior Department. The criminal investigation centers on the Interior Department's 2006 decision to award a Shell subsidiary three lucrative oil-shale leases on federal land in Colorado. Over the years it would take to extract the oil, according to calculations from Shell and a Rand Corp. expert, the deal could net the company hundreds of billion of dollars. The probe's main focus is whether Norton violated a law that prohibits federal employees from discussing employment with a company if they are involved in dealings with the government that could benefit the firm, law enforcement and Interior officials said. They said investigators also are trying to determine if Norton broke a broader federal "denial of honest services" law, which says a government official can be prosecuted for violating the public trust by, for example, steering government business to favored firms or friends. The Interior Department's Inspector General's office launched the investigation during the waning months of the George W. Bush administration and more recently made a formal criminal referral to Justice. Norton is the first Bush official at the cabinet secretary level to be the subject of a formal political corruption investigation...WTKR-TV

U.N. Climate Summit Leaves Large Carbon Footprint

To hear world leaders and others addressing the United Nations Summit on Climate Change, the threat could not be more real and the need more urgent to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. But in stark contrast to the earnest statements is the carbon footprint associated with their gathering. It happens every autumn: midtown Manhattan becomes the motorcade capital of the world. Each foreign leader in town has a convoy of vehicles. Some of them, like President Obama's motorcade, are 20-to-30 vehicles in length. It's so long - it seems that when the front of it reaches the U.N., the back end is still back at his hotel. Exacerbating the annual exercise in diplomatic gridlock are police actions, blocking intersections and closing streets for security to facilitate motorcade movements. It renders countless other vehicles immobile while waiting for motorcades to pass, their engines idling but still blowing exhaust into the midtown air...CBS

Texas Governor: U.S. climate bill will gouge state economy

A U.S. climate bill will cripple Texas's vital energy sector and damage the state and national economies, Republican Governor Rick Perry said on Tuesday. Instead of enacting the Waxman-Markey bill, the country should follow his example by promoting nuclear power and alternative energy, such as wind and solar, Perry said in a statement. He proposed the United States modernize its electricity grid and find ways to capture and store excess carbon. Texas has diversified its economy away from energy, partly by focusing on technology, but the sector still supplies 20 percent of the United States' oil, 25 percent of its natural gas and refined products, and 60 percent of chemical manufacturing, Perry said. Texas has more wind power than any other U.S. state and is building new transmission lines to carry more than 18,000 megawatts, Perry said. That is nearly as much as the current capacity of all the other 49 states. Conservationists have criticized Texas's rush into wind power because many of the giant windmills lie along migratory bird routes in the Gulf. Perry estimated his state has 200,000 to 300,000 people working in the energy industry, who are paid $35 billion in wages...Reuters

Global warming propaganda infiltrates schools

Scientists see no temperature increase (on average) in the oceans or on the surface of the Earth over the last decade. That hasn't stopped an activist group from infiltrating high schools with the panicky message that we are on the verge of a "planetary emergency" due to global warming. These alarmists are the recently formed Alliance for Climate Education, an Oakland, Calif., nonprofit created by wealthy wind energy entrepreneur Michael Haas. The organization has targeted five metropolitan areas and now is opening a Washington office. Haas, who donated $24,600 to President Obama's campaign and victory funds last year, stands to reap millions of dollars in government subsidies that climate change-driven energy policies would bring...Examiner

Birds caught in wind-farm push

For years, a huge wind farm in California's San Joaquin Valley was slaughtering thousands of birds, including golden eagles, red-tailed hawks and burrowing owls. The raptors would get sliced up by the blades on the 5,400 turbines in Altamont Pass, or electrocuted by the wind farm's power lines. Scientists, wildlife agencies and turbine experts came together in an attempt to solve the problem. The result? Protective measures put in place in an effort to reduce deaths by 50% failed. Deaths in fact soared for three of four bird species studied, said the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area Bird Fatality Study. The slaughter at Altamont Pass is being raised by avian scientists who say the drive among environmentalists to rapidly boost U.S. wind-farm power 20 times could lead to massive bird losses and even extinctions. New wind projects "have the potential of killing a lot of migratory birds," said Michael Fry, director of conservation advocacy at the American Bird Conservancy in Washington...USAToday

Crazy Dust Storm Turns Sydney Red (photos)

Story & photos at Wired Science.

GAO report chides BLM's rush to drill

Sloppy wording in the Bush administration's 2005 Energy Policy Act's directives to streamline oil and gas development has led to lawsuits, end runs around environmental laws and dirty air in Vernal, a federal agency says. In a report issued this week, the Government Accountability Office criticized the Bureau of Land Management's "inappropriate" use of so-called categorical exclusions -- exemptions from normal procedures -- in its drilling-permit operations. The exemptions, pushed through to speed energy development in the West, let one broad environmental-impact statement on one drilling application serve for all subsequent requests. The 2005 provision also allows BLM officials under certain conditions to sidestep provisions in the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act requiring analyses of threatened or endangered species, historical or cultural resources, human health and safety of potentially significant cumulative environmental effects of oil and gas drilling on public lands. The Energy Policy Act contains serious gaps and inconsistencies that have led to violations of environmental laws, the GAO found. Cumulative impacts of additional oil or gas development, especially on air quality, have been the most widespread and potentially serious concerns...SaltLakeTribune

Initiative to ban trapping in Montana clears first hurdle en route to ballot

An initiative to ban trapping on public land in Montana has cleared its first hurdle toward appearing on the November 2010 ballot. The Montana Secretary of State's office has concluded that the initiative proposed by Florence-based Footloose Montana can appear on the ballot if backers can get enough signatures to qualify the measure. The group seeks to ban trapping on public lands in the state, save for "scientific, public health and safety activities." Footloose must gather 24,400 signatures from registered Montana voters in order to place the would-be law on the ballot...Missoulian

LA passes law limiting roosters to 1 per household

The chickens have come home to roost for Los Angeles city dwellers who keep roosters. The City Council on Tuesday passed an ordinance that—with few exceptions—allows only one rooster per property. It was spurred by complaints over noise and hygiene and concerns over illegal cockfighting. Janice Hahn, who authored the bill, says it will give residents of her district some peace and quiet. Neighborhoods from the harbor to the San Fernando Valley are sometimes annoyed by concerts from crowing roosters. Real estate developer Michael Mekeel says tenants of his Panorama City development have had to turn up their TVs and wear earplugs. The law takes effect in November and carries fines of up to $250. AP

No mention of chickens and global warming?

Too bad roosters aren't a "keystone" species.

NM legislative committee hears wolf testimony

The Legislative Interim Water and Natural Resources Committee held its monthly meeting at the Grant County business/conference center all day Monday and until noon today. The senators and representatives heard information on various issues, including the wolf program and how it is impacting Catron County. Catron County Commission Chairman Ed Wehrheim said he knows most people have already formed opinions on the wolf program, but wanted to present new developments. “The program has now cost taxpayers about $400,000 per wolf,' Wehrheim said. “We estimate that when the program reaches its goal populationof 100 wolves, we will lose about 7,000 head of cattle over five years. Our state is 48th in the U.S. in per capita income, and Catron County is the third lowest in the state in per capita income.' He reported that since the program went into effect, 1,200 head have been killed and only 72 compensated for by the Defenders of Wildlife. “Clearly this program is stealing our private property,' Wehrheim said. The Center for Biological Diversity has sent a petition to the U.S. secretary of the interior requesting the Mexican graywolf status be changed from an experimental, non-essential program to full endangered status as a subspecies of the gray wolf or as a distinct population segment. “That means there will be road and trail closures, no hunting, no woodcutting, no ranching and the recovery area will be expanded,' Wehrheim alleged...SilverCityDailyPress

Coyote attacks prompt action in LA Park

A man reported being attacked by a coyote in Griffith Park last week, wildlife officials said. The man, who was lying down near the Travel Town area Wednesday night, reported waking up to find a coyote biting his foot, but he was not seriously injured, said Kevin Brennan, a wildlife biologist for the California Department of Fish and Game. The attack was the second reported in less than a month in the 4,210-acre, chaparral-covered park. Wildlife authorities learned from Los Angeles County health officials last week that another person had been bitten in the park in late August. In response, wardens dispatched U.S. Department of Agriculture wildlife services trappers, who roved the park Thursday and Sunday, trapping and lethally shooting seven of the animals. The agency's policy is to capture and kill coyotes only if there's an imminent threat to public safety. "Somebody getting bitten is an imminent threat," Brennan said...LATimes

JBS: industrial meat’s new heavyweight champ

Remember two weeks ago, when I warned that if JBS snapped up Pilgrim’s Pride, four transnational giants would dominate the U.S. meat market? Well, Brazil-based beef behemoth JBS has announced a deal to take a two-thirds stake of struggling U.S. poultry titan Pilgrim’s. JBS also announced a surprise deal to buy one of its biggest Brazilian rivals, the beef processor Bertin. Before the deals, JBS was already the globe’s largest beef processor, with a jaw-dropping 10 percent of the worldwide beef market. If the two deals make it past U.S. and Brazilian antitrust authorities, JBS will leapfrog Tyson as the globe’s largest meat company; it will have about $30 billion in annual revenue, compared to Tyson’s $26.7 billion, Reuters reports. (Cargill has $120 billion in annual revenue, but its interests extend well beyond meat to grain trading, fertilizer, biofuel, and even a hedge fund). And thus, four gigantic companies now dominate meat production here. Well, not quite yet. There is that matter of antitrust. But while the Obama Administration has rattled its sword at unchecked agribiz consolidation, hardly anyone expects it to block this tie-up...Grist

Blogging on the range: Farmers link to consumers via social media

Whether he's strolling through the corral, doing payroll at his desk or checking on a newborn calf, Stanislaus County dairy farmer Ray Prock likes to stop by what he calls his "virtual watercooler" to chat about his favorite topic: agriculture. He does this by logging on to his Twitter account, a social networking Web site that allows users to exchange quick, frequent messages known as tweets. By firing up his computer or turning on his smartphone, Prock can get a glimpse of what people in the global community are saying—and talk back to them. That's important, he said, because with so much misinformation out there about where food comes from and how it's produced, farmers have a responsibility to speak up and set the record straight. And with social media, they now have a tool to help them reach virtually anybody anywhere at any time. It is no wonder that social media tools are gaining use among farmers and ranchers, who are increasingly turning to online networking applications such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to help bridge the gap between them and consumers. The trend is noteworthy considering that 36 percent of U.S. farms currently still don't have computers and 41 percent don't have Internet access, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But where there is access, social media are penetrating the farming community. A recent American Farm Bureau Federation survey of farmers and ranchers aged 18-35 indicates that among the 92 percent who use computers, 46 percent regularly plug in to some form of social media...CFBF

Song Of The Day #138

As you can tell, things are a little slower and a little sadder this week on Ranch Radio as we feel for those local ranchers who are about to be placed in wilderness areas thanks to Senator Bingaman. So don't expect any up-tempo happy type tunes until I recover.

Today's selection is Streamlined Cannonball, a beautiful recording by the "Ol' Pea Picker" Tennessee Ernie Ford accompanied by The Dinning Sisters. It's available on his 3 disc box set Masters 1949-1976 by Capitol Records (just 15 bucks for 50 tracks).

On the Border: Wilderness Causes Degraded Environmental Quality & Security

Representative Rob Bishop’s (R-UT) is concerned about how the Department of the Interior is – or perhaps more appropriately isn’t - working with the Department of Homeland Security to secure our borders, and he let Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar know it at a hearing of the Committee on Natural Resources. As evidence of the issue’s gravity, Bishop points to a 2004 Interior Department report that had never been released to the public. According to the report the vast majority of the Organ National Pipe Monument in Arizona has been so degraded that it has lost its ‘wilderness’ character. Trash, vehicle tracks, foot trails and fire scars from illegal immigration and drug trafficking have severely degraded the Monument. Maps and images in the report (see photo) make a compelling case. The National Park Service’s website for the Monument, although cryptic, is consistent with the report indicating a list of roads and back-country areas simply closed off until further notice - your park lands ceded to coyotes and their human cargo and drug smugglers. The reason these areas are now government sponsored no-man’s lands may be even more troubling. Bishop stated that border patrol agents have been reporting “…that their hands are shackled when dealing with Interior officials on Interior Lands.” It seems that Interior may not be eager to put border security high on the agenda or share data revealing its environmental benefits. If Bishop gets his way, that may change. Bishop, the ranking member of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, lit into Secretary Salazar over Interior’s handling of several of his document requests. In addition to the documents regarding the border, Bishop requested documents regarding communications between the National Park Service and an advocacy group...The Foundry

Please remember that Congress has designated 95% of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument as a wilderness area. The Park Service website gives the following notice and list of closures for "visitor safety." From the website:

Due to our proximity to the International Boundary with Mexico, some areas near the border are closed for construction and visitor safety concerns.

Closed Roads: Conditions at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument periodically lead to closures of some roads and sections of the park. The following roads are closed indefinitely to vehicle traffic until further notice.

* Pozo Nuevo
* Camino de Dos Republicas
* South Puerto Blanco Drive
* North Puerto Blanco past the five-mile gate

Backcountry Areas: The following areas are closed to use until further notice.

* All backcountry areas are closed to overnight use. Many backcountry areas are open for day hiking only. Check at the Kris Eggle Visitor Center for the most current closure information.
* Red Tanks and Lost Cabin Mine trail complex are closed to all visitor use.
* Dripping Springs area from west of Pinkley Peak to North Puerto Blanco Drive is closed to all visitor use.
* Bates Mountains, Kino Peak and all areas south of the Bates Well Road, including areas along the Pozo Nuevo Road are closed to all visitor use.
* Sweetwater Pass area is closed to all visitor use.

Congress created a wilderness area which is now being trashed by illegal human smuggling and drug traffickers. The Park Service study referred to says that permitted back country visitors are outnumbered by illegal aliens trekking north by a ratio of ten to one, they are finding 150 abandoned vehicles per year, and that 130 deaths had occurred in the corridor.

Now comes Senator Bingaman who has introduced legislation to designate 259,000 acres as wilderness in southern New Mexico, much of it along the U.S.-Mexico border, and thus potentially creating the same situation in New Mexico. Does the Senator really believe a small corridor at the southern end of his proposal will really solve this problem for all 259,000 acres or 405 square miles of wilderness?

One can only hope the Senator will reconsider his position on this issue, especially since other designations are available which will protect the land while still allowing access to the Border Patrol and other law enforcement officials.

NOTE: I've served as an advisor to a western heritage group on this issue and am involved in natural resource issues across the west. The views expressed here are strictly my own and should not be attributed to any group or organization with whom I am or have been affiliated.

Obama to shift focus to climate change

After months of almost single-minded focus on healthcare, President Obama is about to shift the White House spotlight to global warming -- first with a speech to the United Nations in New York on Tuesday, then later in the week at the G-20 economic conference in Pittsburgh. The renewed emphasis on climate change and reducing carbon dioxide emissions comes at a crucial time: Negotiators are entering the home stretch in a drive to unveil a comprehensive international agreement to curb rising temperatures at a December conference in Copenhagen. With key divisions remaining among the major industrialized nations, as well as with developing industrial powers and poorer nations, there is concern that negotiations leading up to Copenhagen could be bogging down. Obama administration officials, while admitting the seriousness of the challenges, hold out hope for a deal...LATimes

US-EU rift clouds climate summit

A growing rift between the US and Europe is overshadowing Tuesday’s United Nations climate change summit in New York, further damping hopes for a breakthrough at the Copenhagen talks in December. Connie Hedegaard, the Danish environment minister, lowered expectations, saying: “Things are looking difficult and too slow, that is the fact.” The downgrading of expectations comes as relations between the US and Europe, which started the year of talks as allies, near breakdown. In Brussels, European Union officials have grown increasingly frustrated at the US stance, saying it has fallen short on both its level of ambition to reduce emissions and on offering aid to developing nations...FT.com

Green groups open 'climate war room'

The cap-and-trade movement, spooked by the pounding health care reform took over the August break, is scrambling to persuade nervous Democrats they won’t suffer politically for taking another tough vote this year. “When you get your butt kicked, like we did [after the House energy vote], it focuses the mind,” said Steve Cochran, director of the Environmental Defense Fund’s National Climate Campaign. “We found out that this is not something to hide from but something to lean on — even in places where coal is king and Blue Dogs were perceived to be running for cover.” Climate bill supporters say they have spent the summer building precisely the kind of grass-roots network that health care didn’t have, with grass-roots operations in more than 20 states. A “climate war room” — funded by more than 60 labor, business, faith, agriculture and environmental groups — has been set up to coordinate ad dollars and communications...Politico

Fed judge says grizzlies still threatened

Facing the combined pressures of climate change, hunters and lax protections, 600 grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park are going back on the threatened species list under a federal court order issued Monday. The ruling highlighted climate change's devastation to whitebark pine forests, which produce nuts that some grizzlies rely upon as a mainstay. With hundreds of thousands of the trees dead or dying over the last two decades, bears striking out in search of new food sources increasingly are being shot in conflicts with humans. "There is a connection between whitebark pine and grizzly survival," U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy wrote in Monday's ruling. The greater Yellowstone area of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming has one of the densest concentrations of grizzlies in the lower 48 states. The animals were declared recovered in March 2007 after bouncing back from near-extermination last century. At the time, the grizzly bear program was touted by the Bush administration as a model framework for restoring at-risk species, successfully balancing conservation and the pressures of human development. But in his ruling, Molloy sharply criticized the rationale behind the decision and ordered the Obama administration to immediately restore the animal's threatened status...AP

California's Man-Made Drought

California has a new endangered species on its hands in the San Joaquin Valley—farmers. Thanks to environmental regulations designed to protect the likes of the three-inch long delta smelt, one of America's premier agricultural regions is suffering in a drought made worse by federal regulations. The state's water emergency is unfolding thanks to the latest mishandling of the Endangered Species Act. Last December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued what is known as a "biological opinion" imposing water reductions on the San Joaquin Valley and environs to safeguard the federally protected hypomesus transpacificus, a.k.a., the delta smelt. As a result, tens of billions of gallons of water from mountains east and north of Sacramento have been channelled away from farmers and into the ocean, leaving hundreds of thousands of acres of arable land fallow or scorched. For this, Californians can thank the usual environmental suspects, er, lawyers. Last year's government ruling was the result of a 2006 lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council and other outfits objecting to increased water pumping in the smelt vicinity. In June, things got even dustier when the National Marine Fisheries Service concluded that local salmon and steelhead also needed to be defended from the valley's water pumps. Those additional restrictions will begin to effect pumping operations next year. The result has already been devastating for the state's farm economy. In the inland areas affected by the court-ordered water restrictions, the jobless rate has hit 14.3%, with some farming towns like Mendota seeing unemployment numbers near 40%. Statewide, the rate reached 11.6% in July, higher than it has been in 30 years. In August, 50 mayors from the San Joaquin Valley signed a letter asking President Obama to observe the impact of the draconian water rules firsthand...WSJ

HT: ESABlawg

Emptying Reservoirs in the Middle of a Drought

ANYONE DOUBTING THAT OUR nation's environmental and economic policies can get seriously out of whack from time to time need only look to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Located in California's Central Valley, between the state's capital city and Stockton, it is where the American, Mokelumne, Cosumnes, and Calaveras Rivers flow into the larger Sacramento and San Joaquin. It is also where the saddest agricultural saga since the Depression-era Dust Bowl is now playing, as the waters from those rivers flow beneath San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and out to sea. As they flow unimpeded to the Pacific, those waters are also washing out to sea the livelihoods of tens of thousands of farm workers and agricultural business owners. It is an economic as well as human tragedy. This is a story about water, about its lack as well as its abundance. But it is also a story about the price we pay to protect the environment, and whether we are striking the right balance between nature and mankind. In the end, the question is whether people should exercise dominion over nature, or whether nature should lord over man. To most Americans, the answer is obvious: our capacity to make nature subservient to our needs justifies doing so, insomuch as we act as responsible stewards of the environment. But however obvious that might be to most people, the countervailing idea—that nature should take precedence over mankind—is being sown into a series of laws and regulations that are causing undue torment and distress. The American West was created, it is fair to say, by mankind taming nature and using it for his own purpose. That is how the San Joaquin Valley over time became the most productive agricultural region in the world...AmericanSpectator

Video: The Valley Hope Forgot

Audit Finds Waste in 'Green' Projects

The four drafty buildings had been fixtures of the Energy Department complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., for more than half a century. They burned energy like 1950s sedans. The buildings seemed like perfect candidates for a federal conservation retrofit program that relies on private contractors that receive a percentage of the money they save. A deal was struck in 2001. The contractors reworked lighting and heating systems, among other things, and began collecting payments. The project was counted among the department's "green" successes -- until auditors discovered that the buildings had been torn down several years ago, and the government had paid $850,000 for energy savings at facilities that no longer existed. The auditors, from the department's inspector general's office, also determined that $565,000 had been paid over six years under the same arrangement to a contractor in Texas for a high-efficiency laundry that was no longer in use. The department also paid out $3.4 million on another project without checking whether the conservation measures worked -- and $160,000 for measurements that were never taken...WPost

California plans to levy greenhouse gas fees

More than a year after Bay Area air pollution regulators became the first in the nation to charge businesses for pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the program has raked in close to $1.7 million. And as early as this week, the state may follow suit by imposing similar fees on large California polluters as part of an ongoing effort to cut greenhouse gases 20 percent by 2020. The proposed program from the California Air Resources Board and the fledgling regional effort are designed to use the fees to pay for measuring, monitoring and studying the emissions blamed for global climate change. While health and environmental advocates say tracking greenhouse gases is an important step in the state's plan to battle climate change, big emitters say there is a risk of creating an unfair hodgepodge of regulations and fees...SFChronicle

Second group of prairie dogs released

After being caged, dusted and inspected, 27 New Mexico natives were introduced Monday to new homes in Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, about 50 miles southeast of Tucson. Apart from being a little homesick, the black-tailed prairie dogs, released by the Arizona Game and Fish Department, have a bright future, Kristen Lenhardt said. This is the second of six planned prairie dog releases by Game and Fish and the BLM. The reintroduction is aimed at restoring the native species that was wiped out in Arizona by the 1960s. Last year the department released 74 prairie dogs on land adjacent to the conservation area. The reintroduction number this year was significantly less due to poor weather conditions during the trapping in New Mexico. The organizations plan to add more to the site in the next couple of weeks...AzDailyStar

It's All Trew: Animal stories

Recently, my neighbor Burl Stubbs called offering me the deal of a lifetime. Seems he had a cat worth $500 that he would sell me for 25 cents. If that price was too high he was open to negotiation and would deliver the animal to my home, free. In spite of the bargain, I turned down the offer as we live out in the boondocks with coyotes and bobcats visiting nightly awaiting the arrival of our next domestic pet. Though ridiculous in content and certainly not the norm for judging horseflesh, my father and untold numbers of old timers used the following verse in buying or trading a horse: "One white foot - eye him, Two white feet - try him. Three white feet - buy him and four white feet and a white nose - feed him to the crows." Unfortunately, during my lifetime of owning, riding and working many horses and observing many more, the old adage is true more times than not. Grandma Trew once owned a "broody hen." In explanation to the unlearned, a broody hen is a fowl that exhibits a perpetual, super-motherly instinct, and is always wanting to sit on and hatch a setting of eggs. Once hatched, she raises, protects and nourishes her brood in high fashion, making her a valuable asset to the usual farm menagerie. Of course, during the cold winter season, baby chicks are susceptible to the cold climate and not desired. However, the broody hen still desires to be a mother. To keep her satisfied, Grandma used "fooler-eggs" that were actually white glass door knobs. It seemed to make no difference to the motherly hen as she faithfully attended her instincts...Amarillo.com

Song Of The Day #137

Today's selection is a pretty ballad by Faron Young - his 1952 recording of Tattle Tale Tears.

It's available on his 24 track CD Live Fast, Love Hard: Original Capitol Recordings, 1952-1962 and the wonderful 5 disc box set The Classic Years 1952-62.

Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack To Visit Las Cruces

The USDA website has the following announcement:

September 30 - Secretary Tom Vilsack will travel to Las Cruces, NM, to discuss rural infrastructure.

It's part of USDA's Rural Tour and that's all the info I have at this time.

Condoms & Climate Change

What's the connection you ask?

Never fear, Time Magazine will tell you all about it.

Prophet of climate doom a scientific black sheep

Researchers from a broad swathe of disciplines are strangely ill at ease when asked about fellow scientist James Lovelock, whose improbable career has just entered its seventh decade. Chemists, biologists, climatologists and physicists are all quick to reach for superlatives: "brilliant", "ahead of his time", a "renaissance scientist" in an age of ultra-specialisation. But even as the scientific community sings Lovelock's praises, one waits for the other shoe to drop. When it comes to climate change -- the issue that has consumed Lovelock's interest more than any other over the last decade -- the old man has got it wrong, they say. At least they hope he is wrong. Five years ago, Lovelock's "The Revenge of Gaia" issued a terrifying warning: if humankind didn't radically curtail greenhouse-gas emissions, there would, quite literally, be hell to pay. His new book out this year, "The Vanishing Face of Gaia," says it has now become bleakly apparent that we blew our chance. "We have left it far, far too late to save the planet as we know it," Lovelock said. Lovelock's grim conviction that we cannot prevent a global warming apocalypse in which billions of people will perish is rooted not in what we will fail to do in the future, but what we have already done in the past. For even if we stop spewing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere tomorrow, he says, the carbon dioxide (CO2) already there has triggered natural events -- the shrinking Arctic ice cap, the decay of the Greenland ice sheet, methane release from permafrost -- that will continue to drive global warming on their own...EconomicTimes

Financial Issues Weigh on Climate-Change Debate

U.S. President Barack Obama promised strong action on climate change from his first day in office, but he is heading into a series of meetings with other world leaders this month under growing pressure to deliver on his rhetoric. More than 100 world leaders, including Mr. Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao, are scheduled to meet Tuesday at the 64th United Nations General Assembly to talk about fighting climate change, in a prelude to the Pittsburgh Group of 20 meetings starting Thursday. While the talk will be about the environment, the substance will be about money. Poor nations say that if rich nations want them to stop burning coal or cutting down forests, they should be willing to pay. China has proposed that developed nations contribute 1% of gross domestic product to subsidize efforts by poorer nations to cut carbon-dioxide emissions. That translates to more than $140 billion for the U.S. alone. U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern says the Chinese proposal is "untethered from reality."...WSJ

As droughts expand and water supplies shrivel, is a world water war inevitable?

If your neighbor had plenty of water but you hadn’t enough to keep your family, your livestock and your crops alive, would you fight for it? Would you go to war? Lots of people – from multi-degreed behavioral psychologists to barroom philosophers – believe you would. To those whose wells are dry, it doesn’t matter whether the water shortage is caused by climate change or not. Politicians and government leaders can forever squabble about the cause, but those who are thirsty want water. Environmentalists in Europe claim the credit for first coining the phrase “World Water War” in the late 90s. But for almost half a century, the U.S. military has been planning for conflicts spawned by an acute shortage of water for drinking and farming. A world water war is no longer a question of if, but rather when, explains a Marine colonel who studied the potential for H2O-triggered battles at the U.S. Army War College. According to water experts at the United Nations, more than 45 percent of the world’s populations – more than 3 billion people – are already in need of more clean water. They cite research from The World Bank that shows that more than 80 countries now have water shortages that threaten their health and economies...coldtruth

Wolves: majestic symbol or bloodthirsty predator? Debate divides Oregonians

Jack London probably never expected "The Call of the Wild," the title of his classic novel and his term for a wolf's mournful howl, to become a fracture zone in the urban-rural divide. But now Oregon and the West have two kinds of people: those who see wolves as symbols of the wilderness and enjoy hearing their cries echo through the mountains -- and those who regard them as bloodthirsty predators that need to be kept away from livestock, with guns if necessary. Hearing wolves "just raises the hair on the back of your neck," says retired schoolteacher Mary McCracken, 66, of La Grande, who loves listening to them tune up. "It is just a real top-of-the-the-food chain creature." Ed Bangs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's wolf recovery coordinator for the northern Rockies, agrees. In the backcountry, "having big predators around is what makes it wild," he says of wolves, cougars and bears. "Otherwise, it's just scenery." But La Grande area rancher Sharon Beck says wolves are a threat to cattle, her family's livelihood. "The only way we are going to make these wolves afraid to come around human beings and livestock," says Beck, 71, "is (for wolves) to be shot at." The issue has come to a head in three states...Oregonian

Socialized Nature!

Ken Burns has a knack for making documentaries about some of the most contentious episodes in American history without saying anything that will tick anyone off. Over two decades, his PBS films have taken on the Civil War, feminism, World War II and, above all, race. They've been criticized for omissions: Hispanics in The War, modern artists in Jazz. But on the whole, they're substantive without being polarizing, passionately arguing positions almost everyone agrees with: Racism is bad, democracy is good, war is hell. His latest, six-part PBS series — The National Parks: America's Best Idea, which debuts Sept. 27 — does not sound like an exception. Who's going to argue with a tree? And the opening minutes — luxuriating in dramatic shots of lava flows, stalactites and waterfalls — promise plenty of unobjectionable, pledge-drive-friendly nature porn. But in a way he couldn't have planned, Burns has ended up making his most topical and political film yet. With America frothing over the role of government — should it save banks? should it expand health coverage? — The National Parks makes a simple case for an idea that is wildly controversial in the year of the tea party: That we need government to do things the private sector can't or won't...Time

It's interesting that the author of this review has to resort to the national parks to defend Big Government and attack the TEA Party movement. He may think he is cute, and doesn't realize he is wrong. Both he and Ken Burns need to spend some time at the Property & Environment Research Center website.

Conservation easements are a sustainable development land grab

Are you about to sign a conservation easement contract? Please hold off until you read this. Your signature will, in essence, split the estate on your property. You are releasing to a land trust, the controlled "use" of the land and development rights, while you retain title to the "land" and remain responsible for all costs of ownership . . forever. It will be virtually impossible for you, your heirs or a purchaser, regardless of circumstance, to over-ride this contract agreement. Differences of opinion with the land trust concerning interpretation of contract terms may eventually lead you to seek court settlement. Unfortunately you, the owner of the land, are committed to bearing all court costs if you lose, which in all likelihood you will. Furthermore, they you can take you to court if they decide you are not adequately meeting contract obligations. You will bear all legal costs including their high priced attorneys. And if your current friendly land trust shows too much leniency, another more demanding third party agency can step in, take over and rule with a firmer hand possibly in the interests of "the environment". For various reasons including financial difficulty or family disagreements, you or your heirs may attempt to sell all or part of the property. The contract prevents dividing or selling off portions. Prospective buyers are limited for easement encumbered land; the larger the acreage the more limited. Basically it is hard to get rid of...ESR

Debate over US Badlands site designation

The fate of about 12,000 acres (5,000 hectares) of scenic North Dakota Badlands on the National Register of Historic Places is at the center of a debate over recognizing an area that inspired Theodore Roosevelt. The U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service are pushing for the designation to highlight the significance of the region, where Roosevelt ran his cattle more than a century ago. Ranchers and state officials, though, fear it would hinder development and say local residents were not consulted. "Our view is that it's benign," said Dave Pieper, the Forest Service's Dakota Prairie Grasslands supervisor. "It's just an acknowledgment." The National Register of Historic Places is the federal government's list of properties it considers worthy of preservation and recognition. "It doesn't pose any restrictions," said Valerie Naylor, the superintendent of Theodore Roosevelt National Park in southwestern North Dakota. "It's a nice recognition of its historical significance." "If it's just a title, then why do we need it?" counters Jim Arthaud, a rancher and Billings County commissioner. "This is about locking the land up. So for them to say it will not do anything is completely bogus. The people in this county are nervous." Arthaud said the historic designation could prevent oil and gas development in the area and lessen the amount of land open for grazing. He said it also could hinder plans for a bridge over the Little Missouri River, which local residents say is a key to travel. For the purchase of the private ranch two years ago, the federal government paid $4.8 million and conservation groups contributed $500,000. The Forest Service promised to keep allowing grazing and other activities, including oil and gas development, on the land. A historic designation would restrict land use as outlined in that agreement, said Gov. John Hoeven's staff attorney, Ryan Bernstein. "We believe the status change would add different layers of bureaucracy," Bernstein said. "We feel this is contrary to the original agreement."...AP

N. Idaho kennel owners win legal fight with forest

A federal judge has ruled there are circumstances when dogs can be defined as livestock, a decision that clears the way for a northern Idaho kennel business to continue operating on land where federal Wild and Scenic River rules apply. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge is a victory for Ron and Mary Park, owners of Wild River Kennels, and a legal blow to the U.S. Forest Service. It also ends, for now, a 10-year-old legal dispute for the kennel, which is built along the Clearwater River near Kooskia. The kennel property is along private land subject to an easement under the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. While the easement allows for livestock farming, the forest service claimed dogs and commercial kennels didn't qualify and that the business should not be allowed to operate. "Under the facts of this case, the court finds that the dogs being used on the easement property for breeding, hunting and boarding are dogs being used for work and/or profit and can be considered livestock under the plain meaning of the term livestock," Lodge wrote. Later, he spelled out circumstances when dogs don't meet the livestock definition. "A family dog that does not work on the farm, is not bred, or is not used to help produce food when a person hunts, is just a family pet and is not livestock," he wrote...AP

HT: NABR

Moths put cactuses in prickly situation

The moths are coming. The cactus moth (Cactoblastis cactorum) is on its way to Texas, and it’s only a matter of time. According to a report by The Associated Press, the cactus-eating moth has established itself in Mississippi and Louisiana, and officials are trying to keep it from invading Texas by introducing sterile male moths and destroying infested cactuses. The biggest questions: when and where? And maybe: Can a moth that eats prickly pear, which is abundant in some pastures, be a bad thing? “If everyone hated prickly pear, this wouldn’t be an issue,” said Robert Pritz, Taylor County agricultural extension agent. “But it is a complex issue because cattle producers in our area consider it a pest, while the wildlife enthusiasts like the cover it provides for quail.”...ReporterNews

Idaho farmers regroup after pesticide mishap

When a federal agency sprayed a powerful herbicide that eventually wiped out crops worth millions of dollars for 118 local farmers, some of them lost more than money. Brad Rogers of Paul was one of the farmers. He lost his entire 1,100-acre farm, his only means of recouping the $1.5 million in losses he incurred from the misapplied herbicide. "Three years into my losses the bank just said 'you're done,'" said Rogers, who farmed sugar beets, beans, wheat and hay for 22 years before he sold the farm to pay off his creditors. Almost a full decade has passed since the Bureau of Land Management sprayed the chemical - called Oust - on wildfire-scorched public lands to control weeds. Eventually the wind blew the chemical onto surrounding farms, causing widespread damage to thousands of acres. Now, although traces of the herbicide have disappeared from the land it once stripped, the legal dust has yet to settle. On Aug. 24, a jury in U.S. District Court in Boise presided over by Judge B. Lynn Winmill found the BLM and chemical manufacturer E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Co. negligent in four sample cases of the mass lawsuit filed by a coalition of farmers. The jury awarded the four plaintiffs more than $17.5 million, said Peter Houtsma, an attorney with Holland and Hart of Boise, the plaintiffs' attorney. With more than 100 more plaintiffs still to prove their damages during the next phase of the proceedings, Houtsma said, the total damages could exceed $200 million...AP

Rochester hog farmer entitled to damages because of lawsuit, court rules

A Rochester hog farmer is entitled to damages stemming from a lawsuit filed by opponents of his large-scale hog operation that delayed its construction, the Illinois 4th District Appellate Court decided this week. Robert Young had appealed a ruling of Sangamon Circuit Judge Leslie Graves that he was not entitled to damages. Young previously successfully challenged an injunction request by the Rochester-Buckhart Action Group, which wanted to block expansion of his hog farm. “The court ruled that we were right, and RBAG was wrong. Now, we will be asking RBAG to pay for the harm that was done,” Tom Immel, Young’s attorney, said Friday. A hearing in Sangamon County court regarding the amount of damages will be scheduled later. Immel said Young will seek more than $300,000, including legal expenses and income Young and his wife, Sandra, lost while fighting the lawsuit. The appellate court, in a ruling Tuesday, said Young was “engaged in a lawful business, and the planned expansion of his hog farm was put on hold at plaintiff’s (RBAG’s) behest. “A party should not be able to throw up a legal roadblock in the path of another’s business without the adversely affected party having the opportunity to seek financial recourse if it is found to have been wrongfully impacted,” the court said...StateJournalRegister

Scientists discover low-methane sheep

Scientists have proven not all sheep are created equal, at least when it comes to belching greenhouse gases. Researchers working for a Government partnership with the farming industry have discovered that some sheep naturally make less methane digesting their food than others - potentially opening the way for a low-methane breeding programme. When fed grass, the difference in emissions between a low-methane flock and a high-methane flock was about 20 per cent. The difference varied depending on what the sheep ate - but it was always there. "For the first time we have opened up the possibility we could breed animals with lower greenhouse gas emissions," said Harry Clark, the scientist heading the study at Agresearch...NZHerald

HT: climate_change

Ohio Livestock Decision Is up to the Voters

The decision on how Ohio farmers and ranchers can “treat” their livestock is about to be decided by Buckeye state voters. According to an article by Dave Elias in the State Journal online, while the vote is not until November, the debate on the issue is boiling over. The basic situation is this: Ohio farmers do care about their livestock and they do want to protect this food supply as it is how they make their living. However, when it comes down to the laws and regulations they have to follow to protect their animals, they would prefer those laws be set at the state level and not in Washington, DC. Additionally, after witnessing what has happened with ballot initiatives in states like California, they also fear a stream of activists pushing for changes in raising standards at the state level and doing so like they did in California—through a ballot initiative. To circumvent such action, advocates for the farmers and ranchers took proactive steps, came up with their own ballot initiative (called Issue 2), and got Issue 2 on the ballot. According to Elias’s article, “Issue two calls for bringing together a group of animal care experts to set standards when it comes to caring for farm animals and local farmers tell me they support the idea.” While such a standard setting board could still require changes in how farm animals are cared for, farmers tend to think their voice will carry a little more weight this way in affecting what changes are ultimately made. Or as beef farmer Bob Morrison states in the article, ‘"There is an out of state entity that is trying to force regulations upon us by their wishes and this will help protect local producers to produce food in a safe effective way for consumers under local control."’...AALA

Mich. House approves farm animal care standards

The Michigan House has voted to require farms to comply with rules phased in over the next decade against confining and tethering some animals. Some lawmakers say the measure passed 87-20 Wednesday is designed to avert possible animal treatment ballot initiatives such as those passed in Arizona, California and Florida. The Humane Society of the United States says it now supports the Michigan bill after changes were made...AP

Bring Dutch oven to fall hunting camps

Fall is rolling around fast. That means hunting season, the time for serious camping, is at hand. Aside from a coffee pot, cooking in hunting camp demands only one thing: a good Dutch oven. The first time I saw anybody cook with a Dutch oven was 25 years ago, when a friend's father let me tag along on a deer hunt on the sagebrush flats of northern Taos County, N.M. After hunting for the first few hours of the day, we returned to the trucks. One of the men took his cherished Dutch oven out of its burlap sack. He lighted a large, fast-burning, smoky fire from dead, gnarled, silver-gray sagebrush. He then dug a hole in the ground just big enough so he could bury his Dutch oven. He shoveled half the ashes into the hole and put the Dutch oven in to heat up. Next, he spooned in a generous dollop of lard that quickly liquefied and started to smoke. From his cooler he withdrew a plastic bag holding strips of meat marinated in red chili sauce. Those spattered and popped when they hit the hot grease and delicious smells started to rise. He tossed in a few potatoes that he had peeled and cubed. After mixing the potatoes with the meat, he put the lid on the oven and shoveled the rest of the coals on top. The buried pot soon baked the chili to perfection...AP

Cattle dog show draws top canine

The annual Wellfleet Fall Festival is quickly becoming much more than a place to gather for free watermelon, mud volleyball and great food. For the second straight year, the festival was the location for a sanctioned U.S. Border Collies Handlers Association cattle dog trial, which is a qualifier for the national event that takes place at the stock show in Denver after the first of the year. Wellfleet's Outback Stock Dog Association sponsored the event, which drew more than 40 dogs, including the top ranked dog in the nation. Small, but growing dramatically, the Outback sponsored event drew close to 200 spectators and it's a direction that Outback president Dennis McDaniel hopes to continue. "We called ourselves Outback because we are kind of out back of nowhere," he joked. "But this is something significant and is growing in popularity and growing fast." Border collies have been used for centuries to herd sheep and are extremely skilled at what they do. In the same fashion, the dogs are becoming more popular than ever for ranchers who are finding it harder and harder to find good old-fashioned cowboys. "This day and age, where can you find four or five cowboys at the drop of a hat?" asked McDaniel. "You can't. It's getting harder and harder to find cowboys and while it's not easy to admit, that age is almost over."...Telegraph

Out of harm's way

The best description of a pickup man, like many things in rodeo, can be found in a country and western song. In this case, from the cowboy poet and musician Gared Baker. "But there's someone out there watching, He knows when things are wrong, There's someone out there waiting, And it don't take him long, To move in and take over, When a cowboy needs a hand, There's someone looking after things, The pickup man." The pickup men are the rescue squad. At the Round-Up, in their signature red shirts and flowing white neckerchiefs, they assist in virtually every event, helping cowboys to the ground after bronc rides or ushering animals out of the arena. To the cowboy entangled in his rigging on a bucking bronco, the pickup man is an angel from heaven. "They're cowboy lifesavers," said Sonny Hansen, a Round-Up volunteer and one-time pickup man. As talented as the men they rescue, pickup men usually train their own horses and are proficient in a variety of cowboy skills. And they know how to act fast. On the Round-Up's large grass arena, their job is just a little harder. The grass is slick, and, in all that open space, the action even more unpredictable than usual. "Things go fast, and there's a lot of different things that can go wrong," said Bob Marriott, who's been a pickup man for 20 years. Nevertheless, he said, he looks forward to the Round-Up. "There's no rodeo in the world that gives you the same rush as when you first walk out on that grass," he said...Oregonian

On the edge of common sense: Ropers measure time in bronc years

Calf ropers are a peculiar group of talented cowboys. I would characterize them as more serious about their work than most. They have hobbies like small appliance repair and breeding orchids. Their calling seems to draw more of the accountant/engineering sort of mentality. Dean Oliver, Tom Ferguson, Dee Pickett, Mike Johnson and Cody Ohl are representative. They are modest, focused, hard working and responsible. Of course, every now and then there's a Roy Cooper or Joe Beaver who crashes the party, but in every bunch of good, hardworking border collies, there's always a couple that chase cars. Calf ropers have pretty good career longevity compared to, say, bull doggers and bareback men. Chad told me of his conversation with one of our old-timer rodeo friends. Chad noted the old-timer's son was entering the Pendleton Rodeo this year in calf roping. The dad kinda snorted and said, "He's pressin' his luck, he's nearly 50 years old!" "Wait a minute," said Chad, "You were 56 the last time you entered the saddle bronc, and that was in bronc years!" Bronc years is a measure of time much like dog years. A dog year is equivalent to 7 human years. A bronc year is equivalent to two roper years. In other words, a roper of any kind should be able to compete in rodeo twice as long as a rough stock rider...Amarillo.com

Song Of The Day #136

To get those feet moving and the ol' heart pumping this monday morning we'll offer two instrumentals by the bluegrass group 4 Wheel Drive from their 16 track CD No Doubt About It.

You've heard Yakety Sax and Yakety Axe. Well Ranch Radio brings you Yakety Banjo. It's a short little ditty so to keep that heart pumping the second instrumental is Indian Killed A Woodcock.

Cowgirl Sass & Savvy

Cowboy storage

By Julie Carter

If you have ever crawled into a cowboy's pickup, you know that the passenger seat is obviously considered the "storage place on the right side of the cab."

A cowboy's wife related her woes to me.

"Any time I go anywhere with my hero, he has to have the console down so he can set his beverage there, plus the phone, any important papers, his hat and any other junk he is toting around.

"Excess necessary equipment, such as rope bag, gloves, over reach and skid boots, saddle pads, water bottle, coolers for burritos, drinks, slicker, extra boots, spurs and anything else he happens to own, all end up in the passenger seat and floorboard.

"I'm not all that wide but still I do require some place to park my butt and my feet. I clearly remember back before full time roping bum days, when all the necessary working equipment, leggings, extra coats, vests, wild rags, etc., were parked there, too. He does own a two-seater truck. The single cab truck does have a bed that could possibly be considered to haul some of this junk and there is a storage space in the trailer.

"What I carry, fits in my pocket - the entry fees. What on earth would happen if I had to take a ton of make-up, books, clothes and possibly a watermelon or two for snacks?"

Traditionally, cowboys also fully utilize the storage space under the pickup seat. One can find almost anything ranging from empty medicine bottles serving as reminders to buy more, to the excess adult beverage cans consumed during the course of a business week. Usually a number of unidentifiable items suggest forgotten food from times gone by.

Storage priorities for cowboys are very easily established. They start and end with "his."

The kitchen table is a repository for all things that are of immediate importance in the Western Hemisphere. This would include the syringes, balling guns, ear tag pliers, any part of the knife sharpening equipment to include whet rocks and an assortment of things they simply don't want to put away.

In the filing process, but still on the table, are receipts for anything from a hamburger to a new piece of land. In addition, there are endless lists of things to be accomplished, checked on or fixed, projects for the future and anything that might be put on any other list. A list of list, of sorts.

Buried in this cowboy's mound of important things, which will almost preclude serving any meal on the kitchen table, is the insurance bill dated two months ago that has now guaranteed cancellation of coverage and the BLM lease with the same results.

In the barn, there are entire rooms devoted to storage of left over pieces of leather that are too small to use, ropes which have lost their vitality or had a miss in them. There is the kid saddle he had from 50 years ago and several pair of old leggings that are too heavy, too stiff and too patched to be worn.

Hanging are jackets fringed in tatters from wear along with a pile of old hats that are "too good to throw away," but obviously not good enough to wear. Under dust is the packsaddle that came with plans for a camping trip "one of these days."

And certainly, there are those sealed boxes of mystery content holding treasures of some great value. "I might need these some day," he will say.

At least one other room is devoted to storage of "spare" parts from the various pieces of equipment, furniture, watches, tools and toys. Parts that were left over after assembling.

"Some assembly required," are three very dangerous words for a cowboy, ranking right up there with, "I want you to meet my mother."

Julie can be reached for comment at www.julie-carter.com

Song Of The Day #135

Ranch Radio's gospel tune today is Trade My Cross by the bluegrass group The Abrams Brothers.

The song is available on their 13 track CD Iron Sharpens Iron

‘Battle of the badges’ between ATF and FBI

Agents of the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives are feuding over bomb investigations — racing each other to crime scenes, failing to share information and refusing to train together, according to a draft report obtained by The Associated Press. The report says Justice Department bosses have repeatedly failed to fix the problem. The Justice Department's Inspector General, Glenn Fine, has drafted a preliminary report on the two agencies' repeated squabbles to claim jurisdiction in investigations of explosives incidents across the country — from Times Square in New York City to Arizona and the West Coast. FBI and ATF supervisors "tend to deploy their employees to the larger, more sensational explosives incidents, sometimes racing each other to be the first federal agency on the scene and disputing upon arrival which agency should lead the investigation," according to a draft version of the report. "Such conflicts can delay investigations, undermine federal and local relationships, and may project to local agency responders a disjointed federal response to explosives incidents in their area," the draft report found...AP

Want a Wiretap Warrant? No Problem, Court Says

Despite refusing to “endorse” the government’s tactics in securing a warrant for a wiretap, a federal appeals court is ruling that authorities could use the fruits of their questionable eavesdropping in prosecuting an alleged drug dealer. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower-court judge who last year suppressed the 50 grams of crack cocaine that was evidence in the case against a man originally suspected of plotting terrorism against the United States. The lower court said a magistrate judge erroneously issued the warrant, breaching the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, which was designed to strike a balance between law enforcement and “the privacy rights of the individual.” Warrants for wiretaps, according to the act, usually may be granted only after “a full and complete statement as to whether or not other investigative procedures have been tried and failed, or why they reasonably appear to be unlikely to succeed if tried, or to be too dangerous.” Under the law, wiretapping generally is not resorted to in situations where traditional investigative techniques would suffice to expose crime. The lower-court judge threw out the drug evidence against Alexander Concepcion, ruling “the government has shown that it has done little, other than the wiretap, in its investigation of Concepcion’s drug-trafficking activities.”...Wired

Goodbye, Number Five

Next time you get pulled over by a cop -- or stopped at random in a "sobriety checkpoint" -- you might want to remember the following laugh line: It's called the Fifth Amendment to the Bill of Rights, which reads, in part, that "No person... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." Ho ho ho! It's a laugh line, because, like, so many of the other amendments to the Bill of Rights, pleading the Fifth -- that is, declining to assist the authorities in your own prosecution -- is a sick joke. Or like them, is about to become one. Because cops may soon have the legal authority to forcibly extract blood from you in order to use that blood as evidence against you in DWI cases -- which are criminal proceedings. It's all part of a new federal program -- yes, another one -- the stated purpose of which will be to determine how effective a "tool" such tactics would be in the ongoing (and endless) crusade against drunk driving. If it is deemed "effective" (do you doubt it will be?), then it will become as commonly practiced across this formerly free land as all the other outrages against civility and basic legal due process we have already assented to. Neither sees -- or would give a damn about it, if they did -- the point. Which is that empowering cops to physically hold you down and draw blood from your body against your will -- to be used as evidence against you in a criminal proceeding -- is to rape the Fifth Amendment and thus, another basic and ancient tenet of the late great tradition we used to call the rule of law...AmericanSpectator

Boston launches flu shot tracking

Using technology originally developed for mass disasters, Boston disease trackers are embarking on a novel experiment - one of the first in the country - aimed at eventually creating a citywide registry of everyone who has had a flu vaccination. The resulting vaccination map would allow swift intervention in neighborhoods left vulnerable to the fast-moving respiratory illness. The trial starts this afternoon, when several hundred people are expected to queue up for immunizations at the headquarters of the Boston Public Health Commission. Each of them will get a bracelet printed with a unique identifier code. Information about the vaccine's recipients, and the shot, will be entered into handheld devices similar to those used by delivery truck drivers. Infectious disease specialists in Boston and elsewhere predicted that the registry approach could prove even more useful if something more sinister strikes: a bioterrorism attack or the long-feared arrival of a global flu epidemic. In such crises, the registry could be used to track who received a special vaccine or antidote to a deadly germ...BostonGlobe

Maine outlaws ‘distracted’ driving

Motorists, drop those cellphones. And lose the laptops, bag the Big Macs, and nix the newspapers and roadmaps while you’re behind the wheel. It’s now against the law to drive while distracted in Maine. More than a dozen states have passed laws making texting while driving illegal, and some states and cities have outlawed use of cell phones while driving. A bill in Congress would force states to ban texting or e-mailing or lose 25 percent of their annual federal highway funding. Maine legislators, however, reasoned that accidents can result from a number of distractions not just limited to handheld communication devices. Roughly 12,000 crashes in Maine each year - about a third of the total crashes in the state - stem from some kind of driver distraction, said Lt. Chris Grotton, who helped to develop Maine’s new law. “Our focus here was, instead of going after the device, let’s focus on the real issue - and the issue is distraction,’’ said Grotton. “I think it will mitigate accidents. It’s a step, but a big step.’’...AP

No mention here of kids...but you just wait...

Feds Now Regulate Garage Sales Nationwide

Americans who slap $1 pricetags on their used possessions at garage sales or bazaar events risk being slapped with fines of up to $15 million, thanks to a new government campaign. The "Resale Round-up," launched by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, enforces new limits on lead in children's products and makes it illegal to sell any items that don't meet those limits or have been recalled for any other reason. In order to comply, stores, flea markets, charities and individuals selling used goods — in person or online — are expected to consult the commission's 24-page Handbook for Resale Stores and Product Resellers (pdf) and its Web site for a breakdown of what they can't sell. Violators caught selling anything on the enormous list face fines of up to $100,000 per infraction and up to $15 million for a related series of infractions...FoxNews

Bowing to the Global Tax Bullies

Do you think the Internal Revenue Service should have the right to share your tax information with foreign governments — even ones run by thugs and those that engage in human rights abuses and/or suppress freedom in their countries? A meeting was held in Mexico City last week under the auspices of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), whose implicit goal is to create a global high-tax cartel. It claims to be in favor of transparency and global economic growth. However, as with many domestic and international government organizations, the OECD's actions are often contrary to its words. In order to create a global tax cartel, the OECD needs to have tax information shared among nations — which means that the citizen of any country that signs on to this scheme may have his or her tax information shared with other member jurisdictions...Cato

Surprise winner of Obama stimulus spending: gun industry

Many gun-loving Americans are convinved that President Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress are bent on ripping rifles from their "cold, dead hands," as actor Charlton Heston once declared at a National Rifle Association meeting. But from the perspective of police departments – not to mention gunmakers – the Obama administration may go down as one of the most gun-friendly in history. Across America, police departments are using the taxpayer-funded stimulus bill to boost their arsenals with shotguns, handguns, and assault rifles. Among the general public, a record 1 million guns were sold across the United States in August alone, rebuffing expectations that, after 10 months, the post-Obama election gun-buying spree would abate. US gunmaker Smith & Wesson on Wednesday reported a 30 percent rise in sales in the first quarter, leading to unexpected profits and a rising stock price...CSM

Court’s Steroid Ruling Pumps Up Computer Privacy

A divided 11-judge federal appeals court panel has dramatically narrowed the government’s search-and-seizure powers in the digital age, ruling Wednesday that federal prosecutors went too far when seizing 104 professional baseball players’ drug results when they had a warrant for just 10. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ 9-2 decision offered Miranda-style guidelines to prosecutors and judges on how to protect Fourth Amendment privacy rights while conducting computer searches. Ideally, when searching a computer’s hard drive, the government should cull the specific data described in the search warrant, rather than copy the entire drive, the San Francisco-based appeals court ruled. When that’s not possible, the feds must use an independent third party under the court’s supervision, whose job it would be to comb through the files for the specific information, and provide it, and nothing else, to the government. Judges, the appellate court added, should be wary of prosecutors and perhaps “deny the warrant altogether” if the government does not consent to such a plan in data-search cases...Wired

FBI figures: One drug bust in US every 18 seconds

America is a nation at war, overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan, and at home. According to the newly released Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Report for 2008 every 18 seconds someone is arrested and charged with violating drug laws. Another striking figure in the report: of the 1,702,537 drug arrests in 2008, 82.3 percent were for simple possession of a contraband substance. Nearly half, 44 percent, were for possession of marijuana. According to San Francisco Weekly’s calculations, 2008 saw one marijuana arrest every 37 seconds...RawStory

Buying guns can be an ordeal

If Congress were to pass a law that required voters to get permission, in writing, from government before going to the polls, citizens likely would be up in arms, at least figuratively speaking. For some, figuratively might be the only way they could take up arms against injustice. Since the Brady Firearms Act required prospective gun buyers to pass a National Instant Check System background check before they were allowed to purchase a firearm from a licensed dealer, almost 1.8 million people have been denied. That’s not to say they were all criminals looking to buy a gun for their next robbery. (Some undoubtedly were; genius-level criminal masterminds are not nearly as common in real life as they are in fiction.) But if statistics from 2008 are any indication, an NCIS denial isn’t proof-positive that one is a criminal, a fugitive or anyone else legally barred from owning a firearm. According to The New Gun Week, a publication of the Second Amendment Foundation, a new Bureau of Justice Statistics report says that last year 147,000 people were turned down for a variety of reasons. Of those, 28,000 appealed their denials; 11,000 of them were overturned, allowing those law-abiding citizens to exercise their Second Amendment rights. That’s a pretty slipshod system...OdessaAmerican

Student uses sword to kill intruder

A Johns Hopkins University student armed with a samurai sword killed a suspected burglar in a garage behind his off-campus home early Tuesday, hours after someone broke in and stole electronics. Some shocked neighbors said they heard bloodcurdling screams in an area just blocks from the university. Police held the student, a junior chemistry major who turns 21 on Sunday, for several hours, but no charges were filed by early afternoon, said police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. Around 1:20 a.m., the student heard noises behind the home and noticed a door to the garage was open, Guglielmi said. He grabbed the sword and confronted the intruder — identified by police as Donald D. Rice, 49, a habitual offender who had just been released from jail. Rice was crouching beneath a counter, police said. The student asked him what he was doing and threatened to call police. "When he said that, the suspect lunged at him, kind of forced the kid against the wall, and he struck him with the sword," Guglielmi said. Rice's left hand was nearly severed — Guglielmi described it as "hanging on by a thread" — and he suffered a severe cut to the upper body. He died at the scene...AP

Nevada draws fire after shooting down Utah gun permits

Utah gun owners are protesting Nevada's decision to reject Utah-issued concealed-weapon permits. On July 1, the Nevada Sheriffs' and Chiefs' Association, which sets the Silver State's permit recognition requirements, dropped Utah from the list of states whose permit holders also may carry concealed firearms in Nevada. The reason: Utah does not require permit holders to prove their proficiency with a live-fire test on a shooting range. "You don't get a driver's license without taking a driving-in-the-car test," Frank Adams, the Nevada association's executive director, said Monday. The same should apply for weapons owners, he said. "You should at least show proficiency." The policy group Gun Owners of Utah this past weekend issued a call for letters and e-mails of protest after getting an alert from the National Rifle Association. On Monday, though, group spokesman Bill Clayton said the cause appears hopeless because Nevada authorities interpret their state law as backing up the ban. Nevada law requires permittees from other states to meet substantially the same requirements as Nevada holders, and Nevada requires a shooting test. "We don't want to impose any more burdens on permit applicants than are necessary," Clayton said, but other states do. "I guess for the time being that's a fact of life." Gun Owners of Utah sees no difference in safety records among states that require a shooting test and those that don't, Clayton said. So the group does not support changing Utah's requirements to regain Nevada's confidence...SaltLakeTribune

New York City Primary Voters Reject Gun Control Guru

Richard Aborn's defeat in the race for Manhattan District Attorney is an unambiguous rebuke of the gun control movement by the residents of New York City. Aborn based his campaign almost entirely upon his work with Handgun Control, Inc., now renamed the Brady Campaign, and the policies which they advocate. His list of endorsements included Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, State Senators Eric Schneiderman and Eric Adams, Assemblypersons Jonathan Bing, Deborah Glick, Richard Gottfried, Brian Kavanagh, Daniel O'Donnell, Linda Rosenthal and Michelle Schimel, and gun control organizations the Brady Campaign, Gun Free Kids, Million Mom March and New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. His last place finish demonstrates just how far outside the mainstream of society gun control advocates are. A solid majority of Democrat voters in Manhattan have rejected their candidate and his ideas. PressRelease