Enviros getting paid to go away - and the taxpayer and consumer get to pay again

FROM: KAREN BUDD-FALEN
BUDD-FALEN LAW OFFICES, LLC
DATE: SEPTEMBER 7, 2010

It is no surprise that there is a big difference between legal requirements, radical opinion, political power, private extortion . . . and then there is the rest of the story. With regard to the payment of attorneys’ fees to radical environmental groups, radical opinion and political power seem to often win and legal requirements are ignored. In fact, political power supporting radical opinions forced payment of at least $4,697,978 in taxpayer dollars to 14 environmental groups in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Political power payments for radical opinions happens 21% of the time when attorneys’ fees are paid.

And then there are the cases where these same radical environmental groups are extorting millions from major corporations and local governments as payment to drop appeals and protests. For example, recently Western Watersheds Project (“WWP”) and Oregon Natural Desert Association (“ONDA”) extorted $22 million from El Paso Corporation to drop their protests of the Ruby Pipeline project. In another case, the Center for Biological Diversity (“CBD”) extorted almost $1 million from Alameda County, California to drop its protests to a City’s approval of a residential and commercial development project. The general theme is that money changes hands, development moves forward and the taxpayers and consumers get stuck with the bill.

The story goes like this:

Attorney Fees Legal Requirements:

Under the Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”), attorneys are only supposed to be paid if they represent the prevailing parties in a lawsuit against the federal government. According to EAJA, a prevailing party must achieve a court-sanctioned change in the position of the federal agency through litigation.

Under the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act and other fee shifting statutes whose funds come out of the Judgment Fund, attorneys’ fees are only supposed to be paid if the attorney achieved some success in the litigation for the plaintiff. Thus, the plaintiffs had to achieve some benefit from the litigation through the courts.

Radical Opinion:

All too often however, radical environmental groups, WWP for example, sue the federal government because they claim the government failed to consider the cumulative impacts of all livestock grazing everywhere in the Western United States on a species that is not even listed as a threatened or endangered species. NEPA is the procedural statute that requires impacts of federally permitted decisions be considered–the Act does not require a particular outcome, just that the government consider all the impacts of its decision.

Quite frankly, I do not believe that the WWP or other radical groups care at all about the NEPA process or wildlife because these groups do not spend any of their money on projects that benefit the land or the animals on it. Rather, the goals of WWP and others are to eliminate livestock grazing under all circumstances in all locations. They even claim that cattle contribute to global warming by “belching carbon,” like the internal gas emissions of livestock are any different from the internal emissions of cats, dogs or other wildlife. This is not about the environment . . . it is about eliminating land use and ownership starting with ranchers and moving to other groups once the ranchers are gone.

Political Power:

The federal government however gets a copy of the WWP suit and instead of defending its NEPA documentation and decision and protecting the ranchers’ rights to continue grazing, the government pays WWP our tax dollars just to make the litigation go away. In 21% of the cases – more than $4.6 million dollars worth – there is no court decision and no determination that the WWP was “prevailing,” just a request to please withdraw the litigation and more taxpayer money is paid to radical groups who use their political power to assert minority radical opinions.

Private Extortion

Getting paid to go away is not just about taking American tax dollars for attorneys’ fees; now radical environmental groups are directly extorting money from businesses as well while more costs are passed on to the American consumer. Recently WWP and ONDA announced that it has extorted $22 million from El Paso Corporation in exchange for dropping their protests to the federal government’s permits allowing El Paso to build the 680 mile long natural gas Ruby Pipeline. As part of the deal, El Paso did not change the route or any other aspect of the pipeline, it just paid ONDA and WWP to go away.

In the California case, CBD extorted almost $1 million from Alameda County for “habitat acquisition” in exchange for dropping its protest to the development of a residential area. This is just more American taxpayer money going to radical environmental groups.

And the rest of the story. . . .

And the rest of the story is that the American taxpayers across the country are paying more money to a minority of radical causes. Even harder to take is that the ranchers whose cattle grazing were drawn into the WWP litigation because they happened to graze where WWP wanted them eliminated (everywhere) have to now go back to the government to assist with preparing more paperwork, the government has to spend more time writing documents, and there is more pressure to just walk away from another American small business. And the big corporations and counties who are paying extortion dollars are just passing their losses along to the American consumers. It is our dollars that are paying for the destruction. This is not a phenomenon that just happens to Western ranchers, but “getting paid to go away” occurs when roads are widened, bridges are built, water supplies are updated, timber is cut, fishermen are out in their boats, pipelines are built and in all other businesses across this country.

With regard to the attorneys’ fees payments, in more than 21% of its cases, the federal government does not even defend its decisions; it spent more than $4.6 million to make cases filed by radical environmental groups go away. There is no way to measure the additional money that is being directly extorted from businesses and governments so that radical groups will withdraw appeals and protests. That is a sad story with a very bad ending.

The Forgotten Man - Jon McNaughton (video)

A promo for his art work, but well worth watching.

Climate: New study slashes estimate of icecap loss

Estimates of the rate of ice loss from Greenland and West Antarctica, one of the most worrying questions in the global warming debate, should be halved, according to Dutch and US scientists. In the last two years, several teams have estimated Greenland is shedding roughly 230 gigatonnes of ice, or 230 billion tonnes, per year and West Antarctica around 132 gigatonnes annually. Together, that would account for more than half of the annual three-millimetre (0.2 inch) yearly rise in sea levels, a pace that compares dramatically with 1.8mm (0.07 inches) annually in the early 1960s. But, according to the new study, published in the September issue of the journal Nature Geoscience, the ice estimates fail to correct for a phenomenon known as glacial isostatic adjustment. This is the term for the rebounding of Earth's crust following the last Ice Age...more

Existence of rare red fox confirmed

The genetic signature of canine slobber on a bait bag of chicken scraps and a fuzzy photograph from a motion-sensitive camera north of Yosemite National Park have confirmed the existence of a red fox, thought to have been all but wiped out, the U.S. Forest Service announced last week. "The last known sighting of a Sierra Nevada red fox in the Sonora Pass area was some time in the 1920s," said Mike Crawley, Bridgeport District ranger. "Needless to say, we are quite surprised and excited by this find." Federal wildlife technicians Emily Crowe and Julien Pellegrini were checking hundreds of photos when they came across an overexposed image taken at 2:17 a.m. Aug. 11 of what appeared to be the rare red fox — with its characteristic white-tipped tail — trying to get at the bait bag dangling from a tree. The Sierra Nevada red fox (Vulpes vulpes necator) lives at high elevations, eating small mammals and birds. It has a reddish head, back and sides; black backs of the ears; black "socks" on its feet; and a white-tipped tail. But the only known population of the fox is roughly 20 animals clinging to survival in the Lassen Peak region, about 150 miles to the north...more

Also see Spotting of red fox could ignite endangered species battle

Obama’s EPA: School Marms R Us

The Obama Administration’s EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTSHA) are proposing new rules “labeling each passenger car with a government letter grade from A to D based on its fuel efficiency and emissions,” the Wall Street Journal reports. The new rules “would be the most substantial changes in 30 years to the familiar price and mileage labels afixed to new cars on sale at dealership,” the article continues. Only in the make-work world of bureaucrats would the addition of the letters A, B, C, or D to product labels be considered “subtantial changes.” The proposed rules imply two judgments about Americans. One is that we’re too stupid to understand how miles-per-gallon and estimated annual fuel costs affect our wallets. Our math skills are so poor that quantitative information must be supplemented with letter grades labeling “this car good, that car bad.” The second judgment, closely related to the first, is that Americans are school children and EPA/NHTSA are the Nation’s teachers. The agency folks apparently think that no matter how old we get, we still want to be teacher’s pet...more

In Search of the Bradshaw Ranch….

Back in the day, the site was owned by Bob Bradshaw who had acquired enough cattle to earn agricultural status for the ranch. But over the years, the U.S. Forest Service continued to cut allotments at the ranch and by the mid 1990s the taxes on their operations grew to an unmanageable amount. Around this time his son John, took over the ranch and promoted it as an adventure destination for tourists – offering horseback riding, jeep tours and dinner dances. The Arizona weather and spectacular rock formations of the area provided additional inspiration, but the 90-plus acre site was soon purchased by the US Federal Government and is today managed by the US Forest Service. The purchase could be considered good news, one would think, as the ranch should be considered public land… But no, the entrance gates to the Bradshaw Ranch remain securely chained by three different padlocks and two large signs which prominently announce: “Property of the US Government — Trespassers will be prosecuted to the furthest extent of the law!” And they are serious about that, trust me. From what I have been able to research, all prior attempts to gain any kind of official permission to enter the site have been flatly refused without exception or explanation. As far as the general public is aware, the mysterious Bradshaw Ranch is officially called an ‘archaeological site’ and remains firmly ‘off-limits’ – some would say ‘off outer limits’. But back to what makes the Bradshaw Ranch so fascinating for UFO believers and those keen on the unexplained… since the mid 1990s and significantly around the time the US Government showed so much interest in the site that they were prepared to acquire it, incredible and strange phenomena began to bereported, leading one to rationalize the strict ‘no-go’ policy as perhaps a good idea, yes?...more

FDA considers approving genetically modified salmon for human consumption

The Food and Drug Administration is poised to approve the first genetically modified animal for human consumption, a highly anticipated decision that is stirring controversy and could mark a turning point in the way American food is produced. FDA scientists gave a boost last week to the Massachusetts company that wants federal approval to market a genetically engineered salmon, declaring that the altered salmon is safe to eat and does not pose a threat to the environment. "Food from AquAdvantage Salmon . . . is as safe to eat as food from other Atlantic salmon," the FDA staff wrote in a briefing document. Those findings will be presented Sept. 19 to a panel of scientific experts which will advise top officials at the FDA whether to approve the altered salmon. The panel is holding two days of meetings to hear from FDA staff, the company behind AquAdvantage and the public. AquAdvantage is an Atlantic salmon that has been given a gene from the ocean pout, an eel-like fish, which allows the salmon to grow twice as fast as a traditional Atlantic salmon. It also contains a growth hormone from a Chinook salmon...more

U.N. Agency Calls Meeting on Spike in Food Prices

A U.N. food agency said Friday it has called a special meeting on the recent spike in food prices, responding to fears of a repeat of the shortages that led to riots in parts of the world two years ago. The announcement by the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization followed Russia’s decision to extend its ban on wheat exports. The ban has been held as partly responsible for the 5 percent increase in food prices worldwide over the last two months, to their highest level in two years. Mozambique saw deadly riots this week triggered in part by an increase in the price of bread. There has also been anger over rising prices in Egypt and Serbia, while in Pakistan — where floods destroyed a fifth of the country’s crops — the prices of many food items have risen 15 percent. Drought in Russia — and the country’s subsequent restrictions on wheat exports — forced a sudden sharp rise in wheat prices, the agency said. Higher sugar and oilseed prices also were factors in the higher index...more

Corn Prices Hit 23-Month High

Corn prices rallied to a fresh 23-month high after a closely watched private crop forecaster called the abundance of U.S. grain supplies into question. Informa Economics, a Memphis, Tenn.-based agricultural consultancy, is projecting that the current U.S. corn harvest will yield on average 3.9% less than the latest estimate by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This is a significant downgrade in a time of tight global grain supplies. Russia has banned exports of wheat for several months in the wake of a record drought. This has put pressure on markets for other grains, as consumers such as livestock-feed suppliers look for substitutes, and sparked fears of global food shortages. Informa Economics estimates a final U.S. corn yield of 158.5 bushels an acre, according to information reviewed by Dow Jones Newswires. The firm doesn't publicly release its predictions. That compares with the USDA's most recent estimate of 165 bushels an acre. Corn prices surged after the firm distributed its figures to customers. The front-month contract, for September delivery, settled 3.9%, or 16.75 cents, higher at $4.4975 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade...more

Corngrowers concerned about new pesticide regs

Since the Clean Water Act was passed in the early 1970s, the Environmental Protection Agency has interpreted the law to exclude lawful pesticide applications regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act from National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits. But early in 2009, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the permits are necessary for the application of pesticides. The National Corn Growers Association sees this as a game changer that would impact any grower that uses pesticides. “In the past, you knew if you were applying a pesticide according to the label language you were in compliance with federal pesticide law,” said NCGA Director of Public Policy Rod Snyder. “At this point, with additional Clean Water Act requirements and the possibility of citizen suits under that act should a pesticide happen to reach a body of water, even a ditch or a puddle, you have a secondary layer of regulations with potential legal vulnerabilities that you did not have before.” The citizen action suit provisions within the Clean Water Act are a major concern for NCGA. This interpretation of the law would require permits for pesticide usage. These provisions also make it possible for activist groups to directly sue farmers should they feel that there is a breach of a permit or a permit was not applied for at the agency. This would provide ample opportunities for lawsuits attacking farmers in the courts...more

When Mother Nature and Mother Obama both hit you at the same time, it ain't a pretty sight to see.

Antibiotics and Meat DO Mix

CEI submitted comments this week on an FDA proposed guidance that “encourages” farmers and antibiotics manufacturers to stop using “medically important” antibiotics for livestock growth promotion purposes. There’s actually a pretty large body of scientific research showing how much so-called sub-therapeutic doses actually contribute to consumer health by reducing pathogen loads in animal-derived foods and have a positive impact on human safety (see here, here, here, and here, for just a few examples). Plus, when the European Union banned antibiotics for livestock growth promotion, the expected decrease in the incidence of resistant human pathogens did not occur. In most cases, the number of resistant bacteria continued rising, and in some cases they rose dramatically. Moreover, the incidence of foodborne illness also rose substantially. This shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise, since it’s estimated that livestock uses account for as little as 10 percent of the problem with antibiotic resistant bacteria...more

Creator of TV western "Bonanza" dead at 93

David Dortort, who created "Bonanza," the top-rated western that aired for 14 years on the NBC television network, died September 5 at his Los Angeles home. He was 93. Debuting in 1959, "Bonanza" was the most-watched show on U.S. television from 1964 to 1967 and maintained a place in the ratings top 10 for a decade. Dortort also created "The High Chaparral," which originally followed "Bonanza" on Sunday nights on NBC and ran for three seasons. Dortort pitched "Bonanza" in 1959 as a way of helping to promote the sale of color television sets manufactured by the U.S. electronics company RCA, then the parent company of NBC. "Bonanza" would be filmed in color in scenic Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and feature a cast of relative unknowns -- Michael Landon, Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker and Pernell Roberts -- as members of the fictional Cartwright family. Departing from the typical TV western formula of the day that focused on lone gunslingers and drifters, Dortort chose instead to depict the lives and adventures of a widowed rancher and his three sons living together on the Ponderosa Ranch...more

Song Of The Day #400

For our 400th offering here at Ranch Radio we give you Buck Owen's 1959 recording of Second Fiddle.

How Enviros Obstruct the Border Patrol

But this story, and another in the New York Times ("On Border Violence, Truth Pales Compared to Ideas"), plus almost everyone else, missed the real story: migrants and drug smugglers (marijuana, mainly) are attracted to parts of Arizona for a specific reason. On these federal lands, environmental regulations prevent the Border Patrol from doing its job. That's what the mainstream media won't report. Over and over again, Bishop makes this simple point. The U.S. side of the 1,950-mile border with Mexico is about 60 percent private land and 40 percent federal. "Almost all" of the migrants and drug smugglers come across federal lands, protected by stringent "wilderness" designations or endangered species rules. The federals are submissive before the environmental regs that interfere with border enforcement. The Border Patrol, a division of Homeland Security, has to complete lengthy environmental reports and get permission from the Departments of Agriculture and Interior before it can do anything. This can take several months. So yes, there is indeed an Arizona funnel through which the illegals enter. One federal agency works against another to create the funnel. The Mexicans are all but invited to come in and trample down the wilderness, which of course they don't care about. They actually cut down endangered cacti and lay them across roads to keep the Border Patrol out...more

Arizona signs along I-8 warn of human, drug smuggling violence

Truckers making their way east and west through Arizona may want to avoid areas near Interstate 8. The federal government has posted signs warning of violence and criminals tied to drug and human smuggling. Dennis Godfrey, a spokesman with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, said his agency put the signs out in June in response to increased danger in a 40-mile area south of I-8 near the Sonoran Desert National Monument. That 487,000-acre desert includes about 200,000 acres south of I-8 that have seen increased drug and human smuggling activity in recent months, Godfrey told Land Line Thursday, Sept. 2. Violence in the area has surged in recent months, though it hasn’t become prevalent on the highway, Godfrey said. Instead, authorities are asking travelers to be careful and try to avoid access roads and other areas south of I-8. The massive state desert acreage and an even larger expanse of Indian reservation make up an eight-mile buffer between most of Arizona and Mexico during the 40-mile stretch, and have become key smuggling routes for violent Mexican cartels to move humans and drugs...more

Battle zone on the border

A day after the bloodiest border shootout to date, residents who have endured years of violence on both sides of the Rio Grande counted their blessings. The gunbattle Thursday between Mexican soldiers and the Zetas drug gang killed at least 25 of the narcos near the town of Ciudad Mier, about 20 miles south of the border. It was yet another confrontation in what has become a battle zone in Mexico's drug war. "Two weeks ago, right across the border, there was a running gunbattle in Miguel Aleman. We could hear the shots," Capt. Francisco Garcia of the Roma police said Friday. Referring to other nearby Mexican towns, he said, "Three days ago, they had a shootout in Nuevo Guerrreo. And in Los Guerras, they have shootouts almost every night." So far, the violence has not crossed the Rio Grande. On Friday, another shootout occurred on a highway in the neighboring state of Nuevo Leon. In that battle, five suspected narcos were killed by army troops. The violence has forced citizens on both sides of the border to dramatically change their behavior. For starters, casual trips across the Rio Grande are now just old memories. Foot traffic across the bridge in Roma has dropped by up to 90 percent this year, according to Mexican officials...more

Mexican drug wars fester along US border

Deaths and threats happen all around Mexico, but in recent months Tamaulipas has displaced Pacific Coast states like Sinaloa and Baja California when it comes to high-impact violence. Tamaulipas is the end of the shortest route for drugs and illegal immigrants into the US. It accounts for about 3 per cent of Mexican homicides, a figure that is growing, according to Mexican officials. The Calderon government attributes the worsening of the war in northeastern Mexico to the split between the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas, according to the Calderon government's security spokesman Alejandro Poire. The two groups had cooperated for more than a decade. The fight has drawn in other cartels like the Sinaloa Cartel of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and La Familia Michoacana, a bitter enemy of Los Zetas, who stepped into Tamaulipas to help the Gulf Cartel. "Tamaulipas is a strategic point to take drugs in and out of the United States, since it has a vast coastline and important cities like Nuevo Laredo, Miguel Aleman, Reynosa, Rio Bravo and Matamoros, which are the closest destinations for the criminals who move drugs through the Gulf of Mexico," the government report said. Nowadays the cartels' business reaches well beyond drugs, and that explains last week's migrant massacre and many attacks on bars, butchers' shops, bakeries, funeral homes and media outlets...more

California's Prop 19, on legalizing marijuana, could end Mexico's drug war

On Nov. 2, Californians will vote on Proposition 19, deciding whether to legalize the production, sale and consumption of marijuana. If the initiative passes, it won't just be momentous for California; it may, at long last, offer Mexico the promise of an exit from our costly war on drugs. The costs of that war have long since reached intolerable levels: more than 28,000 of our fellow citizens dead since late 2006; expenditures well above $10 billion; terrible damage to Mexico's image abroad; human rights violations by government security forces; and ever more crime. In a recent poll by the Mexico City daily Reforma, 67 percent of Mexicans said these costs are unacceptable, while 59 percent said the drug cartels are winning the war. We have believed for some time that Mexico should legalize marijuana and perhaps other drugs. But until now, most discussion of this possibility has foundered because our country's drug problem and the U.S. drug problem are so inextricably linked. Proposition 19 changes this calculation. For Mexico, California is almost the whole enchilada: Our overall trade with the largest state of the union is huge, an immense number of Californians are of Mexican origin, and an enormous proportion of American visitors to Mexico come from California. Passage of Prop 19 would therefore flip the terms of the debate about drug policy: If California legalizes marijuana, will it be viable for our country to continue hunting down drug lords in Tijuana? Will Wild West-style shootouts to stop Mexican cannabis from crossing the border make any sense when, just over that border, the local 7-Eleven sells pot?...more

Backyard Volunteers Count Fireflies to Track Possible Decline in Numbers

Scientists are hoping a network of backyard volunteers who spent the summer counting fireflies can help them determine if the luminous insects are in a decline. About 700 volunteers from across the nation counted fireflies in their backyards, local parks and meadows and also noted their color and flash patterns. The volunteers then entered their observations into an online database that’s central to the Firefly Watch program sponsored by the Boston Museum of Science. Scientists are worried by reports from the public that they are seeing fewer fireflies each summer, possibly because of habitat destruction from suburban sprawl. About 5,100 people from 42 states and four other nations have taken part in Firefly Watch’s online effort since it debuted in May 2008...more

Alright! I can't wait for urban backyards to be declared critical habitat.

Fly swatters and fly and mosquito spray will be outlawed.

The Western Watersheds Project will claim backyard pets transfer distemper and other harmful diseases to fireflies.

The Wildlands Project will want "fly corridors" between backyards and school playgrounds.

The United Nations will designate city parks and football fields as Biosphere Reserves.

The Native American Urban Tribes will claim many of the backyards are sacred sites.

Land & Water Conservation funds will be used to acquire backyards.

Interior Secretary Salazar will announce that fireflies are a "keystone species" and are negatively impacted by global warming, necessitating immediate "collaborative" action.

In return for Backyard Habitat Management Plans, Salazar will sign agreements with homeowners to allow inadvertent "takes" of fireflies.

The Center for Biological Diversity will sue Salazar for violating NEPA, the APA and the ESA...and win.

The Dems will be bewildered when they discover a disproportionate number of backyards with fireflies are owned by minorities and the economically disadvantaged, meaning the ESA itself violates their concept of "environmental justice".

The Repubs will scream and holler and hold hearings...then do nothing.

And in an interview with MSNBC President Obama says he hopes the American public will understand "there are no fireflies in Muslim backyards."

Yes, I just can't wait.

And forgive me Lord, but I hope city sewer plants are declared prime breeding ground for fireflies.

NM senators support illegal immigration super highway

When New Mexico's Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall introduced S.B. 1689 in September 2009, immigration was barely a blip on the public's radar. Over the last year, other issues such as stimulus spending, health care, and cap-and-trade have stolen the spotlight. Their harmless sounding bill, which makes land in New Mexico part of the National Wilderness Preservation System and the National Landscape Conversation System, received virtually no attention. Now that immigration is in the spotlight as non-border states mimic Arizona s controversial immigration law, polls show that the majority of the public wants to stem the tide of illegal immigrants. S.B. 1689 will disappoint that majority. Unless people speak up, this New Mexico bill will sail through on a professional courtesy to Sens. Bingaman and Udall. In southern New Mexico the proposed Organ Mountains Desert Peaks Wilderness National Conservation Area sets aside a long north/south strip of land just miles from the border that contains all the elements that make it perfect for the movement of both human and drug trafficking: wilderness/de facto wilderness safe havens; east /west highway access; rugged and complex north/south mountain and drainage orientation; and high, strategic points of observation...more

Calif. School Named for Al Gore May Be Toxic for Students

A new $75 million campus dedicated to “environmental themes” has been named for former Vice President Al Gore (and Rachel Carson who championed environmentalists’ campaign against the use of DDT, a chemical used to fight off malaria-carrying mosquitos). The Carson-Gore Academy of Environmental Sciences is scheduled to open its doors for a new school year on September 13, but classes may be delayed unless excavation crews can successfully remove and replace toxic dirt on the premises. The LA Times reports: Construction crews were working at the campus up to the Labor Day weekend, replacing toxic soil with clean fill. All told, workers removed dirt from two 3,800-square-foot plots to a depth of 45 feet, space enough to hold a four-story building. The soil had contained more than a dozen underground storage tanks serving light industrial businesses. Additional contamination may have come from the underground tanks of an adjacent gas station. A barrier will stretch 45 feet down from ground level to limit future possible fuel leakage. Groundwater about 45 feet below the surface remains contaminated but also poses no risk, officials said...

It will be toxic in more ways than one.

The irony of Jesse Jackson's stripped SUV

Add Jesse Jackson’s ride to prominent vehicles being stripped in Detroit. Following the embarrassing news that Mayor Dave Bing’s GMC Yukon was hijacked by criminals this week, Detroit’s Channel 7 reports that the Reverend’s Caddy Escalade SUV was stolen and stripped of its wheels while he was in town last weekend with the UAW’s militant President Bob King leading the “Jobs, Justice, and Peace” march promoting government-funded green jobs. Read that again: Jackson’s Caddy SUV was stripped while he was in town promoting green jobs. Add Jesse to the Al Gore-Tom Friedman-Barack Obama School of Environmental Hypocrisy. While preaching to Americans that they need to cram their families into hybrid Priuses to go shopping for compact fluorescent light bulbs to save the planet, they themselves continue to live large. “We need an economy that creates employment that can't be shipped overseas,” the Green Rev wrote for CNN about the march. “Home-grown American labor will be installing windmills and solar panels. A green economy is not an abstract concept.” Well, its certainly abstract to Jesse...more

'Climate migrants' projected to flood U.S.

Climate change in Latin America — and the accompanying drought, flooding and desertification — is likely to drive increased illegal migration across the Mexico-U.S. border in coming years, according to a report. Worsening economic conditions, spiraling social tensions and growing political instability will drive greater numbers to make the dangerous journey to the United States in the long term, according to the American Security Project, a bipartisan nonprofit research group focused on national security threats. While migration might be down in the short term, in the long term the "United States is likely to see an increase in migrants all across the southern border due to climate change and its follow-on effects," said the report's author, Lindsey Ross, a scholar at the American Security Project...more

The ASP press release accompanying their report says:

Dr Jim Ludes, the Executive Director of ASP said: “This report highlights the consequences to the United States, and especially the communities and law enforcement agencies along America’s southern border, of not tackling climate change.” He went on to note: “Climate change is a crucial issue facing the United States that needs to be addressed now. We can no longer put our heads in the sand. It has real, tangible consequences.”

I'm no scientist, but I certainly understand the political message behind this report: conservatives, either get behind cap and trade and other global warming initiatives or see our country over run by "climate migrants".

When I look at the Board of Directors for ASP and see it has dems like Gary Hart and John Kerry, and repubs like Christine Todd Whitman, you might say I'm a wee bit suspicious of their agenda.

Save the Light Bulb

Dear John Boehner, Ted Poe, and Members of the incoming 112th Congress, If you do only one thing in your time in Washington, and frankly I hope you do only one thing given your propensity to expand government (other than eradicating Obamacare), it is this: SAVE THE LIGHT BULB. People may not realize it, but one of the first acts of the Democratic Congress in 2007, was to ban the light bulb effective in 2014. Seriously. Now, you may say that this is an exaggeration, and it is a bit, but the incandescent light bulb is the light bulb of choice for millions of Americans. It turns on instantly, it can be tossed in the trash without summoning a hazmat team, and is cheap. The compact fluorescents cannot be treated that way and cost more. Likewise, we are forced to deal with China for every purchase...more

Here is Rep. Ted Poe's 2008 floor speech on compact flourescent light bulbs:

Endangered or not, wolf killings set to expand

Government agencies are seeking broad new authority to ramp up killings and removals of gray wolves in the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes, despite two recent court actions that restored the animal's endangered status in every state except Alaska and Minnesota. Various proposals would gas pups in their dens, surgically sterilize adult wolves and allow "conservation" or "research" hunts to drive down the predators' numbers. Once poisoned to near-extermination in the lower 48 states, wolves made a remarkable comeback over the last two decades under protection of the Endangered Species Act. But as packs continue to multiply their taste for livestock and big game herds coveted by hunters has stoked a rising backlash. Wildlife officials say that without public wolf hunting, they need greater latitude to eliminate problem packs. Montana and Idaho held inaugural hunts last year but an August court ruling scuttled their plans for 2010. "As the wolf populations increase, the depredations increase and the number of wolf removals will increase. It's very logical," said Mark Collinge, Idaho director for Wildlife Services, the U.S. Department of Agriculture branch that removes problem wolves, typically by shooting them from aircraft. At least 1,700 wolves now roam Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. There are more than 4,000 in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. New populations are taking hold in Oregon and Washington, and wolves have been sighted in Colorado, Utah and New England. Some of the most remote wilderness habitats are becoming saturated with the animals. As a result, packs are pushing into agricultural and residential areas where domestic animals offer an easy meal...more

2 coyote attacks in 1 hour in NYC suburb; tot hurt

A teen and a toddler have come face-to-face with a coyote in two separate incidents within about an hour in a New York City suburb. The toddler's father took her to get medical care, but the teen was unhurt. Authorities say a coyote lunged at the teen boy shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday in Rye Brook. About an hour later, the 2-year-old girl was attacked near her home about two miles away. In June, the town of Rye — about 3 miles from Rye Brook — had two coyote attacks within four days. A 3-year-old girl playing in her backyard was jumped from behind by a coyote, and a 6-year-old girl was mauled by two coyotes. After those attacks, authorities in Rye urged parents to keep their kids inside on summer evenings. Rye Brook is about 30 miles northeast of Manhattan. AP

HT: Outdoor Press Room

Animal Activists Use Oil Spill to Push for Wildlife’s Day in Court

According to the American Bar Association, a number of organizations have recently tried to sue under the Endangered Species Act on behalf of sea turtles who have died in the Gulf. In federal court, the groups sued to force BP into halting controlled burn operations meant to stem the spread of oil. In early July, BP and the Coast Guard agreed to allow environmental scientists to “observe” burn efforts to ensure the turtles would be removed from danger. In addition, the ABA reports that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has called on the attorneys general of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi to prosecute executives of BP on animal cruelty charges. ”The oil leak represents an example where tremendous pain and death are brought to individual animals,” Michigan State University law professor David S. Favre says. ”The law penalty has no easy way to deal with these individual deaths,” he says. This is something animal activists want changed and some are pushing for new laws that would extend legal rights and protections–usually reserved for humans–to animals. One of these activists is President Obama’s “regulatory czar” Cass Sunstein. Sunstein has come under public scrutiny in the past for his controversial views surrounding “rights” for livestock, pets and wildlife. “[T]here should be extensive regulation of the use of animals in entertainment, scientific experiments, and agriculture,” Sunstein wrote at the University of Chicago in 2002...more

Seven Myths About Green Jobs

While governments around the world pour taxpayers' money into a whole range of supposedly win-win "green investments", this paper finds that these waste resources and reduce economic growth without necessarily protecting the environment...more

The study is by a British think tank, but the following was interesting:

“Green investment” isn’t even a reliable way to improve the environment, the study finds. Steel is one of the world’s most carbon-intensive industries, yet the United Nations Environment Programme counts steelworkers as having “green jobs”, because steel is needed to make wind turbines.

Another distortion on behalf of the greenies.

Obama Administration Reverses Course, Forbids Sale of 850,000 Antique Rifles

The South Korean government, in an effort to raise money for its military, wants to sell nearly a million antique M1 rifles that were used by U.S. soldiers in the Korean War to gun collectors in America. The Obama administration approved the sale of the American-made rifles last year. But it reversed course and banned the sale in March – a decision that went largely unnoticed at the time but that is now sparking opposition from gun rights advocates. A State Department spokesman said the administration's decision was based on concerns that the guns could fall into the wrong hands...more

Scientist's Firing After 36 Years Fuels 'PC' Debate at UCLA

A longtime professor at UCLA, told that he would not be rehired because his "research is not aligned with the academic mission" of his department, says he's being fired after 36 years at the prestigious school because his scientific beliefs are "politically incorrect." But UCLA says Dr. James Enstrom's politics have nothing to do with its decision. Enstrom, an epidemiologist at UCLA's School of Public Health, has a history of running against the grain. In 2003 he wrote a study, published in the British Medical Journal, in which he found no causal relationship between secondhand smoke and tobacco-related death – a conclusion that drew fire both because it was contrary to popular scientific belief and because it was funded by Philip Morris. Now Enstrom says his studies show no causal link between diesel soot and death in California – findings that once again set him far apart from the pack and put him in direct conflict with the California Air Resources Board, which says its new standards on diesel emissions will save 9,400 lives between 2011 and 2025 and will reduce health care costs by as much as $68 billion in the state. Enstrom questions the science behind the new emissions standards, and he has raised concerns about the two key reports on which they were based – exposing the author of one study as having faked his credentials and the panel that issued the other study as having violated its term limits...more

Song Of The Day #399

Ranch Radio forgot Swingin' Monday last week, and since many are here after a long weekend, we'll give you a Triple Whammy of up tempo tunes to get your week started.

Today we'll feature Kina Lankford and her 10 track CD Copenhagen Kisses.

Looking at the three songs, the first is something I've spent many hours trying to prevent, the second has happened many times and the third just swings.

The tunes are Peeling Labels, Copenhagen Kisses, and Songs About Saturday Night.

Cowgirl Sass and Savvy

Just about perfect

by Julie Carter

In my book, fall is about as perfect a season of the year as any of the four.

It is the time when all things that make cowboys, rednecks and assorted combinations thereof the very happiest.

At the ranch, it's payday time. Cattle buyers resurrect from out of nowhere and all eyes, ears and cell phones are on the markets.

Whether the crop is yearlings or fresh-weaned calves, every year is a new episode of "let's make a deal."

The blooms on everything green, nurtured by summer rains and sunshine, are at their peak of beauty.

Flowers abound both in the yards and thanks to the rains this year, also in the fields and on the hillsides.

While your cowboy might not be big on posies, I guarantee you he's happy with the tall grass and practically gleeful over the fat cattle lying in that grass, bellies full and hides licked slick.

The camouflage corps have their binoculars focused and their weapons of choice tuned while they dream dreams of the perfect hunting season(s).

Let a hint of crisp slip into the morning air and hunters everywhere trade in their hammocks and barbeque tools for game calls and camping gear.

Cattle trucks start rolling down the highways between the ranches and the wheat fields or feedlots.

Every small-town café has a parking lot periodically filled with flatbed pickups pulling stock trailers along with other pickups loaded with 4-wheelers, coolers and all the trappings of a Cabela's made-to-order hunting camp.

Here in the Southwest, throw in the smell of roasting green chiles to complete the fall ambiance and life is just about as perfect as you can get it.

If that isn't enough to paint a picture of the best of the year, add to the mix some pre-season football that seamlessly morphs into a regular season of high school, college and professional games.

Whether football is your "thing" or not, the onslaught of sports-mania permeates the air, unsurpassed by anything including politics.

Neighbors helping neighbors to get all the fall cattle work done is a jewel in the crown of ranching.

Calendars are full of marks on dates for the ranch up the road, the ranch down the road and another one an hour or so away.

Those days will be dedicated to the time-honored custom of "neighboring" -- where the work and the fun, and there is always some of that, is shared with folks that know you'll be there when they need an extra man, horse and help.

Now is the time for all good men ... and horses, dogs, kids and ranch wives ... to rise to the call of long hours, dusty corrals, sunrises that bless the "waiting on daylight" mornings, rattling trailers, ready ropes, the smell of sage and cedar, hot coffee poured from a campfire pot and the camaraderie of cowboys working a vocation they wouldn't trade for anything.

The life is not all that glamorous or romantic, but it does have an intangible something that anchors men's souls to the land.

Whether they own it or hire on to be part of it, it transforms an occupation into a belonging and an existence into a passion for living.

Julie, steeped in fall nostalgia, can be reached for comment at jcarter@tularosa.net

Wilderness’ Economic Revolution – Catron County

Editor's note: I was recently critical of the article Report: Wilderness areas good for economy. Now comes Mr. Wilmeth to tell us how Wilderness has affected Catron County.

By Stephen L. Wilmeth

In the summer of 1922, America’s famous conservationist, Aldo Leopold, was assigned duties on what had become the Gila National Forest. He fought fires there and he saw enough of the Gila River drainage and eastern Arizona’s Escondido Mountain area that his vision for wilderness was solidly formulated. In 1924, he coauthored an administrative plan and the Forest Service, without Congressional approval, engineered the first wilderness area in the United States. The Gila Wilderness was created.

In 1964, Congress finally enacted wilderness legislation. In that year, the Wilderness Act was passed and signed. The Gila Wilderness was officially designated, but the federal agency administration regarding wilderness management had been evolving and eliminating private rights endeavors for over 20 years.

The Gila Wilderness was true wilderness in every sense. It fit the vision of Leopold where stewardship of land was part of the underpinning of the concept. Mr. Leopold wrote extensively about a wilderness being the domain of the horseman, where all other means of entry had been halted by sheer physical barrier, and where a two week pack trip would never cross the same set of tracks. In the case of the Gila as in the Leopold writings, the presence of the stewards on horseback would become forever part of the lore of the wilderness when their references to places and or recollections of events would become permanent names of physical features.

The majority of that original wilderness designation occurred in Catron County. Catron County encompasses 6,928 square miles of land area in the southwestern quarter of the state. With a population of 3,443 in 2009, its population is less than one person per square mile. With all the recent discussion by Senators Bingaman and Udall and the various EarthFirst! influenced groups touting the economic benefits of additional wilderness designation in southern New Mexico, it is time to review how the Gila Wilderness, the so called “Yellowstone of the South”, has affected the economy of Catron County.

If wilderness designations positively affect local economies, Catron County should surely demonstrate such cause and affect results. The county, with its depleted historical industries of logging and ranching, depends heavily on the industrial and job growth of conditions directly affected by Forest Service and wilderness management relationships.

There are a number of places to start, but the one that meets the most obvious chronologically correct start is the population of Catron County. If wilderness promotes economic growth, Catron County should have experienced some growth increase from 1960 to 1970 since the Gila Wilderness was officially designated in 1964. Catron experienced a decrease of population of 21% in the decade of the ‘60s.

Fast forward to this decade and that trend is in play again. The population is down 3.6% from 2000. The most recent employment growth index, a real gauge of economic trend, is down 1.4%. For a matter of reference, the final quarter 2009 unemployment was 11.4%. Permanent jobs are not being created in Catron County and it can be argued that they have not been since wilderness was created.

Healthy economies normally attract young people and yet statistics indicate that the population of Catron County is much older than the general population of New Mexico. The Catron County dynamic for folks older than 65 is 189% of the New Mexico average comparison. Youth, calculated for ages under 18, are 63% of their New Mexico counterparts. Consider those statistics. Those results suggest that the folks of age are nearly double the state averages and the numbers of youth are about half the state average! The County is aging and youth must leave to find jobs, and they have for years.

If income is the measure of economic boost from the Gila Wilderness to the County, the statistic shows that Catron County median income is 67% of that of New Mexico’s which ranks only 81% of the national average.

How about retail sales? Catron County’s income generates retail sales of $1,304 per resident year versus the state number of $9,880 for all residents in New Mexico.

These statistics could continue, but the truth is Catron County is a poor, rural county that faces catastrophic financial difficulties. It has no real permanent wealth. It has been devastated by federal agency policies that have contributed directly to the collapse of its historical industries, and it is too poor to protect itself further from such ravages.

If there is a perfect model to forecast pure wilderness contributions to economic growth, it is Catron County. It is only there that the impact of wilderness and federal land agency management is manifested against a very limited private industry counterpart. It is also there that elected state and federal leadership, funded by environmental groups, have pressed forward with a comprehensive environmental agenda. The wolf reintroduction is only the most recent of a series of historical affronts to its citizenry.

Could it be that Catron County has been for years the new tribal reservation of our age? It is there that those from afar dictate what is best for its residents. It is there that organized management of the commons is all encompassing. It is there that the voices and deeds of its citizens are suppressed by state and federal leadership that seem to be in an ever tighter lock step with the absentee environmental movement.

There is, though, something in Catron County that some special leader must recognize. It is there that the model of modern wilderness must be reinvented . . . or the West is in a much bigger dilemma than can be imagined.

Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico. He is an advocate of honest human character, limited government, and self reliance. He also believes that the real Gila story has yet to be told.

Song Of The Day #398

For our Gospel song this Sunday morning Ranch Radio will go back to 1935 and the Sons of the Pioneers recording of Oh There's Power (In The Blood).

Mexico: Soldiers kill 25 in gunbattle near border

A shootout between soldiers and suspected drug cartel members in northeastern Mexico left 25 purported gunmen dead Thursday, the military said. A reconnaissance flight over Ciudad Mier in Tamaulipas state spotted several gunmen in front of a property, according to a statement from Mexico's Defense Department. When troops on the ground moved in, gunmen opened fire, starting a gunbattle that killed 25 suspected cartel members, according to the military. The statement said two soldiers were injured but none were killed. Earlier, a military spokesman had said the shootout happened when troops on patrol in the town of General Trevino, in neighboring Nuevo Leon state, came under fire from a ranch allegedly controlled by the Zetas drug gang...more

Appeals court upholds block of BLM grazing rules

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management broke three laws in 2006 when trying to amend land-use regulations regarding grazing, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded Wednesday. The court upheld most of a federal district court’s ruling in its decision, which was enough to ensure that government oversight of grazing operations will not be reduced. The appeals court found that the BLM had violated two federal laws when it failed to consider the environmental effects of the regulation changes. Therefore, the decision states, the district judge was justified in blocking the changes from taking effect. For a third law — the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) — the appeals court sent the case back to the district court to reconsider, as the latter overlooked a precedent-setting case from 1984. But any final ruling on that part won’t have an effect on BLM regulations. “We figure the (FLPMA) claim will be dismissed at this point by the district court,” said Jon Marvel, executive director of Western Watersheds Project, a case plaintiff. “The case has been decided on other grounds.”...more

You can read the opinion here.

Group sues to protect lesser prairie chicken

A conservation group is suing to try to win federal protection for the lesser prairie chicken, a bird about the same size as domestic chicken found in parts of New Mexico — including Eddy County — and several other states. A lawsuit filed by WildEarth Guardians Wednesday in federal court in Denver is challenging the Interior Department's decision last year that the bird's listing on the endangered species list is warranted but is a lower priority than other species. The group says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office responsible for the region where the prairie chicken is found hasn't listed any species since 2005. Besides New Mexico, the birds are found in grasslands in parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. Biologists estimate there are about 40,000 breeding birds left. A BLM official at the state level said the BLM and the Fish and Wildlife Service continue working together enahnce and protect the bird and its habitat...more

Internal documents indicate BLM considered wild horse euthanasia program

News 4 has discovered internal Bureau of Land Management documents that show the government agency was considering euthanizing large numbers of wild horses as recently as last year. The documents include a number of pages detailing how a possible euthanization program could be implemented, even how the horses could be killed. When News 4 went to the BLM to get answers about these documents, we were told they are staff reports, drafted at the request of the previous administration, when funding for the Wild Horse and Burro program was tight and the agency wanted to explore possible cost saving options. BLM Deputy Division Chief for the Wild Horse and Burro program Dean Bostad says the current administration will not be implanting euthanization or sale without limitation. Sale without limitation would allow wild horses to be sold to anyone, including so-called "kill buyers" who resell the animals to slaughterhouses...more

Baucus presses for state control over wolves

Montana’s senior U.S. Senator Max Baucus yesterday called on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to move to allow all Montana ranchers to actively protect their livestock. Baucus pressed the Service to make the change now as he crafts legislation to put Montana wolves back under the state’s successful management plan. "This debate on wolves has gone on long enough. I'm working to craft a bill that will put wolves in our state back in our control once and for all, because nobody knows how to better manage wolves in Montana than Montanans,” Baucus said. “In the meantime, the Fish and Wildlife Service needs to do the right thing and allow all Montana ranchers protect their livestock regardless of arbitrary boundary lines.” Prior to a recent court ruling, wolves in Montana were removed from Endangered Species Act protections and managed by the state. Baucus has announced plans to introduce legislation to codify the Fish and Wildlife Service's previous rule that delisted wolves in states with federally-approved management plans, including Montana, and put wolf management back under Montana’s jurisdiction. In the meantime, as a result of the ruling wolves in Montana are now back under federal management, which classifies wolves in northern Montana as endangered, meaning they cannot be harmed by landowners unless a human life is in jeopardy. Wolf populations in the southern part of the state, however, are classified as experimental, allowing landowners the right to kill them to protect their livestock...more

Eco-author baffled by a violent fan

The "Ishmael" books are aimed at encouraging radical social change — but their author says hostage-taking is definitely not the change he had in mind. Daniel Quinn's story of Ishmael, a telepathic gorilla who tries to show humans where they're going wrong, has spawned a popular series of books, an eerie Hollywood movie and a movement that takes a critical look at our global industrial society. Unfortunately, it also spawned an escalating series of threats from James Lee, who resented the Discovery Channel so much that he took company employees hostage today. In the hours leading up to the crisis' bloody conclusion, Quinn reflected on the meaning of "My Ishmael," the book that Lee repeatedly cited as his inspiration. Quinn wondered how that meaning could have been misinterpreted so badly...more

Noted anti-global-warming scientist reverses course

With scientific data piling up showing that the world has reached its hottest-ever point in recorded history, global-warming skeptics are facing a high-profile defection from their ranks. Bjorn Lomborg, author of the influential tract "The Skeptical Environmentalist," has reversed course on the urgency of global warming, and is now calling for action on "a challenge humanity must confront." Lomborg, a Danish academic, had previously downplayed the risk of acute climate change. A former member of Greenpeace, he was a vocal critic of the Kyoto Protocol -- a global U.N. treaty to cut carbon emissions that the United States refused to ratify -- as well as numerous other environmental causes. In a book to be published this year, Lomborg calls global warming "undoubtedly one of the chief concerns facing the world today" and calls for the world's governments to invest tens of billions of dollars annually to fight climate change. Lomborg's former foes in the environmental movement are so far unimpressed by news of his conversion...more

Judge rules Salazar exceeded authority in canceling Utah leases

US Interior Sec. Ken Salazar exceeded his authority when he order 77 federal oil and gas leases in Utah withdrawn in early 2009, a federal court judge ruled on Sept. 1 in Salt Lake City. But US District Judge Dee Benson also ruled that plaintiffs waited too long to challenge Salazar’s action. Commissioners from three eastern Utah counties and three area independent producers who brought the suit indicated that the judge’s decision keeps an unacceptable precedent from being established. Salazar ordered the leases canceled early in 2009, soon after he became Interior secretary, after the US District Court for the District of Columbia issued a temporary restraining order on Dec. 22, 2008, preventing the US Bureau of Land Management from issuing them. The tracts were among 116 parcels sold at a regularly scheduled lease sale on Dec. 19. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance had sued 2 days earlier to block their being offered. In his decision, Benson said the federal Mineral Leasing Act’s plain language mandates that the US Interior secretary accept bids and issue oil and gas leases as part of the competitive leasing process. The mandate limits discretion which the secretary generally possesses to determine whether to issue a lease, he said. “In this case, the secretary exceeded his statutory authority by withdrawing leases after determining which parcels were to be leased and after holding a competitive lease during which the BLM named the plaintiffs high responsible bidders,” said Benson. “Ultimately, though, the plaintiffs’ claims are time-barred,” he continued. “Faced with a strict statute of limitations, the plaintiffs failed to file their suit within 90 days of the secretary’s final decision.”...more

Investing in Wind Power Is Smart — But Not How We’re Doing It

You’re probably a fan of wind power. It provides a limitless supply of clean energy. The turbines are manufactured primarily in the rust belt, creating much-ballyhooed green jobs for unemployed factory workers. Wind farms generate profits for local utilities, alternative energy companies, farmers, and ranchers, not to mention manufacturers like General Electric. What’s not to like? Well, there’s this: The US is building generating capacity in places that don’t need the electricity. Most wind farms are located in rural areas, where there’s plenty of land and a pragmatic attitude that welcomes wind turbines as a new “cash crop.” Indeed, Texas and Iowa recently surpassed California as the top wind energy states. But the transmission infrastructure to carry that power to cities is missing. Wind farms rely on big tax breaks to be competitive, and right now that money is being wasted. When more people catch wind of that fact, this promising form of alt energy could be labeled a boondoggle for farm states, as corn ethanol has been. For evidence of how ass-backward things have become, consider the curious phenomenon of negative electricity prices. These are just what they sound like: Because of the peculiarities of the energy market, producers of electricity sometimes pay grid operators to take the power they make. In sparsely populated west Texas, where the wind business is booming, the wholesale price of electricity was negative for about 1,100 hours—more than a month—in 2008 and more than 700 hours in 2009. How could this happen?...more

Feds: Don't drink contaminated water in Wyo. town

People shouldn't drink water from 40 wells in and around this central Wyoming farming and ranching community, federal officials said Tuesday. The announcement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services coincided with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency releasing its latest findings from testing water wells in the Pavillion area. Meanwhile, Encana Oil & Gas, a subsidiary of Encana Corp., announced that it has volunteered to pay for those affected to get clean drinking water. EPA testing of 23 water wells in January found low levels of hydrocarbons in 17 residential water wells sampled. Samples from four stock and irrigation wells and two municipal wells did not show hydrocarbon contamination. The hydrocarbons may - or may not - be related to oil and gas drilling in the Pavillion area from the 1960s to the latest day. EPA officials expect more testing, including tests from two just-drilled monitoring wells, to answer that question sooner or later. Either way, it wasn't only hydrocarbons but high levels of sodium, sulfates and other inorganic compounds that prompted the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to urge people Tuesday to treat their well water or find some other source of drinking water...more

Reward in question for forest ranger in escapee's capture

The U.S. Forest Service is reviewing whether an eastern Arizona ranger whose tip led to the capture of two of the most wanted fugitives in America can receive $27,500 in reward money under the agency's ethics guidelines. Apache Sitgreaves National Forest spokeswoman Pam Baltimore said Wednesday local forest officials would like to see the ranger get the money. But she said tentative word from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service, is that he cannot. She didn't know what the department's reasoning might be, but said ethics guidelines generally prevent forest employees from receiving gifts over $25. "If it's a negative response from them as far as federal policy dictates, there's nothing we can do," Baltimore said. She added the ranger wishes to remain anonymous. The U.S. Marshals Service and the operator of a privately run prison had offered a combined $40,000 for information leading to the arrest of three inmates who escaped from the state prison in Kingman on July 30...more

Wheels of the West to celebrate military history

When the Central Coast Woodworkers Association [CCWA] began working on Pioneer Day's newest wagon addition, no one could have guessed how important the wooden transport had been to America's military history. The wagon was donated to the Pioneer Day Committee by the Rambo Family, who categorized it as a "farm wagon" despite its immense, heavy-duty wheels and the forgotten military insignia carved into a side panel. It only took a little scratchin', scrapin' and sandin' so uncover the wagon's first intended use: To transport American troops. "We started to strip the paint off it and we saw the Army green," said Pioneer Day Executive Director Wade Taylor. "I started looking at the specifications and going on the Internet. Then we were messing around the other day, and we found 'US 8' stamped on it." The group soon discovered that the wagon, a peeling bright yellow and-blue structure that had once been used for farm work, could likely be an 1863 Army Escort Wagon, which were built until the 1900s. The model was designed to carry about 1800 pounds, about the same weight as the wagon itself, according to experts...more

Song Of The Day #397

Ranch Radio will close this week of country/bluegrass mix with Hawkshaw Hawkins and Reno & Smiley performing If It Ain't On The Menu, Barefoot Nellie, I Wanna Be Hugged To Death By You and Lonesome Wind Blues.

Border activist's littering conviction is overturned

A federal appeals court on Thursday overturned the littering conviction of an Arizona activist who left gallon-size bottles of water for illegal immigrants crossing into the United States through a desert wildlife preserve. Daniel Millis of NoMoreDeaths.org had been convicted of violating a statute prohibiting the dumping of garbage in an area designated as a refuge for endangered species. In a 2-1 ruling, judges of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said water didn't meet the definition of waste. They also took note of Millis' practice of removing empty water bottles he found while on his missions to avert dehydration deaths in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. Two U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officers stopped Millis and three other activists Feb. 22, 2008. Officer Allen Kirkpatrick spotted the plastic water bottles in the back of Millis' SUV and, upon learning that the occupants had placed other bottles along the trails, cited him for "dumping of waste."...more

Gulf platform owner says no oil leaking from burning rig and no injuries have been reported

In a statement, officials with Mariner Energy of Houston said it observed no leaking oil from its burning production platform at Vermilion Block 380, about 100 miles off the coast of Louisiana. Mariner officials also said that none of the 13 workers on board the rig reported injuries, in spite of Coast Guard reports earlier stating that one of the 13 was injured and the other 12 were in anti-hypothermia suits. Vermilion 380 Platform A was in fact producing oil and gas at the time of the accident, again contrary to Coast Guard statements that it was not producing at the time, the statement said. Mariner officials said it produced an average of 9.2 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and 1,400 barrels of oil and condensate a day during the last week of August...more

Ranchers Back Transferring to the State Important, Grazed Acres

Not a lot has changed in Montana’s rural Potomac Valley over the years. And that’s just fine for many of the multi-generational ranching families whose livelihoods are tied to this expanse of waving grass and trees drained by the lower Blackfoot River northeast of Missoula. Today, just as it was nearly a century ago, the Potomac is a working landscape. But faced with the possibility of large-scale changes sweeping across this broad valley and on to the low and rounded Garnet Range to the south, the valley’s ranchers did something that may surprise some. They got behind the transfer of tens of thousands of private acres in the Garnets—lands they’ve grazed their cattle on and cut timber from for decades—to the state of Montana. The Potomac ranchers faced a stark set of choices. Either accept a future where their access to prime grazing lands is threatened by residential development or embrace an alternative that keeps the landscape whole. So, in a place where politics generally fall on the conservative side of the spectrum, they backed the state’s purchase of most of the range’s north-facing slopes. The handwriting was on the wall, said Denny Iverson, a longtime rancher and logger from the Potomac...more

The ethics of wildcrafting

In blatant noncompliance (or perhaps misinterpretation) of its own leave no trace policy, national park managers have been allowing Native Americans to harvest wild plants and roots from parks, according to a letter from the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) submitted to the Department of the Interior in August. The letter, which requested Interior conduct a formal investigation into “extensive violations to federal regulations,” cited several cases of illegal wildcrafting – the practice of gathering wild plants from their native habitat – in Zion, Bryce and Pipe Springs national parks. It also pointed to a 2009 incident in Yosemite, where the acting superintendent told some Indians that they could “take any plant they wished and did not need either a permit, or to report what or how much they had taken.” (If only Monsanto were so generous.) Park Service regulations prohibit “possessing, destroying, injuring, removing, digging, or disturbing plants from their natural state” within all national parks, yet permissions in the 1978 American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) grant Native Americans the right to gather plants from public lands for cultural and religious practices. Confusion over which law supersedes the other is partly to blame for the current uproar....more

AZ Ranchers Dispute Drop In Illegal Immigration

For years, ranchers south of Tucson have been waiting for good news. Many might think numbers released Wednesday from Pew Hispanic Center, indicating a substantial drop in the number of immigrants coming into the United States would be the silver lining… you would be wrong. "Those guys that live on the border have a different perspective from what this Pew report portrays," Arizona Cattleman’s Association spokesman Patrick Bray said. The study conducted from March of 2007 to March of 2009 showed the number of undocumented people in the U.S. went down almost 1 million. Arizona Border patrol data from the Tucson sector, which is also the busiest in the country, showed apprehensions are down from 616,000 in 2000 to 241,000 in 2009. "The Pew report talks about people that are coming here looking for a better life, (but) what is occurring on our southern border is criminal activity and it’s people focused on their livelihoods bringing across drugs," Bray said. The Border Patrol also states assaults on agents are up from 281 last year to 348 this year and climbing. The U.S. attorney’s office in Arizona has also seen more violent offenders. Since 2008, the number of people prosecuted for crossing the border with drugs are up 91 percent...more

Radio Appearance today

I'll be on the News New Mexico radio program on KSNM 570 AM at 8 this morning to discuss the wilderness issue.

Those not within listening distance can listen live by going here.

Nevada Department of Agriculture Brings Criminal Charges against BLM Employees

(Elko, NV) In a complaint filed by Blaine Northrup, Nevada State Brand Inspector, certain Battle Mountain BLM employees will be charged with violations of the Nevada brand law, including a Class C Felony.

The BLM employees in question were in the process of seizing livestock from Dalton Wilson’s ranch in an ongoing quiet title action and civil trespass case before Federal District Court Judge, Edward C. Reed. In an effort to obtain brand clearance certificates, a precursor for the lawful removal and transport of the horses in question, the BLM not only removed the horses from the property without authorization, but then misrepresented the facts to a state official to obtain his approval on the brand certificate.

In an August 26 letter to Ron Wenker, State Director of the Bureau of Land Management, Agriculture Department Director, Dr. Anthony Lesperance, notified the BLM that the Brand Department would not issue any further brand clearance certificates to the BLM, “until the above matter is explained to the Department’s satisfaction, and the Department receives the assurances that correct procedures will be followed henceforth by the BLM…. My policy is such that when facts are misrepresented in regard to brand inspection certificates, I automatically terminate any and all future brand inspection certificates with the party in question until such matter is fully resolved.”

Lesperance wrote, “My initial investigation of this matter indicates BLM employees not only committed fraud to a state official, they also appear to have clearly violated several other provisions of Nevada law and federal criminal statutes as well. This constitutes a serious breach of trust which I, as a state officer by virtue of my oath of office, cannot lawfully ignore. Mr. Blaine Northrop, of the Brands Division, is in the process of filing a criminal complaint against the BLM with the Lander County District Attorney in regard to these matters.”

The Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 and Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 specifically reserves civil and criminal jurisdiction and police powers to the states respectively. “As a state official, it is my job to enforce the brand laws equally under the Equal Protection Under the Law Clause of the Constitution, and that includes federal employees,” wrote Lesperance.

A Nevada Dept. Ag press release'.