Song Of The Day #211

In 1922 Fiddlin' John Carson was the first genuine old-time country artist to play country music on the radio, and in 1923 the "country-music recording industry was launched" when Carson recorded his first songs. OKEH records was finally convinced to let him cut two sides. Unimpressed they pressed 500 copies. It sold out in a week and final sales wound up around 500,000. The tunes he recorded were The Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane/The Old Hen Cackled And The Rooster's Going To Crow. The 1923 recording of the first side is one of our selections and is available on his Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1, 1923-1924.

When you are listening to George Strait, Kenny Chesney, etc., remember where this all got started.

For our second selection we'll bring back John Dilleshaw and his recording of Streak O' Lean Streak O' Fat.

Senate Democrats to W.H.: Drop cap and trade

Bruised by the health care debate and worried about what 2010 will bring, moderate Senate Democrats are urging the White House to give up now on any effort to pass a cap-and-trade bill next year. “I am communicating that in every way I know how,” said Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), one of at least a half-dozen Democrats who've told the White House or their own leaders that it's time to jettison the centerpiece of their party's plan to curb global warming. The creation of an economywide market for greenhouse gas emissions is the heart of the climate bill that cleared the House earlier this year. But with the health care fight still raging and the economy still hurting, moderate Democrats have little appetite for another sweeping initiative — especially another one likely to pass with little or no Republican support...read more

Plan to turn farms into forest worries Obama official

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has ordered his staff to revise a computerized forecasting model that showed that climate legislation supported by President Obama would make planting trees more lucrative than producing food. The latest Agriculture Department economic-impact study of the climate bill, which passed the House this summer, found that the legislation would profit farmers in the long term. But those profits would come mostly from higher crop prices as a result of the legislation's incentives to plant more forests and thus reduce the amount of land devoted to food-producing agriculture. According to the economic model used by the department and the Environmental Protection Agency, the legislation would give landowners incentives to convert up to 59 million acres of farmland into forests over the next 40 years. The reason: Trees clean the air of heat-trapping gases better than farming does. Mr. Vilsack, in a little-noticed statement issued with the report earlier this month, said the department's forecasts "have caused considerable concern" among farmers and ranchers. "If landowners plant trees to the extent the model suggests, this would be disruptive to agriculture in some regions of the country," he said...read more

So, you revise the model to get different outcomes and everything will be OK? I thought Obama vowed to take the politics out of science. Not hardly.

Illegal dumping fouling up federal land

During a warm spell this fall, vandals hauled 18 decrepit televisions and computers down a narrow gravel road in Utah's picturesque Skull Valley, dumped them on a hillside, blasted them with guns and left them for dead. Nearby on the scrubby valley floor, other items have met the same fate: a hot water heater, paint cans, a candy vending machine, a couch and even a pile of mannequin heads. Illegally dumped garbage is piling up on federal lands, often creating toxic hazards and costly cleanups. And nowhere is it more apparent than on the vast, often-stunning tracts owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the nation's largest landlord with about 412,000 square miles, mostly in 12 Western states. "We can't keep up with it," Ray Kelsey, a BLM outdoor recreation specialist said on a recent trip to an outlaw dump site about 80 miles west of Salt Lake City. "It's happening every day."...read more

If you "can't keep up with it", sell it to someone who can. By the way, the BLM has an annual budget of $1 billion, but they just "can't keep up with it." What that really means is their priorities lie elsewhere.

Cities get chunk of rural stimulus aid

More than $2.7 billion of stimulus aid for struggling parts of rural America has gone to the nation's biggest metropolitan areas. That's nearly a quarter of the $12 billion in rural assistance the government has paid out so far under President Obama's economic stimulus package, a USA TODAY review shows. It went to small, far-flung suburbs in metropolitan areas with more than a million residents, including growing towns around Atlanta and Phoenix. The spending reignites a longstanding debate over what "rural" really means in an increasingly urban nation. To Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., co-chairman of the Congressional Rural Caucus, the question is arguable only up to a point. "Ask Nebraskans to define rural and they'll have different ideas," he says, "but clearly Phoenix and Atlanta are not rural at all."...read more

The whole stimulus package is just another Uncle Sam Scam. Let'em waste it in town.

Conservation groups hope to buy forestlands to manage

Brad Chalfant eases a 12-passenger van over a jagged logging road just miles from the Three Sisters. Once owned by a timber company, the 50-square-mile forest that Chalfant, executive director of the Deschutes Land Trust, hopes to buy isn't the kind of place that typically attracts tour groups. Invariably, someone on a fundraising tour will ask about the stumps and slash piles, which are everywhere. "Why would I give money to cut trees down?" asks a woman on a November day. The question highlights Chalfant's challenge as he shapes the future of forestry in Oregon: How do you convince the public that logging forests is a means of saving them? Conservation groups are now the forest industry's biggest allies, as institutional investors buy millions of acres of forestland nationwide. From Maine to Montana, they're giving rise to a new model of private ownership, called community forests, hoping to save them from homes and subdivisions. They're finding creative ways to finance big purchases and pushing a surprising tactic to preserve trees: harvesting them...read more

Get The Frackin' Gas

An oil company wants to invest its profits in clean-burning American natural gas. A Hungarian billionaire and a "green" politician want to stop it. This is the real Climate-gate scandal. While the greenies of the world united in Copenhagen to talk about the weather, emitting a Third World-country-size chunk of greenhouse gases to gather there, the world's largest oil company, Exxon Mobil, was doing something about it. On Dec. 14, Exxon agreed to buy XTO Energy, a natural gas firm, in a deal valued at $41 billion. XTO is one of the leaders in something called "fracking" technology, in which water, sand and additives are pumped into the ground to unlock trillions of feet of natural gas previously thought to be unobtainable. Because of these new technologies, it is estimated that the U.S. sits on 83% more recoverable natural gas than was thought in 1990. Pro Publica was started by billionaires Herbert and Marion Sandler, who, along with billionaire George Soros, funded the left-wing Center for American Progress, run by John Podesta and touted as the Obama administration's "idea factory." Soros owns a major stake in a company called InterOil, a company that has discovered a large natural gas field in Papua, New Guinea, with which American shale resources would compete. Soros would rather have us import his liquefied natural gas than develop our own. His allies in the media, the environmental movement and the Democratic caucus are all too eager to exploit public fears to do it...read more

Chilly Climate for Oil Refiners

Only a few years ago, a cry went up that the United States needed more oil refineries. The perceived shortage was so acute that George W. Bush, president at the time, even offered disused military bases as sites for building them. Not only did that never come to pass, but the reverse is now happening. The business of oil refining is mired in a deep crisis, with five refineries having shut down this year, including plants in Delaware, New Jersey, California and New Mexico. Gasoline demand, which many analysts had long expected to keep rising for decades, is down sharply in the recession. And refiners are increasingly convinced that even after the economy recovers, demand will not grow much in coming years because of the rise of alternative fuel supplies and the advent of tougher efficiency standards for automobiles. Plagued by boom-and-bust cycles of rapid expansion followed by sharp belt-tightening, refining companies have often struggled to operate at a profit. That is a contrast to the production side of the oil business, long a road to riches. “Oil production creates wealth, but oil refining has often destroyed it,” said Costanza Jacazio, an analyst at Barclays Capital in New York. Even so, these are unusually harsh times for oil refiners. The recent drop in gasoline demand could result in more refineries being closed in the coming year...read more

Earth-Friendly Elements, Mined Destructively

Some of the greenest technologies of the age, from electric cars to efficient light bulbs to very large wind turbines, are made possible by an unusual group of elements called rare earths. The world’s dependence on these substances is rising fast. Just one problem: These elements come almost entirely from China, from some of the most environmentally damaging mines in the country, in an industry dominated by criminal gangs. Western capitals have suddenly grown worried over China’s near monopoly, which gives it a potential stranglehold on technologies of the future...read more

Taxpayer-Funded Wind Farms Prompt Concern; Jobs for China?

Wind-power projects funded in part by the $787-billion Recovery Act (stimulus law) are coming under scrutiny at a time when President Obama and other Democrats have promoted alternative forms of energy production. Two New York Democrats – Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Eric Massa – are among the lawmakers criticizing specific wind-power projects that are getting hundreds of millions in taxpayer subsidies. A “definitive agreement” was reached on one of those projects two weeks ago, according to a Dec. 20 news release from the Austin, Texas-based Cielo Wind Power. The deal is between Cielo, U.S. Renewable Energy Group and China-based Shenyang Power Group. The $1.5 billion project – which is getting $450 million in stimulus funds – is supposed to create 2,000 to 3,000 jobs. The problem is, most of those jobs will be in China, Sen. Schumer said, because that’s where the wind turbines will be constructed. Another 300 temporary jobs will be created in Texas...read more

Senator’s legacy: Range protection

The late U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas worked tirelessly in the last years of his life championing a bill to put portions of the Wyoming Range off-limits to future oil and gas leasing. The legacy of Thomas — who drafted the Wyoming Range legislation in 2006 and pushed for the bill until his death from leukemia in 2007 — was finally realized this year. Originally introduced in 2007 by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Thomas’ replacement in the Senate, the Wyoming Range Legacy Act spent 18 months in Congress until its passage in March. The passage was spurred by a grass-roots coalition of area residents, conservationists, sportsmen, union labor officials, church organizations and others. The Wyoming Range Legacy Act provides permanent protection from future oil and gas development for 1.2 million acres within the scenic Wyoming Range, located on the state’s western flank within the Bridger-Teton National Forest. The bill prohibits any future oil and gas leasing, mining patents or geothermal leasing along an approximately 100-mile-long stretch of the Wyoming Range. The act also allows for conservation groups and individuals to buy and retire some 75,000 acres in the forest already leased for oil and gas development in the Wyoming Range, but only if the leaseholders are willing to sell...read more

Invasive species lawsuit expands

Legal forces in the Upper Midwest arrayed against the invasive Asian carp Monday, as Minnesota joined a lawsuit with Ohio and Michigan applying legal pressure to seal off Illinois' carp-infested waterways from the Great Lakes. The lawsuit, filed by Michigan before the U.S. Supreme Court last week, raises the potential that the Chicago and O'Brien locks in downtown Chicago and south suburban Burnham might be ordered closed -- an outcome that would have major repercussions in the Chicago area. Hundreds of millions of dollars in freight and recreation in northeast Illinois would be rerouted or reorganized if the locks closed. But Michigan says it is suing to protect a more vital economic interest: a fishing industry on the lakes worth a reported $7 billion annually. Ohio joined the suit last week. On Monday, so did Minnesota. The sums at stake underscore the powerful interests aligning on either side of the advance of carp. A trade group for the barge industry, American Waterways Operators, says closing the locks would disrupt shipments of jet fuel, coal, road salt and other products. Backers of the Michigan lawsuit, including the Alliance for the Great Lakes, downplay the impact, arguing much of the inland navigation would remain unchanged except for transfers at or near the locks. Still, new infrastructure would have to be built to transfer cargo...read more

EPA publishes interactive map of clean air, water violations

The Environmental Protection Agency has published an interactive map with its enforcement actions from 2009. You can use the map to zoom in on locales, like the Portland area, and see what steps the federal environmental regulator took to rectify violations of clean air and water laws from October 2008 to September 2009. Most entries link to a report describing the violations and the subsequent settlement or penalty.

GPS gets couple stuck for three days

Are you submissive? Do you do what others or other machines tell you to do? Well, according to the Associated Press, John and Starry Rhoads took a high road that almost turned into a very low road indeed, all because they did what their Toyota Sequoia's GPS told them to. Apparently, the high desert of Eastern Oregon is a lovely place. Until you ask your GPS for the shortest route to your destination and it sends you down a remote forest road, without actually saying: "Yo, people. You go that way and it's really remote and foresty." Once they had gone where they were told, the Rhoads were on the road to no return. They ended up stuck in 18 inches of snow near a place called the Thompson Reservoir. The Rhoads, from Nevada, are not dilettantes in a dilemma. They had plenty of warm clothing and food. And they had cell phones equipped with, yes, GPS. There was only one slight, delicate problem. They had no service...read more

Brett Comments On Wild Horse Issue

Sunday's post of a link to the article Judge allows wild horse roundup in Nevada has generated quite a few comments. Today's post on the same issue may do the same. One of the more reasonable posts was by regular reader Brett. I'm reposting his comments here so any further comments will hopefully adopt his manner of addressing the issue.

Brett said...

It is unfortunate that the slaughter issue, public lands use problems, and the Wild Horse program are all in one infmammatory mess here at the moment. At this point, there are a multitude of problems to address here. I will try my best, and try to avoid dragging anything else into it.

I am disappointed that those of us who do not square perfectly with the opinion of some advocates are typecast as unenlightened, selfish, cruel and hateful people. The notion of sainted advocates in white hats doing mighty battle with the dark-hatted cattle barons might make a great Western, but I think it is too manichean to square with reality.

I have never heard tell of anyone securing loans by virtue of a grazing permit. The loans in question will be secured with the herd itself as collateral. That in and of itself is not what I would term sound business, but this isn't about how I would run things. Pulling cash on the speculative value of a grazing lease, though? Perhaps such things are going on and I am not aware of it. Most of my activity with public lands type ranching are of the rosin jawed variety. I thank God for that, as I would never have the patience to handle that kind of paperwork and the continual jerking around of allotments. I would much rather handle the farming/water end and wrangle horses, personally.

The history of the horse on this continent is a fascinating study. Most things I have read on horses suggest that the horse evolved here, after which they migrated across a land bridge to Asia. Most believe that the herds in North America more or less died out, and that the creatures that took their spot in the ecosystem were bovines, specifically bison. It was not until the 1500s that horses returned courtesy of the Spanish. The Spanish deliberately turned horses loose in an effort to placate natives and reduce horse theft. The Vaqueros turned their surplus horses loose to the feral herds as well. The feral herd was seen as a resource, and it was still seen that way long after the United States gained control of what we know today as the West. It was that way right up to 1971, when the Wild Horse program started up. Ironically, the program started to preserve the legend, but the true history of the herd is dying.

The question was asked as to why nobody noticed the so-called horse population issue until ranching arrived in the area. There are probably several ways to tackle that. One way would be to point out that ranching is not exactly new in the West, having long predated the Wild Horse program's inauguration in the late twentieth century. Prior to the program, Mustangs were just another type of livestock competing for resources. Nobody gave it much more thought than that. Today, the regulations force them to. No matter. Ranchers are not averse to managing the range to accomodate competing species. A few outfits literally run both cattle and sheep.

The other approach I can think of is a bit more basal. If not for the ranchers, who are directed to manage their allotment, who exactly would notice a problem with the balance of grazing and grazing animals? They're the ones that are out there. Once again, they are caught in the middle. If it were only as easy as the stereotype suggests it is...

I hope more people from both sides comment on this situation. There needs to be a better dialogue on it, and I am not equipped to do it any better. I do know, though, that our food supply, and the health of both the dmoesticated and feral herds, depend on efficient management of the rangeland.

Nevada reins in horse herds, but critics decry methods

A two-month roundup of about 2,500 wild horses from public and private lands in northern Nevada began on Monday amid protests that the plan is unnecessary and inhumane. Federal officials said the roundup counteracts overpopulation on 850 square miles of land, which could become unlivable to wildlife and livestock within four years. Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman JoLynn Worley said the agency began gathering horses on Monday in the eastern portion of the Black Rock Range, a stretch of mountains more than 100 miles north of Reno. A contractor transports the horses to corrals using two helicopters under BLM supervision, Worley said. The animals are then trucked to Fallon, Nev., for immunizations and veterinary care, she said. Long-term plans call for the mustangs to be put up for adoption or sent to holding facilities in the Midwest. The agency said a facility in Reno was full of adoptable horses, making it unclear when new animals could be housed pending adoption. Horse advocates say the use of helicopters is inhumane and risks the animals' injury and death. Opponents also contend that winter roundups expose horses to respiratory illness. Suzanne Roy, program director of In Defense of Animals, said the group questions the plan's timing and methods, which prevent public monitoring of the roundup...read more

Trail camera records images of hiker's missing dog, Zulu

Where's Zulu? That question has been on many people's minds these past few weeks. Calls and e-mails have come in from as far away as California and Montana asking about the hero dog who helped save her master Robert Sumrall's life while he was lost for six nights in freezing temperatures in the Black Range mountains of New Mexico. It's been three weeks since the 67-year-old El Pasoan was found, but no one has been able to catch Zulu, who ran off after ranchers Tom and Melba Parra found Sumrall lying in an arroyo, with Zulu on top of him. Since then, a dog that appears to be Zulu has been picked up on a trail camera set up by Silver City resident Jason Amaro, who uses the camera to scout an area where he hunts. The camera is at the bottom of a deep canyon up near Emery Pass -- miles from Royal John Mine Road, but where Sumrall and Zulu started their hike. It seems that the dog has been making loops from the Emery Pass area down the canyon, probably following the route that she and Sumrall took those nights they wandered lost in the wilderness...read more

Song Of The Day #210

Ranch Radio will stay in the 20s this a.m. with Sand Mountain Drag performed by John Dilleshaw and the Kessinger Brothers performing Old Jake Gillie.

The Dilleshaw tune is on his 24 track CD Complete Recorded Works (1929-1930) and the Kessinger Brothers tune is on their Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1: 1928-1929

The Kessinger Brothers tune goes out to Bobby Jones who I think will enjoy it as much as I do.

Coming Soon: An 'International Environmental Organization'?

As the Copenhagen climate conference staggers toward the finish line of a star-studded plenary of political leaders on Friday, a number of influential countries — including France and Britain — have been calling for the creation of a new, global regulator to act as the world's environmental steward, equipped with still unspecified powers. Similar discussions, it appears, have also been taking place for several months inside the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), the world's current environmental watchdog. According to documents obtained by Fox News, a high-level group of dignitaries from 38 countries, including a bevy of environment ministers and other top environmental bureaucrats, held their first meeting under UNEP auspices last June in the Serbian capital of Belgrade to begin hammering out details of the task of "improving international environmental governance." The group's plan, according to an elaborate timetable presented at the meeting, was to present its ultimate conclusions on the topic at a meeting of UNEP's supervisory Governing Council, along with a tandem meeting of the world's environmental ministers, entitled the Global Ministerial Environment Forum, in Indonesia next February. Just how far, and how fast, UNEP hoped to go with its expansive thinking is unclear from the documents obtained by Fox News...read more

Federal Waste Dump Sells Tons of Excavated Salt

Hundreds of tons of salt excavated from the Department of Energy's underground nuclear waste dump in southeastern New Mexico are destined for cattle feed in Texas. The DOE's Carlsbad field office has reached an agreement with Magnum Minerals LLC of Hereford, Texas, which will buy up to 300,000 tons of salt from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, known as WIPP. Magnum Minerals has contracted for $600,000 worth of salt, most of which will go into cattle feed, company president Tim Gearn said. Cattle feed is required to have certain minerals, including salt. It's the first such sale from WIPP, which eventually will have to get rid of the salt that's excavated for waste disposal rooms, said Vernon Daub, deputy manager of the field office. WIPP, which opened in March 1999, has an expected 35-year lifespan. The DOE has estimated it would cost $15 per ton to haul the salt to a municipal landfill, Daub said. Daub could not say how much salt already has been excavated, but said there will be plenty to fulfill the contract...read more