Song Of The Day #423

Today Ranch Radio brings you Ernest Tubb's 1954 recording of Two Glasses, Joe.

Unfortunately, the Yahoo media player automatically makes a playlist by linking to all the music on my page at Open Drive, even if it is in a different folder. That ain't gonna work. I'll keep looking.

Ernest Tubb - Two Glasses, Joe.mp3

Bad Driver? In Debt? Proposed NYC Law Would Ban You From Owning a Gun

New York City residents who want to own a gun may soon be denied permits if they are litterbugs, if they are bad drivers, or if they have fallen behind on a few bills. Under proposed revisions to the police department's handgun, rifle and shotgun permit procedures, the NYPD can reject gun license applicants for a number of reasons, including: If they have been arrested or convicted of almost any "violation," in any state; having a "poor driving history"; having been fired for "circumstances that demonstrate lack of good judgment"; having "failed to pay legally required debts"; being deemed to lack "good moral character"; or if any other information demonstrates "other good cause for the denial of the permit." Critics say many of the restrictions are vague, have nothing to do with one's fitness to own a gun and are unconstitutional. Supporters say the new restrictions will make gun purchasing more efficient and don't give the NYPD any more power than it already has...more

Forestry takes spotlight at UN biodiversity talks

Delegates at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Nagoya, Japan, have put sustainable forestry management at the forefront of their negotiations, as these habitats are home to thousands of the world's plant and animal species, and can also help slow global warming. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that the world is currently losing some 13 million hectares (32 million acres) of forest cover per year, mostly in tropical countries. That is down from 16 million hectares per year in the 1990s, but activists say it is still too much. As well as hosting habitats for animals, forests help regulate climate and rainfall and also prevent soil erosion, flooding and landslides. On Tuesday, talks focused specifically on the UN-backed scheme called REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation). Under REDD, wealthier nations pledge funds to protect forests in poorer countries, which agree to forego their right to exploit these areas for timber or development...more

REDD looks like Obamanomics on a world wide scale.

Mexican gray wolf found dead in NM; 4th this year

Another Mexican gray wolf has been found dead in southwestern New Mexico, dealing a further setback to a struggling program to reintroduce the endangered animals along the Arizona-New Mexico border. The female wolf was found dead on Oct. 12 in Sierra County. It was the fourth wolf found dead since June. A spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Albuquerque, Tom Buckley, said the wolf's body was sent to the agency's forensics laboratory in Ashland, Ore., to find out what killed the animal. The male wolf that had been traveling with her has not been spotted, but Buckley said there's no reason to believe something happened to him. He said there had been no mortality signal from the male wolf's radio collar. The signal is set off when an animal does not move for a set time. The two animals, known as Morgart's Pack, were in the Gila National Forest in September, according to the program's monthly update...more

Oil Drillers Want Bush-Era Rules Back

Oil and gas drillers claim the Department of Interior made up a regulation that is perverting a law meant to reduce bureaucracy by exempting some permits from environmental review. At issue are interpretations of the law promulgated this year by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service, which the Western Energy Alliance claims reversed more favorable 2005 agency interpretations. The Western Energy Alliance, on behalf of 400 drilling companies, says the "self-created" regulation relating to Section 390 of the Energy Policy Act "turns the statute on its head" by applying environmental controls. The drillers refer to a settlement agreement in Nine Mile Canyon Coalition v. Steiwig, in which it claims the BLM undid a federal statute "in a private negotiation behind closed doors with three environmental groups in Utah." The drillers claim the BLM agreed to reinterpret the section of the law on granting drilling permits, changing it to require an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act. Such review is costly and time-consuming, the drillers say, and subverts the intent of the Energy Policy Act, which it claims is to "streamline the regulatory process," by skipping environmental review for minor projects. The 2010 interpretation also imposed a new condition, that project areas exhibiting "extraordinary circumstances" be newly subject to environmental review processes. This "turns the statute on its head" by hinging categorical exclusions on NEPA rather than making them exempt from NEPA, the drillers claim...more

Custer museum owner sues BLM

The owner of the Custer Battlefield Museum in Garryowen is suing the federal Bureau of Land Management to force it to give him documents related to investigations and searches of his businesses. Christopher Kortlander, who owns the museum and a business called Historical Rarities Inc., said in a complaint filed Monday that the BLM is wrongfully withholding documents he has requested under the Freedom of Information Act. Greg Albright, BLM spokesman in Billings, said he has not yet seen the lawsuit. In 2009, Kortlander filed more than a dozen FOIA requests seeking information and documents from the BLM and other federal agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the FBI and the Department of Justice. The requests sought any information held by the agencies about Kortlander or the investigation and searches of his businesses in 2005 and 2008. “They gave him absolutely nothing,” said Kortlander’s attorney, Harold Stanton of Hardin. “We just want them to comply with the Freedom of Information Act and give us the information that was requested.”...more

Space tourism to accelerate climate change

Climate change caused by black carbon, also known as soot, emitted during a decade of commercial space flight would be comparable to that from current global aviation, researchers estimate. The findings, reported in a paper in press in Geophysical Research Letters1, suggest that emissions from 1,000 private rocket launches a year would persist high in the stratosphere, potentially altering global atmospheric circulation and distributions of ozone. The simulations show that the changes to Earth's climate could increase polar surface temperatures by 1 °C, and reduce polar sea ice by 5–15%. Private space flight is a rapidly maturing industry. Spaceport America, a launch site in Las Cruces, New Mexico, opened its first runway on 22 October. During the next three years, companies such as Virgin Galactic, headquartered at Spaceport America, expect to make up to two launches per day for space tourists. Meanwhile, the NASA Authorization Act passed by US Congress in September provides US$1.6 billion in private space-flight investments to develop vehicles to take astronauts and cargo into orbit...more

So the Richardson administration has spent millions of dollars to...increase global warming. And all the while trying to saddle the rest of us with his version of cap and trade. We have our own Al Gore right here at home.

Mineral rights not included in state's bid for Ortiz Ranch

The state's proposed purchase of the Ortiz Mountain Ranch to expand Cerrillos Hills State Park and launch a wild-horse sanctuary won't include the mineral rights. The privately owned mineral rights have been leased by the owner to Santa Fe Gold, an Albuquerque-based company, according to state officials. The mineral rights belong to Anne Potter-Russ, a Kansas resident who inherited thousands of acres of mineral rights around the Galisteo Basin and Ortiz Mountains from her grandfather. She did not return messages left at her home by Monday evening. According to Santa Fe Gold's website, the precious-minerals company leased exploratory and development mineral rights to 57,000 acres (90 square miles) of the Ortiz Mine Grant in 2004, but later relinquished the lease on 14,000 acres of the land it considered not valuable. The company's preliminary studies indicate there could be 2 million ounces of gold scattered about in deposits on the remaining land...more

Actor Kilmer slashes price for NM ranch by $10M

Actor Val Kilmer has dropped the asking price of his New Mexico ranch by $10 million. The 5,328-acre spread near Santa Fe includes a seven-bedroom, 11-bathroom, 11,573-square-foot house along with guest quarters. The property went on the market in early 2009 for $33 million, but a Craigslist ad last week lowered the price to $23 million. Darlene Streit of Santa Fe Realty Partners posted the ad and has the property listed on her website. She says she believes the ranch is priced well and there has been interest. The ranch borders national forest land and several miles of the Pecos River. It also has more than 10 natural springs and miles of hiking and riding trails. Streit says the ranch has been a labor of love for Kilmer. AP

What a deal, on $4300 an acre! 'Course there's a helluva ranch house that comes with it.

Don't tell Richardson, or they will be raising wild horses and having Cabinet meetings out there.

Union hails agreement with Forest Service on benefits for domestic partners

The National Federation of Federal Employees is hailing an agreement with the Forest Service that will provide certain benefits for the domestic partners of workers as a "historic achievement." The collective bargaining agreement, which took effect Monday, allows domestic partners in same-sex or opposite-sex relationships time off to care for newborns, newly adopted children and newly placed foster children. Time off is also allowed to care for an ill partner. The agreement is one more step in the Obama administration's sometimes halting effort to recognize the full humanity of gay and lesbian people in the federal workplace...more

Sheep ranchers look into 'targeted grazing'

On a harvested wheat field in Yolo County, Don Watson’s “wooly weeders” hungrily chomp on a gourmet feast of invasive plants that have overtaken the property. The landowner pre-irrigated the field to let the weeds to grow out before Watson put his sheep to work on the land. The idea is to allow the animals to clean up the field rather than using herbicides. “This is just a symbiotic quid pro quo that we’re doing,” Watson said. “We gain on the lambs and they’ll gain from how (the lambs) are inoculating the soil with manure, which acts as a fertilizer.” Watson, who spoke last week at a workshop on targeted grazing, currently operates two businesses: Wooly Weeders, which provides grazing services for vegetation management, and Napa Valley Lamb Co., which produces meat and wool. The California Wool Growers Association held the workshop in Woodland to help educate producers about the potential profitability, as well as the legal and financial risks, associated with adding grazing services to livestock operations...more

Notice the flexibility and innovation on private land, as compared to federal ownership.

Property is a central economic institution of any society, and private property is the central institution of a free society...David Friedman

Song Of The Day #422

Today's tune on Ranch Radio is performed by Shreveport, La.'s Singing Sheriff, Faron Young (his band was named The Country Deputies). If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain't Livin') was recorded in 1954 for Capitol Records.

For some trivia, Peanuts' cat in the comic strip was named Faron and was named for Young. Charlie Schultz was an admirer.

Faron Young - If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain't Livin').mp3

Arizona replaces controversial signs warning residents of illegal drug activity

Arizona signs confirming that drug and human smuggling activity was taking place well inside the Arizona border have received a face lift and now offer campers and hikers different information when they travel to the Arizona public land regions. The new sign now reads, “Visitor Information Update- active federal law enforcement patrol area, clean-up and restoration crews at work, contact BLM rangers for current area status.” In smaller print in the lower left-hand side of the sign provides the Bureau of Land Management district office phone number and encourages residents to call 911 for emergency. The tamer BLM signs sparked speculation as to why Arizona’s Bureau of Land Management decided to make the change. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio put it in plain and simple language; “They were embarrassed.” “Arizona’s BLM decided to change the signs after they created a national hysteria and they decided to temper it,” said America’s toughest Sheriff. The new signs went up over the weekend as a result of a Congressional bill that granted $600 million to increase border security measures. BLM received a special $200,000 emergency grant to conduct and increase patrols in the southwest portion of Arizona in an effort to saturate the region, according to BLM spokesperson Deborah Stevens...more

BLM takes part of their grant "to conduct and increase patrols" and spends it on signs? Does that comply with Congressional intent?

This was a political decision pure and simple and I wonder who actually gave the order to change signs.

GAO report says Obama administration not allowing Border Patrol to do their job

I've posted on this before (Feds feud while land is overrun, 'Green' red tape said to hinder Border Patrol, Border Patrol Projects Caught Up for Months in Red Tape, Government Study Shows) but the GAO report is still making news. This is from yesterday's Washington Examiner.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report claiming that the Interior Department and the Agriculture Department have prevented about 15 percent of the 26 Border Patrol stations in the American southwest from apprehending illegal aliens and drug smugglers. Before Border Patrol agents can build roads or set up surveillance posts on at least half of the land along the U.S./Mexican border, they must first apply for permission from the Interior Department and the Forest Service. Before permission is granted (if it is), the land management agencies conduct environmental studies which take several months. Of course, all the while…both drug and human smugglers operate basically unimpeded...

Update on Sue Krentz from Judy Keeler

Hi everyone,

I apologize if you're receiving more than one copy of this, I combined several lists so everyone would know how Sue is doing....

Most of you already know Sue Krentz was hit by a drunk drive about a month ago (article below). She and a friend were crossing the street when a car came around the corner and hit them.

Both ladies were injured and air vacced to the University Hospital in Tucson. Sue suffered severe injuries including 5 breaks in her hip, a broken leg, head injuries and several fractures in her spine. She has been in ICU in the University Hospital for the last month.

She was moved into Rehab last week and I’m here to report she’s on the mend!! Thanks to everyone’s prayers and thoughts she’s doing much better.

She still has a lot of surgeries and rehab to look forward, but Sue’s a fighter!!! She's set her mind to be home by Nov 18th, pray she gets to be there for their shipping!!

October 31st is Sue’s birthday. Thought you might like to send her a card or give her a call and let her know you're thinking about her.

If you call or visit, try to be brief (I know that's hard to do with Suzie), but she’s still on pain meds and they make her sleepy. If she falls asleep, it’s not because she doesn’t want to hear from you!!

Here’s her contact info:

Susan Krentz
Health South
2650 N. Wyatt, Rm 218
Tucson, AZ 85712

Several people have asked about making donation to help offset the medical costs. ACGA has established the following account to help the family. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact their office- 602-267-1129.

Wells Fargo - Sue Krentz Recovery Fund 5206283169

I’ll be Tucson with her Wednesday and Thursday.

And, keep her in your prayers!! She has a long row to hoe!!

Judy

Turtles last hurdle for huge solar project

The only thing standing between California and the largest solar power plant in the world is four desert tortoises. The four reptiles will be relocated in the coming weeks to make room for the Blythe Solar Power Project in eastern Riverside County by the end of the year. The plan was approved Monday by the Interior Department. At 6,000 acres, the project will be the largest concentrated solar power plant in the world, said Bill Keegan, spokesman for Solar Trust of America. It eventually will generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 300,000 homes. The project is just one of nine in the state that are racing to meet a deadline set by President Obama's economic stimulus package. Renewable power projects that secure all their permits and start construction by the end of this year can receive a federal grant worth 30 percent of the project's cost, in lieu of taking a tax credit of equal value. The site will use mirror arrays to collect and concentrate sunlight. When focused on a tower filled with liquid at the center of the four separate arrays, that energy will produce steam. The steam will then turn a turbine to generate electricity. Keegan said he expects the $6 billion project to begin generating power by the second quarter of 2013...more

Shouldn't they be called TARP turtles?

Do you reckon BLM was under any pressure to meet that deadline?

First the Bushies pressured them on oil and gas, and now Obama pressures them on wind and solar.

Let's see, 30 percent of $6 billion is...you better damn well believe those turtles were gonna get moved.

There is more info from the AP, including the fact the project is by a German company.

D.C. toilet shortage

The calls of nature may be particularly loud at an upcoming D.C. event if attendees don't have a place to "go." Comedy Central organizers are having a hard time finding port-o-potties for their rallies to take place in a week and a half, after the Marine Corps Marathon planners snatched up about 800 of them for the same weekend. The organizers of Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity and Stephen Colbert's March to Keep Fear Alive, both to take place Saturday, Oct. 30, have asked the marathon staff to share the portable toilets with their 65,000 expected to attendees. But the Marines aren't budging -- they plan to lock the toilets until the morning of their race the day after, they tell the New York Times...more

There's all kinds of things I could say about this but I will refrain. I've always been fond of the Marines though.

Aren't there any endangered turtles in DC?

BLM director wants to reopen inquiry

The director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has asked federal investigators to reopen an inquiry into a former Farmington BLM manager. Steve Henke faces renewed questions regarding his tenure leading the BLM's Farmington office after a previous investigation found he accepted golf vacations and other gifts from the oil and gas industry. The call for further investigation indicates Henke's problems are not resolved. BLM Director Bob Abbey "has new information, and he has referred that information to the inspector general," said Celia Boddington, a bureau spokeswoman. Abbey, in an Oct. 18 letter to Interior Department Acting Inspector General Mary Kendall, requests the office "renew its investigative inquiries regarding certain questionable activities that may have occurred during the tenure of Steve Henke," including activities that "eventually led to his employment by the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association." Until resigning in May in retirement from the BLM, Henke served for nine years as district manager of the BLM's Farmington field office. He is now president of the oil and gas association, a trade group that advocates for industry interests. Henke did not return messages seeking comment Monday...more

Wildlife agencies stress extreme caution (bears)

This year, bears are on the move and hunters need to be aware. That’s the message from wildlife managers at the Wyoming Game and Fish (G&F) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Last week, a Sublette County incident came to light that reinforces the need for caution. According to FWS Special Agent Roy Brown, an adult grizzly bear was shot and killed on Forest Service land in the Horse Creek area west of Merna. The incident took place on Sept. 7, but because a Department of Justice policy prohibits public disclosure of information in pending cases, information about the shooting wasn’t available until after charges were dropped in mid October. Reading from the incident report, Brown said a Wyoming outfitter, his guide and an out-of-state client were hunting moose in a remote Wyoming Range area above Horse Creek when they unknowingly disturbed a grizzly from its “daybed.” Brown said the men first noticed the bear when it growled and charged. The guide – who was leading the group – shot the bear with a .450 Marlin rifle, knocking it down. When the animal attempted to get up, the guide shot again. Brown said a third shot ensured the wounded bear was dead. Brown said there was no evidence the bear was protecting a kill and the report did not mention cubs. The three men rode horses from their camp and were hiking when the bear charged them. The men did not have downed game. This has been a particularly busy year for wildlife managers. In the past two months, grizzly bears have attacked three hunters and several cattle on public grazing allotments north of Pinedale and near Merna...more

Mountain lions seen in Tucson area

Hikers have recently spotted mountain lions in Sabino Canyon northeast of Tucson and other nearby areas, prompting wildlife officials to urge caution. The U.S. Forest Service says as many as four lions were seen in Sabino Canyon in late September. Agency spokesman Joshua Taiz says there was a “territorial encounter” involving a male and female lion and two of her cubs. But Taiz says none of the lions have approached or attacked people...more