DIAMOND BAR CATTLE COMPANY
Feds arrest rancher in land dispute
A rancher who is fighting for his right to continue grazing cattle on disputed land in New Mexico was arrested yesterday evening by Forest Service law-enforcement officers, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court today.
Kit Laney's 147,000-acre Diamond Bar Ranch was closed by the Forest Service on Feb. 29 to prepare for the removal of nearly 400 head of cattle in compliance with a federal court order. Forest Service contractors had rounded up and corralled about a hundred head by Sunday.
Reports reached Laney that the cattle were being mistreated, that calves were being separated from their mothers.
"He simply wanted to check on his cattle, " a neighbor told WorldNetDaily.
At about 7:25 p.m. last night, Laney approached a temporary enclosure to the Beaverhead Work Center where officers Christopher Boehm and DeWayne Ross were among the Forest Service personnel working Laney's cattle. Patrol Capt. Mike Reamer recognized Laney and greeted him at a distance of about 40 feet, according to the complaint.
At about 25 feet from Reamer, Laney is said to have "spurred his horse to a fast gallop, charged Officers Reamer, Ross and Boehm," while yelling profanities. Laney's horse struck Boehm on the left arm and knocked him into a cattle guard.
Laney then guided his horse to the side of the temporary cattle enclosure and tried to remove the fencing. He "struck contractor Isaiah Baker with the leather reins," the complaint says.
Laney was advised to stop and told that if he did not stop, he would be arrested. Laney dismounted and continued to try to pull down the enclosure. Laney scuffled with Reamer and Boehm while continuing to try to pull down the fence.
The rancher was subdued with a one to two-second spray of mace and was handcuffed and removed to the Dona Ana detention facility in Las Cruces, N.M.
Catron County Sheriff Cliff Snyder said he knew nothing of the arrest until Monday morning, when he was told that Laney had been charged with "four or five counts," including assault, resisting arrest and trying to release cattle.
U.S. Attorney John Crews saidone count of assault and one count of resisting a court order would be filed.
This action is only the latest episode in a ten-year legal battle between the Laneys and the Forest Service....
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Monday, March 15, 2004
DIAMOND BAR CATTLE COMPANY
Sources report Kit Laney's initial hearing was held this afternoon. He faces two charges. The first is a felony, assault on a Federal officer with physical contact. The second is a misdemeanor, interference with a Federal officer in the performance of his duty under a court order. The detention hearing will be held tomorrow afernoon at 1:30. Sources said the U.S. Attorney wanted to wait three days for the detention hearing.
Sources report Kit Laney's initial hearing was held this afternoon. He faces two charges. The first is a felony, assault on a Federal officer with physical contact. The second is a misdemeanor, interference with a Federal officer in the performance of his duty under a court order. The detention hearing will be held tomorrow afernoon at 1:30. Sources said the U.S. Attorney wanted to wait three days for the detention hearing.
U.S. to Boost Testing for Mad Cow Up to Twelve-Fold
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will increase the number of cattle it tests for mad cow disease by up to twelve-fold to help restore confidence in the safety of the beef supply. As many cattle as possible from among an estimated population of 446,000 high-risk animals, including those too sick to walk, will be tested, Ron DeHaven, the department's chief veterinarian, said in a conference call. A random sampling of 20,000 otherwise healthy cattle older than 30 months will also be tested. The U.S. now tests about 38,000 head of cattle a year. The testing program will be funded by a $70 million transfer from the department's Commodity Credit Corporation, Veneman said. DeHaven said licenses to sell tests will be issued ``in a short period of time.''....
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will increase the number of cattle it tests for mad cow disease by up to twelve-fold to help restore confidence in the safety of the beef supply. As many cattle as possible from among an estimated population of 446,000 high-risk animals, including those too sick to walk, will be tested, Ron DeHaven, the department's chief veterinarian, said in a conference call. A random sampling of 20,000 otherwise healthy cattle older than 30 months will also be tested. The U.S. now tests about 38,000 head of cattle a year. The testing program will be funded by a $70 million transfer from the department's Commodity Credit Corporation, Veneman said. DeHaven said licenses to sell tests will be issued ``in a short period of time.''....
Wyoming rancher presses for charges; agency apologizes
A Wyoming rancher is pushing for trespassing charges against two U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officers found with collared wolves in his calving pasture.
On Feb.14, Randy Kruger said, he experienced "just an incredible incident."
Kruger, ranch stockholder and employee with Larsen Ranch Co., was driving on a road next to his ranch property when he spotted two men "crouched down in the brush."
"One fella kind of ducked his head like he was trying to hide," Kruger said. "I've found plenty of hunters out here, so I stopped to see what these guys were up to."
As Kruger stepped from his pickup, the two men scrambled up the embankment and introduced themselves as Mike Jimenez, Fish and Wildlife Service wolf biologist, and Wes Livingston with Hawkins and Powers Aviation.
Down the embankment Kruger said he saw four tranquilized, collared wolves lying in his pasture.
"I've never seen wolves that close before," he said. "They were very large and looked well-fed -- in their prime."
Kruger said he told Jimenez the wolves were in his calving pasture and in less than a month the pasture would be full of cows and calves.
According to Kruger, Jimenez said the wolves had traveled over the mountain from Dubois about 25 miles away.
"I had my camera sitting on the seat of the pickup," Kruger said. "I photographed Mr. Jimenez with the wolves."
Kruger didn't ask the men to leave. Instead, he left and later heard a helicopter near the area. The next day while watering range cows, he saw four sets of wolf tracks through the pasture.
Ralph Larsen, owner of Larsen Ranch Co., said representatives of the Fish and Wildlife Service called him to apologize but when asked, they had no answer for why they were on private property.
"They are supposed to contact landowners if they are going to be flying in the area, but they didn't ask anybody that I know of," Larsen said.
Neighboring rancher Frank Robbins said he wasn't surprised to learn about Kruger's encounter. Some of Robbins' property borders forest next to Yellowstone National Park and is included in the wolf recovery zone.
"They (Fish and Wildlife) don't respect private property, and they never will until someone holds them accountable," he said.
Robbins said any rancher would like to say he's sorry when one of his cows gets out on public land.
"Instead, he gets a big fine that stays on record," he said. "So I guess sorry isn't good enough."
Two days after the collared wolves were discovered on the Larsen Ranch, predator control called Robbins and reported eight wolves were on his ranch.
Wyoming has yet to submit a wolf management plan the Fish and Wildlife Service will stamp for approval. The Legislature wants dual classification, meaning wolves would be considered trophy animals in wilderness areas but predators in every other part of the state. The federal agency wants trophy classification throughout the state. Wolves would still be protected in national parks.
Robbins also said adopting the current federal plan would be "disastrous for us."
"The wolves are willing to take everything we have," he said.
Larsen and the ranch stockholders want trespassing charges to be filed against the Fish and Wildlife Service.
"We've got lots of support from the locals," he said. "I guess we'll find out if we've got any rights left."
A Wyoming rancher is pushing for trespassing charges against two U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officers found with collared wolves in his calving pasture.
On Feb.14, Randy Kruger said, he experienced "just an incredible incident."
Kruger, ranch stockholder and employee with Larsen Ranch Co., was driving on a road next to his ranch property when he spotted two men "crouched down in the brush."
"One fella kind of ducked his head like he was trying to hide," Kruger said. "I've found plenty of hunters out here, so I stopped to see what these guys were up to."
As Kruger stepped from his pickup, the two men scrambled up the embankment and introduced themselves as Mike Jimenez, Fish and Wildlife Service wolf biologist, and Wes Livingston with Hawkins and Powers Aviation.
Down the embankment Kruger said he saw four tranquilized, collared wolves lying in his pasture.
"I've never seen wolves that close before," he said. "They were very large and looked well-fed -- in their prime."
Kruger said he told Jimenez the wolves were in his calving pasture and in less than a month the pasture would be full of cows and calves.
According to Kruger, Jimenez said the wolves had traveled over the mountain from Dubois about 25 miles away.
"I had my camera sitting on the seat of the pickup," Kruger said. "I photographed Mr. Jimenez with the wolves."
Kruger didn't ask the men to leave. Instead, he left and later heard a helicopter near the area. The next day while watering range cows, he saw four sets of wolf tracks through the pasture.
Ralph Larsen, owner of Larsen Ranch Co., said representatives of the Fish and Wildlife Service called him to apologize but when asked, they had no answer for why they were on private property.
"They are supposed to contact landowners if they are going to be flying in the area, but they didn't ask anybody that I know of," Larsen said.
Neighboring rancher Frank Robbins said he wasn't surprised to learn about Kruger's encounter. Some of Robbins' property borders forest next to Yellowstone National Park and is included in the wolf recovery zone.
"They (Fish and Wildlife) don't respect private property, and they never will until someone holds them accountable," he said.
Robbins said any rancher would like to say he's sorry when one of his cows gets out on public land.
"Instead, he gets a big fine that stays on record," he said. "So I guess sorry isn't good enough."
Two days after the collared wolves were discovered on the Larsen Ranch, predator control called Robbins and reported eight wolves were on his ranch.
Wyoming has yet to submit a wolf management plan the Fish and Wildlife Service will stamp for approval. The Legislature wants dual classification, meaning wolves would be considered trophy animals in wilderness areas but predators in every other part of the state. The federal agency wants trophy classification throughout the state. Wolves would still be protected in national parks.
Robbins also said adopting the current federal plan would be "disastrous for us."
"The wolves are willing to take everything we have," he said.
Larsen and the ranch stockholders want trespassing charges to be filed against the Fish and Wildlife Service.
"We've got lots of support from the locals," he said. "I guess we'll find out if we've got any rights left."
DIAMOND BAR CATTLE COMPANY
N.M. Rancher Arrested in Grazing Dispute
Federal officers arrested a New Mexico rancher whose cattle have been ordered seized in a long-running battle with the government over grazing rights in the Gila National Forest.
Kit Laney, 43, was arrested Sunday and jailed on charges of assaulting a peace officer, obstructing a court order and intimidation.
Forest Service spokesman Jim Payne would not release details about the arrest.
Authorities began rounding up some 400 cattle from Laney's 146,000-acre Diamond Bar Ranch last week after a judge found Laney and his wife, Sherry, in contempt of court for grazing cattle in the Gila National Forest in violation of earlier court rulings.
While many ranchers in the West lease federal land for grazing and other uses, the Laneys, who bought the ranch in 1985, do not hold a lease for the Gila land. They contend they have grazing rights based on historical use of the land predating the forest's creation in 1964.
Marcia Andre, supervisor of the forest, said courts have made clear that grazing on federal land is a privilege, not a right.
"We take no pleasure in impounding the Laneys' livestock," she said in a statement. "Unfortunately, the Laneys have forced us to take this action."
The Forest Service has seized more than 200 cattle so far in a roundup expected to take several weeks.
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Update,
Kit was arrested last night after going to check on some cattle in the pens. The USFS are counting baby calves as cows, the round up is being conducted without the presence of a livestock inspector to ensure the safety of the cattle. What we know is that it is being done in such a way that it may be separating the calves from their mothers. Last week the USFS informed the neighbors that they would allow Kit to look at the cattle.
No one has heard from Kit yet. He will be arraigned this morning or more likely, tomorrow morning and possibly, depending on the charges, allowed bail.
Sherry was not informed of his arrest and spent a sleepless night imagining the worst before setting off at dawn to find him. She is now home and stated that the USFS leo she spoke with told her Kit did NOT hit anyone. They think he was trying to let the cattle go and he resisted when they grabbed him but he didn't strike anyone.
It is likely that he was only trying to look at his cattle.
We will know more when he is released on bail.
Laura Schneberger
www.cowboysandcattlecountry.0catch.com
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
For Immediate Release Contact: Paragon Foundation, Inc.
03/12/04 (505) 434-8998
Alamogordo, New Mexico―Attorney Paul M. Kienzle of Scott & Kienzle, P.A., Albuquerque, filed for injunctive and declaratory relief and damages on behalf of the Paragon Foundation, Inc. and Kit and Sherry Laney against the New Mexico Livestock Board and Dan Manzanares Executive Director of the Livestock Board.
On February 20, 2004, Mr. Manzanares signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the United States Forest Service. The purpose of the MOU is to implement the United States District Court Order that authorizes the Forest Service, pursuant to its regulations, to impound, remove and sell the subject livestock from National Forest System lands.
Plaintiffs believe that Defendant Manzanares did not have statutory authority, rule, regulation authority or authority from the Livestock Board to approve the MOU on behalf of the Livestock Board. Upon information and belief, some members of the Livestock Board were not aware of the MOU until after its execution. To this day, the MOU has not been ratified by a vote of the Board. Plaintiffs believe the actions of Defendant Manzanares were ultra vires, made without authority, and are therefore void.
Plaintiffs believe the Livestock Board does not have authority or regulation to enter into the MOU with the Forest Service. The action taken in the name of the Livestock Board regarding the MOU and its terms contravene the laws, rules, regulations, provisions and authority of the Livestock Code, NMSA 1978, Chapter 77, that the Livestock Board is charged with administering, and was ultra vires, made without authority, and is therefore void.
The Open Meetings Act applies to the subject matter of this complaint. NMSA 1978, § 10-15-1 requires that actions and other matters within the authority of the Livestock Board be taken in meeting open to the public at all time unless an exception applies. Pursuant to NMSA 1978 §10-15-3(A), “[n]o resolution, rule, regulation, ordinance or action of any board, commission, committee or other policymaking body shall be valid unless taken or made at a meeting held in accordance with the requirements of 10-15-1 NMSA 1978.” No exception to the Open Meetings Act applies to the MOU.
Plaintiffs are entitled to their attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to NMSA 1978, §10-15-3(C).
Defendants’ conduct, actions and omissions were engaged in under color of state statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage and that such conduct, actions and omissions have subjected Plaintiffs to the deprivation of rights, privileges, and immunities secured by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and the Civil Rights Act of 1871.
Plaintiffs Kit and Sherry Laney are entitled to damages, including punitive damages and attorney’s fees for the actions and omissions described above.
###
N.M. Rancher Arrested in Grazing Dispute
Federal officers arrested a New Mexico rancher whose cattle have been ordered seized in a long-running battle with the government over grazing rights in the Gila National Forest.
Kit Laney, 43, was arrested Sunday and jailed on charges of assaulting a peace officer, obstructing a court order and intimidation.
Forest Service spokesman Jim Payne would not release details about the arrest.
Authorities began rounding up some 400 cattle from Laney's 146,000-acre Diamond Bar Ranch last week after a judge found Laney and his wife, Sherry, in contempt of court for grazing cattle in the Gila National Forest in violation of earlier court rulings.
While many ranchers in the West lease federal land for grazing and other uses, the Laneys, who bought the ranch in 1985, do not hold a lease for the Gila land. They contend they have grazing rights based on historical use of the land predating the forest's creation in 1964.
Marcia Andre, supervisor of the forest, said courts have made clear that grazing on federal land is a privilege, not a right.
"We take no pleasure in impounding the Laneys' livestock," she said in a statement. "Unfortunately, the Laneys have forced us to take this action."
The Forest Service has seized more than 200 cattle so far in a roundup expected to take several weeks.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Update,
Kit was arrested last night after going to check on some cattle in the pens. The USFS are counting baby calves as cows, the round up is being conducted without the presence of a livestock inspector to ensure the safety of the cattle. What we know is that it is being done in such a way that it may be separating the calves from their mothers. Last week the USFS informed the neighbors that they would allow Kit to look at the cattle.
No one has heard from Kit yet. He will be arraigned this morning or more likely, tomorrow morning and possibly, depending on the charges, allowed bail.
Sherry was not informed of his arrest and spent a sleepless night imagining the worst before setting off at dawn to find him. She is now home and stated that the USFS leo she spoke with told her Kit did NOT hit anyone. They think he was trying to let the cattle go and he resisted when they grabbed him but he didn't strike anyone.
It is likely that he was only trying to look at his cattle.
We will know more when he is released on bail.
Laura Schneberger
www.cowboysandcattlecountry.0catch.com
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
For Immediate Release Contact: Paragon Foundation, Inc.
03/12/04 (505) 434-8998
Alamogordo, New Mexico―Attorney Paul M. Kienzle of Scott & Kienzle, P.A., Albuquerque, filed for injunctive and declaratory relief and damages on behalf of the Paragon Foundation, Inc. and Kit and Sherry Laney against the New Mexico Livestock Board and Dan Manzanares Executive Director of the Livestock Board.
On February 20, 2004, Mr. Manzanares signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the United States Forest Service. The purpose of the MOU is to implement the United States District Court Order that authorizes the Forest Service, pursuant to its regulations, to impound, remove and sell the subject livestock from National Forest System lands.
Plaintiffs believe that Defendant Manzanares did not have statutory authority, rule, regulation authority or authority from the Livestock Board to approve the MOU on behalf of the Livestock Board. Upon information and belief, some members of the Livestock Board were not aware of the MOU until after its execution. To this day, the MOU has not been ratified by a vote of the Board. Plaintiffs believe the actions of Defendant Manzanares were ultra vires, made without authority, and are therefore void.
Plaintiffs believe the Livestock Board does not have authority or regulation to enter into the MOU with the Forest Service. The action taken in the name of the Livestock Board regarding the MOU and its terms contravene the laws, rules, regulations, provisions and authority of the Livestock Code, NMSA 1978, Chapter 77, that the Livestock Board is charged with administering, and was ultra vires, made without authority, and is therefore void.
The Open Meetings Act applies to the subject matter of this complaint. NMSA 1978, § 10-15-1 requires that actions and other matters within the authority of the Livestock Board be taken in meeting open to the public at all time unless an exception applies. Pursuant to NMSA 1978 §10-15-3(A), “[n]o resolution, rule, regulation, ordinance or action of any board, commission, committee or other policymaking body shall be valid unless taken or made at a meeting held in accordance with the requirements of 10-15-1 NMSA 1978.” No exception to the Open Meetings Act applies to the MOU.
Plaintiffs are entitled to their attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to NMSA 1978, §10-15-3(C).
Defendants’ conduct, actions and omissions were engaged in under color of state statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage and that such conduct, actions and omissions have subjected Plaintiffs to the deprivation of rights, privileges, and immunities secured by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and the Civil Rights Act of 1871.
Plaintiffs Kit and Sherry Laney are entitled to damages, including punitive damages and attorney’s fees for the actions and omissions described above.
###
DIAMOND BAR CATTLE COMPANY
Paragon sues livestock board over stock removal
The Paragon Foundation is suing the State of New Mexico Livestock Board
Paragon is a property- and Constitutional-rights advocate based in Alamogordo, with members in all 50 states. It also defends “issues concerning cattlemen, cattle growers and livestock,” according to the suit.
According to a March 7 Associated Press story, the board said it could not act on behalf of co-defendants Kit and Sherry Laney, Catron County residents who graze cattle on New Mexico’s Gila National Forest land and face possible impoundment of their herd if they don’t reduce their numbers and cut grazing.
The Laneys, AP reported, “have been battling the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service for years” and asked the Livestock Board for help. “But,” the AP story stated, “the board said it can’t stop the Laneys’ cattle from being removed from Forest Service allotments.”
The Livestock Board is under the New Mexico Department of Agriculture’s auspices and, according to the suit, is “charged with administering laws related to the livestock industry in New Mexico.”
The suit claims board Executive Director Dan Manzanares violated the Open Meetings Act by entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with the USDA Forest Service. The MOU, signed by Manzanares, states the Forest Service and/or a contractor will impound branded livestock for transportation and sale. The MOU further dictates the “New Mexico Livestock Auction Facility will sell the livestock and transfer funds” to the Gila National Forest in Silver City.
Unbranded livestock will be “disposed of” under board regulations, the MOU states.
The March 7 AP story stated federal courts have ruled the Laneys must “reduce grazing and cut herds,” but that the “Laneys contend the roundup is illegal and the impoundment of the cattle potentially is a criminal offense.”
Paragon’s suit alleges the board violated the Open Meetings Act through the MOU with the Forest Service, and that “Manzanares’ actions were ... made without authority, and are, therefore, void” because the “MOU was approved by Manzanares on behalf of the Livestock Board.”
State Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Glenn denied an Open Meetings Act violation in a March 10 letter to Paragon’s lawyer, the Kienzle firm in Albuquerque. But the suit contends “Manzanares did not have statutory authority to approve the MOU on behalf of the Livestock Board,” and that the MOU had “not been ratified by a vote” of board members. Thus, the suit claims “Manzanares” actions ... are, therefore, void.”
The Kienzle firm, in a letter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, states Paragon and the Laneys believe Glenn’s determination is inaccurate. If executive directors “had the authority to execute” such documents, the firm’s letter asserts, then “boards would be unnecessary.”
Regrettable Roundup
Millions of dollars in debt, his cattle in the process of being impounded by the U.S. Forest Service, rancher Kit Laney said Friday his fight to establish his grazing rights in the national forest is not yet over.
"We got two options. We fight, or we walk off with nothing," said the 43-year-old Laney, a battered black hat on his head as he stood near his home in Black Canyon on a chilly Friday afternoon with his wife, Sherry, 42. "Every day they are violating our constitutional rights. What choice have we got?"
Wranglers hired by the Forest Service started rounding up the Laneys' 300 to 400 head of cattle last Thursday. By Saturday afternoon, they had brought in 110 to a corral at the MeOwn Fire Base or moved them to Beaverhead, about 50 miles northwest of Truth or Consequences.
Because the roundup is controversial, the identities of the wranglers are being protected and security officers have been brought in as the livestock are removed from the Diamond Bar allotment.
As the roundup proceeds, the Laneys are planning to take their case to the courts once again. The couple claims they have grazing and water rights in the Gila National Forest based on historical use that predates the national forest's creation. Opponents say the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that same argument in 1999 in an earlier stage of this long-running fight that has made the Laneys darlings of the ranching community and conservative critics of the federal government.
The Laneys' cattle were removed from the Gila in that earlier battle after their grazing permit expired in January 1996. The Laneys refused the offer of a new, curtailed grazing permit in part because they said it would not allow them to run a viable ranching operation.
The Laneys, who own private land in the middle of a 146,000-acre allotment that straddles the Gila and Aldo Leopold wilderness areas, moved cattle back onto the allotment last spring without a permit. In December, a federal judge ruled the Laneys were in contempt of 1996 and 1997 court rulings requiring them to remove their cattle from the Diamond Bar allotment.
"Impounding a private individual's livestock is the last thing we want to do. We tried to be very considerate of the Laneys," Steve Libby, Gila National Forest range staff officer, said Friday at the MeOwn camp. "We provided every opportunity for them to pursue their claim in court.
"They are in contempt of court. We have no choice but to do what we are doing now, but it is nothing we want to do."
While the Laneys have done nothing to physically stop the impoundment or threatened violence, they have been vocal in making public warnings that they considered anyone who takes their cattle on behalf of the Forest Service to be guilty of stealing.
Last month, the Laneys sent a "notice and demand for protection" to Gov. Bill Richardson, Attorney General Patricia Madrid and members of the New Mexico Livestock Board. The Laneys warned they will hold the officials personally responsible in state court if they did not uphold their oaths of office and protect the ranchers from the allegedly illegal actions of the Forest Service.
"Due to these actions of the Court and the Federal Service, we fear for our safety and the safety of our neighbors because of what federal agents did at Ruby Ridge and Waco," the Laneys wrote. "All we want to do is stand up for our rights and make sure no violence occurs."
The couple has also taken other steps in this fight.
On Thursday, Kit Laney said he filed a complaint in Magistrate Court in Catron County alleging the Forest Service contractor undertaking the roundup had stolen his cattle.
On another front, the Alamogordo-based Paragon Foundation, a nonprofit group focused on preserving private property rights, filed suit Friday in state District Court seeking an injunction to prevent the New Mexico Livestock Board from permitting the Forest Service to auction off the Laneys' impounded cattle, as planned.
Otero County rancher Bob Jones, Paragon Foundation president, said Saturday his organization is arguing the Livestock Board's executive director entered into an illegal agreement with the Forest Service to sell the livestock.
A Forest Service spokeswoman acknowleges an agreement with the Livestock Board's executive director is in place.
Down the road, Kit Laney said he also plans to file suit in state court to establish his water rights in the Gila along with the attached grazing rights.
The roundup so far has gone peacefully, Forest Service officials said, though they are taking precautions that Sherry Laney described as "overkill."
The Forest Service has hired four wranglers to round up the cattle. For "security reasons," the Forest Service has declined to identify the outfit or even say where it is from.
For similar reasons, Forest Service officials have also declined to release the name of the livestock auction house where they plan to send the impounded cattle for sale. Jones said every livestock auction house in the state has refused to handle the sale of the Laney cattle.
In addition to restricting public access to the sprawling Diamond Bar allotment, the largest in the Gila National Forest, the Forest Service has brought in up to 16 law enforcement officers, some from Arizona, to provide round-the-clock security for the roundup.
"This is a very controversial activity. It always is," Libby said. "There's a certain amount of outrage from friends and supporters of Kit and Sherry Laney. So we just felt it was prudent to provide security."
The cost of the operation, including security, the equipment necessary for the roundup, and the contractor, will be added to the $63,639 in penalties and fees imposed on the Laneys last December when they were found in contempt of court for returning their cattle to the Diamond Bar.
"God only knows what that (charge) will be," said Sherry Laney, standing in a chill wind. "You've seen the circus up there."
Libby said the Laneys can reacquire their herd, which he tentatively valued at about $250,000, if the couple pays the value of the herd along with the roundup costs.
Kit Laney said he would not take that offer.
"They aren't going to steal my cows and then have me pay for them," Kit Laney said.
Paragon sues livestock board over stock removal
The Paragon Foundation is suing the State of New Mexico Livestock Board
Paragon is a property- and Constitutional-rights advocate based in Alamogordo, with members in all 50 states. It also defends “issues concerning cattlemen, cattle growers and livestock,” according to the suit.
According to a March 7 Associated Press story, the board said it could not act on behalf of co-defendants Kit and Sherry Laney, Catron County residents who graze cattle on New Mexico’s Gila National Forest land and face possible impoundment of their herd if they don’t reduce their numbers and cut grazing.
The Laneys, AP reported, “have been battling the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service for years” and asked the Livestock Board for help. “But,” the AP story stated, “the board said it can’t stop the Laneys’ cattle from being removed from Forest Service allotments.”
The Livestock Board is under the New Mexico Department of Agriculture’s auspices and, according to the suit, is “charged with administering laws related to the livestock industry in New Mexico.”
The suit claims board Executive Director Dan Manzanares violated the Open Meetings Act by entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with the USDA Forest Service. The MOU, signed by Manzanares, states the Forest Service and/or a contractor will impound branded livestock for transportation and sale. The MOU further dictates the “New Mexico Livestock Auction Facility will sell the livestock and transfer funds” to the Gila National Forest in Silver City.
Unbranded livestock will be “disposed of” under board regulations, the MOU states.
The March 7 AP story stated federal courts have ruled the Laneys must “reduce grazing and cut herds,” but that the “Laneys contend the roundup is illegal and the impoundment of the cattle potentially is a criminal offense.”
Paragon’s suit alleges the board violated the Open Meetings Act through the MOU with the Forest Service, and that “Manzanares’ actions were ... made without authority, and are, therefore, void” because the “MOU was approved by Manzanares on behalf of the Livestock Board.”
State Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Glenn denied an Open Meetings Act violation in a March 10 letter to Paragon’s lawyer, the Kienzle firm in Albuquerque. But the suit contends “Manzanares did not have statutory authority to approve the MOU on behalf of the Livestock Board,” and that the MOU had “not been ratified by a vote” of board members. Thus, the suit claims “Manzanares” actions ... are, therefore, void.”
The Kienzle firm, in a letter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, states Paragon and the Laneys believe Glenn’s determination is inaccurate. If executive directors “had the authority to execute” such documents, the firm’s letter asserts, then “boards would be unnecessary.”
Regrettable Roundup
Millions of dollars in debt, his cattle in the process of being impounded by the U.S. Forest Service, rancher Kit Laney said Friday his fight to establish his grazing rights in the national forest is not yet over.
"We got two options. We fight, or we walk off with nothing," said the 43-year-old Laney, a battered black hat on his head as he stood near his home in Black Canyon on a chilly Friday afternoon with his wife, Sherry, 42. "Every day they are violating our constitutional rights. What choice have we got?"
Wranglers hired by the Forest Service started rounding up the Laneys' 300 to 400 head of cattle last Thursday. By Saturday afternoon, they had brought in 110 to a corral at the MeOwn Fire Base or moved them to Beaverhead, about 50 miles northwest of Truth or Consequences.
Because the roundup is controversial, the identities of the wranglers are being protected and security officers have been brought in as the livestock are removed from the Diamond Bar allotment.
As the roundup proceeds, the Laneys are planning to take their case to the courts once again. The couple claims they have grazing and water rights in the Gila National Forest based on historical use that predates the national forest's creation. Opponents say the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that same argument in 1999 in an earlier stage of this long-running fight that has made the Laneys darlings of the ranching community and conservative critics of the federal government.
The Laneys' cattle were removed from the Gila in that earlier battle after their grazing permit expired in January 1996. The Laneys refused the offer of a new, curtailed grazing permit in part because they said it would not allow them to run a viable ranching operation.
The Laneys, who own private land in the middle of a 146,000-acre allotment that straddles the Gila and Aldo Leopold wilderness areas, moved cattle back onto the allotment last spring without a permit. In December, a federal judge ruled the Laneys were in contempt of 1996 and 1997 court rulings requiring them to remove their cattle from the Diamond Bar allotment.
"Impounding a private individual's livestock is the last thing we want to do. We tried to be very considerate of the Laneys," Steve Libby, Gila National Forest range staff officer, said Friday at the MeOwn camp. "We provided every opportunity for them to pursue their claim in court.
"They are in contempt of court. We have no choice but to do what we are doing now, but it is nothing we want to do."
While the Laneys have done nothing to physically stop the impoundment or threatened violence, they have been vocal in making public warnings that they considered anyone who takes their cattle on behalf of the Forest Service to be guilty of stealing.
Last month, the Laneys sent a "notice and demand for protection" to Gov. Bill Richardson, Attorney General Patricia Madrid and members of the New Mexico Livestock Board. The Laneys warned they will hold the officials personally responsible in state court if they did not uphold their oaths of office and protect the ranchers from the allegedly illegal actions of the Forest Service.
"Due to these actions of the Court and the Federal Service, we fear for our safety and the safety of our neighbors because of what federal agents did at Ruby Ridge and Waco," the Laneys wrote. "All we want to do is stand up for our rights and make sure no violence occurs."
The couple has also taken other steps in this fight.
On Thursday, Kit Laney said he filed a complaint in Magistrate Court in Catron County alleging the Forest Service contractor undertaking the roundup had stolen his cattle.
On another front, the Alamogordo-based Paragon Foundation, a nonprofit group focused on preserving private property rights, filed suit Friday in state District Court seeking an injunction to prevent the New Mexico Livestock Board from permitting the Forest Service to auction off the Laneys' impounded cattle, as planned.
Otero County rancher Bob Jones, Paragon Foundation president, said Saturday his organization is arguing the Livestock Board's executive director entered into an illegal agreement with the Forest Service to sell the livestock.
A Forest Service spokeswoman acknowleges an agreement with the Livestock Board's executive director is in place.
Down the road, Kit Laney said he also plans to file suit in state court to establish his water rights in the Gila along with the attached grazing rights.
The roundup so far has gone peacefully, Forest Service officials said, though they are taking precautions that Sherry Laney described as "overkill."
The Forest Service has hired four wranglers to round up the cattle. For "security reasons," the Forest Service has declined to identify the outfit or even say where it is from.
For similar reasons, Forest Service officials have also declined to release the name of the livestock auction house where they plan to send the impounded cattle for sale. Jones said every livestock auction house in the state has refused to handle the sale of the Laney cattle.
In addition to restricting public access to the sprawling Diamond Bar allotment, the largest in the Gila National Forest, the Forest Service has brought in up to 16 law enforcement officers, some from Arizona, to provide round-the-clock security for the roundup.
"This is a very controversial activity. It always is," Libby said. "There's a certain amount of outrage from friends and supporters of Kit and Sherry Laney. So we just felt it was prudent to provide security."
The cost of the operation, including security, the equipment necessary for the roundup, and the contractor, will be added to the $63,639 in penalties and fees imposed on the Laneys last December when they were found in contempt of court for returning their cattle to the Diamond Bar.
"God only knows what that (charge) will be," said Sherry Laney, standing in a chill wind. "You've seen the circus up there."
Libby said the Laneys can reacquire their herd, which he tentatively valued at about $250,000, if the couple pays the value of the herd along with the roundup costs.
Kit Laney said he would not take that offer.
"They aren't going to steal my cows and then have me pay for them," Kit Laney said.
TIMED EVENT CHAMPIONSHIP
Great watching. The TEC was not as exciting as usual, as Trevor Brazile lead all the way and had 50 some odd seconds to trip his last steer. Herbert Theriot was second and Steve Duhon was third. This is from the Saturday Oklahoman, they haven't posted the final story yet. What this story doesn't say is Duhon also lost his mother about a week before the TEC....
Duhon in top form despite ups and downs
In a matter of three months, Steve Duhon experienced some emotional extremes.
The Sonora, Texas, cowboy was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in August. In November, Duhon's father, Billy, died.
With those events behind him, Duhon is geared for just about anything in the Timed Event Championship at the Lazy E Arena.
Duhon's started the day with him in 12th place; he heads into today's final go round in fifth. Duhon had the fastest time in Saturday aftrenoon's third go- round. Cash Myers of Athens, Texas, had the fastest five-event time Saturday night.
Today's action begins at 1 p.m.
Trevor Brazile of Decatur, Texas, has led this year's competition from the start and is in the driver's seat for the $50,000 grand prize.
Brazile has the best cumulative time of 246.4 seconds through four rounds. Luke Branquinho of Los Alamos, Calif., is second with 276.7. Herbert Theriot of Poplarville, Miss., is third with 300.6.
The personable Duhon was honored when placed with the sport's all-time greats.
"The Hall of Fame (induction) was pretty neat because it's something you don't just win," Duhon said. "To be seen as having such an impact on the sport makes me feel pretty good."
Duhon grew up in Opelousas, La., and helped with his father's racing operation, but he always knew what he really wanted to be.
"I pretty much always wanted to be in rodeo," he said. "I started competing in high school; rodeo was popular in my hometown. There were 40 or 50 bulldoggers in my school. A lot of kids were interested."
In central Louisiana, many youngsters stayed near horse flesh. In addition to being a busy rodeo area, Opelousas and surrounding communities produced many jockeys, both in the thoroughbred and quarter horse ranks.
Billy Duhon was a fixture on the Louisiana racing circuit.
"He trained horses for 38 years at Evangeline Downs, Delta Downs and at the Fair Grounds," Duhon said. "I worked with him until I was in college."
Steve Duhon, who played football at LSU, turned to ProRodeo in 1985. He has been at the Timed Event Championship for 10 years. Steve is a three-time world champion in steer wrestling and is tied for the fastest run in history. Duhon and Bryan Fields share that mark of 3.0 seconds.
Duhon proved he is still in top form in his best event. But he didn't stop there.
Duhon was the fastest header in both sessions. In the afternoon, he was among the leaders in heeling and steer roping. He accomplished all five events in 49.8 seconds during the afternoon.
Great watching. The TEC was not as exciting as usual, as Trevor Brazile lead all the way and had 50 some odd seconds to trip his last steer. Herbert Theriot was second and Steve Duhon was third. This is from the Saturday Oklahoman, they haven't posted the final story yet. What this story doesn't say is Duhon also lost his mother about a week before the TEC....
Duhon in top form despite ups and downs
In a matter of three months, Steve Duhon experienced some emotional extremes.
The Sonora, Texas, cowboy was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in August. In November, Duhon's father, Billy, died.
With those events behind him, Duhon is geared for just about anything in the Timed Event Championship at the Lazy E Arena.
Duhon's started the day with him in 12th place; he heads into today's final go round in fifth. Duhon had the fastest time in Saturday aftrenoon's third go- round. Cash Myers of Athens, Texas, had the fastest five-event time Saturday night.
Today's action begins at 1 p.m.
Trevor Brazile of Decatur, Texas, has led this year's competition from the start and is in the driver's seat for the $50,000 grand prize.
Brazile has the best cumulative time of 246.4 seconds through four rounds. Luke Branquinho of Los Alamos, Calif., is second with 276.7. Herbert Theriot of Poplarville, Miss., is third with 300.6.
The personable Duhon was honored when placed with the sport's all-time greats.
"The Hall of Fame (induction) was pretty neat because it's something you don't just win," Duhon said. "To be seen as having such an impact on the sport makes me feel pretty good."
Duhon grew up in Opelousas, La., and helped with his father's racing operation, but he always knew what he really wanted to be.
"I pretty much always wanted to be in rodeo," he said. "I started competing in high school; rodeo was popular in my hometown. There were 40 or 50 bulldoggers in my school. A lot of kids were interested."
In central Louisiana, many youngsters stayed near horse flesh. In addition to being a busy rodeo area, Opelousas and surrounding communities produced many jockeys, both in the thoroughbred and quarter horse ranks.
Billy Duhon was a fixture on the Louisiana racing circuit.
"He trained horses for 38 years at Evangeline Downs, Delta Downs and at the Fair Grounds," Duhon said. "I worked with him until I was in college."
Steve Duhon, who played football at LSU, turned to ProRodeo in 1985. He has been at the Timed Event Championship for 10 years. Steve is a three-time world champion in steer wrestling and is tied for the fastest run in history. Duhon and Bryan Fields share that mark of 3.0 seconds.
Duhon proved he is still in top form in his best event. But he didn't stop there.
Duhon was the fastest header in both sessions. In the afternoon, he was among the leaders in heeling and steer roping. He accomplished all five events in 49.8 seconds during the afternoon.
Friday, March 12, 2004
NEWS ROUNDUP
Lion trackers receive death threat An anonymous caller to the Arizona Game and Fish Department's Tucson office left a message stating he would shoot anyone tracking the mountain lions in Sabino Canyon, a department official said this morning. "It was a guy screaming and ranting and raving," Perry said. "He said, 'I'm going to get up on the ridges above Sabino Canyon with a high-powered rifle. If I see anybody following lions, I'm going to shoot them dead.'" Perry said Forest Service officials called him Thursday to report that they'd received a similar phone call.... Senate moves to fully fund Healthy Forests Act It increases the budget authority for hazardous fuels projects and the Healthy Forests Restoration Act by $343 million to reach the $760 million authorization of Title I in the law; currently, the Bush Administration budget slashes funds from other vital Forest Service programs and moves those dollar amounts into HFRA without providing real new funds for the law..... Column: The Bush administration packs the courts with anti-environmental judges A glance at federal court records suggests that the administration has already begun using the courts to weaken environmental protections. Department of Justice attorneys have consistently failed to defend legal challenges to strong environmental policies, such as the Clinton administration's Roadless Rule, which would protect more than 58 million acres of road-free national forest lands throughout the country. Add a well-placed smattering of anti-environment judges to the federal courts, and far greater damage could be done, Sugameli warned. According to the Senate Judiciary Committee, after almost three years of nominating and confirming, about 52 vacancies remain, or about 6 percent of the 877-member federal judiciary. About 50 nominations are waiting to be taken up by either the committee or the full Senate, which must give confirmation. Twenty-seven vacancies have been open for so long that they are considered judicial emergencies.... Grizzly populations spread south If the rate of grizzly bear population growth continues as it has for the past 20 years, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem could be at "full occupancy" within 25 years, biologists announced this week. The grizzly bear population is expanding fast south of Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks into southern Wyoming, Joel Berger, a senior scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society, wrote in the latest edition of Animal Conservation journal.... Probe: Aide didn't influence Klamath policy The Interior Department's inspector general has found no basis for a claim by Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry that White House political advisers interfered in developing water policy in the Northwest. Specifically, the inspector general said President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, was not involved in a 2002 decision to divert water from the Klamath River in Oregon to irrigate farms. While Rove mentioned the Klamath in passing during a briefing with senior Interior officials, "we found nothing to tie Karl Rove's comments ... to the Klamath decision-making process," Inspector General Earl Devaney said in a March 1 letter to Kerry.... Officials exterminate Madsion Valley wolf pack The second wolf pack that has been attacking cattle in the Madison Valley was wiped out Friday morning. Federal trappers flying in a helicopter east of Ennis Lake early Friday morning spotted five wolves out on a sagebrush plain and swooped in to shoot all of them, said Ed Bangs, wolf recovery leader for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "There are basically not any wolves left in the Madison Range," Bangs said late Friday afternoon.... Enzi requests wolf inquiries Two federal agencies have been asked to look into the effect of wolf management on landowners and local communities. The request to the Interior and Justice departments came Monday from Sen. Mike Enzi, who was responding to a request from the Park County commissioners based on a Feb. 14 incident on a Meeteetse ranch with a federal wolf official. Enzi is asking the departments to apply a "strict liability standard." Dubbed a "no excuse standard," it means "regardless of the reasons for the action, those taking the action are responsible for what happens," Enzi spokesman Coy Knobel said.... Park Service grants Pilgrims' road permit The National Park Service will allow a temporary access permit for a backwoods family's request to haul supplies on an old mining road to their remote cabin in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. However, the announcement comes too late to help the Pilgrim family this winter, a spokesman said. The route is impassible. "The biggest problem, we have six and a half feet of snow," Joseph Pilgrim, the family's oldest son, said Thursday. The Park Service said it will let the Pilgrim family use a bulldozer on the road when ground is frozen, covered by snow and resistant to damage. The road leads 14 miles to McCarthy. Joseph Pilgrim said he had not seen a proposed Park Service permit. The agency has invited the family to meet with park officials next week.... Digging Up Conflict On a high-desert mountain where prospectors first struck it rich in the 1860s, the world's largest gold mining company plans a major expansion that critics say could pollute the environment for tens of thousands of years. Newmont Mining Corp.'s proposed $200 million Phoenix project would cover nearly 10 square miles of northern Nevada, reclaiming parts of an existing 3,000-acre contaminated site and spreading gold mining operations over an additional 4,300 acres beginning in 2006. The Bureau of Land Management backs the project, but the Environmental Protection Agency agrees with a watchdog group's claims that the Denver-based company is dramatically underestimating the potential costs of environmental risks.... Humans, pipelines stall animal migration U.S. animal migration in places like the Yellowstone National Park are being cut off by encroaching human habitation and energy plants and pipelines. As a result of the migration problem, the Wildlife Conservation Society has issued a report calling for the establishment of "national migration corridors" to protect the routes these animals have used for the last 5,800 years, the New Scientist reported Friday. Virtually every large, migrating North American animal outside of Alaska lives in Yellowstone ecosystem, but many of their migration routes are being truncated because of human habitation and energy facilities, a report said.... Senate passes Hagel animal ID program A budget resolution for fiscal year 2005, passed late Thursday by the U.S. Senate, included a national animal identification program sponsored by Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb, and Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho. Under Hagel's amendment passed by the Senate, it would give the secretary of agriculture authority to implement a national animal identification program similar to the one developed by the National Identification Task Force, which was created by the livestock industry with the USDA to develop the U.S. Animal Identification Program in 2002.... Elmer Kelton, journalist and author of western novels Elmer Kelton is the author of more than 40 novels, including his latest, "Texas Vendetta," now on bookstore shelves. He is the winner of seven Spur awards from the Western Writers of America and has had three of his novels appear in Reader's Digest Condensed Books. Four have won Western Heritage Awards from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and one, "The Time It Never Rained," was made into a movie by Turner Network Television....
Lion trackers receive death threat An anonymous caller to the Arizona Game and Fish Department's Tucson office left a message stating he would shoot anyone tracking the mountain lions in Sabino Canyon, a department official said this morning. "It was a guy screaming and ranting and raving," Perry said. "He said, 'I'm going to get up on the ridges above Sabino Canyon with a high-powered rifle. If I see anybody following lions, I'm going to shoot them dead.'" Perry said Forest Service officials called him Thursday to report that they'd received a similar phone call.... Senate moves to fully fund Healthy Forests Act It increases the budget authority for hazardous fuels projects and the Healthy Forests Restoration Act by $343 million to reach the $760 million authorization of Title I in the law; currently, the Bush Administration budget slashes funds from other vital Forest Service programs and moves those dollar amounts into HFRA without providing real new funds for the law..... Column: The Bush administration packs the courts with anti-environmental judges A glance at federal court records suggests that the administration has already begun using the courts to weaken environmental protections. Department of Justice attorneys have consistently failed to defend legal challenges to strong environmental policies, such as the Clinton administration's Roadless Rule, which would protect more than 58 million acres of road-free national forest lands throughout the country. Add a well-placed smattering of anti-environment judges to the federal courts, and far greater damage could be done, Sugameli warned. According to the Senate Judiciary Committee, after almost three years of nominating and confirming, about 52 vacancies remain, or about 6 percent of the 877-member federal judiciary. About 50 nominations are waiting to be taken up by either the committee or the full Senate, which must give confirmation. Twenty-seven vacancies have been open for so long that they are considered judicial emergencies.... Grizzly populations spread south If the rate of grizzly bear population growth continues as it has for the past 20 years, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem could be at "full occupancy" within 25 years, biologists announced this week. The grizzly bear population is expanding fast south of Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks into southern Wyoming, Joel Berger, a senior scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society, wrote in the latest edition of Animal Conservation journal.... Probe: Aide didn't influence Klamath policy The Interior Department's inspector general has found no basis for a claim by Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry that White House political advisers interfered in developing water policy in the Northwest. Specifically, the inspector general said President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, was not involved in a 2002 decision to divert water from the Klamath River in Oregon to irrigate farms. While Rove mentioned the Klamath in passing during a briefing with senior Interior officials, "we found nothing to tie Karl Rove's comments ... to the Klamath decision-making process," Inspector General Earl Devaney said in a March 1 letter to Kerry.... Officials exterminate Madsion Valley wolf pack The second wolf pack that has been attacking cattle in the Madison Valley was wiped out Friday morning. Federal trappers flying in a helicopter east of Ennis Lake early Friday morning spotted five wolves out on a sagebrush plain and swooped in to shoot all of them, said Ed Bangs, wolf recovery leader for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "There are basically not any wolves left in the Madison Range," Bangs said late Friday afternoon.... Enzi requests wolf inquiries Two federal agencies have been asked to look into the effect of wolf management on landowners and local communities. The request to the Interior and Justice departments came Monday from Sen. Mike Enzi, who was responding to a request from the Park County commissioners based on a Feb. 14 incident on a Meeteetse ranch with a federal wolf official. Enzi is asking the departments to apply a "strict liability standard." Dubbed a "no excuse standard," it means "regardless of the reasons for the action, those taking the action are responsible for what happens," Enzi spokesman Coy Knobel said.... Park Service grants Pilgrims' road permit The National Park Service will allow a temporary access permit for a backwoods family's request to haul supplies on an old mining road to their remote cabin in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. However, the announcement comes too late to help the Pilgrim family this winter, a spokesman said. The route is impassible. "The biggest problem, we have six and a half feet of snow," Joseph Pilgrim, the family's oldest son, said Thursday. The Park Service said it will let the Pilgrim family use a bulldozer on the road when ground is frozen, covered by snow and resistant to damage. The road leads 14 miles to McCarthy. Joseph Pilgrim said he had not seen a proposed Park Service permit. The agency has invited the family to meet with park officials next week.... Digging Up Conflict On a high-desert mountain where prospectors first struck it rich in the 1860s, the world's largest gold mining company plans a major expansion that critics say could pollute the environment for tens of thousands of years. Newmont Mining Corp.'s proposed $200 million Phoenix project would cover nearly 10 square miles of northern Nevada, reclaiming parts of an existing 3,000-acre contaminated site and spreading gold mining operations over an additional 4,300 acres beginning in 2006. The Bureau of Land Management backs the project, but the Environmental Protection Agency agrees with a watchdog group's claims that the Denver-based company is dramatically underestimating the potential costs of environmental risks.... Humans, pipelines stall animal migration U.S. animal migration in places like the Yellowstone National Park are being cut off by encroaching human habitation and energy plants and pipelines. As a result of the migration problem, the Wildlife Conservation Society has issued a report calling for the establishment of "national migration corridors" to protect the routes these animals have used for the last 5,800 years, the New Scientist reported Friday. Virtually every large, migrating North American animal outside of Alaska lives in Yellowstone ecosystem, but many of their migration routes are being truncated because of human habitation and energy facilities, a report said.... Senate passes Hagel animal ID program A budget resolution for fiscal year 2005, passed late Thursday by the U.S. Senate, included a national animal identification program sponsored by Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb, and Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho. Under Hagel's amendment passed by the Senate, it would give the secretary of agriculture authority to implement a national animal identification program similar to the one developed by the National Identification Task Force, which was created by the livestock industry with the USDA to develop the U.S. Animal Identification Program in 2002.... Elmer Kelton, journalist and author of western novels Elmer Kelton is the author of more than 40 novels, including his latest, "Texas Vendetta," now on bookstore shelves. He is the winner of seven Spur awards from the Western Writers of America and has had three of his novels appear in Reader's Digest Condensed Books. Four have won Western Heritage Awards from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and one, "The Time It Never Rained," was made into a movie by Turner Network Television....
Cattle roundup begins on Diamond Bar
Gathering, removal and impoundment of cattle from the Diamond Bar allotment on the Gila National Forest is under way, according to a notice from the Forest Supervisor's Office.
Forest Service spokeswoman Andrea Martinez said this morning about 90 cattle have been gathered.
"There are five cowboys, with two more expected today, when the process is expected to be fully operational," Martinez said, adding that air reconnaissance has been used to locate livestock on the 146,000-acre allotment.
Forest Service officials said Thursday that most of the cattle on the federal allotment belong to ranchers Kit and Sherry Laney. Officials plan to impound the cattle until they can be sold at auction, according to The Associated Press.
The Laneys contend they are entitled to surface rights on the Diamond Bar, claiming historical use of the allotment predates the authority of the Forest Service. They have argued they own a "vested fee interest" in areas the federal government claims to control, and that such an interest is similar to owning mineral rights or another easement on the land. In their case, the ownership is tied to both water rights and the land that is incidental to the water rights for grazing.
The ranchers have alleged that the roundup is illegal and that the impoundment is potentially a criminal offense, resulting in "an unconstitutional jurisdiction over us and our life, liberty and property."
The Laneys have said they will not interfere with the roundup, but would monitor the event with video recordings, and expect to prosecute those responsible for the roundup, according to an Associated Press wire story.
Martinez said the cattle are being gathered by cowboys, and will remain in corrals on forest land adjacent to the MeOwn Firebase until they are sold at auction. The Laneys can reclaim the cattle before any sale, but must show proof of ownership and pay the Gila for the costs of impoundment, she said.
Courts have ruled against the Laneys, ordering the removal of their cattle, but have done so without acknowledging the fee interest claim. A fee interest is inheritable, taxable property, the Laneys say.
On Dec. 22, 2003, U.S. District Judge William Johnson in federal district court in Albuquerque cited the Laneys for unauthorized grazing and called for the removal of all livestock from the allotment.
The ruling marks the second time the ranchers have been called on to remove all livestock from the Diamond Bar.
In March 1996, U.S. District Judge Howard C. Bratton called for the removal of "unauthorized livestock" from the Diamond Bar and assessed the Laneys fees for grazing without a permit and unspecified damages "flowing from unauthorized use."
A federal judge in December awarded the U.S. Forest Service grazing fees and damages after finding the couple in contempt of court for grazing cattle on allotments in violation of earlier court orders.
The judge ruled they were bound by 1996 and 1997 orders and never had "a vested property right.'' The court ruled earlier the allotments were national forest and that the cattle company did not have a legal right to possess or use that land.
The Laneys argued the government could not stop the grazing because they had private property rights based on historical use predating the forest's creation. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver dismissed the same argument in 1999.
"I don't disagree that the Forest Service has administrative authority over the Gila River Forest Reserve, as it was reserved under presidential proclamation in 1899," Laney recently told the Daily Press.
"I challenge everybody to read (the U.S. Supreme Court decision) United States versus New Mexico to determine what it was that was reserved. It was not aesthetics, wildlife preservation or stock watering. It was reserved for a sustained yield of timber and a sustained flow of water.
"The grazing permit says you're using property belonging to the U.S. government. The catch is in ranchers' own ignorance for signing the permit.
"The federal district court has ordered that our cattle must be removed from national forest system lands. However, the court did not dispute the fact that we have a privately-owned deeded fee interest in the lands within the boundaries of our ranches that is not part of the national forest system lands," the Laneys have stated.
The Forest Service is withholding the name of the contractor conducting the roundup at the contractor's request, Martinez said. A Freedom of Information Act request must be filed to get the name, she said.
The roundup is expected to take several weeks. Meanwhile, a temporary area closure for the Diamond Bar remains in effect under Forest Service guidelines.
According to a news release from the agency, the closure is being implemented to allow the contractor to gather, impound and remove unauthorized livestock.
Annette Chavez, Wilderness District ranger on the forest, has stated the closure is necessary for public safety, and protection of property, and is designed to minimize public activities that may hinder the gathering and removal of livestock so that the effort may proceed "in a safe and efficient manner for everyone involved."
The area closure will be reviewed periodically to determine its usefulness, she said.
The closure prohibits entry along Forest Road 150 on forest land south of Wall Lake, then south to the south rim of Rocky Canyon, as well as the 147,000-acre Diamond Bar Allotment.
Private property owners will be allowed to travel to and from their properties. In addition, federal, state or local law enforcement officers, or members of any organized rescue or firefighting unit in the performance of official duties are permitted access. Other exceptions include people with a specific permit authorized by the Gila National Forest Supervisor's Office.
The following hiking trails are closed:
Trail No. 40 to Diamond Creek and Middle Diamond Creek from the junction of Forest Road 150 to the junction of Continental Divide Trail No. 74;
Continental Divide Trail No. 74 from the junction of Trail No. 40 south to the junction of Trail No. 74;
Trail No. 74 to the junction of Forest Road 150, encompassing trails 75, 76, 75A, 72, 481, 73, 707, 68, 69, 67 and 308; and
Trail Nos. 803, 700, 95, 94, 716, 708 and 713.
Complete maps of closed areas are available at district ranger offices.
Gathering, removal and impoundment of cattle from the Diamond Bar allotment on the Gila National Forest is under way, according to a notice from the Forest Supervisor's Office.
Forest Service spokeswoman Andrea Martinez said this morning about 90 cattle have been gathered.
"There are five cowboys, with two more expected today, when the process is expected to be fully operational," Martinez said, adding that air reconnaissance has been used to locate livestock on the 146,000-acre allotment.
Forest Service officials said Thursday that most of the cattle on the federal allotment belong to ranchers Kit and Sherry Laney. Officials plan to impound the cattle until they can be sold at auction, according to The Associated Press.
The Laneys contend they are entitled to surface rights on the Diamond Bar, claiming historical use of the allotment predates the authority of the Forest Service. They have argued they own a "vested fee interest" in areas the federal government claims to control, and that such an interest is similar to owning mineral rights or another easement on the land. In their case, the ownership is tied to both water rights and the land that is incidental to the water rights for grazing.
The ranchers have alleged that the roundup is illegal and that the impoundment is potentially a criminal offense, resulting in "an unconstitutional jurisdiction over us and our life, liberty and property."
The Laneys have said they will not interfere with the roundup, but would monitor the event with video recordings, and expect to prosecute those responsible for the roundup, according to an Associated Press wire story.
Martinez said the cattle are being gathered by cowboys, and will remain in corrals on forest land adjacent to the MeOwn Firebase until they are sold at auction. The Laneys can reclaim the cattle before any sale, but must show proof of ownership and pay the Gila for the costs of impoundment, she said.
Courts have ruled against the Laneys, ordering the removal of their cattle, but have done so without acknowledging the fee interest claim. A fee interest is inheritable, taxable property, the Laneys say.
On Dec. 22, 2003, U.S. District Judge William Johnson in federal district court in Albuquerque cited the Laneys for unauthorized grazing and called for the removal of all livestock from the allotment.
The ruling marks the second time the ranchers have been called on to remove all livestock from the Diamond Bar.
In March 1996, U.S. District Judge Howard C. Bratton called for the removal of "unauthorized livestock" from the Diamond Bar and assessed the Laneys fees for grazing without a permit and unspecified damages "flowing from unauthorized use."
A federal judge in December awarded the U.S. Forest Service grazing fees and damages after finding the couple in contempt of court for grazing cattle on allotments in violation of earlier court orders.
The judge ruled they were bound by 1996 and 1997 orders and never had "a vested property right.'' The court ruled earlier the allotments were national forest and that the cattle company did not have a legal right to possess or use that land.
The Laneys argued the government could not stop the grazing because they had private property rights based on historical use predating the forest's creation. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver dismissed the same argument in 1999.
"I don't disagree that the Forest Service has administrative authority over the Gila River Forest Reserve, as it was reserved under presidential proclamation in 1899," Laney recently told the Daily Press.
"I challenge everybody to read (the U.S. Supreme Court decision) United States versus New Mexico to determine what it was that was reserved. It was not aesthetics, wildlife preservation or stock watering. It was reserved for a sustained yield of timber and a sustained flow of water.
"The grazing permit says you're using property belonging to the U.S. government. The catch is in ranchers' own ignorance for signing the permit.
"The federal district court has ordered that our cattle must be removed from national forest system lands. However, the court did not dispute the fact that we have a privately-owned deeded fee interest in the lands within the boundaries of our ranches that is not part of the national forest system lands," the Laneys have stated.
The Forest Service is withholding the name of the contractor conducting the roundup at the contractor's request, Martinez said. A Freedom of Information Act request must be filed to get the name, she said.
The roundup is expected to take several weeks. Meanwhile, a temporary area closure for the Diamond Bar remains in effect under Forest Service guidelines.
According to a news release from the agency, the closure is being implemented to allow the contractor to gather, impound and remove unauthorized livestock.
Annette Chavez, Wilderness District ranger on the forest, has stated the closure is necessary for public safety, and protection of property, and is designed to minimize public activities that may hinder the gathering and removal of livestock so that the effort may proceed "in a safe and efficient manner for everyone involved."
The area closure will be reviewed periodically to determine its usefulness, she said.
The closure prohibits entry along Forest Road 150 on forest land south of Wall Lake, then south to the south rim of Rocky Canyon, as well as the 147,000-acre Diamond Bar Allotment.
Private property owners will be allowed to travel to and from their properties. In addition, federal, state or local law enforcement officers, or members of any organized rescue or firefighting unit in the performance of official duties are permitted access. Other exceptions include people with a specific permit authorized by the Gila National Forest Supervisor's Office.
The following hiking trails are closed:
Trail No. 40 to Diamond Creek and Middle Diamond Creek from the junction of Forest Road 150 to the junction of Continental Divide Trail No. 74;
Continental Divide Trail No. 74 from the junction of Trail No. 40 south to the junction of Trail No. 74;
Trail No. 74 to the junction of Forest Road 150, encompassing trails 75, 76, 75A, 72, 481, 73, 707, 68, 69, 67 and 308; and
Trail Nos. 803, 700, 95, 94, 716, 708 and 713.
Complete maps of closed areas are available at district ranger offices.
DIAMOND BAR CATTLE COMPANY/ALBQ JOURNAL EDITORIAL & RESPONSE
Laney Saga Tainting Responsible Ranchers
Kit Laney bet the ranch on a flimsy legal claim to grazing rights -- without the benefit of a grazing permit. Now, as Forest Service officials prepare to round up his herd, Laney is trying to spook other ranchers.
"If they can take mine, they can sure as hell ... take what everyone else has." Laney told the New Mexico Livestock Board last week.
Laney isn't "everyone." In a business that has an inescapable element of public relations -- public-lands ranching -- Laney has been a PR disaster.
After the number of cattle on the mostly wilderness-area allotment in the Gila National Forest was effectively slashed, Laney let his permit lapse.
But he continued to graze the cattle under an obscure property-right theory that was rejected in U.S. District Court and by the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The herd was removed from the allotment in 1997, but Laney brought the cattle back about a year ago, asserting a similarly obscure right.
One rancher at the meeting said the Forest Service "is our worst enemy." That's true -- if a rancher's allotment is not being properly managed, efforts to improve the publicly owned range are resisted and the rancher defies established procedures, like grazing permits.
Laney's attempts to paint himself as the first of many victims of the Forest Service tars the vast majority of ranchers who responsibly graze cattle on public lands.
LAURA SCHNEBERGER'S RESPONSE
3-11-04
Dear Editor,
The Albuquerque Journbal editorial, Laney Saga Tainting Responsible Ranchers; about Kit Laney's attitude being the problem in his dealings with the USFS is so far off the mark it isn't even funny.
Kit Laney isn't trying to scare other ranchers he was simply the first in this region to have to deal with the tyrannical and often vindictive behavior of certain employees of the USFS.
When a government agency can violate it's own word and it's own contracts time after time and get away with it, at an individuals expense, someone needs to stand up to them and say no more. In 1995 the USFS saw to it that the Laney's wouldn't have a home by taking away the livelihood attached to that home. While they were working on Kit and Sherry, Region 3 of the USFS went after the entire Tonto Basin in Arizona. Not a cowman remains in historic ranchland but their are a lot of empty homes. Then it was the Apache Sitgreeves. The Gila forest, in which the Laney's ranch, was subject to several dozen entire and partial allotment use removals, let's not forget the Goss's on the Sacramento or the Hispanic ranchers in the northern part of the state. In other words Kit hasn't scared anyone, they are already scared by what the Region 3 USFS is being allowed to systematically and arbitrarily do to them.
The only thing Kit did wrong in his original court cases, was employ an attorney that didn't specialize in the argument and how best to present it. Legally the argument was inadequate. Fundamentally, the Laney's are standing on terra firma, or should I say fee interest. They are correct about their of ownership property rights on federally administered land. Simplified example: If you own a car and park it in a federally owned parking lot, and the feds write a regulation allowing them to close the lot and take away access to your car, do you not have a right to challenge that regulation if, as in this case, congressional statute backs you up? I believe you have every right and shouldn't have to suffer the wrath of the agency simply because you are willing to fight for your rights. Where would this nation be if people failed to fight for their rights?
Over 100 years of congressional statute back the Laney's up over the fee interest land argument and so do a half a dozen state supreme court cases, not to mention US Vs. New Mexico 1978. The fundamental argument has already been won several times.
The author of the column states Kit lost in both the 1996 and 1997 cases, losing such a case is pretty easy to do when you are dealing with a new and untried situation and don't have the means to hire adequate representation. However, it isn't that simple. Take the time to read the actual rulings, they spell out the fact that the various judges thought the Laney's argument had many errors and they lost based on those errors. The Judges also state that under state law, they did own the water, but the courts were at a loss as to how the water tied to the grazing rights or fee interest. The Laney' were unable to connect the dots and the USFS made the argument that it was through the permitting system. At the time the Laney's attorneys were unable to answer the questions relating to that part of the argument. The Hage ruling, 6 years later, clarified the clear intent of congress in 100 years of statute. The USFS lands are subject to valid existing and vested rights. There are right of ways throughout the forest lands that the inholders have a vested right to use, not just for travel but also for agricultural and stockraising purposes. The Laney's needed to educate the Judges on those statutes and rulings. Federal courts do not have to answer questions that aren't asked, they do not have to look after the rights of the individuals in their courtrooms.
The Laney's lost both rulings by default. Mistakes are often made in this type of situation. That doesn't mean the people involved are criminals or even deserving of the treatment they receive.
Since that happened, the argument they should have used has been through the US Court of Claims and at least one federal district court and won hands down.
They have paved the way for the correct argument to go before the courts and when it does, ranchers in the southwest will finally have some stability. The USFS habit of stealing the private property rights of ranchers and other inholders on these lands to satisfy the big green money machine, will have to be broken.
The Laney's may or may not win this one but someone has to throw themselves on the grenade. That is how ranchers across the west see Kit and Sherry. They are helping to pave the way for every other rancher in the west to make the correct argument and they had backbone enough to do what it takes to call an enormous amount of attention to the injustices done to the people on these lands so that it may never happen again.
I am not tainted by being their neighbor and a rancher I am a better and a smarter person for having seen them through this mess. I feel as if God has placed me here during this crisis for a purpose beyond what I ever expected out of my life.
Anyone in this business that thinks otherwise has a lot to learn about the big picture and what is actually going on out on these lands and why ranchers all over the west are rising up and defending the Laney's.
Sincerely
Laura Schneberger
Laney Saga Tainting Responsible Ranchers
Kit Laney bet the ranch on a flimsy legal claim to grazing rights -- without the benefit of a grazing permit. Now, as Forest Service officials prepare to round up his herd, Laney is trying to spook other ranchers.
"If they can take mine, they can sure as hell ... take what everyone else has." Laney told the New Mexico Livestock Board last week.
Laney isn't "everyone." In a business that has an inescapable element of public relations -- public-lands ranching -- Laney has been a PR disaster.
After the number of cattle on the mostly wilderness-area allotment in the Gila National Forest was effectively slashed, Laney let his permit lapse.
But he continued to graze the cattle under an obscure property-right theory that was rejected in U.S. District Court and by the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The herd was removed from the allotment in 1997, but Laney brought the cattle back about a year ago, asserting a similarly obscure right.
One rancher at the meeting said the Forest Service "is our worst enemy." That's true -- if a rancher's allotment is not being properly managed, efforts to improve the publicly owned range are resisted and the rancher defies established procedures, like grazing permits.
Laney's attempts to paint himself as the first of many victims of the Forest Service tars the vast majority of ranchers who responsibly graze cattle on public lands.
LAURA SCHNEBERGER'S RESPONSE
3-11-04
Dear Editor,
The Albuquerque Journbal editorial, Laney Saga Tainting Responsible Ranchers; about Kit Laney's attitude being the problem in his dealings with the USFS is so far off the mark it isn't even funny.
Kit Laney isn't trying to scare other ranchers he was simply the first in this region to have to deal with the tyrannical and often vindictive behavior of certain employees of the USFS.
When a government agency can violate it's own word and it's own contracts time after time and get away with it, at an individuals expense, someone needs to stand up to them and say no more. In 1995 the USFS saw to it that the Laney's wouldn't have a home by taking away the livelihood attached to that home. While they were working on Kit and Sherry, Region 3 of the USFS went after the entire Tonto Basin in Arizona. Not a cowman remains in historic ranchland but their are a lot of empty homes. Then it was the Apache Sitgreeves. The Gila forest, in which the Laney's ranch, was subject to several dozen entire and partial allotment use removals, let's not forget the Goss's on the Sacramento or the Hispanic ranchers in the northern part of the state. In other words Kit hasn't scared anyone, they are already scared by what the Region 3 USFS is being allowed to systematically and arbitrarily do to them.
The only thing Kit did wrong in his original court cases, was employ an attorney that didn't specialize in the argument and how best to present it. Legally the argument was inadequate. Fundamentally, the Laney's are standing on terra firma, or should I say fee interest. They are correct about their of ownership property rights on federally administered land. Simplified example: If you own a car and park it in a federally owned parking lot, and the feds write a regulation allowing them to close the lot and take away access to your car, do you not have a right to challenge that regulation if, as in this case, congressional statute backs you up? I believe you have every right and shouldn't have to suffer the wrath of the agency simply because you are willing to fight for your rights. Where would this nation be if people failed to fight for their rights?
Over 100 years of congressional statute back the Laney's up over the fee interest land argument and so do a half a dozen state supreme court cases, not to mention US Vs. New Mexico 1978. The fundamental argument has already been won several times.
The author of the column states Kit lost in both the 1996 and 1997 cases, losing such a case is pretty easy to do when you are dealing with a new and untried situation and don't have the means to hire adequate representation. However, it isn't that simple. Take the time to read the actual rulings, they spell out the fact that the various judges thought the Laney's argument had many errors and they lost based on those errors. The Judges also state that under state law, they did own the water, but the courts were at a loss as to how the water tied to the grazing rights or fee interest. The Laney' were unable to connect the dots and the USFS made the argument that it was through the permitting system. At the time the Laney's attorneys were unable to answer the questions relating to that part of the argument. The Hage ruling, 6 years later, clarified the clear intent of congress in 100 years of statute. The USFS lands are subject to valid existing and vested rights. There are right of ways throughout the forest lands that the inholders have a vested right to use, not just for travel but also for agricultural and stockraising purposes. The Laney's needed to educate the Judges on those statutes and rulings. Federal courts do not have to answer questions that aren't asked, they do not have to look after the rights of the individuals in their courtrooms.
The Laney's lost both rulings by default. Mistakes are often made in this type of situation. That doesn't mean the people involved are criminals or even deserving of the treatment they receive.
Since that happened, the argument they should have used has been through the US Court of Claims and at least one federal district court and won hands down.
They have paved the way for the correct argument to go before the courts and when it does, ranchers in the southwest will finally have some stability. The USFS habit of stealing the private property rights of ranchers and other inholders on these lands to satisfy the big green money machine, will have to be broken.
The Laney's may or may not win this one but someone has to throw themselves on the grenade. That is how ranchers across the west see Kit and Sherry. They are helping to pave the way for every other rancher in the west to make the correct argument and they had backbone enough to do what it takes to call an enormous amount of attention to the injustices done to the people on these lands so that it may never happen again.
I am not tainted by being their neighbor and a rancher I am a better and a smarter person for having seen them through this mess. I feel as if God has placed me here during this crisis for a purpose beyond what I ever expected out of my life.
Anyone in this business that thinks otherwise has a lot to learn about the big picture and what is actually going on out on these lands and why ranchers all over the west are rising up and defending the Laney's.
Sincerely
Laura Schneberger
Thursday, March 11, 2004
NEWS ROUNDUP
Protestors want Sabino Canyon cougars to survive Halt the hunt. That’s what protestors yelled out Wednesday in an effort to stop the killing of mountain lions in Sabino Canyon. A decision that protestors, even Arizona's governor, say was made too quickly with no public input. Signs, banners and voices covered the sidewalk in front of Tucson's federal building downtown. Demonstrators say they’re outraged that the U.S. Forest Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department are moving ahead with their plan to kill the mountain lions in Sabino Canyon.... Napolitano displeased decision to kill cougars made without her, public input Gov. Janet Napolitano is upset the decision to shoot Sabino Canyon's mountain lions was made without input from the public or her office. "While I agree that public safety is paramount, I'm disturbed by the decision - by the U.S. Forest Service and Arizona Game & Fish - to kill cougars in Sabino Canyon," Napolitano said in a prepared statement Thursday. "For several months, my office has been aware of the sightings and some heightened concern about mountain lions, yet the decision to shoot was apparently made abruptly within the last few days with little public input or exploration of other options.".... Forest service backs off snowmobile bridge After settling a lawsuit with a local environmental group, Flathead National Forest has backed off on plans to allow a snowmobiling bridge in the Lost Johnny Basin west of Hungry Horse Reservoir. The Swan View Coalition sued the Forest Service in January, contending the Hungry Horse Ranger District wrongfully approved a special use permit for a portable bridge that allowed snowmobilers to conveniently reach the upper Lost Johnny Basin in the spring. A settlement approved by U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy on Tuesday requires the bridge to be blocked or removed by March 15. Keith Hammer, chairman of the coalition, contended that Amendment 19 to the Flathead Forest Plan bans snowmobiling in the basin after March 15 to provide habitat security for grizzly bears emerging from their dens.... Grizzly bears flourishing in Yellowstone The grizzly bear, on the edge of extinction in the lower 48 states just 25 years ago, is recolonizing its habitat south of Yellowstone National Park for the first time in a hundred years, a study has found. The study, by Denver Zoo biologist Sanjay Byare and several other bear biologists, concluded southern expansion from Yellowstone by grizzlies now is doubling every 20 years. In the early 1980s, a study of the grizzly population in the greater Yellowstone area found fewer than 200 bears, and projected that the bear could be extinct by the 2000. Instead, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team estimated there now are a minimum of 500 bears in the ecosystem -- probably more -- and the population is healthy and expanding at the rate of about 4 percent per year. "It is a tremendous success story," Steve Thomas, the Sierra Club's regional director of the Northern Plains region, told United Press International. Thomas added, however, the area designated as the "core habitat" for the bear should be increased before wildlife officials consider removing the animal from the Endangered Species List. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to propose removing the bear from the list by the end of this year.... Forest Service hired PR firm to promote increased logging The U.S. Forest Service paid a San Francisco public relations firm $90,000 to develop a campaign to generate public support for its plan to triple logging in the 11 national forests of the Sierra Nevada, according to documents released yesterday. The plan for the PR campaign included a confidentiality clause, suggesting that revealing its existence could be misinterpreted by the public. The Forest Service signed a contract with the firm in December. It told the Associated Press in January there was no cost breakdown for a promotional effort. The Forest Service also did not disclose the contract in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by an environmental group.... Groups Move to Block Regulations That Cut Wildlife Experts out of the Loop When Assessing Impact of Forest Fire Plans New regulations issued by the Bush Administration seriously and unnecessarily undermine a cornerstone provision of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), according to a coalition of conservation organizations that today announced their intention to have the rules overturned in court. The ESA requires that every federal agency consult with federal wildlife agencies, including the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), to ensure that they avoid any action which is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered or threatened species. Under the Administration's new regulations, the Forest Service and other federal agencies would no longer be required to consult with the FWS on thousands of logging, road building and other activities the Administration labels as fire prevention. Groups expressed concern that the forest fire rules allow the Forest Service to designate virtually any project as a fire prevention activity, opening the door to hundreds, perhaps thousands of projects harmful to endangered wildlife, in particular the lynx, which makes it home in the Rockies.... Editorial: Measure progress in acres, not dollars It is more than a little ironic, of course, to hear environmentalists who fought hard to block passage of the Healthy Forests legislation now complain that the administration isn't going all-out to accomplish the work they opposed. Our inclination, however, is to focus more on results than on the dollar figures. Montanans should be as concerned as anyone over the ability of the U.S. Forest Service to fulfill the goals set forth in the Healthy Forests law. While we maintain that proponents of the measure overstated the government's ability to dramatically reduce wildfire dangers, there's no question that many of our forests are overgrown and will benefit from some enlightened logging and thinning.... Groups set ESA deadline Federal officials will have until October to respond to a petition seeking Endangered Species Act protection for the white-tailed prairie dog under an agreement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and conservationists. A coalition of conservation groups reached a settlement with the Service this week that will give the agency until Oct. 31 to make a preliminary finding on the group's petition. The coalition in 2002 petitioned the Service to list the white-tailed prairie dog as threatened or endangered in accordance with ESA requirements. When issued in October, the preliminary 90-day finding will be more than two years late.... Some Pacific Swordfish Fishing Banned The federal government banned commercial fishing for swordfish in a large swath of the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, in a move to protect endangered sea turtles that were being killed or injured by the hooks. The new rules, released by the National Marine Fisheries Service, prohibit longline fishing for swordfish in the Pacific between the West Coast and Hawaii. The ban, scheduled to take effect April 12, will affect about two dozen fishing boats based in California, Oregon and Washington. Recreational fishing is not affected.... Conservationists, ranchers disagree over grazing in the West Conservationists and ranchers are butting heads over a Bush administration plan to ease regulations that dictate how, when and where livestock can graze on public lands in the West. Sportsmen, environmentalists and retired Bureau of Land Management employees say the proposed changes would make it harder for the federal government to protect drought-stricken public lands in the West from overgrazing. But ranchers and the Bush administration say changes are needed to improve the way the grazing program is managed and to help ranchers stay in business.... Montana attorney general seeks high court ruling on Missouri River feud Attorney General Mike McGrath wants the U.S. Supreme Court to help settle the ongoing dispute over managing the Missouri River. McGrath filed a "friend of the court" brief Wednesday, asking the Supreme Court to hear an appeal of a lawsuit brought by North Dakota and South Dakota. The lawsuit contends the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' management of the river illegally favors downstream states. By giving higher priority to barge traffic on stretches of the river in such states as Nebraska and Missouri, the corps is releasing too much water from upstream reservoirs in Montana and the Dakotas and harming fish, wildlife and recreation, McGrath said.... In Alaska, Rancher Is Offered Park Access As long as there's snow on the ground and ice in the creek, the Alaskan who calls himself Papa Pilgrim can drive a bulldozer nine times in the next 13 months across the largest national park in the United States, according to the National Park Service. By granting a temporary access permit to Pilgrim, whose real name is Robert Allan Hale, the Park Service moved on Thursday to resolve a dispute that has become a cause célèbre among land-rights activists. The government's offer, however, will be rejected, according to Pilgrim's lawyer, Russell C. Brooks of the Pacific Legal Foundation, which champions land rights. "This is what the park has tried to offer all along, and it is not adequate," Brooks said. By coincidence, just as the Park Service was offering a permit to the Pilgrims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit announced on Thursday that it will hear Pilgrim's appeal on a lawsuit demanding greater park access.... BLM moves to strengthen agencies' roles Bureau of Land Management Director Kathleen Clarke said the agency is moving to strengthen the role of local, state and tribal agencies in developing land use plans for the public lands under the BLM's jurisdiction. Clarke said the agency is proposing to modify its regulations to formally recognize and define the standing local, state, tribal and federal entities of government may be granted as "Cooperating Agencies" in the planning process.... Enviros sue BLM over rangeland health rules The Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA) and Western Watersheds Project have sued the Bureau of Land Management, alleging that the agency has failed to comply with rangeland health regulations in the Louse Canyon Geographic Management Area in southeast Oregon. The lawsuit, filed Monday, alleges that the BLM illegally withheld action to change management in the Louse Canyon Area. The BLM's own regulations, the Fundamentals of Rangeland Health (FRH), require livestock management changes before the next grazing season when livestock are determined to be the cause of failure.... Four-wheelers tread legal ground on trails Attorneys for off-road-vehicle groups asked a federal appeals court Wednesday to allow them to sue the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to open a proposed wilderness area in southern New Mexico to their machines. The Southwest Four Wheel Drive Association and the Las Cruces Four Wheel Drive Club are asking the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a lower court's dismissal of their 2000 lawsuit challenging the closure of most of the trails in the Robledo Mountains....
Protestors want Sabino Canyon cougars to survive Halt the hunt. That’s what protestors yelled out Wednesday in an effort to stop the killing of mountain lions in Sabino Canyon. A decision that protestors, even Arizona's governor, say was made too quickly with no public input. Signs, banners and voices covered the sidewalk in front of Tucson's federal building downtown. Demonstrators say they’re outraged that the U.S. Forest Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department are moving ahead with their plan to kill the mountain lions in Sabino Canyon.... Napolitano displeased decision to kill cougars made without her, public input Gov. Janet Napolitano is upset the decision to shoot Sabino Canyon's mountain lions was made without input from the public or her office. "While I agree that public safety is paramount, I'm disturbed by the decision - by the U.S. Forest Service and Arizona Game & Fish - to kill cougars in Sabino Canyon," Napolitano said in a prepared statement Thursday. "For several months, my office has been aware of the sightings and some heightened concern about mountain lions, yet the decision to shoot was apparently made abruptly within the last few days with little public input or exploration of other options.".... Forest service backs off snowmobile bridge After settling a lawsuit with a local environmental group, Flathead National Forest has backed off on plans to allow a snowmobiling bridge in the Lost Johnny Basin west of Hungry Horse Reservoir. The Swan View Coalition sued the Forest Service in January, contending the Hungry Horse Ranger District wrongfully approved a special use permit for a portable bridge that allowed snowmobilers to conveniently reach the upper Lost Johnny Basin in the spring. A settlement approved by U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy on Tuesday requires the bridge to be blocked or removed by March 15. Keith Hammer, chairman of the coalition, contended that Amendment 19 to the Flathead Forest Plan bans snowmobiling in the basin after March 15 to provide habitat security for grizzly bears emerging from their dens.... Grizzly bears flourishing in Yellowstone The grizzly bear, on the edge of extinction in the lower 48 states just 25 years ago, is recolonizing its habitat south of Yellowstone National Park for the first time in a hundred years, a study has found. The study, by Denver Zoo biologist Sanjay Byare and several other bear biologists, concluded southern expansion from Yellowstone by grizzlies now is doubling every 20 years. In the early 1980s, a study of the grizzly population in the greater Yellowstone area found fewer than 200 bears, and projected that the bear could be extinct by the 2000. Instead, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team estimated there now are a minimum of 500 bears in the ecosystem -- probably more -- and the population is healthy and expanding at the rate of about 4 percent per year. "It is a tremendous success story," Steve Thomas, the Sierra Club's regional director of the Northern Plains region, told United Press International. Thomas added, however, the area designated as the "core habitat" for the bear should be increased before wildlife officials consider removing the animal from the Endangered Species List. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to propose removing the bear from the list by the end of this year.... Forest Service hired PR firm to promote increased logging The U.S. Forest Service paid a San Francisco public relations firm $90,000 to develop a campaign to generate public support for its plan to triple logging in the 11 national forests of the Sierra Nevada, according to documents released yesterday. The plan for the PR campaign included a confidentiality clause, suggesting that revealing its existence could be misinterpreted by the public. The Forest Service signed a contract with the firm in December. It told the Associated Press in January there was no cost breakdown for a promotional effort. The Forest Service also did not disclose the contract in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by an environmental group.... Groups Move to Block Regulations That Cut Wildlife Experts out of the Loop When Assessing Impact of Forest Fire Plans New regulations issued by the Bush Administration seriously and unnecessarily undermine a cornerstone provision of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), according to a coalition of conservation organizations that today announced their intention to have the rules overturned in court. The ESA requires that every federal agency consult with federal wildlife agencies, including the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), to ensure that they avoid any action which is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered or threatened species. Under the Administration's new regulations, the Forest Service and other federal agencies would no longer be required to consult with the FWS on thousands of logging, road building and other activities the Administration labels as fire prevention. Groups expressed concern that the forest fire rules allow the Forest Service to designate virtually any project as a fire prevention activity, opening the door to hundreds, perhaps thousands of projects harmful to endangered wildlife, in particular the lynx, which makes it home in the Rockies.... Editorial: Measure progress in acres, not dollars It is more than a little ironic, of course, to hear environmentalists who fought hard to block passage of the Healthy Forests legislation now complain that the administration isn't going all-out to accomplish the work they opposed. Our inclination, however, is to focus more on results than on the dollar figures. Montanans should be as concerned as anyone over the ability of the U.S. Forest Service to fulfill the goals set forth in the Healthy Forests law. While we maintain that proponents of the measure overstated the government's ability to dramatically reduce wildfire dangers, there's no question that many of our forests are overgrown and will benefit from some enlightened logging and thinning.... Groups set ESA deadline Federal officials will have until October to respond to a petition seeking Endangered Species Act protection for the white-tailed prairie dog under an agreement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and conservationists. A coalition of conservation groups reached a settlement with the Service this week that will give the agency until Oct. 31 to make a preliminary finding on the group's petition. The coalition in 2002 petitioned the Service to list the white-tailed prairie dog as threatened or endangered in accordance with ESA requirements. When issued in October, the preliminary 90-day finding will be more than two years late.... Some Pacific Swordfish Fishing Banned The federal government banned commercial fishing for swordfish in a large swath of the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, in a move to protect endangered sea turtles that were being killed or injured by the hooks. The new rules, released by the National Marine Fisheries Service, prohibit longline fishing for swordfish in the Pacific between the West Coast and Hawaii. The ban, scheduled to take effect April 12, will affect about two dozen fishing boats based in California, Oregon and Washington. Recreational fishing is not affected.... Conservationists, ranchers disagree over grazing in the West Conservationists and ranchers are butting heads over a Bush administration plan to ease regulations that dictate how, when and where livestock can graze on public lands in the West. Sportsmen, environmentalists and retired Bureau of Land Management employees say the proposed changes would make it harder for the federal government to protect drought-stricken public lands in the West from overgrazing. But ranchers and the Bush administration say changes are needed to improve the way the grazing program is managed and to help ranchers stay in business.... Montana attorney general seeks high court ruling on Missouri River feud Attorney General Mike McGrath wants the U.S. Supreme Court to help settle the ongoing dispute over managing the Missouri River. McGrath filed a "friend of the court" brief Wednesday, asking the Supreme Court to hear an appeal of a lawsuit brought by North Dakota and South Dakota. The lawsuit contends the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' management of the river illegally favors downstream states. By giving higher priority to barge traffic on stretches of the river in such states as Nebraska and Missouri, the corps is releasing too much water from upstream reservoirs in Montana and the Dakotas and harming fish, wildlife and recreation, McGrath said.... In Alaska, Rancher Is Offered Park Access As long as there's snow on the ground and ice in the creek, the Alaskan who calls himself Papa Pilgrim can drive a bulldozer nine times in the next 13 months across the largest national park in the United States, according to the National Park Service. By granting a temporary access permit to Pilgrim, whose real name is Robert Allan Hale, the Park Service moved on Thursday to resolve a dispute that has become a cause célèbre among land-rights activists. The government's offer, however, will be rejected, according to Pilgrim's lawyer, Russell C. Brooks of the Pacific Legal Foundation, which champions land rights. "This is what the park has tried to offer all along, and it is not adequate," Brooks said. By coincidence, just as the Park Service was offering a permit to the Pilgrims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit announced on Thursday that it will hear Pilgrim's appeal on a lawsuit demanding greater park access.... BLM moves to strengthen agencies' roles Bureau of Land Management Director Kathleen Clarke said the agency is moving to strengthen the role of local, state and tribal agencies in developing land use plans for the public lands under the BLM's jurisdiction. Clarke said the agency is proposing to modify its regulations to formally recognize and define the standing local, state, tribal and federal entities of government may be granted as "Cooperating Agencies" in the planning process.... Enviros sue BLM over rangeland health rules The Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA) and Western Watersheds Project have sued the Bureau of Land Management, alleging that the agency has failed to comply with rangeland health regulations in the Louse Canyon Geographic Management Area in southeast Oregon. The lawsuit, filed Monday, alleges that the BLM illegally withheld action to change management in the Louse Canyon Area. The BLM's own regulations, the Fundamentals of Rangeland Health (FRH), require livestock management changes before the next grazing season when livestock are determined to be the cause of failure.... Four-wheelers tread legal ground on trails Attorneys for off-road-vehicle groups asked a federal appeals court Wednesday to allow them to sue the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to open a proposed wilderness area in southern New Mexico to their machines. The Southwest Four Wheel Drive Association and the Las Cruces Four Wheel Drive Club are asking the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a lower court's dismissal of their 2000 lawsuit challenging the closure of most of the trails in the Robledo Mountains....
DIAMOND BAR CATTLE COMPANY
Feds confiscate rancher's cattle
By Henry Lamb
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
Picture this opening scene in a modern Western tragedy: Panning slowly across the southwestern New Mexico landscape, snow-capped mountains on the horizon, the Gila National Forest sprawling in the foreground, the camera begins to zoom in slowly on the ribbon of road that slices through the 147,000-acre Diamond Bar Ranch. A small cluster of horses comes into view. Two cowboys are leading-herding a few horses from one work center on the ranch to another, some 15 miles away.
The sounds of hooves and the forest, along with an occasional word between Dale Laney and his 14-year old son, Albert, are interrupted when a Forest Service law-enforcement vehicle bursts into the scene – blue lights flashing. Thus begins a modern drama that is being written daily by real-life characters fighting a range war that will either rein in federal power, or unleash that power to put an end to ranching in the West.
Forest Service law-enforcement officers demanded that the Laneys get off their horses and display a permit.
"A permit for what?" Dale asked.
Dale was told the road and the entire Diamond Bar Ranch had been closed by a Feb. 29 order from the Forest Service, and that he needed a permit to be on it.
Dale didn't have a permit. He had never needed a permit to move stock on a public road through his family's ranch. He told Albert to keep moving the horses.
Another Forest Service law-enforcement vehicle appeared, and then another, blue lights flashing, sirens wailing, bull-horns blasting, horses running in different directions – until the Laneys rounded them up and led them through a canyon to their destination.
According to Patrol Capt. Mike Reamer, 14 law-enforcement officers have been deployed to the Diamond Bar Ranch, armed with semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and sidearms.
Why did these officers feel the need to chase two cowboys on horseback with three law-enforcement vehicles?
Reamer said the officers were new to the area and didn't recognize the Laneys.
Why is the road closed in the first place?
Catron County Sheriff Cliff Snyder asked Forest Service official Steve Libby this question. He was told that the Forest Service was "concerned that outside people would come into the area and cause problems."
In a March 4 letter to District Ranger Annette Chavez, Snyder demanded written evidence of "any possible threats, hostile or adverse action of any kind to the Laneys, the Forest Service or any other citizen of Catron County."
The sheriff also said that he and the public at large are "beginning to believe that the law-enforcement officers' only reason for being in the area is for the purpose of harassing the Laneys."
The patrol captain told WorldNetDaily on Monday that there had been no evidence of outside agitators, nor any sign of interference from the Laneys, nor from any other local people.
There are about 400 head of cattle on the Diamond Bar Ranch and several horses used to tend the cattle. Kit Laney, owner of record, owns outright only 100 acres of the 147,000-acre ranch where the cattle graze. After the ranch was closed, Kit asked for a permit to go tend the livestock. The permit was denied. He is confined to the 100 acres he owns.
Four days after the closure, Kit attended a meeting of the New Mexico Livestock Board, which was discussing a Memorandum of Understanding between the Forest Service and the Livestock Board regarding the confiscation and sale of the Laneys' cattle. On the way home, he was followed by law-enforcement officers, and once home, he was issued a citation for traveling on federal land without a permit.
According to Kit, a law-enforcement officer approached young Albert Laney, a passenger in Kit's vehicle, pointed his finger at Albert and said, "I'm a law-enforcement officer, and we're going to get you, too."
The patrol captain denied that this event occurred. "It was not in the report," he said.
As of Tuesday, the area was still closed, and Forest Service contractors had confiscated 12 head of cattle and moved them to a holding corral at another location in Catron County.
Before the cattle can be sold, the New Mexico Livestock Board will have to certify that the cattle are, in fact, the property of the seller and are being sold with the approval of the owner. This is the function of the Livestock Board, also known as the "Brand Board."
Kit Laney is the owner of the cattle, and he certainly has not given anyone permission to confiscate and sell his cattle. The MOU with the Forest Service is supposed to relieve the Livestock Board from its legal responsibility and hold the Forest Service harmless for what Kit believes to be cattle rustling by the contractor, at the behest of the Forest Service.
The legality of the MOU is being challenged by a broad coalition of individuals and organizations, led by Paragon Foundation of Alamogordo, N.M., on the grounds that it was executed by the executive director of the Livestock Board without authorization by the board, that the action was taken in violation of the "open meetings" law, and on a variety of other thorny legal issues.
Michael White, president of New Mexico's 17,000-member Farm Bureau has urged the Livestock Board to adhere to state law and not bow to political pressure or to federal agencies.
"The New Mexico Livestock Board is facing monumental decisions in this case, and our statewide organization will be watching very carefully (for) any possible precedent-setting actions of this panel as these cattle are gathered by a private contractor hired by the Forest Service," White said.
Kit's attorney has prepared a "Constructive Notice" for the contractor, which spells out precisely the action the contractor and the Forest Service can expect the Laneys to take. Kit contends the MOU between the Livestock Board and the Forest Service is illegal, that removal of his cattle is an act of theft under state law, and that the contractor will be held personally liable for his actions, including damages for any losses caused by the confiscations.
Since some cattle have already been confiscated, Kit expects to file formal charges in the state judicial system as quickly as the paper work can be prepared.
In the movies, range wars are fought when the big guys want to overrun the little guys. In this modern-day range war, the only difference is that the big guys are not big ranchers, but big government, big environmental organizations and big politicians who are convinced that the cowboy era should be relegated to history books.
The Laneys, on the other hand, are the little guys, who want nothing more than to continue living where their ancestors settled in 1883, doing what their ancestors have done for more than a century. They have invested their life building their ranch to pass on to their children. The tragedy is that if the big guys succeed in taking the property and life work of several generations of Laneys, they can also take the property and life work of every other Western rancher whose livestock graze on so-called public land. If the Laneys can halt this confiscation and taking of private property, or force the government to pay for what they are taking, then, perhaps, the big guys will have to rethink whether they can afford the cost.
Forest Service begins impounding cattle on Diamond Bar allotment
Last Update: 03/11/2004 6:26:21 PM
By: Associated Press
(Silver City-AP) -- The Gila National Forest has begun impounding cattle from a ranch that predates national forests.
The Forest Service announced Thursday that a roundup is underway to remove unauthorized livestock on the Diamond Bar allotment, which remains closed.
Forest service officials say most of the cattle belong to ranchers Kit and Sherry Laney, who have 85 percent of their range on federal land.
Federal courts have ordered the Laneys to reduce grazing and cut herds despite their contention they hold property and water rights.
The Laneys contend the roundup is illegal.
Forest Service officials say about 50 head of cattle have been rounded up so far.
The roundup should take several weeks.
The Forest Service is withholding the name of the roundup contractor at his request.
Feds confiscate rancher's cattle
By Henry Lamb
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
Picture this opening scene in a modern Western tragedy: Panning slowly across the southwestern New Mexico landscape, snow-capped mountains on the horizon, the Gila National Forest sprawling in the foreground, the camera begins to zoom in slowly on the ribbon of road that slices through the 147,000-acre Diamond Bar Ranch. A small cluster of horses comes into view. Two cowboys are leading-herding a few horses from one work center on the ranch to another, some 15 miles away.
The sounds of hooves and the forest, along with an occasional word between Dale Laney and his 14-year old son, Albert, are interrupted when a Forest Service law-enforcement vehicle bursts into the scene – blue lights flashing. Thus begins a modern drama that is being written daily by real-life characters fighting a range war that will either rein in federal power, or unleash that power to put an end to ranching in the West.
Forest Service law-enforcement officers demanded that the Laneys get off their horses and display a permit.
"A permit for what?" Dale asked.
Dale was told the road and the entire Diamond Bar Ranch had been closed by a Feb. 29 order from the Forest Service, and that he needed a permit to be on it.
Dale didn't have a permit. He had never needed a permit to move stock on a public road through his family's ranch. He told Albert to keep moving the horses.
Another Forest Service law-enforcement vehicle appeared, and then another, blue lights flashing, sirens wailing, bull-horns blasting, horses running in different directions – until the Laneys rounded them up and led them through a canyon to their destination.
According to Patrol Capt. Mike Reamer, 14 law-enforcement officers have been deployed to the Diamond Bar Ranch, armed with semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and sidearms.
Why did these officers feel the need to chase two cowboys on horseback with three law-enforcement vehicles?
Reamer said the officers were new to the area and didn't recognize the Laneys.
Why is the road closed in the first place?
Catron County Sheriff Cliff Snyder asked Forest Service official Steve Libby this question. He was told that the Forest Service was "concerned that outside people would come into the area and cause problems."
In a March 4 letter to District Ranger Annette Chavez, Snyder demanded written evidence of "any possible threats, hostile or adverse action of any kind to the Laneys, the Forest Service or any other citizen of Catron County."
The sheriff also said that he and the public at large are "beginning to believe that the law-enforcement officers' only reason for being in the area is for the purpose of harassing the Laneys."
The patrol captain told WorldNetDaily on Monday that there had been no evidence of outside agitators, nor any sign of interference from the Laneys, nor from any other local people.
There are about 400 head of cattle on the Diamond Bar Ranch and several horses used to tend the cattle. Kit Laney, owner of record, owns outright only 100 acres of the 147,000-acre ranch where the cattle graze. After the ranch was closed, Kit asked for a permit to go tend the livestock. The permit was denied. He is confined to the 100 acres he owns.
Four days after the closure, Kit attended a meeting of the New Mexico Livestock Board, which was discussing a Memorandum of Understanding between the Forest Service and the Livestock Board regarding the confiscation and sale of the Laneys' cattle. On the way home, he was followed by law-enforcement officers, and once home, he was issued a citation for traveling on federal land without a permit.
According to Kit, a law-enforcement officer approached young Albert Laney, a passenger in Kit's vehicle, pointed his finger at Albert and said, "I'm a law-enforcement officer, and we're going to get you, too."
The patrol captain denied that this event occurred. "It was not in the report," he said.
As of Tuesday, the area was still closed, and Forest Service contractors had confiscated 12 head of cattle and moved them to a holding corral at another location in Catron County.
Before the cattle can be sold, the New Mexico Livestock Board will have to certify that the cattle are, in fact, the property of the seller and are being sold with the approval of the owner. This is the function of the Livestock Board, also known as the "Brand Board."
Kit Laney is the owner of the cattle, and he certainly has not given anyone permission to confiscate and sell his cattle. The MOU with the Forest Service is supposed to relieve the Livestock Board from its legal responsibility and hold the Forest Service harmless for what Kit believes to be cattle rustling by the contractor, at the behest of the Forest Service.
The legality of the MOU is being challenged by a broad coalition of individuals and organizations, led by Paragon Foundation of Alamogordo, N.M., on the grounds that it was executed by the executive director of the Livestock Board without authorization by the board, that the action was taken in violation of the "open meetings" law, and on a variety of other thorny legal issues.
Michael White, president of New Mexico's 17,000-member Farm Bureau has urged the Livestock Board to adhere to state law and not bow to political pressure or to federal agencies.
"The New Mexico Livestock Board is facing monumental decisions in this case, and our statewide organization will be watching very carefully (for) any possible precedent-setting actions of this panel as these cattle are gathered by a private contractor hired by the Forest Service," White said.
Kit's attorney has prepared a "Constructive Notice" for the contractor, which spells out precisely the action the contractor and the Forest Service can expect the Laneys to take. Kit contends the MOU between the Livestock Board and the Forest Service is illegal, that removal of his cattle is an act of theft under state law, and that the contractor will be held personally liable for his actions, including damages for any losses caused by the confiscations.
Since some cattle have already been confiscated, Kit expects to file formal charges in the state judicial system as quickly as the paper work can be prepared.
In the movies, range wars are fought when the big guys want to overrun the little guys. In this modern-day range war, the only difference is that the big guys are not big ranchers, but big government, big environmental organizations and big politicians who are convinced that the cowboy era should be relegated to history books.
The Laneys, on the other hand, are the little guys, who want nothing more than to continue living where their ancestors settled in 1883, doing what their ancestors have done for more than a century. They have invested their life building their ranch to pass on to their children. The tragedy is that if the big guys succeed in taking the property and life work of several generations of Laneys, they can also take the property and life work of every other Western rancher whose livestock graze on so-called public land. If the Laneys can halt this confiscation and taking of private property, or force the government to pay for what they are taking, then, perhaps, the big guys will have to rethink whether they can afford the cost.
Forest Service begins impounding cattle on Diamond Bar allotment
Last Update: 03/11/2004 6:26:21 PM
By: Associated Press
(Silver City-AP) -- The Gila National Forest has begun impounding cattle from a ranch that predates national forests.
The Forest Service announced Thursday that a roundup is underway to remove unauthorized livestock on the Diamond Bar allotment, which remains closed.
Forest service officials say most of the cattle belong to ranchers Kit and Sherry Laney, who have 85 percent of their range on federal land.
Federal courts have ordered the Laneys to reduce grazing and cut herds despite their contention they hold property and water rights.
The Laneys contend the roundup is illegal.
Forest Service officials say about 50 head of cattle have been rounded up so far.
The roundup should take several weeks.
The Forest Service is withholding the name of the roundup contractor at his request.
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
ENVIRONMENT/LITIGATION
Endangered Species Act (ESA)/Alsea Valley v. Daley
On February 24, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal from a 2001 decision by District Judge Michael Hogan’s finding that the listing of Oregon coastal coho salmon was arbitrary and capricious. In September 2001, in Alsea Valley Alliance v. Evans, Judge Hogan ruled that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) cannot list wild-bred coho salmon under the ESA, while excluding hatchery-bred fish, since the two are part of the same distinct population segment (DPS) of salmon species (WSW #1426). Therefore, hatchery-bred fish can not be excluded in determining the endangered status of the coho. Judge Hogan remanded the listing rule to NMFS for reconsideration.
Three months later the Ninth Circuit stayed all enforcement of the district court’s decision, pending consideration of the appeal (WSW #1440). The Ninth Circuit dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. The court held that until NMFS comes out with a final listing rule, the court’s remand is not “final,” and therefore not appealable. With the appeal dismissed, the stay is lifted and wild coho salmon effectively lose ESA protections.
“The immediate effect is Oregon coast coho will not be protected under the Endangered Species Act,” said Bob Lohn, NMFS Northwest Regional Director. “As a practical matter, I expect the fish to continue to receive good protection from the state of Oregon.” (Oregonian, Feb. 25, 2004)
“We are elated with this decision,” said attorney Russell Brooks of the Pacific Legal Foundation, which represented the Alsea Valley Alliance, industry and business groups, in the original case. “With the Ninth Circuit’s dismissal of this appeal, the ‘sky is falling’ rhetoric of hardcore environmental activists has been debunked and their true agenda exposed. This attempt to control private land use in the name of species protection has been successfully shut down,” Brooks added. (Greenwire, February 25, 2004)
Pursuant to Judge Hogan’s remand in 2001, NMFS has been reviewing its listing policy for 25 of 26 listed stocks of West Coast salmon and steelhead. “The process that we embarked on in October 2001 following Hogan’s ruling is continuing. This Ninth Circuit ruling has not changed that one scintilla,” according to Brian Gorman, a NMFS spokesman. Still, for the present, NMFS cannot enforce ESA provisions related to the coho. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Feb. 25)
While dismissing the appeal, the Ninth Circuit noted there remains an implausible, but possible means of listing only wild-bred coho. “[I]f one Service rule includes hatchery Oregon coastal salmon in the same DPS as the wild variety, a second cannot exclude hatchery fish from the wild salmon’s ‘threatened’ listing. Permutations favorable to the [Appellants] remain. In theory, for example, [NMFS] could define hatchery coho as a separate DPS from naturally spawned coho under the Service’s current ESA standards (although the district court legitimately doubts this is possible), and a listing that includes only naturally spawned coho would no longer offend the district court’s holding. A more plausible route to the same natural only listing would be to have [NMFS] reformulate its criteria for determining which groups of salmon constitute DPSs. In addition, nothing prevents the Service from forging an entirely new set of rules from scratch.”
From the newsletter of the Western States Water Council, issue 155.
Endangered Species Act (ESA)/Alsea Valley v. Daley
On February 24, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal from a 2001 decision by District Judge Michael Hogan’s finding that the listing of Oregon coastal coho salmon was arbitrary and capricious. In September 2001, in Alsea Valley Alliance v. Evans, Judge Hogan ruled that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) cannot list wild-bred coho salmon under the ESA, while excluding hatchery-bred fish, since the two are part of the same distinct population segment (DPS) of salmon species (WSW #1426). Therefore, hatchery-bred fish can not be excluded in determining the endangered status of the coho. Judge Hogan remanded the listing rule to NMFS for reconsideration.
Three months later the Ninth Circuit stayed all enforcement of the district court’s decision, pending consideration of the appeal (WSW #1440). The Ninth Circuit dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. The court held that until NMFS comes out with a final listing rule, the court’s remand is not “final,” and therefore not appealable. With the appeal dismissed, the stay is lifted and wild coho salmon effectively lose ESA protections.
“The immediate effect is Oregon coast coho will not be protected under the Endangered Species Act,” said Bob Lohn, NMFS Northwest Regional Director. “As a practical matter, I expect the fish to continue to receive good protection from the state of Oregon.” (Oregonian, Feb. 25, 2004)
“We are elated with this decision,” said attorney Russell Brooks of the Pacific Legal Foundation, which represented the Alsea Valley Alliance, industry and business groups, in the original case. “With the Ninth Circuit’s dismissal of this appeal, the ‘sky is falling’ rhetoric of hardcore environmental activists has been debunked and their true agenda exposed. This attempt to control private land use in the name of species protection has been successfully shut down,” Brooks added. (Greenwire, February 25, 2004)
Pursuant to Judge Hogan’s remand in 2001, NMFS has been reviewing its listing policy for 25 of 26 listed stocks of West Coast salmon and steelhead. “The process that we embarked on in October 2001 following Hogan’s ruling is continuing. This Ninth Circuit ruling has not changed that one scintilla,” according to Brian Gorman, a NMFS spokesman. Still, for the present, NMFS cannot enforce ESA provisions related to the coho. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Feb. 25)
While dismissing the appeal, the Ninth Circuit noted there remains an implausible, but possible means of listing only wild-bred coho. “[I]f one Service rule includes hatchery Oregon coastal salmon in the same DPS as the wild variety, a second cannot exclude hatchery fish from the wild salmon’s ‘threatened’ listing. Permutations favorable to the [Appellants] remain. In theory, for example, [NMFS] could define hatchery coho as a separate DPS from naturally spawned coho under the Service’s current ESA standards (although the district court legitimately doubts this is possible), and a listing that includes only naturally spawned coho would no longer offend the district court’s holding. A more plausible route to the same natural only listing would be to have [NMFS] reformulate its criteria for determining which groups of salmon constitute DPSs. In addition, nothing prevents the Service from forging an entirely new set of rules from scratch.”
From the newsletter of the Western States Water Council, issue 155.
OPINION/COMMENTARY
Court Victory Upholding the Rights of Private Timberland Owners!
Big Creek v. County of Santa Cruz. PLF won a big victory for private property rights in the Sixth District Court of Appeal on February 17. Santa Cruz County had passed an ordinance regulating timber operations virtually out of existence in the county. PLF filed briefs in the trial court and the Court of Appeal arguing that the county did not have the legal authority to regulate either where or how timber harvesting activities may take place because such regulation is preempted by the state’s Forest Practice Act....
Bogus Endangered Species Act Protections for “Wild” Coho Salmon Must Go
Alsea Valley Alliance v. Evans. On February 24, PLF’s Northwest Center won a key victory in its ongoing assault on the federal bureaucracy’s reliance on “junk science” to promote political agendas through the Endangered Species Act.
Recall that in September 2001, PLF successfully challenged the listing of the Oregon Coast coho salmon as a threatened species under the ESA. U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan ruled that the National Marine Fisheries Service acted illegally in protecting fish spawning in the wild, but not hatchery fish, which are genetically identical. Judge Hogan ruled NMFS could not pick and choose among fish swimming side-by-side in a stream which it would protect and which it would ignore....
Grants Handled Or Mishandled At The EPA?
Should liberal and environmental advocacy organizations be receiving "no strings attached" federal grants? Remember, this is Washington, so the common sense answer need not apply - not even when the federal deficit is skyrocketing.
The EPA's Office of Inspector General, in a March 1, 2004 report, identified a federal grant that had been received by the Consumer Federation of America (Foundation) to work on projects under the Clean Air Act....
Environmental Groups Use Violent Tactics to Advance Their Agenda
Most Americans understand that they live in a free republic that provides democratic means to achieve political ends. They agree with the radio talk show host who tells his listeners, “If you want a revolution, go to the ballot box.” However, important fringe elements in the environmental and animals rights movements disagree. They scoff at rational discussion and democratic procedures because they have neither patience nor respect for the opinions of others—character traits necessary to inform, lobby, and build successful political coalitions. Instead, they prefer—indeed, relish—opportunities for “direct action.” Direct action is the name activists give to carefully arranged high-profile confrontations. The activists have two goals in mind: to get publicity for their cause, and to intimidate their enemies....
Pesticides and the West Nile Virus: An Examination of Environmentalist Claims
Ever since the mosquito-transmitted West Nile Virus appeared in New York City during 1999, environmental activists have been fighting efforts to keep the disease under control. Not only have they battled against any spraying for adult mosquitoes, they have also fought methods to manage mosquito larvae. These groups maintain that the control methods are more dangerous than the diseases they seek to control. In the case of spraying, activists say that the chemicals imperil public health and can kill or harm wildlife. These groups claim further that other methods, such as the use of biological agents to kill mosquito larvae, disrupt the balance of nature and thereby threaten non-target species. Finally, while maintaining that spraying can devastate non-target organisms such as butterflies and aquatic life, many groups claim that mosquito control efforts have little or no impact on mosquito populations....
Ninth Circuit Torches Sensible Fire Prevention
Two years ago, the devastating Star Fire swept through the El Dorado and Tahoe National Forests in Northern California. Over a harrowing 23 days, flames consumed 17,000 acres of habitat for the California spotted owl. Now some federal judges have stepped forward—to finish off what the fire didn’t destroy.
In December, a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a forest recovery plan designed to head off the next out-of-control blaze by clearing trees that were scorched in the last one....
Our Science Can Beat Up Your Science: Playing Politics with Data
A new front in the war over "sound science" opened on February 29, with the publication of a Washington Post op-ed by former American Prospect Online editor Chris Mooney, "Beware 'Sound Science.' It's Doublespeak for Trouble." In this article, Mooney argues that the Bush administration has twisted the idea of "sound science" so that "instead of allowing facts to inform policies, preexisting political commitments have twisted facts and tainted information." He warns that, as a result, "The once-cooperative relationship between politicians and scientists in this country seems to be in serious jeopardy." Yet a close look at the facts reveals that Mooney's argument is as much doublespeak as anything he criticizes the administration for....
The Wrong Way To Prosecute “Eco-Terrorists”
Environmental activists come in all temperaments, but the ones who carry their philosophy to an extreme have earned a pithy nickname at the Sport Utility Vehicle Owners of America headquarters in Washington, D.C.: “eco-terrorists.” Experts there are well acquainted with them. Indeed, they say they can plot the routes these activists will take after they leave various “green” conclaves.
The first attack, which will take place within 200 miles of the meeting, will feature vandalism on SUVs parked at an auto dealership. Then, about a day’s drive away, another attack will occur in which nasty messages, such as “Fat, Lazy American,” are spray-painted on SUVs. Then, perhaps they’ll dip south and set a home on fire, as they did in San Diego and Indiana last year, or vandalize a store, set off homemade bombs or commit some other crime....
Enviros Commence Election-Year Attack
Environmentalists have commenced their election-year attack on President Bush.
The Union of Concerned Scientists recently issued a widely covered report condemning the Bush administration for allegedly politicizing science on a number of controversial issues, ranging from global warming to HIV/AIDS to Iraq's nuclear weapons efforts.
It was quite an ironic charge coming from a self-described activist group whose left-wing, eco-extremist, anti-biotechnology, anti-chemical, anti-nuclear, anti-defense and anti-business screeds embody the very antithesis of the scientific ideal of objectivity....
Court Victory Upholding the Rights of Private Timberland Owners!
Big Creek v. County of Santa Cruz. PLF won a big victory for private property rights in the Sixth District Court of Appeal on February 17. Santa Cruz County had passed an ordinance regulating timber operations virtually out of existence in the county. PLF filed briefs in the trial court and the Court of Appeal arguing that the county did not have the legal authority to regulate either where or how timber harvesting activities may take place because such regulation is preempted by the state’s Forest Practice Act....
Bogus Endangered Species Act Protections for “Wild” Coho Salmon Must Go
Alsea Valley Alliance v. Evans. On February 24, PLF’s Northwest Center won a key victory in its ongoing assault on the federal bureaucracy’s reliance on “junk science” to promote political agendas through the Endangered Species Act.
Recall that in September 2001, PLF successfully challenged the listing of the Oregon Coast coho salmon as a threatened species under the ESA. U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan ruled that the National Marine Fisheries Service acted illegally in protecting fish spawning in the wild, but not hatchery fish, which are genetically identical. Judge Hogan ruled NMFS could not pick and choose among fish swimming side-by-side in a stream which it would protect and which it would ignore....
Grants Handled Or Mishandled At The EPA?
Should liberal and environmental advocacy organizations be receiving "no strings attached" federal grants? Remember, this is Washington, so the common sense answer need not apply - not even when the federal deficit is skyrocketing.
The EPA's Office of Inspector General, in a March 1, 2004 report, identified a federal grant that had been received by the Consumer Federation of America (Foundation) to work on projects under the Clean Air Act....
Environmental Groups Use Violent Tactics to Advance Their Agenda
Most Americans understand that they live in a free republic that provides democratic means to achieve political ends. They agree with the radio talk show host who tells his listeners, “If you want a revolution, go to the ballot box.” However, important fringe elements in the environmental and animals rights movements disagree. They scoff at rational discussion and democratic procedures because they have neither patience nor respect for the opinions of others—character traits necessary to inform, lobby, and build successful political coalitions. Instead, they prefer—indeed, relish—opportunities for “direct action.” Direct action is the name activists give to carefully arranged high-profile confrontations. The activists have two goals in mind: to get publicity for their cause, and to intimidate their enemies....
Pesticides and the West Nile Virus: An Examination of Environmentalist Claims
Ever since the mosquito-transmitted West Nile Virus appeared in New York City during 1999, environmental activists have been fighting efforts to keep the disease under control. Not only have they battled against any spraying for adult mosquitoes, they have also fought methods to manage mosquito larvae. These groups maintain that the control methods are more dangerous than the diseases they seek to control. In the case of spraying, activists say that the chemicals imperil public health and can kill or harm wildlife. These groups claim further that other methods, such as the use of biological agents to kill mosquito larvae, disrupt the balance of nature and thereby threaten non-target species. Finally, while maintaining that spraying can devastate non-target organisms such as butterflies and aquatic life, many groups claim that mosquito control efforts have little or no impact on mosquito populations....
Ninth Circuit Torches Sensible Fire Prevention
Two years ago, the devastating Star Fire swept through the El Dorado and Tahoe National Forests in Northern California. Over a harrowing 23 days, flames consumed 17,000 acres of habitat for the California spotted owl. Now some federal judges have stepped forward—to finish off what the fire didn’t destroy.
In December, a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a forest recovery plan designed to head off the next out-of-control blaze by clearing trees that were scorched in the last one....
Our Science Can Beat Up Your Science: Playing Politics with Data
A new front in the war over "sound science" opened on February 29, with the publication of a Washington Post op-ed by former American Prospect Online editor Chris Mooney, "Beware 'Sound Science.' It's Doublespeak for Trouble." In this article, Mooney argues that the Bush administration has twisted the idea of "sound science" so that "instead of allowing facts to inform policies, preexisting political commitments have twisted facts and tainted information." He warns that, as a result, "The once-cooperative relationship between politicians and scientists in this country seems to be in serious jeopardy." Yet a close look at the facts reveals that Mooney's argument is as much doublespeak as anything he criticizes the administration for....
The Wrong Way To Prosecute “Eco-Terrorists”
Environmental activists come in all temperaments, but the ones who carry their philosophy to an extreme have earned a pithy nickname at the Sport Utility Vehicle Owners of America headquarters in Washington, D.C.: “eco-terrorists.” Experts there are well acquainted with them. Indeed, they say they can plot the routes these activists will take after they leave various “green” conclaves.
The first attack, which will take place within 200 miles of the meeting, will feature vandalism on SUVs parked at an auto dealership. Then, about a day’s drive away, another attack will occur in which nasty messages, such as “Fat, Lazy American,” are spray-painted on SUVs. Then, perhaps they’ll dip south and set a home on fire, as they did in San Diego and Indiana last year, or vandalize a store, set off homemade bombs or commit some other crime....
Enviros Commence Election-Year Attack
Environmentalists have commenced their election-year attack on President Bush.
The Union of Concerned Scientists recently issued a widely covered report condemning the Bush administration for allegedly politicizing science on a number of controversial issues, ranging from global warming to HIV/AIDS to Iraq's nuclear weapons efforts.
It was quite an ironic charge coming from a self-described activist group whose left-wing, eco-extremist, anti-biotechnology, anti-chemical, anti-nuclear, anti-defense and anti-business screeds embody the very antithesis of the scientific ideal of objectivity....
DIAMOND BAR CATTLE COMPANY
The latest news from the Diamond Bar impoundment.
Kit and Sherry have both had run ins with USFS LEO's. Kit had met the contractors in passing on the road the past couple days and had no other contact with them as he has stated he would not interfere with them. However, the USFS set up another blockade in the middle of the enclosure on the road, to force him to stop so that they could issue him a ticket for trespassing onto the allotment. Kit says that he is traveling on the easement that he should be allowed under federal statute, the exact argument that the courts will not hear. He feels he is not in trespass in any way shape or form, nor will he interfere in the impoundment proceedings.
Sherry and Dale, Kit's brother came upon 4 contractors yesterday, they were accompanied by one USFS personnel member from grant county and 2 USFS LEO's who were heavily armed. The LEO's informed Sherry they were interfering with the impoundment by taking pictures and speaking to them. One was carrying what appeared to be a machine gun. Sherry got his badge number and name. Don't ask me to release it.
The contractors do not appear to be cow men however there are several of them and may be able to gather a few cows here and there at this time there are about 20 of the gentler cows in the pens at Meown. No one has any idea what they plan on doing to load or haul them. The Laney's usually drove them 20 miles to the neighbor at Beaverhead but that will not be possible for the impoundment and there is no way to get a semi truck into Meown. This will be an extremely long drawn out expensive process.
The USFS is now trying to market the cattle into Texas. Word has it that the sale ring they now want to use also refuses to accept them.
Laura Schneberger
www.cowboysandcattlecountry.0catch.com
The latest news from the Diamond Bar impoundment.
Kit and Sherry have both had run ins with USFS LEO's. Kit had met the contractors in passing on the road the past couple days and had no other contact with them as he has stated he would not interfere with them. However, the USFS set up another blockade in the middle of the enclosure on the road, to force him to stop so that they could issue him a ticket for trespassing onto the allotment. Kit says that he is traveling on the easement that he should be allowed under federal statute, the exact argument that the courts will not hear. He feels he is not in trespass in any way shape or form, nor will he interfere in the impoundment proceedings.
Sherry and Dale, Kit's brother came upon 4 contractors yesterday, they were accompanied by one USFS personnel member from grant county and 2 USFS LEO's who were heavily armed. The LEO's informed Sherry they were interfering with the impoundment by taking pictures and speaking to them. One was carrying what appeared to be a machine gun. Sherry got his badge number and name. Don't ask me to release it.
The contractors do not appear to be cow men however there are several of them and may be able to gather a few cows here and there at this time there are about 20 of the gentler cows in the pens at Meown. No one has any idea what they plan on doing to load or haul them. The Laney's usually drove them 20 miles to the neighbor at Beaverhead but that will not be possible for the impoundment and there is no way to get a semi truck into Meown. This will be an extremely long drawn out expensive process.
The USFS is now trying to market the cattle into Texas. Word has it that the sale ring they now want to use also refuses to accept them.
Laura Schneberger
www.cowboysandcattlecountry.0catch.com
NOTE
I will be travelling from this afternoon till Monday evening. I will be attending the Timed Event Championships in Guthrie, Oklahoma.
Keep tuning in, as I will try to post while on the road. This will depend, of course, on the internet connections at the hotels. If they are too slow, there will be limited posting. I spend 5 to 6 hours each evening putting this together, and it just takes too long if I don't have a good connection.
Let's hope for talented cowboys, great horses and a fast connection.
I will be travelling from this afternoon till Monday evening. I will be attending the Timed Event Championships in Guthrie, Oklahoma.
Keep tuning in, as I will try to post while on the road. This will depend, of course, on the internet connections at the hotels. If they are too slow, there will be limited posting. I spend 5 to 6 hours each evening putting this together, and it just takes too long if I don't have a good connection.
Let's hope for talented cowboys, great horses and a fast connection.
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
NEWS ROUNDUP
Environmentalists request goshawk protection The petition filed Tuesday includes all national forests in Idaho, Montana and western Wyoming and asks for the protection of all existing old-growth forests and all roadless areas of more than 1,000 acres. The notice came under the federal Administrative Procedures Act, which gives citizens the right to petition government agencies to issue a rule or regulation.... Florida Wilderness Fire Threatens Homes A fire that started as a prescribed burn but leapt out of control had swept through about 30,000 acres by late Tuesday and forced the evacuation of about 35 homes in north Florida, officials said Tuesday. The blaze was damaging valuable timber in national and state forests, officials said.... Bitterroot forest employees among group that sent explicit e-mails Eight Bitterroot National Forest employees had disciplinary actions taken against them in past two weeks for forwarding or sending inappropriate e-mails, said David Bull, forest supervisor. "It's pretty clear in memos to all employees that what certain employees were doing in forwarding this stuff on is not permitted by our rules," said Bull. Due to privacy laws, the names of the employees disciplined will not be released.... Public lands endorsed by state Supreme Court A decision Monday by the Colorado Supreme Court could result in preservation of thousands of acres of open space around Aspen and guarantee that the Mount Sopris Tree Farm in El Jebel remains in public hands. The Supreme Court ruled Pitkin County's process of acquiring a mining claim on the back of Aspen Mountain through a tax sale nearly a century ago was legitimate. The plaintiff had claimed the sale was flawed and, therefore, the land was in private rather than public hands. The case, which cannot be appealed any higher, could set a precedent for hundreds, and possibly thousands, of such tax sales made during Aspen's quiet years - when the town was withering after the collapse of silver prices.... Tucson's Sabino Canyon closed for mountain lions The popular Sabino Canyon Recreation Area was scheduled to close Wednesday while animal trackers search for mountain lions. Closure of the area, where some 1.5 million people hike or take tram rides in the canyon annually, could last up to two weeks, Coronado National Forest officials said.... Forest Service's 'Healthy Forests' Budget Shortchanges Crucial Programs; Fails to Adequately Protect Communities As the House of Representatives Committee on Resources prepares to convene Wednesday, March 10, all eyes are on questionable figures in the US Forest Service budget that reveal a plan that may leave several programs dangerously underfunded. In a forthcoming report, The Wilderness Society reveals an illogical system of borrowing and reallocation of funds that will fail to meet the long-term goals of effective wildland fire management and long-term conservation needs. The money to pay for fire suppression is raided from critical forest fuels reduction projects, and other programs, which Congress has failed to fully repay....Go here(pdf) for an executive summary of the report.... Hayman Fire restitution sought Government attorneys argued today the former Forest Service employee who set the largest wildfire in Colorado history should be forced to pay $14.7 million in restitution. U.S. Attorney John Suthers, arguing his case in person, told a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Terry Lynn Barton should be ordered to pay the amount agreed to by prosecutors and defense attorneys.... Column: Let's bring back public hearings Public hearings, and your right to tell the government what you think, are becoming things of the past in Juneau. So is your right to hear what other citizens think. The U.S. Forest Service held an "open house" supposedly to inform the community about the proposed Kensington mine and allow the public to express their thoughts about the project's draft supplemental environmental impact statement. While attending, many people were stunned to learn that nothing they said at the open house would be recorded or officially acknowledged in any way. The acting regional director of the Forest Service told a group of us that the only way to get our thoughts into the official record is to put them in writing. This new policy and the "open house" format that a growing number of government agencies are using to replace public hearings, seriously damage the public's ability to influence decisions.... Turtle Advocate Fights Key West Dredging A sea turtle advocate said Tuesday that the Navy's plan to dredge Key West Harbor violates the Endangered Species Act, and he has notified the government of his intent to sue. Ritchie Moretti said dredging equipment that sucks up sand and silt is a "turtle killer" and the Navy and Army Corps of Engineers need to catch any of the protected animals in the path of the machine and move them out of danger. Moretti, who founded the only state-certified veterinary hospital for sea turtles, filed notice Monday of an intent to sue with the Army, Navy, Corps of Engineers, Commerce Department and National Marine Fisheries Service.... Some encouraging signs in swift fox program Half the swift foxes reintroduced in central South Dakota have died, but that's an expected mortality rate in the wild, a biologist said. Sixty swift foxes were released on Ted Turner's Bad River Ranches in 2002 and 2003. Thirty foxes are known to be dead, 21 are known to be alive and nine are missing, according to Kevin Honness, a project biologist with the Turner Endangered Species Fund.... Unchecked Development Wiping Out Front Range Wildlife; Conservation Groups Act to Stop Wildlife Decline A coalition of conservation groups moved to intervene in a lawsuit by an anti- environmental law firm aiming to eliminate protection for the Preble's meadow jumping mouse and its Front Range streamside habitat. The Preble's meadow jumping mouse was protected in 1998 under the Endangered Species Act because unmanaged sprawl had devastated riparian ecosystems in Colorado from Colorado Springs to Ft. Collins and northward into southern Wyoming.... Midwest farmers find common ground with Western loggers It might seem odd to have a Montana logger standing at the podium and talking to a group of Quincy area farmers and agribusinessmen. But Bruce Vincent says the two groups, the area farm community and the timber industry half a nation away, share some traits and face many of the same challenges. Vincent hails from the small logging community of Libby in the extreme northwest part of Montana, where environmental concerns closed off access to much of the public land, shut down sawmills and cost jobs in the name of protecting the forest. He says that is a microcosm of what's happening across rural America.... Federal officials to eradicate two Madison Valley wolf packs The discovery Tuesday of two more cattle attacked by wolves in the Madison Valley has prompted federal officials to begin efforts to eradicate two wolf packs that are preying on livestock. The carcass of a 1-year-old steer was found in a coulee on a ranch east of Ennis Lake, said Ed Bangs, wolf recovery leader for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It had been killed by wolves. On the same ranch, a 1-year-old heifer had been so badly injured by wolves Tuesday morning that the rancher had to euthanize it.... Ranch destined to be sanctuary A Central Texas ranch that includes several of the towering sandstone-capped mesas known as the Yegua Knobs will be managed by a land trust after a national conservation group bought the tract with proceeds from an air pollution settlement. The 302-acre ranch about 18 miles northeast of Bastrop includes habitat of the endangered Houston toad and will be used for scientific research, with a management plan to eventually include limited recreation. Trust for Public Land recently used $574,000 from the settlement with Alcoa Inc. to buy the tract from Roy Knippa of New Braunfels, then transfer it to the Bastrop-based Pines and Prairies Land Trust.... White House not backing bill to repair ailing missions The Bush administration will not support legislation funding repairs to San Gabriel Arcangel and California's 20 other crumbling historic missions, a Department of Interior official said Tuesday. The bill authorizing $10 million in federal matching funds to repair missions from San Diego to Sonoma also faced opposition at a Senate hearing from a church-state separation watchdog who said taxpayers should not fund church repairs.... Judge delays contempt ruling Legal jockeying that could determine if or how many snowmobiles are permitted in the park next year began in a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan rejected a request by Bush administration and snowmobile industry lawyers to transfer a case on snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park to a federal court in Wyoming. At the hearing, Sullivan also delayed a decision on a request by environmental groups that the Interior Department be held in contempt of court for rejecting his ruling on use of snowmobiles in the parks.... Suspect in booby trap case to quit post A 54-year-old management consultant accused of setting booby traps along a public trail near Placitas will step down from the board of directors of an Albuquerque research center, an official there confirmed. Michael Delongchamp of Placitas will relinquish his position with the Behavioral Health Research Center of the Southwest, business manager Dan Calabrese said Monday.... Western drought expected to ease The drought that has gripped the West for the last several years is expected to ease some in the coming year, although Bush administration officials warned Tuesday that water wars will continue. Much of New Mexico and parts of Montana and Idaho are forecast to continue suffering from a severe drought, according to projections from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But the long-term drought has left reservoirs in Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Oregon with less than half of their normal reserve, and it could take as many as 20 years worth of normal precipitation to replenish the supply.... BOR agency plans to present beetle proposal The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is proposing to make a field release of leaf-eating beetles as an alternative to chemical control of salt cedar. The bio-control beetle, which originates from Greece, would be released on BOR salt cedar lands in the Carlsbad area. Federal government researchers hope the beetle will help control the spread of the salt cedar, which can use up to 200 gallons of water per day per tree. That would allow more water to stay in the river, which could help local farmers irrigate their crops, officials said.... Editorial: Water deal blazes new path The innovative water-leasing deal between Arkansas Valley farmers and the city of Aurora brings a welcome new tool to the state's water management - an issue that has more often been addressed with bombast and invective than reasonable compromise in Colorado. The $5.5 million deal will boost Aurora's water supply by almost 25 percent this year. In turn, the farmers will idle 8,550 acres of land that would otherwise have been irrigated to grow such crops as hay or corn. The payment to the farmers works out to $643 per acre - more than double the likely cash value of the crops that could have been grown with the water.... Editorial: Wheeling the water The federal government is evaluating a controversial plan that would allow Southern Nevada to dump water it already owns into tributaries of the Colorado River far upstream -- and then reclaim its own water as it flows past the Las Vegas water intakes, downstream in Lake Mead. The Southern Nevada Water Authority owns 128,000 acre-feet of surface water rights on the Muddy and Virgin rivers -- the former flowing past the village of Moapa 60 miles northeast of Las Vegas, the latter stretching an additional hundred miles, across a corner of the Arizona strip and into Utah, as far as Zion National Park. "Wheeling" this water through the Colorado would not only be vastly less expensive than building a pipeline to haul the same water overland to Las Vegas, it would make better environmental sense, as well.... Mexico's Ban on U.S. Beef Imports Raises Inflation Mexican inflation accelerated in February as a temporary ban on U.S. beef pushed up the price of items such as the tacos served at street carts in Mexico City. Meat prices in Mexico have risen from 15 to 40 percent since Mexico banned imports of U.S. beef in December after the discovery of a cow infected in Washington state with mad cow disease, said Jesus Ancheta, commercial director at the Sinaloa Cattle Union. Mexico eased the import restrictions last week.... How do you like your iguana? On a blustery afternoon, a delivery truck creeps through a cluster of ethnic food warehouses in northeast Washington and parks by the section of dock belonging to Distribuidora Cuscatlan, an importer of foods from El Salvador. Frank Rodriguez, Cuscatlan's manager, walks past crates of rice before stepping into a gargantuan stainless-steel freezer. He opens a box that contains what many consider a culinary delicacy - iguana. For centuries, iguana has been consumed throughout Central America; now it's showing up on a small but growing number of North American dinner tables.... Mesa couple gather 'round chuck wagon After the Civil War, cowboys - and they were boys, 14, 15, 16 years old - began rounding up the cattle that had roamed wild in the West during the war and drove those herds to feed beef-hungry Easterners. With nothing like a refrigerated cooler or a Coleman stove, cowboy food amounted to beans, rice and dried salt pork cooked in an iron pot over an open fire. Dessert was as fancy as bread drizzled with molasses. In his native Texas, the sport has grown from half a dozen cooks restoring and cooking from chuck wagons 30 years ago to hundreds of competitors today who travel a circuit around the country matching wits and barbecue pits with other contestants, Perini says. More than two dozen are expected to compete at the Festival of the West, March 18-21 at WestWorld in Scottsdale.... President Bush Meets Privately With ProRodeo's 2003 World Champs During his visit to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, President George W. Bush met privately with the 2003 ProRodeo world champions and Steven J. Hatchell, commissioner of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), at Reliant Stadium. Bush was presented with a Number One back number from the 2003 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) bearing his name; a black leather bomber jacket; and a black cowboy hat....
Environmentalists request goshawk protection The petition filed Tuesday includes all national forests in Idaho, Montana and western Wyoming and asks for the protection of all existing old-growth forests and all roadless areas of more than 1,000 acres. The notice came under the federal Administrative Procedures Act, which gives citizens the right to petition government agencies to issue a rule or regulation.... Florida Wilderness Fire Threatens Homes A fire that started as a prescribed burn but leapt out of control had swept through about 30,000 acres by late Tuesday and forced the evacuation of about 35 homes in north Florida, officials said Tuesday. The blaze was damaging valuable timber in national and state forests, officials said.... Bitterroot forest employees among group that sent explicit e-mails Eight Bitterroot National Forest employees had disciplinary actions taken against them in past two weeks for forwarding or sending inappropriate e-mails, said David Bull, forest supervisor. "It's pretty clear in memos to all employees that what certain employees were doing in forwarding this stuff on is not permitted by our rules," said Bull. Due to privacy laws, the names of the employees disciplined will not be released.... Public lands endorsed by state Supreme Court A decision Monday by the Colorado Supreme Court could result in preservation of thousands of acres of open space around Aspen and guarantee that the Mount Sopris Tree Farm in El Jebel remains in public hands. The Supreme Court ruled Pitkin County's process of acquiring a mining claim on the back of Aspen Mountain through a tax sale nearly a century ago was legitimate. The plaintiff had claimed the sale was flawed and, therefore, the land was in private rather than public hands. The case, which cannot be appealed any higher, could set a precedent for hundreds, and possibly thousands, of such tax sales made during Aspen's quiet years - when the town was withering after the collapse of silver prices.... Tucson's Sabino Canyon closed for mountain lions The popular Sabino Canyon Recreation Area was scheduled to close Wednesday while animal trackers search for mountain lions. Closure of the area, where some 1.5 million people hike or take tram rides in the canyon annually, could last up to two weeks, Coronado National Forest officials said.... Forest Service's 'Healthy Forests' Budget Shortchanges Crucial Programs; Fails to Adequately Protect Communities As the House of Representatives Committee on Resources prepares to convene Wednesday, March 10, all eyes are on questionable figures in the US Forest Service budget that reveal a plan that may leave several programs dangerously underfunded. In a forthcoming report, The Wilderness Society reveals an illogical system of borrowing and reallocation of funds that will fail to meet the long-term goals of effective wildland fire management and long-term conservation needs. The money to pay for fire suppression is raided from critical forest fuels reduction projects, and other programs, which Congress has failed to fully repay....Go here(pdf) for an executive summary of the report.... Hayman Fire restitution sought Government attorneys argued today the former Forest Service employee who set the largest wildfire in Colorado history should be forced to pay $14.7 million in restitution. U.S. Attorney John Suthers, arguing his case in person, told a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Terry Lynn Barton should be ordered to pay the amount agreed to by prosecutors and defense attorneys.... Column: Let's bring back public hearings Public hearings, and your right to tell the government what you think, are becoming things of the past in Juneau. So is your right to hear what other citizens think. The U.S. Forest Service held an "open house" supposedly to inform the community about the proposed Kensington mine and allow the public to express their thoughts about the project's draft supplemental environmental impact statement. While attending, many people were stunned to learn that nothing they said at the open house would be recorded or officially acknowledged in any way. The acting regional director of the Forest Service told a group of us that the only way to get our thoughts into the official record is to put them in writing. This new policy and the "open house" format that a growing number of government agencies are using to replace public hearings, seriously damage the public's ability to influence decisions.... Turtle Advocate Fights Key West Dredging A sea turtle advocate said Tuesday that the Navy's plan to dredge Key West Harbor violates the Endangered Species Act, and he has notified the government of his intent to sue. Ritchie Moretti said dredging equipment that sucks up sand and silt is a "turtle killer" and the Navy and Army Corps of Engineers need to catch any of the protected animals in the path of the machine and move them out of danger. Moretti, who founded the only state-certified veterinary hospital for sea turtles, filed notice Monday of an intent to sue with the Army, Navy, Corps of Engineers, Commerce Department and National Marine Fisheries Service.... Some encouraging signs in swift fox program Half the swift foxes reintroduced in central South Dakota have died, but that's an expected mortality rate in the wild, a biologist said. Sixty swift foxes were released on Ted Turner's Bad River Ranches in 2002 and 2003. Thirty foxes are known to be dead, 21 are known to be alive and nine are missing, according to Kevin Honness, a project biologist with the Turner Endangered Species Fund.... Unchecked Development Wiping Out Front Range Wildlife; Conservation Groups Act to Stop Wildlife Decline A coalition of conservation groups moved to intervene in a lawsuit by an anti- environmental law firm aiming to eliminate protection for the Preble's meadow jumping mouse and its Front Range streamside habitat. The Preble's meadow jumping mouse was protected in 1998 under the Endangered Species Act because unmanaged sprawl had devastated riparian ecosystems in Colorado from Colorado Springs to Ft. Collins and northward into southern Wyoming.... Midwest farmers find common ground with Western loggers It might seem odd to have a Montana logger standing at the podium and talking to a group of Quincy area farmers and agribusinessmen. But Bruce Vincent says the two groups, the area farm community and the timber industry half a nation away, share some traits and face many of the same challenges. Vincent hails from the small logging community of Libby in the extreme northwest part of Montana, where environmental concerns closed off access to much of the public land, shut down sawmills and cost jobs in the name of protecting the forest. He says that is a microcosm of what's happening across rural America.... Federal officials to eradicate two Madison Valley wolf packs The discovery Tuesday of two more cattle attacked by wolves in the Madison Valley has prompted federal officials to begin efforts to eradicate two wolf packs that are preying on livestock. The carcass of a 1-year-old steer was found in a coulee on a ranch east of Ennis Lake, said Ed Bangs, wolf recovery leader for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It had been killed by wolves. On the same ranch, a 1-year-old heifer had been so badly injured by wolves Tuesday morning that the rancher had to euthanize it.... Ranch destined to be sanctuary A Central Texas ranch that includes several of the towering sandstone-capped mesas known as the Yegua Knobs will be managed by a land trust after a national conservation group bought the tract with proceeds from an air pollution settlement. The 302-acre ranch about 18 miles northeast of Bastrop includes habitat of the endangered Houston toad and will be used for scientific research, with a management plan to eventually include limited recreation. Trust for Public Land recently used $574,000 from the settlement with Alcoa Inc. to buy the tract from Roy Knippa of New Braunfels, then transfer it to the Bastrop-based Pines and Prairies Land Trust.... White House not backing bill to repair ailing missions The Bush administration will not support legislation funding repairs to San Gabriel Arcangel and California's 20 other crumbling historic missions, a Department of Interior official said Tuesday. The bill authorizing $10 million in federal matching funds to repair missions from San Diego to Sonoma also faced opposition at a Senate hearing from a church-state separation watchdog who said taxpayers should not fund church repairs.... Judge delays contempt ruling Legal jockeying that could determine if or how many snowmobiles are permitted in the park next year began in a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan rejected a request by Bush administration and snowmobile industry lawyers to transfer a case on snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park to a federal court in Wyoming. At the hearing, Sullivan also delayed a decision on a request by environmental groups that the Interior Department be held in contempt of court for rejecting his ruling on use of snowmobiles in the parks.... Suspect in booby trap case to quit post A 54-year-old management consultant accused of setting booby traps along a public trail near Placitas will step down from the board of directors of an Albuquerque research center, an official there confirmed. Michael Delongchamp of Placitas will relinquish his position with the Behavioral Health Research Center of the Southwest, business manager Dan Calabrese said Monday.... Western drought expected to ease The drought that has gripped the West for the last several years is expected to ease some in the coming year, although Bush administration officials warned Tuesday that water wars will continue. Much of New Mexico and parts of Montana and Idaho are forecast to continue suffering from a severe drought, according to projections from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But the long-term drought has left reservoirs in Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Oregon with less than half of their normal reserve, and it could take as many as 20 years worth of normal precipitation to replenish the supply.... BOR agency plans to present beetle proposal The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is proposing to make a field release of leaf-eating beetles as an alternative to chemical control of salt cedar. The bio-control beetle, which originates from Greece, would be released on BOR salt cedar lands in the Carlsbad area. Federal government researchers hope the beetle will help control the spread of the salt cedar, which can use up to 200 gallons of water per day per tree. That would allow more water to stay in the river, which could help local farmers irrigate their crops, officials said.... Editorial: Water deal blazes new path The innovative water-leasing deal between Arkansas Valley farmers and the city of Aurora brings a welcome new tool to the state's water management - an issue that has more often been addressed with bombast and invective than reasonable compromise in Colorado. The $5.5 million deal will boost Aurora's water supply by almost 25 percent this year. In turn, the farmers will idle 8,550 acres of land that would otherwise have been irrigated to grow such crops as hay or corn. The payment to the farmers works out to $643 per acre - more than double the likely cash value of the crops that could have been grown with the water.... Editorial: Wheeling the water The federal government is evaluating a controversial plan that would allow Southern Nevada to dump water it already owns into tributaries of the Colorado River far upstream -- and then reclaim its own water as it flows past the Las Vegas water intakes, downstream in Lake Mead. The Southern Nevada Water Authority owns 128,000 acre-feet of surface water rights on the Muddy and Virgin rivers -- the former flowing past the village of Moapa 60 miles northeast of Las Vegas, the latter stretching an additional hundred miles, across a corner of the Arizona strip and into Utah, as far as Zion National Park. "Wheeling" this water through the Colorado would not only be vastly less expensive than building a pipeline to haul the same water overland to Las Vegas, it would make better environmental sense, as well.... Mexico's Ban on U.S. Beef Imports Raises Inflation Mexican inflation accelerated in February as a temporary ban on U.S. beef pushed up the price of items such as the tacos served at street carts in Mexico City. Meat prices in Mexico have risen from 15 to 40 percent since Mexico banned imports of U.S. beef in December after the discovery of a cow infected in Washington state with mad cow disease, said Jesus Ancheta, commercial director at the Sinaloa Cattle Union. Mexico eased the import restrictions last week.... How do you like your iguana? On a blustery afternoon, a delivery truck creeps through a cluster of ethnic food warehouses in northeast Washington and parks by the section of dock belonging to Distribuidora Cuscatlan, an importer of foods from El Salvador. Frank Rodriguez, Cuscatlan's manager, walks past crates of rice before stepping into a gargantuan stainless-steel freezer. He opens a box that contains what many consider a culinary delicacy - iguana. For centuries, iguana has been consumed throughout Central America; now it's showing up on a small but growing number of North American dinner tables.... Mesa couple gather 'round chuck wagon After the Civil War, cowboys - and they were boys, 14, 15, 16 years old - began rounding up the cattle that had roamed wild in the West during the war and drove those herds to feed beef-hungry Easterners. With nothing like a refrigerated cooler or a Coleman stove, cowboy food amounted to beans, rice and dried salt pork cooked in an iron pot over an open fire. Dessert was as fancy as bread drizzled with molasses. In his native Texas, the sport has grown from half a dozen cooks restoring and cooking from chuck wagons 30 years ago to hundreds of competitors today who travel a circuit around the country matching wits and barbecue pits with other contestants, Perini says. More than two dozen are expected to compete at the Festival of the West, March 18-21 at WestWorld in Scottsdale.... President Bush Meets Privately With ProRodeo's 2003 World Champs During his visit to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, President George W. Bush met privately with the 2003 ProRodeo world champions and Steven J. Hatchell, commissioner of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), at Reliant Stadium. Bush was presented with a Number One back number from the 2003 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) bearing his name; a black leather bomber jacket; and a black cowboy hat....
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