Aldo Leopold shack gets landmark status

The Green Bay Press-Gazette reports:

The humble shack that became the centerpiece of conservationist Aldo Leopold's "A Sand County Almanac" has been granted National Historic Landmark status. The converted chicken coop and the farm on which it stands received the designation from outgoing Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne before he left office in December. Leopold died in 1948 at the age of 61, just before "A Sand County Almanac" was published. The collection of essays detailed his observations of nature through changing seasons and also called for a new land ethic to guide humans in the way they deal with the natural world. The shack is maintained in his memory by the Aldo Leopold Foundation, founded by his children in 1982 to carry on his legacy...

1949 Operation Haylift

Karen Simon writes in the Sierra Sun:

Few Nevada winters have been as brutal as that of 1948-49, when towering snowdrifts and frigid cold waves shut down the state’s major highways and isolated many rural communities. Sixty years ago, the harsh elements nearly decimated Nevada’s livestock industry as cattle and sheep became helplessly snowbound. Weather conditions were so severe a small group of ranchers in hard-hit Eastern Nevada devised an unusual plan to reach their starving livestock that were cut off from grazing by deep snow. The ranchers and officials were inspired by the besieged citizens of West Berlin, who were receiving shipments of food and fuel airdropped by U.S. military planes in the Berlin Airlift. The Nevadans organized “Operation Haylift,” a massive relief effort using U.S. Air Force C-82 cargo airplanes, known as Flying Boxcars, to save the starving animals...

Winter of 1886-87 stands as coldest

The Bismarck Tribune reports:

Bismarck's snowiest winter occurred 11 years ago, but the city's coldest winter goes back farther - to the days when Dakota was a territory. Half of Bismarck's 10 coldest winters were prior to 1900, and none was colder than the winter of 1886-87. From December to February, the average temperature was 0.4 degrees below zero - Bismarck's only winter with a below-zero average temperature. The season devastated livestock and ranchers in the west. Cattle, overstocked by ranchers during the summer's drought, died by the tens of thousands as hard snow hid the sparse prairie grasses. Storms raged from November to February. Five minimum temperature records from January 1887 still stand in Bismarck, including 41 below on Jan. 1 and 44 below on Jan. 2...

That's one of the reason's I love southern NM.

Cowgirl Sass & Savvy

What do you do with yours?

Julie Carter

Back in 1975, a man named Tim Leatherman was traveling through Europe on a shoestring budget in a cranky car with leaky pipes.

It was during this trying time he birthed the idea of a pocket survival tool. That tool today is known simply as the "Leatherman."

By 1977, the tool had taken on a rough form and in 1980, "Mr. Crunch" was patented. And finally in l985, 10 years after that idea, came the founding of Leatherman Tool.

By 1994, they employed more than 200 people. Through the '90s, new and better designs were released, setting the standard in the all-purpose pocket tool industry.

For those of you that missed it, the Leatherman tool is a fold-up tool that incorporates all the following tools in one handy frame: needle-nose pliers, regular pliers, wire cutters, hard-wire cutters, clip-point knife, serrated knife, diamond-coated file, wood saw, scissors, extra small screwdriver, small screwdriver, medium screwdriver, large screwdriver, Phillips screwdriver, can / bottle opener, wire stripper and lanyard attachment.

Out here in "real men carry pocket knives" country, the Leatherman phenomenon was a little slow to catch on.

A Leatherman was pretty pricey for a pair of pliers, and the "I already have a good knife" made it easy to blow off the multipurpose handy-for-anything tool. They would show up under the tree for a gift at Christmas and promptly end up in the drawer next to the hankies with the initial embroidered on them and the ugly boxers.

In the meantime, the world knew something we didn't. Other tool companies began manufacturing acceptable, affordable imitations of the revered original. Gerber, Seber, Sears and an assortment of companies flooded the market in every shape, size and color.

Someone even put a teensy version on a key chain, handy for nose picking and nail cleaning.

Then it happened. Some "real" man dared to show up in the branding corral with one of the versions of the "fad" on his belt, neatly snapped in a little case. He used it to pull some cactus out of a horse's leg and change the needles on a vaccine gun. He loaned it to a kid to use for a cooking utensil while they cooked calf fries on the branding iron burner.

He twisted and tightened the wire on a gate that was doubling as a hinge. He tightened a screw in the emasculators and popped open the lids on an assortment of things.

That amazing day of demonstration opened the eyes and the dresser drawers of those "real men with pocket knives." No longer did they break the good blades on their high dollar pocket knives prying and digging with them.

No longer did they have to stick their heads under the seat of the pickup to find that pair of pliers or a wrench they knew was there somewhere.

Today, it's standard equipment on more belts than not. The women wear them on a belt or carry them in their purses. You will see the daintiest and most delicate of well-coiffed, finely garbed ladies slip a Leatherman from their purse and go to work with it like she'd been doing it forever.

The list of uses is as varied as the number of tools all hooked up into that one handy dandy tool. There are stories of lives being saved, babies being birthed and legendary feats all because of a Leatherman.

Tomorrow when you strap yours on your hip, know it just might go down in history next to Colt and Smith and Wesson.

It’s The Pitts: Quit While You’re Behind

Before auction markets came along with a better form of price discovery there existed a class of characters known as ‘traders’. There were three prerequisites to be a member of this cattle tradin’ fraternity: a big Cadillac with a glove box full of speeding tickets, a silver stick pin that cost more than the price of two calves on an up market, and female acquaintances in every state where you did business. Jim’s grandfather was a purebred member of this clan with a long line of Missouri mule traders in his pedigree. Grandpa Jim is decomposing now but back in the day when a man’s poverty was measured by the number of cattle he owned, Jim was a card-carrying members of the cattle trader’s cartel. I’ve been told that Big Jim had all the charm of a west Texas rattlesnake, the ethics of a street gang and could be crueler than a pair of Mexican spurs. He was the kind of guy who’d think nothing of belching in church or putting his thumb on the scales when he was selling cattle to you. It’s been said that Big Jim started his trading career with absolutely nothing and by the time he died he still had most of it left. In the twilight of his life Jim drifted south like the cattle. Besides trying to find warmer weather Jim wanted to train yet another generation in the tradin’ game. He moved in with his daughter and started schooling Little Jimmy, his grandson...

Climate Policy Crash

Jonathan H. Adler, writing at National Review:

Even were Congress to have second thoughts, the climate-policy die is cast. In April 2007, the Supreme Court held, in Massachusetts v. EPA, that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. Thus no new legislation is required for the Obama EPA to begin crafting rules to control the emission of carbon dioxide and other gases from automobile tailpipes, power plants, boilers, and more. Like it or not, EPA administrator Lisa Jackson and her team have ample authority to impose controls on the most ubiquitous by-product of modern industrial civilization. Indeed, they may not have a choice. Justice Stevens’s majority opinion in Massachusetts did not command the EPA to begin regulating, but that is the practical effect of the Court’s decision. At issue was Section 202 of the Clean Air Act, which requires the EPA to impose emission standards on new motor vehicles for any air pollutants which in the EPA’s “judgment cause, or contribute to, air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.” The Court decided that greenhouse gases are “air pollutants,” and so the EPA must set standards if it believes climate change “may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.” The EPA would have a hard time claiming not to believe that, even if the Obama administration were so inclined: In numerous documents and statements, the agency has reiterated its belief that climate change is a significant concern, and that a gradual warming could have deleterious effects on health and welfare. Even during the Bush administration, the EPA endorsed federal action to “reduce the risk” of global warming. The EPA has done everything short of publishing a formal statement that climate change “may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare,” and no court would readily let it off the hook. Thus, Massachusetts effectively requires the imposition of carbon-dioxide controls on new cars and trucks....

Green With Madness

Eric Peters writes at the American Spectator:

The Obama administration has apparently decided to slam shut -- and nail down -- the coffin lid on the U.S. auto industry. It was announced this week that the administration intends to give California and a handful of other states legal authority to impose their own mileage, emissions and fuel economy requirements -- requirements that may and probably will exceed federal standards. The auto industry -- already crippled by sales that are off as much as 30-50 percent from last year -- faces two equally unpalatable options: It will either have to either build two sets of cars for two different markets (California and the rest of the country) or make all their new vehicles meet the stricter "California standard" -- which will be both complex and costly. This is a devastating blow -- and one that the enfeebled U.S. auto industry probably cannot withstand...President Obama is neither an engineer nor a businessman -- having spent about a year of his entire career outside the government. So he probably doesn't understand that, in the first place, current-year cars are already close to emissions-free. Compared with a car built during the 1970s, a 2009 model year car produces virtually none of the noxious combustion byproducts (chiefly unburned hydrocarbons) that combine to form smog and reduce air quality. In fact, less than 2 percent of what comes out of the tailpipe is other than water vapor and carbon dioxide -- neither of which have any effect of air quality. But California regulators -- and now Obama -- want to go after that remaining 1-2 percent. No matter how expensive. An economist would call this pursuing diminishing returns. But Obama is not an economist; he is a politician -- and he knows that people (most people) will like the sound of what he is proposing. What they might not like, of course, is the price tag that will come with it....

What NASA Thinks of James Hansen

Doug Bandow writes at OpenMarket.org:

James Hansen of NASA has become one of the leading climate alarmists. Quite simply, the world is about to end. That being the case, industry executives who don’t toe the line (only wrecking the economy can save humanity from destruction) should be tried in a kind of environmental Nuremberg Trial. It turns out that Hansen’s supervisor, at least, was not so enamored of his work. Reports the Spectator in London: But now the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works reports that James Hansen’s former supervisor, retired senior NASA atmospheric scientist Dr. John S. Theon, former Chief of the Climate Processes Research Programme at NASA who was responsible for all weather and climate research in the agency from1982 to 1994, has said he thinks man-made global warming theory is anti-scientific bunk: ‘I appreciate the opportunity to add my name to those who disagree that global warming is man-made,’ Theon wrote to the Minority Office at the Environment and Public Works Committee on January 15, 2009.

Looking Green, Feeling Blue

Irwin M. Stelzer writing at The Weekly Standard:

So environmentalists were horrified when Dr. Chu told senators during his confirmation hearings that he planned to fast-track the development of nuclear plants, accept oil and gas drilling as part of an overall energy package, and would support new coal-powered electric-generating plants even before research into "clean coal" technology bears fruit. So here we are. Lots of talk about smart grids, solar and wind power, lots of environmentalist appointees -- and an administration still groping for an energy policy that is feasible -- allows for a sufficient increase in the supply of energy to sustain economic growth while at the same time reducing the emission of greenhouse gasses. This means that it is an administration that will soon be at war with part of the environmental movement, and learn that although it controls the White House and the congress, it cannot control environmentalists' use of the courts to stall and in many case kill the development of new sources of energy. Various environmental groups have already used the courts to force the cancellation of over 50 coal plants. They have used the courts to prevent the opening of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. Local groups in the not-in-my-backyard camp have used the courts to prevent the construction of wind farms, with the Kennedy-led opposition to Cape Wind, the project within sight of their Hyannis Port compound, the most famous. And they are increasingly concerned about the amount of land needed for large-scale solar installations...

Deming US Border Patrol agent arrested on bribery charges

FBI agents have arrested a U.S. Border Patrol agent assigned to Deming who is accused of accepting bribes in exchange for allowing narcotics to pass through his patrol area. The FBI says Wednesday that Agent Eric Raymond Macias turned himself in to FBI agents Friday at their Las Cruces offices. Macias' arrest follows a 2-year investigation by the FBI, the Homeland Security Department's Office of Inspector General and the internal affairs office at the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. Court records show Macias allegedly accepted $39,000 in bribes from a witness who was cooperating with investigators. Border Patrol spokesman Doug Mosier says such cases are isolated incidents and don't reflect the professionalism of Border Patrol agents.

Ma. current gun laws are failing

Massachusetts gun laws are not working and need to be reformed. That's according to James Wallace, Executive Director of the Gun Owners Action League, who spoke at the Jan. 8 meeting of the Berkshire County League of Sportsmen. In 1998, Chapter 180 of the Acts of 1998, reputed to be the "worst gun laws in the nation", were passed. During the 10 years since passage, there has been an 84 percent drop in licensed gun ownership from 1,500,000 to around 240,000. During the same period, Wallace cited crime statistics which indicated that there was a 67 percent increase in firearm related homicides, 236 percent increase in assault related hospital discharges, 331 percent increase in firearm related Emergency Room visits and 590 percent increase in gun related outpatient observations. These statistics were provided by the Massachusetts Department of Health. Added to that is the "lack of oversight and accountability, overcharges in licensing fees, licensing delays and violations, and a complete lack of credibility and trust between gun owners and their government."...

Mountain lion shot near school, dies in garage

The AP reports:

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission says a Scottsbluff police officer shot a mountain lion that had wandered into a neighborhood. Conservation officer Scott Brandt says the 70-pound female cat was seen in a tree near Scottsbluff High School on Sunday morning. When she came down from the tree, the police officer shot her, causing critical injuries. The cat ran, but was found in a garage a few blocks away. Brandt says the cat was then euthanized with a dart gun. Mountain lions — also known as cougars, pumas, panthers or catamounts — became a protected species under Nebraska law in 1995 and can’t be hunted. They can be killed if they are threatening livestock or the safety of others.

World heads for 'water bankruptcy', says Davos report

Grist reports:

The world is heading toward "water bankruptcy" as demand for the precious commodity outstrips even high population growth, a new report warned Friday. In less than 20 years water scarcity could lose the equivalent of the entire grain crops of India and the United States, said the World Economic Forum report, which added that food demand is expected to sky-rocket in coming decades. Water has been consistently under-priced in many regions and has been wasted and overused, the report said. Many places in the world are on the verge of "water bankruptcy" following a series of regional water "bubbles" over the past 50 years. The report said that energy production accounts for about 39 percent of all water used in the United States and 31 percent of water withdrawals in the EU. Only three percent is actually consumed, but competition for access to water will intensify over the next two decades. Water requirements for energy are expected to grow by as much as 165 percent in the United States and 130 percent in the EU, putting a major "squeeze" on water for agriculture, said the WEF.

EPA board to review Navajo coal plant air permit

News From Indian Country reports:

A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency appeals board has agreed to review the approval of an air permit for a proposed coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Nation, but carbon dioxide emissions won’t be part of that process. The EPA issued an air permit for the Desert Rock power plant in July. The state of New Mexico and a group of conservationists sought a review, citing concerns over air quality, carbon dioxide emissions and violations of the Endangered Species Act. The Environmental Appeals Board granted the review in an order filed recently. The board intends to hear oral arguments after allowing the parties to file additional briefs. The only issue that won’t be under review is whether limits on carbon dioxide emissions are required for the plant. The EPA’s regional office in San Francisco withdrew the portion of the permit related to such emissions and opened up a revised statement for public comment.

New scrutiny for Interior unit

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Thursday that he has ordered a re-examination of the scandalized Interior Department division based in Lakewood, including why the U.S. Justice Department did not pursue more criminal prosecutions. Two convictions resulted from a wide-ranging inspector-general inquiry that last year exposed improper relationships between Minerals Management Service employees and energy firms, in addition to self-dealing by some staffers. As many as 10 people were terminated or disciplined. But Salazar stressed that he wants to examine why Bush administration prosecutors in the public-integrity unit didn't pursue criminal cases against others. "There's a new sheriff in town," Salazar said during a news conference at the MMS complex. "We will be visiting with the new U.S. attorney general and take a new look at it."

From the Denver Post.

Salazar to take preservation nationwide

The Durango Heraldreports:

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar wants to invigorate a national land conservation program based on a successful Colorado organization. In his first briefing for reporters as head of the Department of the Interior, the former Colorado senator said he wants to revamp the royalty system for federal gas and oil leases and use some of the money to preserve farms, ranches and rivers. His inspiration is Great Outdoors Colorado, he said. The organization has helped preserve 700,000 acres statewide since 1994, GOCO spokeswoman Chris Leding said. Salazar helped write the 1992 constitutional amendment that created GOCO, and he was the group's first chairman. The group uses lottery money to buy open space and conservation easements, which pays farmers and ranchers to leave their property undeveloped.

Alaskans brace for volcanic eruption

A volcano just 100 miles from Alaska's largest city has stirred back to life after nearly 20 years of tranquility, sparking a round-the-clock eruption watch, seismologists said Thursday. The fresh wave of seismic activity at Mount Redoubt suggests that the eruption could occur within days or weeks, the Alaska Volcano Observatory reported. Redoubt's renewed tremors sparked worries about potential ashfall in Anchorage, where city officials advised residents to stock up on supplies ranging from extra food and water to respirators, plastic bags and windshield washer fluid.

From MSNBC

Boy Scouts dispose of land holdings

From the Houston Chronicle

The last large stand of woods in a Seattle suburb. A unique desert canyon just outside of Los Angeles. Rangelands deep in the heart of Texas. All are set to be felled, filled and bulldozed so that stately homes, a sprawling reservoir and perhaps even a massive hydroelectric dam may one day rise in their place. Aside from their still unspoiled settings, the lands share another common bond: The Boy Scouts of America sold them for development. From Arizona to Virginia, New York to Washington, senior housing complexes, retail offices, even a casino’s golf course have risen in place of timberlands and green spaces where boys once learned about nature. Over the past 20 years, local Boy Scouts administrations across America have reaped tens of millions of dollars from selling decades-old campgrounds and other properties.

Advocates want bison managed as wild animals

The Casper Star-Tribune reports:

A coalition of bison advocates and owners of property near Yellowstone National Park said Thursday that bison wandering out of Yellowstone should be managed by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, rather than by livestock interests. A long line of people asked a legislative committee to support a bill dubbed the Wild Bison Recovery and Conservation Act. Primarily, the measure would make the wildlife agency rather than the Montana Department of Livestock responsible for managing bison that wander out of Yellowstone. Opponents, mainly ranchers, said the proposal puts them at risk. The bill's sponsor said management of bison has been bungled by the Department of Livestock, which answers to a board run by ranchers. Rep. Mike Phillips of Bozeman said that after two decades, policies of the livestock agency have failed to prevent transmission of brucellosis, a disease found in some Yellowstone wildlife, to domestic animals. He said the Department of Livestock has slaughtered bison even if they were not really a threat. Interests of ranchers have trumped the interests of hunters and other landowners, said Phillips, a Democrat.

Feral hog population threatens NM agriculture industry

From the Portales News-Tribune

The feral hog is rapidly becoming the new coyote, or pest, for farmers across eastern New Mexico, a state agriculutural official said Thursday at the 41st annual Agricultural and Home Economics Seminar in Tucumcari. State officials outlined the problem as well as a creative program still being developed to help control feral hogs. Feral or wild hogs damage land and crops and carry at least 37 parasites that can affect people, pets, livestock and wildlife, said New Mexico Department of Agriculture disease biologist Justin Stevenson. Stevenson said feral hogs can also be carriers of bovine tuberculosis and pseudo-rabies. “When a feral hog spreads the pseudo-rabies to livestock, it usually results in...death,” Stevenson said. “The livestock start exhibiting symptoms such as a mad itch and die within one day.” The agency is working on a new way to cut back the population of the wild omnivore population in New Mexico. The population control program has been dubbed the “Judas Hog Operation.” The program would release a sterilized female feral hog into the wild. The female would be equipped with a tracking collar. Once located with a pack of hogs, the hogs would be killed and the female would be released again to locate another pack.