That Other War

Rodney Balko writes of no-knock raids and three recent deaths. Here are some excerpts:

Today, actual war weaponry, armor, and tactics are as much a part of the war on drugs as Reagan's rhetoric implied back when the drug war was young. And law enforcement officials shrug off the deaths of innocents as if they were the same sort of collateral damage you'd find on a battlefield...

Though these highly volatile raids are often justified on the premise that drug dealers are heavily armed, a subsequent survey of no-knock raids by the Lima News last year found that most raids in that city failed to yield any weapons at all. In fact, a third of the raids conducted by the Lima police department between 2001 and 2008 turned up no contraband—drugs or guns...

It's possible that all three officers in these cases were justified in discharging their weapons. This method of drug war policing—bringing paramilitary-style units to bear on suspects in a highly volatile, confrontational manner—creates dangerous, high-stakes scenarios where both cop and suspect have to make split-second decisions under unimaginable circumstances (though it's unfortunate that people on the receiving end of these tactics aren't given the same consideration and leniency the cops are). There's no margin for error. It's the tactics that are the problem. Neither Ayers, Wilson, nor Guizan were violent people. Nor were any of them the target of a criminal investigation. Had the police used less violent methods in each incident, all three would still be alive today...

Nearly a quarter century after Reagan's Verdun speech, deployments of SWAT-teams and similar paramilitary police units into the homes of American citizens have increased from about 3,000 per year during Reagan's first term to around 50,000 annually today. The vast majority of these are to serve drug warrants, though we're now seeing them used for white collar crimes and to raid poker games, as well. America's police departments now sport military-grade weapons, vehicles, and armor. Each year, we get about a dozen cases like the three described above, plus a few dead cops and hundreds, perhaps thousands, of drug-war deaths involving less sympathetic victims. And it's as easy to obtain illicit drugs today as it was in 1982.

Bingaman, Raptors & Wilderness

Oops. We should have told you. That was the admission Friday of Holloman Air Force Base officials following Thursday's night window-rattling, wall-shaking sonic booms in the Las Cruces area. The aerial exercise involved "a number of" F-22 Raptors, according to Holloman officials. "We had hoped to provide everyone with as much advanced notice as possible," Holloman spokesman Arlen Ponder said. "However, we realize our information didn't make it as far as we had hoped." In the future "... as much advanced notice as possible" will be given. That would be a good idea, Las Cruces police said. "Central Dispatch said they easily received more than 200 calls," Thursday night, police spokesman Dan Trujillo said...According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a sonic boom "is a sound resembling an explosion produced when a shock wave formed at the nose of an aircraft traveling at supersonic speed reaches the ground -- called also sonic bang." Bang, indeed. "I almost jumped out of my chair when I heard the first one," said Julie Delgado, a Las Cruces homemaker. "I didn't know what it was, and it sounded so close. I went outside to see if I could find out what was happening and all of my neighbors were out there, too, asking the same thing. It scared us pretty good." Trujillo said reports of as many as three sonic booms came from all areas of the city and as far away as Radium Springs, about 20 miles north of Las Cruces...The aircraft will conduct air-to-air and air-to-ground training in airspace designated by the FAA...read more

So now you know why Jeff Bingaman has the following language in his wilderness bill:

(e) Military Overflights- Nothing in this section restricts or precludes--
(1) low-level overflights of military aircraft over the wilderness areas designated by subsection (a), including military overflights that can be seen or heard within the wilderness areas;
(2) flight testing and evaluation; or
(3) the designation or creation of new units of special use airspace, or the establishment of military flight training routes, over the wilderness areas.

In other words, according to Senator Bingaman, it's ok to have low-flying military aircraft and sonic booms in wilderness areas that cause people to "jump out of their chair" and results in "more than 200 calls" to the police.

But campers, don't you dare drive your vehicle or camper into the wilderness. And hunters, don't you dare drive your vehicle in to scout for or remove game. Border patrol, forget about using vehicles or mechanical equipment to track or intercept illegal immigrants or drug traffickers. After all, those things would ruin someone's wilderness experience.

Low-flying military aircraft and "sound resembling an explosion" are ok, everyone else either walk in or stay out.

That's a Bingaman wilderness area.

Danny Glover - Haiti Caused by Failure of Copenhagen Summit

Danny Glover said, "When we see what we did at the climate summit in Copenhagen, this is the response, this is what happens, you know what I'm sayin'?" Danny Glover's suggestion that the Earth itself somehow decided to erupt and kill and maim hundreds of thousands of black Haitians because a bunch of mainly white people couldn't figure out a way to deal with global warming is mind blowing, to say the least...read more

USFWS - Big Expansion of Global Warming Centers

The biggest immediate need is to beef up the agency's scientific capacity, a long-neglected area, Hamilton said. "We really need to make more informed decisions about how we're spending our money and where we're doing our habitat restoration. But to do that, we have to have some pretty solid science to back it up," he said. A hallmark of that effort, tied to the Interior Department's broader climate strategy, is an initial $25 million investment this year to set up nine "landscape conservation cooperatives," in which federal, state and outside researchers will collaborate to tackle regional climate questions. Eventually, the goal is to support a total of 18 centers, Hamilton said. With each focused on particular representative species, the centers could help feed FWS information it needs to make climate-oriented decisions and predictions. To do this, scientists face a daunting task of wedding global climate data to regional models specific to a habitat or wildlife population...read more

60 Days In Jail For Illegal Camping On FS Land

Charges have been dropped against a 63-year-old man who resisted arrest when authorities took him into custody for living in a CDOT utility parking lot on Forest Service land at the Arapaho Basin Ski Area. However, the man, Charles "Charlie" H. Toups, Jr., is banned from all National Forest Service, National Park Service and BLM property. Toups, who has been jailed for approximately 60 days in a jail cell in Georgetown, will be released. He had faced charges of of camping on public land (the Colorado Department of Transportation/Forest Service land), possessing marijuana and assaulting a Forest Service officer. Under the agreement, Toups may ski in ski areas which include Forest Service property if he is a paying customer during regular business hours. As part of the agreement, Toups admitted that he resisted arrest by Jill Wick, a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer...read more

Man gets prison, fine for illegal ATV trail

Building an illegal trail and clearing trees in the Gallatin National Forest will cost a Livingston man five months in federal prison, a fine and $25,000 restitution. U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn Ostby today fined the defendant, Francis Leroy McLain, 60, $2,000 and ordered his prison term to run concurrently with a four-year federal sentence he is serving for tax evasion in Minnesota. McLain pleaded guilty in December to damage to government property, a misdemeanor, for trail work he did in 2006 in the South Fork drainage of McDonald Creek south of Livingston. McLain originally was indicted on a felony but agreed to admit to a misdemeanor in a plea agreement. McLain told the judge earlier he liked hiking in the forest behind his residence and thought he’d clear some blown-down trees and reduce the fire hazard...read more

Judge upholds Badger-Two Medicine travel ban

A federal judge in Great Falls has kept in place a ban on motorized travel in the Rocky Mountain Front's Badger-Two Medicine region while a lawsuit on the issue moves forward. The U.S. Forest Service implemented the ban in October as part of a new travel plan. The Montana Trail Vehicle Riders Association and other groups sued over the plan, contending it's unconstitutional. They asked U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon to lift the motorized travel ban until the lawsuit is settled. But on Wednesday, Haddon denied the request...read more

Natural gas production dips

Natural gas production in the Rocky Mountain region's top gas-producing state declined in 2009 for the first time since 1997, helping push Wyoming into recession along with the rest of the country. Last year wasn't all doom and gloom for gas, since it was the second-biggest year for Wyoming gas volume on record. But the state leans heavily on its gas industry and the decline had a ripple effect. State revenue is down. Unemployment is up -- almost double the rate this time last year. And communities in gas-rich areas are struggling. Wyoming's annual natural gas production increased steadily from 1998 through 2008, nearly doubling in that time and bestowing the state with billion-dollar budget surpluses. Last year, the state produced about 2.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, down about 9 percent from 2008's record 2.3 trillion cubic feet, according to the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. The Wyoming office of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management reports that it processed 2,162 oil and gas drilling permits last year, down from 3,681 in 2008 and the lowest number since 2003...read more

Mont. wolf attacks spike in '09, sparking backlash

Gray wolves killed livestock in Montana at the rate of an animal per day in 2009, stirring a backlash against the predators in rural areas and depleting a program that compensates ranchers for their losses. The sharp increase over 2008 livestock losses, reported Thursday by state officials, was fueled largely by a wolf pack ravaging 148 sheep in southwestern Montana near Dillon in August. Such attacks _ plus elk herd declines blamed on wolves in parts of Montana and neighboring Idaho _ have renewed calls by many ranchers and hunters to reduce the predator's population. "They are beautiful creatures, but they're also very deadly. They'll go out and hamstring a bunch of animals just for fun," said Barb Svenson of Reed Point, whose family ranch lost more than 30 sheep in attacks over the last two years. "They're killing our income," she added. Wolf attacks account for only a small fraction of sheep and cattle losses in the Northern Rockies. Disease, weather and coyotes each take more. But wolves attract particular disdain because of their viciousness _ many killed animals are left uneaten _ and because of historic prohibitions against hunting the predators...read more

Feds Propose Expanding Bush's Bull Trout Habitat

In another reversal of Bush administration Endangered Species Act policy, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to more than quadruple habitat protections for the bull trout, a fish that has been harmed by logging, mining and grazing on federal lands. The agency on Wednesday proposed designating 23,000 miles of streams and 533,000 acres of lakes and reservoirs in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Nevada as critical habitat. The area includes nearly 1,000 miles of marine shoreline in Washington. Final action is due Sept. 30. The proposal is part of the Obama administration's continuing efforts to correct problems identified by a 2008 inspector general's report that found improper political influence affected several Endangered Species Act decisions by the Bush administration, said Michael Bean, special counselor to the assistant secretary of Interior for fish, wildlife and parks...read more

Sec. Salazar On Wild Horses

Though an American icon is again flourishing, the job of restoring the health of wild horse herds is far from complete. Without natural predators, wild horse populations have grown beyond the carrying capacity of the sensitive and sparse lands on which they live, causing damage to ecosystems and putting them at risk of starvation. As a result, federal managers must move thousands of wild horses each year off the range to pastures and corrals, where they are fed, cared for and put up for adoption. The current situation is unsustainable. The American people expect the health of their lands and watersheds to be protected, and it is unacceptable to allow wild horses to be malnourished on inadequate ranges. Yet no one wants to see them gathered and moved off Western ranges. Moreover, the status quo comes with a steep price tag. The federal government spends more than $60 million a year on the wild horse and burro program, of which $35 million goes to the care and feeding of the horses. A broad range of animal rights organizations, conservationists and Western communities agree that we cannot continue down the current path. We must change course...read more

Montana kills seven bighorn sheep after pneumonia confirmed

A pneumonia outbreak may spell doom for many of the bighorn sheep frequenting the West Riverside community east of Missoula. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks hunters have killed seven sick sheep since Tuesday and may have to take many more of the roughly 65 bighorns on Woody Mountain to interrupt spread of the highly infectious disease. "We need to delineate that area, and then dispatch those sheep that are not only showing signs but those who've had interactions with infected sheep," said FWP biologist Vickie Edwards. "We hope to nip this in the bud. The goal is to not let it spread to rest of the district. It's a doom-and-gloom thing."...read more

Suit could block NM action on carbon emissions

Local utilities, businesses and some state legislators said they filed a joint lawsuit Jan. 13 to challenge the state Environmental Improvement Board’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions in New Mexico. In a news release, the group said it filed the suit in the Fifth Judicial District in Lea County to block any EIB efforts to impose a cap on greenhouse gases. New Energy Economy Inc. had filed a petition in December 2008 asking the EIB to unilaterally adopt regulations enforcing controls on emissions in New Mexico that would be stricter than caps in federal legislation being considered in Congress. The plaintiffs want the court to prohibit the EIB from acting on New Energy Economy’s proposal, arguing that the EIB has not been given authority by the New Mexico Legislature to consider rules or regulations related to greenhouse gas emissions, according to the group’s press release. In addition, even if the legislature had delegated authority, state law prohibits adoption of air quality regulations without first establishing applicable air quality standards. Neither the state nor the federal government has adopted an air quality standard for greenhouse gases, the group said...read more

Environmental Groups Sue Over Tongass Timber Sale

Three environmental groups are going to court to try and stop a particularly contentious timber sale of old-growth trees in the country's largest national forest. Greenpeace, Cascadia Wildlands and the Tongass Conservation Society filed the lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court in Anchorage. It alleges that the U.S. Forest Service failed to comply with federal environmental laws in approving the Logjam timber sale last year in the Tongass National Forest. The lawsuit alleges that the Forest Service failed to consider the Logjam timber sale's impact on wolves, deer and salmon in that part of the Tongass. It asks the court to force the Forest Sercice and its contractors to stop work on the project on 3,422 acres and send it back to the agency to make it comply with federal laws. Attorneys for the agency in Juneau were evaluating the lawsuit and it was too soon to comment, said Ray Massey, Forest Service spokesman for the Alaska region...read more

Depredation reform a priority for NM environmental groups

Reforming a state law that allows landowners to kill wild game that cause property damage will be a priority issue for environmental groups at the state Legislature this year. The Environmental Alliance of New Mexico announced its priorities this week at a briefing with reporters. Depredation refers to the damage or loss caused by wildlife to private property, most notably when predators kill livestock or when grazing animals eat plants that have economic benefit to landowners. How to prevent or mitigate such damage has been an ongoing source of tension between ranchers, hunters, environmentalists, and farmers. In 1997, the “Jennings amendment,” named for Sen. Tim Jennings, allowed property owners to kill wildlife if necessary to protect their property. Such killings have been a long simmering issue, but feelings boiled over in 2008 when a farmer near Cimarron killed at least 39 antelope that had been foraging on his winter wheat crop. Images of slaughtered antelope littering the property showed up on the evening news, igniting a vigorous public debate...read more

Community in Crisis Looks to its Agricultural Roots

Renowned for its historic Native American pueblo, cultural ties to Spain, bohemian artists, and world-class ski resort, Taos is also one of the many communities in the U.S. facing food insecurity. But the region was once the breadbasket of northern New Mexico, and a grassroots movement is seeking to position it as a model for sustainable agriculture. With food insecurity in the U.S. higher than at any time in recent memory, revitalisation of community-based agriculture may not come a moment too soon. Beginning at least a thousand years ago, the Taos Pueblos developed a rich agrarian culture here. Spanish settlers came in the 1500s, mixing with Natives and bringing with them the Moorish community system of water sharing known here as the acequias. When the U.S. took over the territory after the Mexican American war in 1848, families of Spanish descent were granted land for communal use. The westward expansion brought many European Americans who took up ranching. During the countercultural movements of the 1960s more came, formed communes, and began to farm in the traditional ways later branded "organic". Challenges to sustainable agriculture are numerous. The high desert area has a short growing season. Decreased snow and rainfalls in recent years, combined with exponential growth in land values, pose serious threats...read more

Wily coyote caller shares his secrets with would-be hunters

In spite of frigid temperatures, more than 90 men and women recently came to hear champion coyote caller Les Johnson share his secrets at Conrad's new shooting sports complex. Johnson told participants to learn the coyotes' behavior patterns. "Don't give up, even if you have 10 bad stands. You get better with time in the field," he said. "Coyotes are smart. They've been persecuted and they are still thriving." Johnson, the host of cable's Predator Quest, had a couple of more pointers, too. First, hunt like you know the coyotes are there, because they are. "Don't go scout out an area the day before and then come back. You know that they come up to where you parked, sniff around and smell danger. They'll just disappear," he said. And start hunting as soon as you leave your truck, he recommended...read more

Retiring Forest Service employee gives thoughts

When Mark Orme first worked at the Targhee National Forest in St. Anthony in 1981, timber sale maps were drawn by hand from aerial photos, and acreages were calculated using a dot overlay counts. Accuracy then could be measured in miles. But it was the best technology available to those working on the Targhee's first management plan. "I can remember in the 1980s when we got the first computers in the forest," he says. Back in 1981 all terrain vehicles had hardly been invented, and the snowmobile industry was in its infancy. Hardly anyone visited the woods in the winter except an occasional trapper. As a member of planning teams for the Targhee twice -- the original and revised plans -- and the Tongass Forest in Alaska once, Orme has seen a shift in philosophy in the public about management of national forests. Not only has the shift been toward more public recreational use, but also toward more litigation by environmental organizations, particularly involving timber sales and road densities as they relate to grizzly bears. As he retires, a U.S. District judge in Montana has ruled all of the agencies working to get the bear "recovered" have failed -- largely because of the uncertainty about the affects of climate change on white bark pine, whose nuts have been a critical major food for the bears. The ruling frustrates Orme. It's almost like a slap in face to wildlife managers and others who have come so far in trying to recover a bear population that stood at about 180 to 200 sows with cubs throughout the Yellowstone ecosystem in the early 1980s. Looking at where the agency has been and where it's headed, Orme thinks the pendulum has swung too far onto the environmental extreme side, with not enough weight given to the need to actually manage the forests for optimal vegetation...read more

Song Of The Day #220

Ranch Radio climbs back in the saddle this am You Don't Have To Be A Baby To Cry recorded in 1950 by Ernest Tubb.

My version is from the 5 disc box set Let's Say Goodbye Like We Said Hello from Bear Family Records.

Note on blog

Agreed to help the Las Cruces Tea Party so started Old South Meeting House - Tea Party News. With all the recent controversy it's taken a lot of my time, but will get back to a complete The Westerner (including Song Of The Day).

For new readers of The Westerner all 200 plus songs are still available. On the right side of your screen just scroll down to Labels and you will see them.