My Uncle Curley passed away on August 14 at 92 years of age.
As I’ve written here before, it was Curley who taught me how to bulldog and it was Curley who convinced me to go back to college. So, if it wasn’t for Curley, I would have much better knees, but also no degrees and no career.
I have many fond memories of Curley, but will share two which I believe best describe him.
The first time I qualified for the USTRC finals in Guthrie, OK, Curley decided to fly up there to be with me. I picked him up at the hotel and we headed to the Lazy E. I pulled into their stall area and went in to get my stall. They said no stalls were available, and I would have to haul my horse back to OKC and stall him at the Fairgrounds. About that time Curley walked up, heard the discussion and then asked the gentlemen if “Cocky” Leblanc still shod horses for the Lazy E. Yes, they said, and asked “do you know Cocky?” Curley told a few stories about him and Cocky, and the next thing you know I had a stall at the Lazy E.
Many years before, when I was just a youngster, I spent the summer with Curley in Lecompton, Kansas. He took me with him to a PRCA (RCA in those days) rodeo in Kansas City, Mo. On the way I remember Curley slapped his hip and said “damn, I brought the Grand Junction check.” He had sold his place in Grand Junction and had the down payment check in his billfold.
After we got to the arena, I was excited when Curley introduced me to Monty Montana. Curley then pulled out his war bag. Curley’s ankle was sore and swollen, as Mike, his roping horse had clipped him on the ankle during a practice session. I couldn’t figure out how he could rope with that injury. Out of the war bag came an old pair of high top football shoes, with regular soles – no cleats. He laced them up tight and warmed up Mike.
When his name was called, Curley made a good run, fast enough to win the day money.
After the performance, several of the younger contestants came over and said, “Hey old man, how much did the day money pay?” Curley reached in his pocket and pulled out the Grand Junction check and handed it to them. “God-a mighty” they hollered as they stared at the amount of the check. Then Curley started laughing and showed them the day money check.
That was Curley McCarey. He loved horses, he loved rodeo and he loved having a good time.
And I loved him.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Fire risk linked to global warming Global warming and past management practices are making forests in the Western United States more susceptible to fire, according to a report released Thursday. Large wildfires, like two that burned thousands of acres in Utah last year, are blamed for making climate change worse and putting unnatural stress on ecosystems, the National Wildlife Federation report said. The report, "Increased Risk of Catastrophic Wildfires: Global Warming's Wake-Up Call for the Western United States," claims global warming is increasing the risk of fires because of rising temperatures, drier conditions, more lightning from stronger storms, added dry fuel for fires and a longer fire season. Those factors have combined with decades of fire-suppression tactics that allowed unsafe fuel loads to accumulate, as well as severe bark-beetle infestations that are rapidly decimating trees and ever-expanding human settlements in and near forests, the report said. "The result is increasing vulnerability to major fires."....
Fur Real? 4 Articles On Bigfoot
‘Bigfoot’ press conference reveals possum DNA Bigfoot lived in North Georgia, and his cousins are still there. That’s what a pair of Clayton County outdoorsmen claim. But if they have definitive evidence to prove it, it wasn’t presented at a press conference here Friday where they had said they would make believers out of everyone. Dozens of mostly skeptical reporters showed up, lured by a flurry of interest in the story since pictures of the supposed discovery hit the Internet late last month. Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer said a second round of DNA testing on what they claim is a dead 7-foot bigfoot they say they stumbled upon while hiking in June in North Georgia is still being completed. Of three samples in a preliminary DNA test, one came back inconclusive, one contained traces of human DNA and one had traces of opossum DNA - probably from something the creature ate, they said....
Bigfoot Press Conference Yields Little Evidence, Lots of Scorn It was perhaps the most highly touted press conference of the week, but it didn't reveal much in the way of evidence: Three bigfoot enthusiasts announced today that a series of genetic tests performed on samples taken from a carcass they claim is a Sasquatch came back as a mixture of human and opossum. In addition to the mixed DNA results, Tom Biscardi, Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer showed the audience two blurry photos, one of a solitary figure in mixed hardwood forest and another of the mouth of what appeared to be the tongue and teeth of a primate. Nevertheless, fielding questions from a packed room in Palo Alto, the trio called their discovery groundbreaking and held to their claim that the animal they are currently holding in "an undisclosed location" is indeed the legendary bigfoot....
Fur Real? Pair Say They Have Bigfoot Bigfoot has been found in the Georgia woods and is being held in a cooler at an undisclosed location. So say two self-proclaimed Bigfoot trackers, Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer, who held a news conference in Palo Alto on Friday to publicize their claim of having found the elusive Sasquatch, or at least the body of one, in the northern part of the Peach State. The exact location is being kept secret, they said, to protect other Bigfoots still wandering there. The public was excluded from the conference, but a picture of the supposed 500-plus-pound dead biped was posted online at on http://www.searchingforbigfoot.com, looking like a mangy mound of fur, entrails and the pinched face of a close cousin to "Star Wars' " Chewbacca -- all crammed into a water-filled icebox. Some Bigfoot enthusiasts were less than convinced....
Bigfoot, Humboldt County’s native son “We want everyone to know that Bigfoot is from Humboldt,” says the media and marketing spokesman from the Humboldt County Convention & Visitors Bureau. His comments come after two men held a press conference today to proclaim that they found Bigfoot in northern Georgia — and have the body on ice to prove it. Stenger points out that Bigfoot was born in Humboldt about 50 years ago when he was sighted — and named (he had previously been referred to as Sasquatch) — for the huge footprints reportedly found at Willow Creek, about an hour east of Arcata. “Within three days, it made huge international headlines,” Stenger said. From there, Bigfoot became a huge cottage industry up there: the Bigfoot Museum and Statue, the annual Bigfoot celebration, even the local Blue Lake Casino claims Bigfoot as its mascot....
Bigfoot Press Conference Yields Little Evidence, Lots of Scorn It was perhaps the most highly touted press conference of the week, but it didn't reveal much in the way of evidence: Three bigfoot enthusiasts announced today that a series of genetic tests performed on samples taken from a carcass they claim is a Sasquatch came back as a mixture of human and opossum. In addition to the mixed DNA results, Tom Biscardi, Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer showed the audience two blurry photos, one of a solitary figure in mixed hardwood forest and another of the mouth of what appeared to be the tongue and teeth of a primate. Nevertheless, fielding questions from a packed room in Palo Alto, the trio called their discovery groundbreaking and held to their claim that the animal they are currently holding in "an undisclosed location" is indeed the legendary bigfoot....
Fur Real? Pair Say They Have Bigfoot Bigfoot has been found in the Georgia woods and is being held in a cooler at an undisclosed location. So say two self-proclaimed Bigfoot trackers, Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer, who held a news conference in Palo Alto on Friday to publicize their claim of having found the elusive Sasquatch, or at least the body of one, in the northern part of the Peach State. The exact location is being kept secret, they said, to protect other Bigfoots still wandering there. The public was excluded from the conference, but a picture of the supposed 500-plus-pound dead biped was posted online at on http://www.searchingforbigfoot.com, looking like a mangy mound of fur, entrails and the pinched face of a close cousin to "Star Wars' " Chewbacca -- all crammed into a water-filled icebox. Some Bigfoot enthusiasts were less than convinced....
Bigfoot, Humboldt County’s native son “We want everyone to know that Bigfoot is from Humboldt,” says the media and marketing spokesman from the Humboldt County Convention & Visitors Bureau. His comments come after two men held a press conference today to proclaim that they found Bigfoot in northern Georgia — and have the body on ice to prove it. Stenger points out that Bigfoot was born in Humboldt about 50 years ago when he was sighted — and named (he had previously been referred to as Sasquatch) — for the huge footprints reportedly found at Willow Creek, about an hour east of Arcata. “Within three days, it made huge international headlines,” Stenger said. From there, Bigfoot became a huge cottage industry up there: the Bigfoot Museum and Statue, the annual Bigfoot celebration, even the local Blue Lake Casino claims Bigfoot as its mascot....
Drilling Down: How Democrats got bulldozed on energy Representative John Shadegg was very proud of his Republican colleagues in the House. They had, after all, wrestled down rising gas prices. "The market is responding to the fact that we are here talking," he told reporters. And, even if he wasn't right about the technical workings of the petroleum market--which, strangely enough, responded to a decrease in consumer demand and not the posturing of conservative congressmen--he had a point: By showing up and making their case for drilling for oil, Republicans were indeed moving the needle. From the opinion polls, you could see how the GOP has persuaded the public of the wisdom of its fetish for populating the U.S. coastline with oil rigs. According to a CNN/Opinion Research Survey, nearly three-quarters of Americans like the idea of offshore drilling. And, most dishearteningly, the public apparently believes the least plausible piece of Republican spin--that such drilling, even if it won't yield oil for many years, will lower prices in the near term. Then there is the Republican domination of the energy debate in the presidential contest. Under pressure from McCain, Barack Obama felt obliged to temper his long-standing opposition to drilling. On one of his stronger issues, Obama was suddenly on the defensive. That Republicans have, against the odds, won the first round of this debate is a remarkable feat. This initial triumph owes as much to Democratic ineptitude as it does to GOP savvy. It speaks to the fact that Democrats have been unable to rhetorically defend their environmental policy as sound energy policy. If Democrats can't figure out how to make their case for alternative energy and conservation, they will have squandered an historic opportunity--and find themselves buried in a deep political hole....
Environmental groups challenge Desert Rock decision A coalition of seven environmental groups, represented by Earthjustice attorney Nick Persampieri, Thursday filed a challenge to the federal Environmental Protection Agency's July 31 decision to grant an air permit for Desert Rock. Desert Rock Power Plant is the 1,500 megawatt pulverized coal-burning plant proposed near Burnham, about 30 miles southwest of Farmington on the Navajo Nation. "We feel EPA placed the public health and the environment at risk by not doing a number of required analyses before it issued the permit," Persampieri said. The challenge to the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board in Washington, D.C., enumerates five main points it states were not addressed in advance of the permit. "This was a politically motivated decision to issue the permit in response to Sithe's suit against EPA," Persampieri said. "EPA caved in to the pressure and issued the permit without doing the analyses."....
Bones Beat Trees as Markers for Environmental Change To track atmospheric change caused by human activity, researchers have long studied a variety of materials, from tree rings to air trapped in glacial ice. A problem has been "noise"-- natural variability caused by sampling and random events that affect atmospheric chemistry. Noise can make it hard to tease out trends from the data. Joseph Bump, a PhD candidate in forest science at Michigan Tech, and his colleagues speculated that those trends would be picked up by top predators as well as by trees. And they further suspected that measurements from predators would show much less noise. "Wolves consume many prey animals—a minimum of 150–200 moose contribute to an Isle Royale wolf’s diet over the course of its lifetime—and the prey consume a whole lot of plants," Bump explains. "Just by being who they are, wolves and other top predators increase the sample size, because they do the sampling for us." The team studied moose and wolf bone samples dating back to 1958 from Isle Royale National Park, in Lake Superior, the site of the longest-running predator-prey study in the world. In addition, they looked at 30,000-year-old bones from the long-extinct dire wolf and prehistoric bison pulled from the La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles. They compared the trend found in the bone chronologies to trends already established for tree rings in North America. They found that gray and dire wolves, provide a much clearer record of environmental change than either the plants, the moose or the bison....
Rio Grande Foundation Launches New, User-friendly Legislative Tracking Tool The Rio Grande Foundation has launched a new online tool for New Mexicans wanting to better follow how legislation moves through their Legislature. This site, called “New Mexico Votes” which can be found online at www.newmexicovotes.org will be available and free to the public for the first time during the Legislature’s upcoming special session. The site will provide bill information in plain English and includes a whole host of features that those who want to track what happens in Santa Fe will find useful. The results of floor votes will be listed in near real-time and will allow users to put information in a more usable format than does the Legislature’s website. Lastly, users of the site will be able to interact with each other, commenting on legislation as it moves during the session....
NM Game Wardens Raise Concerns Over Director's Violation of Game Laws New Mexico game wardens with the state Department of Game and Fish are complaining that the man who runs the department lacks leadership skills. Colin Duff, the president of New Mexico Conservation Officers, says the group has sent a letter to the Game and Fish Commission complaining that Bruce Thompson lacks leadership skills and is a poor communicator. “The core content of it [the letter] is about his leadership ability and his communication skills,” said Duff. Another concern among some wardens is the fact that Thompson, the state’s chief game officer, shot and killed a deer illegally in Lincoln County last year. Thompson claimed that he misread his GPS device, was fined $500 and was put on 180 days of probation. Thompson has since gotten another deer tag for the upcoming fall hunt, a license that still could be revoked by the game commission in October.
Pelosi to address nation on gas prices House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is hitting back directly at President Bush and congressional Republicans on energy and gas prices. Pelosi (D-Calif.) will deliver the Democrats’ weekly radio address, which is a response to the president’s weekly address to the country. She will take aim at Republican energy policies, highlighting Bush's and Vice President Cheney’s background in the oil industry, and lay out the Democrats’ latest plan for energy independence and addressing high gasoline prices. “America faces a choice: a continuation of the Bush-Cheney-McCain approach that perpetuates the failed policies that have produced soaring prices,” Pelosi will say, according to a partial transcript of her remarks released Friday, “or a comprehensive, bipartisan strategy that develops new and traditional sources of energy.” That partial transcript does not mention whether the Democrats’ plan will include offshore drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf, which is currently banned by a moratorium....
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Judge rules roadless ban violates federal laws A federal judge in Wyoming has overturned a Clinton-era ban on road construction in nearly 60 million acres of national forest, extending a long-running dispute over U.S. Forest Service rules for large sections of undeveloped land. U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer’s ruling Tuesday is the latest turn in a legal battle over the Clinton administration rule that limited logging and other development in roadless areas that make up nearly a third of national forest land. Brimmer issued a permanent injunction against the so-called “roadless rule,” saying the ban was enacted in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Wilderness Act. “The Forest Service, in an attempt to bolster an outgoing President’s environmental legacy, rammed through an environmental agenda that itself violates the country’s well-established environmental laws,” Brimmer wrote....For additional info see Wyoming Judge Again Blocks Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
Drilling limited across a million acres in Wyoming Federal officials say natural gas companies will face limits on drilling across a million acres in Wyoming's Powder River Basin for the next several years in order to protect declining sage grouse populations. The new rules limit development to one wellpad per square mile unless companies can prove more wells won't hurt grouse, a popular game bird. Previously, the federal Bureau of Land Management had allowed eight to 16 wellpads per square mile. Scientists have said that higher density was driving sage grouse toward extermination. The rules will be in place for about four years while the BLM revises its management plan for the Powder River Basin, a region straddling the Montana-Wyoming border with rich reserves of natural gas....
Judge Dismisses Inyo County Suit to Open Roads in Death Valley A federal judge today largely threw out a suit by Inyo County to open highways through remote roadless areas of Death Valley National Park. Inyo County had hoped to take control of three routes -- little-used paths and canyon bottoms -- using a repealed Civil War-era law known as RS2477. The judge ruled that Inyo County waited too long to assert its claims to three roads within the National Park because they were included in a 1979 wilderness study by the Bureau of Land Management. The court agreed with conservation groups and the National Park Service that the county failed to file suit within the 12-year statute of limitations. The court thus dismissed the county's claims to all of one route and to the vast majority of two others....
Prairie dog plan finds little favor The U.S. Forest Service this week released its plan to control black-tailed prairie dogs - including the use of poison - within the Buffalo Gap and Fort Pierre National Grasslands in South Dakota and the Oglala National Grassland in Nebraska. But the announcement of a final environmental impact statement drew the ire of people on both sides of the issue: Wildlife conservation groups claim it will have a ripple effect on other species, while some ranchers were angered that the Forest Service didn't go far enough. The goal would keep prairie dog colonies to 3 percent or less on affected federal lands. The plan applies to 800,000 acres of grassland but does not include sites where the black-footed ferret has been reintroduced - including a wide swath of the Conata Basin south of Wall where the Forest Service said more prairie dogs are needed. The rare and endangered ferrets feed almost exclusively on prairies dogs....
1988 fires in Yellowstone paved way to forecasts As large swaths of Yellowstone National Park burned during the destructive fires of 1988, a small group of fire analysts descended on the park for a firsthand look at how massive fires burn. From those observations, U.S. Forest Service researcher Richard Rothermel crafted a technique to track some of the largest and most dangerous types of wildland blazes known as crown fires. Twenty years later, Rothermel's fire behavior formulas are still in use today and stand as a pillar of wildland fire science, said Lloyd Queen, a University of Montana professor who directs the National Center for Landscape Fire Analysis in Missoula. Unlike surface fires, which move through a forest at ground level, occasionally torching entire trees as they pass, crown fires roll through the dense upper reaches of the forest canopy. Leaping from treetop to treetop, their flames can top 100 feet in length....
Judge Dismisses Inyo County Suit to Open Roads in Death Valley A federal judge today largely threw out a suit by Inyo County to open highways through remote roadless areas of Death Valley National Park. Inyo County had hoped to take control of three routes -- little-used paths and canyon bottoms -- using a repealed Civil War-era law known as RS2477. The judge ruled that Inyo County waited too long to assert its claims to three roads within the National Park because they were included in a 1979 wilderness study by the Bureau of Land Management. The court agreed with conservation groups and the National Park Service that the county failed to file suit within the 12-year statute of limitations. The court thus dismissed the county's claims to all of one route and to the vast majority of two others....
Prairie dog plan finds little favor The U.S. Forest Service this week released its plan to control black-tailed prairie dogs - including the use of poison - within the Buffalo Gap and Fort Pierre National Grasslands in South Dakota and the Oglala National Grassland in Nebraska. But the announcement of a final environmental impact statement drew the ire of people on both sides of the issue: Wildlife conservation groups claim it will have a ripple effect on other species, while some ranchers were angered that the Forest Service didn't go far enough. The goal would keep prairie dog colonies to 3 percent or less on affected federal lands. The plan applies to 800,000 acres of grassland but does not include sites where the black-footed ferret has been reintroduced - including a wide swath of the Conata Basin south of Wall where the Forest Service said more prairie dogs are needed. The rare and endangered ferrets feed almost exclusively on prairies dogs....
1988 fires in Yellowstone paved way to forecasts As large swaths of Yellowstone National Park burned during the destructive fires of 1988, a small group of fire analysts descended on the park for a firsthand look at how massive fires burn. From those observations, U.S. Forest Service researcher Richard Rothermel crafted a technique to track some of the largest and most dangerous types of wildland blazes known as crown fires. Twenty years later, Rothermel's fire behavior formulas are still in use today and stand as a pillar of wildland fire science, said Lloyd Queen, a University of Montana professor who directs the National Center for Landscape Fire Analysis in Missoula. Unlike surface fires, which move through a forest at ground level, occasionally torching entire trees as they pass, crown fires roll through the dense upper reaches of the forest canopy. Leaping from treetop to treetop, their flames can top 100 feet in length....
Did Communication Errors Exist In Fatal Crash? New documents obtained by KCRA 3 appear to paint a picture of confusion and miscommunication in the hours following last week's fatal helicopter crash in Trinity County. KCRA 3 has exclusively obtained a U.S. Forest Service dispatch log. "It is very concerning to the sheriffs and all those responsible to public safety," Trinity County supervisor and retired forest service member Roger Jaegel said. "The reason for concern is the accuracy and lack of information passed on about this crash not only to emergency responders, but also to the public." The U.S. Forest Service defends its actions, but said an investigation is underway. When asked if at any time there was a decision to intentionally withhold information from the public, Jim Pena from the forest service said, "no."....
Tribes object to fighting fire in sacred places Indian tribes from the Klamath River canyon are worried that the U.S. Forest Service is violating some of their sacred lands by fighting a remote wilderness wildfire rather than letting it burn naturally. The area is home to many prayer seats or vision quest sites shared by three tribes, where tribal members have fasted, prayed and sought spiritual guidance for thousands of years. The area is also used to gather grasses for baskets and Port Orford cedar for ceremonial buildings, such as sweat lodges. "Talking with Forest Service firefighters, I have been saying this is the Sistine Chapel, the Mount Sinai, the Vatican," for the Yurok, Karuk and Tolowa tribes, Chris Peters, the Yurok tribe's liaison with the Forest Service, said from Arcata, Calif. But though the fires are far from any homes, leaving them to burn without a strong perimeter around them is not an option, given the nearby timber resources and expectations that the fire conditions will get worse, he said. He added that because the fires are in a wilderness area, fire lines are built by hand, not with bulldozers....
The Promise and Peril of Shale Oil On a 160 acre parcel near Meeker, Colorado, Shell Energy Corporation is trying to efficiently extract the hydrocarbons from a layer of rock known as the Mahogany Shale. It's been tried before, many times, dating back to when cowboys noticed that if you used certain dark rocks in your fire ring, they'd catch fire. But Shell is taking the effort to a new level, spurred by record energy prices, accommodating federal land managers, and a willingness to radically evolve the technologies for extracting fossil energy from the earth. It will take ten to fifteen years to discover if the experiment will produce economically viable amounts of oil and natural gas, or if the EROEI – the energy returned on energy invested- will balance out, but the technologies involved in the experiment are so new that in the course of operations, some entirely different process may yet reveal itself, drawing the elusive genie of energy from the thousands of square miles of ancient seabed algae....
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
'Bigfoot' Seekers Claim To Have Found Prey Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer, Georgia residents who lead Bigfoot-tracking expeditions, said they found the body of what appears to be a Bigfoot in the woods of northern Georgia. They will join Bigfoot researcher Tom Biscardi at the news conference, according to Robert Barrows, who is publicizing the event. Among the creature's other physical characteristics, according to the hunter's Web site, were flat feet similar to human feet. Its footprint is 16 ¾ inches long and the length from palm to tip of the middle finger is 11 ½ inches long. Whitton, a police officer in Clayton County, and Dyer, a former correctional officer, are not saying exactly where the body was found or where it is now. Biscardi, a veteran Bigfoot tracker who said he went to Georgia to view the find over the weekend, said DNA tests are being conducted and a team of scientists will study the body, but declined to name any scientists involved....
Proof or Hoax? Bigfoot Said Found in Georgia They say they have a body, photos of the body, and DNA evidence — some or all of which will be revealed this Friday, Aug. 15, at a press conference in Palo Alto, Calif. If the group does have a Bigfoot carcass (and if they actually show the body, instead merely displaying photographs of a supposed body), then perhaps scientists will take note. Still, it's not clear how, exactly, the group will prove that what they have is a Bigfoot. Because there is no comparison specimen, there is no DNA analysis that can definitively identify Bigfoot tissue....
Proof or Hoax? Bigfoot Said Found in Georgia They say they have a body, photos of the body, and DNA evidence — some or all of which will be revealed this Friday, Aug. 15, at a press conference in Palo Alto, Calif. If the group does have a Bigfoot carcass (and if they actually show the body, instead merely displaying photographs of a supposed body), then perhaps scientists will take note. Still, it's not clear how, exactly, the group will prove that what they have is a Bigfoot. Because there is no comparison specimen, there is no DNA analysis that can definitively identify Bigfoot tissue....
Prince Charles: Genetically Modified Food 'Disaster' Britain’s Prince Charles has warned that the mass development of genetically modified crops could lead to the world’s worst environmental disaster. In an interview with Britain’s Daily Telegraph, Charles accused multi-national companies of conducting a “gigantic experiment I think with nature and the whole of humanity which has gone seriously wrong.” Small farmers would be the major victims if those corporations take over the mass production of food, the Prince declared. "That would be the absolute destruction of everything … and the classic way of ensuring there is no food in the future. "If they think it’s somehow going to work because they are going to have one form of clever genetic engineering after another, then count me out, because that will be guaranteed to cause the biggest disaster environmentally of all time … We [will] end up with millions of small farmers all over the world being driven off their land into unsustainable, unmanageable, degraded and dysfunctional [urban developments] of unmentionable awfulness." Many scientists believe genetically modified crops are the only way to guarantee food for the world's growing population as the planet is affected by climate change....Poor Diana, no wonder she ran off with an Arab.
TEXAS IS FED UP WITH CORN ETHANOL
At what price will corn be so expensive that the federal government will decide that it is time to stop driving up the price of food, asks Texas Governor Rick Perry?
In 2005, Congress imposed a Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandate requiring the addition of biofuel in gasoline; in 2008, nine billion gallons of ethanol were required to be blended in, and even more will be required in 2009. As a precautionary measure, Congress gave the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the power to waive the new mandates if they turn out to have unforeseen, negative consequences.
And they have, says Perry. The price of corn has spiraled out of control:
* In 2004, the cost of corn hovered around $2 per bushel; now it is close to $8.
* In April 2008, Perry asked the EPA to cut the grain-based ethanol mandate in half for one year.
* In response, the agency opened a comment period and received more than 15,000 comments, most of which supported the request.
* But in August 2008, the EPA decided to deny the request.
The EPA claims that the mandates are not causing sufficient damage to warrant action. However, denying Texas's request "is a mistake that will…force families to bear a heavier financial burden to put food on the table than necessary and harm the livestock industry," says Perry. Instead, he continues, the United States should follow Texas's lead and begin developing technology that makes use of the available additional sources of renewable energy, such as the development of nonfood bioenergy, which has a minimal impact on food production and the environment.
Further, Perry states that if forcing Texas ranchers to close their doors because they can no longer feed their livestock is not sufficient damage to warrant action, than what is?
Source: Rick Perry, "Texas is Fed Up With Corn Ethanol," Wall Street Journal, August 12, 2008.
For text:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121850115460131741.html
At what price will corn be so expensive that the federal government will decide that it is time to stop driving up the price of food, asks Texas Governor Rick Perry?
In 2005, Congress imposed a Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandate requiring the addition of biofuel in gasoline; in 2008, nine billion gallons of ethanol were required to be blended in, and even more will be required in 2009. As a precautionary measure, Congress gave the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the power to waive the new mandates if they turn out to have unforeseen, negative consequences.
And they have, says Perry. The price of corn has spiraled out of control:
* In 2004, the cost of corn hovered around $2 per bushel; now it is close to $8.
* In April 2008, Perry asked the EPA to cut the grain-based ethanol mandate in half for one year.
* In response, the agency opened a comment period and received more than 15,000 comments, most of which supported the request.
* But in August 2008, the EPA decided to deny the request.
The EPA claims that the mandates are not causing sufficient damage to warrant action. However, denying Texas's request "is a mistake that will…force families to bear a heavier financial burden to put food on the table than necessary and harm the livestock industry," says Perry. Instead, he continues, the United States should follow Texas's lead and begin developing technology that makes use of the available additional sources of renewable energy, such as the development of nonfood bioenergy, which has a minimal impact on food production and the environment.
Further, Perry states that if forcing Texas ranchers to close their doors because they can no longer feed their livestock is not sufficient damage to warrant action, than what is?
Source: Rick Perry, "Texas is Fed Up With Corn Ethanol," Wall Street Journal, August 12, 2008.
For text:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121850115460131741.html
Disputed federal rangeland insurance discontinued The USDA’s Risk Management Agency has discontinued a crop insurance program that farmers and ranchers in Teton County say cost them thousands of dollars in premiums, but failed to protect them in the extreme drought years of 2006 and 2007. The GRP Rangeland offered farmers and ranchers the opportunity to purchase crop insurance on their rangeland so that if drought occurred and they had little or no rangeland production, they could file a loss claim and receive an insurance benefit that could be used to buy hay for their livestock to replace the lost pasture. For the 2009 crop year, the Risk Management Agency is offering a new insurance plan called the “Pasture, Rangeland and Forage-Rainfall Index” program. This plan will again insure pasture against production losses, but the trigger will not be net countywide dryland hay production. Instead, the trigger will be weather data with the actual figures compared to historic average. The coverage area will no longer be based on counties, but will instead be based on 12-square-mile areas and will be a “group risk” plan within each 12-mile square unit....
Idle Leases--Or Addled Minds? First, lease agreements already require timely use of leased land. The 1992 Comprehensive Energy Policy Act requires energy companies to comply with lease provisions, and explore expeditiously, or risk forfeiture of the lease. So the Bingaman-Rahall "solution" effectively duplicates current law. Second, and more disturbingly, Mr. Bingaman and Mr. Rahall's groundless accusation and proposed legislation rely on the absurd assumption that every acre of land leased by the government contains oil. Obviously, that's not the case. Third, if a commercial discovery is made, more wells must be drilled, to delineate the shape and extent of the deposit. Production facilities and pipelines must be designed, built, brought to the site and installed. Only after oil or gas is actually flowing does the lease become "producing." Further complications often stymie energy companies from obtaining and using leased land. Every step in the process must be preceded by environmental studies, oil spill response plans, onsite inspections, and permits. The process takes years, and every step is subject to delays, challenges--and litigation. In the Rocky Mountains, protests against lease sales rose from 27 percent of all leases in 2001 to 81 percent in 2007, according to government and industry records. Numerous additional prospects were never even offered, because land managers feared protests. The justification used to be endangered species. Now it's climate change--as though U.S. oil causes global warming, but imported oil substitutes do not....
Ranchers seek solution to conservation easement jam Landowners in the Lower Arkansas Valley are searching for options now that some conservation easements have been deemed invalid by the Colorado Department of Revenue. One tactic under consideration is a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service and the state of Colorado. On Monday, about 50 Southern Colorado landowners, who have either had trouble selling tax credits from their conservation easements or whose easements have been condemned as having no value by the state Department of Revenue, gathered at Swink High School to look for ways to re-establish tax credits they thought they would receive through the state's conservation easement program. The program is designed to allow landowners who agree to permanently protect their properties from future development to claim state income tax credits that can be sold for cash. The amount of the deduction is tied to the appraised value of the land....
They Shoot Horses? Wild horses may be the symbol of the Wild West and the image chosen by the state's children to grace the Nevada quarter, but no one has figured out how to make a buck off of these noble creatures. That's why the future of the wild horse is shaky. Unlike cattle, which can bring a hefty profit to the state's ranchers, wild horses are viewed by many as a nuisance. They are healthy breeders, have few predators and compete for grazing land with profitable species. Now, the Bureau of Land Management, which has federal authority to euthanize horses more than 10 years old which have been passed over three times for adoption, is considering euthanization as a new herd management tactic. The BLM admits it could do more to increase adoptions, but they are time consuming and a lot of work. Euthanization is quick, and best of all, it's cheap. In case you're wondering, the BLM is considering three methods - a gunshot to the brain, an overdose of barbiturates, or a bolt to the skull, the killing technique portrayed in the movie "No Country for Old Men."....
Army sees thawing in opposition to Piñon expansion A week after contentious meetings in Trinidad over plans to expand the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, Army leaders say they saw some thawing despite the icy reception. On the surface it didn't seem that way. Local politicians blasted Fort Carson for wanting more land and a group of ranchers marched out of a meeting in protest and an official sent by the Pentagon conceded the Army has "a lot of work to do." But Fort Carson's Lt. Col. James Rice says there are subtle signs the Army made some progress on its proposal to add 100,000 acres to the 235,000 acre training area. The Army came up with a new proposal last month that cut back its expansion plans by 300,000 acres and promised it would only buy land from people who want to sell. The Army sweetened the pot for local governments by promises of more than 100 jobs at the training site and $100 million in construction if the land deal goes through....
Water research worries drillers, ranchers A paper published by University of Wyoming researchers has some oil and gas companies in the Powder River Basin worried about water discharge permits and some Wyoming ranchers worried the water they have been using for years will no longer be considered safe for livestock to drink. The UW bulletin summarizes how 11 common contaminants found in ground water are metabolized by livestock and wildlife and at what levels they are toxic to animals. The study, funded by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, was prompted by concerns about the water being discharged by coal-bed methane production. “The controversies surrounding the water produced by coal-bed methane development in Wyoming stimulated enough interest we were able to get funding to undertake this concerted effort,” said project leader Merl Raisbeck, a professor in the UW College of Agriculture’s Department of Veterinary Sciences....
Forest Service cabin reappraisals prompt congressional attention The Saunderses were stunned when they saw the appraisal. Yes, fuel and food have jumped in price. But the Bozeman family is faced with a Forest Service fee that's set to triple in the next three years. For nearly 60 years, the Saunders family has enjoyed the rustic cabin on Portal Creek in the Gallatin National Forest. But now, instead of preparing to celebrate its anniversary, they're wondering if they'll be forced to sell their creekside getaway. "We can't afford it," said Anita Saunders, whose in-laws purchased the cabin in the late 1940s. "At this point, going from $1,800 to $5,200, we just can't do it." The Saunders cabin, like 14,000 such properties nationwide and about 300 throughout the Custer and Gallatin national forests, was built on Forest Service land. Although the structure is privately owned, the family pays the Forest Service a permit fee for the use of the land the cabin occupies....
Lawmakers Keep Up Fight Against Meatpacking Deal Some lawmakers continue pressing the Justice Department to block a proposed meatpacking acquisition they argue will undercut farmers and drive up consumer prices, but the deal is unlikely to become a campaign issue, farm groups say. The Justice Department is currently reviewing an offer announced this spring to allow Brazilian beef behemoth Grupo JBS S.A. to take over U.S. companies National Beef Packing Co. and Smithfield Beef Group. Should the deal pass muster, JBS would control about a third of the U.S. beef processing market currently shared by the three companies, Tyson Foods Inc. and Cargill Inc. The proposed deal has sparked opposition in Congress, where critics fear squeezing an already concentrated market into three national firms will bolster the buying power of the industry and diminish prices paid to ranchers for their livestock. Lawmakers leading the opposition have been trying to prevent the current scenario even before the deal was brokered. Sen. Charles E. Grassley , R-Iowa, has worked for more than five years to bar meatpackers from owning, feeding or controlling cattle....
They Shoot Horses? Wild horses may be the symbol of the Wild West and the image chosen by the state's children to grace the Nevada quarter, but no one has figured out how to make a buck off of these noble creatures. That's why the future of the wild horse is shaky. Unlike cattle, which can bring a hefty profit to the state's ranchers, wild horses are viewed by many as a nuisance. They are healthy breeders, have few predators and compete for grazing land with profitable species. Now, the Bureau of Land Management, which has federal authority to euthanize horses more than 10 years old which have been passed over three times for adoption, is considering euthanization as a new herd management tactic. The BLM admits it could do more to increase adoptions, but they are time consuming and a lot of work. Euthanization is quick, and best of all, it's cheap. In case you're wondering, the BLM is considering three methods - a gunshot to the brain, an overdose of barbiturates, or a bolt to the skull, the killing technique portrayed in the movie "No Country for Old Men."....
Army sees thawing in opposition to Piñon expansion A week after contentious meetings in Trinidad over plans to expand the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, Army leaders say they saw some thawing despite the icy reception. On the surface it didn't seem that way. Local politicians blasted Fort Carson for wanting more land and a group of ranchers marched out of a meeting in protest and an official sent by the Pentagon conceded the Army has "a lot of work to do." But Fort Carson's Lt. Col. James Rice says there are subtle signs the Army made some progress on its proposal to add 100,000 acres to the 235,000 acre training area. The Army came up with a new proposal last month that cut back its expansion plans by 300,000 acres and promised it would only buy land from people who want to sell. The Army sweetened the pot for local governments by promises of more than 100 jobs at the training site and $100 million in construction if the land deal goes through....
Water research worries drillers, ranchers A paper published by University of Wyoming researchers has some oil and gas companies in the Powder River Basin worried about water discharge permits and some Wyoming ranchers worried the water they have been using for years will no longer be considered safe for livestock to drink. The UW bulletin summarizes how 11 common contaminants found in ground water are metabolized by livestock and wildlife and at what levels they are toxic to animals. The study, funded by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, was prompted by concerns about the water being discharged by coal-bed methane production. “The controversies surrounding the water produced by coal-bed methane development in Wyoming stimulated enough interest we were able to get funding to undertake this concerted effort,” said project leader Merl Raisbeck, a professor in the UW College of Agriculture’s Department of Veterinary Sciences....
Forest Service cabin reappraisals prompt congressional attention The Saunderses were stunned when they saw the appraisal. Yes, fuel and food have jumped in price. But the Bozeman family is faced with a Forest Service fee that's set to triple in the next three years. For nearly 60 years, the Saunders family has enjoyed the rustic cabin on Portal Creek in the Gallatin National Forest. But now, instead of preparing to celebrate its anniversary, they're wondering if they'll be forced to sell their creekside getaway. "We can't afford it," said Anita Saunders, whose in-laws purchased the cabin in the late 1940s. "At this point, going from $1,800 to $5,200, we just can't do it." The Saunders cabin, like 14,000 such properties nationwide and about 300 throughout the Custer and Gallatin national forests, was built on Forest Service land. Although the structure is privately owned, the family pays the Forest Service a permit fee for the use of the land the cabin occupies....
Lawmakers Keep Up Fight Against Meatpacking Deal Some lawmakers continue pressing the Justice Department to block a proposed meatpacking acquisition they argue will undercut farmers and drive up consumer prices, but the deal is unlikely to become a campaign issue, farm groups say. The Justice Department is currently reviewing an offer announced this spring to allow Brazilian beef behemoth Grupo JBS S.A. to take over U.S. companies National Beef Packing Co. and Smithfield Beef Group. Should the deal pass muster, JBS would control about a third of the U.S. beef processing market currently shared by the three companies, Tyson Foods Inc. and Cargill Inc. The proposed deal has sparked opposition in Congress, where critics fear squeezing an already concentrated market into three national firms will bolster the buying power of the industry and diminish prices paid to ranchers for their livestock. Lawmakers leading the opposition have been trying to prevent the current scenario even before the deal was brokered. Sen. Charles E. Grassley , R-Iowa, has worked for more than five years to bar meatpackers from owning, feeding or controlling cattle....
What Westerners would love to ask the candidates Thus we have an abundance of federal land. I ran some numbers with U.S. General Services Administration data from 2004, omitting Alaska, Hawaii and the District of Columbia. In the West, the proportion of federal land ranges from 29.9 percent in Montana to 84.5 percent in Nevada. In the rest of the country, the range is from 0.4 percent in Rhode Island and Connecticut to 13.4 in New Hampshire. To put it another way, of the 624,995 square miles of federal land in the Lower 48, 88 percent are in the 11 Western states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. This plays out in a lot of ways, from the Sagebrush Rebellion to EarthFirst. Our major industries, from tourism to resource extraction and agriculture, are all connected to our abundance of federal land. That’s why I long to see a presidential forum that features questions like these....
Texas Deputies Add To Chupacabra Legend The legend of a mythical blood-sucking animal roaming South Texas gained new life over the weekend as two DeWitt County sheriff's deputies spotted what they said they believe was the creature. Cpl. Brandon Riedel was training a new deputy on Friday when he said they saw something running down a dirt path along fence lines. "You need to record something like this because it's not everyday you find something that looks like this, running around out in the middle of the county," he said. The short-legged, hairless animal had a long snout that looked like a coyote, Riedel said. But he admitted he wasn't convinced. "You know, it's just kind of one of those things to hear about and talk about, but to actually see something on video that may actually be a live one, that's pretty amazing," DeWitt County Sheriff Jode Zavesky said. Friday's sighting isn't the first time locals believe they've seen the mythical animal, which is rumored to attack livestock and pets. Stories about the chupacabra go back to the 1990s....
Sportsmen back McCain, but by little Few hunters are pining for a day in the woods with Barack Obama but a surprising number of sportsmen say they’ll vote for him – far more than backed Al Gore or pheasant-hunting John Kerry. According to a Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation poll to be released Wednesday, John McCain leads Obama by a 45 to 31 percent. That’s only about half the 27-point edge respondents say they gave George W. Bush over Kerry four years ago and far short of the 65-to-15 percent margin gun owners gave to Bush over Gore in 2000. The poll of 1,009 hunters and fishermen, conducted by Braun Research between July 10 and July 24, could be a reflection of McCain’s up-and-down relationship with gun advocates and suggests the presumptive GOP nominee has not yet persuaded a core Republican constituency. “I don’t think John McCain has really made his case to hunters and anglers,” says Melinda Gable, communications director for the foundation, which advocates gun rights and expanded access to federal land for hunters....
Dog guarded its owner for weeks after suicide Rancher Kip Konig saw the German shepherd in the distance as he checked his cows Sunday in the Pawnee National Grasslands. The dog kept running back to a partially obscured pickup and jumping into the front seat. "I got the sense she was trying to tell me where her master was," Konig said. Near the pickup, Konig found the skeletal remains of Jake Baysinger, 25, the German shepherd's owner. Baysinger is believed to have shot himself about six weeks earlier on the plains about 75 miles northeast of Denver....
The Audacity of Nope To plan a long and challenging journey, would you reject Mapquest and GPS and only consult an atlas from the 1970s? Unlikely. But to pinpoint America’s offshore oil deposits, Congressional Democrats, starting with Senator Barack Obama, love disco-era maps. Despite his conditional, latter-day support for limited offshore drilling, Obama is the sole sponsor of legislation that would block geological research to locate offshore oil. Federal officials currently employ estimates based primarily on two-dimensional maps that oil-industry surveyors produced in the 1970s and furnished to the Interior Department. Since 1981, Congressional appropriations amendments effectively have barred Interior from financing or permitting survey expeditions — particularly and precisely in the 85 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf where oil production and exploration are verboten. In 2005, Congress mandated new, quintennial inventories, then gave Interior six months and $0.00 to assess how much oil and natural gas undergird the 1.76 billion-acre Outer Continental Shelf — a laughably impossible task....
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
80% Of Your Electricity From A Miniature Windmill On The Roof Starck is battling on another front - developing cheap, attractive, energy-saving products to "introduce everybody to ecology." The first of his Democratic Ecology products is to be launched this fall, a miniature roof-top windmill, priced between €500 and €800, which will produce up to 80 percent of a home's energy. The windmill is an encouraging start. Made from the same transparent plastic as his best-selling Louis Ghost chairs, Starck developed it and the other Democratic Ecology products in collaboration with Pramac, the Italian industrial group. The timing is propitious with oil prices rocketing and everyone from General Electric to the veteran oilman T. Boone Pickens investing in alternative energy. Lots of homes already sport metal wind turbines on their roofs, so why not transparent plastic ones?....
Manuel Henry Enos
Manuel, 90, passed away in Roseburg, Oregon on August 6, 2008. Manuel was born in Livermore, CA on September 16,1917 to Mary and Manuel Enos. Manuel's parents died during The Great Influenza when Manuel was only 13 months old. Manuel's grandparents, Lucy and Joe Cardoza, raised him along with their 10 children.
Manuel always wanted to be a baseball pitcher, but instead dabbled in prize fighting, and at the age of 14 left home to join Jim Eskew's Wild West Show in Waverly, NY. In 1939 Manuel joined the Cowboy's Turtle Association, the forerunner of the PRCA. Manuel was proud of the fact that he placed in every major rodeo in the country and that he usually entered four events. He also was proud of the fact he eventually rode every horse which succeeded in bucking him off. Even the famous bucking horse War Paint failed to buck him off in one of their three meetings on the circuit.
Manuel was a stuntman and extra in many western movies, including "Red River", "One Way West", "Western Union" and "Bronco Buster." He dined with Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey and worked with Slim Pickens and Ben Johnson. He met Clark Gable, Jim Thorpe, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. Manuel had no musical training, but he was blessed with a beautiful singing voice. He sang at night clubs with Bob Nolan and The Sons of the Pioneers and sang at Madison Square Garden after a cowboy died during the rodeo. Manuel retired from Professional Rodeo in the early 60's and went to work for the Roseburg Lumber Co. hauling wood chips from Dillard, Oregon to Coos Bay twice a day until he retired.
Manuel's survivors include his son Michel and daughter-in-law Sara of Alexandria, Virginia; Stepdaughter Lainey Prather, Phoenix, AZ; Stepson Russ Pinckney, Bonanza, OR; Aunt Ida Taylor, Livermore, CA; companion, Joyce Abdill of Roseburg, OR; and numerous cousins in California. Manuel was previously married to Carol Enos.
Manuel, 90, passed away in Roseburg, Oregon on August 6, 2008. Manuel was born in Livermore, CA on September 16,1917 to Mary and Manuel Enos. Manuel's parents died during The Great Influenza when Manuel was only 13 months old. Manuel's grandparents, Lucy and Joe Cardoza, raised him along with their 10 children.
Manuel always wanted to be a baseball pitcher, but instead dabbled in prize fighting, and at the age of 14 left home to join Jim Eskew's Wild West Show in Waverly, NY. In 1939 Manuel joined the Cowboy's Turtle Association, the forerunner of the PRCA. Manuel was proud of the fact that he placed in every major rodeo in the country and that he usually entered four events. He also was proud of the fact he eventually rode every horse which succeeded in bucking him off. Even the famous bucking horse War Paint failed to buck him off in one of their three meetings on the circuit.
Manuel was a stuntman and extra in many western movies, including "Red River", "One Way West", "Western Union" and "Bronco Buster." He dined with Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey and worked with Slim Pickens and Ben Johnson. He met Clark Gable, Jim Thorpe, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. Manuel had no musical training, but he was blessed with a beautiful singing voice. He sang at night clubs with Bob Nolan and The Sons of the Pioneers and sang at Madison Square Garden after a cowboy died during the rodeo. Manuel retired from Professional Rodeo in the early 60's and went to work for the Roseburg Lumber Co. hauling wood chips from Dillard, Oregon to Coos Bay twice a day until he retired.
Manuel's survivors include his son Michel and daughter-in-law Sara of Alexandria, Virginia; Stepdaughter Lainey Prather, Phoenix, AZ; Stepson Russ Pinckney, Bonanza, OR; Aunt Ida Taylor, Livermore, CA; companion, Joyce Abdill of Roseburg, OR; and numerous cousins in California. Manuel was previously married to Carol Enos.
Mukasey will not prosecute in DoJ hiring scandal Attorney General Michael Mukasey said Tuesday that the Department of Justice would not pursue criminal charges against former employees implicated in an internal investigation on politicized hiring practices. “Where there is evidence of criminal wrongdoing, we vigorously investigate it,” Mukasey said in a speech at the American Bar Association. “And where there is enough evidence to charge someone with a crime, we vigorously prosecute. But not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime.” Mukasey said the wrongdoing outlined in the two reports did not merit criminal charges because it constituted “only violations of the civil service laws.” He acknowledged, however, that the two reports underscored systemic failures at the department....
What If the FBI Is Right About Bruce Ivins? If the FBI theory on the man responsible for the anthrax attacks of 2001 is correct, then the threat of bioterrorism is far more troubling than we have imagined. I am not a scientist, and will leave the debate on the scientific evidence against Bruce Ivins to the sort of thorough, independent examination recommended by Sen. Charles Grassley (R., Iowa). But such an examination is crucial. It could have profound national security implications, which have been missed in most public discussions of the case. Here's why: In the years since 1999, while I've provided an executive-level course on the threat of bioterrorism to more than 3,000 senior military officers, plus scores of other presentations, lectures and seminars, one of the most frequent questions asked is, "If the Unabomber had been a biologist instead of a mathematician, could he have produced a sophisticated bioweapon?" The answer has always been "No: That would require a team of individuals." However, if the FBI is right about Ivins, such a lone individual can produce such a weapon....
Federal judge: No guns at Atlanta airport A federal judge on Monday upheld a gun ban at the world's busiest airport, dealing a blow to gun rights groups who argued a new Georgia law authorized them to pack heat in certain parts of the Atlanta airport. U.S. District Judge Marvin Shoob expressed concern that allowing guns at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport could cause significant economic damage and could be a "serious threat to public safety and welfare." His decision rejected a request by GeorgiaCarry.org that would have temporarily allowed gun owners to carry their weapons in the airport until his final ruling on the gun ban — a challenge that could likely last months. The legal showdown erupted when the state law that allows people with a concealed weapons permit to carry guns into restaurants, state parks and on public transportation took effect on July 1. City officials quickly declared the airport a "gun-free zone" and warned that anyone carrying a gun there would be arrested. GeorgiaCarry.org sued the city and the airport, claiming that the airport qualifies as mass transportation under the new state law. Attorney John Monroe told the judge repeatedly that no law makes it a crime for residents with permits to bring their guns into terminals, parking lots and other unsecured areas....
ATF says most illegal guns in Mexico come from US Nearly all illegal guns seized in Mexico come from the United States, the head of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Monday. ATF acting director Michael Sullivan said investigators have traced 90 to 95 percent of the weapons found in Mexico to the U.S. Generally, only law-enforcement officers or military personnel can legally possess guns in Mexico. Sullivan, speaking at the fifth annual Border Security Conference at the University of Texas at El Paso, said the weapons are being traced as part of an effort by the U.S. and Mexico to stop the illegal flow of guns south. "In Mexico, investigators have provided some tremendous leads ... to weapons trafficking organizations," Sullivan said....
Industry, NM officials and enviros battle over coal-fired energy Sithe Global Power LLC and the Navajo Nation are a major step closer to building a massive, coal-fired generating plant near Shiprock in northwest New Mexico. The Environmental Protection Agency approved an air quality permit on July 31 for the Desert Rock Power Plant. The Navajo government supports the project for its economic development potential. The plant will buy all its coal from Navajo-owned mines, generating about $50 million in annual royalties and taxes for the tribal government. Construction would create about 1,000 jobs, plus 400 permanent positions when the plant opens, said Frank Maisano, spokesman for Sithe Global's subsidiary, Desert Rock Energy Co. The Navajo government supports the project for its economic development potential. The plant will buy all its coal from Navajo-owned mines, generating about $50 million in annual royalties and taxes for the tribal government. Construction would create about 1,000 jobs, plus 400 permanent positions when the plant opens, said Frank Maisano, spokesman for Sithe Global's subsidiary, Desert Rock Energy Co. But Gov. Bill Richardson and New Mexico environmental groups vehemently oppose the project, which would neutralize state efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions. If built, the plant would emit about 12 million tons of carbon dioxide per year -- the equivalent of adding 1.5 million average cars to roads. Because the plant is on Navajo land, however, the state has no authority to stop it, said New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry....
New Survey Finds Likely Voters in New Mexico Support Increased Access to Domestic Oil and Natural Gas Resources Likely voters in New Mexico are concerned about the price of gasoline and the majority of them support increased access to domestic oil and natural gas resources, a new survey finds. The poll was conducted by telephone between July 10 and July 27, 2008 by Harris Interactive and commissioned by API. The survey of 500 registered voters in New Mexico who are likely to vote in the upcoming presidential election found 59 percent of those surveyed said they somewhat or strongly support increased access to domestic oil and natural gas resources. Only 24 percent of respondents said they opposed increased access. An overwhelming 95 percent said they are somewhat or very concerned about the price of gasoline....
GOP brushes off Pelosi’s openness to drilling House Republicans on Tuesday quickly brushed aside Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s apparent willingness to allow a vote on offshore oil drilling. The rhetoric of the lawmakers, who have remained in Washington to protest Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) decision to not allow a vote on oil exploration in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), signals that the GOP does not plan on letting go of its message that the Speaker should immediately return to Washington to reconvene the House. “If Speaker Pelosi is truly sincere about having a vote on deep-ocean oil and gas drilling to help bring down fuel costs, she should use her power as Speaker to call Congress back into session immediately and schedule a vote on the American Energy Act,” Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement released Tuesday morning....
Ty Murray & Jewel Wed It has been announced that legendary rodeo cowboy Ty Murray and musician Jewel have eloped in the Bahamas on Thursday (August 7th). By all reports it was a small ceremony with friends in attendance. The couple has been together for 10 years and will make their home on a 2,200-acre ranch in Stephenville, Texas. Jewel has won 3 Grammy Awards and sold over 27 million albums. Ty Murray has won 7 PRCA All-Around Cowboy World Championships (1989-1994, 1998) and 2 Bull Riding World Championships (1993, 1998). He qualified for the NFR 8 times and was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2000.
Full 9th Circuit OKs snowmaking on sacred Ariz. mountain A federal appeals court late last week allowed an Arizona ski resort to spray reclaimed sewage water across its slopes to make snow despite pleas from Indian tribes who consider the mountain sacred. The Aug. 8 decision by a full panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco clears Arizona Snowbowl to expand its 777-acre resort. Owners want to add snowmaking equipment, a fifth chair lift and plan to cut away 100 acres of surrounding forest for more room. The full 9th Circuit overturned a ruling made last year by a three-judge panel that held that using wastewater on the San Francisco Peaks violated the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The full panel disagreed. It concluded the tribes would still have full use of the mountain for their ceremonies and the snowmaking would not affect that. No plants would be harmed, no ceremonies would be physically affected and no places of worship would be made inaccessible....
BLM eyes salvage of 40 million feet of Ore. timber The Bureau of Land Management wants to salvage 40 million board feet of timber blown down in a Jan. 4 windstorm. Environmentalists, who have opposed many salvage sales in the past, are at least partly on aboard. A 196-page environmental assessment for the Butte Falls blowdown salvage project was issued July 27 for a 30-day public review, with comments due Aug. 26. "This put about 40 million board feet on the ground, everything from large trees to small trees," said Chris McAlear, the Butte Falls area field manager. A timber industry group supports the project while a conservationist organization will go along with some of it but has concerns about the rest....
No management plan: BLM makes gift of land to off-roaders, drillers It's an off-roader's dream: a federal management plan making nearly 2 million acres of public land a playground for off-highway vehicles. The Bureau of Land Management's proposal for the BLM lands in six Utah counties is also a gift tied with a big red ribbon and handed to oil and gas developers. But it can hardly be called "management," especially the type of multiple-use management and land conservation the BLM is charged to provide for the Western lands owned by all Americans. By opening up 90 percent of the area to OHV use and 80 percent to drilling, the plan effectively excludes quiet recreation - mountain biking, hiking and backpacking - and sacrifices scenic vistas, wildlife habitat, and cultural treasures including archaeological ruins, relics and rock art. This is not multiple use, but an attempt in the waning months of the Bush administration to remove public lands protections. The BLM, in approving this management plan for the Richfield area spread over Sanpete, Sevier, Piute, Wayne, Garfield and Kane counties, has taken the side of motorized recreation and energy development in the battle for some of the last untrammeled open spaces in the state....
Most N.M. Leases See Drilling ; Some Areas Idle Due to Opposition, While Some Are Dry of Oil or Gas Opponents of opening new areas offshore and in Alaska to oil drilling frequently cite the fact that millions of acres already leased by oil and gas companies sit idle. Oil companies, they say, are hoarding and should drill these leases before potential new fields are opened. But, in New Mexico, more than threefourths of leased federal acres are delivering natural gas or crude oil. Some of the leases that aren't producing simply came up dry, and some others have been tied up by environmental and conservation groups opposed to drilling. Those include Otero Mesa in southern New Mexico and the Galisteo Basin north of Albuquerque and near Santa Fe. The state's Oil Conservation Division, which regulates groundwater protection on state and federal land leased to oil and gas companies, has also blocked some new exploration on leases in Rio Arriba County. Big picture numbers: The Bureau of Land Management has leased 5.4 million acres of federal land to oil and gas producers in New Mexico. Of that, about 3.9 million acres are in production, according to Tony Herrell, the BLM's state deputy director for minerals....
BLM eyes salvage of 40 million feet of Ore. timber The Bureau of Land Management wants to salvage 40 million board feet of timber blown down in a Jan. 4 windstorm. Environmentalists, who have opposed many salvage sales in the past, are at least partly on aboard. A 196-page environmental assessment for the Butte Falls blowdown salvage project was issued July 27 for a 30-day public review, with comments due Aug. 26. "This put about 40 million board feet on the ground, everything from large trees to small trees," said Chris McAlear, the Butte Falls area field manager. A timber industry group supports the project while a conservationist organization will go along with some of it but has concerns about the rest....
No management plan: BLM makes gift of land to off-roaders, drillers It's an off-roader's dream: a federal management plan making nearly 2 million acres of public land a playground for off-highway vehicles. The Bureau of Land Management's proposal for the BLM lands in six Utah counties is also a gift tied with a big red ribbon and handed to oil and gas developers. But it can hardly be called "management," especially the type of multiple-use management and land conservation the BLM is charged to provide for the Western lands owned by all Americans. By opening up 90 percent of the area to OHV use and 80 percent to drilling, the plan effectively excludes quiet recreation - mountain biking, hiking and backpacking - and sacrifices scenic vistas, wildlife habitat, and cultural treasures including archaeological ruins, relics and rock art. This is not multiple use, but an attempt in the waning months of the Bush administration to remove public lands protections. The BLM, in approving this management plan for the Richfield area spread over Sanpete, Sevier, Piute, Wayne, Garfield and Kane counties, has taken the side of motorized recreation and energy development in the battle for some of the last untrammeled open spaces in the state....
Most N.M. Leases See Drilling ; Some Areas Idle Due to Opposition, While Some Are Dry of Oil or Gas Opponents of opening new areas offshore and in Alaska to oil drilling frequently cite the fact that millions of acres already leased by oil and gas companies sit idle. Oil companies, they say, are hoarding and should drill these leases before potential new fields are opened. But, in New Mexico, more than threefourths of leased federal acres are delivering natural gas or crude oil. Some of the leases that aren't producing simply came up dry, and some others have been tied up by environmental and conservation groups opposed to drilling. Those include Otero Mesa in southern New Mexico and the Galisteo Basin north of Albuquerque and near Santa Fe. The state's Oil Conservation Division, which regulates groundwater protection on state and federal land leased to oil and gas companies, has also blocked some new exploration on leases in Rio Arriba County. Big picture numbers: The Bureau of Land Management has leased 5.4 million acres of federal land to oil and gas producers in New Mexico. Of that, about 3.9 million acres are in production, according to Tony Herrell, the BLM's state deputy director for minerals....
New Paths Toward the Loss of Our Public Lands Much of our land has for decades been under the iron grip of a small but powerful segment of the livestock industry – holders of grazing permits (“permittees”) who, as a group, tend to dislike the very “big government” of by and for The People – read American taxpayer – that has made them rich and is keeping them that way. Their livestock dominates on tens of millions of acres of federal land, replacing entire landscapes of America’s wild creatures. When state and county lands are added to the federal count, livestock grazes some 300 million acres of the American West, an area three times larger than California. Even in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (Yellowstone Park and the mostly public land surrounding it), all of the great hoofed natives there -- mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, moose, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep and bison – all taken together are outnumbered 2:1 by domestic livestock. And that’s supposedly our premier wilderness. (To see areas in the Yellowstone Ecosystem where permittees graze livestock, look here. Were it not for livestock grazing, the vast expanse of the people’s domain in the western U.S. could be a North American Serengeti with wild herds extending beyond the horizons in all directions. And here’s the kicker: We subsidize these permittees....
'Off-Road Rage' Climbs as Trails Get More Crowded As more and more Americans light out for backcountry trails, officials are seeing a parallel rise in episodes of "off-road rage": unpleasant, even violent encounters between drivers of all-terrain vehicles and hikers, mountain bikers and others. Federal officials charged with administering public lands say confrontations that erupt into violence on crowded trails in the West remain rare, but they warn that resentful frictions are rising. The region is the fastest-growing in the United States, driven largely by residents' desire to live near scenic public lands that, on weekends near urban areas, can be downright crowded. "The West is just filling up, and more people are going out to use public lands than ever before," said Heather Feeney, spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management, the Interior Department agency that oversees 258 million acres, or about 13 percent of the land surface of the United States....
Wildfire contracting costs too high, critics say Oregon has grown in recent years into an epicenter for contract firefighting companies, with as many as 300 in the business, thanks largely to the state's history in the logging and forestry industries. At fires like this one, where eight Oregon men died in a helicopter crash last week, firefighting has become as coordinated and well-equipped as a military deployment, with the private companies taking more of the work once done by public agencies. That, in turn, has strained the U.S. Forest Service's budget and led to controversy over training and oversight. Contract firefighters dig fire lines and clear branches and brush, and other contractors provide helicopters, food, showers and equipment. On this day in Northern California, contract forces account for as much as 90 percent of firefighting crews and support services in this dusty depot buzzing with the constant hum of generators. "We call it the 'fire industrial complex,' " said Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of Eugene-based Firefighters United for Safety Ethics and Ecology. "It's growing in terms of amount of dollars and in terms of monopolization dynamics."....
Wildfire contracting costs too high, critics say Oregon has grown in recent years into an epicenter for contract firefighting companies, with as many as 300 in the business, thanks largely to the state's history in the logging and forestry industries. At fires like this one, where eight Oregon men died in a helicopter crash last week, firefighting has become as coordinated and well-equipped as a military deployment, with the private companies taking more of the work once done by public agencies. That, in turn, has strained the U.S. Forest Service's budget and led to controversy over training and oversight. Contract firefighters dig fire lines and clear branches and brush, and other contractors provide helicopters, food, showers and equipment. On this day in Northern California, contract forces account for as much as 90 percent of firefighting crews and support services in this dusty depot buzzing with the constant hum of generators. "We call it the 'fire industrial complex,' " said Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of Eugene-based Firefighters United for Safety Ethics and Ecology. "It's growing in terms of amount of dollars and in terms of monopolization dynamics."....
Firefighting costs burn through Forest Service budget The U.S. Forest Service has busted its budget for firefighting barely halfway through the fire season and is about to siphon money from other programs that include fixing potholed roads and renovating deteriorating campgrounds. The agency is even yanking $30 million from efforts to reduce the buildup of flammable tinder in forests, which is designed to reduce the risk of big wildfires that crews have to fight, according to a letter from Forest Service Chief Abigail Kimbell to field offices. In the letter last week, Kimbell suspended all spending on contracts and projects except in emergency or critical circumstances....
Douglas fir stops growing because it can't pull water any higher A fundamental reason why trees can grow only so tall, and then no higher, has been discovered: they run out of water. One of the tallest tree species on Earth, the towering Douglas-fir finally stops growing because it is unable to pull water any higher, a new study concludes. Although the research was done on this tree (which is not a true fir, despite its name), the findings are likely to apply to the mighty redwood too and the team is now extending its research to other species. This limit on height is somewhere above 350 feet, or taller than a 35-story building, and is a tradeoff between efficiency and safety in transporting water to the uppermost leaves. The findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, by a team of scientists from Oregon State University and the USDA Forest Service."....
Yellowstone continues to recuperate from 1988 fires If there is a place where heaven and hell meet, it's here. Twenty years ago this summer, a series of wildfires burned 36 percent of America's first national park, scorching huge swaths of pristine forest and killing scores of wild animals. Today, there is new life at Yellowstone National Park, as trees have taken root among the burnt logs that still litter the earth. The 1988 wildfires were not the ecological disaster many feared at the time. They did, however, force federal officials to tighten a policy allowing some fires to burn and develop new strategies to battle the "mega-fires" of today. "The philosophy was, in these large natural areas, fire should be allowed to play its role," said Dick Bahr, a fire science and ecology specialist for the National Park Service. "What happened in '88 in Yellowstone was probably a passing of the threshold with what the political and social world was comfortable with. It was perceived that we were burning up their national park and there would be nothing left of it." For nearly a century, Yellowstone managers were quick to douse wildfires. That changed in 1972, when ecologists, citing years of research, persuaded the park to adopt a policy allowing lightning-sparked fires to burn as long as they didn't threaten lives or park facilities. They maintained fire was a natural event that promoted healthy forests....
State negotiations shed light on federal talks As Plum Creek Timber repositions itself as a real estate company, it is working with the state of Montana to expand its logging road easements, so it can bring improved access and underground utilities to land that it can later subdivide into rural communities. The state negotiations may shed some light on private talks held between Plum Creek and the U.S. Forest Service. Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Director Mary Sexton says the state has upgraded Plum Creek's traditional 40-foot right-of-way deeds across state lands to 60-foot right of ways. The state is adding additional "all-lawful-purposes" rights to easements originally granted for natural resource uses such as logging. And the state is negotiating with the Forest Service over cost-sharing agreements with the Forest Service, for the use and maintenance of roads that cross both state and federal lands. Some environmental watchdogs argue the state is not doing enough to notify the public about the long-term fiscal and environmental implications of the agreements. They say the state and county governments could end up subsidizing services such as fire and police protection to far-off subdivisions at taxpayer expense....
Douglas fir stops growing because it can't pull water any higher A fundamental reason why trees can grow only so tall, and then no higher, has been discovered: they run out of water. One of the tallest tree species on Earth, the towering Douglas-fir finally stops growing because it is unable to pull water any higher, a new study concludes. Although the research was done on this tree (which is not a true fir, despite its name), the findings are likely to apply to the mighty redwood too and the team is now extending its research to other species. This limit on height is somewhere above 350 feet, or taller than a 35-story building, and is a tradeoff between efficiency and safety in transporting water to the uppermost leaves. The findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, by a team of scientists from Oregon State University and the USDA Forest Service."....
Yellowstone continues to recuperate from 1988 fires If there is a place where heaven and hell meet, it's here. Twenty years ago this summer, a series of wildfires burned 36 percent of America's first national park, scorching huge swaths of pristine forest and killing scores of wild animals. Today, there is new life at Yellowstone National Park, as trees have taken root among the burnt logs that still litter the earth. The 1988 wildfires were not the ecological disaster many feared at the time. They did, however, force federal officials to tighten a policy allowing some fires to burn and develop new strategies to battle the "mega-fires" of today. "The philosophy was, in these large natural areas, fire should be allowed to play its role," said Dick Bahr, a fire science and ecology specialist for the National Park Service. "What happened in '88 in Yellowstone was probably a passing of the threshold with what the political and social world was comfortable with. It was perceived that we were burning up their national park and there would be nothing left of it." For nearly a century, Yellowstone managers were quick to douse wildfires. That changed in 1972, when ecologists, citing years of research, persuaded the park to adopt a policy allowing lightning-sparked fires to burn as long as they didn't threaten lives or park facilities. They maintained fire was a natural event that promoted healthy forests....
State negotiations shed light on federal talks As Plum Creek Timber repositions itself as a real estate company, it is working with the state of Montana to expand its logging road easements, so it can bring improved access and underground utilities to land that it can later subdivide into rural communities. The state negotiations may shed some light on private talks held between Plum Creek and the U.S. Forest Service. Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Director Mary Sexton says the state has upgraded Plum Creek's traditional 40-foot right-of-way deeds across state lands to 60-foot right of ways. The state is adding additional "all-lawful-purposes" rights to easements originally granted for natural resource uses such as logging. And the state is negotiating with the Forest Service over cost-sharing agreements with the Forest Service, for the use and maintenance of roads that cross both state and federal lands. Some environmental watchdogs argue the state is not doing enough to notify the public about the long-term fiscal and environmental implications of the agreements. They say the state and county governments could end up subsidizing services such as fire and police protection to far-off subdivisions at taxpayer expense....
Forest Service plans 'field trip' in Sacramentos The public is invited to a field trip Saturday in the Sacramento Mountains with the U.S. Forest Service to view areas and share ideas. A news release issued by the Lincoln National Forest Monday states the trip is planned to the Jim Lewis project area in the south-central portion of the mountains northeast of Timberon and southwest of Sacramento and Weed. The purpose of the field trip is to give people a chance to view areas and give input regarding possible treatments and projects the Forest Service is considering. An environmental analysis of the area begins later this year. During preliminary analysis the Forest Service found some vegetation treatments may benefit the project area, according to the Forest Service. Treatments considered include reducing hazardous fuels, restoring area ponderosa pine stands to a more natural state and improving habitat for area wildlife....
Endangered Species Act Changes Give Agencies More Say The Bush administration yesterday proposed a regulatory overhaul of the Endangered Species Act to allow federal agencies to decide whether protected species would be imperiled by agency projects, eliminating the independent scientific reviews that have been required for more than three decades. The new rules, which will be subject to a 30-day per comment period, would use administrative powers to make broad changes in the law that Congress has resisted for years. Under current law, agencies must subject any plans that potentially affect endangered animals and plants to an independent review by the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service. Under the proposed new rules, dam and highway construction and other federal projects could proceed without delay if the agency in charge decides they would not harm vulnerable species. In a telephone call with reporters yesterday, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne described the new rules as a "narrow regulatory change" that "will provide clarity and certainty to the consultation process under the Endangered Species Act." But environmentalists and congressional Democrats blasted the proposal as a last-minute attempt by the administration to bring about dramatic changes in the law. For more than a decade, congressional Republicans have been trying unsuccessfully to rewrite the act, which property owners and developers say imposes unreasonable economic costs....
Monday, August 11, 2008
Pelosi indicates openness to offshore drilling vote House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday night dropped her staunch opposition to a vote on offshore oil drilling in the House. Republicans, reacting to high gas prices, have demanded a vote on additional oil exploration in the Outer Continental Shelf, where drilling is currently blocked by a moratorium. Until now, Pelosi (D-Calif.) has resisted the idea as a “hoax.” But in an interview on CNN’s Larry King Live, she indicated that she was open to a vote. “They have this thing that says drill offshore in the protected areas,” Pelosi said. “We can do that. We can have a vote on that.” She indicated such a vote would have to be part of a larger package that included other policies, like releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which she said could bring down prices in a matter of days....
MEXICAN WOLVES
Laura Schneberger with the Gila Livestock Growers Association had an interesting and informative op-ed published by the Tucson Citizen. She has posted the op-ed here on her Wolf Crossing weblog. An excerpt:
It is long past time to dispense with the party line that constantly dribbles from the Mexican wolf public relations machine. But since the agency’s own public relations person will not do it, producers must. And 12 years in the program has to count for something as ranchers have been involved longer than any wolf program employees. That qualifies us to answer some questions: • Are Mexican wolves removed from the wild genetically indispensable and leading to a second extinction in the wild? No, they are all surplus animals well represented in the captive breeding program. The genetically indispensable animals are housed, bred, fed and well-protected. Those wolves produce pups to replace any wolf removed from the wild. As long as populations of captive animals exist, wolves won’t be extinct in the wild and the captive population is larger than it has ever been. Despite claims made in recent media reports, mere suspicions have never been and will never be the cause of removal of a Mexican wolf from the land. There must be three confirmed wolf kills of livestock. Then, and only then, will one wolf in a pack possibly be subjected to removal. Even with numerous bite sizes on a bovine or equine victim, often only one wolf is assigned the strike, (now called, livestock depredation incident) even when the entire pack is confirmed to have been involved in the attack on the dead animal....
Laura Schneberger with the Gila Livestock Growers Association had an interesting and informative op-ed published by the Tucson Citizen. She has posted the op-ed here on her Wolf Crossing weblog. An excerpt:
It is long past time to dispense with the party line that constantly dribbles from the Mexican wolf public relations machine. But since the agency’s own public relations person will not do it, producers must. And 12 years in the program has to count for something as ranchers have been involved longer than any wolf program employees. That qualifies us to answer some questions: • Are Mexican wolves removed from the wild genetically indispensable and leading to a second extinction in the wild? No, they are all surplus animals well represented in the captive breeding program. The genetically indispensable animals are housed, bred, fed and well-protected. Those wolves produce pups to replace any wolf removed from the wild. As long as populations of captive animals exist, wolves won’t be extinct in the wild and the captive population is larger than it has ever been. Despite claims made in recent media reports, mere suspicions have never been and will never be the cause of removal of a Mexican wolf from the land. There must be three confirmed wolf kills of livestock. Then, and only then, will one wolf in a pack possibly be subjected to removal. Even with numerous bite sizes on a bovine or equine victim, often only one wolf is assigned the strike, (now called, livestock depredation incident) even when the entire pack is confirmed to have been involved in the attack on the dead animal....
Whole Foods Recalls Beef Whole Foods Market pulled fresh ground beef from all of its stores Friday, becoming the latest retailer affected by an E. coli outbreak traced to Nebraska Beef, one of the nation's largest meatpackers. It's the second outbreak linked to the processor in as many months. The meat Whole Foods recalled came from Coleman Natural Foods, which unbeknownst to Whole Foods had processed it at Nebraska Beef, an Omaha meatpacker with a history of food-safety and other violations. Whole Foods officials are investigating why they were not aware that Coleman was using Nebraska Beef as a processor, spokeswoman Libba Letton said. The chain's managers took action after Massachusetts health officials informed them Aug. 1 that seven people who had gotten sick from E. coli O157:H7 had all bought ground beef from Whole Foods. The same strain has sickened 31 people in 12 states, the District and Canada....
Iconic stone arch collapses in southern Utah park One of the largest and most photographed arches in Arches National Park has collapsed. Paul Henderson, the park's chief of interpretation, said Wall Arch collapsed sometime late Monday or early Tuesday. The arch is along Devils Garden Trail, one of the most popular in the park. For years, the arch has been a favorite stopping point for photographers. Henderson said the arch was claimed by forces that will eventually destroy others in the park: gravity and erosion. "They all let go after a while," he said Friday. He said it's the first collapse of a major arch in the park since nearby Landscape Arch fell in 1991. No one has reported seeing it fall. Like others in the park, Wall Arch was formed by entrada sandstone that was whittled down over time into its distinctive and photogenic formation....
Majority of Americans support more drilling, more conservation A new poll shows that a majority of Americans support more drilling even in protected areas (63 percent), while seven in 10 said they are trying to reduce their carbon footprint, mainly through using less electricity, driving less and recycling, ABC News reported. The poll, a combined effort of ABC News, Stanford University and Planet Green, found that 44 percent favored building more nuclear power plants -- not a majority, but still higher than the number has been in 28 years. Sixty-four percent of Americans rated "finding new energy sources" as more important than improving conservation. Support for alternative energy sources has been greater in past polls, while objections to offshore drilling and nuclear power have decreased, indicating the anxiety many feel about the deepening energy crisis....
Educators push 'No Child Left Inside' funding Canoeing trips on the Chesapeake Bay. Endangered butterfly camps for teachers in Rhode Island. A new corral and barn for a nature center in Texas that wants to show kids live bison. Outdoor and environmental educators across the nation are ramping up pressure on Congress and their state lawmakers to add funding for nature learning. The effort dubbed "No Child Left Inside" could mean millions more for environmental education—and a major windfall for nonprofits hoping for more federal help getting kids outside. The resolution, which awaits a vote in the House, would send money to nonprofits and state departments of education for outdoor education aimed at kids who now spend more time in front of computer screens, video games and televisions than playing outside. Environmental activism groups say nature learning is crucial amid alarming rates of childhood obesity and a growing concern about the health of the outdoors....
Congressmen probe review of decision that Santa Cruz is navigable Two congressional committee chairmen are investigating why a decision was suspended that would have assured regulation of development and pollution along the Santa Cruz River and its tributaries. In early July, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pulled back on an earlier determination that 54 miles of the Santa Cruz is a navigable river, saying it will review that decision for at least 60 days. Late this week, U.S. Reps. Henry Waxman of California and James Oberstar of Minnesota, both Democrats, blasted the Corps' action. In a letter to the agency, they said the Bush administration must explain the Santa Cruz decision in detail and provide unedited copies of all letters and other communications to and from federal agencies that are related to the decision. As the federal government interprets the Clean Water Act, wetlands, streams and washes are protected if they have significant connection to a navigable stream. A developer or a government agency wishing to build homes or roads near such a tributary or wanting to discharge into it needs a federal permit. That takes time and money and often leads to conservation requirements. A navigability determination could hurt the proposed Rosemont Mine southeast of Tucson, by regulating discharges of mine waste into Santa Cruz tributaries. Nationally, such decisions would have "dramatic and lasting implications" regarding federal and state authority to protect rivers against toxic chemical discharges, the congressmen's letter said....
Landowners aim to reclaim losses in easement scandal Hundreds of landowners caught up in the state's conservation easement scandal are joining forces in hopes of reclaiming thousands of dollars lost on transactions now deemed invalid. "It's one of the worse messes I've been in, and it's not getting any better," said J.D. Wright, a rancher in Ordway who placed his lands under easement. At issue is an innovative state program in which landowners who agree to permanently protect their properties from development can claim lucrative state income tax credits. The credits - worth as much as $350,000 each - can be sold for cash. But in the eight years since the program took effect, dozens of instances of suspected fraud and abuse have been uncovered. Now, the Colorado Department of Revenue is seeking at least $19 million in repayment, and that number is expected to grow. Attorney General John Suthers has convened a grand jury to investigate questionable transactions....
Bomber training runs has ranchers, farmers upset Cattle ranchers and farmers are unhappy with a U.S. Air Force proposal to significantly expand training airspace for bomber pilots. The Air Force wants to triple the size of the Powder River Training Complex, allowing B-52 and B-1 bombers from a nearby air base in South Dakota to train in rural parts of North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming, including Campbell County. Opponents argue this would lower the property value of land directly below the proposed training area. Among the concerns: - During training exercises, jets will drop flares and aluminum confetti to throw off heat-seeking missiles, potentially igniting brush fires on ranches and farms below. - The low-flying bombers will frighten cattle. A study showed that during similar flight exercises in Nevada, breeding among cows plunged to less than 50 percent because of the stress caused by these training missions, according to a news release from the United Stockgrowers of America. - If ranchers decide to sell their property, they have to disclose that the land is in a military fly zone, potentially cheapening the resale value of their land....
Ban on selling horses for slaughter has support in Congress Animal welfare advocates say they expect Congress to take the next step in curtailing horse slaughter by passing measures that would stop the shipment of animals to be slaughtered. If passed, a House bill would outlaw the transport and sale of any horse across state lines or international borders to be slaughtered for human consumption. Those who break the law would be fined and could serve jail time. Most Texas representatives oppose the measure. Chris Heyde, deputy director of government and legal affairs for the Animal Welfare Institute, said he expects both the House and Senate to vote on the measure in September. A horse slaughter ban has been an issue affecting North Texas, where two slaughterhouse plants – Dallas Crown in Kaufman and Beltex in Fort Worth – were shut down. An effort to write a ban into law failed, but the plants were shuttered after federal inspections were cut off. It remains legal to sell and ship horses to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico knowing that they may be slaughtered for human consumption....
Riders on historic trail share love of history, horses Todd is a long-haul trucker from Harrisburg who is spending 17 days driving a team of four Belgian horses harnessed to a buckboard wagon across western South Dakota because it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Men like John Wesley Todd routinely drove the same route out of Fort Pierre with freight wagons loaded with provisions that kept a growing invasion of gold miners and others supplied with the goods they needed to settle the Black Hills. "My great-grandfather was a freight wagon driver with a six-hitch mule team on the old Deadwood trail, which is why I wanted to do it, too," Todd said. "I've enjoyed the heck out of it." A love of history and horses is what brought 300 people to spend $200 on a trail badge that gave them the right to ride a little-seen historic trail crossing 51 private ranches, numerous gravel roads and a little public land that will end on Aug. 15 in a triumphant parade down Deadwood's Main Street....
It's All Trew: Stetson led way for modern cowboy hats The unique history of the felt hat goes back to the mid-15th century, more than 400 years ago, during which time it has been both a symbol of status and social necessity. The mysterious quality of beaver hair with its tiny barbed hooks allows it to be gathered and processed into a feltlike material, then shaped into a form to fit man's head, thus becoming protective in use and stylish in looks. For untold centuries every civilized man desired his own beaver hat no matter the cost. The demand for beaver fur helped shape the history of North America. The proceeds from trapped beaver fur financed ocean voyages, expeditions up mountains, across rivers, deserts, founded settlements, built forts and established the trails that opened up the new continent. The fortunes created by fur provided a colorful a period of history like no other in the world. It all ended when the fashionable man decided he preferred a silk hat to the old beaver felt style. Other competition to the felt hat came from the Spanish explorers moving north from Mexico. Their hot climate, desert sun and need for shade gave birth to the huge sombreros made by weaving materials from straw and forming them into a hat shape similar to the old standard felt hat....
IT'S THE PITTS: A body part for a paycheck When I shook his hand I knew right away that something was missing. The reason I didn't have a good grasp on the situation was that what was missing was the rancher's thumb and opposing appendage. Ah, ha, I thought, a team roper! If you think it's easy, just try shaking hands with one some day. There's nothing to grab on to. After we said our howdy-dos with One-Thumb Frank, the five of us settled into a leisurely night in a hotel lounge. We were all in town for a big cow sale the next day, the order buyer, ring man, auctioneer, the rancher and me. I was traveling buddies with the rest of the crew but it was the first time I'd ever met One-Thumb. He turned out to be a wonderful man, tough as a boot and colorful as a Navajo blanket....
Educators push 'No Child Left Inside' funding Canoeing trips on the Chesapeake Bay. Endangered butterfly camps for teachers in Rhode Island. A new corral and barn for a nature center in Texas that wants to show kids live bison. Outdoor and environmental educators across the nation are ramping up pressure on Congress and their state lawmakers to add funding for nature learning. The effort dubbed "No Child Left Inside" could mean millions more for environmental education—and a major windfall for nonprofits hoping for more federal help getting kids outside. The resolution, which awaits a vote in the House, would send money to nonprofits and state departments of education for outdoor education aimed at kids who now spend more time in front of computer screens, video games and televisions than playing outside. Environmental activism groups say nature learning is crucial amid alarming rates of childhood obesity and a growing concern about the health of the outdoors....
Congressmen probe review of decision that Santa Cruz is navigable Two congressional committee chairmen are investigating why a decision was suspended that would have assured regulation of development and pollution along the Santa Cruz River and its tributaries. In early July, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pulled back on an earlier determination that 54 miles of the Santa Cruz is a navigable river, saying it will review that decision for at least 60 days. Late this week, U.S. Reps. Henry Waxman of California and James Oberstar of Minnesota, both Democrats, blasted the Corps' action. In a letter to the agency, they said the Bush administration must explain the Santa Cruz decision in detail and provide unedited copies of all letters and other communications to and from federal agencies that are related to the decision. As the federal government interprets the Clean Water Act, wetlands, streams and washes are protected if they have significant connection to a navigable stream. A developer or a government agency wishing to build homes or roads near such a tributary or wanting to discharge into it needs a federal permit. That takes time and money and often leads to conservation requirements. A navigability determination could hurt the proposed Rosemont Mine southeast of Tucson, by regulating discharges of mine waste into Santa Cruz tributaries. Nationally, such decisions would have "dramatic and lasting implications" regarding federal and state authority to protect rivers against toxic chemical discharges, the congressmen's letter said....
Landowners aim to reclaim losses in easement scandal Hundreds of landowners caught up in the state's conservation easement scandal are joining forces in hopes of reclaiming thousands of dollars lost on transactions now deemed invalid. "It's one of the worse messes I've been in, and it's not getting any better," said J.D. Wright, a rancher in Ordway who placed his lands under easement. At issue is an innovative state program in which landowners who agree to permanently protect their properties from development can claim lucrative state income tax credits. The credits - worth as much as $350,000 each - can be sold for cash. But in the eight years since the program took effect, dozens of instances of suspected fraud and abuse have been uncovered. Now, the Colorado Department of Revenue is seeking at least $19 million in repayment, and that number is expected to grow. Attorney General John Suthers has convened a grand jury to investigate questionable transactions....
Bomber training runs has ranchers, farmers upset Cattle ranchers and farmers are unhappy with a U.S. Air Force proposal to significantly expand training airspace for bomber pilots. The Air Force wants to triple the size of the Powder River Training Complex, allowing B-52 and B-1 bombers from a nearby air base in South Dakota to train in rural parts of North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming, including Campbell County. Opponents argue this would lower the property value of land directly below the proposed training area. Among the concerns: - During training exercises, jets will drop flares and aluminum confetti to throw off heat-seeking missiles, potentially igniting brush fires on ranches and farms below. - The low-flying bombers will frighten cattle. A study showed that during similar flight exercises in Nevada, breeding among cows plunged to less than 50 percent because of the stress caused by these training missions, according to a news release from the United Stockgrowers of America. - If ranchers decide to sell their property, they have to disclose that the land is in a military fly zone, potentially cheapening the resale value of their land....
Ban on selling horses for slaughter has support in Congress Animal welfare advocates say they expect Congress to take the next step in curtailing horse slaughter by passing measures that would stop the shipment of animals to be slaughtered. If passed, a House bill would outlaw the transport and sale of any horse across state lines or international borders to be slaughtered for human consumption. Those who break the law would be fined and could serve jail time. Most Texas representatives oppose the measure. Chris Heyde, deputy director of government and legal affairs for the Animal Welfare Institute, said he expects both the House and Senate to vote on the measure in September. A horse slaughter ban has been an issue affecting North Texas, where two slaughterhouse plants – Dallas Crown in Kaufman and Beltex in Fort Worth – were shut down. An effort to write a ban into law failed, but the plants were shuttered after federal inspections were cut off. It remains legal to sell and ship horses to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico knowing that they may be slaughtered for human consumption....
Riders on historic trail share love of history, horses Todd is a long-haul trucker from Harrisburg who is spending 17 days driving a team of four Belgian horses harnessed to a buckboard wagon across western South Dakota because it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Men like John Wesley Todd routinely drove the same route out of Fort Pierre with freight wagons loaded with provisions that kept a growing invasion of gold miners and others supplied with the goods they needed to settle the Black Hills. "My great-grandfather was a freight wagon driver with a six-hitch mule team on the old Deadwood trail, which is why I wanted to do it, too," Todd said. "I've enjoyed the heck out of it." A love of history and horses is what brought 300 people to spend $200 on a trail badge that gave them the right to ride a little-seen historic trail crossing 51 private ranches, numerous gravel roads and a little public land that will end on Aug. 15 in a triumphant parade down Deadwood's Main Street....
It's All Trew: Stetson led way for modern cowboy hats The unique history of the felt hat goes back to the mid-15th century, more than 400 years ago, during which time it has been both a symbol of status and social necessity. The mysterious quality of beaver hair with its tiny barbed hooks allows it to be gathered and processed into a feltlike material, then shaped into a form to fit man's head, thus becoming protective in use and stylish in looks. For untold centuries every civilized man desired his own beaver hat no matter the cost. The demand for beaver fur helped shape the history of North America. The proceeds from trapped beaver fur financed ocean voyages, expeditions up mountains, across rivers, deserts, founded settlements, built forts and established the trails that opened up the new continent. The fortunes created by fur provided a colorful a period of history like no other in the world. It all ended when the fashionable man decided he preferred a silk hat to the old beaver felt style. Other competition to the felt hat came from the Spanish explorers moving north from Mexico. Their hot climate, desert sun and need for shade gave birth to the huge sombreros made by weaving materials from straw and forming them into a hat shape similar to the old standard felt hat....
IT'S THE PITTS: A body part for a paycheck When I shook his hand I knew right away that something was missing. The reason I didn't have a good grasp on the situation was that what was missing was the rancher's thumb and opposing appendage. Ah, ha, I thought, a team roper! If you think it's easy, just try shaking hands with one some day. There's nothing to grab on to. After we said our howdy-dos with One-Thumb Frank, the five of us settled into a leisurely night in a hotel lounge. We were all in town for a big cow sale the next day, the order buyer, ring man, auctioneer, the rancher and me. I was traveling buddies with the rest of the crew but it was the first time I'd ever met One-Thumb. He turned out to be a wonderful man, tough as a boot and colorful as a Navajo blanket....
On a planet 4C hotter, all we can prepare for is extinction We need to get prepared for four degrees of global warming, Bob Watson told the Gurdian last week. At first sight this looks like wise counsel from the climate science adviser to Defra. But the idea that we could adapt to a 4C rise is absurd and dangerous. Global warming on this scale would be a catastrophe that would mean, in the immortal words that Chief Seattle probably never spoke, "the end of living and the beginning of survival" for humankind. Or perhaps the beginning of our extinction. The collapse of the polar ice caps would become inevitable, bringing long-term sea level rises of 70-80 metres. All the world's coastal plains would be lost, complete with ports, cities, transport and industrial infrastructure, and much of the world's most productive farmland. The world's geography would be transformed much as it was at the end of the last ice age, when sea levels rose by about 120 metres to create the Channel, the North Sea and Cardigan Bay out of dry land. Weather would become extreme and unpredictable, with more frequent and severe droughts, floods and hurricanes. The Earth's carrying capacity would be hugely reduced. Billions would undoubtedly die....
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Townsend man kills mountain lion after it crashes through window and into his house A Townsend man said he had “a little excitement to start the morning” when a mountain lion launched itself through a closed window at his home and tore apart a room in his basement. Scott Vine, a 45-year-old ranch worker, said the female adolescent cat set off an alarm on his property at about 6:30 a.m. Thursday. “My dogs started raising hell,” said Vine, whose wife and two stepchildren, ages 14 and 20, were also home at the time. “I looked out the window and there was a lion.” Vine said he grabbed his rifle moments before the mountain lion crashed into his house. “That window exploded,” he said. “All of the sudden I had glass, I had curtain, I had lion coming over my head.” Vine retreated upstairs as the 60- to 70-pound feline made its way to the basement, where it knocked items from shelves and clawed at the walls. Vine and a friend who brought a shotgun and a rifle with him killed the animal about 20 minutes later. Rusty Ruchert, a warden for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said the killing was a legal defense of private property, so Vine and his family only need to worry about cleaning up the mess....
Judge OKs water deal between state, pecan growers A state district judge has accepted a settlement agreement between a group of pecan farmers and the state engineer determining how much water their orchards are entitled. The agreement — initially reached in February between State Engineer John D'Antonio and the New Mexico Pecan Growers Association — has the potential to greatly speed up the adjudication of water rights in the Lower Rio Grande Basin. That's because the document resolves — for several hundred farmers at once — how much water their orchards are authorized to receive, said 3rd Judicial District Judge Jerald A. Valentine, who accepted the settlement Aug. 4. Under the terms of the settlement, pecan farmers can apply 5.5 acre-feet of water per acre per year of combined river water and ground water. The figure assumes trees use only 4 acre-feet of that. Also, farmers would have to use surface water before relying on groundwater....Go here to read the agreement.
There's nothin' like a pig show
Cowgirl Sass & Savvy
Julie Carter
If you have never been to a pig show, you have completely missed the very essence, so to speak, of a small county fair.
The kids are dressed up as nice as they can be to show a pig, usually in at least a brightly-colored shirt and well-groomed hair. Stick a brush in their back pocket and they are good to go.
The show ring is surrounded by bleachers packed full of friends and family that came to cheer for their favorite kid and pig. It is a true family event with grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings standing by.
Mom and/or Dad won't be seen around anywhere for long. They give a quick glance as a class comes to a close, then off they scoot to the pig barn for another round on the wash rack with the next waiting swine. They are identifiable by their rubber boots and very wet clothes.
Beside what goes on in the ring, one of the more entertaining parts of the show is the dialogue given by a seasoned swine show judge.
He will take his job quite seriously, scrutinize each animal and then give his reasons for selecting one over another in placing them. He will speak directly, not unkindly, but with definite direction and an explanation.
He either really likes the hog and will tell you why or he doesn't, and with colorful phrasing, explains why.
Here are a few that leave you laughing, especially if you dare liken it to describing anyone you know:
· He's wide coming to you and wide leaving.
· I'd really like to take this pig apart.
· Obviously not breeding stock.
· Doesn't go away with any power.
· Not much strength when he comes at you.
· Would be a better pig if he'd been fed more.
· Had to walk this pig a long way before I liked him.
· Gets up on his toes .... a little heavy on the back end.
· He's got good assets but they all work independently against him.
· Has one good side but this isn't it.
· Need to shrink this pig a little in the loin.
· I'd like to loosen him up in the front end.
· When you look at this pig, you gotta think hog.
· Doesn't go away from you with the authority I'd like.
· This pig jerks as he walks off. I'd sure like to flatten his ribs.
· I'd like to build this hog up and drop him where he's at.
· Functional hog. Think hog. Very competitive hog.
· Big ole, healthy rear end. Fits the profile.
· Both of these pigs are nice but both have the same problem, which is they don't get off the rear end.
· The longer I look at him, the less I like him.
· All these pigs have something to offer but, some more than others. This one isn't one of them.
Some or all of these phrases might come in handy at the next board meeting or family reunion. Some phrases just seem to get the point across better than others.
You can tell them you heard it at the county fair.
Advice from a rancher
By MARY FLITNER
The other day I heard a newsman refer to “these perilous times” for business people. No kidding, I thought. The gloomy picture featured rising costs, increased property taxes, deepening recession, employee demands for more insurance and benefits, market risk — the list went on.
I thought of the risks we’ve faced in ranching, with more to come. Big sigh. Suddenly, I laughed out loud. I remembered being 50 miles from home in 1979, at the Labor Day Horse Race in Tensleep, Wyo. We were in business for ourselves then, too, and our financial picture could charitably be described as bleak. Land-rich, cash poor, is the way the bankers put it. The livestock market was at rock bottom, and nobody was buying ranches, even if we’d wanted to sell.
The races, though: Held on a dirt track at the edge of town, the annual races featured mostly ranch horses brought by people who just wanted to have some fun and see which horses could run. Despite the gloomy business setting we were in, we gathered up some friends and a couple of fast horses and rattled off to Tensleep in a beat-up old pickup and trailer, ready for the horserace.
The sunny autumn day attracted a jolly crowd from nearby towns and ranches. The entry fees were small; our horses won their races and we made a little money. We joked about being a small-time syndicate as we placed some bets, laughing and enjoying our good fortune. Fun is where you find it, especially during hard times.
In the late afternoon, we’d gathered at the bar in town noisily celebrating our victories, when a local fellow started bragging that he had a horse back at his ranch that was faster than any of the others, and he’d bet $1,000 cash to prove it. Somehow, we heard ourselves saying, “Well, then. Go home and get him. You’re on.”
When we pooled our money to cover the bet, our syndicate only had $300 of the $1,000 we needed, so somebody had to write a check for the remainder. There were no ATM machines back then, and cashing an out-of-town check on a holiday wasn’t easy. Nobody had money to spare, and many of us ranchers were heavily in debt.”
A thousand dollars was a lot of money 29 years ago, borrowing at 16 percent interest rates. But somehow, we got the money together and went back out to the track at dusk, each of us secretly wondering if that horse really could outrun ours, and what we’d do if we lost. With a lump in my throat I stood thinking of groceries, school clothes for the kids and how we’d pay the bills.
We waited nervously for the guy to show up. Our friend Delmer, who owned “our” horse, was sweating bullets. ”How’d we get into this?” he asked. ”I’ve never been much of a gambling man.”
After a quiet minute, my husband roared and slapped him on the back. “What? Delmer, you’ve gotta be kidding. You’ve gambled more than this every day you’ve been in the ranching business. You’ve been bucked off horses, run over by cows; you’ve walked home when your truck broke down, worked jobs, made a living against all odds. You’ve gambled on cattle prices and the weather and the price of hay. This horserace is nothing at all compared to being in business for yourself. So if we’re all gambling anyhow, let’s at least have a little fun at it!”
We did. At the starting line, a cowboy had the cash money snapped in his polyester shirt pocket for safekeeping; winner would take all. When the flag dropped, the horses jumped out neck and neck, their hooves pounding in the dirt. The dust flew; we could barely see the finish line and we didn’t know at first who’d won or lost. We did win, though, and we gathered up our money and left town as quickly as we could, feeling more relief than triumph. We knew that $1,000 meant a lot to the loser, too.
Looking back at what we risked that day, I want to give heart to young friends who are struggling to succeed as ranchers, or in any business. “Win some, lose some,” I want to say. Of course it’s perilous. Of course there’s risk, but there’s also reward and sometimes profit, and certainly adventure, satisfaction, achievement.
Definitely it’s a gamble, but oh, the fun of the race.
Mary Flitner is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News (hcn.org). She ranches and writes in Greybull, Wyo.
Cowgirl Sass & Savvy
Julie Carter
If you have never been to a pig show, you have completely missed the very essence, so to speak, of a small county fair.
The kids are dressed up as nice as they can be to show a pig, usually in at least a brightly-colored shirt and well-groomed hair. Stick a brush in their back pocket and they are good to go.
The show ring is surrounded by bleachers packed full of friends and family that came to cheer for their favorite kid and pig. It is a true family event with grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings standing by.
Mom and/or Dad won't be seen around anywhere for long. They give a quick glance as a class comes to a close, then off they scoot to the pig barn for another round on the wash rack with the next waiting swine. They are identifiable by their rubber boots and very wet clothes.
Beside what goes on in the ring, one of the more entertaining parts of the show is the dialogue given by a seasoned swine show judge.
He will take his job quite seriously, scrutinize each animal and then give his reasons for selecting one over another in placing them. He will speak directly, not unkindly, but with definite direction and an explanation.
He either really likes the hog and will tell you why or he doesn't, and with colorful phrasing, explains why.
Here are a few that leave you laughing, especially if you dare liken it to describing anyone you know:
· He's wide coming to you and wide leaving.
· I'd really like to take this pig apart.
· Obviously not breeding stock.
· Doesn't go away with any power.
· Not much strength when he comes at you.
· Would be a better pig if he'd been fed more.
· Had to walk this pig a long way before I liked him.
· Gets up on his toes .... a little heavy on the back end.
· He's got good assets but they all work independently against him.
· Has one good side but this isn't it.
· Need to shrink this pig a little in the loin.
· I'd like to loosen him up in the front end.
· When you look at this pig, you gotta think hog.
· Doesn't go away from you with the authority I'd like.
· This pig jerks as he walks off. I'd sure like to flatten his ribs.
· I'd like to build this hog up and drop him where he's at.
· Functional hog. Think hog. Very competitive hog.
· Big ole, healthy rear end. Fits the profile.
· Both of these pigs are nice but both have the same problem, which is they don't get off the rear end.
· The longer I look at him, the less I like him.
· All these pigs have something to offer but, some more than others. This one isn't one of them.
Some or all of these phrases might come in handy at the next board meeting or family reunion. Some phrases just seem to get the point across better than others.
You can tell them you heard it at the county fair.
Advice from a rancher
By MARY FLITNER
The other day I heard a newsman refer to “these perilous times” for business people. No kidding, I thought. The gloomy picture featured rising costs, increased property taxes, deepening recession, employee demands for more insurance and benefits, market risk — the list went on.
I thought of the risks we’ve faced in ranching, with more to come. Big sigh. Suddenly, I laughed out loud. I remembered being 50 miles from home in 1979, at the Labor Day Horse Race in Tensleep, Wyo. We were in business for ourselves then, too, and our financial picture could charitably be described as bleak. Land-rich, cash poor, is the way the bankers put it. The livestock market was at rock bottom, and nobody was buying ranches, even if we’d wanted to sell.
The races, though: Held on a dirt track at the edge of town, the annual races featured mostly ranch horses brought by people who just wanted to have some fun and see which horses could run. Despite the gloomy business setting we were in, we gathered up some friends and a couple of fast horses and rattled off to Tensleep in a beat-up old pickup and trailer, ready for the horserace.
The sunny autumn day attracted a jolly crowd from nearby towns and ranches. The entry fees were small; our horses won their races and we made a little money. We joked about being a small-time syndicate as we placed some bets, laughing and enjoying our good fortune. Fun is where you find it, especially during hard times.
In the late afternoon, we’d gathered at the bar in town noisily celebrating our victories, when a local fellow started bragging that he had a horse back at his ranch that was faster than any of the others, and he’d bet $1,000 cash to prove it. Somehow, we heard ourselves saying, “Well, then. Go home and get him. You’re on.”
When we pooled our money to cover the bet, our syndicate only had $300 of the $1,000 we needed, so somebody had to write a check for the remainder. There were no ATM machines back then, and cashing an out-of-town check on a holiday wasn’t easy. Nobody had money to spare, and many of us ranchers were heavily in debt.”
A thousand dollars was a lot of money 29 years ago, borrowing at 16 percent interest rates. But somehow, we got the money together and went back out to the track at dusk, each of us secretly wondering if that horse really could outrun ours, and what we’d do if we lost. With a lump in my throat I stood thinking of groceries, school clothes for the kids and how we’d pay the bills.
We waited nervously for the guy to show up. Our friend Delmer, who owned “our” horse, was sweating bullets. ”How’d we get into this?” he asked. ”I’ve never been much of a gambling man.”
After a quiet minute, my husband roared and slapped him on the back. “What? Delmer, you’ve gotta be kidding. You’ve gambled more than this every day you’ve been in the ranching business. You’ve been bucked off horses, run over by cows; you’ve walked home when your truck broke down, worked jobs, made a living against all odds. You’ve gambled on cattle prices and the weather and the price of hay. This horserace is nothing at all compared to being in business for yourself. So if we’re all gambling anyhow, let’s at least have a little fun at it!”
We did. At the starting line, a cowboy had the cash money snapped in his polyester shirt pocket for safekeeping; winner would take all. When the flag dropped, the horses jumped out neck and neck, their hooves pounding in the dirt. The dust flew; we could barely see the finish line and we didn’t know at first who’d won or lost. We did win, though, and we gathered up our money and left town as quickly as we could, feeling more relief than triumph. We knew that $1,000 meant a lot to the loser, too.
Looking back at what we risked that day, I want to give heart to young friends who are struggling to succeed as ranchers, or in any business. “Win some, lose some,” I want to say. Of course it’s perilous. Of course there’s risk, but there’s also reward and sometimes profit, and certainly adventure, satisfaction, achievement.
Definitely it’s a gamble, but oh, the fun of the race.
Mary Flitner is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News (hcn.org). She ranches and writes in Greybull, Wyo.
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