LMD Feb 2023

15,

Unsustainable Nonsense

LEE PITTS

Depending on your age, you may or may not remember reading a book written by Danish author Hans Christian Anderson that is called “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” It was about a very vain king who gets exposed as a fraud before his loyal subjects.

In the book two scam artists showed up in the emperor’s royal city. The emperor was well-known for spending lavishly on clothing so, posing as weavers, the crooks offered to supply him with magnificent clothes that would be invisible to those who are stupid or incompetent. The emperor gave the crooks looms and loans and afterwards a succession of officials checked on their progress. The bureaucrats all saw that the looms were devoid of any cloth but raved to the emperor about the imaginary cloth to avoid being thought of as a fool. On the unveiling day the emperor was dressed in the non-clothes and was paraded in front of his subjects in his birthday suit. Of course, the townsfolk went along with the ruse, not wanting to appear stupid. Finally, a child on the parade route blurted out that the emperor was naked. The people immediately caught on to the scam but the emperor continued to proudly wear the “garments” made of nothing.

Now you know everything there is to know about the subject of “sustainability.”

Greenwashing

If I had to pick the two biggest buzzwords of the early 21st century I’d pick “stakeholder” and “sustainability.” This report is about both.

As ranchers, oops, I mean stakeholders, we all know what “carrying capacity” is. Some-

time in the 1970’s we exceeded ours. Life on earth had become “unsustainable” but rather than blame overpopulation on the stakeholders the scientists and the bureaucrats said the earth had fallen victim to “climate change” which they insisted was caused by cow farts and burning fossil fuels.

The U.N. says earth will have to sustain another 2.6 billion people by 2050 yet even at our current population of 6.5 billion we are using up our resources at an “unsustainable” rate. We should do what any good rancher would do and cut back on our numbers but barring mass suicide or nuclear

sense is just a marketing gimmick. Marketeers call it “greenwashing.”

If you don’t think sustainability is nothing more than a passing trend or fad, just ask anyone to tell you what sustainability means. Instead of repeating the lesson pounded into our heads in nursery school, “Don’t take more than your fair share of the graham crackers,” chances are the only synonym they’ll come up with is “climate change” because the environmental movement has grabbed on to the word like a pit bull.

POOF!

The scientists got part of the equation right. The problem was created by humans, but like all other environmental problems, it was a population problem. We were guilty of overgrazing but the politicians didn’t dare blame the stakeholders because that would be committing political suicide. Besides, it would be impossible to fix the problem unless we did like the communists in China and restricted couples to only one child. It would be much easier to just call the problem one of “sustainability.”

war there’s no other known cure for what ails us. But any honest politician (if there is such a creature) who said so would be considered a fool.

So, instead of a population problem we have a sustainability one and the word has multiplied like Russian thistle. Businesses and corporations are using deceptive tactics to falsely claim their product is “sustainably produced,” whatever that means. An honest person, like the boy in the story, would say that all this sustainability non-

Illegal Crossings at ‘Freezing’ Canadian Border Surge During Migrant Crisis

BY JESSE O’NEILL / NEW YORK POST

Border Patrol agents in New York, Vermont and New Hampshire apprehended more people illegally entering the US from Canada in the past three months than in the previous two years combined, authorities say.

Officials in the states, which make up the federal agency’s eastern “Swanton Sector,” saw a 743 percent increase in apprehensions and encounters between October 1 and December 31, 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, sector chief, Robert Garcia said last week in a press release.

In December, a record 441 people were detained by US Border Patrol and Customs at the Canadian border in the region after flying to Canada from at least 19 countries, according to The Center Square. Fourteen others abandoned their illicit journey to America, and at least 135 foreign nationals evaded authorities and are now in the US illegally, officials told the outlet.

Further west, the influx at the US’s frigid continued on page 4

So far the only person of any stature in the cattle business who is like the honest little boy at the parade, is the CEO of R CALF, Bill Bullard. In a recent commentary he said sustainability is nothing less than “an insidious movement well underway that would rob U.S. cattle producers of their liberty.”

Said Bullard, “We have the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB) that is led by the world’s largest global beef packers, some of the largest world banks, some of the largest global retailers, and globalist pharmaceutical companies. Indeed, over half of the executive committee of the GRSB is

continued on page 2

Is Rural America Growing Again? Recent Data Suggests Yes

BY SARAH MELOTTE / THE DAILY YONDER

Visitors travel from all over the country to hunt big game in Powder River County, Montana, where the prairie and badlands topography has only about one resident for every two of its 3,300 square miles.

The area boasts of some of the best recreational hunting in the United States. In 2017, 171,466 hunters purchased licenses to hunt antelope from Montana’s Fish, Wildlife, and Parks organization.

Settled among the rugged Bighorn Mountain Range in the southeastern part of the state, Powder River County’s economy is primarily dependent on recreation, according to reports from the Economic Research Service. In 2017, hunting contributed to over a quarter of a billion dollars to Montana’s economy.

Like many rural communities, the Powder River’s population fell from 2010 to 2020. But the trend reversed from 2020 to 2021, according to Census population estimates. After losing three percent of its population in the previous decade, the county’s population grew from 1,682 in 2020 to 1,702 in 2021.

continued on page 4

by LEE PITTS

How To Stay Married

The other day I saw one of those bikes that looks like the riders are laying down while they peddle. Only this bike was a little different. The husband was facing forward with his legs peddling out in front of him while his wife was behind him facing backwards and peddling in the opposite direction. Yet the bike was moving forward!

If that isn’t a fitting metaphor for marriage I don’t know what is!

Next year my wife and I will celebrate 50 years of wedded bliss. My marriage is the thing I am most proud of in my life and I knew after our first date that Diane was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Still, I was reluctant to ask, “Will you marry me?”

I was afraid she’d reply, “Will I what?” Or, “I’d rather drink a gallon of paint thinner!”

Statistics reveal that marriage, or what is now referred to as “the sociocultural interface” or “two or more people sharing a living space,” is now an alternative lifestyle and a dying institution. I have a friend who’s been married so many times the preacher gives him a volume discount and he could live for a month on the rice that’s collected in the pockets of his suit. Another monogamously challenged acquaintance jokingly refers to his “five mile wedding license” and “his current wife.”

Having a great marriage is not easy and there are sacrifices one has to make. For example, I was raised on Miracle Whip and was shocked to find out from my bride that, “Only poor people eat Miracle Whip.” She ate real Mayonnaise and wouldn’t have Miracle Whip in the house. I figured this was a battle not worth fighting.

Then there’s her choice in football teams. She’s been a fan of the Pittsburg Steelers ever since Terry Bradshaw played for them. (She’s got this thing for Bradshaw I don’t understand.) Whereas I’ve liked the 49’ers ever since I became friends with their offensive line coach who invited us once a year to sit in the owner’s box to watch a game. You can imagine how humiliated I was when she rooted for the Steelers while

continued on page 3

The best sermons are lived, not preached.

Saying things that need to be said.

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made up of officials from Tyson, Rabobank, McDonald’s Corporation, and Zoetis, with a Tyson employee being the committee’s president.” By the way, the NCBA is also a member.

“So, what is it that these globalist executives are trying to accomplish through the GRSB,” asks Bullard. “They want to implement a global plan to conform U.S. cattle producers to their notion of compliance with the environment, social, and governance framework known as ESG.” Now ESG is used by world banks to evaluate corporate behavior and to determine the financial performance of corporations. In other words, ESG is an environment, social and governance standard used by world banks to determine who among all the other global corporations will, or will not, get a loan.

“The GRSB, then, is the global organization charged with conforming U.S. cattle producers to environment, social, and governance standards regarding greenhouse gas emission, how you use your land, and what animal husbandry practices you employ for your cattle to ensure that the global processors that you sell your cattle to are able to obtain financing from world banks,” said Bullard.

“The GRSB consists of world capital borrowers who want to control America’s cattle producers. When you have only four multinational beef packers controlling 85% of the fed cattle market, it’s easy to understand how compliance with ESG standards can be forced upon cattle producers when it’s used as a condition of allowing market access.”

“But the tentacles of the GRSB,” continued Bullard, “have spread beyond it being just a private transnational governance corporation that can control cattle producers’ behavior by restricting their access to the market. Now this liberty-robbing movement has spread to governments. First, it was the Dutch and now it is the United States government through, of all agencies, the Securities and Exchange Commission that wants to empower global corporations operating in the U.S. to force cattle producers to provide measurable reporting of their compliance with environment, social, and governance standards.”

“This is a huge step for these evil doers,” continues Bullard. “Rather than to have to rely on market restrictions to coerce producers to meet their authoritarian standards, now they have the full force of government to force those standards upon cattle producers under the possible threat of sanctions.”

If you doubt Bullard just look at The Pork Checkoff who has been funding sustainability for years.

“Remember pork?” asks R CALF’s CEO. “It comes from the hogs that used to be raised about everywhere in the U.S. where your livestock auction yards rang with the weekly sound of squealing pigs, until they didn’t. And that’s because the global pork packers quit buying cash hogs, eliminated 90% of those pesky hog farmers, and dropped all the hogs into huge corporate factories.”

“The CEO of the National Pork Board, says the pork checkoff program has now developed a means of sustainabili-

ty reporting for producers. And it describes how ‘Professionals’ will come to your farm and explain to you what your sustainability baseline is. Presumably, it is those same ‘professionals’ that will then direct you on your sheeples (rhymes with peoples) path toward the GRSB’s moniker – continuous improvement. You already know that where the hog industry went, the cattle industry is following.”

“You should be screaming mad right now,” says Bullard, “but don’t scream silently while the ‘professional’ evil doers step up their efforts to tell you how to run your cattle operations. Remaining silent means poof! There goes your liberty.”

Gather All Ye Stakeholders

If you doubt that the NCBA is up to their ears in all this sustainability nonsense just consider that they have a position titled “Senior Director of Sustainability” which was held by Ashley McDonald before she left to become the Assistant Vice President of Sustainability Development and Outreach for the National Pork Board. During her time with the NCBA McDonald was also an executive director of the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef which she called, “A multi-stakeholder initiative developed to advance, support and communicate continuous improvement in sustainability of the U.S. beef value chain. The USRSB achieves this through leadership, innovation, multi-stakeholder engagement and collaboration.”

WARNING: Any time you hear the word “stakeholder” you should either find a place to hide or run as fast as you can in the opposite direction.

And who is doing all this collaborating at the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef? From the outside it looks like its drug companies, large feedlots, retail grocery chains, large restaurant and fast-food chains, state cattlemen’s associations and even Ducks Unlimited.

Evidently the USRSB has a big job to do, which is to “set goals and sector-level targets for all six high-priority indicators: Air and greenhouse gas emissions, land resources, water resources, employee safety and well-being, animal health and well-being and efficiency and yield.”

This sustainability nonsense sounds like the biggest job creation program ever created.

The New World Order

Not everyone is sold on sustainability. Writing for American Thinker, Janet Levy, says, “Globalist advocates of the New World Order are promoting so-called ‘sustainability’ programs that will raise beef prices so high that only the super-rich will be able to afford it. This is designed to be achieved by outlawing grazing on public land, allowing an oligopoly of meat-packers to squeeze ranchers out of business, and popularizing plant-based meat. It’s the big meat-packers who will make this fake meat, so their profits will continue to skyrocket, sustained under the cover of ‘climate virtue.’”

“Veganism,” Levy continues, “is being advanced as the most ethical way to sustain the planet, and to promote human health and animal welfare. But along with that, ranchers and smalland medium-scale beef-packers are being marginalized. The very consumption of meat is be-

ing damned. Deploying outright lies, a misguided agenda threatens individual liberty and our freedom to farm, own livestock, control our land, and choose our diet.”

Joakim Book, a Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, holds degrees in economics and economic history from the University of Glasgow and Oxford. Needless to say, he’s one smart guy and he says, “Sustainability is one of the words that captures the essence of my generation. A sustainable project, event or business is met with ‘wows’ and ‘ooohs’, an indicator of its owner’s moral righteousness and altogether praiseworthy character.”

“But its meaning is far from clear from all but its most fervent supporters. Dealing with the extraction of resources, the use of ecological reserves or harvesting of crops, a process is allegedly ‘sustainable’ if the naturally occurring regeneration exceeds the current levels of extraction. Simply put, don’t use more than what is renewed. Moreover, a process branded as sustainable usually involves a mix of some other virtue signaling activities of our time: carbon emission neutrality or offsetting; a superficial concern for one’s environmental impact; energy produced in ‘renewable’ ways or the use of recycled materials.”

“It’s the belief that we aim to pursue our current endeavor in the same way for all eternity,” says Book. “Naively believing that they will mindlessly continue linearly into the future is quite silly; hailing processes as ‘sustainable’ is similarly silly. Human societies and their economic process are dynamic systems capable of change.”

“By saying that something is unsustainable, my generation wants to convey the idea that these activities are immoral and that they shouldn’t continue. It’s a naive and erroneously nonsensical conviction.”

The ‘S’ Word

“The major criticism of sustainability,” says Book, “is that it

keeps people poor and is impossible to practice in reality. One of the major tenets of sustainability is that people should limit usage of resources and many people argue that this relegates certain people to unacceptably low standards of living.”

This is exactly opposite of what it was meant to do back in 1987 when the United Nations all but created the words ‘sustainable’ and ‘sustainability.’ Back then, the study of ‘sustainability’ was supposed to be about finding ways to let poor nations catch up to richer ones in terms of standard of living. It was also supposed to make Americans feel guilty for its lack of progress in environmental sustainability. They created formulas and charts that showed that our country ranked poorly in greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and energy consumption. They said the U.S. has one of the lowest recycling rates in the world.

The original goal of the U.N. was to give disadvantaged countries better access to natural resources. That’s when the greenies first glommed on to the ‘S’ word and immediately saw its possibilities for the rich to maintain consumptive lifestyles as long as they bought carbon credits for their Lamborghinis and personal jets.

The biggest problem for promoters of ‘sustainability’ is that it is expensive. In fact, when questioned, people said it was number one reason why they are not living more ‘sustainably.’ As if they have any clue of what that means. Sustainability means lowering our standard of living, which is an idea that’s never gained much traction to begin with. But it sure sounds good!

Personally, I see a lot of similarity between the sustainability fraud and the book mentioned at the beginning of this report. Whether we’re talking about a vain emperor or the sustainability movement, in both instances the subject is as naked as a new born baby. ▫

HERD from page 1

eating cheese puffs in the owner’s box of the Niners. Rather than argue I just gave up watching football.

My wife says I only have two faults, I don’t listen and... I forget the other one. Oh yea, it’s my driving. Although you really couldn’t call it that as all I did was hold the steering wheel. She used to constantly tell me, “Slow down! Speed up! Don’t pass! Don’t let that jerk cut you off!” I finally made the ultimate sacrifice and gave up driving after having a debilitating stroke. (Seizures and driving don’t mix.) This meant she had to do all the driving and we haven’t had a fight ever since. My neighbors have the same problem and have to drive two vehicles even when going to the same place!

I did have a minor victory in the toilet paper and paper towel department though. You won’t believe this but my wife was taught that the paper was to come off the back of the roll while I was normal and knew the proper way was for it to cascade down the front.

I also realized right away that if our marriage was going to last I’d have to give up control of three things: the remote control and two books... cook and check.

The best advice I ever got on how to stay married came from my Grandpa who I never heard get in a fight with Grandma. When he gave me the family heirloom diamond ring that was to be Diane’s engagement ring he said, “If the husband or wife starts to get a little hot under the collar the wife should go to the kitchen and the man should go to the garage. The man will get a little quality time in the shop and maybe even some hot chocolate chip cookies. As for the wife, there’s always the possibility that the car will fall off the jack stands and she’ll get to collect on the life insurance policy.”

Oh, and I almost forgot this tip... generally speaking, the couple that laughs together stays together. ▫

Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association Announces Summer 2023 Internship Opportunities

The Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) is now accepting applications for summer 2023 internship programs.

TSCRA internship programs offer one-of-a-kind opportunities for students to network with stakeholders throughout the beef industry and gain valuable experience while working alongside TSCRA staff and leadership. All experiences are paid and offer hands-on opportunities to play an active role in association happenings. Summer 2023 opportunities include:

■ TSCRA Fort Worth Internship: Summer-long internship in Fort Worth for students interested in experiencing a wide range of opportunities including administration, communications, education, events, membership and more

■ TSCRA Government Relations Internship: Summer-long internship in Austin for students interested in learning how TSCRA represents livestock producers at the Texas Capitol

Emily Lochner, the association’s executive director of engagement and education, said this is an incredible program that exposes students to careers in agriculture.

“We believe strongly in the importance of engaging young leaders in the cattle industry,” Lochner said. “These internship programs allow students to be fully integrated into TSCRA and gain a broad industry perspective, while providing valuable insight to a career in agriculture.”

Applications to the summer 2023 internship opportunities are due March 17, 2023. Additional details including submission instructions are accessible at https://tscra. org/who-we-are/employment     ▫

Reports from the US Post Office show that 37 people moved to the area between 2020 and 2021, compared to 15 people between 2018 and 2019.

The numbers may seem small, but they amount to two percent growth last year.

That growth would not have occurred if it were not for migration, since deaths outnumbered births in Powder River at the same time.

Powder River was not alone. After a historic loss in population in the previous decade, rural, or nonmetropolitan, counties grew by 0.13 percent from 2020-21, according to Census estimates.

In an article in Rural Sociology, University of New Hampshire demographer Ken Johnson says that about a third of nonmetro counties gained population from 2020 to 2021, despite a spike in deaths from Covid-19.

The growth was most pronounced in counties like Powder River, Montana, where rec-

reational activities like hunting are a major part of the economy, or where there are attractive natural amenities like mountains, lakes, and seashores.

Covid-19 and Population Change: Not as Simple as it Seems

One factor that changes population size is natural increase or decrease. That’s the net of births minus deaths. If more people die than are born, there is natural decrease. Natural increase occurs when more people are born than die in a county. Net migration, on the other hand, occurs when more people move into an area than those that leave.

During the pandemic, rural America exemplified a complicated relationship between net migration and natural increase.

Over a third of rural counties experienced population growth because of a rare combination of natural decrease and net migration between April of 2020 and July of 2021. Between 2010 and 2020, only 13 percent of rural counties experienced pop-

ulation growth in this way, according to Johnson’s research.

Between April of 2020 and July of 2021, rural America grew by 0.13 percent, even though the number of deaths were 0.29 percent higher than the number of births. Population growth only occurred in these places because people moved there, offsetting the effect of natural decrease.

Between July 2020 and July 2021, Covid-19 produced a 20 percent spike in rural deaths and a five percent drop in births, exacerbating an existing trend of natural decrease in nonmetropolitan areas. Between 2020 and 2021, there were 131,000 more deaths than births in rural counties, compared to the two years prior when there were only 2,000 more deaths than births, Johnson reported.

Four out of five rural counties had more deaths than births between April 2020 and July 2021. Two years prior, only about half of rural counties had more people die than be born.

But because more people moved to rural places, the rural

northern border was tragically illustrated January 19, when two adults, a teen and an infant from India were found frozen to death in a vehicle 40 feet from the border in North Dakota.

Temperatures had dropped to 13 degrees below zero during the group’s 11hour trek near the Canadian border as they left a vehicle and tried to enter the US on foot, officials said.

A Florida man was arrested for trying to smuggle them and a van full of fellow illicit border crossers into the US.

The CBP’s “Grand Forks Sector,” which covers Minnesota and North Dakota, saw 90 apprehensions in the last three months of 2022, compared to just 80 during the entire year before, the Daily Mail reported Sunday.

BP said in its release that the number of people illegally entering the US from Canada in its Swanson Sector in the past three months was more than in the previous two years combined but did not provide specific numbers.

By comparison, there were more than 700,000 encounters reported by authorities during the same time period at the US’s southwestern border with Mexico.

Asylum-seekers flooded to the country there as a pandemic-era emergency measure that had expelled millions of them was expected to expire.

Those trying to enter the US through Canada face a unique set of hazards.

“Reckless endangerment: In freezing temperatures over uncertain terrain, families with children, from just a few months old, continue to illegally cross from Canada into the US. The risk to human lives – including Border

eas, compared to only 13,000 that moved to urban areas. It’s rare that rural growth outpaces urban growth at such a rate, according to Johnson.

Patrol agents – is increasing,” Garcia said.

As illegal crossings soared in upstate New York and New England, so did violence. Nine assaults were recorded in connection with illegal Canadian crossings from July to November, after authorities reported no attacks for the previous 27 months, officials reportedly said.

A Mexican national who flew to Canada to enter the US illegally from the north pleaded guilty to “unlawfully entering the United States and assaulting and resisting a federal agent” and now faces a year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.

CBP has warned that the frozen northern border terrain, covered with snow and ice, makes “traversing unfamiliar territory perilous,” and officials have ended up “rendering potentially life-saving aid” to groups of people with small children trying to enter the US on foot.

“Swanton Sector’s greatest concern in carrying out our mission of border security is the preservation of life – the lives of community residents we are sworn to protect, the lives of our Border Patrol Agents carrying out the mission day-in and dayout in the field, and the lives of the individuals, families, and children we are charged with apprehending as they attempt to circumvent legal processes for entry,” Garcia said.

“Unfortunately, the transnational criminal organizations that stand to profit from the increased flow of human traffic care only about profits and have no concern for the welfare of those whose plight they seek to exploit for financial gain.” ▫

Powder River County, Montana

population did not plummet. Rural counties experienced more in-migration than urban areas over the course of the pandemic. While metropolitan areas showed no change in net migration, rural places overall experienced a net migration change of 0.43 percent between April 2020 and July 2021, Johnson reported.

If it wasn’t for migration, rural America would have experienced a population drop since 2020. But Johnson’s study discovered rural growth in the 15 months after the 2020 Census as rural America grew by approximately 77,000 residents. Rural counties grew by 0.13 percent between 2020 and 2021, while urban areas only grew by 0.1 percent.

Rural places grew more than urban ones not only by percentage, but in absolute numbers. While 167,000 people moved out of rural areas, 244,000 moved into rural ar-

Rural Population Change Is Not the Same Everywhere

Johnson found that almost all rural growth happened in retirement destinations or in counties with economies dependent on recreation. Eighty percent of recreation and retirement-dependent counties experienced population growth because of migration between 2020 and 2021, compared to 36 percent of counties dependent on manufacturing and 43 percent of counties dependent on farming.

In rural recreation areas like Powder River, Montana, there were 0.14 percent more deaths than births between April of 2020 and July of 2021. But net migration increased by 0.74 percent, contributing to an overall growth rate of 0.59 percent in rural recreation communities and a total of 137,000 more residents.

Migration and Remote Work

Johnson suggests that new opportunities for remote work because of Covid-19 probably

contributed to rural population growth in the months following the 2020 census.

With more flexible work schedules, some are foregoing high costs of living in urban centers in favor of rural areas with more outdoor amenities. Sometimes referred to as ‘amenity migrants,’ these rural living enthusiasts are taking advantage of pandemic-induced work changes. The places where amenity migrants congregate are now called ‘Zoom towns,’ in reference to Boom towns, or areas that experienced population booms because of an expanding oil sector.

Seasonal visitors with second homes in amenity destinations have probably also contributed to rural population growth, writes Johnson. Urbanites who were once just seasonal residents may have taken up more long-term stays, possibly even turning their second homes into primary residences.

Johnson writes that it’s too soon to tell whether these population trends will continue as the pandemic evolves. But if they keep up, we can expect rural America to grow by 1.3 percent by 2030, a 23 percent higher rate than the projected urban rate. ▫

Custer National Forest in Powder River County, Montana

Service to Initiate Grizzly Bear Status Review in the Northern Continental Divide & Greater Yellowstone

to the collaborative actions of Tribes, federal agencies, state and local governments, conservation organizations and private citizens.

Map of Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming showing estimated distributions of grizzly bear populations and their recovery zones.

tections would then be initiated through a separate rulemaking process, with additional public notice and comment.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has completed the initial review of three petitions filed to remove the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) in the lower 48 States from the list of endangered and threatened wildlife under the Endangered Species Act in certain ecosystems.

The Service finds two of these petitions present substantial information indicating the grizzly bear in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) may qualify as their own distinct population segment and may warrant removal from the list of endangered and threatened wildlife. The Service will now initiate a comprehensive status review of the grizzly bear in the NCDE and GYE based on the best available scientific and commercial data available to inform a 12-month finding. If those findings result in proposing one or more DPSs for delisting, the Service will consider those in the context of the ongoing recovery for the rest of the population in the larger listed entity.

The Service finds the third petition to remove ESA protections for the grizzly bear in the lower 48 states does not present substantial, credible information to warrant further action.

Grizzly bear recovery and conservation are complex issues, requiring coordination among federal agencies, states, Tribes, and other stakeholders. The Service appreciates the states historical commitments and partnerships to recover bears, particularly through conflict prevention efforts that have been effective in reducing human-caused mortality. However, the impact of recently enacted state laws and regulations affecting these two grizzly bear populations is of concern and needs to be evaluated. We will fully evaluate these and all other potential threats, and associated state regulatory mechanisms, in detail when we conduct the status assessments and make the 12-month findings.

Today’s announcement comes as the ESA turns 50 years old in 2023. Throughout the year, the Department of the Interior will celebrate the importance of the ESA in preventing the extinction of imperiled species, promoting the recovery of wildlife, and conserving the habitats upon which they depend. The ESA has been highly effective and credited with saving 99% of listed species from extinction. Thus far, more than 100 species of plants and animals have been delisted based on recovery or reclassified from endangered to threatened based on improved conservation status, and hundreds more species are stable or improving thanks

Substantial 90-day findings represent a relatively low bar, requiring only that the petitioner provide information that the petitioned action may be warranted. The next steps include an in-depth status review and analyses using the best available science and information to arrive at a 12-month finding on whether the removal of ESA protections for grizzly bears in the NCDE and GYE are warranted. If so, removing ESA pro-

The public can play an essential role by submitting relevant information, particularly new scientific and commercial data published since the 2021 5-year status review. This information will inform the indepth status review and can be submitted through regulations. gov: Docket Number: FWS-R6ES-2022-0150, beginning February 6, 2023, upon publication in the Federal Register and will include details on how to submit comments.

The 90-day finding and petition review forms associated with this announcement are now available for public inspection.

Photo by Frank van Manen / USGS.

Photo by USGS.

Interior Secretary’s Daughter High Ranking Member of Radical Group Responsible for Violent Protest at their Mom’s Department in D.C. that was ‘Reminiscent of January 6’

BY PAUL FARRELL FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s daughter is a high-ranking member of a radical environmentalist group that was responsible for a protest at the department in October 2021 that was referred to as being ‘reminiscent of January 6.’

Somah Haaland, 28, who is non-binary, identifies as ‘queer’ and uses they/them pronouns, is listed as the media organizer of the Pueblo Action Alliance on the group’s website.

In 2021, Haaland joined their group in protesting the Biden administration’s environmental policies in Washington DC. The PAA has long called for the government to protect indigenous land against oil and gas drilling.

Their mother was named as the Secretary of the Interior in December 2020 and in doing so became the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary.

At the time of the protest, Haaland posted photos showing the protests on their Instagram page. They wrote in the caption: ‘What an honor it was to march with my Pueblo kin last week for #Peoplevsfossilfuels week of

action. Indigenous people are so powerful, especially when we join together and share our stories.’

Shortly after the protest, Haaland posted a statement on Instagram in which they sought to distance themselves from their mother.

They said in part: ‘I have my own life and I am politically involved my own way that is separate from my mother. I have no influence or control over anything that she does.’

Haaland added: ‘I have Major Depressive Disorder and am neuro divergent in other ways.’

Prior to the protest, Haaland’s group said in a statement: ‘We will no longer allow the U.S. government to separate us from our relationship to the sacred knowledge of Mother Earth and all who depend on her [...] We will not back down until our natural balance is restored.’

Secretary Haaland said in a Facebook post on her daughter’s 25th birthday: ‘I’m happy to have raised a compassionate human being, who was born to learn and love.’

In addition to their Native American heritage, Haaland is of Norwegian descent. They are a 2017 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a bachelor’s degree in theatre arts.

Bill Would Give Tribal Leaders Stake In Managing AZ Conservation Lands

BY MARK RICHARDSON, PRODUCER

Secretary Haaland has spoken openly about raising her daughter as a single mother, giving birth four days after her graduation, also from the University of New Mexico, in 1994.

According to their profile on PAA’s website, Haaland is also a poet and artist. The bio says that they have also worked on several political campaigns since high school.

It says that Haaland ‘passionate about empowering youth’ and ‘creating art as a form of resistance.’

Haaland wrote a 2019 article for Teen Vogue titled: ‘How Museums and Historical Spaces Disrespect Native American History.’ They wrote in the piece of having tea with Nancy Pelosi, taking a selfie with AOC and meeting actor Mark Ruffalo.

In 2021, they narrated the documentary Our Story: The Indigenous Led Fight to Protect Greater Chaco.

Haaland spoke about perceived racial disparity when it came to how little support Native American communities received during amid the pandemic during an interview with American Theatre.

They said: ‘It ties into the whole privilege thing. People just assume that everyone in America lives the same way they do. And that’s just not true.’

During the same interview, Haaland spoke about their mother saying: ‘From a very young age, she instilled in me a sense of wanting to do the right thing and make the world a better place. I get to watch her create this ripple effect of change throughout several communities.’

While in a separate interview with NBC News, Haaland complained of feeling ‘isolated’ thanks to being both Native American and ‘queer.’

They also said that hate crimes involving LGBTQ people on reservations are rarely investigated.

Speaking about the scandal involving the protest with Fox News, Protect the Public’s Trust Director Michael Chamberlain said: ‘The circumstances around the riot at Interior headquarters represent yet another instance in which an administration that promised a return to normalcy is producing anything but.

‘Meanwhile, the American public’s trust in its government continues its precipitous decline,’ he added.

Following the protest at the Stewart Lee Udall Main Interior building, police arrested dozens of activists. Video from the event showed members of the group attempting to gain access for the offices. At least one officer was hospitalized.

In a statement at the time, Interior Department spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz said: ‘Centering the voices of lawful protesters is and will continue to be an important foundation of our democracy. It is also our obligation to keep everyone safe. We will continue to do everything we can to de-escalate while honoring first amendment rights.’ ▫

Abill to make tribal governments equal partners with the federal government in managing a pair of Arizona land preserves advanced in the U.S. House Wednesday.

The measure would establish the Great Bend of the Gila and Palo Verde National Conservation Areas, and designate a panel of 13 tribal governments to jointly manage the lands with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Much of the 400,000 acres is considered sacred and ancestral lands by Native Americans.

Representative Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., the bill’s sponsor, said he and others have been working on the plan for more than a decade.

“The bill would protect tens of thousands of acres of new conservation lands and wilderness across a landscape dotted with petroglyphs, ancient structures and settlements, and other cultural settlements and monuments,” Grijalva outlined.

For the first time, tribal governments and the BLM would share responsibility for protecting the area, considered one of the most culturally significant and ecologically fragile landscapes in the U.S. If Congress approves “conservation” status, the areas would be permanently protected.

Tribal leaders say Native Americans have rarely had a voice in how their lands are managed, often watching careless development destroy iconic archaeological formations and ancestral monuments.

Stephen Roe Lewis, governor of the Gila River Indian Community, told subcommittee members in the past, tribal lands were often left unprotected against vandalism and destruction.

“Culturally significant places such as these deserve the highest protection,” Lewis stressed. “If these areas are vandalized, if sacred places are disrupted, irreversible harm is caused because these areas cannot be replaced.”

Skylar Begay, a tribal outreach fellow at Archaeology Southwest, said giving tribal leaders equal status over historic lands is long overdue.

“Allowing the indigenous peoples to access and use the land in traditional ways and be on equal levels with municipal, state, and federal governments will be a small step in righting the wrongs that indigenous peoples have endured,” Begay contended.

N.C. Supreme Court Ends Challenge to State Nuisance Laws

BY LISA M. KEEFE / MEATINGPLACE.COM

The North Carolina Supreme Court declined to hear a case challenging state law that limits options for filing nuisance lawsuits against agricultural operations, particularly hog farms, according to court documents.

The case, filed in 2019, challenged amendments to North Carolina’s Right to Farm Act enacted in 2017 and 2018. North Carolina Environmental Justice Network, the Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help, Waterkeeper Alliance, and Winyah Rivers Alliance — parent organization of the Lumber Riverkeeper and Waccamaw Riverkeeper — were plaintiffs in the case.

At issue were hog farms that supplied Smithfield Foods’ pork processing operations, whose use of manure for fertilizer and other practices were blamed for significantly undermining the property values and quality of life for nearby residents, who are largely economically disadvantaged people of color.

Smithfield by and large did not fare well in individual lawsuits filed by neighbors, however, the state moved to tighten restrictions on nuisance lawsuits filed against farms in response to “hundreds of plaintiffs” having filed such lawsuits over the years.

Orders signed by Justice Phil Berger Jr. did not explain the court’s decision.

USCA Appoints New Leadership

The U.S Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) hosted its 15th Annual Meeting & Cattle Producer’s Forum in December 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Board of Directors approved the slate of nominations for USCA officer positions. Justin Tupper of South Dakota will assume the presidency in 2023, alongside Whitney Klasna of Montana as his Vice President. Chuck Kiker of Texas will remain the Parliamentarian, while Ann Miller continues to serve as the organization’s Treasurer. Amanda Kita graciously volunteered to take on the role of Secretary.

The Forum drew attendees from across the U.S., and served as a platform for key industry leaders and decision makers to discuss what the future holds for the U.S. cattle industry.

Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture Dr. Charles Hatcher provided a lunchtime keynote address. Several federal government officials were also on-hand to interact with attendees, including USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Sandra Eskin and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael Kades.

On December 9, after conferring with their respective policy committees in breakout sessions, USCA members debated prior and prospective policy resolutions. Each resolution in the current USCA policy book is reviewed every two years at the Annual Meeting and will now be mailed to the full membership for a vote. ▫

ESTATE GUIDE

This 491.55 ac. +/property is located in Colfax County, NM and is 3 miles West of Interstate 25 on Higway 58 or approx. 20 miles East of Cimarron, New Mexico. Along with the property are 371 shares of water from Antelope Valley Irrigation District which has been used to irrigate approximately 222 acres historically. This will make a good investment for development, farming, grazing or hunting with deer, elk and antelope in the area.

■ COLFAX COUNTY NM GETAWAY – 1,482.90 ac.+/grassland (1,193.59 ac. +/- Deeded, 289.31 ac. State Lease), great location near all types of mountain recreation.

■ PRICE REDUCED! UNION CO., NM – 2,091.72 ac. (1,771.72 Deeded, 320 ac. -/+ State Lease), well watered w/three wells, two sets of steel pens.

■ CASTRO CO., TX – 592 ac. +/_- w/remodeled 4 bd./4 ½ bath home, 160 ac. under pivot. Balance is dryland & native grass.

■ CARSON CO., TX – 640 ac. +/- 5 mi. N of Panhandle on TX 207.333 ac. +/- under 3 center pivot systems. One well produces 800 GPM. Permanent perimeter and cross fencing.

■ PECOS CO. – 637 ac., Big water, State Classified

Minerals.

■ ANGUS, NM – 250 +/- acres with over a 1/2 mile of NM 48 frontage. Elevations from 6,800 to 7,200 feet. Two springs along a creek. Ideal for future development or build your own getaway home.

Dimmitt, TX 79027

Scott - Broker

Qualifying Broker

5:00am/10:00pm

www.scottlandcompany.com

OR SMALL!

Guadalupe Co., deeded & 519 ranch on both flow daily)

Sumner; wildlife, buyer looking New Mexico

980 ac. +/past, land lays side of Hwy. 54.

Union Co., NM –grassland w/stateremodeled in very good on pvmt.

SCOTT MCNALLY

AG LAND LOANS

TEXAS & OKLA. FARMS & RANCHES

■ PALO DURO CREEK TREASURE – 941 acres +/- in Randall Co. NW of Canyon, Tx. STUNNING VIEWS OVER

• 83 acre wood home with barns, meadows and woods. Fronts State Rd. $545,000

LOOKING PALO DURO CREEK. Turn key cow/calf operation w development potential. Property includes: 3/3/3 ranch style home, 4 wells, large shop plus shed, enclosed livestock working facility w/hydraulic chute, livestock pens & shed, miles of 5 & 6 barbed wire fence & over 7000’ of pipe fence. YOU WILL NOT WANT TO MISS THIS! Canyon School District.

■ DEAF SMITH CO., TX. – 651 ac. +/-, 7 miles N of

• 160 acre Ranger Eastland Co, $560,000

• 270 acre Mitchell County, Texas ranch. Investors dream; excellent cash flow. Rock formation being crushed and sold; wind turbans,

MAJOR PRICE REDUCTION – CALL PAUL FOR DETAILS 10 Acres of commercial property, incredible highway visibility and access from either east or west directions on Hwy 60, 3 miles East of Garden Inn Truck Plaza and 4 miles west of Willow Springs. Natural gas may be available on site. LOCATION PLUS! This property is well suited for many types of

A H (Jack) Merrick 575-760-7521 www buenavista-nm com

listing agent

575-825-1291

www.buenavista-nm.com

+/- heavily livestock w/ fences etc., on the front gate. scenic ac. +/- on by Lincoln in Pines & covered meadow Penasco. This build a legacy ac. irr., on Mexico, adjoins Potential.

POTENTIAL

Texline Special, +/- w/water & a beautiful 3 bathrooms, metal shop.

• 840 Immaculate, Hunt Co, TX. Ranch. Pastures, 40 tanks, and lakes. Beautiful home, barns, and other improvements. Some minerals, game galore. All for $1.35 million.

Joe Priest Real Estate

1-800/671-4548 joepriestre.net • joepriestre@earthlink.com

ranch that has been owned and operated miles southeast of Corona, NM in Lincoln

BLM Lease Acres and 2,240 NM State

AUYL. Water provided by five wells and corrals. The ranch had a good summer for a brochure or view on my website.

city limits of Roswell, NM. Six total acres

Improved with a 2, 200 square foot residence, room and loafing shed. Price: $400,000

DUANE & DIXIE McGARVA RANCH: approx. 985 acres Likely, CA. with about 600+ acre gravity flood irrigated pastures PLUS private 542 AU BLM permit. About 425 acres so of the irrigated are level to flood excellent pastures with balance good flood irrigated pastures. NO PUMPING COST! Dryland is perfect for expansion to pivot irrigated alfalfa if desired. Plus BLM permit for 540 AU is fenced into 4 fields on about 18,000 acres only 7 miles away. REDUCED ASKING PRICE - $3,125,000

BEAVER CREEK RANCH: about 82,000 acres - with 2,700 deeded acres plus contiguous USFS & BLM permits for 450 pair; 580+- acres irrigated alfalfa, pasture, and meadow from Beaver Creek water rights and one irrigation well. 3 homes, 2 hay barns, 4 feedlots each w/ 250 ton barns, 2 large reservoirs, can run up to 500-600 cows YEAR ROUND. REDUCED ASKING PRICE - $5,400,000

BEAR CREEK RANCH: Approx. 1,278 acres winter range ground and recreational property. Located on Bear Creek and accessed from South Cow Creek Valley Road. Should be great hunting for deer, wild turkey, wild pigs, quail & owner states good trout fishing in Bear Creek. Deeded access easement thru neighbor ranches. No improvements & very private inside the ranch. Now only $700 per acre - $894,600

BILL WRIGHT, SHASTA LAND SERVICES, INC. 530-941-8100

• www.ranch-lands.com

• DRE# 00963490

O’NEILL LAND, llc

CONTRACT PENDING SOLD

system, with private views of mountains. 40 irrigable acres and a domestic water meter installed. Great to put down home and bring horses. $249,000 $239,000 BAR LAZY 7 RANCH, Colfax County, Moreno Valley 594.38 +/- deeded acres, accessed off blacktop between Eagle Nest and Angel Fire. Historic headquarters. Currently used as sum-

mer grazing, pond and trees accessed off county road on rear of property as well. Presented “ASIS” New Survey, $4,000,000 $3,800,000 UTE PARK RIVER PLACE 6.83 +/ACRES, 450 +/- feet of the Cimarron River and more than that of Ute Creek are the south and east boundaries of this unique one of a kind water property. 2 bedroom 1 bathroom cabin, year round access off Hwy 64. $589,000 $570,000 CIMARRON BUSINESS, Frontage opportunity, house, big shop and office buildings, easy view off Hwy 64. Formerly known as “The Porch.”

$295,000

COLFAX TAVERN & DINER, Colfax County, NM. Aka “COLD BEER”, turn key legendry regional icon and destination, with anchor staff/team willing to stay on. Prime business on front range. $1,500,000

SPRINGER VIEW, 29.70 +/- deeded acres. Large house being remodeled, shop, trees, old irrigation pond. All back off highway with great southern aspect. 311 Hwy 56, Colfax County.

$209,000

Forest Management Benefits Bears, Bobcats, Moose, Owls And Bunnies

BY NICK SMITH / HEALTHY FORESTS, HEALTHY COMMUNITIES

The 2021 South Yaak

Fire scorched portions of Montana’s Kootenai National Forest, underscoring the need for proactive and preventative active forest management to reduce future risks to local forests, nearby communities, indigenous resources, wildlife habitat, water resources and other values.

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) responded by developing the Black Ram project, a carefully and responsibly-designed effort to improve the health and resiliency of these public lands for the future.

For the many diverse benefits that Black Ram will provide, the project is supported by the Kootenai (Ktunaxa) Tribe, Lincoln County, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and other community leaders. However, this month a pair of anti-forestry groups sued the Forest Service, claiming the project fails to protect Grizzly bears.

Both the USFS and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) have found that Black Ram would have no significant negative impact on wildlife species, including Grizzly bears. In fact, the project is designed to protect and improve habitat and forage conditions for a range of species.

Through the use of science-based forestry tools such as prescribed fire, mechanical treatments, hand thinning and stream restoration, Black Ram will improve big game winter range conditions, promote huckleberry growth to provide nourishment to the estimated 60 Grizzlies in the Cabinet-Yaak zone, and improve aquatic habitat. It will also provide trail and other recreational improvements to allow more of us to enjoy our public lands and wildlife.

Last year, we released a video highlighting an innovative project on nearby private land aimed at thinning fire-prone forests, while providing a travel

corridor for grizzlies moving up and down the local valley. This approach shows its possible meet the needs of this species while protecting our communities and forests from devastating fires.

Some believe “hands off” forest management is the only solution to protecting and restoring vulnerable wildlife species. Many species benefit from disturbance and require young forests and other early successional habitats for cover and food. As timber harvesting has declined on federal lands, so too has the young- and mixed-aged forest habitat that many animals need.

In northern states like Minnesota, there are also concerns about the future for moose populations. A reduction in logging on the Superior National Forest has left forest stands that are too old for moose to thrive. That’s why a new moose collaborative has been formed to develop large-scale habitat projects, spanning at least three areas of 10,000 to 50,000 contiguous acres, 15 to 75 square miles each to support the species.

Forest management has been key to the recovery of species. Recently, it was credited with helping to increase bobcat populations in Pennsylvania’s forests after years of decline.

In the west, years of unnaturally severe wildfire has degraded forage and roosting habitat for the Northern Spotted Owl. Active forest management to reduce sever fire could aid northern spotted owl, though unfortunately the federal government continues to double-down on restricting timber harvesting and other management activities on forests they manage.

Anti-forestry efforts to derail timber harvesting and other management activities too often come at the expense of both people and wildlife. Yet science continues to demonstrate that we can protecting our forests and communities while restoring and enhancing conditions for bears, bobcats, moose, bunnies and many other wildlife.

U.S. Cattle Inventory Down Three Percent

There were 89.3 million head of cattle and calves on U.S. farms as of Jan. 1, 2023, according to the Cattle report published today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

Other key findings in the report were:

■ Of the 89.3 million head inventory, all cows and heifers that have calved totaled 38.3 million.

■ There are 28.9 million beef cows in the United States as of Jan. 1, 2023, down 4% from last year.

■ The number of milk cows in the United States increased to 9.40 million.

■ U.S. calf crop was estimated at 34.5 million head, down 2% from 2021.

■ All cattle on feed were at 14.2 million head, down 4% from 2022.

To obtain an accurate measurement of the current state of the U.S. cattle industry, NASS surveyed approximately 35,400 operators across the nation during the first half of January. Surveyed producers were asked to report their cattle inventories as of Jan. 1, 2023, and calf crop for the entire year of 2022 by internet, mail, telephone, or in-person interview.

CO Couple Receives Coveted Angus Herdsman Honors

Jeff and Kathi Creamer, Lazy JB Angus in Montrose, Colorado recently received prestigious acknowledgement for nearly 40 years of hard work. Their cumulative management experience, industry knowledge and dedication to the Angus breed earned them recognition as 2023 Angus Herdsmen of the Year.

Since 1984, the Creamers have assisted Kathi’s family’s operation, Lazy JB Angus, which they now own and operate after taking over the reins in 1999.

The couple, alongside their adult children, manages over 300 registered Angus cows, with roles including everything from breeding, feeding, marketing, daily show cattle care, secretarial work, irrigation, harvesting hay and anything else that needs to be done on the ranch.

“This award has been a lifelong goal for us as a couple,” Kathi said. “For years we have watched many talented cattlemen and women come before us to receive this award and to be named amongst those individuals and couples is truly icing on the cake for our Angus story.”

The Herdsman of the Year award recognizes breeders who dedicate their time and talent to bettering the Angus breed. Selected by their peers through a nomination committee and voting process, Kathi said this award makes her thankful for all the people involved.

“To know our peers, both young and old, found us wor-

thy of this prestigious award is something we will be forever grateful for,” Kathi said.

“To those that have stood in our corner, we are so thankful for you, to those we have yet to cross paths, we are excited to meet you, and to all who casted their vote for us, we hope we can continue to be role-model herdsmen for generations to come and appreciate your support.”

At Cattlemen’s Congress, Angus enthusiasts gathered for the Angus Foundation’s 150 Years of Angus Celebration to enjoy camaraderie and eagerly anticipate the announcement of the recipient. Unable to attend the reception, Kathi said the winning phone call caught her completely off guard.

“When I received the call from Mark McCully, I really had no idea what he was calling about,” Kathi said. “We had been busy preparing for Denver and had lost track of what day the winners would be announced. I was in complete shock when he told me, I even asked him if he was serious, followed by overwhelming tears of joy and gratitude.”

Kathi said she wasted no time sharing the news with her family. “I instantly opened the door to where my children were clipping cattle and stood there with tears streaming down my face telling them, ‘We won! Your dad and I won,’” Kathi said. “The emotions were truly reflective of how appreciative, shocked and grateful Jeff and I felt knowing we had been selected.”

As expected, the lives of herdsmen worthy of this award aren’t always glamorous, but Kathi said the people keep them motivated.

Kathi said the Angus family is one of the most unique assets of the breed — it’s truly indescribable.

These States Are Still Sending Out Payments in 2023

BY JACK PHILLIPS / EPOCH TIMES

While there are likely no federal stimulus checks being handed out in the near future, some states are still issuing payments or rebates in 2023.

Colorado

Colorado residents who obtained an extension and filed their taxes by the October 17, 2022, deadline will receive a $750 rebate, or $1,500 for joint filers, by January 31. People who filed their 2021 taxes by

April 15, 2022, likely already got their payments, but those who got the extension last year will receive the checks by late January.

The state advises Coloradans to visit the Department of Revenue PTC Rebate page to check their status.

Idaho

Idaho Governor Brad Little signed a $500 million measure last September that says that residents who filed their taxes in 2020 and 2021 can receive 10 percent of their tax return or $300, whichever is greater. Joint filers can receive up to $600.

The state isn’t finished sending out those payments and won’t be done until March 2023.

“The Tax Commission expects to send about 800,000 rebates totaling up to $500 million by the end of March 2023,” the Idaho State Tax Commission said last year in a news release.

New Jersey

New Jersey homeowners with incomes up to $150,000 per year will get a $1,500 tax rebate, officials said. Those with incomes between $150,000 and $250,000 get $1,000.

Renters, meanwhile, can get a $450 rebate as long as they do not earn more than $150,000

continued on page 9

annually.

Payments are slated to go out in the first several months of 2023. Officials say people need to apply by the January 31 deadline, however.

New Mexico

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced legislation was filed in the state legislature to give more relief checks to New Mexicans.

“As prices remain high across the country, we can and we should take action to help more New Mexicans afford the things they need right now,” Lujan Grisham said. “As our state continues to see the results of our continued and targeted investments that have resulted in an unprecedented financial windfall, I look forward to working with the Legislature to put more money back in the pockets of New Mexico families.”

South Carolina

South Carolina approved rebate checks worth up to $800 in late 2022. People who filed their taxes before October 17, 2022, should have received their checks already, according to the government.

But those who filed their taxes should obtain their money in March 2023, provided they file by February 15.

“I’m pleased to announce that all of the eligible rebates in the first group are complete, and we have successfully issued more than 1.39 million rebates just in time for Christmas,” said South Carolina Department of Revenue Director Hartley Powell. “I am extremely grateful to our SCDOR employees and our partners at the State Treasurer’s Office who helped complete this enormous task on time and in smooth fashion.”

Delaware

The deadline to apply for Delaware’s Relief Rebate was December 15, 2022. Residents can go to the Use the Rebate Inquiry and Application page to check their status.

Individuals aged 18 and older, who filed income taxes in 2021, could have been eligible for a one-time payment of $300. Those who applied in late 2022 may see their checks arrive in 2023 from the Delaware Department of Finance.

Pennsylvania

Since 1971, Pennsylvania has had a program that assists seniors by sending out a refund of property taxes or rent paid for seniors. The maximum standard rebate is $650, although some can receive up to $975.

The application deadline is June 30, 2023.

California

California started sending out stimulus payments from its $9.5 billion Middle Class Tax Refund starting in late 2022. Those payments include refunds of up to $1,050.

By the end of last year, the California Franchise Tax Board issued about 7,020,930 direct deposits and 9,112,953 debit cards. The state had estimated that 18 million payments were sent by mid-January.”

The View

When Your Bull Calves!

Who gets up in the morning and decides this malarkey?

Will the United States Department of Agriculture be introducing new pronoun language for livestock? What is the USDA’s policy on LGBTQ cattle?

Will we need state sponsored animal psychologists to talk to our cattle to see which gender they want to be? What will we do with the steers that still think they are bulls? What will be the selection process instituted by the USDA to determine which bulls get female parts so they can calve?

Will a transgender human be the director of this protocol? One thing about it, no one will ever volunteer to be a steer as they are always slaughtered first.

Funny thing, but I thought God decided gender when you were born? I had to look up LGBTQ. I thought it was an acronym for “Let’s Get Biden To Quit”. How did our government get in the gender business? What business is it of theirs?

Why was the first executive order of the new Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, to make sure that LGBTQ state workers could not be discriminated against? You would think that if someone was just elected to the Governor’s office that the first order of business might be to eliminate the fuel tax that would help every working person in the state rich or poor. How about an executive order to combat the record amount of Fentanyl coming over our southern border? The drug cartels are probably cheering to see Katie Hobbs elected Governor as they have been enjoying Biden’s term in office.

This lady needs to resign, why should we pay her salary? She needs to run the “business” of the state and not legislate by executive order her personal

interpretation of morality.

Does anyone recognize the country or state that we are living in? I look outside in the morning and see the same mountains, pastures, and roads that have always been there, but the people that are allegedly voted in to help guide us have changed dramatically.

Can we believe the results of any election? When you look at who is allegedly elected do you believe that anyone alive could have voted for that nut?

I am hoping that this won’t affect our livestock, but who knows? I never thought I would live to see what’s going on in this country today. Who ever heard of suspending the United States Constitution because of a pandemic?

Many people were told that they couldn’t go to church or the barber shop for that matter. That’s right folks, not an enemy attack, but a pandemic that was blown out of proportion to scare people into submission.

There are still folks driving around in their own car by themselves with masks on. How does that make sense?

Colorado May Bolster Liability Protections for Private Landowners Who Let the Public Recreate on Their Lands

BY JASON BLEVINS / COLORADO SUN

Ever since a federal appeals court in 2019 sided with a mountain biker who sued the federal government after crashing on an Air Force Academy trail, recreational access on private property in Colorado has been under threat.

Landowners have closed trails, and even entire mountains, fearing an injured hiker could sue them for millions.

The appeals court decision left landowners unsure that protections in the venerable Colorado Recreational Use Statute are enough to allow people to recreate on their land.

There’s an exception in that decades-old statute that didn’t mean a lot before the Air Force Academy decision: Landowners could be liable if an injured recreational user can prove a landowner’s “willful or malicious failure to guard or warn against a known dangerous condition.”

Can a trail be a dangerous condition? How about an old mine? Or a bunch of wet rocks next to rapids? How many signs are needed to warn visitors? How often do landowners need to check those signs?

A Colorado lawmaker is stepping up with a plan to amend the Colorado Recreational Use Statute with added protections for landowners whose attorneys are telling them to lock the gates or get ready to be sued.

And this time, maybe, recreational access won’t be such a political football, with partisan squabbling delaying a possible fix for a problem haunting landowners as growing numbers of visitors flock to Colorado outdoors.

“I have a high degree of confidence that this will enjoy widespread support from both chambers and both sides of the aisle,” said state Senator Mark Baisley, a Republican from Woodland Park who is crafting

a bill to update recreational access laws with increased protections for landowners who allow recreational visitors to traverse their property. “I really think everyone is pulling in the same direction here.”

Baisley has been meeting with landowners who host recreational visitors and are worried about liability. Like John Reiber, who in 2021 closed access to mining claims he owns on popular Fourteeners Mount Lincoln, Mount Democrat and Mount Bross.

Reiber has since restored access, thanks to support from trail advocacy groups like the Colorado Mountain Club and the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative and the Town of Alma. But he still worries. What if someone removes a sign warning visitors about the dangers of the old mines on his property? His lawyers and insurers are worried, too.

“A lot of carriers won’t even touch me,” Reiber said of his search for property insurance for his mining claims. “They want nothing to do with prop-

erty that can be accessed by the public. I mean I really want people to enjoy the 14ers … just how can we make it work for the recreating public and still provide landowners with a little better protection so we don’t have to go out and buy all this additional, incredibly expensive insurance? I’m hoping we can find common ground here.”

David Hersh was the lawyer who represented the cyclist, Jim Nelson, who sued the Air Force Academy after he was injured on a washed-out section of trail in 2008. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2019 ruled the Air Force Academy knew about the damaged trail and failed to give proper warning, affirming a $7.3 million judgment for the cyclist.

Hersh said the decision supported the Colorado Recreational Use Statute protection for landowners unless they act willfully or maliciously in failing to guard or warn of known hazards that are likely to cause harm. Hersh calls the willful and malicious exception for landowners “really very narrow.”

The news media made it sound like it was a larger crisis than the American Civil War which killed off about 750,000 Americans.

If you remember your history Abraham Lincoln abused the United States Constitution more than any American President. The individual lost so many rights under Lincoln that I don’t know if he was good for America or not.

He crushed the southern states with armies that made the southern states remain in a compact that they had joined voluntarily. Think about it, the states certainly had the right to secede.

They should have been persuaded to remain in the union and not destroyed because of a differing view. Of course, we can look back and see that now and you can’t really judge history by today’s lack of standards.

If bulls actually start calving soon, I’m out of here. You will find me up in the mountains with my horse and my dog being a hermit cowboy. ▫

“And we have a whole bunch of case law that talks about what constitutes willful or malicious … so Colorado landowners have real good guidance on what is within that exception. The Nelson case fell pretty far out on that willful spectrum but there are many cases where the court said it was not willful,” said Hersh, an attorney with the Burg Simpson law firm. “If we go rewrite the act we will have a blank slate and we will have to wait 20 years for the law to develop to figure out what the new provisions really mean.”

Colorado lawmakers in the late 1970s crafted protections for Colorado ski areas that made it very difficult for skiers to sue a resort operator. The Colorado Ski Safety Act, which outlines the responsibilities of both resort operators and skiers, was born of concerns over skyrocketing insurance costs paid by ski areas that could face business-destroying lawsuits.

The Ski Safety Act has been amended several times as resorts identify new issues and skier behavior changes. Recreational access laws should be updated, too, said Lloyd Athearn, the director of the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative.

Ahearn’s outfit is more than a group advocating for sustaincontinued on page 10

able trails on the state’s busiest peaks. It owns a bunch of mining claims flanking Mount Shavano and its own lawyers worked hard to script warning signs that help hikers recognize the dangers on the trail.

“It’s all about finding a good balance. How do we adequately inform the recreating public of the hazards involved? Landowners can’t be up there at 14,000 feet every single day of the year so let’s fine tune our obligation to inform,” said Athearn, who is working with Baisley and landowners to help craft the new legislation.

“Landowners should feel protected when people go through their land to access some of the state’s recreational attractions. We all benefit when the landowner is protected.”

Kendall Chastain, the conservation manager for the Colorado Mountain Club who works with landowners to allow recreational access, hopes the legislation will spur more property owners to open their acres to the public.

There may be owners out there who have never consid-

ered welcoming visitors, she said.

“There’s a woman we have been working with who has a little pond on her property and she told us if this goes through she will have much less concern with people visiting her pond and crossing through her property to reach public lands,” Chastain said. “I bet there are more people out there like her.”

One sticking point in the current recreational use statute is that it lumps almost all forms of recreation into the same group. That means landowners have limited ability to restrict certain types of recreation that may not work on their property, like, say, motorized users or people panning for gold. Proposed changes in the law would give property owners greater leeway in choosing which type of recreation best fits on their land, Chastain said.

“It does not make sense for some of these properties that everything goes,” she said.

There are many little discrepancies that are being addressed in the proposed legislative adjustment to the recreational use statute.

“There are a lot more voices being heard and concerns are being expressed more clearly and more urgently than in years past,” Chastain said. “We have a lot of strong support for this across many communities.”

In 2019, legislation proposed by then-Representative Perry Will, a Republican from New Castle, and then-Representative Donald Valdez, a La Jara Democrat, would have removed the willful and malicious exception from the state’s recreational use statute. It died in the House Judiciary Committee mere days after it was introduced.

Most advocates for reform of the recreational use statute expect trial lawyers to lobby against any changes. Colorado state Senator Dylan Roberts, an Avon Democrat, said amending the statute “would definitely still be a very controversial topic at the legislature.”

Baisley said he’s held meetings with local communities, trail groups and landowners and sees growing consensus. He expects many lawmakers will step forward to co-sponsor his bill. ▫

Arizona Senate Race… Already

BY JIM ELLIS / THE ELLIS INSIGHT

The most interesting impending Senate race to date is unfolding in Arizona, and a new poll already suggests the close three-way finish that many are predicting will occur in November of 2024.

Senator Kyrsten Sinema leaving the Democratic Party to run as an Independent is likely her best scenario in which to win re-election. It was clear that she could not secure re-nomination in the Democratic Party, especially against a strong opponent such as Representative Ruben Gallego (D-Phoenix) who has since become an official candidate.

The Republican situation is unclear, but the Arizona GOP will produce a nominee capable of at least securing the Republican base vote. In a three-way race where all the major participants have a victory path, virtually any outcome can occur under yet-to-be-defined circumstances.

The Normington Petts survey research firm recently conducted a poll (1/18-23; 800 AZ registered voters) for three progressive left Arizona organizations testing Representative Gallego opposite Senator Sinema, and both 2022 Arizona gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake (R), who has not closed the door on running for the Senate, and former Governor Doug Ducey (R), who says a Senate race is not even a point under his consideration.

While the poll sponsors were highlighting Gallego’s performance, it is Sinema’s standing that has greatly improved since previous polls were made public. In the configuration with Representative Gallego and Ms. Lake, Senator Sinema, while still running in third place, improves her standing to 24 percent as opposed to 14 and 13 percent in December and early January polls that Public Policy Polling and Blueprint Polling released. Representative Gallego and Ms. Lake were tied at 36

percent apiece.

When Normington Petts tested Senator Sinema with Representative Gallego and former Governor Ducey, the Congressman held a 37-3127 percent advantage over the GOP ex-state chief executive, and Senator Sinema, respectively. Notably, the progression suggests that Senator Sinema is coming into a competitive position as the prospective candidates begin to prepare for a long three-way race.

Senator Sinema has not yet announced that she will seek re-election, but her change of partisan status to Independent is a strong clue that she will run. Otherwise, there was little reason for her to leave the Democratic Party since her ideology and vote pattern continues to remain consistent with her liberal roots.

The earlier polls, while possibly accurate at the time they were conducted, did not accurately portray Sinema’s underlying strength. It was difficult to believe that she had dropped to low double-digit support based upon her reasoning for making procedural moves within the Senate surrounding protecting the filibuster and opposing one of the major spending and tax measures.

As the campaign progresses, we will likely see Gallego move further to the left because he will need strong energized support from the Democratic base. Sinema’s gain in the Normington Petts survey when compared to the PPP and Blueprint earlier studies is largely coming from Democrats who previously supported her. Therefore, Gallego, assuming he doesn’t receive a major challenge for the party nomination in August of 2024, will have no choice but to strengthen his position with the far left in order to maximize turnout within this electoral segment.

Remember, in this type of election campaign, the three major candidates will be vying to get to 35 percent of the vote, and not 50 percent. Therefore, each political strategy will be

very different than we typically see in a regular two-way electoral contest.

Representative Gallego moving further left, however, also becomes a double-edged sword. The further he ventures potentially frees additional moderate Democratic support to float to Sinema. This and improving her positioning within the self-identified Independent sector, which in Arizona is a full third of the electorate, would bring her into parity with the two major party candidates.

For the Republicans, speculation about the leadership attempting to recruit freshman Representative Juan Ciscomani (R-Tucson) into the Senate race is beginning to surface. With his tight victory in the politically marginal 6th District against a strong Democratic opponent and his potential appeal within the statewide Hispanic community, Representative Ciscomani would certainly be a Republican candidate who could win a general election in a three-way scenario.

It remains to be seen if he would risk the congressional seat he just won to attempt a statewide run so quickly. Former gubernatorial candidate Lake may become a candidate, but if the party leaders can clear the field for Ciscomani, he would likely be the premier contender that the GOP could field.

There are many moving parts in this early jockeying period from the Grand Canyon State. The most recent survey proves not that Representative Gallego is in the strongest position, as the poll sponsors promote, but that Senator Sinema is coming back into play as a potential winning candidate. The Republican saga, however, will require much more time to settle.

Wolves, coyotes, banning livestock

Wolves

Well, I guess we knew it was bound to happen.

A Mexican wolf has crossed north of Interstate 40. In other words it is now beyond the experimental population area in New Mexico. According to the NM Game and Fish, the female wolf traveled “farther north and east than any wolf of its kind since it was reintroduced in 1998.”

New Mexico Game and Fish has reportedly warned livestock producers that the wolf is protected under federal law and cannot be hazed or harassed. The endangered species act states:

“In carrying out the program authorized by this Act, the Secretary shall cooperate to the maximum extent practicable with the States. Such cooperation shall include consultation with the States concerned before acquiring any land or water, or interest therein, for the purpose of conserving any endangered species or threatened species.”

And under the prohibited acts section of the endangered species act, it states:

“remove and reduce to possession any such species from areas under Federal jurisdiction; maliciously damage or destroy any such species on any such area; or remove, cut, dig up, or damage or destroy any such species on any other area in knowing violation of any law or regulation of any State or in the course of any violation of a State criminal trespass law;

(C) deliver, receive, carry, transport, or ship in interstate or foreign commerce, by any means whatsoever and in the course of a commercial activity, any such species.”

So be aware the state is very involved with this issue.

Coyotes

A coalition of environmental groups has filed a petition with the Secretary of Interior to protect coyotes saying “that small statured Mexican gray wolves are often mistaken for coyotes and that protecting coyotes would in turn cut down on wolf deaths.” They want the Secretary of Interior to list the coyote as an endangered species anywhere the wolf might roam, claiming the illegal killings are the number one cause of death for the Mexican wolf, and that a good portion of those are claimed to be by mistaken identity. A spokesman for the Center for Biological Diversity said, “It’s an outrage that merely saying ‘I thought it was a coyote’ serves as a get-out-of-jailfree card for anyone who shoots one of these highly imperiled animals.”

They are right about one thing – this is an outrage.

Climate change

Last December I wrote: What will come of all this climate change push. espe-

cially for ranchers and rural property owners?

It seems clear the enviros will use climate change as the lever to lobby for all the items on their agenda… and

–climate change will take a much more prominent place in all planning documents and decisions, including those on livestock grazing

Now take a look at what is happening in the European Union.

The highest Dutch court has upheld lower court rulings that found the country was failing to comply with European Union (E.U.) environmental regulations.

The ruling ordered the Dutch government to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020, which meant the country would almost have to double the amount previously obtained.

The Dutch government finally produced a plan to “radically” reduce livestock numbers by more than 35 million by 2030.

According to an article by Baylen Linnekin, the plan includes “paying some Dutch livestock farmers to relocate or exit the industry, and helping others transition to more extensive (as opposed to intensive) methods of farming, with fewer animals and a bigger area of land.”

And to top things off, they will be training future lawyers on the best way to sue you.

There is a national movement to mandate courses on climate change be a part of every law school’s curriculum. Two law professors recently wrote in a paper published by Cambridge University Press: Law students graduating in the coming decades will conduct their entire future practices in a web of climate law.

Climate change is still perceived as a niche topic – studied by those interested in ‘green’ issues and neglected by everyone else – rather than the socially pervasive issue that it is. Regrettably, this means that students are leaving Law School without a proper understanding of the legal framework or social context within which they will practise… Accordingly, this paper argues that climate change education should be compulsory and assessable content across the core law curriculum.

Note the “compulsory” in their paper.

Taxpayer dollars will be used to better train these attorneys who will sue you and other producers.

And New Mexico, no longer The Land Enchantment, will be the Land of Canis Lupus Baileyi. No longer seen as a place where the buffalo used to roam, but instead as a place where the wolves do roam.

Sorry about the negativity in all this. I could not figure out a better way to present it.

Until next time, be a nuisance to the devil and don’t forget that cinch.

Frank DuBois was the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003, is the author of a blog: The Westerner (www. thewesterner.blogspot.com) and is the founder of The DuBois Rodeo Scholarship and The DuBois Western Heritage Foundation

Ex-NFLer Derek Wolfe Kills Massive Mountain Lion Terrorizing Area

BY RYAN GLASSPIEGEL / NEW YORK POST

Wolfe, who played eight seasons for the Broncos before one year with the Ravens in an NFL career that wrapped up in 2020, wrote on Instagram that he was enlisted to hunt the beast after it was “wreaking havoc” around the Rocky Mountains and killing local dogs and deer.

“*Predator Control* Late Tuesday night I got a call from @huntnest to see if I wanted to stalk a giant Tom (male mountain lion) who has been wreaking havoc in a rural neighbor-

hood,” Wolfe wrote. “He had already killed two of her dogs and was living under her porch, nervous about what he might do next. We found a fresh 4×4 mule deer he had just killed. We hiked straight up 2500ft and down the other side, then back up again, back down the other side and then back up again to 9600ft.

“Exhausted, dehydrated, cramping I drew back my @ hoytbowhunting and sent an @ sevrbroadheads through him. Then I had to crawl backwards down the mountain with him to get him to the truck I fell 10ft off a rock face on the way down lol. Any guesses how big this thing was?”

Considering Wolfe is listed at 6-foot-5, this mountain lion could easily have been over seven feet long.

Most of the commenters on Wolfe’s post were impressed with the hunting feat. Former UFC fighter Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone commented, “Big ole boy.”

Wolfe’s former Broncos teammate, Chad Kelly, weighed in: “Shessssshhhh.” Former NFL safety T.J. Ward added, “Need my winter coat” with a

laughing emoji. Not everyone was happy with Wolfe, who is currently a sports talk radio host at 104.3 the Fan in Denver. One commenter wrote, “Or did a neighborhood wreak havoc on the lion’s habitat and it’s now just trying to survive.”

A Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson told TMZ that Wolfe followed proper protocols in killing the beast legally. ▫

Floyd Brangus Lack-Morrison Brangus Parker Brangus

Townsend Brangus Brown Brothers Ranch

Lot # 21

Lot # 18