LMD March 2019

Riding Herd “The greatest homage we can pay to truth is to use it.”

– JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

March 15, 2019 • www.aaalivestock.com

Volume 61 • No. 3

On The Edge Of The Big Empty

BY LEE PITTS

No man should have cowboys boots in his wardrobe. That’s fair enough, isn’t it? Unless you’re a cowboy, of course.

- Paul Weller

K

NEWSPAPER PRIORITY HANDLING

ris Stewart wants to make the West great again, and she hopes to do it with President Trump’s help. Smirk if you will but I wouldn’t bet against her.

Nevada’s Great Basin is affectionately known by buckaroos and the folks who live out there as “The Big Empty”.

Folks who live back east who call it by a different name...”flyover country”. That’s because on their coast to coast flights they look down from their lofty heights and see only sagebrush.

The Big Empty is definitely not for sissies or bunch quitters and the Stewart family Kris, Fred and Patrice, are definitely not the quitting type. Never have been. Stewart’s Ninety-Six Ranch is Nevada’s oldest family run ranching operation starting in business in 1864, the same year Nevada became a state.

For its first hundred years Stewart’s 96 Ranch was viewed by the bureaucrats as a top notch outfit. When Taylor grazing was first introduced the 96 was known for never abusing the range. The Stewarts use of the range predates federal land management by many decades and they historically ran about 5,500 head of cattle, plus ranch horses and a mob of sheep. In its first century they took zero cuts in the number of cattle the feds said they could run.

“Our operation focused just on cattle after the war,” says the wife Kris Stewart, “and our numbers bounced between 4,5005,500 through the 1960’s. Our ranch was lauded for using best practices in range management and my father-in-law was seen as a respected, engaged partner in managing the resource.”

Like many other things about our country in the 1970’s, things

started falling apart. “We, along with all the cattlemen of the west,” recalls Kris, “became the enemy of the modern environmental movement, educational establishment. A set of permits that once ran 5,500 head of cattle are now down to about 1,800. We go out later and come home earlier. We now share our outside permits with another operator and we pasture far more cattle inside on our productive private ground.

All strategies to survive. In mid June, our BLM use dates ended and we requested additional time, citing our own monitoring that showed we had used but 18-20% of allowable forage.

The BLM admitted that overall fuel levels were between 2001,000% of normal. There was ton upon ton of thatched cheat grass all over our permit and no allowable use dates during seasons when our cattle could take down the fuel load. They of course rejected our request for

more time and made us move off.”

The feds were building a fire bed like an urbanite might lay down a fire in his backyard barbecue. And boy, oh boy, did it ever burn! The devastating Martin Fire in Humboldt County Nevada started in July 2018 and before it was extinguished the Stewarts lost 57,000 acres of its 67,000 BLM permit and over a third of their private ground, 6,300 acres. Kris says emphatically, “No matter what the ignition source, there can be not doubt that the root cause of the Martin fire was 50 plus years of piss poor federal land management. Once it started it was too late. Inside the first 24 hours, we lost everything. It burned for weeks and took a toll on 9 other operations in Humboldt and Elko Counties.”

Before its ashes began to cool the Martin Fire would burn a total of 400,000 acres but all the hysterical talking heads on

TV could talk about was the Malibu fire on California’s left coast because that’s where movie stars and the rich and famous live.

Saving The Great American West Generally speaking, you don’t want to mess with the folks who live in The Big Empty. Says Kris, “My husband, daughter and I decided that we weren’t going to suffer this kind of preventable disaster without telling our story and demanding reform.”

Thus was born the Save the Great American West Campaign, a program aimed at lowering wildfire danger in the west by using livestock grazing to reduce excess fuel loads.

“Currently, the Western U.S. is burning up at a rate never seen in recorded history,” says Kris.

“The root cause is over five decades of nonsensical land management by federal agencies including the BLM, USFS and USFWS. Our federal government has caved into radical environmental theology, and has allowed federal land management to become political, rather than a common sense, science based exercise. Our campaign seeks a fundamental reworking of federal land management in the west, recognizing livestock continued on page two

Border County Commissioner: Ranchers are Scared to Report Drug Trafficking Crimes

BY DANIEL HOROWITZ WWW.CONSERVATIVEREVIEW.COM

I

f ranchers in our own country are scared to report crimes, not of internal criminals, but of foreign invaders at our border, is that a national emergency? And if their properties are being used for drug smuggling, does that count as drugs coming in between ports of entry in the minds of the media? And if you live in a poorer county at the border in New Mexico, are you as much of a citizen as a resident of Maryland or Virginia?

In a wide-ranging conversation with Joel Edwards, one of the county commissioners in Hidalgo County, New Mexico, he expressed deep concern for his constituents in this hard-hit county. “One of my primary responsibilities is to try to see that the residents of my county can enjoy a solid quality life and they don’t have to live in fear for their lives,” said Edwards. “You know, they shouldn’t have to live in fear that somebody is going to steal their vehicle or their four-wheeler or their horses, just because they live on an international border.”

Edwards explained that the folks in Washington live near counties that are completely protected and have robust resources to deal with internal crime, yet his county is left in

the lurch dealing with “sophisticated cartels” coming over an international border. And that is scaring his residents. “Some of them are afraid to even come forward because they live right there on the border,” said Edwards of the ranchers encountering drug traffickers dressed in paramilitary getup. “Some of my residents go back and forth across the border because they actually have some family on the other side of the border, and they fear retaliation from the cartel if they cooperate and [try] to do something about the border problem.”

As I’ve reported before, Hidalgo County has just four sheriff’s deputies for a county of several thousand square miles, with no law enforcement presence in the border ranch areas south of Highway 9. The county has money to add only two more deputies, a drop in the bucket for an area that size. “You know, we’re a poor county. The average income in this county is small, considerably small compared to the part of the country where the media lives,” said Edwards.

Perhaps that is why the media sees no emergency at the border. Hidalgo County alone has been forced to absorb roughly half of the more than 60 groups of 100-300 migrants at a time continued on page five

by LEE PITTS

The High Cost Of Being Cheap

O

kay, I admit it: I’m the cheapest SOB who ever made soup out of a complimentary cup of hot water from McDonalds and a free packet of ketchup. My wife and I have been married for 44 years and we’ve owned a total of two television sets and our current one is a chunky box-like structure that weighs 100 pounds and has a tube in it. We can’t stand the thought of buying a new TV just to see them get even cheaper next year.

The last pickup we owned we drove for 25 years and we’ve started taking showers every other day to cut our water bill. If I ever owned a Rolex it would have to be a fake of a fake. I could go on like this but I don’t want to waste any more paper than is absolutely necessary to get my point across.

I got this way because I was my parent’s banker and had to pay every penny of my college education with money I made on show steers and working in the oilfields. The first apartment my wife and I lived in cost $125 a month and was above the office of a construction company. When we lived in Australia we lived on $40 a week due to budget constraints. My first job as a ranch manager I made $650 a month and in my second job for a livestock newspaper I worked on commission so I stayed in motels that cost $11 a night. The first time I ever paid $100 for one night in a hotel was in New Orleans and I didn’t sleep all night because I was mad at myself for such extravagance. With the lights out it was no different than those $11 rooms.

My miserly ways naturally carried over when we became ranchers and I soon discovered that it didn’t cost that much to be cheap. We leased a ranch for $12 a month per cow which came to $144 a year and because we began at the start of a seven year drouth we spent $9,000 a year on hay. That’s $219 per year per cow for feed and when we sold our

continued on page six

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Livestock Market Digest

March 15, 2019

ON THE EDGE

continued from page one

Making The West Great Again

The goal of the Stewarts is proper range management that restores and maintains soil, plant and animal community health, reduces fire danger, and allows the rural west to prosper. They want to make the rural west great again and they would achieve this goal through the following simple eight point plan: 1. Immediately restore all suspended AUMs on all grazing permits nationwide. This includes permanently suspended AUMs. Our estimates are that this action would nearly double the number of animals eligible to graze the range and consume dangerous, excess fuels from the public lands. (Require federal agencies to give specific, proven science based reasons for any AUMs not eligible for this action, and require the agency to prove that their action is in best overall interest of the resource).

2. Allow foresters to log and remove dead and dying trees from our National forests.

(Would reduce fire danger and slow the spread of pine beetle infestation).

3. Extend the term of each grazing permit from 10 to 20 years, thus allowing ranchers the surety to finance necessary range improvements such as fencing, water development, and additional livestock over more realistic and sustainable repayment periods.

4. Restructure every grazing permit, so that grazing is allowable 12 months out of each year, giving both ranchers and land managers an effective tool to reduce excess fuel loads in real-time. Make extended season, change of season or amount of use triggers mandatory when fuel loads exceed ten percent over normal maximum, or when producer has utilized less than 90% of allowable forage with normally permitted numbers during regular grazing season. Require local land managers to trigger out of season turn-outs whenever conditions pose a threat to overall range health. Give ranchers a local arbitration board made up of agency personnel and local producers to appeal any rejection of proposed out of season turn-outs.

5. Limit or eliminate NEPA reviews in areas where activity such as grazing or logging are already permitted. Categorize dangerous fuel reduction activity and development under emergency and public safety rather than general grazing or logging, thus eliminating most legal challenges to this necessary activity.

6. Level the playing field by amending the Equal Access To Justice Act to either limit its use and funds for already well-funded environmental groups, or allow ranchers, loggers and their respective communities the same access as the environmental groups have to these funds. The current loop-hole in the law allows groups like the WWF, Sierra Club and Western Watersheds to use taxpayer dollars to fund their unrelenting legal assault on the working families of the West through suits against federal land management agencies.

7. Require that every grazing and logging permit issued include a dangerous fuels reduction plan, and insure that every plan has mandatory triggers which federal land managers may not deviate from or contest.

8. Require federal agencies to allow permittees to develop and maintain water resources on permits where the permittee already owns water rights, or where a new development is in the best interests of the overall range and state law allows the development. Further, lift restrictions on use of supplemental minerals and attractants, water hauling and other products or measures which would better disperse livestock grazing and make better overall use of the range resources.

As part of our suggested reforms, we acknowledge that most but not all livestock producers/grazers and loggers are quality operators. We accept the need for safeguards, rules, as well as warning systems that give every producer notice of improper action so that the actions may be discontinued or corrected. If these rules are not followed, we accept that these safeguards can and will be used to remove consistently irresponsible operators from the range.

grazing and targeted logging as positive, primary tools in our efforts to protect our range and forest lands from wildfire, restore range health and protect all of the animal, plant and human communities that call it home.”

Kris, her husband Fred and daughter Patrice put their heads together and came up with an eight step program to do just that. (See sidebar, “Making The West Great Again.”) With an evangelical zeal the Stewart’s started selling their program.

They started close to home with their county commission. “Demar Dahl, a great friend from Elko county,” says Kris, “heard my talk when I presented to the Elko County commission and said, you ought to give your talk to the President.”

Little did they know...

“In Nevada,” says Kris, “it’s still possible to know your elected officials and we raised a ruckus. Our then U.S. senator Dean Heller said we ought to bring our message to DC, so we did.

Our first trip to DC was in mid September and one of the many they spoke to was Brian Steed, Acting Director of the BLM. The Stewart’s felt good after their meeting with Steed. “Mr. Steed is not an “agency guy”, says Kris. “He hails from Utah, studied Natural Resources and Law and in plain terms, is 100% on our side. He gets these issues, he’s whip smart, well-informed, and ready to act. He is amazing! Our meeting with him was beyond positive, it left us walking on air. He indicated support for our reforms and for executive action to make them a reality. He understands the bureaucracy within his agency and is determined to change the culture, the thinking, and renew the stated mission of the Bureau: productive multiple use. I don’t think any of us could have hoped to get someone so informed and appropriate to head this agency.”

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The Stewarts also met with Britt Carter, assistant director of external relations. He helped us set up meetings with the chief of the Forest Service, acting director of BLM, and several senator colleagues. Then an old friend from Elko got me a low level White House meeting. The gal was very polite but never asked a single question in our 60 minute meeting. We left wondering if we’d been effective with the White House.”

Kris found out six days later just how effective their White House meeting had been. “I got an afternoon call from a young lady who ended up being Donald Trump’s Secretary,” recalls Kris. “She asked if I would be available to take his call later that evening. Once I restarted my heart, I agreed. Long story short, I spoke with our President for a little under 12 minutes. He was kind, intelligent, very engaged and wanted to understand and help.” Kris laid out their eight point plan to cut fire danger in the West using grazing. “He liked all of it. He asked a lot of questions, and truly wanted to understand our issues. By the mid-point of our conversation, I had regained my composure, and asked how he saw this reform going forward. He told me candidly that he didn’t expect we would hold the House, so he would have to

take Executive action and he promised an Executive Order

by Christmas.”

The President told Kris that he prefers legislative action over Executive Orders because it has permanence. Executive Orders can simply be erased by the next President.

Talking with the President is one thing but would he follow through with an Executive Order incorporating all or part of the Stewart’s eight point plan?

On November 12, 2018 President Trump made a statement from Paris regarding the California wildfires. “He referenced the terrible management of range and forests by state and federal agencies as a cause for the widespread devastation,” said Kris. “His language matched ours, which means he has listened to everything we have said. He understands!”

Then the Stewart family got an early Christmas present on December 21 when President Trump signed an Executive Order called Promoting Active Management of America’s Forests, Rangelands, And Other Federal Lands to Improve Conditions and Reduce Wildfire Risk. “The broad, basic Executive Order he promised,” said Kris, “set the table for the secretarial orders to reform policy and regulations that are now being drafted. It contained many of the goals the Stewarts put forth in their eight point plan.

“It was a first great step towards achieving the reforms we need out West.”

That Woman From Nevada Trump also asked Kris to come back to DC after the midterm elections to talk with a few higher level folks. During that visit the Stewarts met with many elected officials as well as with the head of the USFS, BLM and staff at Natural Resources Committee of the House of Representatives and the White House.

“We spent over an hour discussing the effects of the Martin Fire on our ranching operation and range, and then laid out our eight point plan for reform to the acting Chief of the US Forest Service Vicki Christensen and Director Allen Rowley.

Christensen seemed to hear our concerns and was willing to listen to new ideas. I suggested that this be a first step toward a fundamental shift in how the agency views ranching and livestock grazing on USFS lands.”

Kris recalls, ‘The undersecretary of Interior told me that I would likely get at least some of my list because the President has rejected proposed Executive Orders that did not set the table for the kind of reforms in “that woman from Nevada’s paper”.

Resistance From Her Own Kind Kris didn’t stop after talking with President Trump. If anything, she doubled down to sell her eight point plan to save the west with cows. She spoke at cattle events and grazing councils and was invited to to speak at the Oregon Cattlemen’s annual convention and the National Grazing Conference in Reno.” That’s when the backlash officially began! “At that meeting,” recalls Kris, “a friend from Humboldt County who is also on the board of the Nevada Catcontinued on page five

March 15, 2019

Livestock Market Digest

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Livestock Market Digest

March 15, 2019

Collectors Corner

by Jim Olson

Fake Indian Jewelry

A

serious issue facing buyers and collectors of Native American jewelry is the problem of imports and other non-Native items being sold as Native American made.

In recent times, the “Al Zuni” bust (as it has become known) has been the latest “sting” operation to receive media attention. It seems law enforcement officials tracked a bunch of jewelry imported from the Philippines and found it interspersed with authentic items in various shops across the Southwest and else where. The shops were all related in one way or another and several men were arrested for blatantly deceiving the public by selling products they knew were imports as the real thing. At least one has been convicted.

Anytime there is money to be made in selling desirable items, there are always those who try to cut corners and sell lesser products as the real deal. Greed is most always the motive. Today we are going to touch on one segment of jewelry which is often “faked”—that of “Native Amer-

ican style” inlay jewelry.

Most Native inlay jewelry has traditionally come from the Pueblo of Zuni. They became known as master lapidaries in the early days of Native jewelry production (the early 1900s or so) and they pioneered the inlay style of jewelry set in sterling silver, starting around

Import Ring with.925 stamp silver (although both hallmarks actually mean the same thing).

Import Ring with .925 hallmark Some of the early imports used to come in community. To take up the with a .925 on them because slack and fill a need in the mar- that is what is commonly used ket, members of other tribes to denote “sterling” in much of also produce inlay jewelry. the world. Folks caught onto Unfortunately however, inlay that pretty quickly though and jewelry is also the importers soon had their imported from stuff stamped with a sterling over seas and hallmark instead of a .925. mixed in and If you ever see an inlay item sold as Native marked with .925, be cautious. made (as men- If you see one stamped “ster-

Philipino Insert –front and back mid-century. However, there is much more inlay jewelry made today than could possibly be produced in that one small

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Rounded Fake inlay with generic

tioned above). This happens more often than you think.

A trained eye can usually spot the imports. However, sometimes it may not be easy to tell. Here are a few tell-tale signs to watch for if you are looking to purchase Native American style inlay jewelry.

A big red flag is contemporary jewelry (made in the 1980s or newer) with no hallmarks on it (this rule does not apply to older pieces made in the early 1970s or before). Also watch for modern inlay with generic initials for hallmarks. Almost all modern artists use identifiable hallmarks. A lot of fakes either have no hallmarks (other than sometimes “sterling”) or have a generic initial like a “B” or a “C” etc.. Most of the early (1970s - 80s) imports had no hallmarks, but the devious sellers soon figured out people were becoming suspicious of that as most Native artists had started using hallmarks by then, so they began having the overseas shops put a hallmark on the items. Usually it was a single, generic letter. As time went on, folks became suspicious of those, so the importers started getting the stuff hallmarked with a couple of generic letters, such as “DD” or “YZ” and things like that. Not all generic initials are fakes, but if that is how an item is hallmarked, ask the seller for a reasonable assurance as to who it might be. There are sources out there to compare examples of known artist’s hallmarks and work.

The use of a silver content hallmark of .925 instead of sterling also should raise a red flag. Native American artists almost always use the sterling mark instead of .925 to indicate the item is made using sterling

ling,” but no maker’s hallmark, also be cautious.

A lot of fakes use “block,” synthetic or plastic materials instead of real stones. Look closely (use a jewelers loupe if necessary). The scratches are a dead give-a-way on used items.

Real stones do not scratch easily and when a real stone scratches it is generally more of a gouge, whereas fine scratches like you might see on a hard plastic child’s toy look differently—and that is what a fake “stone” or hard plastic scratches look like. The man-made stuff just looks different under magnification whether new or older. If the inlay is too rounded at the corners, or domed, that can also be suspect and is usually an indication of fake “stones.” Not all rounded corners are from fake inlay, but when “inlay” (ie: block or plastic) is actually a poured mold (which is common), it is most always rounded at the edges or domed overall.

Very fine and symmetrical silver pieces (spacers) separating the various stones should also be looked at closely. A lot of channel inlay with little, very fine silver pieces between them are machined, not handmade. These actually inserts of so-called channel inlay and they are set into ready-made settings just like a calibrated turquoise cabochon would be.

Unfortunately, some of this type of work is done at shops here in the Southwest as well.

It takes a trained eye to see the difference between those mass-produced inserts and a fine jewelers work.

In the case of figural inlay, look closely at the figures. The imports almost never get the people or animals right. The folks doing the work tend to

depict people and animals as they see them in their culture.

It is hard for someone overseas to see things through the same eyes as someone living in Western New Mexico, for example.

The faces are usually a dead give-a-way.

Replication in pieces is also a big red flag. If you see numerous inlay items that all look the same, over and over, in different sizes or slightly different styles, watch out. A true artist very rarely replicates the same item over and over (and

Rounded Fake Inlay generic inistials on back handmade items always have slight variations from one to the next). Artists may have a certain style they are known for and do it with regularity, but if you see a tray of rings, for example, that all look almost exactly alike and there are several in each size, that is a good indication of “shop” work (usually imported).

Of course there are exceptions to every rule and you should study the overall appearance of the item. For example, there is a particular artist who is well known for fine inlay work.

However, there have also been import items made with his hallmark faked on them. A lady I know went to a Home and Garden show in Phoenix and bought a “hallmarked” piece from a fast-talking vendor who said it was the real deal. That very same weekend, she went to an artisan’s fair in the area and just happened to stumble onto a booth where the real-life artist was selling his fine jewelry. She proudly showed her new piece to the artist, only to be embarrassed when he told her he did not make the item, it was an import. The fakers are now even using hallmarks from known artists!

Older items from the early 1970s and before are not always hallmarked, so it is good to educate yourself about what you are buying and what it should look like. Having a good, general knowledge is a must. That, and as always, you should deal with a reputable dealer who knows what they are selling and is willing to stand behind it—just in case they got it wrong or made a mistake. And remember, if a deal seems too good to be true, it usually is!

March 15, 2019

Livestock Market Digest

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ON THE EDGE tlemen’s Association and Public Lands Council, mentioned how important it was that we all stick together and speak consistently on the issues. I was advised by board members of Nevada Cattlemen’s to use Ethan Lane from PLC to help me schedule meetings in DC, because quote ‘he knows everyone’. I indeed called his office six times over two and a half weeks to try to secure that assistance. No call backs.”

The two would later meet in person and after Kris laid out everything they’d done, and why, Ethan Lane called the

continued from page two

Stewart’s plan “naive and overly simplistic comment.”

Kris replied, “Yeah, but the President loves it.”

When Kris tried to take her story to her own state cattleman’s association she was initially rebuffed. You see, the Stewart family are R CALF supporters while her state association is closely aligned with the NCBA. Kris was “amazed and disconcerted by the number of friends who have been tapped to derail what Fred and I are trying to do. This is the third major effort by NCBA Kool-Aid

drinkers in Nevada to silence us.”

The Stewart family keeps pushing back because, “We can’t leave the hard dull work of rewriting the policy to the bureaucrats who have screwed us for 50 years, nor the industry lobbyists who are screwing us now. It must be real ranchers. Folks who actually know what works out on the range in real conditions with real cows.”

Kris says, “It’s time for all of us to start sending letters and making calls to our reps at the local, State and Federal

level. We set up a little website called savethegreatamericanwest.com This website will guide you through our talking points, our eight point plan for federal lands management reform and give you all of the addresses and phone numbers you need to make a difference.

“The Trump Administration does not want another fire season like 2018. They understand our issues and need for immediate reform. We have strong support at the highest levels of the BLM, the White House and in Congress. Mismanagement of range and

forests by limiting effective livestock grazing and logging is the reason these fires are as devastating as they are. Climate change or no, we must manage for the conditions we have, and livestock grazing is the best tool we have.

“The sad truth is, we will lose far more land, far more homes and far more lives than is necessary. We cannot continue down this road of “protecting” land from people. It is our cattle and sheep that can and will save these precious resources for the future. Everyone’s future!”

DRUG TRAFFICKING CRIMES being smuggled through by the cartels since last October. While the cartels strain our Border Patrol with the health care and welfare of the migrants, they engage in their other criminal activity.

Edwards called the media’s assertion that drugs only come in at the points of entry “asinine” and invited anyone from the media to come on a tour with him and his rancher constituents.

“You know, we visited ranchers that actually showed us pictures of the drug trafficking and told us stories about it. The cartels have a lot of the latest technology; the people that are coming across, they have sophisticated communication equipment. They’re not just desperate migrants. These people are … up on technology, they’re up on weaponry. Their loads that they’re carrying are worth thousands and thousands of dollars. They are protecting it because that’s how they’re making their money.”

Edwards shared the following pictures from the trail cameras passed on to him by some of his rancher constituents: After looking at these pictures, now understand the predicament in which these ranchers must live. They are at least

one or two hours away from any civilization, with no cell phone reception. Given that there is no permanent federal, state, or county law enforcement presence to protect them, Edwards told me his ranchers are too scared to share their stories with the media. But he did direct me to a Facebook post of Kari Wade, a constituent in his county, who responded to those who don’t see any emergency at our border: Isn’t this why we have a military? Why are our own citizens less worth protecting than citizens of foreign countries in the Middle East?

This is not even right at the border. Edwards tells me that anything south of Interstate 10 is within the drug trafficking corridor. That is roughly 70 miles into the state. Yet the state’s governor doesn’t even think there is a problem!

Many of the illegal aliens passing through are growing bolder and more belligerent.

Tisha Green, who is the county manager appointed by Edwards and his two colleagues on the county commission, told me the ranchers have witnessed a disturbing change in the migrants’ attitudes, which is further concerning the ranchers. “When ranchers would encounter crim-

continued from page one

inals on their property, in the past, they used to ask to use the rancher’s phone, ask for food, water, and/or transportation.

Now they demand it, by stating you will give me a ride, you will give me food, and you will give me your phone.”

What about fencing? As I reported in my last article on Hidalgo County, Edwards warned that the fencing is so poor that the cartels even drive vehicles over the wired fencing and place ramps over the Normandy barriers. That “happens a lot” in his county.

What allows the cartels to tie down border agents, who are essentially the only law enforcement lifeline for the ranchers?

The endless flow of the migrants and the caravans. Last week, El Paso Sector Border Patrol Agent Fidel Baca told Fox News that the large groups of migrants are not showing up specifically in this remote location “by coincidence.” It’s the criminal organizations taking advantage of the remoteness of the area to do their work.

Thus, as long as the magnet of catch-and-release continues, the cartels will have their strategic diversion to tie down the agents and endanger the local residents with their smuggling activity. Yesterday, Breitbart

Texas posted leaked photos of the overcrowded conditions in the El Paso CBP detention center. But a large number of those migrants initially pass through Hidalgo County, New Mexico, which has much fewer resources and is being strained every day.

David Whipple, the head of the seven-man EMS team in Lordsburg, the Hidalgo County seat, confirmed to me last week that the migrants are usually transferred to El Paso after about three days. Thus, everything you see in the large holding facility in El Paso begins as a colossal strain on a county of 5,000 residents.

This is important as the president considers his next steps following his declaration of an emergency at the border. While a border wall is effective, catchand-release is the cause of the problem and something that can be ended using executive power. Moreover, we need the military to protect these residents as Border Patrol deals with the legal land mines of asylum processing. This is why we have a military. This is not about using military personnel for immigration processing, but to repel what is quite clearly a foreign invasion of paramilitary groups.

The media and politicians

living in their gated communities could never relate to what Edwards deals with as a county official at our frontier, because to them, an emergency is if they only get three bars of signal on

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Livestock Market Digest

March 15, 2019

Invasive Species Have Some States Seeking Increased Federal Partnership

BY DAVE NYCZEPIR, NEWS EDITOR / WWW.ROUTEFIFTY. COM

More than 5,000 invasive species—from plants like cheatgrass to rodents like nutria—inhabit the U.S. causing about $120 billion in economic damage annually.

M

ore than 5,000 invasive species—from plants like cheatgrass to rodents like nutria—inhabit the U.S. causing about $120 billion in economic damage annually.

State wildlife officials this week called for increased partnership between federal agencies and state and local governments to better prevent, control and eradicate invasive species.

Invasive species are not native to the U.S., and when they infiltrate an ecosystem it can

RIDING HERD

cause an array of problems, disturbing both the environment and local economies.

More than 5,000 invasive species now inhabit the U.S. causing about $120 billion in economic damage annually, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. But the Invasive Species Advisory Committee, which provides recommendations to the U.S. Department of the Interior, recently concluded that federal agencies lack the authority to effectively combat that impact.

“As daunting as the task of managing invasive species can be, successful management is realistic and achievable through partnerships involving federal, state and county agencies; non-government organizations; land-grant universities; and, critically important, the private landowner,” said Slade Franklin, weed and pest state coordinator with the Wyoming Department of Agriculture. continued from page one

calves at the auction we got $300 per calf not counting commission and trucking. That didn’t leave a lot left over for necessities, like bulls.

Although I didn’t stoop to serving chicken at our first branding I did send out invitations to only the best ropers that said it was it was BYOBB event... bring your own beef and beer. No one showed up so the following year we were forced to entice the Super Loopers with hamburgers made with beef from an old cancer eyed cow.

My wonder horse Gentleman cost $650 and we bought our dog Aussie in Australia because the value of the dollar was extremely high at the time. We even tried raising our own hay to cheapen back on feed costs but the bales were so full of rocks my wife could hardly lift them.

Our outfit was known far and wide as The Toothless Cattle Company and I remember reading an article written by a college professor that said a rancher should get rid of all his unprofitable cows, but if we did that we’d no longer be in the cow business.

I learned real fast that what’s cheap is expensive. Take my squeeze chute for example. PLEASE! I’ve always enjoyed working cows through a good chute but when we got into the cow business we couldn’t afford a new chute so I bought one sight unseen for $200 from the widow of a rancher. We’ve since speculated that he was killed by his chute! It was a crossbred, made up of parts of two ancient chutes along with several handmade modifications. One of these was a balky head gate which meant there have been several life or death incidents where a cow would still have her head squeezed down when I opened the head gate. Getting her back in the squeeze would have been like putting spilled toothpaste back in the tube (which I’ve tried). What usually happened was the lever would finally release while the cow was looking directly at the operator.

The only reason I was never killed was I refused to die to save on funeral expenses. wwwLeePittsbooks.com

Speaking before the Senate’s environment committee Wednesday, Franklin detailed Wyoming’s struggles controlling cheatgrass, a weed that consumes large amounts of water, degrades soil, displaces vegetation, and fuels catastrophic wildfires. The state’s 50-year fire cycle has been reduced to three years with the spread of cheatgrass, he said.

In the last 20 years, 74 percent of Department of Interior acres that experienced wildfires were on rangelands, and 80 percent of those 12 million rangeland acres had been invaded by cheatgrass, according to the Bureau of Land Management.

Cheatgrass is a winter annual that dies and fuels the fire cycle just as Wyoming’s other perennials—which feed the endangered greater sage-grouse among other species—are greening.

The National Interagency Fire Center reported that 2017 wildfire firefighting costs reached $2.9 billion across 10 million acres—$290 per acre.

Farmers can treat cheatgrass for a mere $60 an acre, Franklin said, and they’re “passionate and financially motivated.”

Other efforts to tackle invasive species have recently gotten some congressional assistance. When Congress reauthorized the Water Resource Development Act in October, lawmakers included provisions targeting invasive species like Asian carp in the Great Lakes.

U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican and the

committee’s chairman, also put forth the WILD Act with ranking member Sen. Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat, which has passed the Senate and contains additional measures for combating invasive species.

The bill would require federal agencies working on invasive species projects to coordinate and offer grants to stakeholders for innovative controls like smart fish passage systems and advance DNA detection of invasives.

Joe Rogerson, program manager for wildlife species conservation and research at the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife, said more federal financial support is needed.

“States currently don’t have sufficient resources to tackle all of the threats outlined within their wildlife action plans, so we are unable to address threats facing fish and wildlife populations from invasive species,” he said.

One of the best examples of a federally supported eradication effort was the handling of nutria, a semi-aquatic rodent with large orange teeth native to South America, in the Chesapeake Bay region in the early 2000s, Rogerson said. A prolific breeder and voracious eater of grasses, nutria threatened to destroy 35 thousand acres of wetlands within 50 years—resulting in $35 million in economic losses due to the damage to tidal fish and shellfish nurseries.

Because of “adequate funding and staff resources,” all known populations of nutria

are gone and not a single one has been discovered in the region in several years, Rogerson said.

Not all state officials at the hearing asked for increased federal funding and regulations. Terry Steinwand, director of the North Dakota Fish and Game Department, said his agency was seeking more funding from the state legislature through higher fishing license fees because that’s a “primarily state role.”

If his agency has any challenge it’s that of lacking the manpower for constant monitoring of high-value, high-risk areas with certain invasive species, he said, but federal collaboration has never been an issue.

Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, said that the reason his state might require less federal support is because there are fewer federal lands there than in Wyoming, which is more than 40 percent federal land.

Franklin said Wyoming would like to see parts of the National Environmental Policy Act improved to remove categorical exclusions for new invasive populations and treatments. Approval processes for new herbicides and other management tools also vary in length between federal agencies, which can slow control efforts.

“Some [agencies] can do that fairly quickly,” Franklin said. “Some take several years and millions of dollars to do the risk assessment.”

California Town Launches ‘Goat Fund Me’ for Fire Prevention

BY KATE ELIZABETH QUERAM,, STAFF CORRESPONDENT WWW.ROUTEFIFTY.COM

F

acing the threat of another fire season, officials in a small town in northern California are turning to a solution that is both modern and retro: harness the power of crowdfunding to call in the goats.

Thus was born “Goat Fund Me,” a fundraising campaign to secure rented herds of goats to munch on fire-prone underbrush on land owned by Nevada City, a 3,100-population town about 60 miles northeast of Sacramento.

The town, surrounded by a patchwork of national forest land and privately held property, owns 450 acres of open space. The fundraiser’s target of $30,000 will pay rental fees for herds of grazing goats to tend to the most vulnerable 30 acres, much of it along the Deer Creek Environs Trail.

“It’s a creek that goes right through the heart of Nevada City, and it’s the No. 1 fire danger in the entire county,” said Reinette Senum, the city’s vice mayor. “There’s tons of camps, and we get afternoon winds that come up, so if there’s ever a fire—and there has been—it’ll go right into the heart of our town.”

Grazing herds of goats lessen that risk by eating fire-prone underbrush, mostly blackberry bushes, Senum said. A herd of

200 goats can consume about an acre a day, with clean-up crews following along behind to complete the process.

“Whatever the goats do, we make sure they are followed up with hand crews,” she said. “We make sure the job is completed before we go on to another piece of property.”

A state agency in California has used goats to lessen the risk of wildfires, while officials in some places have deployed herds to battle invasive plant species in city parks.

Senum launched the fundraiser in December rather than wait for the city’s appropriations process to find the money.

There’s a collaborative group in place mulling options for fire prevention measures, she added, but rentable goat herds book up quickly, and the city risked missing the opportunity to clear the land ahead of this year’s fire season.

“They’re still in the meeting stage. They have another meeting set up for May 1, but the weather could be heating up by then. We have to move faster than that,” she said. “Time is of the essence. I could not think of any other way that I could make this happen any faster.”

The city’s regulations allow for the move, as elected officials are prohibited only from using crowdfunding to finance political campaigns. As of Tuesday, the

campaign had raised $24,665 of its $30,000 goal. Many of those donations are from local residents, though others came from out of the state and country as news of the Goat Fund Me spread.

City officials have taken some action while they wait for the fundraiser to conclude, including financing a public demonstration of the grazing herds in a local park. Twenty-eight goats were deployed to thin out heavy blackberry bushes, penned in by an electric fence and easily visible to the public. The reaction was largely positive, Senum said, aside from a few residents whose dogs had run-ins with the fence (all are fine).

The long-term goal, Senum said, is to identify stable revenue sources to release goats onto city-owned land each year. The city put out a request for proposals to area ranchers and grazers and will prioritize bids at a council meeting later this month.

Over time, the process will hopefully reduce the risk of wildfires while giving the local economy a boost, Senum said.

“It’s a great opportunity to build our local economy around forest restoration,” she said.

“Our goal is to get those 450 acres grazed over the next three years, and set the precedent that this is what we do, over and over again, every single year as long as we’re here.”

March 15, 2019

Livestock Market Digest

Ranching on the Border

T

he U.S. border with Mexico is just under 2,000 miles. Look at a land ownership of New Mexico and Arizona and you will see that much of that land is federally owned, which automatically involves federal lands ranchers in the many border issues currently being discussed.

What is it really like to ranch on this border today?

In a recent interview Russell Johnson, a fourth-generation rancher from near Columbus, New Mexico explained the problems he has experienced: • People have broken into buildings and homes • Cattle theft is a big issue since much of the border is only a barbed wire fence • Vehicles have been stolen • In instances where the illegal immigrants get lost or are forced to drop out of the group, they set grass fires to signal for help • Fences that divide pastures have been cut • Floats and water towers have been destroyed, draining water systems for cattle.

• When entering the U.S. clips are removed and the wires are stood on for vehicles to pass, but if the Border Patrol is encountered they turn around and “just barrel through it.”

Eighty-three year old Warner Glenn’s family first moved to the Arizona-Mexico border area in 1896. Glenn says that while illegal immigration has always occurred in the area, the ones coming through now are “hard-core”, especially the “drug guys.”

Glenn tells CBN News that, if they go by a residence and “there’s nobody there, they are going to go in and look around. And firearms, top of the list, any kind of jewelry, top of the list, cash, top of the list…”

“We don’t lock the doors because they’d just break the window anyway,” says Billy Grossman, another rancher in the area. Grossman’s says illegal crossers have entered his home several times and he recently caught one trying to steal his pickup. After law enforcement arrived, Grossman

found a bail of marijuana in the back of his truck and quite a few items that had been stolen from his home.

Matt Thomas, a Pinal County deputy, says, “They’ve gotten more advanced and there are more numbers. They set up their own networks now and they pretty much control the terrain and those networks.

They have good control of them visually which means that if we go in by air or by land they know that and so they can adjust they can shut down operations and they can maneuver around us.”

Joel Edwards, a County Commissioner in Hidalgo County, New Mexico, tells us pretty much the same thing.

“The cartels have a lot of the latest technology; the people that are coming across, they have sophisticated communication equipment. They’re not just desperate migrants. These people are … up on technology, they’re up on weaponry. Their loads that they’re carrying are worth thousands and thousands of dollars. They are protecting it because that’s how they’re making their money,” Edwards explains.

This was all recently confirmed by reporters from KPHO who set out to see if there really were scouts for the cartels residing in the U.S. It didn’t take them long to find one, just south of Phoenix.

One of the reporters actually entered one of their camps. He reports:

Page 7

“What I see amazes me. It’s like a small military forward operating base. I see gear boxes covered in camouflage material, bags shoved into cracks in the boulders, a kitchen with a stove set up under a rock overhang (I assume to avoid detection by helicopters) and solar panels set out to recharge the scouts’ electronic equipment.”

The ranchers and other inhabitants along the border have been put in this precarious situation by two different Border Patrol policies. One started in El Paso with Operation Hold The Line. Border Patrol agents were placed within eyesight of each other along the Rio Grande for the purpose of diverting illegal immigration from urban areas to the remote areas along the border. This proved to be highly successful, for the urban areas anyway.

The exact opposite approach is used in the remote areas, where the policy is to interdict illegal crossers after they have entered the U.S. and traveled inland for twenty miles or so. The Border Patrol claims this is the most efficient and effective method of apprehension in these remote areas.

The combination of these two policies, driving illegal immigrants to remote areas but not interdicting them at the border, has left folks residing in these areas in a vulnerable situation. This is where we are seeing the reported thefts and vandalism perpetrated against

the ranching community. In essence, the border has been moved inland, and these folks are suffering the consequences: homes being entered, vehicles stolen, cattle stolen, interior fences cut, water tanks destroyed and so on. Ranchers have been shot and a hired hand has been kidnapped.

Many of them are living in fear. Commissioner Edwards says, “…they shouldn’t have to live in fear that somebody is going to steal their vehicle or their four-wheeler or their horses, just because they live on an international border.” “Some of my residents go back and forth across the border because they actually have some family on the other side of the border, and they fear retaliation from the cartel if they cooperate and [try] to do something about the border problem”, said Edwards.

These families, in essence, have been abandoned by their country and you can certainly understand why they believe this is an emergency. They are tired of living in an area that has been ceded to the cartels and have every reason to demand immediate action to resolve this untenable situation.

Until next time, be a nuisance to the devil and don’t forget to check 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

Have Democrats Declared a War on Cows?

BY MICHAEL GRAHAM WWW.STAREXPONENT.COM

R

eports of the death of America’s beef and dairy industries at the hands of the Green New Deal (GND) may be exaggerated, but both farmers and their Philly steak ‘n cheese eating fans have reason to be concerned about policies embraced by progressive Democrats.

Claims by some opponents of the #GreenNewDeal that it would mean an end of the cattle industry in America are inaccurate—for the simple reason that the GND doesn’t offer any specific policies. The legislation actually filed by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) (D-NY) and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) is merely a resolution declaring general goals and directions, not specific laws and regulations.

However, the FAQ handout from OAC that originally accompanied the proposal was much more aggressive and, many farmers fear, far more accurate about the GND’s goals.

It demands a “a greenhouse gas free food system,” and bemoans the fact that GND doesn’t call for an end to all GHG emissions because “we aren’t sure we can get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast.”

Supporters of AOC argue that this FAQ document was mistakenly released, a work in progress, and doesn’t reflect the immediate goals of the Green New Deal effort. However, what’s undeniable is that cows—and their gaseous emissions—are in the crosshairs of

the climate change activists’ agenda. They have to be.

If advocates of the Green New Deal are serious about getting close to zero emissions, or even a net-zero target using offsets, they have to confront the amount of greenhouse gases coming from livestock. In the US, agriculture is responsible for about nine percent of our emissions. But according to the United Nation’s Food & Agriculture Organization, livestock worldwide account for 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gases. That’s more than the entire transportation sector (14 percent).

It’s simply impossible to move forward on the GND agenda without a drastic impact on cattle-intensive industries like beef and dairy.

And so Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) has legislation targeting concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) for the alleged damage they are doing to the climate.

Eric Holt-Gimenez says the problem is “industrial overproduction of food—the root cause of agricultural pollution, food waste and greenhouse gas emissions.” To discourage over-production, he suggests a “guaranteed minimum price for farmers,” essentially an agricultural minimum wage paid by consumers to prop up inefficient, smaller farming operations.

And New Jersey Senator Cory Booker—a #GreenNewDeal supporter and candidate for president—stated flatly that the “devastating impact” of emissions from the meat industry must end.

“The tragic reality is this planet simply can’t sustain billions of people consuming industrially produced animal agriculture because of environmental impact,” Booker, a vegan, told VegNews magazine.

“It’s just not possible.”

The media are downplaying the potential impact on the agricultural sector from the Democrats’ newest policy initiative, accusing Republicans of exaggerating the case or conflating idealistic goals with realistic policies. But ranchers and farmers have gotten the message.

“You may think the #GreenNewDeal is some far-out nutcase dream, but if you’re involved in agriculture you’d better view it as a threat to your entire way of life,” Texas rancher Casey Kimbrell tweeted.

Sara Place of the National Cattleman’s Beef Association says the Green New Deal “highlights the large divide between people that are interacting with the environment and growing food every day, and those that are concerned about environmental issues, but ignorant.”

And Kansas cattle rancher Brandi Buzzard Frobose has written an open letter to AOC explaining that American ranches “are producing beef in the United States more sustainably and efficiently than ever before—did you know that the U.S. produces nearly 20 percent of the world’s beef with only nine percent of the world’s cattle?

“I beseech you to please have a conversation with your constituents and colleagues that have an agriculture background,” Frobose writes. “Cows

are not the problem.”

But AOC, who represents Queens, New York, doesn’t have a lot of “constituents with an agricultural background.” Neither do many of the congressional co-sponsors of the GND who are from urban districts, like Representative Ayanna Pressley of Boston and Ted Lieu of Los Angeles. Ag jobs just aren’t a key part of their constituency.

“Iowa’s farms are family farms, and so when Washington talks about America ‘getting out of the cattle business,’

it’s not just a job. It’s a family,” Katie Olthoff of the Iowa Cattlement’s Association told InsideSources.

“About 10 years ago, my husband and I made a huge investment in order to farm. Our dream was to be able to raise our kids, to live in rural Iowa, to live this lifestyle. When I hear about proposals and regulations that threaten us, I do get emotional,” Olthoff said.

“This isn’t about shutting down an industry. It’s about a way of life.”

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Livestock Market Digest

March 15, 2019

How Electric Cars Could Make America’s Crumbling Roads Even Worse

BY JAY L. ZAGORSKY, THE CONVERSATION WWW.ROUTEFIFTY.COM

U

.S. roads and bridges are in abysmal shape—and that was before the recent winter storms made things even worse.

In fact, the government rates over one-quarter of all urban interstates as in fair or poor condition and one-third of U.S. bridges need repair.

To fix the potholes and crumbling roads, federal, state

and local governments rely on fuel taxes, which raise more than $80 billion a year and pay for around three-quarters of what the U.S. spends on building new roads and maintaining them.

I recently purchased an electric car, the Tesla Model 3.

While swerving down a particularly rutted highway in New York, the economist in me began to wonder, what will happen to the roads as fewer and fewer cars run on gasoline? Who will pay to fix the streets?

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Fuel Taxes 101 Every time you go to the pump, each gallon of fuel you purchase puts money into a variety of pockets.

About half goes to the drillers

In a country that pays for roads out of a gas tax, new solutions will be needed when fewer cars are dependent on fuel. that extract oil from the earth.

Just under a quarter pays the refineries to turn crude into gasoline. And around 6 percent goes to distributors.

The rest, or typically about 20 percent of every gallon of gas, goes to various governments to maintain and enhance the U.S. transportation’s infrastructure.

Currently, the federal government charges 18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline, which provides 85 percent to 90 percent of the Highway Trust Fund that finances most federal spending on highways and mass transit.

State and local government charge their own taxes that vary widely. Combined with the national levy, fuel taxes range from over 70 cents per gallon in hightax states like California and Pennsylvania to just over 30 cents

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W

hat happened to your pickup seat? Is that buffalo track?”

Well, I guess you had to be there. We had a cow attack.

It all began when me and Roy went out to check the cows.

We’d finished lunch and watched our ‘soap’ and forced ourselves to rouse.

We’s pokin’ through the heavy bunch for calves to tag and check.

I spotted one but his ol’ mom was bowin’ up her neck.

She pawed the ground and swung her head a’slingin’ froth and spit Then bellered like a wounded bull. ‘Say, Roy,’ I says, ‘let’s quit!’

But Roy was bent on taggin’ him and thought to make a grab.

‘Just drive up there beside the calf, I’ll pull him in the cab.’

Oh, great. Another stroke of genius, of cowboy derring do.

Shur nuf when Roy nabbed the calf, his mama came in too.

And I do mean climbed up in there! Got a foot behind the seat Punched a horn right through the windshield and she wasn’t very neat.

She was blowin’ stuff out both ends till the cab was slick and green It was on the floor and on the roof and on the calf vaccine.

If you’ve been inside a dryer at the local laundromat With a bear and fifty horseshoes then you know just where I’s at.

At one point she was sittin’ up, just goin’ for a ride But then she tore the gun rack down. The calf went out my side.

I was fightin’ with my door lock which she’d smashed a’passin’ by When she peeked up through the steering wheel and looked me in the eye.

We escaped like paratroopers out the window, landed clear.

But the cow just kept on drivin’ cause the truck was still in gear.

She topped a hump and disappeared. The blinker light came on But if she turned I never saw, by then the truck was gone.

I looked at Roy, ‘My truck is wrecked. My coveralls are soaked.

I’ll probably never hear again. I think my elbow’s broke.

And look at you. Yer pitiful. All crumpled up and stiff Like you been eat by wild dogs and pooped over a cliff.’

‘But think about it,’ Roy said. ‘Since Granpa was alive, I b’lieve that that’s the firstest time I’ve seen a cattle drive. www.baxterblack.com

Willcox, AZ

when their fuel prices go up, the real burden of gasoline taxes has been falling for decades. The federal government’s 18.4 cent tax, for example, was set way back in 1993. The tax would have to be 73 percent higher, or 32 cents, to have the same purchasing power.

On top of that, today’s vehicles get better mileage, which means fewer gallons of gas and less money collected in taxes.

Slightly more than 1 million plug-in vehicles have been sold since 2012 when the first mass market models hit the roads.

While impressive, that figure is just a fraction of the over 250 million vehicles currently registered and legally drivable on U.S. highways.

But sales of electric cars are growing rapidly as how far they

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in states like Alaska and Arizona.

The difference is a key reason the price of gasoline changes so dramatically when you cross state lines.

While people often complain

can travel before recharging climbs and prices fall. Dealers sold a record 360,000electric vehicles last year, up 80 percent from 2017.

If sales continue at this breakneck pace, electric cars will become mainstream in no time. In addition, governments in Europe and Chinaare actively steering consumers away from fossil fuels and toward their electric counterparts.

In other words, the time will come very soon when the U.S. and individual states will no longer be able to rely on fuel taxes to mend American roads.

What States are Doing About It Some states are already anticipating this eventuality and are crafting solutions.

One involves charging owners of electric cars a fixed fee. So far, 17 states have done just that, with annual taxes ranging from $100 to $200 per car.

There are a few of problems with a fixed fee approach. For example, the proceeds only go to state coffers, even though the driver also uses out-of-state roads and national highways.

Another is that it’s regressive.

Since a fixed fee hits all owners equally, regardless of income or how much they drive, it hurts poorer consumers most. During debate in Maine over a proposed $250 annual EV fee, opponents noted that the average person currently pays just a third of that— $82—in state fuel taxes.

Oregon is testing another solution. Instead of paying fuel taxes, drivers are able to volunteer for a program that lets them pay based on miles driven rather than how many gallons they consume. The state installs tracking devices in their cars—whether electric or conventional—and drivers get a refund for the gas tax they pay at the pump.

The program raises privacy and fairness concerns especially for rural residents who have few other transportation options.

Another Way Forward Currently, carmakers and others are deploying large networks of charging stations throughout the country. Examples include Tesla’s Superchargers, Chargepoint, EVgo and Volkswagen’s proposed mobile chargers.

They operate just like gas pumps, only they provide kilowatts of electricity instead of gallons of fuel. While electric vehicle owners are free to use their own power outlets, anyone traveling long distances has to use these stations. And because charging at home is a hassle—requiring eight to 20 hours—I believe most drivers will increasingly choose the convenience and speed of the charging stations, which can fill up an EV in as little as 30 minutes.

So one option could be for governments to tack on their taxes to the bill, charging a few extra cents per kilowatt “pumped into the tank.” Furthermore, I would argue that the tax—whether on fuel or power—shouldn’t be a fixed amount but a percentage, which makes it less likely to be eroded by inflation over time.

It is in everyone’s interest to ensure there are funds to maintain the nation’s road. A small percentage tax on EV charging stations will help maintain U.S. roads without hurting electric vehicles’ chances of becoming a mass market product.

March 15, 2019

Livestock Market Digest

The View FROM THE BACK SIDE

MORE WALL-NUTS!

BY BARRY DENTON

N

ew Mexico Governor Michelle Grisham states “New Mexico will not take part in the President’s charade of border fear mongering by misusing our diligent National Guard Troops.”

Governor Grisham is withdrawing all but 11-15 of 80 National Guard troops stationed on the border by former New Mexico Governor Susanna Martinez. She did this in spite of last week’s drug bust of four smugglers with 136 lbs. of marijuana

by National Guard Troops in a helicopter, in a remote area on the southwest New Mexico border.

However, what is even more incredible are the stories of rancher’s who live in that area. According to New Mexico rancher Lawrence Hurt of Hurt Cattle Co., Hachita, New Mexico the biggest challenge of ranching in that area is personal

Bradley 3 Ranch The Wide Body Sale Report

B

radley 3 Ranch has spent 61 years bringing innovative ideas to their bull buyers.

This year was no exception as a pre-sale record crowd was given a presentation about the American Angus Association’s new commercial feeder calf program called Angus Link. Chris Engel director of the program from St Joseph, Missouri was on hand to present the program and answer questions.

Saturday was cold and crisp as bidders from 12 states purchased bulls in the sale. When the final gavel fell, 181 Angus Bulls had sold for an average of $5,184. Top selling bull was a Yon Final Answer son out of a B3R Electorate daughter presented as Lot 1. He sold for $22,000 and went to repeat buyer ABS Global. Lot 1 when scored by Zoetis for their All-Purpose Index was in the top ½ of 1 percentile. Lot 55 was the second-high selling bull at $15,000 and is headed to California. Lot 10 sold to a repeat B3R buyer in Texas for $13,500.

The Charolais offering was the largest ever at Bradley 3 Ranch as 65 bulls averaged $4,858. Top selling Charolais bull was Lot 224; B3R Ring Da Bell 813 that sold for $7,500 to a Texas Buyer. Second high Lot was Lot 223 going to a repeat buyer in Idaho for $7,000.

It was another great day for Bradley 3 Ranch as 246 bulls sold for an overall average of $5,098. Mark February 15, 2020 on your calendar for the next Wide Body Sale.

safety from drug smugglers.

Mr. Hurt stated, “We have to carry weapons at all time to protect ourselves.”

Please tell me how much concern Governor Grisham has for Mr. Hurt and other ranchers in that area. I would venture to say none. I guess the drug smugglers are not threatening Governor Grisham’s life or destroying her property each day, so she is not concerned with a few ranchers.

That is a pretty arrogant attitude for a politician that you pay to help you in times of crisis.

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey created the Arizona Border Strike Force to specifically crack

down on drug & human smuggling at the border. Governor Ducey stated that two thirds of Arizona’s border has some kind of wall or physical barrier, but “there are other places that you go and can walk right across… and that’s a real concern for me.”

When asked if the border situation was a crisis the Arizona Governor responded, “If the definition of a crisis is something that is unstable, and where there is a danger, we certainly have that. Look at the drug trafficking, human smuggling, and child sex trafficking.”

According to Judicial Watch, John Ladd is one of many ranchers in the southeastern corner of Arizona. More than a half million illegal immigrants have been apprehended on his land alone and he has also discovered fourteen dead bodies. Ladd said that 70 percent of the traffic coming through his ranch is human smuggling and 30 percent is drug smuggling. Ladd has traveled to Washington seven different times, but government officials have done nothing. Is this how a rancher in the United States of America should have to live? Why can’t the United States protect rancher John

Page 9 Ladd and others like him?

National Border Patrol Council president Brandon Judd spent a large part of his career with the agency patrolling this exact area and he knows it inside and out. According to Judd, it has gotten much worse in Ladd’s area and more violent.

On a more personal note, I have friends that live in Patagonia, Arizona, which is also close to the border. They work in Tucson and stay there Monday thru Thursday. Then they come back home Thursday night through Monday morning. Three different times they have come home to a house full of illegal aliens.

They are illegal in more ways than one. Numerous other times they have been broken into.

This just seems insane, because some of our leaders in Washington and in our state houses think it’s more important to have labor and votes, than safety. Next time you are at your local Chamber of Commerce meeting see what their take is on illegal immigration.

The Chamber of Commerce is one influential lobbying group that is a likes to look the other way when it comes to illegal immigration. The United States

Congress seems to fail us all because they just will not do much about it. In the meantime the border rancher is being overrun with criminals.

It is almost laughable that any eastern pundits or politician would have any idea about what goes on at our border. Our ranchers and other good citizens have to live with the crime at our border, they cannot just talk about it. The politicians and pundits certainly have their comments about something they can have no knowledge of. Even if they talk to the residents and the Border Patrol, they never seem to hear what is being said.

Today our President Donald Trump got some of the money for his wall, more surveillance, and more manpower, but he intends to declare a national emergency to get the rest of the money for this project. If you don’t think the wall works, then check out last year’s 1128 murders in Juarez, Mexico to 26 murders in El Paso, Texas just on the other side of the wall. I still find it difficult to believe that the US Congress is against defending America’s borders. Hopefully, soon there will be help on its way.

Page 10

Livestock Market Digest

March 15, 2019

REAL ESTATE GUIDE M U R N E Y , ASSOCIATES, REALTORS® 1625 E. Primrose • Springfield, MO 65804 • murney.com • 823-2300

See all my listings at: paulmcgilliard.murney.com Paul McGilliard - Cell: 417/839-50961-800/743-0336

Missouri Land Sales • MAJOR PRICE REDUCTION! 564 ACRE GASCONADE RIVER FARM. 360 Acres of lush grass/hay/ tillable bottom ground make up this highly productive livestock/hunting property.Well maintained older 4 Bed, 3 Ba home. Only 45 miles east of Springfield, Mo. MLS#60115449 • PRICE REDUCED” DEVELOPMENT, 240 Acres surveyed into small buildable tracts. Hunting retreat (lots of wildlife), recreational (build your dream home overlooking your lake & enjoy!) Then sell surveyed tracts off to finance your retirement/investment. Good roads thru surveyed acreage, only1+ miles from Hwy.60 (4-Lane Hwy). A tract of land this large, surveyed in small acreages rarely ever comes on the market! Owner may divide & sell 160 acres or 80 acres. This property is priced to sell!

MLS 60128270.

• 80 ACRES - 60 Acres hayable, live water only 50 miles east of Springfield, 1/4 mile off of Hwy 60. 3 Bed, 1 1/2 Ba, 1432 sq. ft. home, nestled under the trees. Full basement (partially finished), John Deer Room. MLS#60059808.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA RANCH PROPERTY 31 years in the ranch business - see www.ranch-lands.com for videos & brochures THESE RANCHES HAVE EXCELLENT LOW COST WATER! 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 perfect for expansion to pivot irrigated alfalfa – access to very low cost Surprise Valley Electric. Corrals & livestock scales. The private BLM permit is fenced into 4 fields on about 18,000 acres just about 7 miles away. $3,495,000. Call Bill Wright. 530-941-8100 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. 530-941-8100 NORTH FORK RANCH: approx. 2,822 ac - Winter range west of Cottonwood & Red Bluff, CA. Rolling oaks, stock ponds, seasonal drainage’s, good quality. Beautiful views of Mt. Shasta & Mt. Lassen. Good gravel road access with a good system of dirt roads and trails to access the interior of the ranch. Great recreational opportunities with hunting and fishing. Deer, wild pigs, wild turkey, quail and dove hunting! $3,295,000. Call Bill Wright 530-941-8100

BILL WRIGHT, SHASTA LAND SERVICES, INC. 530-941-8100 • DRE# 00963490 • www.ranch-lands.com

www.scottlandcompany.com

TEXAS & OKLA. FARMS & RANCHES

Ben G. Scott – Broker Krystal M. Nelson – NM QB 800-933-9698 5:00 a.m./10:00 p.m.

RANCH & FARM REAL ESTATE We need listings on all types of ag properties large or small!

■ WE CAN NOW DIVIDE - THE PAJARITO RANCH – Guadalupe Co., NM as follows: 3501.12 ac. +/- of grassland w/a commercial water well located adjacent to I40 w/capability of producing large incomes together w/a great set of pens, a 17,000 gal. water storage tank, overhead cake bin, hay barn & other stock wells. 700.89 ac. +/- of grassland can be purchased in addition to the 3501.12 ac. The beautiful, virtually new custom built home w/all amenities and a large virtually new metal barn w/an apartment inside on 40 ac. can be purchased separately or w/the ranch.

• 14 acre Van Zandt County TX, Canton. 2 homes, 2 shops. Fronts State Rd. Excellent buy at $400,000 • 160 acre Ranger Eastland Co, $560,000

■ PRICE REDUCED! MALPAIS OF NM – Lincoln/Socorro Counties, 37.65 sections +/- (13,322 ac. +/- Deeded, 8,457 ac. +/- BLM Lease, 2,320 ac. +/- State Lease) good, useable improvements & water, some irrigation w/ water rights for 2 pivot sprinklers, on pvmt. & all-weather road.

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

Irrigation water developed, crop & cattle, modest improvements. Just off I-20.

Price reduced to $1.6 million.

■ COTTONWOOD SPRINGS RANCH – Grant Co., NM – 13,568 +/- ac. (1,629 Deeded +/-, 5,839 +/- State, 3,400 +/- BLM, 2,700 +/- Forest Leases) well improved w/home, shop, hay barn, pens & livestock scale, watered by wells, pipelines & earthen dams.

■ SOUTH CONCHAS RANCH – San Miguel Co., NM – 10,685 ac. +/- (6,670 +/- deeded, 320 +/- BLM, 40 +/State Lease, 2,106 +/- “FREE USE”) well improved, just off pvmt. on co. road., 1,550 +/- State Lease in process of being added to the ranch.

Joe Priest Real Estate

1-800/671-4548

■ SANTA ROSA, NM – 78 ac. +/- heavily improved for horses, cattle & other livestock w/virtually new barns, pens, cross fences etc., on city water, w/internet access to the front gate.

UNDER CONTRACT

SULTEMEIER RANCH– (First Time Located 15 miles southeast Corona, NM DOUBLE L RANCH Central NM,Offering) 10 miles–west of Carrizozo, NM. 12,000oftotal acres; along and on both sides of State Highway 247.

11,889 deeded acres, 2,215 NM State Lease 175 AUYL, BLM Section 3 grazing permit; Water provided by 3 wells and buried pipeAcres and 1,640 Federal BLM Lease Grazing capacity is estimated to be approximately line. Improvements include houseAcres. and pens.

Price Reduced: $1,150,000 320 A.U. year-long. Two residences, barns, corrals and shipping pens. Five wells and X T RANCH Southeastern NMPrice: cattle$4,400,000.00 ranch 40 miles northwest of Roswell, NM on pipelines.

Good– mule deer habitat. the Chaves/Lincoln County line. Good grass ranch with gently rolling grass covered SOUTH BROWN – Nicely ranch located northwest hills. 8,000 total LAKE acres, RANCH 200 AUYL grazingimproved capacity.cattle Partitioned into four pasturesof Roswell, NM. 5,735 total acres to include 960 acres deeded.

164 A.U. year-long grazing watered by 2 wells with pipelines. Call for brochure. Price: $1,750,000 capacity. Modern residence, bunkhouse, shop and feed barn. Three wells and buried pipeline.

SOUTH grass BROWN LAKE RANCH – Nicely improved cattle ranch located northwest of Excellent country.

Price: $1,300,000.00 Roswell, NM. 5,735 total acres to include 960 acres deeded. 164 A.U. yearlong grazing Lcapacity.

– X RANCH – Southeastern just ten minutes from Roswell, with paved and Modern residence, NM bunkhouse, shop and feed barn. NM Three wells andgated buried locked access.

3,761 total acres divided into several pastures and traps.

Nice improvements pipeline. Excellent grass country. Price: $1,300,000 to include a site-built adobe residence. One well with extensive pipeline system. Well suited L-Xa RANCH Southeastern just$825,000.00. ten minutes from Roswell, NM with paved gated for registered– cattle operation.NM Price: and locked access. 3,761 total acres divided into several pastures and traps. Nice 19th STREET FARM – Located just outside the city limits of Roswell, NM. Six total acres with improvements to include a site built adobe residence. One well with extensive pipeline 5.7 acres of senior artesian water rights. Improved with a 2, 200 square foot residence, horse system. Well suited for a registered cattle operation. Price: $900,000 $825,000 barn with stalls, enclosed hay barn with tack room and loafing shed. Price: $400,000.00 Scott McNally, Qualifying Broker Bar M Real Estate, LLC P.O. Box 428, Roswell, NM 88202 Office: 575-622-5867 Cell: 575-420-1237 www.ranchesnm.com

AsLow LowAsAs 3% As 4.5% OPWKCAP 2.9% OPWKCAP 2.9%

INTEREST RATESAS AS LOW 3% INTEREST RATES LOW ASAS 4.5% Payments Scheduledon on2525 Years Payments Scheduled Years

joepriestre.net • joepriestre@earthlink.com

O’NEILL LAND, llc P.O. Box 145, Cimarron, NM 87714 • 575/376-2341 • Fax: 575/376-2347 land@swranches.com • www.swranches.com

WAGONMOUND RANCH, Mora/Harding Counties, NM. 4,927 +/- deeded acres, 1,336.80 +/- state lease acres, 2,617 +/- Kiowa National Grassland Lease Acres.

8,880.80 +/- Total Acres. Substantial holding with good mix of grazing land and broken country off rim onto Canadian River. Fenced into four main pastures with shipping and headquarter pasture and additional four pastures in the Kiowa lease. Modern well, storage tank and piped water system supplementing existing dirt tanks located on deeded. Located approximately 17 miles east of Wagon Mound on pavement then county road.

Nice headquarters and good access to above rim. Wildlife include antelope, mule deer and some elk. $2,710,000 MIAMI HORSE HEAVEN, Colfax County, NM. Very private approx. 4,800 sq ft double walled adobe 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom home with many custom features, 77.50 +/- deeded acres with water rights and large 7 stall barn, insulated metal shop with own septic. Would suit indoor growing operation, large hay barn/equipment shed. $1,375,000.

RATON MILLION DOLLAR VIEW, Colfax County, NM. 97.68 +/- deeded acres, 2 parcels, excellent home, big shop, wildlife, a true million dollar view at end of private road. $489,000.

House & 1 parcel $375,000

SOLD

MIAMI 80 ACRES, Colfax County, NM. 80 +/- deeded acres, 80 water shares, expansive views, house, shop, roping arena, barns and outbuildings. Reduced $485,000 COLD BEER VIEW, Colfax County, NM 83.22 +/- deeded acre, 3,174 sq ft, 5 bedroom, 3 ½ bathrm, 2 car garage home situated on top of the hill with amazing 360 degree views.

Reduced $398,000 $349,000 MIAMI 20 ACRES, Colfax County, NM. 20 +/- deeded acres, 20 water shares, quality 2,715 sq ft adobe home, barn, grounds and trees. Private setting. This is a must see. Reduced to $265,000

FRENCH TRACT 80, Irrigated farm with gated pipe, house, stone shop, many out buildings privacy. Reduced to $292,000 MAXWELL FARM IMPROVED, Colfax County, NM. 280 $350,000 +/- deeded acres, 160 Class A irrigation shares, 2 center pivots, nice sale barn, 100 hd feedlot. Depredation Elk MAXWELL SMALL HOLDING, home with horse improveTags available. Owner financing available to qualified ments, fenced, water rights and 19+/- deeded acres. Handy buyer. Significantly reduced to $550,000 to I25 on quiet country road. $232,000.

521 West Second St., Portales, NM 88130

For Real Estate and Classified Advertising Please Call 505/243-9515 AG LOANS AGLAND LAND LOANS

• 80 acre wood home with barns, meadows and woods.

Fronts State Rd. $650,000

575-226-0671 www.buenavista-nm.com

521 West Second St. • Portales, NM 88130

575-226-0671 or 575-226-0672 fax

Buena Vista Realty

Qualifying Broker: A.H. (Jack) Merrick 575-760-7521 www.buenavista-nm.com

SOCORRO PLAZA REALTY On the Plaza

Donald Brown

Qualifying Broker

505-507-2915 cell 505-838-0095 fax

Joe Stubblefield & Associates 13830 Western St., Amarillo, Call Buena Vista TX Realty at 575-226-0671 116 or the listing agent Plaza 806/622-3482 • cell 806/674-2062 PO Box 1903 Lori Bohm 575-760-9847, or Melody Sandberg 575-825-1291. joes3@suddenlink.net Socorro, NM 87801 ManyAssociates good pictures on MLS or www.socorroplazarealty.com www.buenavista-nm.com Michael Perez Nara Visa, NM • 575/403-7970 dbrown@socorroplazarealty.com

Bottari Realty Paul Bottari, Broker

775/752-3040

SOLD

1509 Davis Rd, very nice home, lots of garage and barn space - 3 miles east 1242 NM 480, fantastic ranch home on 58 acres overlooking Portales 1809 S Rrd 8, south of town - beautiful 3 bdrm on 10 acres - great home 2344 S Rrd K, 3 bdrm 2 bath farm home with hand house, 7 steel grain bins, corrals, shop bldg - Select what you want and we will adjust price. Good location, on good road - mail route, school bus for Dora See these and other properties at www.buenavista-nm.com

Bar M Real Estate

Nevada Farms & raNch PrOPerTY

SCOTT MCNALLY

www.bottarirealty.com

Ranch Sales & Appraisals

www.ranchesnm.com 575/622-5867 575/420-1237

Selling residential, farm, ranch, commercial and relocating properties.

COLETTA RAY

Pioneer Realty 1304 Pile Street, Clovis, NM 88101

575-799-9600 Direct 575.935.9680 Office 575.935.9680 Fax coletta@plateautel.net www.clovisrealestatesales.com

March 15, 2019

Livestock Market Digest

Page 11

Three Daily Servings of Dairy May Keep Your Heart Healthy CHECKED BY JASMIN COLLIER / MEDICALNEWSTODAY.COM

A

large observational study recently published in the journal The Lancet examines the link between the consumption of whole-fat dairy and cardiovascular health.

The United States Department of Agriculture and American Heart Association (AHA) both recommend that adults do not exceed three servings of

whole-fat dairy correlates with a lower risk of mortality and cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Mahshid Dehghan — from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada — is the lead author of the new research.

Whole-fat dairy lowers mortality risk Dr. Dehghan and colleagues used food questionnaires to collect self-reported data on the eating habits of 136,384 people over a follow-up period of

“Our findings support that consumption of dairy products might be beneficial for mortality and cardiovascular disease, especially in low-income and middle-income countries where dairy consumption is much lower than in North America or Europe.”

Dr. Mahshid Dehghan low-fat dairy per day.

The high content of saturated fat found in dairy products, they warn, may raise the levels of “bad” cholesterol, which poses a threat to cardiovascular health.

However, new research is challenging these guidelines.

For instance, a recent study has suggested that the fatty acids found in whole-fat dairy may have a protective role against heart disease and stroke.

Now, a large-scale observational study has reviewed the dietary habits of over 130,000 people in 21 countries across five continents and found that

9.1 years. The people surveyed were aged between 35 and 70, and the dairy products they consumed were milk, yogurt, and cheese.

For the purposes of the study, a portion of dairy comprised either a glass of milk of 244 grams, a cup of yogurt of 244 grams, a 15-gram slice of cheese, or a five-gram teaspoon of butter.

Based on these intakes, the team divided the volunteers into four groups: those who consumed no dairy, those whose intake did not exceed one serving per day, those who consumed one to two servings daily, and

the “high-intake” group, who consumed over two daily servings — or 3.2 servings, on average — every day.

The study revealed that people in the high-intake group were less likely to die from any cause, less likely to die of cardiovascular disease, and less likely to have a stroke or develop major heart disease.

Also, within the group that regularly consumed full-fat dairy only, the researchers found that the more whole-fat dairy was consumed, the lower the risk of mortality and cardiovascular issues.

“Our findings support that consumption of dairy products might be beneficial for mortality and cardiovascular disease, especially in low-income and middle-income countries where dairy consumption is much lower than in North America or Europe.”

Dr. Mahshid Dehghan

Kong, and Anna M. Rangan, from the University of Sydney in Australia, explains why that may not be such a good idea yet.

“The results from the [...] study seem to suggest that dairy intake, especially whole-fat dairy, might be beneficial for preventing deaths and major cardiovascular diseases,” they write.

“However, as the authors themselves concluded, the results only suggest the ‘consump-

tion of dairy products should not be discouraged and perhaps even be encouraged in low-income and middle-income countries.’” “[The study] is not the ultimate seal of approval for recommending whole-fat dairy over its low-fat or skimmed counterparts,” they add. “Readers should be cautious, and treat this study only as yet another piece of the evidence (albeit a large one) in the literature.”

Should dietary guidelines be changed?

Although this is an observational study that cannot confirm causality, the results suggest that some saturated fats in whole-fat dairy could benefit cardiovascular health, as do some vitamins and calcium. Does this mean that the current dietary guidelines should be changed?

Previous research that found similar results suggested that the guidelines do need revising.

However, a linked commentary written by Jimmy Chun Yu Louie, at the University of Hong

Angus. America’s Breed.

Radale Tiner,

Regional Manager

New Mexico Texas

Supreme Court Restrains States’ Power to Seize Property

BY BILL LUCIA, SENIOR REPORTER / WWW.ROUTEFIFTY.COM

Eighth Amendment protections from excessive fines are enforceable against the states the court ruled in an Indiana case.

C

onstitutional protections against excessive fines apply to states in the same way they do for the federal government, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in mid February.

The decision came in the case of Tyson Timbs and a 2012 Land Rover LR2 v. State of Indiana. Timbs had his $42,000 Land Rover seized by the state after he sold less than $400 of heroin to undercover police.

In issuing the ruling the justices held that a clause in the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment, protecting Americans against excessive fines, is “incorporated” against, or applied to, the states.

The clause was one of the last parts of the Bill of Rights

the court had not incorporated against the states under the 14th Amendment.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg authored the opinion, which seven other justices joined. Justice Clarence Thomas agreed with the judgment, but wrote a separate opinion.

“In short, the historical and logical case for concluding that the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Excessive Fines Clause is overwhelming,” Ginsburg wrote.

“Protection against excessive punitive economic sanctions secured by the Clause is,” she added, “both ‘fundamental to our scheme of ordered liberty’ and ‘deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition.’”

The trial court in the case ruled that the seizure of the Land Rover was “grossly disproportionate” to the gravity of Timbs’ offenses and unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment.

A divided state appeals court issued a similar ruling.

But the Indiana Supreme

Court sided against Timbs and declined to review the vehicle forfeiture based on the excessive fines clause. It said the U.S. Supreme Court “has never held that the States are subject to” the constitutional provision.

The ruling vacates that state Supreme Court decision and sends the case back to that court for further proceedings.

A reliable business partner is difficult to come by. Contact Radale Tiner to locate Angus genetics, select marketing options tailored to your needs, and to access American Angus Association® programs and services. Put the business breed to work for you.

Bill Lucia is a Senior Reporter for Route Fifty and is based in Olympia, Washington.

Contact Regional Manager Radale Tiner: Cell: 979-492-2663 rtiner@angus.org

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Page 12

Livestock Market Digest

March 15, 2019

The Push to Build a Coast-to-Coast Trail for Cyclists & Pedestrians

BY BILL LUCIA, SENIOR REPORTER / WWW.ROUTEFIFTY. COM

C

onnecting the nation’s east and west coasts with a nearly 4,000 mile trail that could accommodate bicyclists or people traveling by foot may sound to some like an audacious plan.

Kevin Mills, senior vice president of policy for the Rails-toTrails Conservancy, concedes as much.

But, after more than 18 months of analysis and discussions, his organization believes it’s a feasible idea. “We’re confident that this is something we can do,” Mills said during a phone interview.

“It will take some effort over a period of years to bring it together of course,” he added.

The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy was founded in the 1980s. Its mission is reflected

in its name: it works to convert unused railroad corridors, and other spaces, into public trails.

The idea of a transcontinental path has been alive within the organization since its early days, Mills said.

Examples of these existing segments include the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park trail, which runs about 185 miles between Washington, D.C., and Cumberland, Maryland.

corporating into the nationwide route, including the 212-mile Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail, in Washington state — envisioned as the national trail’s western terminus.

Come May, the group in-

Adventure tourism companies and others, he says, anticipate that there will likely be demand from riders interested in completing coast-to-coast rides, which raises the possibility of “eco-tourism.”

It wasn’t until the past couple of years, though, that the conservancy began to look more closely at the idea. Mills explains that part of what it was waiting for was enough segments of trail to be completed around the U.S. to potentially make up about half of the route, a threshold the group says has now been reached.

To the west, there is also the Ohio to Erie Trail, which spans about 270 miles between Cincinnati and Cleveland. Shorter offerings were built too, like the Casper Rail Trail in Wyoming, a six-mile connector in one of the Cowboy State’s largest cities.

There are nine other trails of varying lengths the conservancy has identified as options for in-

tends to release more details about its plans, including a finished “needs assessment” and a map with specific route options.

After that, the conservancy will likely turn its attention to “catalytic projects” that could help fill in gaps between existing trails.

So far the conservancy doesn’t have concrete cost estimates or timeline goals it’s will-

ing to share publicly. Mills described state and federal dollars are the most obvious funding sources for completing the trail, but noted that private money could also flow toward some segments.

Part of the group’s work involves communicating with state officials, often transportation and parks department heads, about the prospect of the trail, to gauge and build political will.

“Typically people are impressed with the vision and they want to be part of it,” Mills said.

“We have observed over the years that highly successful statewide trails are typically championed by their states,” he added.

The conservancy is trying to plan the route so it maximizes the amount of trail built upon old railroad rights of way, which tend to have gentle grades, rather than steep hills. But it could traverse other types of land. Surfaces would likely be pavement, crushed limestone, or gravel.

If the project comes together as it’s tentatively imagined a person on a mountain bike, or road bike with wider tires, would be able to ride from the D.C. metro area, to Washington state, while avoiding the stress and risks of busy roads. Mills acknowledges that if the project moves ahead, there could be phases where it incorporates some road travel, before the entire trail is complete.

But why do it? Are that many people really clamoring to cycle from one coast to the other on a trail? Mills makes a few points here, some of which have to do with the different types of users.

Adventure tourism companies and others, he says, anticipate that there will likely be demand from riders interested in completing coast-to-coast rides, which raises the possibility of “eco-tourism,” and the boost it could provide to rural communities along the route.

And while some people might travel the route in one shot, others might do it in pieces, over several years, Mills added. This is similar to the way some hikers travel the Appalachian Trail.

But there’s also an expectation that the nationwide bike and pedestrian thoroughfare, if it does come to fruition, would be an asset for local users as well, who might choose to use it on the weekend or for a daily bicycle commute, with local trails serving as branch routes.

Mills likens it to the interstate highway system, which is used for both long and short-distance travel.

“Part of the reason why it’s going to work is because we’re getting richer and richer regional trail networks in all the towns along the route,” he said. “So what we see is this is kind of the spine.”

“If you think about it that way, where it’s part of a nationwide network that’s bringing greater connectedness and vitality to all of the regional networks along the way and that you’ll have users of all those sorts,” he added, “you start to get the feel for the why.”