View From the Backside

VIEW FROM THE BACKSIDE

by Barry Denton

Conundrum

(The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association.)

Recently I received a letter that had been written to the United States Forest Service regarding how a cattlemen’s association wants to comply with the latest USFS protocol. The way I understand it is that USFS has been changing their rules regarding cattle allotments and that most permits are being cut.

My interpretation is that the cowmen are still trying to comply with the old rules that they were given last week. In other words, the USFS is trying their best to get cattle off federal land, by changing the grazing rules constantly. There is no way a normal rancher could keep up with the rule changes.

For instance, it looks like USFS has implemented new ways of evaluating grazing allotments as well. What I cannot figure out is, why the cattlemen would write such a letter in the first place. What is the point of being courteous to a federal agency that has been working against you for the last thirty years or more?

It seems to me that the cattlemen should pony up, lawyer up, and challenge the USFS in court. Look at what the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association just accom-

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plished in regard to the USFS shooting cattle from helicopters? It would be interesting to know “who” gets up in the morning and shoots defenseless cattle from a helicopter. What was the point? What did the cattle do to hurt anyone?

To me that is governmental terrorism. Cattlemen that lease federal land need to be sure and have their lawyers read the fine print on their leases. The permit holder has a lot more rights than the USFS wants you to know.

Often the USFS will tell you with authority, to change something on your allotment. However, if you read your lease, they can only suggest the majority of changes and nothing says that you have to comply.

I am aware of another instance where a cattleman’s association had access to someone high up in the USFS. He took the association’s grievance directly to the lofty official.

Instead of taking care of the situation the official made them start from the bottom and go through several months of protocol with the flunkies until it reached the same official via their “proper channels”. Obviously, our government has nothing to do with the real world, and solving problems is not on their agenda.

Creating problems seems to be their “modus operandi” these days. They are enjoying keeping cattlemen in turmoil. If you are a cattleman and do comply with all the USFS rules, they will just pile on more rules. The last thing that the USFS wants to deal with are people that can think for themselves and use common sense. They just want you to adopt their “religion” and give up yours. Why try and make sense of people that seem to possess none? You should consider that most people employed in government, cannot survive in the real world.

In my humble opinion, you are not dealing with the top of the pile. However, they do have the power of the federal government behind them, and they will use it to make your life miserable. From my observations it appears government employees have a different set of rules to live by as well. They seem to do what they are told whether it is the right thing to do or not.

The conundrum is that until you find a way to change these government agencies such as the USFS, your life can only get worse. It would be nice if the USFS taught their employees what the word, “service” means. It would even be nicer if they realized that they are paid by YOU the taxpayer. ▫