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NAVIGATING THIS BLOG


Posts (dated articles with a feature that allows for comments from readers) are below the front page.

Same with links to other websites, videos and blog archives. They are on the right side of the blog where opposite posts in a narrow column.

SCROLL DOWN if you want to research or get sources. Use the "labels" feature and simply click on the topic or person that interests you. An idiosyncracy of this format is that whenever you click on a label or older post, you will again see the front page. Nothing we can do about that.

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR BLOG:
oteroresidentsforum@gmail.com



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CONSTITUTIONAL COUNTY ORDINANCE WEBSITE

Website advocating for involvement in your county regulation process and suggestions for county ordinances responding to federal expansion of jurisdiction and authority and global governance.


http://sites.google.com/site/constitutionalcountyordinance/

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US Capitol switchboard
800-828-0498 or 202-224-3121

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ORF is now monetized. This means you will see ads on the blog. By clicking on the ads, you help generate revenue for ORF. What is ORF going to do with revenue generated from this blog? We want to buy a blender. A really nice blender with multiple speeds. We also would like to buy a lava lamp. In addition to the items mentioned aforely, we would also like to buy a stuffed Jack-a-lope head. Nothing extravagant.

Uncle Sam

Uncle Sam

The Oath of the President of the United States


US Constitution, Article II, Section 1


Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."


The case could be made that Obama has violated the oath of the office of the Presidency of the United States in not closing the borders at the threat of a global pandemic of the Mexican flu, the violations of the U.S. Constitution in the CIFTA, and his refusal to clarify the circumstances of his birth. Think about it.


Link to the White House by Clicking on Photo

Link to the White House by Clicking on Photo
WHEN OBAMA TALKS ABOUT GUN CONTROL HE REALLY MEANS GUN CONFISCATION

KALH COMMUNITY RADIO

KALH COMMUNITY RADIO
Click on KALH logo for website and to listen to live stream

MEXICAN WOLF RECOVERY - COLLATERAL DAMAGE IDENTIFICATION

WARNING: GRAPHIC PICTURES MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR WOLF LOVERS & SMALL CHILDREN

Catron County Wolf Incident Investigator, Jess Carey, provide ORF with this document. This is what the ranchers in western New Mexico are living with.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=12e740df9705f324&mt=application/pdf&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui%3D2%26ik%3Db2e1154c85%26view%3Datt%26th%3D12e740df9705f324%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dattd%26zw&sig=AHIEtbQTV_dgqwDweaJO_z9FKGvH0SJ6pw&pli=1


CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION OF MILITARY OR ANY OTHER HOSTILE USE OF ENVIRONMENTAL MODIFICATION TECHNIQUES (A TREATY SIGNED IN THE
UN).
http://www.fas.org/nuke/control/enmod/text/environ2.htm

NEW MEXICO WOLF RE-INTRODUCTION

Links to past ORF information on the Mexican Gray Wolf re-introduction program. Some of the links to newspaper articles no longer work.


http://oteroresidentsforum.blogspot.com/search/label/MEXICAN%20GRAY%20WOLF

WOLF CROSSING WEBSITE

http://wolfcrossing.org/








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ORF NEWS BLIMP

ORF NEWS BLIMP
They are watching. We're watching them watcing us watching you.

OTERO RESIDENTS FORUM COLLECTION OF PARODY CARTOONS

http://oteroresidentforumparodyblog.blogspot.com/

We've complied the best of the ORF cartoons all in one location.

Natural Climate Change - Real Science, Verifiable

Natural Climate Change - Real Science, Verifiable
Dr. Eric Karlstrom's excellent website on climate change, it's natural. The agenda is truth and the vindication of scientific method.

Title 17 U.S.C section 107

*NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

Posts and Comments from Readers

Please include yourself in the discussion. Post a comment.

Monday, March 31, 2008

WOLF LOVER EXPOSES LOOPHOLE TO DELISTING

Bill Schneider writing for New West.

"Anybody exposed to news knows that today, March 28, the federal government officially and totally removed the wolf from the endangered species list in northern Rockies. Eleven conservation groups have made it crystal clear that they believe it’s too soon to remove protections and plan to sue to keep the wolf an endangered species.

But most people don’t know about the loophole."

Click on title for rest of story

CORY VOORHIS TRIAL BEGINS IN DENVER TODAY

"Supporters of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Cory Voorhis may consider him a hero who took a much-needed stand against illegal immigration.

But when jury selection begins today in federal court, it will be Voorhis' use of a government computer - not local or national immigration policy - that will be on trial, U.S. District Judge John Kane has made clear."

PAULSON PLAN: FEDERAL RESERVE TO CREATE 3 REGULATORY AGENCIES

"The Paulson plan, which the administration has been working on for a year, calls for the eventual creation of three regulatory agencies.

In addition to the Fed as a "market stability regulator," the plan would create a "prudential financial regulator" for the nation's banks, thrifts and credit unions, in place of the five agencies that perform that task now.

The third new agency would regulate business conduct and consumer protection, taking over many of the functions of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The proposed overhaul would be the most extensive since the current regulatory system was created in response to the 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression."

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Can You Hear Me Now?

Mobile phones 'more dangerous than smoking'

Brain expert warns of huge rise in tumours and calls on industry to take immediate steps to reduce radiation


Click on title, this is not an April Fools joke.

JESS CAREY: WOLVES IN RUIDOSO AND MORE

Click on the title of this post to read Jess Carey's January 2008 submission to the blog. Jess writes on wolves, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the reality of the situation. Once again, Jess nails it. This article is timely considering our recent visit to Jess in Catron county.

PROPOSED PELONCILLO WILDERNESS AREA




Click on the title of this post to be taken to the article that accompanies this map.
The article was sent out in an email to blog readers. From the article:

"One of the Wildlands Project's first proposals would be in southwestern New Mexico, southeastern Arizona and northern Mexico.

In its preliminary form, the "Greater Gila Sky Islands" reserve would encompass 40,000 square miles, roughly half of which would be in Mexico. Within that area would be wilderness core areas, buffer zones around those cores and corridors connecting the core areas. Land-use restrictions in the buffer zones would be less restrictive than in the core areas.

The organization for the most part is keeping its cards close to the vest, but it plans to release detailed maps for the Greater Gila Sky Islands project in about a year. "

Green April Fools

Plans for April Fools activities by the Greenies won't just be the naked guys on bicycles, darn. They have planned “protests and civil disobedience at power plants, energy companies, urban sprawl developers, Bank of America mass account closures,” and presumably a host of things that go beyond free speech and will likely involve vandalism or worse.

These events are planned for “over 100 locations throughout the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.”

... seriously contemplate what is being protested here: electricity, housing and office developments, and transportation fuels among other horrors of modern civilization. In other words, everything a modern society needs to provide for the welfare of its population and its economy.

Click on title for Canada Free Press article.

JIM BEERS: WOLVES & THE 2ND AMENDMENT

From: Jim Beers
Sent: 3/29/2008 8:09:12 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time
Subject: Wolves & the 2nd Amendment


Wolves & the 2nd Amendment

Folks,

This is a copy of something I just sent to Charles Kay, a great biologist
and friend. Since I just remembered that Charles is probably in Africa, I
thought I would send this around.

Remember that the Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service under Clinton
oversaw the theft of $45 to 60 Million from the hunting and fishing excise
taxes. Those funds that were intended by law FOR STATE FISH AND WILDLIFE
PROGRAMS were NEVER REPLACED AND OUR STATE AGENCIES NEVER REQUESTED THAT THEY BE REPLACED (don't want to offend the boys and girls passing out all those federal grants). The stolen funds were used to pay for the capture,
transportation, conditioning, and release of WOLVES IN YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL
PARK to 'seed' wolves in the Upper Rockies. That Director established The
Defenders of Wildlife as the erstwhile federal "partner" responsible for
"paying" for wolf depredations. This was and is merely a smokescreen to
fend off complaints of the harm of wolves, only a small amount of livestock
loss was ever remunerated and dogs and game herds and other losses were
simply unavoidable casualties of this "war". That ex-FWS Director went to
work in a top job with The Defenders of Wildlife as soon as the law
permitted (The National Wildlife Federation paid her a big salary while she
had to cool her heels after resigning when the Republicans won the
Presidential election). As you read the e-mails below, remember she still
directs this wolf business for The "Defenders", lobbies her former
associates in FWS, and, I would guess, is a player in the upcoming election
where if she is lucky (and we are not) she will be reincarnated in some
other position in a "high place".

Hopefully you may find this worthwhile. FYI

Jim Beers


----- Original Message -----

From: Jim Beers

To: Charles Kay ;

Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 3:54 PM

Subject: Re: Wolfs and The 2nd Amendment

Charles,

I believe the entire predator "push" from grizzly increases in range and
numbers; to limiting methods of take of cougars (dogs, on-sight as
depredating, seasons); to federal requirements (in the works as grant
requirements) to make cougars invading places like Iowa, Kansas, etc.
Protected Native Species and not classified as unprotected so that any take
is difficult; to keeping black bears on the Threatened List in LA and FL
(and adding other states opportunistically) and claiming large tracts of
Florida as "Florida Panther" Critical Habitat --- all are seriously
jeopardizing the future of our 2nd Amendment Rights.

Not only will game numbers (and hence seasons and harvest and license
revenue and ancillary expenditures) decrease: areas open to hunting will
decrease and hunter partcicpation will necessarily decrease. Then there is
the SAFETY EFFECT. Hunters that leave a kill to get equipment to haul it
out or to get help will increasingly return to a predator on the kill.
Hunters using bows for big game or turkey hunters or predator callers, all
sit still and watch INTO the wind. There will be more run-ins with
un-harassed grizzlies and cougars and black bears as food dwindles or as
rabies or other disease outbreaks ravage the increasing predator population.
What hunter will dare to sit and call after hearing how some guy was
attacked FROM BEHIND by a grizzly or jumped by a wolf (a wolf once jumped a
Russian lumberjack from behind WHILE HE WAS RUNNING THE CHAINSAW!)? What
parent will let their kid go our after school to hunt alone after reading
these accounts of attacks?

All of this will shrink the number of hunters and urban hunters especially.
While the rural residents (both hunters and non-hunters) will increasingly
want, need, and use guns - the anti-gunners will have a big leg-up as fewer
and fewer urban folks hunt and become less vociferous in challenging the
take-away activities of anti-gunners and urban mayors. Bottom line is a
shrinking contingent of gun users and gun defenders with a concomitant
increase in the need for guns in a shrinking rural American population that
is more and more subject to the imaginary whims of urban voting blocs.
Result? More rural residents from families and retirees to
resource-dependent businesses and other entrepeneurs leaving rural environs.

As an old bureaucrat it looks good for federal growth and bureaucrats that
will have less opposition to buying more and more of rural America for
everything from re-establishing Native Pre-Columbian Ecosystems to
establishing "Corridors" and "Roadless" "Wildernesses" as more rural areas
are evacuated. The only "winners" will be bureaucrats, politicians, and the
modern rich land-buying aristocrats. The environmentalists and the animal
rights radicals never "win" because they will never be "happy" until they
are the only ones left and that will never happen.

I am reminded of that great line by Eli Wallach as the Mexican bandit chief
in The Magnificent Seven. As Yul Brynner invites Wallach to move on and
leave the villagers alone, Wallach snarls "If God did not want them sheared,
he would not have made them sheep!". For too long we have been sheep.

Jim Beers

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Subject: Wolfs and The 2nd Amendment

No question that you are on to the real intent behind rocky mountain wolf
introduction. The real objective by the pro-wolf groups is to reduce and
eventually take away hunting opportunities, thus paving the way for
diminishing our second amendment right to bear arms. Thanks for informative
views and we will stay in touch.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Wolfs and The 2nd Ammendment

Hi Guys,

A friend forwarded me you URL today. My name is xxx I live in Powell, WY.
Like you over there, our elk herds are rapidly disappearing. I am working on
a freelance article commissioned by Predator Magazine. The subject of the
article is the politics of wolf reintroduction. In particular, the
connection between Defenders of Wildlife and Handgun Control, Inc, now known
as the Brady Campaign.

As you likely know, Defenders is one of the main players in this ongoing
circus. They have funded most of th ecourt cases that have kept and will
keep wolves listed for the forseeable future. in 2004 they won two key
decisions, one in Federal District Court in Oregon, on ein Vermont.
Basically these two judges found that so long as there are no wolves in
Oregon/Washington, they are still endangered in our area. These decisions
were based on the way the US F&W drew the wold management boundaries, and
the way that the Endangered Species Act spells out management requirements.

On the 28th of this month, the US Fish & Wildlife Service will "delist"
wolves. The day after that, DoW et al, will file a montion for injunction
which will likely be granted. In order for delisting to proceed, the
wildlife management groups in ID, MT, and WY fish &game will have to appeal
theses precendents in Federal Appellate court. If they are successful there,
DoW will appeal that decision. According to my sources inside th eWY F&G
they expect that will take 2-3 years. By then the damage will be done.
Unless the states can have the original decisions overturned in Appelate
court, wolves will remain protected far into th efuture. As you know, we are
already standing on the brink of "too late".

Wolves cannot be reintroduced in eastern Washignton, because DoW was able to
have the Mountain Caribou in that area listed as endangered. So, wolves
cannot be reintroduced there until the caribou populations have recovered.
That will never happen because caribou don't want to be there in the first
place.

So here's the Catch. The way that U&S F&G has drawn their boundaries between
elk species, if DoW can manage to get the Rocky Mountain subspecies listed
as only "threatened", they can stop sport hunting of that subspecies
throughout its entire range!!

What better way to cut the financial legs out from under both the NRA and
State fish and game organizations.

The connection between wolves and anti-gun groups comes in th eform of one
Charles J. Orasin. For more than 15 years he was the rabid VP of Operations
for Handgun Control, Inc. IN a flurry of Congressional hearings regarding
shady fund raising practices in 2000, he disappeared from HCI and reappeared
at Defenders of Wildlife as their VP of Operations. Should we believe that
he just abandoned his life's work to kill the 2nd Ammendment to go save
wolves and sea turtles?

If you look at the string of Federal Court rulings they won after he got to
DoW you see and alarming parttern. Did you know that 10-12 years before the
wolf planting recovery programs were started, elk were transplanted into
areas that exactly match the original wolf reintroduction proposals?

Never make the mistake of thinking that reintroduction of wolves has
anything to do with "balancing" the ecosystem. For 6 years, the US Fish &
Wildlife Service fought Wyoming's management plan tooth and nail. Seemingly
over night, they reversed their position. Why?

In 2003, I read an article that said the National Park Service was
considering a study on the impact of wolves on ungulate populations. When
you call and ask them about it now, you get a lot of er....uh....well... we
..ah.. never did the study...."Why not?" er ...uh...well... we don't see an
impact high enough to warrant spending the money on it. Yet, The studies in
Wyoming and Idaho tell a different story altogether. I believe it is the
alarming results of state studies that flipped the US F&G literally over
night.

The 2007 study done by the WY G&F shows that 4 of Wyoming elk hers are close
to calf survival rates that will not support its population WITHOUT growing
predation from wolves/grizzlies/lions.

Predator Magazione is the only publication that has the hair to have a go at
putting out the news that the Endangered Species Act is being manipulated by
DoW and their ilk, not to save species, but to do away with the 2nd
Ammendment. MOSt folks think I'm just a crackpot, conspiracy nut. But, WHY
did MR. Gun Control go to work for DoW? Why did their strategy change so
suddenly upon his arrival. I can find but one answer.

I sent your URL to Ralph Lemeyer at Predator Magazine. He was asking me to
find some wolf kill photos for the article. I think you guys have that
covered! I hope we can get together sometime to compare notes.

Best Regards, and keep Hammerin 'em!

- If you found this worthwhile, please share it with others. Thanks.

- This article and other recent articles by Jim Beers can be found at
http://jimbeers.blogster.com (Jim Beers Common Sense)

- Jim Beers is available for consulting or to speak. Contact:
jimbeers7@verizon.net

- Jim Beers is a retired US Fish & Wildlife Service Wildlife Biologist,
Special Agent, Refuge Manager, Wetlands Biologist, and Congressional Fellow.
He was stationed in North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York City, and
Washington DC. He also served as a US Navy Line Officer in the western
Pacific and on Adak, Alaska in the Aleutian Islands. He has worked for the
Utah Fish & Game, Minneapolis Police Department, and as a Security
Supervisor in Washington, DC. He testified three times before Congress;
twice regarding the theft by the US Fish & Wildlife Service of $45 to 60
Million from State fish and wildlife funds and once in opposition to
expanding Federal Invasive Species authority. He resides in Centreville,
Virginia with his wife of many decades.







This information and much more that you need to know about the ESA, the Klamath River Basin, and private property rights can be found at The Klamath Bucket Brigade's website - http://www.klamathbucketbrigade.org/ -- please visit today.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

The elephant trudged across the parched land in search of water. Blowing dirt collected around her weeping eyes.

In his March 26 speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, McCain never mentioned the need to preserve American sovereignty. He could have reassured conservatives by stating his forthright opposition to Senate ratification of the U.N.’s Law of the Sea Treaty, which provides for international control over billions of dollars worth of oil, gas and minerals and undermines American claims to North Pole riches. But he chose not to.

Instead, as the Washington Post put it, McCain promised “a collaborative foreign policy,” conducted in coordination with other nations. The New York Times said he distanced himself from “unilateralism” in foreign affairs.


You know the drill, click on post title for full commentary if you dare. Jean Kirkpatrick, where are you?

They Came for KKOB and I did Nothing Because I don't listen to KKOB. Next, they came for 1230 KRSY......

To ALL: 770 KKOB needs our help. Please read the message below, then go to the web site and SIGN THE PETITION BY CLICKING ON THE POST TITLE ABOVE.

KKOB is one of the few stations that is somewhat conservative and the FCC is trying to shut it down. The petition's need to be in before next Tuesday. Pass this on. If you like radio you need to do this. Next, it could be our local guys and gals. This will take you less than a minute.

Here is what the petition says:

OUTRAGE!


We the listeners of 770 KKOB join in unity to protest the government's order to have the station drop power from 50,000 watts down to 1,000 starting Tuesday to accomodate other growing markets that have stations on the same 770 Frequency. We take offense to the need for other communities to grow at the expense of New Mexico. We rely on KKOB for the news, traffic, information and great talk that reflects our growing community. We demand that the government drop their plans before the Tuesday Deadline.

Respectfully, The people of the great state of New Mexico.

http://770kkob.com/customform.asp?id=32084

Friday, March 28, 2008

Correction to March 24, 2008 Posting

From Wolf Crossing:

Alabama-Tombigbee Rivers Coalition v. Kempthorne
Due to a posting error on this site, a story is being circulated that the U.S. Supreme Court granted review in a case challenging the Endangered Species Act under the Commerce Clause. The case is Alabama-Tombigbee Rivers Coalition v. Kempthorne. In actuality, the case was denied review on January 7, 2008.

ADN Removed My Comment to the Following Story, Why?

Here is exactly what I wrote in the TOPIX (comments to) Interim Supervior for Lincoln Forest story:

Ms. Buchanan observes that people "visit, work and play in" the Lincoln. Oversight or Freudian slip? People also LIVE IN the Lincoln. More commentary on rearranging the deck chairs at http://oteroresidentsforum.blogspot.com/

Interim Superintendent (ahem, it is Supervisor) Lincoln Natl. Forest Might Be Easy on the Eyes According to International Talk Show Host But.....

How will Jacque Buchanan's leadership of the Lincoln differ from retiring Lou Woltering's performance especially regarding thinning and RS 2477 roads? Click on the post title to read ADN story.

In it Ms. Buchanan states, "We're heading into fire season, and will be working with communities throughout the Lincoln National Forest on a number of things that people can do to make this a safer place to visit, work and play in..." This begs the question What is the Forest Service going to do? Or, is it up to "the communities throughout the Lincoln National Forest" to clean up the mess? I do agree that we are heading into fire season and am compelled to remind Ms. Buchanan that people also LIVE in, not just "visit, work or play in" the Lincoln. Read on about Montana's proposed solution and then scroll down to our post WOLVES AND FOREST FIRES.

http://www.clarkforkchronicle.com/article.php/20080220110239566

Fire chiefs want Forest Service to pay for failing to manage forests
Wednesday, February 20 2008 @ 11:02 AM MST

Contributed by: Admin

Waldron says Ninemile did not help with Black Cat structure protection

by John Q. Murray

Scott Waldron of Frenchtown Fire slammed the U.S. Forest Service Friday in an appearance before the Montana legislature's interim study committee on fire policy.

Waldron, in Helena speaking for the Montana State Fire Chiefs' Association and the Montana County Fire Wardens Association, said the Forest Service should pay for the problems resulting from the agency's lack of forest management, and alleged that the Forest Service refused to engage in structure protection during the 2007 Black Cat Fire.

In response to questioning from Sen. John Cobb (R-Augusta), Waldron said the people he fights fire with every day from the Ninemile Ranger District "couldn't engage in and around those structures” during the Black Cat Fire.

That is a problem for two reasons, he said.

First, forest landowners are paying for fire protection on those lands. In the Frenchtown Fire district, those assessments to the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) represent about $60,000 per year. Because the DNRC and the Forest Service share firefighting duties due to the checkerboard pattern of land ownership--the DNRC handles all public land east of Mill Creek, the Forest Service west of Mill Creek--Waldron said he felt the Forest Service had a responsibility to handle structure protection for those taxpayers.

The second issue is firefighter safety, Waldron said. You can't have one agency pulling off and saying that it is not going to address structure protection. If the incident management team pulls its resources off the fire, the local fire departments will be going on, and that is not safe, he said.

Waldron said his understanding is that the Forest Service is fiscally challenged to fund its operations and has been forced to reduce its initial attack staff. The agency is now moving toward less initial attack on fires that are out of the way. Instead of creating a fire line around every single fire, they will let some burn. But some big fires will become uncontrollable when they get to communities, he said.

If the fire is burning toward the community and no action is taken, that creates a huge challenge and a huge safety issue for local fire departments, he said.

Waldron also read from a report produced by the Nevada Fire Chiefs Association, suggesting that problems with the new structure protection policy are not unique to Montana. During the North Tahoe Washoe Fire, the Forest Service also played its we-don't-do-structures card, he read. The local fire chief, facing the worst fire in his district's history, said the fact that the Forest Service put fiscal considerations before the welfare of our community “will not soon be forgotten by this fire district.”

The Chronicle sought a response to Waldron's statements from the Lolo National Forest Friday afternoon, but did not receive a response before deadline Wednesday.

During questioning from the committee, Waldron was asked how the Montana legislature should direct the federal agency to pay for its lack of forest management. It's difficult for the state government to tell the federal government what to do, other than writing a letter, the chairman noted.

“I think it's our responsibility to pass this on to our congressional leaders. We've sent this document on to them,” Waldron said. “It is our intent to forward this document to all legislative bodies that represent us with our concerns.”

Waldron also it has been frustrating to watch the Forest Service struggle for years to implement the Frenchtown Face project, which will reduce fuels from Mill Creek to the Nine Mile Valley. “That really needs to be cleaned off instead of just trimmed,” he said.

The fire chiefs and fire wardens' report offered recommendations in several areas, including the following:

Support for Montana DNRC: The report called for additional funding, identifying the need for fire business administration personnel to help with FEMA paperwork; more support for air operations, especially helicopters; reorganizing its fire bureau from its regional structure, based on land offices, to a statewide hierarchy; and adding rural fire coordinators to every land office to coordinate work with local fire agencies.

Growth in the wildland urban interface: The report recommended zoning to effectively manage growth in fire prone areas; building regulations and construction standards in high fire hazard areas; and standards for water supply and safe road access.

Appropriate management response: The State of Montana should not follow the federal recommendations on fire policy but work more closely with local government; federal agencies should take suppression action and financial responsibility for the problems they created from lack of forest management; federal agencies should pay for losses resulting from their “let it burn” policy; fire breaks should be established between federal land and communities; fuel reduction should be funded; and Montana DNRC should not protect federal land where fire use is a priority.

Structure Protection: Montana DNRC cannot be governed by federal fire policy but must adhere to its established mission to protect private property; all agencies need to continue to change the culture within the forested zones increasing the accountability of homeowners; educate and support homeowners in mitigation and construction standards; enforce burning regulations; create fire breaks around communities; fund fuels treatment on private land; fund and increase the number of DNRC community forestry personnel; thinning and logging operations must take place.

Funding for Montana State Fire Operations: Fund fire suppression costs from the general fund. “Continued targeting of small groups will never provide an effective mechanism for appropriate funding. When small areas are targeted it impacts those areas ability to pass other necessary funding for schools and fire departments.”

Large fire suppression: Use local fire departments and private contractors; support the current dispatch system that utilizes the closest resources and most cost effective and efficient resources; do not attempt to legislate the right of local agencies to fight the ravages of fire in or out of the State of Montana; do not limit the right of local elected officials to make decisions on how and when their fire agencies resources are utilized in fire suppression.

The complete report is available from the legislature website, at leg.mt.gov, under the Fire Suppression Interim Committee, Feb. 15 meeting materials.

The Montana State Fire Chiefs’ Association represents every fire department, municipality, fire district, fire service area, and volunteer fire company that has a fire chief. This encompasses approximately 400 departments within the State of Montana.

The Fire Warden’s Association represents the Fire Wardens from the 56 counties within the State of Montana. This organization is strongest in the eastern half of the State where counties play the primary role in the suppression of wildland fires.
###

ORF Recording Wolf Sitings in Otero County

Otero Residents Forum wants your help to compile details of wolf sitings in or around Otero County. Here is an example from our files. Search your memories and ask your friends.

Who: Cliff Milburn, Alamogordo, and Harry Spiers, deceased of Silver Cloud.
When: Summer of 1999 or 2000, around 11:00 a.m. (Exact year can be verified if necessary.)
Where: Cox Canyon, near milepost 12 on state road 130. This used to be the Carner Ranch.
How: Observed from vehicle at a distance of about 1,000 yards.
What: Three mature wolves drinking at a spring. The animals were in good condition and well over 50 lbs.
1) reddish
2) charcol
3) lighter tan
All three had a lighter undercoat.
The wolves looked up from their drinking, observed the vehicle and loped off to the southwest into the forest. Mr. Milburn and Mr. Spiers are experienced outdoorsmen and recognized the animals as wolves. The wolves' gait as the pack moved out of sight confirmed this.

Non-Federal Un-Reserve - Where is the Cents' Sign on Your Keyboard?

Excellent New York Times article brought to our attention by Karan. Thank you.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

People for Otero County

Tonight's meeting was a who's who of shakers and movers in Otero County. Notes were taken and you will get a detailed report shortly.

Rescue Beacons for Illegal Aliens. This is Going to Upset the Wolf and Jaguar People!

...The agent in charge of the Border Patrol station at Deming, Rick Moody, says the beacons are being posted to help people in distress, such as immigrants crossing the desert.

The Border Patrol says it hopes the beacons will help reduce the number of people who die in the desert.

Moody says the beacons look like a pole topped with a light, which flashes when a button is pushed.
... Click on post title for complete story.

This is so rich with parody possibilities that we are sponsoring a contest. Try your hand at parody - visual, written, performance or any combination. Just use the elements of the above story and an "endangered" critter(s). In reverence to the NGOs and agencies, your parody cannot contain any people not employed by the government.

Good luck!

(I will be in the Deming area for most of the month of April and will have opportunity to speak of Border Patrol agents. I will report with details of these beacons as this story poses more questions than answers. JW)

WOLVES AND FOREST FIRES

In the summers of 1972 & 1973 I worked for the National Park Service in Grand Teton National Park in northwestern Wyoming. Grand Teton is south of Yellowstone National Park. I remember the 'old timers' telling me about wolves and forest fires. Wranglers and park employees who had lived in the area for years told of wolves attacking stressed animals as they fled the ravages of a forest fire. Wolf packs would wound, maim or kill already exhausted and panicked animals and then move on to the next easy kill. In the sometimes cruel reality of nature, this seems unfair and inhumane.

We're not dealing with humans though. We are dealing with the reintroduction of wolves in New Mexico. This one predator species has been given priority over private property rights, safety of humans, family pets, livestock and other species of wildlife. The elk and deer population in western New Mexico has been ravaged by the wolf packs in Catron county and other counties in western New Mexico and eastern Arizona.

In my reading on wolves I came upon a brief passage in a book that confirmed what the old timers in Wyoming had told me.

The following text is taken from 'WOLVES: BEHAVIOR, ECOLOGY and CONSERVATION; edited by L. David Mech and Luigi Boitani. The chapter the text is taken from was provided to the publication by Rolf O. Peterson and Paolo Ciucci.

From Wolves: Behavior, Ecology & Conservation: Page 106:
"...hunting unfortunate prey displaced by a forest fire..."

This one line of text, brief as it is, brought back the memories of rural knowledge of people living with wolves in Wyoming. I compare this rural belief from observation of people living with wolves to the present day expert testimony and explanation of wolf reintroduction and the hazardous condition of forests in Otero county and Lincoln National Forest. Who is correct in their appraisal of federal program administration of wolves and forests: the Fish and Wildlife Service or the United States Forest Service? What is the common denominator between wolves and trees and who is the species under observation; wolves, trees or the residents of Otero county?

WELL I FEEL LIKE A COMPLETE IDIOT

I thought Janet went to the meeting at City Hall. Boy do I feel like a moron.....
oh well...the banner stays up until I have more facts.......

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

mea culpa

I dropped the ball on going to the City Commission Meeting last night. If anyone has information feel free to post here. The ADN is supposed to fill us in tomorrow. JW

SEC. OF TRANSPORTATION: MARY PETERS-OPEN BORDERS FOR MEXICAN TRUCKS GOOD THING

From this morning's Rocky Mountain News. (Click on post title to read article)

"The transportation department said that 46 trucks from six U.S. companies have the green light to participate in the program. Peters added that every Mexican truck would have to meet every U.S. safety standard.

Ted Textor doesn't buy it.

The political director of the Teamsters Local Union 455, concerned primarily about safety, called the pilot program "reckless" and said that Peters "is thumbing her nose at Congress."

"We want her fired," he added."

HILLARY SNIPED AT WHILE FIRST LADY!




(Now she says she 'mis-spoke'.)

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Seven Million Dollars Not "Properly Recorded" by the City?????

"The meeting is set for 7:30 p.m. at City Hall in commission chambers and is open to the public.

A presentation of the city's annual financial report, or audit, is set by CPA Farley Vener, a state contractor who conducted the audit.

The audit includes 17 findings, eight of which have been resolved. The findings range from two pieces of computer equipment removed from city property without notification to the state auditor, to the transfer of more than $7 million between funds that had not been properly recorded.
"

Click on title for full story, such as it is.

SAY NO TO HR 3287 & HR2593

Legislation > 2007-2008 (110th Congress)
H.R. 3287: Tumacacori Highlands Wilderness Act of 2007
To expand the Pajarita Wilderness and designate the Tumacacori Highlands Wilderness in Coronado National Forest, Arizona, and for other purposes.

Overview Summary

Articles About This Bill
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Paste the URL of an article from a well-established publication:

Sponsor: Rep. Raul Grijalva [D-AZ]show cosponsors (1)
Cosponsors [as of 2008-01-27]
Rep. Edward Pastor [D-AZ]
Cosponsorship information sometimes is out of date. Why?
Bill Text: Summaries (CRS)
Full Text
Status: Introduced Aug 1, 2007
Scheduled for Debate -
Voted on in House -
Voted on in Senate -
Signed by President -

This bill is in the first step in the legislative process. Introduced bills go first to committees that deliberate, investigate, and revise them before they go to general debate. The majority of bills never make it out of committee. Keep in mind that sometimes the text of one bill is incorporated into another bill, and in those cases the original bill, as it would appear here, would seem to be abandoned. [Last Updated: Jan 26, 2008]
Last Action: Nov 13, 2007: Subcommittee Hearings Held.
Show All Related Votes

Committee Assignments
This bill is in the first stage of the legislative process where the bill is considered in committee and may undergo significant changes in markup sessions. The bill has been referred to the following committees:

House Natural Resources
House Natural Resources, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands

H.R. 2593: Borderlands Conservation and Security Act of 2007
To secure and conserve Federal public lands and natural resources along the international land borders of the United States, and for other purposes.

Overview Summary

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Sponsor: Rep. Raul Grijalva [D-AZ]show cosponsors (23)
Cosponsors [as of 2008-01-27]
Rep. Lois Capps [D-CA]
Rep. Steve Cohen [D-TN]
Rep. Henry Cuellar [D-TX]
Rep. Susan Davis [D-CA]
Rep. Lloyd Doggett [D-TX]
Rep. Bob Filner [D-CA]
Rep. Charles Gonzalez [D-TX]
Rep. Raymond Green [D-TX]
Rep. Maurice Hinchey [D-NY]
Rep. Rubén Hinojosa [D-TX]
Rep. Rush Holt [D-NJ]
Rep. Dennis Kucinich [D-OH]
Rep. James Moran [D-VA]
Rep. Solomon Ortiz [D-TX]
Rep. Edward Pastor [D-AZ]
Rep. Silvestre Reyes [D-TX]
Rep. Ciro Rodriguez [D-TX]
Rep. Hilda Solis [D-CA]
Rep. Fortney Stark [D-CA]
Rep. Tom Udall [D-NM]
Rep. Diane Watson [D-CA]
Rep. Henry Waxman [D-CA]
Rep. Albert Wynn [D-MD]
Cosponsorship information sometimes is out of date. Why?
Bill Text: Summaries (CRS)
Full Text
Status: Introduced Jun 6, 2007
Scheduled for Debate -
Voted on in House -
Voted on in Senate -
Signed by President -

This bill is in the first step in the legislative process. Introduced bills go first to committees that deliberate, investigate, and revise them before they go to general debate. The majority of bills never make it out of committee. Keep in mind that sometimes the text of one bill is incorporated into another bill, and in those cases the original bill, as it would appear here, would seem to be abandoned. [Last Updated: Jan 26, 2008]
Last Action: Jun 25, 2007: House Homeland Security: Referred to the Subcommittee on Border, Maritime, and Global Counterterrorism.
Show All Related Votes

Committee Assignments
This bill is in the first stage of the legislative process where the bill is considered in committee and may undergo significant changes in markup sessions. The bill has been referred to the following committees:

House Homeland Security
House Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Border, Maritime, and Global Counterterrorism
House Natural Resources
House Natural Resources, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands
House Agriculture

This bill contains a provision that would ban the Border Patrol from operating on federal lands.

ENVIRONMENTALISM: THE NEW DEATH CULT

By Brandon O'Neill July 3, 2007
The Guardian Unlimited

"Forget fundamentalist Christianity or Islam: environmentalism is by far the most influential death cult in existence today. It is inculcating in the masses the idea that the end of the world is nigh; that we shall we punished for our sins; that penance is our earthly duty; and that anyone who says or thinks otherwise is a "heretic" or a "denier" who should be held up to public ridicule."

Kyoto Protocol:Mysticism Undermines Clear Thinking

By Glenn Woiceshyn
Copyright 1998 Calgary Herald
May 3, 1998

"primitive cultures, witch-doctors encouraged tribal chiefs to sacrifice people to mystical beliefs and deities. The Aztecs slaughtered thousands per year hoping to secure good weather from a mythical sun god. Power lusters throughout history have discovered mysticism to be an effective tool to sacrifice gullible people to their power lust.

The global warming scare is a case in point. More than 160 nations met last December in Kyoto, Japan and produced the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty designed to force "developed nations" to drastically cut carbon dioxide emissions, and to transfer wealth and technology to "undeveloped nations" -- a socialist-dictatorial policy that allegedly will prevent cataclysmic weather caused by alleged manmade global warming.

This treaty, if ratified, means drastic cuts to our fossil-fuel consumption and hence to our prosperity. Egged on by environmentalists, our political leaders said we must sacrifice our economic freedom and prosperity to "save the planet." Now, politicians, environmentalists and even some business leaders are busy working out the details of this sacrifice.

But, as documented by renowned climate scientist Fred Singer (http://www.his.com/~sepp ), the Kyoto Protocol is based entirely on falsehood."

SHIPPING YOUR DEARLY DEPARTED OUT OF THE U.S.

"When U.S. Transportation Security Administration officials mobilized a couple years ago to tighten security on cargo placed into passenger aircraft — including inspecting sealed containers — funeral directors immediately protested.

Fitch called a meeting.

"My first concern on behalf of our members was: We certainly don't want you to open up the shipping containers or the caskets and inspect the bodies. That is just not going to happen," he said. "The members of these families will be beside themselves. And funeral homes won't put up with this. It's just not appropriate."

1997 LETTER FROM ENVIRONMENTALIST WHO CONFRONTED GLOBALIST ENVIRONMENTALISM AND GREED

Interview with Chellis Glendinning, Writer and Environmentalist

This is a MUST READ for those who believe there is a globalist agenda behind environmentalist agendas, World Heritage Sites, wolf re-introduction and an agenda to remove people from the land for the purpose using that land for collateralization of the United States debt. This woman details in specific terms how this agenda works. The article is in two parts. Click on the title of this post to be taken to the March 1997 La Jicarita newsletter. You will find her article there. Part 2 of this article is in the April 1997 newsletter.

Monday, March 24, 2008

U.S. Supreme Court to Decide Whether ESA Listing Exceeds Federal Power

U.S. Supreme Court to Decide Whether ESA Listing Exceeds Federal Power
Written By: E. Jay Donovan
Published In: Environment News
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Publisher: The Heartland Institute

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the Interstate Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution gives the federal government authority to regulate Alabama sturgeon under the Endangered Species Act.
A lawsuit contending the federal government overstepped its bounds in seeking to regulate Alabama sturgeon was filed by attorneys with the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), an organization that litigates on behalf of property owners against government overreach. PLF attorneys represent the Alabama-Tombigbee Rivers Coalition, an alliance of Alabama businesses, agricultural associations, and other water users who would be adversely affected by federal regulation.
The Supreme Court announced on January 4 its decision to hear the case.
No Interstate Connections
Critical to the issue of federal oversight authority is the fact that the Alabama sturgeon is not found outside of limited areas in Alabama and is not used for any commercial purpose.
"We are very gratified that the Supreme Court has accepted this case, which raises major constitutional questions about the appropriate limits of federal power," said M. Reed Hopper, an attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation.
"Does federal power to regulate commerce among the states extend to purely local land and water use matters, and local species, that don't have a role in interstate commerce?" Hopper asked. "Will a balance of power between federal and state authority continue to be a meaningful concept in our constitutional system? That is what is at stake in this case."
Clarifying Prior Decisions
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld the federal listing of the Alabama sturgeon in a 2007 case. In asking the Supreme Court to review that decision, PLF cited Supreme Court decisions in 1995 and 2000 that set limits on federal regulatory powers. In both of the cases cited, the Court ruled the federal government did not have authority to regulate things that did not flow through or substantially affect interstate commerce.
PLF argues none of the prongs of the Court's "substantially affects" test is satisfied in this case.
According to PLF, the Alabama sturgeon listing has nothing to do with economic activity; doesn't include any limiting principle that would confine federal regulation to interstate commerce; makes no express findings that show a relationship between the listing and interstate commercial activity; and provides no clear, demonstrated link between the Alabama sturgeon and interstate commerce.
"[I]f the federal government can regulate a wholly intrastate, noncommercial species, and its habitat ... there is no activity that the government could not regulate," states the PLF petition.
National Impact
"There's a clear need for the Supreme Court to address the questions raised by our petition," Hopper said. "The impacts are national in scope--as many as half of the estimated 1,300 species listed under the ESA are found on private property. So the federal government is regulating a vast number of species--and a vast amount of privately owned land--without clear justification under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.
"Lower courts have been unable to agree on a constitutional rationale to support the ESA. And the fundamental concept that our federal government is one of limited powers must be preserved and protected," Hopper concluded.
E. Jay Donovan (ejd38@hotmail.com) is a freelance writer based in Tampa, Florida.

(The ESA is federal Municipal Law that does not apply within the bourndaries of the sovereign states. Title 16 of the USC (this is where the ESA has been codified) has not been enacted into positive law.)

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES DANCERS V MEXICAN GRAY WOLF CHEERLEADERS

CLICK ON POST TITLE TO SEE MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES DANCERS (CHEERLEADERS)

BIAS & LOONACY IN OPINION PIECE SHILLED AS NEWS ON WOLVES IN CANADA

"This is to be done by sterilizing the alpha wolf couple and killing pups and other wolves in the pack.

This has the blessing and support of the department of Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (headed by super-hunting fan Ted Morton) and is being partially funded by various hunting groups.

These facts, combined with some remarkably bad public relations, led the public to believe little wolf babies are going to get killed so that plaid-clad guys with rifles can have less competition on their weekend elk-killing sprees.

People have been controlling animals for millennia. In case anyone failed to notice, the very pets we have in our homes have been bred into a state that they cannot survive in the wild - primarily to provide us with psychological comfort.

I fail to see how a study that seeks out a more efficient, and judging by historical precedents, a less cruel way to control an animal population so that another group of animals can possibly be saved from extinction is any worse."

WOLF NEWS FROM UTAH: SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

""If it's true that there's a pack here, then I say great. Let's welcome them here," said Kirk Robinson, executive director of the Western Wildlife Conservancy, a wildlife advocacy group based in Salt Lake City.
"This is a place, the Uintah Mountains, where there used to be wolves, and wolves can exist. I think they belong there."

Kevin Libin: Wolves — the Jimmy Carter of the animal world?


"You have to hand it to the wolf. As far as turning around a bad PR image goes, they’ve done an astounding job — they’re like the Jimmy Carter of the wildlife world. Once detested as the red-eyed, bloody-fanged creatures of Grimm fairy tales and generations of children’s nightmares, wolves are the cause célèbre in Alberta, ever since the University of Alberta announced it was planning to sterilizing wolves and shooting pups to test the effects on ungulate populations."

"Alberta’s wolves seem to care a lot less about conservation than the province’s humans do, and right now, the province’s woodland caribou are a lupine-feeding-frenzy away from being wiped out by the predators."

'END OF TRAIL' ARTICLE ON WOLVES IN JACKSON HOLE, WY

Click on post title to read article. Check out the size of the tranquilized wolf in this picture. The picture is from the Jackson Hole Star Tribune: March 24, 2008. We were told at the Dec. 3, 2007 Fish and Wildlife Service community input meeting at the Tays Center, that the wolves released in New Mexico weighed 50-75 lbs and were the size of a German Sheperd.

WOLVES DELISTED IN EASTERN OREGON

"3/23/2008 2:14:00 PM Email this article • Print this article
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Wolves get federal delisting in Eastern Oregon
LA GRANDE - With the federal delisting of wolves across a swath of Eastern Oregon, ranchers, outdoor enthusiasts and landowners will have to heed the state's rules for managing the elusive animals.

The de-listing from the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) takes place March 28. The Oregon land affected by the change covers the area east of Highway 395, 20 and 78 - including much of Grant County."

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Who is Vaccinating the Wolves for Rabies?

Woman bitten by fox near Glenwood
The Associated Press
Article Launched: 03/21/2008 10:17:23 AM MDT


GLENWOOD, N.M.—The state Department of Game and Fish says a woman has received rabies treatment as a precaution after she was bitten by a fox.
The agency did not release the identity of the 19-year-old woman who was bitten Tuesday on the Catwalk National Scenic Trail near Glenwood.

The fox ran away and could not be found.

The woman told authorities the fox had to be kicked off her pant leg after it jumped up and bit her.

Authorities say four foxes and one dog have tested positive for rabies in Grant County so far this year.

A wildlife specialist for the department, Kerry Mower, says it's important for people to keep pets and livestock up-to-date on rabies vaccinations.

Again, we ask, who is vaccinating the wolves? Click on Wolf Crossing in main section above to read more.

Friday, March 21, 2008

FOR THE RECORD: I SUPPORT JOHN BLANSETT

Sheriff John Blansett was the focus of some negative comments on local radio recently. Regarding the shooting of a Lincoln County Deputy by Ken Sohrbeck; I believe the Otero County Sheriffs Office acted responsibly and fast in responding to this incident. I'm a supporter of John Blansett and the Otero County Sheriffs Office.

Bruce

PALOMAS, MX. POLICE CHIEF SEEKS ASYLUM IN U.S.

Drug cartel violence has forced law enforcement in Palomas to abandon the city and seek refuge in the United States. Click on post title.

No Difference Among Clinton, McCain & Obama on Giving Social Security Benefits to Illegal Aliens

Social Security Change For 2008

The United States Senate voted to extend Social Security Benefits to Illegal Aliens beginning in 2008. The following are the senators who voted to give illegal aliens Social Security benefits. They are grouped by home state. If a state is not listed, there was no voting representative.

Alaska: Stevens (R)

Arizona : McCain (R)

Arkansas : Lincoln (D) Pryor (D)

California : Boxer (D) Feinstein (D)

Colorado : Salazar (D)

Connecticut : Dodd (D) Lieberman (D)

Delaware : Biden (D) Carper (D)

Florida : Martinez (R)

Hawaii : Akaka (D) Inouye (D)

Illinois : Durbin (D) Obama (D)

Indiana : Bayh (D) Lugar (R)

Iowa : Harkin (D)

Kansas : Brownback (R)

Louisiana : Landrieu (D)

Maryland : Mikulski (D) Sarbanes (D)

Massachusetts : Kennedy (D) Kerry (D)

Montana : Baucus (D)

Nebraska : Hagel (R)

Nevada : Reid (D)

New Jersey : Lautenberg (D) Menendez (D)

New Mexico : Bingaman (D)

New York : Clinton (D) Schumer (D)

North Dakota : Dorgan (D)

Ohio : DeWine (R) Voinovich(R)

Oregon : Wyden (D)

Pennsylvania : Specter (R)

Rhode Island : Chafee (R) Reed (D)

South Carolina : Graham (R)

South Dakota : Johnson (D)

Vermont : Jeffords (I) Leahy (D)

Washington : Cantwell (D) Murray (D)

West Virginia : Rockefeller (D), by Not Voting

Wisconsin : Feingold (D) Kohl (D)

Add to Social Security Benefits the $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare and Social Services by the American taxpayers. http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html

Jaguars and Grizzly Bears, Get Used to Them

Thanks for the info, R L. If you are not familiar with the Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Institute, Defenders of Wildlife, Sky Island Alliance and other NGOs, you need to be. They have big bucks and political clout. We will be fighting their flawed "science" as long as it takes. Don't forget that Otero County has an Ordinance that prohibits the release of wolves, jaguars and grizzly bears in or adjacent to Otero County. JW

March 17, 2008
Attached is a copy of the minutes Judy took at the Jaguar Conservation Team (JAGCT) meeting, March 13th. There are several items we think are note worthy. Some items are informational only, others we recommend action be taken.

1) Signatory Agencies: Two years ago we were able to get the Conservation Team Working Group (JAGWG) realigned so controversial issues can now be voted upon. Up until that time all decisions were made by consensus, usually Terry Johnson’s consensus. Since Terry limited NRCD participation to only two representatives from each of the two states, we would strongly encourage counties to request Signatory Status on the MOU and delegate a representative to attend the Jaguar Conservation Team meetings. These meetings take place 4 times a year.

If your county is not a signatory on the MOU, you believe it is important that sound science be used in jaguar conservation in the U.S., and you can make the time to attend the meetings, encourage your County Commissioners to sign on to the MOU and ask they appoint you as their representative.

Requests to become a signatory agency should be mailed to: Arizona Game and Fish Department; 5000 W Carefree Hwy; Phoenix, AZ 85086 – Attention Terry Johnson. Any questions can be directed to Terry Johnson, Arizona Game and Fish Dept. - TJohnson@azgfd.com

2) Emil McCain’s Report: Emil heads up the Jaguar Detection Project in Arizona. His report, published in the American Society of Mammalogy, is full of holes. It has been creatively written to strongly suggest many jaguars may be residing in the U.S. borderlands but have yet to be discovered. The best available science and historical sightings of jaguars in the U.S. has been tweaked to support this hypothesis. The report also claims there may be a breeding population residing here.

These claims are necessary to secure funding to continue his “research”. We would encourage everyone to request a copy of this article/report. You can send your request to: Emil at: emilmccain@gmail.com .

3) Recovery Plan: Tony Povolitis, Sierra Institute, had his students write a “research paper” entitled “Jaguar Habitat in Southern Arizona and New Mexico; A Report to the Habitat Committee of the Jaguar Conservation Team”, in June of 2000. The objective of this report was to recommend establishing an experimental release area so jaguars could be studied in the U.S. The report proposed the study area should be in the Central Arizona/New Mexico Mountains (also know as the Sky Islands).

The report also recommended jaguars should be obtained from a wild source, or raised in captivity, then released into the “study area”. The JAGCT accepted this report by consensus. The Scientific Advisory Group (JAGSAG) was not in favor of a captive breeding program and/or capturing jaguars from other areas for various reasons and so stated in their response to this report in October of 2000.

To our knowledge, no one, including the JAGSAG and the state game and fish departments, are in favor of a captive breeding/reintroduction/recovery plan. However, this does not stop the Center for Biological Diversity from suing in an effort to get such a recovery plan while trying to find a "friendly" federal judge to rule in their favor. The articles being published in the mainstream press certainly support this effort. It matters not that the science is being manipulated to support their concept of a recovery plan.

A recent news release from the Defender of Wildlife states they too have “filed a notice of intent to sue in Washington D.C. district court to compel the Bush administration to create a recovery plan for jaguars in the Southwest”. The push is certainly on to force U.S. Fish and Wildlife to develop a plan.

4) New Committees: Terry is “reconstituting” the committees. The new committees are: Depredation, Education, Habitat, Monitoring, Outreach and Research. If you have experience, training or an interest in any of these areas, please let Terry know which committee you can serve on, ASAP. TJohnson@azgfd.com We have only 30 days to get common sense, reasonable, intelligent individuals on some of these committees.

5) The Endangered Species Act/Wildlands Project: During the JAGCT meeting, Ron White, Sierra NRCD, asked by what authority the JAGCT continues to operate. In summary, Terry explained it was by virtue of the Endangered Species Act. No one needs to explain the ESA or the impact it is having on private landowners and small, rural counties. Neither do we have to explain how the “Wildlands Project: Plotting a North American Wilderness Recovery Strategy”, as published by the Cenozoic Society, 1992, has to do with this agenda.

It is worth noting, however, that Tony Povolitis had the maps for jaguar habitat in the U.S. already developed when the JAGCT first met in Douglas, Arizona in April of 1997. According to the Wildlands Project, page 31, Tony promoted the concept of using the U.N.’s Man and the Biosphere Program as a “potent means of protecting relatively intact bioregions”.

The narrator of this section -“Editor’s Introduction to the Wildlands Proposals” - John Davis, goes on to recommend “Wildland advocates need to work to gain on- the ground protection for on - paper Reserves”. Mr. Davis continues his commentary by stating: “Until people on this overdeveloped continent adopt ecologically benign ways, local control will often mean locally – sanctioned abuse of local resources…. International control and more private reserves under the control of NGOs such as the Nature Conservancy are other options to consider.”

Mr. Davis asks a very poignant question as he discusses the deliberate airing of controversial issues (in the media we presume) when he asks: “How radical – and biologically honest – dare we be, given that many people will choose their own economic well-being over the survival of a species? Should we favor ‘local control’ of resources, in the spirit of bioregionalism, or lean toward state or federal control, in the spirit of the Wilderness Act of 1964?” No where does he discuss the virtues of private property, or the right of U.S. citizens to retain these intrinsic American values.

Although Terry is frustrated with all the lawsuits that draw funding away from recovering the jaguar, he does not openly oppose the Wildlands Project, or its “science – conservation biology”. Regardless of which initiative prevails – a state led initiative or a federally led initiatives – the results may be the same if we are not vigilante to ensure sound science and common sense prevail.

We would like to thank everyone that attends the JAGCT meetings. We appreciate your time and hope you realize by helping us, you’re helping yourselves. If we don’t stay on top of this jaguar conservation effort it could turn into the same scenario we are witnessing with the Mexico Wolf “experimental population” reintroduction scheme. The jaguar is, after all, just another of the Wildland Project’s charismatic, umbrella species.

We still have a copy of the jaguar map Michael and his associates would like to see “repopulated” with jaguars. It is an extensive area and takes in several Arizona counties and many counties in New Mexico. If you’d like to review it, let us know.

People always want to know how long the JAGCT will continue to meet. We’ve already been meeting for 11 years. Many of the original ranchers and landowners have dropped out, but not our friends the Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Institute, Defenders of Wildlife and Sky Island Alliance. They have a prize in mind, a jaguar preserve that includes parts of southern Arizona, lots of New Mexico and a big portion of northern Mexico. Are we going to be as single-minded and tenacious?



In conclusion, if we don’t hang together, we’ll all hang separately! We need your involvement!!



Respectfully,



Sue Krentz and Judy Keeler

IRAQIS FEND OFF WOLF PACKS

"SAMAWAH, Iraq — The bloodthirsty enemy had gathered on the city's perimeter, but this time, the locals were ready.

The enemy: packs of hungry gray wolves that had overcome their fear of humans and begun feasting on livestock, right in front of local farmers.

"The locals formed armed groups, exchanging shifts throughout the day in order to protect people, cattle, sheep and also children and women heading to schools from those ferocious wolves," said Mohammed Abu-Reesha, a Samawah resident. "They appear during the day and don't fear bullets and challenge even men holding rifles."

(Click on title of this post to read rest of article in Denver Post)

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Endangered Species Act - You Get the Good News at ORF Before it is Published

U.S. Supreme Court to Decide Whether ESA Listing Exceeds Federal Power

Written By: E. Jay Donovan
Published In: Environment News
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Publisher: The Heartland Institute

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the Interstate Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution gives the federal government authority to regulate Alabama sturgeon under the Endangered Species Act.

A lawsuit contending the federal government overstepped its bounds in seeking to regulate Alabama sturgeon was filed by attorneys with the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), an organization that litigates on behalf of property owners against government overreach. PLF attorneys represent the Alabama-Tombigbee Rivers Coalition, an alliance of Alabama businesses, agricultural associations, and other water users who would be adversely affected by federal regulation.

The Supreme Court announced on January 4 its decision to hear the case.

No Interstate Connections

Critical to the issue of federal oversight authority is the fact that the Alabama sturgeon is not found outside of limited areas in Alabama and is not used for any commercial purpose.

"We are very gratified that the Supreme Court has accepted this case, which raises major constitutional questions about the appropriate limits of federal power," said M. Reed Hopper, an attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation.

"Does federal power to regulate commerce among the states extend to purely local land and water use matters, and local species, that don't have a role in interstate commerce?" Hopper asked. "Will a balance of power between federal and state authority continue to be a meaningful concept in our constitutional system? That is what is at stake in this case."

Clarifying Prior Decisions

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld the federal listing of the Alabama sturgeon in a 2007 case. In asking the Supreme Court to review that decision, PLF cited Supreme Court decisions in 1995 and 2000 that set limits on federal regulatory powers. In both of the cases cited, the Court ruled the federal government did not have authority to regulate things that did not flow through or substantially affect interstate commerce.

PLF argues none of the prongs of the Court's "substantially affects" test is satisfied in this case.

According to PLF, the Alabama sturgeon listing has nothing to do with economic activity; doesn't include any limiting principle that would confine federal regulation to interstate commerce; makes no express findings that show a relationship between the listing and interstate commercial activity; and provides no clear, demonstrated link between the Alabama sturgeon and interstate commerce.

"[I]f the federal government can regulate a wholly intrastate, noncommercial species, and its habitat ... there is no activity that the government could not regulate," states the PLF petition.

National Impact

"There's a clear need for the Supreme Court to address the questions raised by our petition," Hopper said. "The impacts are national in scope--as many as half of the estimated 1,300 species listed under the ESA are found on private property. So the federal government is regulating a vast number of species--and a vast amount of privately owned land--without clear justification under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.

"Lower courts have been unable to agree on a constitutional rationale to support the ESA. And the fundamental concept that our federal government is one of limited powers must be preserved and protected," Hopper concluded.

E. Jay Donovan (ejd38@hotmail.com) is a freelance writer based in Tampa, Florida.

WWII VETERANS MEMORIAL DEFACED


Vandals paint a bronze statue of a WWII Infantryman with red paint. Click on title of this post to read story.

LINCOLN COUNTY DEPUTY SHOOTER MAKES AMERICA'S MOST WANTED

Ken Sohrbeck, alleged shooter of Lincoln County Deputy, Robert Sheperd; now has the honor of gracing the pages of AMERICA'S MOST WANTED. Click on the title of this post to be taken to the AMW site featuring Sohrbeck and his criminal career.

QWEST EMPLOYEES TOLD TO USE 'POTTY' BAGS IN FIELD


Qwest employees were told not to search for bathrooms while in the field...rather use a 'potty' bag provided by the company. Using the potty bag saves time.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Sooner or Later Otero County Will Make This Site

Global incidents, Amber alerts and Illegal alien activity can all be found at this site. Check it out, you may want to add it to your favorites. Outbreaks/avian flu and USA school incidents maps will be added soon according to the homepage.

WHAT'S THE LATEST ON KURT SOHRBECK & WAS THERE A FIRE AT THE COOKIE FACTORY?



KURK SOHRBECK, 53: LAST SEEN DRIVING A 1997 BLACK GMC SIERRA/NM FZP799



Why the news blackout on the story about the shooter of Lincoln County Deputy Sheriff, Robert Sheperd? What's the latest news about alleged shooter, Kurt Sohrbeck? The story about a local furniture store going out of business carried more headlines that a homicidal maniac loose in our county.

Did anyone hear about a fire at Marietta cookies on the night of March 7th? I missed it. Admittedly, I don't read the paper, but Janet, John and Mike do and are asking these questions.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Timberon Asks for Help

Lou Wilkerson asked that the following be sent out to all members of SSWG (South Sacramento Water Group):

Lou,

We here in Timberon are very interested in getting the help of Hubert Quintana for our water rate study that we have to re-submit. However, he said he needs a computer lab area and about 8 people to participate. Would you send out an email to the water groups to see if they are interested?

Thanks Lou,
Arden

Any members of water groups who have suggestions or can help, comment here and I will forward the information. JW

Ducks, Fish and Electricity

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Richardson, PRC Member Go Hunting

By Jack King
Copyright © 2008 Albuquerque Journal; Journal Staff Writer
With PNM's electric rate case pending before the Public Regulation Commission, Gov. Bill Richardson and PRC Commissioner Sandy Jones went hunting and fishing together last weekend.
Richardson publicly urged PRC members on Friday to make a "careful decision" on the proposed electric rate increase, saying he was troubled by a drop in the utility's stock after a hearing examiner recommended that the requested increase be cut by about two-thirds.
Jones, who said he went goose hunting with Richardson the same Friday near Socorro, then fishing with him Saturday at Elephant Butte, said Wednesday the governor made only a passing reference to the case during the trip.
"He did tell me he had issued a statement on PNM with (PNM Chairman, President and CEO Jeff) Sterba. I haven't seen that. He said I would see that in the paper," Jones said.
He said he and Richardson talked extensively about getting the Sierra County Commission— part of Jones' PRC District 5— to pass a tax credit for Spaceport America, but did not discuss the rate case beyond the one remark.
Jones said he did not remind Richardson that, as a PRC commissioner, he could not discuss the rate case outside of a public meeting, but neither was he influenced by the governor.
"I'm not gonna tell him what he can say in a press conference. He has his job and he knows I have mine," he said.
Asked to confirm whether Richardson had made the trip with Jones and had talked with him about the rate case, the governor's spokesman, Gilbert Gallegos, responded Wednesday that he had not asked Richardson about the trip.
"The governor often hunts and fishes with Sandy Jones. He did so long before Mr. Jones became a commissioner. I don't know what he did during a private time last weekend. Nevertheless, it is no secret that the governor has concerns about the case before the commission, because he outlined those concerns in a very public way," Gallegos said.

That Pesky Document Quoted Again

Ron Paul on the Surveillance Bill
Friday, March 14th, 2008 in News by Eric Garris| Comment |

Ron Paul opposes both the Republican and Democratic proposals to renew the telecom surveillance bill. Following is his speech before the US House of Representatives, Friday, March 14, 2008.

I rise in opposition to this latest attempt to undermine our personal liberties and violate the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. This bill will allow the federal government to engage in the bulk collection of American citizens’ communications. In effect, it means that any American may have his electronic communications monitored without a search warrant.

As such, the bill clearly violates the Fourth Amendment, which states:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

The assurances in this bill that Americans will not have their communications monitored without warrant are unconvincing. The bill merely states that the government should do its best to avoid monitoring Americans if possible. We have seen how meaningless such qualified prohibitions have been as we recount the abuses over the past several years.

Just today, we read in the news that the federal government has massively abused its ability to monitor us by improperly targeting Americans through the use of “national security letters.” Apparently some 60 percent of the more than 50,000 national security letters targeted Americans, rather than foreign terrorists, for surveillance.

This is what happens when we begin down the slippery slope of giving up our constitutional rights for the promise of more security. When we come to accept that the government can spy on us without a court order we have come to accept tyranny.
I urge my colleagues to reject this and all legislation that allows Americans to be spied on without a properly issued warrant.


ORF thanks KB for the submission.

Agenda Otero County Commission Thursday, March 20

COUNTY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING AGENDA

COMMISSION CHAMBERS – Rm#253

THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2008 – 6:00 p.m.


INVOCATION
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
SALUTE TO THE FLAG OF NEW MEXICO
“I salute the flag of the state of New Mexico, the Zia symbol of perfect friendship among united cultures.”

NEW BUSINESS:
CONSENT AGENDA

All items marked “CA” will be approved by a single motion, these items on the “Consent Agenda” are considered routine and should not require further discussion. Items can be removed at the request of a Commissioner, County staff, or a member of the public, removed items will be heard in the order of the numbered sequence.

A. Approval of Bills Lists:

CA (1) #37, #38, #39, #40, #41 and #42

B. Approval of Minutes:

CA (2) Work Session, February 13, 2008

Emergency Meeting, February 13, 2008

Regular Meeting, February 21, 2008



C. Health Care Services:

CA (3) Consider approving or denying claims for the following providers:

Ø Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center

· 122 claims recommended for approval totaling $167,905.18

· 45 claims recommended for denial totaling $96,587.58

Submitted by: Gloria Sainz



D. Purchasing:

CA (4) Request approval of the yearly renewal of contract ICQ-06-015, Basin Pipe and Metal, for the sale of metal and white goods in the amount of 55% County and 45% Contractor. This is the 3rd year of a four year contract.
Submitted by: Ginger Herndon

CA (5) Request approval to award Sealed Bid 08-017 for the purchase of Fire Arms and Holsters for the Sheriff’s Office to three different venders: Neve’s Uniforms, Albuquerque, NM in the amount of $22,935; Pro Force Law Enforcement,
Prescott, AZ in the amount of $3,965.35; Kaufmans West, Albuquerque, NM in the amount of $402 (plus all applicable taxes). Submitted by: Ginger Herndon

CA (6) Request approval of the yearly renewal of contract TS-06-010 for the monitoring the fire alarm system in the Otero County Courthouse with ESA, Alamogordo, NM in the amount of $25.74/month. Submitted by: Ginger Herndon

CA (7) Request approval to award Sealed Bid #08-019 for a Brush Truck for Boles Acres to Freedom Fire Equipment, Marietta, GA, in the amount of $84,500.
Submitted by: Ginger Herndon

E. Resolutions, Contracts & Agreements:

CA (8) Request approval of Resolution #03-20-08/96-49 for the Law Enforcement Protection Fund to reflect the receipt of $600 additional revenue.
Submitted by: Donna Brandon

CA (9) Request approval of Resolution #03-20-08/96-50 for the ¼% Fire Protection Fund to reflect the receipt of a New Mexico Finance Authority Loan in the amount of $47,170 for the purchase of a fire-rescue apparatus for James Canyon
Volunteer Fire Department. Submitted by: Donna Brandon

CA (10) Request approval of Resolution #03-20-08/96-51 and submittal of the 2008 Annual Certified County Maintained Mileage Report to the New Mexico
Department of Transportation. Submitted by: Bill Lee Parker

CA (11) Request approval of a CO-OP agreement between Otero County and Colquitt Company to chip-seal Oasis Drive, Jeff Place and Diane Court for a total of .85 miles. These are county maintained roads. Submitted by: Bill Lee Parker

CA (12) Request approval of a Memorandum of Understanding between Otero County and the City of Alamogordo concerning the housing and care of Otero County
Animals. Submitted by: Ray Backstrom.

CA (13) Request approval of an Addendum to the Emergency Ambulance Services agreement between Otero County and American Medical Response. This
addendum provides for transport, at no charge, for all City, Village, County
Emergency Service Personnel and County Volunteer Fire Fighters who are injured in the line of duty. Submitted by: Ray Backstrom

CA (14) Request approval of the operations, management and maintenance agreement for the Otero County Processing Center (Phase 3) between Management &
Training Corporation and Otero County. Submitted by: Dan Bryant

F. Elected Officials, Department Heads, Committee Reports:

CA (15) Sheriff John Blansett – Request approval to convert the Old Road Shop, located at 409 Fairgrounds Road, to NEU.

CA (16) Diane Romo, Planning Coordinator – Request final plat approval for Elk Springs Estates Subdivision. This subdivision is located approximately 16 miles west of Mayhill and approximately 3 miles east of Cloudcroft (Section 32 & 33,
Township 15S, Range 12E, also located within Section 2, Township 16S, Range 12E).

G. Public Hearing(s):

6:30 p.m.

(17) Diane Romo, Planning Coordinator – Request preliminary plat approval for Riata Estates #2 Subdivision. This subdivision is located approximately six miles south of Tularosa via Highway 70 and approximately ten miles north of Alamogordo (Section 7, Township 15S, Range 9E).

(18) Diane Romo, Planning Coordinator – Request preliminary plat approval for Rancho Encantado Estates Subdivision. This subdivision is located
approximately 12 miles south of Alamogordo (Lot 7, Section 1, Township 19S,
Range 9E).

(19) Ray Backstrom/Donna Brandon – Consider amending Section 9.2, dealing with
annual leave accrual, of the Otero County Personnel Policy Ordinance #98-01 as amended by Ordinance #07-01.

CITIZEN COMMUNICATIONS:

(20) Jake Meyer – Consider partnership with Children in Need of Services (CHINS) to apply for state capital outlay funding for the PreK program operating at the Full House Child Development Center.

(21) Dr. Cheri Jimeno – (NMSU-A) Discuss the G.O. Bond Election for NMSU-A on
April 1, 2008. (Regular Meeting Only)

COMMISSION DISCUSSIONS/CORRESPONDENCE:

A. Doug Moore - (District 1)

B. Clarissa McGinn - (District 2)

C. Michael Nivison - (District 3)


UNSCHEDULED CITIZEN COMMUNICATIONS: (Limited to 3 minutes)
The issues raised during "Unscheduled Citizen Communications” are not action items and shall not be entitled to decision making by the Otero County Commission at the meeting where they are first raised.


EXECUTIVE SESSION:

A. Collective Bargaining

B. Pending/Threatened Litigation

1) Environment Department Grease Trap Issues at Otero County Prison

C. Personnel

1) Final Review of County Manager Applications &

Schedule Interviews

D. Land

E. Roads

F. Detention Center

G. Contracts

1) Professional Service Agreements







ADJOURNMENT



For Information Only:

The next regularly scheduled Otero County

Commission meeting is Thursday,

April 17, 2008 at 6:00 p.m.

FED BUYS $200B IN TOXIC MORTGAGES TO BAIL OUT LENDERS

"Jupiter, Fla. (PRWEB) March 16, 2008 -- Mike Larson examines the Federal Reserve's different plans of action that have been developed since the start of the recession. Mr. Larson takes a closer look at each of the plans and the terms that exist within them.

The Federal Reserve's reaction to the mortgage crisis started with a discount rate cut of 50 basis points in August of 2007. That was followed by another 50-point cut in September, a 25-point cut in October, another 25 in December, a whopper 75-point cut on January 22 and then another 50 points eight days later. During that same time period, the federal funds rate was slashed from 5.25% to the current 3%. And by all indications, another 50-point or 75-point cut could be seen at the Fed's March 18 gathering. The Fed is slashing rates and throwing hundreds of billions of dollars at the credit crisis.

But that's not all. In December 2007, the Fed unveiled an unconventional "Term Auction Facility" (TAF) for the first time. The supposedly temporary plan allows for the periodic auction of funds to depository institutions in exchange for a wide variety of collateral. The Fed is willing to accept everything at the TAF, from U.S. Treasuries to foreign government debt to commercial mortgage-backed securities, residential mortgages, and even consumer loans. These auctions started at $20 billion each. That jumped to $30 billion a pop in January. Then most recently, the Fed boosted the auction sizes to $50 billion. And the Fed wasn't finished. It also said it would conduct several repurchase transactions totaling roughly $100 billion. Repurchase operations are those where the Fed swaps cash for assets. It's doing them on a 28-day basis, too, rather than the customary overnight term. "

Fed acts Sunday to prevent global bank run Monday

""The main thing is that they [Fed and Treasury] are really really scared. Telling us that everything is great is an insult to intelligence. They should own up to it and talk seriously to people," Baker said.
Peter Morici, a professor of economics at University of Maryland, criticized the Fed for not imposing meaningful conditions on the financial institutions that it is providing cash.
As a result, banks continue to impose onerous conditions on their innocent customers, he said.
"Today's moves by the Federal Reserve are the desperate acts of failing men," he said. "

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/fed-acts-sunday-prevent-global/story.aspx?guid={43265631-1656-4697-8377-55F05D859B76}
***************************

Blog readers may ask what does the collapse of a bank and the Fed's attempt to prevent 'runs' on banks have to do with Otero County? Think of it this way: the American Middle Class is disappearing. A number of dynamics are in play that are forcing people out of their homes in the United States. On the state of global economics, govenments are accumulating debt and collateralizing that debt with land. Populations that live in these collateralized regions are essentially becoming slaves to economic consolidation of the world's economy by a greedy group of globalists. Who are these globalists and what is their agenda? The 'globalists' are individuals who have the ability to manipulate world markets, national sovereignty, and the futures of the world population. The agenda is to secure the world's resources and markets to serve a small and dangerous group of globalist billionaires who see you, your children, and your grandchildren as the worker bee's who provide the labor, see little for their labor, and essentially will own only what the globalists will allow them to own. The United Nations, UNESCO, the European Union, the Federal Reserve in the United States, the oil producing nations, and nations signing on to the Law of the Sea Treaty are in the process of taking the concept of macro economics on a global scale and morphing it into mico economics where only a few will maintain their opulent standard of living and the rest of the world will live under re-distribution of the wealth. If you think this is a conspiracy or lunacy, then you are the conspiratorial loon. From World Heritage Site designation, illegal immigration, to NAIS, to wolf reintroduction, to trans-boundary water treaties, to environmental regulations and restriction on land usage, to the diminishment of manufacturing in the United States, we are being reduced to global slaves serving the elite masters. This blog contains the information to educate the reader on why this is happening, how and why this 2008 Presidential election is already lost to globalist candidates.


NEWS WITH VIEWS: REP. STUPAK, MI, GIVES $2M TO NATURE CONSERVANCY

"Among pork earmarks announced by Rep. Stupak was his $2 million gift to the non-profit Nature Conservancy that recently reported $4 billion in assets. Stupak’s taxpayer-funded present is another installment payment on his $10 million federal commitment to Gov. Granholm’s “U.P. Big Deal,” which fattened the Conservancy’s “Forest Bank,” but did nothing to bolster the Upper Peninsula’s economy."

LAUREL, MT: ELK POPULATIONS DOWN

Click on title of article to read this article from Laurel, Mt. newspaper about decline in elk population in Montana.

'SATAN'S DOG': WOLF COMMENTARY FROM JACKSON HOLE, WY.

CONTROVERSIAL debate in Jackson Hole, Wyoming newspaper. Click on post title to read article.

STATE OF WYOMING IS TO TAKE OVER WOLF MANAGEMENT

State takes over wolf management in two weeks

By CHRIS MERRILL
Star-Tribune environment reporter



[oas:casperstartribune.net/news/wyoming:Middle1]
The state of Wyoming took another step Thursday in preparation for managing gray wolves, once their removal from federal endangered species protection goes into effect.

Wolves will officially lose protection under the federal Endangered Species Act March 28, and Wyoming will take over management of the canine that day, barring a legal injunction against the decision.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission adopted the Game and Fish Department’s proposed wolf management regulations at a meeting here Thursday, with one minor alteration.

The commission cleaned up language in the rule to make it explicit that people in the designated trophy game area can use lethal force to protect their pet dogs from wolves, in the same way they can protect livestock and other domesticated animals.

In order to fulfill statutes established in House Bill 213, in the 2007 state legislative session, the rule designates gray wolves in the northwest part of the state as trophy game animals, where the department will use "aggressive" methods for managing the population.

As of March 28, wolves living outside of the designated northwest region will be considered predators, and managed similarly to the way coyotes and mountain lions are.

The new rules also establish a program for compensating landowners and livestock owners for damage caused by wolves, including predation.

The state legislature recently approved $2.4 million in the biennium budget for the state’s wolf management program, and the Game and Fish Department has commenced hiring its wolf management staff, said Director Terry Cleveland.

Curt Bales, a ranch manager outside of Cody, told the commission he was concerned about the possibility that landowners and stock growers would be treated differently than the general public once hunting seasons are implemented.

It appears that hunters inside the trophy game area might be allowed to trap wolves, but stock growers will not, he said.

According to the rule, stock growers can kill wolves that are attacking or “harassing” livestock, but they have to use a legal firearm to make the kill.

“My main concern is about the tools you’re going to allow us to use to protect our livestock,” Bales said. “I really think it’s important that you allow us to have those tools.”

Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association said while he is supportive of the new rule, he shares Bales’ concerns.

Cleveland said if hunting rules do indeed allow trapping, it would seem reasonable to allow private landowners in the same areas to trap wolves, as well, although it is still premature to say whether the department will allow any trapping or snaring of wolves.

Montana has decided it will not initially allow trapping or snaring of the animals as part of its hunting seasons, Cleveland noted.

The Wyoming Game and Fish department plans on bringing wolf hunting and trapping regulations before the commission in July, Game and Fish official Scott Talbott said.

Email this story

MONTANA: WOLF KILLS NEAR TWO DOT, MT NOT SEEN FOR A CENTURY. THE WOLF IS BACK

Subject: Not seen for century, wolf kills sheep Predator makes kills in Two Dot area


http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/03/15/news/state/18-wolf.txt

Not seen for century, wolf kills sheep Predator makes kills in Two Dot area
By BRETT FRENCH
Of The Gazette Staff

TWO DOT - Her voice tinged with emotion and the video camera jiggling in her shaking hand, Tonya Martin filmed and narrated the scene she found behind her ranch home March 5 - five sheep had been killed by a wolf and another five were wounded, three of them, as it turned out, fatally.

"In the end, it's hard to watch what your animals go through," said Martin, 36, while showing the location of the slaughter on Thursday. "It makes me question what the future will be with them."

Martin was driving a tractor out to feed her cow-calf pairs around 8:30 a.m. on March 5 when her mother-in-law, Katherine Martin, spotted the big black wolf. The wolf trotted out of the brush, crossed the county road, went under a barbed-wire fence and paused to look back.

"We knew what it was right away," she said. "Our first instinct was to go after it."

At the time, Martin didn't know the wolf had killed five of her sheep. Had she known, the .222 rifle that always rides in the tractor could have been used to legally kill the wolf. It wasn't until the Martins investigated that they found the sheep flighty and hiding in the barren cottonwood trees along Big Elk Creek. Scattered around the drainage were five dead sheep and five others that were injured.

A veterinarian was called to patch up the five injured sheep, most of them with torn throats, but only two of those survived.

"I've never seen anything like it," Martin said. "Some were hamstrung, their legs were broken and twisted. I'd never seen kills like it before. The sheep were scared to death."

"It was a sad day, because I know he'll be back, and he'll be back with friends."

Tonya and her husband, Craig, are parents to the fifth generation of Martins on their ranch. The family's roots along the windy northeastern face of the Crazy Mountains reach back 114 years.

This rural area has come full circle. The first sheep were herded into this part of the Musselshell Valley in 1876. By the early 1900s, it was estimated that rancher Charles Bair owned more than 300,000 head of sheep, making the area one of the top sheep-producing regions in the world.

Sheep production has dropped precipitously across Montana and the United States since the 1920s, for a variety of reasons. But Martin likes having her nearly 400 head of sheep around as a way to control weeds without using pesticides.

"They bring a lot more to the table," she said.

As sheep and settler numbers grew at the turn of the century, wolves were exterminated across the landscape. The hide and skull of one of the last wolves killed in the early 1900s in the Two Dot region hangs on the fireplace of Martin's neighbor, Mac White. His uncles used to hunt wolves with greyhounds and Irish wolfhounds.

"They got rid of them for a reason," Martin said.

But now wolves are back.

After being reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park in the mid-1990s, wolves have recolonized old territories and now number more than 1,500 in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. As wolf populations have grown, roaming wolves are breaking off to seek new habitat, new food sources.

"Wolves are firmly established, and all of Montana is within the dispersal distance of wolves," said Carolyn Sime, wolf coordinator for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Adult wolves have been known to wander up to 500 miles, crossing interstate highways and big rivers - and there's even anecdotal evidence they've swum reservoirs. Sixty to 80 miles is a more typical traveling distance, which puts the Crazy Mountains, an island range, within reach of four other known packs.

The Martin ranch, located 10 miles south of Two Dot, has been no stranger to predators over the years.

"We had a 350-pound bear killing sheep in the lambing shed three or four years ago," Martin said.

The big bear eventually was shot by a Harlowton hunter, but Tonya said the situation was a bit too close for comfort. The family has also weathered its share of coyote kills in the 13 years that Martin has been raising sheep.

But she sees the wolf that attacked her flock a bit differently. "They're vicious," she said. "It never ate a bite. It just killed for fun. It's a completely different predator."

Sime said sheep trigger some "hard-wired" mechanism in wolves that makes them tend to kill more than just one, although she said there's no way to understand why the wolves do it.

"I don't really know if a wolf thinks that's fun or not," Sime said.

She also said a lone wolf will often kill and not return to the kill site, electing to move on in search of other wolves.

"Wolves have a pretty big urge to move on because they're a pack animal," Sime said. "They're looking for other wolves."

When other predators such as coyotes, bears or mountain lions kill an animal, they usually return to feed, Martin said, and they don't typically return with many friends, if any. That's what concerns her most - that the lone wolf may signal the start of a new pack in the area and more sheep losses.

Sime said that once nighttime temperatures get above freezing, a government trapper will be authorized to set leg-hold traps to try to catch the Two Dot-area wolf for collaring. When it's freezing, there's concern that the animal could lose its paw in a leg-hold trap.

"That's a typical step for us when we have a wolf in a new area," Sime said.

The state would like to know whether the wolf was a loner, or the mate of a breeding pair that may be looking to den and have pups this spring.

It's calving season, and the Martins are already putting in long hours tending their livestock. But since the wolf attack, they've been on high alert. Bellowing cows have them grabbing their coats, slipping on boots and rushing outside to make sure there's no problem.

Although the environmental group Defenders of Wildlife will pay livestock owners for confirmed wolf kills, Martin isn't so sure she'll apply.

"Morally, it's kind of hard because they are funded with donations of people who wanted to put wolves here in the first place," she said.

Contact Brett French at french@billingsgazette.com or at 657-1387.