Riding Herd “The greatest homage we can pay to truth is to use it.” – JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL
July 15, 2020 • www.aaalivestock.com
Volume 62 • No. 7
Second Class Citizens CLIFF GARDNER AS TOLD TO LEE PITTS
Don’t mess with something that ain’t bothering you.
L
NEWSPAPER PRIORITY HANDLING
ast December Frank Dubois really got my attention with a column titled “Permanent Land Grabs”. He wrote, “Both major political parties endorse a forever expanding federal estate. Last November the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources passed a bill to permanently and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The bill is titled ‘Land and Water Conservation Fund Permanent Funding Act’. The real kicker here is the language which states, “Shall be made available for expenditure, without further appropriation or fiscal year limitation.” “What does that language mean?” According to Frank, “Under current law, dollars for federal land acquisition must compete annually with other federal programs. When Trump signs this bill into law, dollars for federal land acquisition will no longer have to compete - they will be on automatic pilot - $900 million each year MUST be spent on land acquisition.” You can bet your boots that most of this land will be in your western backyard. You’d think that the feds already own too much land as they already own 640 million acres of America, out of a total 2.27 billion acres. Four major federal land management agencies plus the Department of Defense manage about 27 percent of the U.S. land base and guess where most of that land is? Fed ownership ranges from 0.3 percent of the land in Connecticut and Iowa, to 80.1 percent of the land in Nevada. The feds own 70 percent of Alaska and 46 percent of 11 other western states. Com-
pare this with a puny 4 percent and less of federal land ownership in the rest of the states. In our history our country has gone through phases of coveting land, and selling it at fire sale prices. During the 1800’s federal laws encouraged western settlement through federal land disposal. In the 20th century the feds emphasis shifted to holding on to its lands. Or should we say, OUR LANDS? The problem is it can’t begin to take proper care of the land it already owns with a $19.38 billion maintenance backlog. And now the feds will be forced to buy $900 million worth of new land every year. This at a time when the Congressional Budget Office says that by 2030 the federal yearly deficit will reach $1.7 trillion, which was the size of the entire federal budget in 1999. It is with regret that I report that the US Senate passed the
land grab (S. 3422, the Great American Outdoors Act) on June 17, 2020 by a vote of 73 to 25. It appears the measure will be heard in the US House of Representatives in July and is expected to pass. At this point in time the belief is that the President will sign the bill… unless America speaks up.
Don’t Shoot the Messenger My “go to” guy on matters concerning our public lands is Cliff Gardner, a highly intelligent gentleman I’ve known for 30 years. Cliff has ranched in Ruby Valley, Nevada, was a Forest Service permittee and has spent a good chunk of his life in law libraries and reading lots of boring books. He has spent years in researching the inner workings of the BLM and Forest Service and he’s reached many conclusions public lands ranchers ARE NOT going to want to hear.
Cliff begins, “It was the intent of the founders of our nation, that such lands as were acquired by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,” (The treaty that brought an end to the Mexican-American War), “and the treaty for the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory (Louisiana Purchase), were to be held in trust by the federal government for purposes of disposal following statehood.” According to Cliff, “It was recognized that the federal government was to hold and dispose of lands for the purpose of paying off the revolutionary war debt. With the exception of those lands which were included within the Northwest Territory, the Founders of our nation saw only one manner by which the federal government could gain title to lands within admitted states of the union. That was by the authority of Article 1, Sec. 8, Cl. 17 of our Constitution known as the “Enclave Clause”. Shortly thereafter, however, opportunity arose whereby the U.S. was given the opportunity to purchase the Louisiana Territory. This purchase should not have complicated things to any great degree,” continues Cliff, “except for reason that the Supreme Court soon after declared that the power over continued on page two
Farm Bureau Warns Ranchers About Signing ‘Voluntary Agreements’ with BLM IDAHO FARM BUREAU FEDERATION
U
.S. Bureau of Land Management officials are asking Idaho ranchers who water livestock on BLM land to sign voluntary agreements stating that they are limited agents of the federal government. Idaho Farm Bureau Federation officials are advising ranchers to think long and hard before signing the agreement, cautioning them that doing so would allow the BLM to maintain water rights in their name and would prohibit the rancher from filing for in-stream stock watering rights on federal land in the future. IFBF leaders say the issue rehashes some of the main points of a landmark 2007 water rights ruling known as the Joyce Livestock Decision. In that decision, the Idaho Supreme Court ruled in favor of two Owyhee County ranchers in their battle with the BLM over who owns in-stream stock watering rights on federally administered land. During the state’s Snake River Basin Adjudication process, southern Idaho ranchers and the BLM filed thousands of overlapping claims to in-stream stock watering rights on federal land.
All but two of the ranchers, Paul Nettleton and Tim Lowry, backed off or negotiated with the BLM when they realized fighting the federal agency in court would cost a lot of money. Agreeing with Nettleton and Lowry, the state’s supreme court ruled that BLM didn’t own the rights because it doesn’t own cows and couldn’t put the water to beneficial use. During the SRBA process, the water adjudication court ended up conveying 17,000 stock watering rights to the BLM prior to the Joyce ruling. However, since BLM cannot put the water to beneficial use, they are now in jeopardy of forfeiting these rights through non-use. The Idaho Legislature passed a bill a few years ago that codifies the Idaho Supreme Court’s 2007 decision into state law, which paves the way for thousands of ranchers in Idaho to file competing claims for those in-stream stock watering rights on BLM land. In an effort to keep those water rights, BLM is now encouraging permittees to sign agreements stating that they are agents of the federal government and that their livestock are putting the water to beneficial use for the agency. In an email response to IFBF questions on continued on page four
by LEE PITTS
If Vets Were MD’s
I
think we take our large animal veterinarians for granted. Just think of how much worse it could be if veterinarians were more like medical doctors. Let’s say a bow hunter accidentally shot your cow in the rump. OUCH! Instead of getting almost immediate attention from your vet, you’d phone a number and be placed on hold listening to ear-splitting music for 20 minutes to schedule an appointment, because vets would no longer make house calls. “We hear you have a problem with a horse,” says the receptionist on the phone days later. “No, it’s a cow and some idiot shot an arrow into her rump,” I reply. “That must hurt. But sorry, the doc is not taking any new patients at this time.” “We’re not new. He’s been our vet for 25 years.” “Oh, in that case the soonest we can squeeze you in is in four weeks.” “You’re kidding? My cow is supposed to walk around with an arrow in her butt for a month?” “Yes, the DVM is extremely busy because he’s now playing golf twice a week.” Then the day before your scheduled appointment you get this phone message: “We’re very excited to announce that the doc has been invited to play in a pro-am golf tournament tomorrow. Please call our office to reschedule your appointment.” Finally, six weeks after your cow was shot you load her up and arrive 15 minutes early to fill out the 24 page questionnaire the receptionist hands you. It asks things like, “Has your cow ever had an “STD”. You’re embarrassed to ask, so you whisper to the receptionist, “What is an STD?” “In her loudest possible voice she practically screams, “sexually transmitted disease.” This causes everyone in the waiting room to regard you in a new light. You pervert! Another question asks, “Besides you and your spouse, who should we contact in case of an emergency?” You write down your sis-
continued on page five