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07/12/10 Local (Douglass) Ranchers Concerns About Border Crime (KOLD News 13 video)
Ranchers Speak Out at Border Town Hall (KVOA TV Video)
Ranchers Calling for More Agents (The Westerner)
Sunday Shootout in Juarez Leaves Three Cartel Gunmen Dead (The Westerner)
Border Patrol Officers Fire on SUV at Zaragoza Bridge (The Westerner)
Good Fences, Good Neighbors (The Westerner)
07/11/10 Are Heads Missing in Arizona?  (The Westerner - warning... GRAPHIC)
Memo to Milbank: You're a Head Behind the Facts on Arizona Border Decapitations  (Washington Examiner)
Memo Reveals Refuge Officers' Struggle to Secure Lands Along Southwest Border  (The Westerner)
07/10/10 Memo Reveals Refuge Officers' Struggle to Secure Lands Along Southwest Border  (Fox News)
Border Violence Spills Over to Farms & Ranches (News New Mexico)
Pinal County is Ground Zero for Smuggling VIDEO (Sean Hannity)
Fire Fighting Along the Border Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  (Part 3 has the most information related to illegal immigration impacts)
07/09/10 Border-crosser Shot in Back Near Rio Rico
Fish & Wildlife Service Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge - Borderland Challenges report from 2006
Fish & Wildlife Service Memo on Border Law Enforcement on Refuge System Lands in the Southwest
Bingaman on Immigration and Wilderness (Las Cruces Bulletin)
Border Violence Spills Onto Mexican Ranches, Farms
Kyl & McCain - Government is Failing Border Residents
Cattle Can Be a Conservation Tool
07/08/10 Bill Would Limit Presidents Monument Efforts
Environmental Law's Greatest Tragedy
Give Most Federal Lands to Montana DNRC
New Mexico Seeks Feds' Help on Off-Road Vehicles
07/07/10 Indian Reservations Becoming Drug Pipelines?
Second Wave of Independent Border-Watchers Target Arizona (Fox News)
Fox News Surveys Arizona-Mexico Border
El Paso Sector Interactive Border Map
Monument Plan Will Hurt Landscape, Local Economy  (The Westerner)
DeGette May Adjust Wilderness Proposal in Carbondale Area  (The Westerner)
Sen. Bingaman's Wilderness Bill Makes the Border Safer (News New Mexico)
Designing the Perfect Drug Smuggling Corridor (News New Mexico)
07/06/10 Arizona's Closed Federal Parkland is a No-Man's Land
Arizona Sheriff Gets Death Threats Over New Law (Fox News)
More Than Immigration at Stake on Border
Drug Gangs Terrorize Residents in Small Mexican Villages on Arizona's Doorstep
12 People Killed During Elections in Juarez
Drug War Casts Shadow Over Mexico Elections
Officials Make Arrests in US Consulate Deaths
Mexican Authorities: Federal Agents Could Have Fired Bullets That Struck City Hall
Shootout At El Paso City Hall
Arizona Dems Contest Obama's Assertions on Border Security
Wells Fargo, Wachovia Involved in Numerous Mexican Drug Laundering Schemes
07/05/10 New PFPOWH Video - Designing the Perfect Drug Smuggling Corridor
Mexican Drug Trafficking (New York Times)
National Drug Intelligence Center National Methamphetamine Threat Assessment 2010
Mexico Under Siege - It's A War (Los Angeles Times)
Government Must Secure Our Borders
07/03/10 Arizona's Closed Federal Parkland is a No-Man's Land (Fox News)
Drug Cartels Threaten to Kill a U.S. Border Patrol Agent Over Independence Day Weekend
Gov. Brewer: If The President Won't Enforce the Law, Arizona Will (Greta Van Susteren)
Gov. Brewer Interview - Part 1, Part 2
Fox News Poll: Secure the Border First
Mexico: Gang Leader Says U.S. Consulate Infiltrated
Mexican Drug Cartels Issue Threat to Arizona Cops
US-Mexican Border Security Continues to Deteriorate, Officials Say (Washington Examiner)
Drug Cartels Smuggling Illegals Create Security Risk, Officials Say  (Washington Examiner)
07/02/10 Southern Border Could Get Much Worse
Wilderness Will Obstruct Securing US Border
21 Killed in Shootout Near US Border
21 Killed in Shootout Between Drug, Migrant Trafficking Gangs Near AZ Border  (Fox News)
Mexico Offers Armored Cars, Security Details for Candidates After Candidate Killed
Update: Raul Sabori Among 30 Dead, 40 Wounded? (BorderReporter)
21 Due in Gun Battle Near US Border
Prosecutor Shot Dead in Mexican Border City
Five Mexican Governors Have Received Death Threats
Ballistics Tests Run: Workers at City Hall Unfazed by Shots That Hit Building
Gunfire from Juarez Usually  Heard, Not Seen
'Cross-Border Gunfire' Raises Texas Security Fears
Official Says 'Gamble' on 'Virtual' Fence Didn't Pay Off
Republicans Blast Obama's Immigration Speech
07/01/10 Feds Say Arrests of Illegal Immigrants Are Down, But Problems Still Remain
New Threat on Mexican Border
Brewer: 'Disturbing' That Feds Spend More on Mexico Than Border Guard
Battle for Arizona - Meet the Man Who Would be Arizona Governor
National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers - letter to Congressmen, Senators
Johnson Wants to Meet With Upset Ranchers
06/30/10 Fewer Troops Coming to NM Border Than in Previous Deployment
The Arizona-Mexico Border: An Update
Gunfire From Mexico Pelts El Paso City Hall, Enters Office
Mexico: Where Bullets Are Intimidating the Ballot
Inside the Tunnel: Boys Used in Drug-Smuggling Route
Obama Not Running For The Border  (video)
No Serious Attempt to Security the Border (Fox News video)
With the Debate Over Arizona's Illegal Immigration Raging On, Why Isn't Obama Running to the Border - Greta Van Susteren
Brewer Slams Administration Over Smuggler Warning Signs in AZ Desert
Letter from Governor Brewer to President Barack Obama Regarding Border Security
Border Facts - Governor Jan Brewer
Eighty Mile Swath of Arizona Surrendered to Cartels
Border War Continues - Sheriff Paul Babeu on Fox Business
06/29/10 Albuquerque Journal - More Wilderness = More Crime
Governors Criticize Obama's Border Security Plan
Mexican Governor Candidate Killed by Gunmen, Calderon Says Assassination Tied to Drug Gang Violence
Killing Escalates Mexico Drug War
524 Guard Soldiers Headed to Arizona-Mexico Border
Decision on Guard Troops Criticized - 72 for NM
Narco Tunnel Found in El Paso: Drug Route Runs 130 Feet Under Rio Grande
Fox News - The Southern Front interactive border map
A Sound Question About Wilderness Designations
Why Wasn't Schultz Pass Thinned?
06/28/10 New PFPOWH Video: The Inaequacy of a 5 Mile Buffer for Border Security
Don't Shackle Border With Wilderness Bill
It's Your Land...
Congresswoman Raises Red Flag on Hezbollah-Cartel Nexus on U.S. Border
Mexican Cops Retreat as Violence Rages On
Mexico Mayham: Drug Violence Claims 20
Dem Lawmakers Feel the Heat on Border Security
Five Gunmen Killed Near Border in Cuidad Mier Battle
Armed Assailants Fire Shots at Televisa Offices in Northern Mexico
Famed Mexican Singer Gunned Down in Border State
AZ Gov Jan Brewer's Smart New Border Ad
06/27/10 Sun News - Wilderness Bill Must Allow For Border Security
06/26/10 Congresswoman Raises Red Flag on Hezbollah-Cartel Nexus on U.S. Border
Video - The Inadequacy of a 5 Mile Buffer for Border Security
Hannity - Rancher Catches Illegals on Video
ABC Nightline: Broken Border: Ft. Hancock, TX: Feds Abandon Americans to Mexican Violence
Jan Brewer - Warning Signs Are Not Enough
06/25/10 The Inadequacy of a 5 Mile Buffer for Border Security
Border City Police in the Crosshairs (Greta Van Susteren)
Blogs for Borders USA
06/24/10 Border War Continues (Sheriff Paul Babeu, Pinal County, AZ)
Mexican Drug Lords on American Soil
The Killing Fields
U.S. Predator Drones to Surveil Mexican Border
Mexican Gangs Maintain Permanent Lookout Bases in Hills of Arizona
Napolitano Highlights Steps to Secure Border
US To Deploy Drones to Shore Up Border With Mexico
Reduced Overtime Stymies Border Patrol
06/23/10 Rob Bishop Talks With Fox News' Harris Faulkner About Border Security
Mexican Gangs Maintain Permanent Lookout Bases in Hills of Arizona
Drug Cartels Threaten U.S. City Police Department
Obama Requests $600 Million for Border Security
War Over The Border: White House Says Kyl is Lying About Security; AZ Senator Stands His Ground
Obama Tells Kyl: I Won't Secure Border B/C Republicans Will Have No Reason to Support "Comprehensive Immigration Reform"
Arinzona's Senators Tour Border, Hold Town Hall
Five Federal Lands in Arizona Have Travel Warnings In Place
Mexican Drug Cartel Warns Police Officers in Arizona Border Town to 'Look the Other Way'
BLM Southern Arizona Project to Mitigate Environmental Damages Resulting from Illegal Immigration
06/22/10 Video - Headlines on Federal Lands and our UNSECURE BORDER
Video - Rape Tree Followup - A Look At The Numbers
Border Patrol Charged Millions for Habitat Damage, Republicans Say Enough 'Extortion'
Drug Cartel Activity Threatens Texas Water Supplies, Lawmaker Says
District Court Says Forest Service Exceeded Incidental Take of Salmonids, Also Finds That Grazing Permittees Must be Heard During Consultation Process
A Line in the Sand: Confronting The Threat at the SW Border, House Committee on Homeland Security
06/21/10 Congressman Rob Bishop Speaking on Border Concerns on Federal Lands - DO NOT MISS THIS
Transcript of Bishop's Speech
Violence Prompts Strong Warning at Arizona Monument
Mayor of Mexican Border Town Assassinated
11 Killed in Shootout Between Mexican Soldiers and Suspected Drug Traffickers
U.S.-Mexican Border Security Continues to Deteriorate, Officials Say
Border Patrol Navigating Reams of Regulation to Secure Federal Land
Rep. Bishop Speaks on Border Security Concerns on Federal Lands
Costly Efforts to Secure Border Not Paying Off
$1.25 Million to Save Rodents in Crime-Infested Border State
Many U.S. Parks, Monuments, Wildlife Refuges & Public Lands Are Too Dangerous For U.S. Public To Use
Two More Americans Found Dead in the Arizona Desert
06/20/10 Five Federal Lands in Arizona Have Travel Warnings In Place
Drug Cartel Issues Threat to Off-Duty Nogales Police Officers
Why Felipe Calderon Hates Arizona's Anti-illegal Immigration Law
06/19/10 Congressman Rob Bishop Speaking on Border Concerns on Federal Lands - DO NOT MISS THIS
Border Patrol Navigating Reams of Regulations to Secure Federal Land
Fox News Highlights Major Loophole in Securing Our Southern Border
HR 5016 - Securing Our Border on Federal Lands.  A bill introduced: "To prohibit the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture from taking action on public lands which impede border security on such lands, and for other purposes."
View the Republicans Natural Resources Committee Overview of Securing our Border on Federal Lands
Drug Cartel Violence Along Open Southern Border Endangers Drinking Water Supplies
06/18/10 'First Line of Defense' - Southern NM Rancher Between Border Battles  Page 1   Page 2
Section of Arizona Wildlife Refuge Closed Since 2006 Due to Safety Concerns
US Parkland Bordering Mexico, Shut Since 2006, Remains Off-Limits As Violence Escalates
Lawmaker Warns Parks Takeover by Mexican Cartels, Illegals 'Intensifying'
Security Worries Overshadow U.S.-Mexico Park Plan
Slain Arizona Rancher Told Family Illegal Alien Needed Help
06/17/10 Smuggling Violence Prompts Stronger Warning to Visitors at National Monument South of Phoenix
Federal Regs on Environment May Be Hindering Border Security, Lawmakers Say
Uptick In Violence Forces Closing of Parkland Along Mexico Border to Americans
Escalating Violence Prompts Change in USDA's Border Inspections
Recon Balloon That Could Aid Border Patrols Is Put In a Holding Pattern
Murdered Arizona Rancher Shot Multiple Times, Autopsy Finds
Mexico's Bloodshed Worsens as Hundreds Die in Last 7 Days
06/16/10 Fox News - U.S. Closes Park Land Along Mexico Border to Americans
Portion of US Wildlife Refuge Closed Due to Violent Border Activity
Pinal County Sheriff: Mexican Drug Cartels Now Control Parts of Arizona
Pinal County Sheriff Asks Obama for Troops
U.S. Government Giving Parts of Arizona Back to Mexico
Borderland Beat - Pinal County Sheriff: Mexican Drug Cartels Now Control Parts of Arizona
BorderFire Report - US Gov Giving Parts of Arizona Back to Mexico
Cartels Smuggle U.S. Drug Money Back to Mexico in Cash, Study Finds
06/15/10 Videos On What Is Really Happening On Our Border With Mexico
06/14/10 Unlike Bingaman, Simpson Seeks and Gets Consensus on Wilderness Bill
Hickenlooper Sides With Ranchers on Pinion Canyon
Candidates to Present Views on Pinion Canyon Expansion
06/12/10 Criminal Activity Continues to Rise on Federal Lands
House Republican Warnings Ignored as Arizona Sheriff Deputy Shot by Drug Smugglers on Federal Wilderness Lands
New Updated Version of How The West Was Lost documentary
Pinal County Deaths Tied to Mexican Drug Wars
Murder In Smuggling Corridor
06/11/10 Video:  Border Wilderness - Too Dangerous For The Public
Video:  Wilderness Threatens Border Security
Lawsuit Targets Harmful Public-lands Livestock Subsidy
06/10/10 Cowboy Down: Rob Krentz's Family Talk About the Life and Death of the Murdered Arizona Rancher
Rancher Krentz Was Shot Multiple Times
Wilderness Proposal Meant to Ease Concerns
06/08/10 Donald Ham - Wilderness - Border Patrol Should Provide a Rebuttal
2 Bodies Found in Pinal County Desert (Wilderness)
Mexico Mass Grave in Abandoned Mine Has 55 Bodies
6 Bodies Found in Cave, 3 With Hearts Cut Out
2 Found Shot Dead Near Illegal Border Crossing in Arizona
FBI Investigates Shooting of 2 by Border Agents
Forest Service Issues New Wilderness Filming Rules
From Guns to Butter in Juarez
06/07/10 The Western Watersheds Project's Assault on Family Ranchers
Stats Don't Reflect Border Fear
Border Ranchers React To White House Meeting
Rancher Has Close-Up View of Immigration Debate
06/03/10 The Battle for Arizona
06/02/10 Video: The Price Of Admission - Wilderness Rape Trees
Border Security to Include Livestock Inspectors
Border Security Implications of Proposed Wilderness
Wilderness Misinformation
Lawsuit Filed to Protect Arizona Endangered Species from Cattle Grazing
05/31/10 Sheriff Deputies to Accompany Livestock Scale Inspectors
Illegal Immigrants Gravitate Toward Arizona Border
Armed Mexican Pirates Terrorize Texas Lake
05/30/10 Americans Fleeing Border Invasion
ESA - It's Not About Saving Species - It's About Spending Taxpayer Money and Making Some Groups Wealthy
05/28/10 Obama's Border Security Plan Falls Short, Ranchers Say
Face of Fear at the Border
Southern Arizona Rancher Testifies Before Congress
Rehberg Wants to Unlock Gates, Allow Border Control Vehicles in Non-motorized Areas
Protecting Endangered Species Interfering with Border Security
Feds Issue Terror Watch for the Texas/Mexico Border
Signs Point to Administration Plan to Lock Up 13M Acres of Federal Land
05/27/10 Friends of Murdered Rancher React to More Troops on the Border
Mexico Tells US How to Use Troops - US Says Troops Won't Be USed to Stop Illegal Immigration
NM Guard to be Part of Border Effort
05/26/10 Obama to Send 1,200 Guard Troops to Mexico Border
Bishop: More Border Troops Won't Work if They're Blocked
Senate GOP: Border Troops Could Lead to Immigration Compromise
05/25/10 DOI Safe Borders Initiative - a VERY interesting read
05/24/10 County Passes Ordinance Opposing Designation of Otero Mesa as a National Monument
Phil Krentz: "I Just Don't Know What's Around The Next Bend"
Foreign Terrorists Bread U.S. Border
Trash On The Border
05/23/10 Foreign 'terrorists' Breach U.S. Border - Illegals Coming from Afghanistan, Iran, Egypt, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria, Yemen
Homeland Security Alert: Terror Suspect May Be Headed to Texas Through Mexico
Brewer Says Stimulus Will Be Used On The Border
Northern Mexico Shootout Kill 2 Police, 7 Gunmen
4 Decapitated Bodies Found in Northern Mexico
U.S. Applauds Record Extraditions From Mexico, But Drug War Violence Continues
Mexican Students Enrolling in U.S. Schools to Escape Violence
Why is it So Hard to Flee Mexico's Drug War?
05/21/10 Sheriff Dever Believes Suspect Will Be Identified in Krentz Murder
Officers Say Drug, Immigrant Smuggling Surging at NM Border
Representative Bishop on Wilderness and the Border
Govt met with Environmentalists on Land Protection
05/20/10 Video - " Trash On The Border"
Congressman Rob Bishop - " Federal Policies Enable Border Violence"
Illegal Traffickers Destroy The Wilderness
05/19/10

WSBTV Channel 2, Altanta, GA - "Investigation of U.S. Border Security"
Part 1 http://www.wsbtv.com/video/23438021/index.html
Part 2 http://www.wsbtv.com/video/23438712/index.html
OTM (Other Than Mexican) reports - Page 1, Page 2

05/17/10 Radios Meant for Ranchers Are Still In Storage
Mexico Shaken by Abduction and Feared Murder of Top Politician
Small Mobile Units Emerge as Potent Border-Watch Tool
Lawmakers Expect Revised Border Violence Plan from Calderon Visit
Combat Operations in the Border Zone
05/16/10 Death on the Border, But Washington Refuses to Act
Drug Violence Hits Mexican Candidates - Gangs Kidnap, Kill to Control Elections
Former Mexican Governor Said to Help Get Drugs to U.S.
Former Mexican Presidential Candidate Goes Missing
At Least 18 Killed in Northern Mexico
A Forceful Call for Change From El Paso
O'odham Police Bust Coke-Smuggling Ring
More Horses Needed to Secure the Border
Homeland Security: Drones to Help Track U.S. Border in Summer
Channel 2 Investigates U.S. Border Security
U.S. Embassy Confirms Arizona Man Found Dead in Northern Mexico; 3 Detained in Case
05/12/10 NY Times - Side by Side, but Divided Over Immigration
Albuquerque Examiner - 5 Reasons to Carry Guns in our National Parks
El Paso Times - Border Violence: Wounded Men Cross Rio Grande, Sent to El Paso Hospital
GOP-ers Bristle at Feds' Land Plan
05/09/10 Udall Questions Officials About Increased Border Violence, and I Question Udall
Pelosi: It's Cheaper to Treat Teens for Drug Use Than Interdict Drugs At Border
Twelve Killed in Juarez Since Friday Afternoon
Gunmen Kill 1 At Wedding In Juarez, Kidnap 3, Including Groom
Police Chief, 5 Others Slain In Border State
US Extends Travel Warning For Mexico
Texas Senators Stress Need to Stop Mexican Violence From Spreading to U.S.
Border Violence Affecting Trade, Congressmen Say
05/06/10 Democrats thwart Rep. Rob Bishop's move to obtain 'national monument' documents
05/05/10 Warnings Ignored as Arizona Sheriff Deputy Shot  by Drug Smugglers on Federal Wilderness Lands
Border Patrol Agent Union Strongly Supports Bill to Improve Border Security on Public Lands
Border Policies Continue to Jeopardize National Security
KSVP Interview With Erik Ness, New Mexico Farm Bureau on Border Issues
05/04/10 Latest Violence Spasm Claims 25 Lives Near Mexico-US Border
New Report On Rancher's Killer Irks Cochise Sheriff
Update From Chochise County, AZ
Mexico's Illegals Laws Tougher Than Arizona's
Obama's Border Breakdown
Hearings Revive Border Violence Debate As Troops Requested
Armed Narco-Terrorists Caught On Tape Where Arizona Deputy Shot On Friday
A Border-Area Home Invasion Has Forced Residents To Take Action
04/04/10 Grijalva Declines To Answer, Walks Away When Asked If He's Committed To Sealing Border Against Drug Traffic
Senator Sylvia Allen Responds to SB1070
05/02/10 Deputy Shot; Illegal Immigrants Suspected
17 Caught in Search for Ariz. Deputy's Attackers
Drug Violence Kills 14 in Mexico Border State
Women - Victims of Silence And Invisibility Along U.S., Mexican Borders
Mexico's Crime Syndicates Increasingly Target Authorities In Drug War's New Phase
Border States Deal With More Illegal Immigrant Crime Than Most, Data Suggests
Mexico: The Real War Next Door
How Arizona Became Center of Immigration Debate
04/29/10 Why is Ken Salazar Hiding Memo on New Monuments, Wilderness Areas?
The Krentz Bonfire
Justice Department: Three Border Patrol Agents Assaulted Per Day; Someone Kidnapped Every 35 Hours in Phoenix
Border "Secure as Ever", DHS Chief Says
04/28/10 Earth Day Predictions from 1970 - a very interesting read!
Wildland Fire Leadership Council
Death of a Rancher
Giffords Town Hall Focuses on Border
Aerial Drone Will Fly on Texas Border Soon, Napolitano Says
04/27/10 Praising Arizona (In Border Battle)
Hidden Gems Wilderness Unsafe
Lawsuit to Be Launched to Protect Endagered Species in Arizona and New Mexico National Forests
04/26/10 Police Ambushed in Juarez; 8 People Killed
Gunmen Kill 4, Wound Top Security Official in Michoacan
Arrests in Killings of Consulate Worker, 2 Others
Ciudad Juarez: War Against Los Zetas, Along the Gulf and Into America
"Murder City: Cuidad Juarez and the Global Economy's New Killing Fields" by Charles Bowden
Sen. Cornyn Says Feds Have Failed, Offers Support for Local Law Enforcement
U.S. Training Mexican Feds
Violence Temporarily Closes Camargo Bridge
Suspected Drug Runner, Worker Square Off With Guns
04/25/10 Sen. Cornyn Says Feds Have Failed, Offers Support for Local Law Enforcement
04/24/10 John Hummer: Significant Consequences of Proposed Border Wilderness
04/23/10 Burglary Suspect May Have Info in Krentz Killing
Arizona Gov. Calls for More Border Protection
Cattle Ranchers are Some of the World's Real Environmentalists
04/22/10

Wilderness on the Border 4/22/10 - 9 Articles on Border Violence
Why Ranchers Fear for Their Safety, and What Lawmakers Want
Arizona Sheriff Says Cops Are Being Killed by Illegal Aliens; Joins Call for U.S. Troops at Border
Napolitano Cites Actions Since Death of Robert Krentz

04/19/10 State Must Organize to Fight Cross-Border Crime
Securing the Border is the First Priority
04/18/10

The Wilderness Border and its Implications on American Security

04/17/10 Las Cruces Sun News - Border Security Proposals Worthy of Investigation
Las Cruces TEA Party Brochure on Border Security and the Krentz Murder
04/15/10 Let Border Patrol in Wilderness Areas, Bishop Says
Fox News - GOP Reps Offer Bill to Ban Interior Dept From Hindering Border Agents
Arizona Ranchers Urge Crackdown on Border Violence
Wilderness on the Border 4/15/10 - 6 Articles on Border Violence
04/13/10 There Won't Be Another Guy Like Robert Krentz
Arizona Ranchers Caught Up in Mexican Drug Violence
A Bordertown Drug-Murder Mystery
Southern Arizona Ranchers Demand Action
Rancher's Death Prompts Challenge to Cell Phone Companies
Two Earlier Video Reports on Border Death

New Nature Conservancy Atlas Aims to Show the State of the World's Ecosystems
04/12/10 Wilderness On The Border - 9 Articles on Mexican Border Violence
Our Lawless Mexican Border - Wall Street Journal
Las Cruces Sun News - " Let's Beef Up Border to Prevent More Violence"
Schiff Calls for Review of U.S. Forest Service's Nighttime Flying Policy

Landowners Win Lawsuit Seeking Colorado's Appraiser Files
Idaho Rancher May Lose Grazing Permit
04/09/10 Las Cruces Bulletin - " Stormwater Authority Sought - Task Force recommends a regional approach to watershed issues" and Part 2
04/08/10 Krentz Services/Memorial/Reward
LC Sun News - " Fears of Repeat of 2006 Flooding Spur Talk of Control Authority"
Off-roaders in Search of Trails
Judge Hears Grazing Arguments
04/06/10 Mexico Drug Gangs Turn Weapons on Army
2 Children Killed in Mexico Border State Shootout
Mexican Cartels Cannot be Defeated, Drug Lord Says
2nd Mexican Helicopter Sighted in U.S. Airspace
A Growing Border Crisis is Opportunity for Terrorists
Armed Men Storm Mexico Border Prison to Free 13 Inmates
Mexican Army Sending Four Helicopters to Border
Fleeing Violence, More Mexicans Seek U.S. Asylum
04/05/10 Ranchers Alarmed by Killing Near Border - NY Times
Border Fence Under Renewed Fire After Rancher Killing
04/04/10 Krentz family statement
Feds Have Fiddled Too Long as Border Security Failed
Why the Silence From Janet Napolitano About Putting Troops on the Border
Arizona  AG: Rancher's Slaying the Work of Cartels
Rancher Robert Krentz Didn't Deserve to Die on His Own Land in the USA
Border Security Debate Intensifies in Arizona
Mexican Border Town on High Alert as Mexican Drug Cartels Threaten to Start Killing Children
Journals of Texas Students Reveal Horrors Across the Border
Border Security: What is the Appropriate Response?
Border Drug War: Violence Wears on Valley of Juarez Residents
04/03/10 Death and Dishonor in Cochise County
04/02/10 The Krentz Tragedy - Murder on the Border
Giffords Holds Ranchers' Meeting
Luna Co. Sheriff Calls Meeting on Border Security
Border Patrol Agent Urges Calm as Fears in Texas Town Rise
GOP Lawmaker Calls for Hearing Into Border Security After Rancher's Murder
Mexicans Facing Drug War Violence Could Seek Political Asylum in U.S.
Mexico Asks More U.S. Cooperation on Border Violence
Janet Napolitano Lied
White House Responds to Guard Deployment Call
Las Cruces Bulletin - " Arizona Death Heightens Concerns in Border Area"
04/01/10 New Mexico Boosts Law Enforcement On Border
Violent Mexican Gangs Pose Risk to Americans 
States Boost Border Security as Pleas to Washington Go Unmet 
Richardson Orders National Guard to Patrol Mexican Border
Rancher Warns of Growing Border Danger 
Border Lawmakers: Humanitarian Aid Just the Start in Fighting Drug Violence 
Slain Arizona Rancher Mourned by Friends, Neighbors 
Rancher's Killing Draws Citizens, Officials 
Rancher's Murder Prompts Town Hall In Apache 
Robert N. Krentz, Jr. - June 3, 1951 - March 27, 2010 
03/31/10 Fox News & Local TV Video Coverage of Krentz Murder  
Many Ranchers Will Be Cautious  
Reward Offered As Ranchers Arm Themselves in Wake of Murder
NM Rancher Concerned With Border Safety, Video Report
The Westerner - Politicians Respond, I Comment 
Las Cruces Sun News - "Bootheel Murder Spurs Call for Greater USBP Presence", "Governor Steps Up Security Along Border"
03/30/10 Cochise Ranch Area Outraged by Killing
Arizona Reacts to Murder of Douglass Rancher
Bootheel Murder Spurs Call for Greater USBP Presence
Border Patrol Officers Avert "Booby Traps" in NM, Seize Drugs
NM Delegation's Response
Krentz Family: Homeland Heros
03/30/10 Gov Approves Use of Eminent Domain to Take Federal Land
03/30/10 White House Outdoors Conference to Urge Conservation, Quell Rumors
03/30/10 Michelle Malkin - "The death of an Arizona rancher"
03/29/10 The Westerner - Cochise County Arizona Rancher Rob Krentz is murdered on his borderlands ranch, presumably by a drug smuggler.  Our deepest condolences go out to his family.  Fox News - "Arizona Rancher's Killing Sparks Calls to Beef Up Border Security", "Arizona Rancher Found Dead on Property"
03/28/10 The Westerner - "Wilderness on the Border 3/28/10 - 10 Articles on Border Violence"
03/20/10 Alamogordo Daily News - "Feds discuss county land - Gov. Richardson urges protection for Otero Mesa" - "Otero County Commissioner Ronny Rardin briefly commented on the governor's request. His view is that making Otero Mesa into a national park could affect Otero County residents' land use rights.  "You have government, like the federal government, coming down on county land without considering our land use," Rardin said."
03/18/10 "Wilderness on the Border 3/18/10 - 8 Articles on Border Violence"
03/18/10 "Salazar touts beefed-up border security; Bishop calls it a 'photo op'"
03/16/10 "100's of emergency 9-1-1 calls follow cartel shootout (watch and listen to two video reports)"
03/16/10 The Westerner - "Interior Sec., Ariz. congressman visit border"
03/16/10 The Westerner - "Salazar to tour dangerous border area"
03/13/10 Salt Lake Tribune - "Salazar to tour dangerous border area - Utah congressman calls on Interior boss to do more to help patrols." -  "Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will tour the U.S.-Mexico border Saturday at a national monument that has been deemed so dangerous more than half is closed to the public.... DHS and the Interior and Agriculture departments signed an agreement in 2006 that allows border agents to access sensitive public lands in pursuit of immigrants or criminal suspects, but Bishop contends that those patrols still are being hampered."
03/13/10 The Westerner - "Wilderness on the Border - 12 More Articles on Border Violence"
03/13/10 Natural Resources Committee - "As Secretary Salazar Visits Border, Dept of Interior Must Stop Obstructing Border Patrol"
03/13/10 Natural Resources Committee - "850,000 Acres & 34 Wilderness Area Designations = No Access, No Jobs, No Recreation for Coloradans"
03/13/10 Fox News - "Federal land grab on the way?"
03/11/10 Glenn Beck - "Land Grab By the Federal Government" -
03/11/10 Salt Lake Tribune - "Senate approves bill to condemn federal land"
03/11/10 "MTS Standard" - "No plans for new national monuments in Montana"
03/11/10 Aspen Times - "Forest Service assesses effects of Wilderness on firefighting" - "Turning Basalt Mountain into Wilderness wouldn't prohibit firefighting there but it would eliminate opportunities to reduce dead trees and fuels that have built up for decades, the top official in the White River National Forest said Wednesday. ... Fire Chief Scott Thompson said that, with all due respect to the Forest Service, the written rules and the application of rules aren't always the same. Written rules that appear to provide flexibility can actually provide an extra hurdle."
03/11/10 The Nation - "The Wrong Kind of Green"
03/11/10 The Westerner - "New Green Curriculum Unveiled for USDA Forest Service Job Corps"
03/11/10 Testimony added on S 1689 from Bud Hettinga and Kent Evans
03/05/10 The Westerner - "Wilderness On The Border - 8 Articles on Border Violence"
03/04/10 Salt Lake Tribune - "Utah House mounts new federal lands challenge", and LA Times - "In Utah, a move to seize federal land"
03/04/10 Washington Times - Demint - "White House Land Grab - Proposal to seize land would favor animals over Americans"
02/28/10 The Westerner - "Wilderness On The Border 2" - more articles and news on border/wilderness issues.
02/27/10 The Westerner - Wilderness On The Border - a collection of articles and news on border/wilderness issues.  "Al Qaeda eyes bio attack from Mexico", "Mexican Police Capture 18 Tons of Stolen Explosives Headed to U.S. Border", "Battle against Mexico's Drug Lords Could Threaten America", "Thousands of Mexicans Come to El Paso Fleeing Violence in Mexico", "270 Somalies Illegally Enter Across Mexican Border".
02/27/10 Save the Trails article "Enviro Litigation Gravy" - "Reports show Enviro Groups like the Wilderness Society, Forest Guardians and Center for Biological Diversity have been paid over $4 BILLION of your tax dollars to file lawsuits from 2003-2007."
02/25/10 Las Cruces Bulletin - "Wilderness Bill Debated - Opposing sides pack hearing on legislation"
02/24/10 Las Cruces TEA Party testimony submitted for S 1689 - Las Cruces TEA Party, Attachments 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
02/23/10 Letter to the editor by Jerry Schickedanz "Wilderness for the Country Club"
02/23/10 "Judge rejects suit to block wilderness landings" - "The use of helicopters for any other purpose would be extremely difficult to justify under the Wilderness Act," Winmill wrote in his 12-page ruling."  "Given that this project is allowed to proceed, the next project will be extraordinarily difficult to justify," the judge wrote.
02/22/10 "Wilderness Bill Could Lead to Increased Drug and Human Trafficking Across Border"
02/19/10 Las Cruces Bulletin - "Wilderness bill gets local debate" Page 1, Page 2
Las Cruces Bulletin - "Wilderness opponents come to BIA-SNM" - "We can't have wilderness in the Potrillos, and we can't have wilderness on the border"
02/19/10 PFPOWH Coalition supporting alternative to Wilderness grows to over 800 businesses and organizations.
02/19/10 Billings Gazette - "Chorus of Protest - Critics of secret BLM meetings share diverse backgrounds, conflicting interests"
02/18/10 Fox News - "Obama Eyes Western Land for National Monuments, Angering Some"
02/18/10 NMSU Roundup - "TEA Party protests federal wilderness act"
02/18/10 Otero Residents Forum - "S 1689 Wilderness Opens Portal to Crime, Drugs and More Invasion"
02/18/10 Buffalo Bulletin - "Commissioners oppose Rock Creek Wilderness" - "“We consulted Forest Service officials, and officials at the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute on the effects of wilderness designation.”  Domek said that the study concluded that in instances of wilderness designation in areas similar to Rock Creek visitor usage actually declined after designation."
02/17/10 "Pearce comments Bingaman for holding overdue field hearings"
02/17/10 Doyle Pruitt - "Creation of an eco-terrorist" and "Understanding wilderness meaning needed"
02/15/10 The Westerner - "Hundreds attend congressional field hearing about wilderness areas"
Las Cruces Sun News coverage
02/13/10 "Wilderness Bill Field Heaing in Las Cruces" by Steve Pearce  This page also contains a guest column written by Mr. Pearce for the Artesia Daily Press on the Wilderness issue.
02/13/10 The Westerner - "Internal DOI Document; Secret Plan to Create 14 National Monuments?  $Billions for Land Acquisition"
02/13/10 National Rifle Association - "Congressional Field Hearing to Consider Significant Wilderness Expansion"
02/13/10 Las Cruces Sun News - "Bingaman to host wilderness hearing"
02/13/10 Las Cruces Sun News - "Federal ruling saps some favor from Chile Challenge"
02/10/10 "Environmentalists to lose land linked to preserve" - "An environmental group stands to lose land linked to its signature Idaho wildlife preserve because federal land managers contend they've been misled over how the site would be managed."
02/08/10 Doyle Pruitt blog - "Wilderness Area Fabrications and Lies"
02/05/10 Washington Examiner - "Turf battle endangers national security and the environment"
01/17/09 "Las Cruces Deserves a Field Hearing on the Wilderness Bill" by Steve Pearce
01/06/10 National Geographic begins the new series "Border Wars" this Sunday, 7pm.
12/19/09 "Billions paid to Enviro Litigants" - "... eight environmental groups have filed at least 1596 federal court cases against the federal government.  Every one of the groups are tax exempt, non-profit organizations.  Every one of those groups receives attorney fees for suing the federal government from the federal government."
12/13/09 Las Cruces Sun News letter to the editor by Richard Johnson, former supervisor on the Gila National Forest, "Organs don't fit original concept of Wilderness"
12/13/09 Las Cruces Bulletin - "Chamber Supports Wilderness Areas" by David McCollum
12/11/09 Tuscon Weekly - "Threats and Degradation - A congressman uncovers two buried studies showing the impacts of illegal immigration, smuggling"
12/11/09 Salt Lake Tribune - "Documents identify terrorism threat in border gaps"
12/02/09 LOCAL COMMUNITY REQUESTS FIELD HEARING ON S.1689:  Read the Letter  from local community leaders requesting a field hearing.
12/02/09 Las Cruces TEA Party "print & mail postcards" on S.1689.
11/24/09 Las Cruces Sun News - "Wilderness bill opponents map out alternative plan". 
11/20/09 Center for Immigration Studies - "Immigration and Crime - Assessing a Conflicted Issue"
11/19/09 Fox News - "Green organizations suing Uncle Sam" - Environmentalists using taxpayer dollars to sue the government.
11/18/09 Salt Lake Tribune - "Bishop: Environmental rules impeding border security"
11/16/09 Washington Times - "Environmental laws put gaps in Mexico border security" - "The conflict between the environment and border security has raged for the past decade as better enforcement in urban areas has pushed the flow of illegal immigrants into Arizona and straight into some of the nation's most remote and fragile desert.  A major problem is wilderness - lands deemed so pristine that they should be maintained in that condition, free of man-made structures.  ... According to e-mails obtained by Mr. Bishop, Park Service officials at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and at the Denver office that oversees the park said they will not allow the Border Patrol to place electronic surveillance towers on parts of the park that are designated wilderness. ... In one 2008 e-mail, officials tell the Homeland Security Department to "pursue alternative tower locations." In another 2008 memo, the superintendent of Organ Pipe says Park Service officials could reject towers even beyond wilderness areas if they deem the effects would spill over into wilderness. Organ Pipe has 32 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border on its land, and 95 percent of the park is designated wilderness. Officials have shut down much of the western side of the giant park, saying the threat of encounters with illegal immigrants and drug smugglers makes that land not safe enough for visitors."
11/13/09 Las Cruces Bulletin - "Wilderness Alternatives Sought"
10/29/09 Washington Times - "In Immigration War, Environment is a Neglected Casualty" - "Mark South, a former Forest Service employee who decades ago wrote the guidelines for some of the wilderness designations here, now thinks efforts to write new wilderness into law go too far.  "Tell me, which is doing more damage to the environment: the fence or the people coming through, the trails, the litter, the water bottles?" he said. "I think now, with what we're seeing along the border, trying to preserve anything beyond the existing laws now is pointless. Are wilderness needed? Yeah. How much is too much?" "
10/22/09 Some new information has been added to our "Reference & Research" page on environmentalism and eco-terrorism.
10/16/09 Las Cruces Bulletin article by Jerry Schickedanz  - "Why lock up so much acreage in Dona Ana County? - Many parcels fail to meet the original wilderness criteria"
10/08/09 Press release from hearing testimony:  "Chairman of Land Use Group Testifies Before Congress" - "Jerry Schickedanz told Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), who chairs the full Committee, that his organization wants the committee to hold official field hearings in Dona Ana County where the issue impacts hundreds of thousands of people and the future of the county.  “Senator your legislation will have a major impact on over 200,000 citizens and 560 square miles of our county.  We strongly suggest that this committee hold a hearing where the land and the people exist so that all interests and issues can be fully aired and discussed by the folks most affected,” Schickedanz said. The former NMSU Dean of Agriculture also told the committee that his organization has “grave concerns” about the proposed legislation which he said would jeopardize security on the U.S./Mexico border."
10/07/09 Westerner - "IG Finds BLM Employees Had Improper Ties to Greens"  - "Our investigative efforts revealed that communication between NLCS and a few specific NGOs in these circumstances gave the appearance of federal employees being less than objective and created the potential for conflicts of interest or violations of law,” the report states. “We also uncovered a general disregard for establishing and maintaining boundaries among the various entities.”
10/06/09 Las Cruces Sun News - "Hearing set for wilderness protection bill" - "Schickedanz said he plans to elaborate on concerns of his group, including that the opposition isn't made up of a handful of ranchers but includes 791 businesses and other groups from the community. He repeated a concern from the group that the legislation might hinder law enforcement access to any protected lands near the border.  Schickedanz said his group isn't opposed to protecting the Organ Mountains, but "we just feel there are other ways to protect the lands," such as through existing administrative procedures.  "You can provide some of the same protections, but not as severe as locking the lands up for access," he said."
10/04/09 Article for the Las Cruces Sun News by Dr. Jerry G. Schickedanz - "The true consequences of the Wilderness bill"
10/03/09 Track Bingaman's wilderness legislation on GovTrack
09/29/09 "Wilderness On The Border" - This presentation presents information obtained from a National Park Study and a Department of Interior Threat Assessment report about the devastating impacts of designated federal Wilderness on our country's southern border. 
09/25/09 "Administration Will Cut Border Patrol Deployed on U.S.-Mexico Border".  New Mexico is specifically described as a "ideal smuggling corridor" (see NM High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis and NM HIDTA Region Transportation Infrastructure)
09/22/09 "On The Border: Wilderness Causes Degraded Environmental Quality & Security"
09/19/09 Interesting commentary from Congressman Bishop (Utah) requesting information from DOI and DHS.
09/02/09 "Border Expert Explains Consequences of Illegal Immigration on the Environment" and related video from the Arizona border.
08/05/09 New Mexico Stockman "The Border and a Modern Cowboy"
07/17/09 National Day of the American Cowboy honors W.W. Cox family
07/03/09 DuBois Wyoming destroyed
06/26/09 Las Cruces Bulletin Guest Column - "A close look reveals problems with wilderness proposals - Open spaced best preserved by viability of ranches"
06/25/09 Wilderness & Border Security - An Amendment to Interior Appropriations
06/21/09 "NM Ranchrs worry that sick cows could cross to US", also on Fox News
06/20/09 New Mexico Stockman - "Implications of the Big Hatchet Mountain Wilderness Proposal"
06/16/09 "BLM completes major land swap with New Mexico"
06/12/09 "Colorado Landowners Tell Their Story"
06/09/09 Forest Service Cuts Grazing
06/09/09 Idaho Court Grazing Decision Adds to Economic Woes, Fails to See Whole Picture
05/22/09 Border Invasion
05/21/09 East Oregonian: "Environmentalists threaten livestock industry in state"
05/21/09 Aspen Times: "In bowels of Conundrum, poop bags for backpackers"
05/21/09 New West: "Hikers, Mountain bikers and Wilderness, Afterthoughts"
05/20/09 RANGE Magazine - "The Potrillos - The border and a fight for heritage"
05/01/09 New West - "Hikers, Wilderness Groups Should Re-think Mountain Biking", and part 2 - "Branding Wilderness Lite"
04/28/09 New Mexico Stockman - "Range Management - The Tools, Rules and Benefits of Grazing" by Christopher D. Allison
04/14/09 From an April 9, 2009 press release from the BLM - "BLM Cautions Public Regarding Border Violence" - "The international border with Mexico is becoming of increasing concern to the U.S. Government due to an increase in dangerous illegal activities and an escalating trend in border violence."
04/08/09 Forbes - "Public Land Mismanagement - Environmental, fiscal and economic irresponsibility in the name of protection"
04/08/09 Fresno Bee - "Cows create homes for tadpole shrimp"
04/01/09 Investors Business Daily: "Lost in an Energy Wilderness" - As Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., points out: "We are not suffering from a lack of wilderness areas in the United States. According to the Census Bureau, we have 106 million acres of developed land and 107 million acres of (officially declared) wilderness land."  Note: The Census Bureau defines "developed land" as land with more than 10 residents per square MILE.
03/30/09 White Sands International Film Festival Announces Program for 2009 - "Also included in the program is “How the West Was Lost,” a documentary about the locking up of 300,000 acres of New Mexican land, written and directed by Las Crucesan Erik Ness."  More information on this event coming soon!
03/27/09 Idaho Statesman - "Unlikely partners savor victory, but work's not done to protect Owyhee Canyonlands"
03/27/09 NY Times - "Polluters, Beware: These Eco-Police Officers Are for Real"
03/26/09 The Westerner: "House Votes to Protect 2 Million Acres of Wilderness",
"For local cattle grazers, bill may bring painful transition",
"Two more cows found mutilated"
03/26/09 High Country News - "Western Repubs remain split as Omni wilderness deals pass"
03/26/09 Campaign for America's Wilderness - "Congress Passes Major Public Lands Bill"  This site has a map of the areas.
03/26/09 New West - "Crapo's Public Lands Bill Passes"
03/23/09 New Mexico Stockman - "The Case for Rangeland Preservation Areas" - "Rangeland Preservation Area is an alternative federal land use designation that allows productive utilization with appropriate limitations.  It prescribes the allowable uses at a local level, which may be modified from ecosystem to ecosystem.  It differs from Wilderness by recognizing the presence of human activities, past, present, and future, in a resourceful and positive manner." - Jerry G. Schickedanz, Ph.D., Range Science, University of Arizona, NMSU College of Agriculture, Dean Emeritus
03/23/09 Silver City Sun News - "Group pushes for more Western wilderness"
03/23/09 NM Federal Lands Council - "Group pushes for more Gila wilderness, grazing buyout"
03/17/09 See The Westerner for current news updates on the Omnibus bill and other federal lands issues
03/10/09 NM Federal Lands Council - "NY Times: Extensive lands protection bill could thwart new energy development"
"Gray Wolf Will Lose Protection in Part of U.S."
03/10/09 Santa Fe New Mexican - "Valles Caldera: A turning point"
03/10/09 Salt Lake Tribune - "Bighorn battle could doom sheep ranchers"
03/10/09 "Wyoming Groups Unveil "Thank a Rancher" Campaign"
03/10/09 Articles by Judy Keeler on The Wildlands Project
03/03/09 NM Federal Lands Council - "Judge rules in southwest Idaho grazing case"
03/02/09 The Westerner - "Ranchers meet conservationists"
03/02/09 NM Federal Lands Council - "How do we manage to manage public lands?"
03/02/09 KansasCity.com - "Attempt to move Forest Service could spark turf war"
02/28/09 Las Cruces Bulletin - "Governmental Affairs Initiative works for members"
02/25/09 The Westerner - "The long road of contention: Forest Service gets an earful from county residents over Travel Management Plan"
02/24/09 The Westerner - "Salazar to implement $3 billion interior economic recovery plan"
"Forest Service, Elko County at odds over roads"
"Wilderness bill seeks to protect portion of San Gabriel Mountains"
"Glenwood Canyon eyed for protection; water users wary"
02/24/09 USA Today - "Mexican drug gangs wage war"
02/23/09 Westerner - "Rancher ruling adds to border debate"
02/23/09 NM Federal Land Council - "Nationalizing the cars and bikes of rock collectors - Pending Omnibus land bill's forfeiture provision has broad reach"
02/19/09 Los Angeles Times - "Border drug war is too close for comfort"
02/19/09 The Westerner: "Environmental provisions of stimulus bill", "Forestry's share of stimulus bill will go to jobs, fire prevention", "Stimulus Bill Promises Environmental, Public Lands Jobs", "Army removes Pinion Canyon manager", "Grazing bill seeks to cap value of state leases", "Ranchers in Colorado's Pinon Canyon fight a massive Army land grab", "Rancher cleared of violating rights of illegal immigrants"
02/19/09 Good Neighbor Law - "Stop! Read this before you get tangled in conservation easements"
02/17/09 Washington Times article - "Wildlife areas on border let in outlaws" - "Numerous Border Patrol agents interviewed by The Washington Times said drug smugglers and human traffickers are using ecologically diverse sanctuaries to evade law enforcement officials, whose access is limited in some areas to foot patrols and horseback.  Zack Taylor, a retired agent and supervisor who spent 26 years patrolling the Texas and Arizona border, said the creation of federally protected wilderness areas threatens to keep "the agency in a reactionary mode rather than proactively tackling the increasing dangers on the border."
02/16/09 Grand Junction Sentinel - ""Conservation Areas lauded to protect lands"
02/16/09 The Westerner - "122 Jurisdiction Questions Submitted to DOJ & DOI"
02/13/09 The Westerner - "Bill would designate 23M acres of wilderness"
"Nature Conservancy buys Idaho ranch"
"Green Enough?"
"Lawsuit Inc. strikes again"
"Clean Water Act and Nonpoint Source Pollution: Implications for Agriculture"
02/10/09 New Mexico Stockman - "An Alternative to Wilderness Designation"
02/10/09 The Westerner - "Environmental Protection, in Name Only"
"The Klamath Basin: The Tricky Business of Water Rights in the West"
"Conservation group plans to sue feds over Nevada water project"
02/09/09 The Westerner - "Oregon ranchers sue Forest Service in dispute over grazing"
"Forest Land Area from 1630 to 2002" - "The total forestland acreage has remained stable since 1900."
"Alliance with feds proposed" - "A plan to coordinate natural-resource planning between Flathead County and the U.S. Forest Service and ultimately make forest management more efficient was unveiled this week by the county's Natural Resource Committee. ... A process for federal and local government coordination is outlined in numerous federal laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act, the committee noted. The letter to Barbouletos would formally "invoke" that under-utilized coordination process in those laws..."
02/08/09 The Westerner - "Catron County, Wolves & APWE" - "Americans for Preservation of the Western Environment (APWE). “Our object is two fold - educate the public in New Mexico about what the wolf program is doing to their state, and start a fund to help anyone who has legal problems related to the wolf program,” he said. “We have presentations we take to schools, civic groups, business organizations and sporting clubs. We haven’t been turned away yet.” Included in the presentations are the facts and figures that have been causing Wehrheim, his friends, and neighbors so much frustration. “The wolf program has cost the American taxpayer $303,000 per wolf."  See the Americans for Preservation of the Western Environment website for more information.
02/08/09 Heath Haussamen - "Land commissioner says Steinborn wants his job" - "Responding to lawmakers' reform bills, Lyons says 'anti-growth' agenda includes electing Steinborn as land commissioner in 2010"
02/07/09 The Westerner - "Environmental concerns roadblock to renewable energy"
02/06/09 The Westerner - "Pending GAO Study on Off-Highway Vehicles Fatally Flawed"
02/06/09 Conservation System Alliance - maps of the NLCS and a breakdown of local impacts.  Here is the information on New Mexico.
02/06/09 MSNBC - "Woman gets 22 years for eco-terror crime"
02/05/09 The Westerner - "National Landscape Conservation System"
02/05/09 USDA 2007 Census of Agriculture released.
02/05/09 Blue Ribbon Coalition - "Difficult Challenges Ahead"
02/04/09 Napa Valley Register - "Environmental costs have real impact"
02/04/09 Palm Beach Post - "Two get jail time for FPL protest" and "Picketers argue jail sentence for FPL protesters too harsh", TC Palm - "FPL power plant protesters sentenced Monday". - "Members of Everglades Earth First! and the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition said sentences handed down Monday by County Judge Laura Johnson to protesters Panagioti Tsolkas and Lynne Purvis were excessive. Tsolkas was given a 60-day jail sentence and Purvis was given 30."
02/03/09 The Westerner - "Ecoterrorists & the bugs of war", "Two Utah counties lose again in monument grazing fight" - "Two southern Utah counties have lost another round in their fight to reverse the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's decision to allow conservation groups to buy grazing allotments on the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.", "Trial begins for Douglas rancher, 16 undocumented immigrants"
02/02/09 The Westerner - "Judge rules bear-attack suit can proceed", "Two children should be limit, says green guru"
01/30/09 The Westerner - "Salazar to take preservation nationwide", "Salazar vows review of Interior scandals" and "County suing federal government to get road"
01/29/09 Boise Weekly - "Unlikely Allies - Owyhees Initiative unites warring factions"
01/27/09 Salt Lake Tribune - "Kane County, BLM can't agree on road-maintenance solution - 'Mad as hell' - Commissioner says court took away right to maintain roads on bureau lands"
01/27/09 The Westerner - "Ag Secretary's News Conference", "Stimulus Policy and Western Politics", "DOD - The Largest Landlord in the World", and "Change Agenda for Animals"
01/27/09 "Silver City Paper to Tour Ranches"
01/27/09 Sacramento Bee - "Environmentalists push for massive north-state conservation area"
01/27/09 NPR - "Nature Conservancy Fights Planned Border Fence"
01/25/09 Capital Press - "Monumental end to grazing near Soda Mountain - Federal legislation sets stage for buyout of ranchers' permits"
01/25/09 Open Market - "Land Grab Bill: Senators Check Principles at the Door"
01/25/09 Choteau Acantha - "Coalition seeks more protection for Front"
01/25/09 Santa Fe New Mexican - "Conservation bill great, but cut out the pork"
01/25/09 Grand Junction Free Press - "Grand Junction area ranchers ruminate Dominguez, Escalante proposal"
01/25/09 CS Monitor - "Could cows heal the West? - By grazing them in a way that mimics the pattern of wild herbivores, advocates say, rangeland improves."
01/16/09 New York Times - "Interior Department Nominee Pledges Reform"
01/16/09 RGJ.com - "Through the back door..."
01/16/09 New Mexico Stockman - "Dona Ana County Wilderness - Proposal at adds with current ecological science"
01/16/09 Las Cruces Sun News - "Senate approves wilderness bill, 73-21"
01/16/09 Salt Lake Tribune - "Bush administration funds wilderness purchase"
01/15/09 Las Vegas Review Journal - "Editorial: It will be nice for them to know... Pork-filled 'wilderess' bill gets Senate approval"
01/15/09 Millard County Chronicle Progress - "U.S. Senate moves to increase wilderness lands"
01/15/09 Idyllwild Town Crier - "Senate moves wilderness bill forward"
01/15/09 AP Texas News - "Settlement reached over critical habitat in NM"
01/14/09 Summit Daily News (CO) - "Colorado Senators propose land-protection bills"
01/14/09 Rocky Mountain News - "Environmental groups appeal to Obama for shift in land use"
01/14/09 Las Cruces Sun News - "Robledos national monument on track"
01/13/09 Summit Daily (CO) - "Colorado Senators propose land-protection bills"
01/13/09 NM Federal Lands Council - "Wilderness bill moves forward in the Senate"
01/13/09 Heath Haussamen - "A new delegation, a new chance for wilderness"
01/13/09 LC Sun News - "Wilderness bill moves forward in the Senate"
01/13/09 Idaho Statesman - "Crapo nears validation for his patience on the Owyhee collaborative process"
01/13/09 Philadelphia Inquirer - "Wilderness protection plan clears hurdles in Senate"
01/12/09 Las Cruces Sun News - "Partisan friction mars Senate wilderness bill", and "Wilderness bill moves forward in the Senate", Silver City Sun News - "Wilderness bill moves forward in the Senate"
01/12/09 Santa Fe New Mexican - "Partisan wrangling mars Senate wilderness bill"  Similar article at KOAT Albuquerque and KDBC El Paso.
01/12/09 Greely CO Tribune - "Controversy clouds wilderness bill"
01/09/09 The Westerner - "Lands Bill Update From Senator Coburn"
01/09/09 Arizona Daily Star - "Loaded, concealed guns become legal in national parks"
01/09/09 Colorado Independent - "Grijalva, Dombeck to push Obama administration for national roadless rule"
01/09/09 News Blaze - "Congress Moves to Protect American Wilderness"
01/08/09 "Congress Gets an Early Start to a Banner Year for Wilderness"
01/08/09 News Blaze - "Groups protest first road built in border Wilderness area"
01/08/09 "New Regulations Proposed for Valles Caldera"
01/06/09 Recordnet.com - "Grazing dustup brewing in Lode - Stanislaus National Forest set to renew several allotments"
01/06/09 Salt Lake Tribune - "Land-auction meddler has a new plan"
01/06/09 Rhinelander Daily News - "Man sentenced to jail for role in attack on Forest Service facility"
01/04/09 Alamogordo Daily News letter to the editor by Charles Dennett - "Isn't it time to discuss options other than wilderness areas?"
01/04/09 Del Albright, BlueRibbon Ambassador - "A New President!  Now What?"
12/30/08 Washington Post - "Californians Shape Up as Force on Environmental Policy"
12/30/08 Summit Daily News - "Bidder said it was easy to rig government auction" - "Tim DeChristopher, 27, a University of Utah economics student and environmental activist, showed his driver’s license, picked up bidding paddle No. 70 and quietly seated himself in the bidding hall on Friday.  He snapped up 22,500 acres of parcels between Arches and Canyonlands national parks that he doesn’t plan to develop or even pay for. He also drove up prices on other bids by hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Nobody else has infiltrated a government auction to cause so much turmoil, according to officials at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management."
12/30/08 Wyoming Tribune - "Environmentalists petition EPA over ozone concern"
12/29/08 Deseret News - "Oil drilling possible in wilderness study areas"
12/23/08 Las Cruces Sun News - "Election alters wilderness fight outlook"
12/22/08 Agusta Chronicle - "Foreign pot growers ruining U.S. parks - Armed illegals are killing wildlife and poisoning the environment"
12/22/08 New West - "What to Expect When Ken Salazar Takes the Interior"
12/18/08 See The Westerner for a collection of articles on the appointment of Senator Ken Salizar as the Secretary of Interior.
12/17/08 New Mexico Stockman article by Dr. Jerry G. Schickedanz, Dean Emeritus College of Agriculture and Home Economics, NMSU - "What are the True Costs of Wilderness?" - "Every proposal must be scrutinized for its true cost to the citizens.  The protection of lands is one thing, but associated risks to national security and public safety stemming from reduced ability to protect the border is another, even greater, concern."
12/17/08 "Wilderness Act Hijacked" by William Rice.
12/17/08 KTVZ.com - "FBI boosts reward for Central Oregon eco-terrorists"
12/16/08 AP - "Report: Endangered species decisions tainted" - "A high-ranking Interior Department official tainted nearly every decision made on the protection of endangered species over five years, a new inspector general report finds, concluding she exerted improper political interference on many more rulings than previously thought."  Click here for the full report.
12/13/08 The Case for Rangeland Preservation Areas - an overview of this new and innovative land use designation.
12/03/08 KTAR - "Ranchers using plan to help endangered species"
12/01/08 RANGE Magazine article "The Gila Wilderness and a Ranch Family History" - This article tells the story of how federal Wilderness designation affected the Peter McKindree Shelley ranching family and gives the reader a good understanding of the true impacts of federal Wilderness designation.
12/01/08 There are numerous articles of interest on The Westerner, so instead of linking to each article separately, here is a link directly to The Westerner.
12/01/08 Billings Gazette - "Wilderness creation opposed - Big Horn Basin counties submit comments on BLM plan" - "If grazing is reduced, "the highest value of these lands ... is to sell to developers and 'hobby' ranchers," they wrote. "With large ranches being subdivided into smaller tracts, many unintended consequences emerge. Our wildlife corridors and habitat are forever altered. We are witnessing urban sprawl creeping into these special places, and our landscapes and viewsheds are being chewed up by housing, roads and rural businesses at alarming rates."  Protecting ranches means protecting open spaces, the commissions stated.  "Ranchers and farmers can be great stewards of the land," they said. "The benefits of keeping working landscapes from being subdivided and developed should be considered in the (plan)."
12/01/08 United for a Sovereign America - "BP Local 2544: Raul Grijalva for Secretary of the Interior?" - "Putting Grijalva in charge of the Department of Interior would be a disaster for border security."
12/01/08 Reno Gazette Journal - "Two Cents Worth: Fighting for survival; Stakeholder 'reality' frustrations are understandable"
11/25/08 Idaho Statesman - "Property Rights Guru Fathered Unlikely Wilderness Bill"
11/25/08 Ag Week - "Technology reduces ag's environmental footprint"
11/25/08 Gallup Independent - "Final version of federal energy corridor plan released"
11/24/08 Arizona Republic - "Contention growing over public lands"
11/24/08 Grand Forks Herald - "Wolves, elk destroy farmers' animals, property"
11/24/08 Oregon Live - "Tree-sitters: Remote sits prove to be less effective"
11/24/08 "[US Forest Service] Arson Investigator Suspected of Setting Fires"
11/24/08 Great Falls Tribune - "Program created to help keep an eye on forest land"
11/23/08 New West - "Fees Keeping People Off Their Land" - "The wild proliferation of new and increased recreation fees has contributed to a similar if not steeper decline in the public use of public forests. With this aggressive, if not abusive, fee-charging policy, Forest Service bosses have done a stellar job of discouraging people from using their own land, the national forests."
11/23/08 Western Business Roundtable - "Roundtable-Led Effort Backs Senate Leadership Down on Lame Duck Consideration of Omnibus Lands Bill" - “Certainly, for Westerners, there are always very real trade-offs involved with any public lands designation. We believe such bills need to be considered individually so each can evaluated carefully,” said Weygandt. "Bulk packaging of legislation has a checkered record for Congress. It doesn't work well on Appropriations bills. It certainly doesn't work on land designations, where such designations can mean the difference between economic health and peril for Western communities. We hope the 111th Congress will do this the right way, letting each of these measures rise or fall on their individual merits."
11/22/08 NM Business Weekly - "Greens thwart oil/gas development in sensitive areas"
11/22/08 Seattle PI - "New environmental cast in D.C. signaled by election today of Waxman, Stevens' defeat"
11/21/08 Idaho Statesman - "Wilderness bills will have new allies, new foes next year" - "Sen. Mike Crapo's Owyhee Canyonlands plan to protect 500,000 acres of wilderness and help ranchers in Owyhee County was one of more than 100 provisions in a sweeping lands bill now delayed until January. And Rep. Mike Simpson's proposal to protect 319,000 acres in the Boulder and White Cloud mountains in Central Idaho never even got a start in the Democratic-controlled House. ... The leader of The American Land Rights Association, a private property coalition that opposed the comprehensive lands bill, said Monday he would support the Owyhees bill if it were to be reintroduced separately.  "But for now, it must not be supported as part of the omnibus package," said Charles Cushman, executive director of the group."
11/21/08 Washington Post - "Changes to Species Act Are Said to Be Near"
11/21/08 KOAT Albuquerque - "Young Boy Recovers From Mountain Lion Attack" - "Family hopes state Game Commission will take action"
11/21/08 ABC - "FBI Ups Reward for Alleged Eco-Terrorists"
11/20/08 Oregon News - "Reward doubled in federal eco-terror investigation" - "The FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives doubled their rewards this morning for information leading to the arrest of four fugitives for their roles in a string of arsons by the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front."
11/19/08 Oregon News - "National Forests See Fewer Visitors" - "Total forest visits dropped from 204.8 million in 2004 to 178.6million in 2007, a 13 percent decline."  One comment on this article stated: "Two things that have made me visit the national forests and parks less are: the seemingly unending volume of new rules, regulations and restrictions on what I can do and where I can do it; and, the fact that lots of the national forest trail head parking lots are now meth-head shopping centers where you are surprised if your vehicle is not broken into." and another commented "We don't go because our national forests in this state have a bad reputation for bad people....your car gets broken into if you go hiking/fishing,etc. We just don't feel safe anymore.".
11/19/08 NM Federal Lands Council - "EPA Proposes 'Cow Tax'"
11/19/08 NM Federal Lands Council - "Ranchers brace for change in Washington"
11/19/08 National Center for Public Policy Research - "New Poll Finds that Majority of African-Americans Oppose Public Lands Bill"
11/18/08 NM Federal Lands Council - "Owyhee Initiative Bill to be Presented in New Congress"
11/18/08 Washington Times - "Environmentalists' hysteria loses" - "Last Wednesday, the United States Supreme Court overturned a 9th U.S. Circuit injunction prohibiting certain Navy training exercises in the Pacific Ocean. The decision was a big win for the Navy and for America´s national security interests.  The court's ruling was an ever bigger victory for the role of common sense in the realm of environmental regulation."
11/17/08 Know the facts: Read the CRS (Congressional Research Service) Report for Congress on the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2008: Senate Amendment 5662 as Submitted on Spetember 26, 2008.
11/17/08 "Highlighs of Senator Reid's Omnibus Lands Grab and Energy Restrictions Act Scheduled for Debate Next Month" - "Reid's Emergency Session on Congress to Focus on His Priorities, Not American's"
11/17/08 "Dr. Coburn Says Upcoming Special Session of Congress Should Focus on Economic Crisis, not Trivial Lands Bill" - "Federal Land Grab Bill Laden with Earmarks and Anti-Energy Exploration Provisions"
11/15/08 NM Federal Lands Council - "Threat of filibuster endangers lands bill"
11/15/08 Seattle Times - "Plan for Columbia Gorge wilderness looks dead" - "A massive lands bill that would have created new wilderness areas in five Western states — including a wilderness designation in Oregon at the Columbia River Gorge — is likely dead for the year, a victim of a filibuster threat in the Senate, supporters said Friday."
11/14/08 New Mexico Stockman - "Border Wilderness in the Potrillo Mountains?"
11/13/08 NM Federal Lands Council - "Property Rights Group Asks Members to Fight Crapo's Owyhee Bill"
11/13/08 NM Federal Lands Council - "Dorgan says Forest Service to scrub grassbank plan"
11/12/08 Las Vegas Sun - "On Gold Butte, a tug of war between access, protection - Plan to give area strict federal protection would also shut many out, critics say"
11/12/08 Oregon's KTVZ - "Threatening note found at Sisters-area logging site" - "The U.S. Forest Service is investigating a threatening note scrawled in red marker on a road grader at a logging site west of Sisters - signed with a heart and the letters ELF, which might indicate ties to the eco-terror group, the Earth Liberation Front."
11/11/08 Pueblo Chieftan - "Landowners urge action on [conservation] eastment"
11/11/08 Environment & Energy Daily - "BLM employees, advocacy groups worked together on lands bill, docs show"
11/09/08 UK Guardian - "Police warn of growing threat from eco-terrorists" - "Officers from a specialist unit dedicated to tackling domestic terrorism are monitoring an eco-movement called Earth First! which has advocates who state that cutting the Earth's population by 80 per cent will ease pressure on other species.  ...  Earth First! says its mission is 'about direct action to halt the destruction of the Earth' and advocates 'civil disobedience and monkeywrenching', tactics that include sabotage and disruptive behaviour. The movement has links to US environmental extremists which have waged a campaign of violence in America, including the firebombing of a string of 4x4 car dealerships in California in 2003 and alleged arson attacks on other property."
11/03/08 Gallup Independent - "Rift widens among area tribes, private landowners" - "Private landowners and businesses here have a double threat from state and federal traditional cultural property regulations. They are trying to stop the temporary designation of Mount Taylor as a traditional cultural property from becoming permanent, which they say has already violated their rights and stopped them from using their land for any commercial purposes. If made permanent, they say the Grants area economy will be destroyed."
11/03/08 Southern Oregon Mail Tribune - "Omnibus land act includes wilderness designations"
11/03/08 Billings Gazette - "Missoula County appeals to get forest papers" - "The U.S. Forest Service has withheld information sought by Missoula County officials as they looked into road easement negotiations conducted privately between the federal agency and Plum Creek Timber Co., the county said in documents Friday."
11/03/08 "1.1 million Utah acres of public land closed to off-highway vehicles"
11/03/08 Press Enterprise - "SB County supervisor wants Marines to expand into wilderness areas, not off-roading site"
10/30/08 PFPOWH Coalition reaches 750 businesses and organizations!  Click here to see the Coalition supporters.
10/30/08 New Scientist special report "How our economy is killing the Earth".  Comments on The Westerner blog related to this article state "There are either environmentalists who mistakenly believe free markets and property rights are harmful to the environment, or there are socialists who are using the environmental movement to bring about the government they want."  In a similar vein, see the article "Earth on course for eco 'crunch' - The planet is headed for an ecological "credit crunch", according to a report issued by conservation groups."
10/30/08 CATO Institute article "Global Warming Fantasies Meet Financial Contraction" - "Whoever is elected president, global warming legislation is going to be passed in Washington next year.  Legislation proposed by both John McCain and Barack Obama will require that the cost of energy to become so high that people will avoid using it. The serious question is: why would we do this in the current economic environment?"
10/29/08 "Forest Service needs saving from itself"
10/28/08 "Reid's Deadly Land Grab"
10/28/08 "Omnibus Land Package: More Energy Off Limits"
10/27/08 Fox News Junk Science - "Greens Aim to Take Us Forward to the Past" - "If you need more evidence that the Greens intend to destroy our standard of living, you need not look further than the Oct. 18 issue of New Scientist magazine — the cover of which reads, “The Folly of Growth: How to stop the economy killing the planet.”  The issue features eight articles that New Scientist editors believe justify their editorial entitled, “Why economic growth is killing the planet and what we can do about it.” ... The editorial concludes that “the science tells us that if we are serious about saving the Earth,” economic growth must be limited."
10/25/08 WL Tribune - "Green spaces, grasslands, are casualties of the ranching industry's woes"
10/25/08 The American Thinker - "The Green Religion"
10/25/08 "A Solution to Overgrazing - The Quivera Coalition brings together cattle ranchers and environmentalists to help preserve Western grasslands"
10/24/08 "Government Betrays Landowners with Conservation Easements"
10/23/08 Rio Grande Foundation article "Elected Officials on the Payrolls of Environmental Groups" - "Deanna Archuleta is Vice Chair of the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners and Southwest Regional Manager for The Wilderness Society. State Representative Jeff Steinborn of Las Cruces is the Southern New Mexico Director for the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance (NMWA). Las Cruces City Councilor Nathan Small is also on NMWA’s payroll as a “wilderness protection organizer.”  The mission of these groups is to influence public policy to preserve wilderness and other public lands."
10/23/08 "Public-lands affairs - Where the presidential candidates stand on public-lands issues"
10/23/08 Bismark Tribune - "Forest Service credibility at issue"
10/23/08 Mercury News - "Park bond stirs open space debate"
10/23/08 Mercury News - "Two horses shot dead in their corral in rural Livermore"
10/23/08 Las Cruces Sun News "WSMR remembers patriarch Robert C. Cox".  Read the speech delivered by Rob Cox at the dedication of the J.W. Cox Range Control Center from May of 2000.
10/23/08 Fox News "Hunters Discover Marijuana Farm Worth Millions in Utah Mountains"
10/21/08 Tulsa Today - "Dr. Coburn says land grab bill laden with earmarks and anti-energy" - Please read this informative article, and contact your Senators!  "U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) released the following statement regarding the Senate Democrat Majority’s plan to devote a week or more of the Senate’s post-election special session debating a 1,082 page, $3 billion earmark-laden omnibus bill that expands federal land control over millions of acres of U.S. property, and restricts energy exploration over millions of acres of U.S. territory. “Congress’ approval ratings are at an all-time low because the American people understand that never before in our nation’s history have the priorities of the United States Congress been more at odds with the priorities of the American people.  The majority’s willingness to spend a week or more debating a lands bill loaded with frivolous projects and radical environmental provisions when we are facing our greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression is a case study in Congress’ misplaced priorities,” Dr. Coburn said. “While the Senate would prefer to pass this omnibus package after the election, the American people have a right to understand the Senate’s post-election agenda before they go to the polls,” Dr. Coburn said."  See also: "Highlights of Senator Reid's Omnibus Lands Grab and Energy Restrictions Act Scheduled for Debate Next Month"
10/21/08 Times-News - "Sen. Craig skeptical of grazing report" - "He said grazing could have decreased the extent of burning of riparian areas - often an eco-friendly interface between land and streams that provides wildlife habitat.  "Would grazing have helped that? Changed that scenario? More than likely it would've helped it some," Craig said, noting the lands take much longer than open space to recover. "If you use it responsibly, grazing is a substantial component in controlling the fuel loads in upland grazing lands that the state of Idaho is so well known for."
10/21/08 "Guilty Plea Entered in 2001 Eco-Terrorism Attempt at Michigan Technological"
10/21/08 Wall Street Journal - "U.S. Forest Service Turns to Cow Power"
10/17/08 News Canada - "Eco-terrorism feared in Alberta" - "The RCMP's national terrorism unit is investigating a second explosion along a sour gas pipeline in northern B.C., a "deliberate" act that has residents and workers in the region's growing oilpatch fearing more attacks."
10/16/08 The New Mexico Stockman ran a condensed version of this article in their October issue.  Here is the article in it's entirety: "The Gila Wilderness and a Ranch Family History"
10/16/08 Canada Free Press - "Eco-terror feared in pipeline blast" - "Eco-terrorism is feared as a possible motive after a bomb exploded on a natural gas pipeline owned by Calgary energy giant EnCana."
10/15/08 Silver City Sun News - "Forest Service needs your help fighting litter in the Gila" - "The Gila Wilderness is falling victim to illegal activity and the U.S. Forest Service needs the community's help to right the wrongs committed against it.  According to a prepared statement from the Forest Service, littering, illegal dumping, vandalism and irresponsible shooting are just a few of the abuses that the forest roads and wilderness takes from careless visitors."
10/15/08 Salt Lake Tribune - "Former BLM chief slams long-term plan"
10/13/08 "Anti-grazing activists take on BLM - Critics say grazing plan threatens some ecosystems"
10/13/08 Fox News - "Environmental Issues Take Back Seat in Economic Crisis"
10/13/08 AP - "3 BLM workers held at gunpoint at Nev. pot patch"
10/12/08 Fox News - "Officials: Mexican Pot Growers are Polluting American Wilderness" - "National forests and parks — long popular with Mexican marijuana-growing cartels — have become home to some of the most polluted pockets of wilderness in America because of the toxic chemicals needed to eke lucrative harvests from rocky mountainsides, federal officials said. ... "What's going on on public lands is a crisis at every level," said Forest Service agent Ron Pugh. "These are America's most precious resources, and they are being devastated by an unprecedented commercial enterprise conducted by armed foreign nationals. It is a huge mess." ... Scott Wanek, the western regional chief ranger for the National Park Service, said he believes the eradication efforts have touched only a small portion of the marijuana farms and that the environmental impact is much greater than anyone knows."
10/09/08 LC Sun News - "State Representative District 37: County Commissioner Challenges Freshman Rep"
10/08/08 Jackson Hole Star Tribune - "Congress probes BLM environmental review process"
10/08/08 Law.Com - "Supreme Court Argument Report: Environmental Groups Out on a Limb?"
10/08/08 "10th Circuit Dismisses NM Grassland Appeal as Moot" - "Nathan Newcomer, associate director of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, said Wednesday the important thing is that the leases will not go forward, giving the group time to push for the area to be wilderness.  "What this does for us is give us an opportunity to recommend enhanced protection for the Nutt Grasslands, which in our opinion would be wilderness designation," he said."
10/03/08 Las Vegas Review Journal - "Gold Butte land bill too limiting" - "In regard to hunting, fishing and trapping, the bill initially reads, "Nothing in this title affects the jurisdiction of the State of Nevada with respect to fish and wildlife, including hunting, fishing and trapping in the conservation area." This might be enough to make most believe their hunting, fishing or trapping activities won't be curtailed if this bill is passed.  Then a few pages later comes the weasel clause: "The Secretary of Interior may designate, by regulation, areas in which, and establish periods during which, for reasons of public safety, administration, or compliance with applicable laws, no hunting, fishing, or trapping will be permitted in wilderness areas designated or expanded by this title."  This is the same kind of language that has enabled land managers to bypass the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and arbitrarily close public lands to public access. The bill goes on to say, "Except in cases of an emergency, the secretary shall make such designations in consultation with the appropriate agency of the State of Nevada." That "emergency clause" is the loophole that enabled the local BLM manager to close all nonpaved roads on the outskirts of Las Vegas to vehicle travel."
10/03/08 Reno Gazette Journal - "Congressman Heller tells Coalition for Public Access (CPA) wilderness should be designated sparingly, and in areas that actually deserve it"
09/28/08 World Net Daily article - "Enviro groups 'wolves in sheep's clothing'" - "A new investigation reveals charitable and environmental organizations claiming to be nonpartisan may be using donations to funnel money to Democratic Party politicians.  "Campaigns to 'save the cuddly animals' or 'protect the ancient forests' are really disguised efforts to raise money for Democratic political campaigns," Inhofe said while speaking on the Senate floor Saturday. "Environmental organizations have become experts at duplicitous activity, skirting laws up to the edge of illegality, and burying their political activities under the guise of nonprofit environmental improvement. ... Inhofe accused the environmental groups of "fleecing the American public's pockets," by using scare tactics to obtain donations for Democrats in an election year.  "We also find exhausting litigation, instigation of false claims, misleading science, and scare tactics to fool Americans into believing disastrous environmental scenarios that are untrue," Inhofe said."
09/27/08 GAO Report highlights - "Wildlife Refuges - Changes in Funding, Staffing, and Other Factors Create Concerns About Future Sustainability".  Click here for the full report.
09/26/08 NM Federal Lands Council - "Congress Should Shelve Public Lands Bill Due to Enviro Lobbying Scandal".  For a copy of the letter from the Western Business Roundtable to Senator Jeff Bingaman, click here.  For a letter from Americans for American Energy, click here.
09/26/08 Las Cruces Bulletin article with questions on candidate positions on the wilderness issue in Dona Ana County.  Page 1, Page 2  For information on the NM House of Representatives race, see Pg 1 and Pg 2 of the articles spotlighting the candidates.  
09/25/08 "More on IG Investigation of BLM NLCS Staff" - "The main groups involved appear to be the Wilderness Society and the National Wildlife Federation, a House GOP aide said. At some point NLCS officials had weekly meetings with these and other groups, often at the Wilderness Society's office, to coordinate lobbying strategy and messaging, the aide said.  E-mails show that NLCS officials requested environmental groups to write budget language, the aide added. E-mails also talk about coordinating lobbying efforts, setting up NLCS events, sending out draft memorandums for each other to review and preparing for congressional hearing.  The federal and advocacy officials exchanged resumes and job announcements in their respective organizations and BLM, the aide said. Travel documents are still being collected and reviewed and will be part of the investigation, the aide added."
More on NLCS Probe - "Congressional Probe of Enviro Groups Urged Over Lobbying Of Interior Department Agency" - "Potential illegal coordination between U.S. Interior Department officials and several national environmental groups, currently being investigated by the Interior Inspector General, should also be investigated by Congressional oversight committees, according to Americans for American Energy.  Americans for American Energy Wednesday asked U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), Chair of the House Resource Committee, and U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, to convene oversight hearings on the matter."
09/24/08 Idaho Falls, ID KIDK.COM - "Cattle Shootings" - "In the last few months, cattle and horses have been shot in the back country. ... 'This is not someone needing food, this is someone killing for fun,' says Bonneville County Sheriff, Paul Wilde."
09/24/08 Salt Lake Tribune - "3 Utahns with animal-rights group claim they freed minks" - "Three Utah members of the Animal Liberation Front claimed credit Monday for breaking into a Kaysville farm early Sunday, destroying property and releasing thousands of minks.   A statement posted on the ALF Web site states that the group entered the farm, released the minks and destroyed all breeding records. It states that they destroyed an electrical fence, vandalized trucks and equipment and cut about 100 holes in the perimeter fence.  The FBI has labeled ALF a domestic terrorist organization. The group has resorted to arson and the use of explosives to protest what they call the exploitation of animals for fur, food and lab testing."
09/23/08 Salt Lake Tribune - "Bishop wants federal workers under scrutiny to 'step aside' for now" - "The Interior Department's inspector general has started a probe into inappropriate ties between environmental lobbyists and the National Landscape Conservation System, according to Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah.   Bishop - ranking member of the national parks, forests and public lands subcommittee - called for quick action and demanded that federal employees under scrutiny be removed, at least temporarily.   "The department must insist that any employee [under investigation for possible] violations of the anti-lobbying law step aside until the inspector general or the Justice Department has reviewed his or her conduct," Bishop said. 'We will not tolerate misconduct by public officials.' "
09/18/08 Committee on Natural Resources - "Inspector General Starts Investigation Into Improper Coordination Between NLCS Employees & Environmental Advocacy Organizations" - "Emails and other documents being reviewed by the Department show extensive coordination between top NLCS officials and lobbyists for environmental groups."
09/17/08 Reno Gazette Journal - "Grazing sheep to protect Carson City from wildfire"
09/16/08 New Mexico Stockman - "The Little Bill That Could, And Should, Become Law"
09/16/08 The Independent (England) - "Cleared: Jury decides that threat of global warming justifies breaking the law" - "The threat of global warming is so great that campaigners were justified in causing more than £35,000 worth of damage to a coal-fired power station, a jury decided yesterday. In a verdict that will have shocked ministers and energy companies the jury at Maidstone Crown Court cleared six Greenpeace activists of criminal damage."
09/15/08 Redding Record Searchlight - "Land board would amplify local voices"
09/13/08 Times Online (Britian) article - "Green activists 'are keeping Africa poor'" - "Western do-gooders are impoverishing Africa by promoting traditional farming at the expense of modern scientific agriculture, according to Britain's former chief scientist. ... “For example, Friends of the Earth in 1999 worried that drought-tolerant crops may have the potential to grow in habitats unavailable' to conventional crops. The priority of providing food to an area of the world in greatest need appears to not have been noted.  For decades, approaches to international development have been dominated by this well-meaning but fatally flawed doctrine.”
09/11/08 Tucson Weekly article "The Chiricahua Corridor" examines the damage to public lands, private property and local residents by illegal immigrants.  "Much of the badly impacted land, like Burro Springs, is in the 87,700-acre Chiricahua Wilderness. It offers a preview of what could be in store for the Tumacacori Highlands northeast of Nogales, if Rep. Raúl Grijalva gets his way and wins a wilderness designation for that land. Trash dumps will grow. Underbrush will expand. Trails won't be maintained. The land will fall out of the control of the people who should be managing it and under the control of those who don't belong there."  Illegal immigrants will go where the Border Patrol can't.  Designation of federal Wilderness and other "protective areas" along our borders makes it impossible for federal and local law enforcement to perform their duties.
09/09/08 Working Ranch Magazine article "Political Rancher".  Click here for the Working Ranch magazine website.
09/08/08 World Net Daily article "What Happened to Freedom?" - "With the advent of sustainable development and the notion of "smart growth," zoning has grown into comprehensive planning that encompasses the entire county, region and state. The people who promote comprehensive planning are convinced that a planned community, designed to protect the environment, is far more important than the private property rights of any individual member of the community. ... Sustainable development is social engineering, imposed and enforced by government.  This is what happened to freedom."
09/01/08 New - Quotes from the environmental community - understanding their position and philosophy.
08/29/08 Las Cruces Bulletin - "From the Chair - Chamber Works For You" - "The Chamber also took an interest in the protectino of our environment, wilderness areas and Western way of life by endorsing the innovative Ranchers' Proposal and adding a new agricultural committee."
08/29/08 Arizona Republic - "Time to fight invaders" - "If scriptwriters need ideas for a horror movie, they should check out the new statewide invasive-species management plan. Some of the descriptions of the non-native plants and animals threatening Arizona can make your skin crawl."
08/28/08 Las Cruces Sun News letter to the editor by Gene Wood, Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent (Ret.) - "What Price Wilderness" - "What price are we as American citizens prepared to pay for the ongoing efforts to open up additional wilderness designations along our southern border.  The El Paso Times, in a front page article dated Aug. 13 begins with this alarming statement "more than two dozen times a day, on average, the U.S. Northern Command is alerted to possible terrorists probing for "seams' that can be exploited for attacks on the homeland." ... I know of no better way to describe wilderness designations on our national borders except as a "seam." Historically, these designations have been eagerly exploited by human and drug smugglers as well as by thousands of unidentified individuals destined to various parts of our country. There is good reason to conclude that news of any new seam will be received with enthusiasm by those who would do our country harm. A more serious concern identified by NORTHCOM Deputy Commander Lt. General William Webster, Jr., revealed the chilling information that NORTHCOM responds to as many as 40 events in a 24-hour period. He further attested that any of those events could be a homeland security incident. How then do proponents of additional wilderness designations i.e.., an additional 325,000 acres in Doña Ana County including areas adjacent to our southern boundary, justify this reckless effort to reduce our country's ability to defend itself?"
08/28/08 Blue Mountain Eagle (Oregon) - "Grazing lawsuits spawn talks"
08/28/08 "Lawsuit resurrects wilderness issue"
08/21/08 NM Federal Lands Council post "Ranchers seek Smith's help in grazing battle"
08/21/08 NM Federal Lands Council post "Editorial: Ranchers, county need solution to monitoring gap on national forest"
08/21/08 Wahpeton, ND Daily News article "Grazing Talks Bog Down"
08/19/08 New West article - "Co-Opting the Conservation Movement".  This article references another article on the Canyon Country Zephyr website - "The Greening of Wilderness - How the Mega-Rich are Co-opting Environmentalism & Turning IT into a Big Business"
08/19/08 ABC News "DEA Unearths Illegal Marijuana Operation in National Parks" - "Marijuana is being grown illegally on national park land in seven states ... The dealers hide the marijuana deep in the forest, on land often accessible only on foot."
08/19/08 Mercury News - "7 arrested in forest marijuana plantations" - "Authorities arrested seven people and seized about $20 million worth of marijuana in a series of raids on marijuana plantations in the San Bernardino National Forest, officials said Monday."
08/14/08 INFORUM News "Judge rules roadless ban violates federal laws" - "'The Forest Service, in an attempt to bolster an outgoing President’s environmental legacy, rammed through an environmental agenda that itself violates the country’s well-established environmental laws,' Brimmer wrote."
08/14/08 Fox News "Most Wanted: Josephine Sunshine Overaker on Eco-Terrorism Charges"
08/14/08 Wenatchee World article - "Fourth raid this month - Investigators say Mexican drug cartels behind pot farms" - "Moore noted, however, that the vast majority of marijuana operations in Chelan County are found on public lands."
08/13/08 Mario Burgos article "Martin Heinrich Appeals to EcoTerrorists(Scroll to the Monday, August 11, 2008 entry."...I find it very troubling that Martin Heinrich, candidate for New Mexico's 1st Congressional District, has a long history of accepting campaign funds from self-described EcoTerrorists. ... Just how far is Martin Heinrich willing to go to protect the environment? Apparently far enough to get EcoTerrorists Dave Foreman and Nancy Morton to open their wallets."
08/08/08 Las Cruces Bulletin - "Chamber of Commerce revives ag committee"
08/06/08

TCS Daily  - “Teddy Roosevelt vs. the Noisy Environmentalists” – I wished that they had actually stopped for a moment to read the memorial, especially the part where TR admonishes us that, "Conservation means development as much as it does protection." That's probably the thing that mob needed most (even more than "Order without liberty and liberty without order are equally destructive.") Maybe if they came to understand that Teddy was not an early version of themselves; that the founders of their movement fought him, they might have a moment of self-doubt about whether the earth really should be put first. Teddy certainly didn't think so. He thought people came first.  Teddy was a conservationist, not a preservationist. Not surprisingly, this meant that he wanted to conserve natural resources, not preserve them."

08/06/08

Washington Times article “Border patrol agent held at gunpoint – Officers fear Mexican military encounters will turn violent

08/05/08 New Mexico Stockman article "New Mexico's 'Wilderness Advocates' - Their Faces and Their Agendas - An attempt to follow the old adage, to 'know who you are dealing with'".  This article is an eye opening look at some of the key players advocating federal Wilderness in New Mexico.
08/05/08 Las Cruces Sun News letter to the editor by Steve Wilmeth - "American Cowboy"
08/05/08 Miami Herald - "University researchers firebombed, animal rights activists blamed"
08/04/08 From the National Park Service - The following announcement is posed on the website for the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument: "Due to an increase in illegal border activity, all backcountry areas are closed indefinitely to both hiking and overnight camping. Please check with the staff at the Kris Eggle Visitor Center for current information.   We anticipate this will be a temporary closure, though we are not certain when we can expect areas to reopen."
08/04/08 Discovery Communications, Inc. "How Stuff Works" 6 part series - "How Eco-terrorism Works"
08/04/08 Helena IR - "Bison buffs aim to seed West with new herds"
08/02/08 Las Cruces Bulletin - Peggy Bogart Letter to the Editor - "Supports Pearce bill"
08/01/08 Las Cruces Bulletin - "All-American cowboy - For a lifetime of work, Frank DuBois is honored as our distinguished American cowboy for 2008" by Dave McCollum, and "Chamber honors Frank DuBois - Part 1, Part 2" by Marvin Tessneer
07/31/08 The Blue Ribbon Coalition (BRC) has two new articles available.   "New Mexico Congressman Steve Pearce proposes innovative land-use legislation" and "Wilderness is a child of the 60's -- that never grew up".  These articles are re-printed with permission from the BlueRibbon Magazine.  Learn more about BlueRibbon Coalition at www.sharetrails.org.  Also see their most recent legislative alert.
07/30/08 AP - "Feds indict 3 in Wisconsin attack on US Forest Service" - "Three environmental activists were indicted on charges that they helped vandalize a U.S. Forest Service research station in northern Wisconsin, prosecutors said Tuesday.  A recently unsealed indictment said members of the Earth Liberation Front and Earth First damaged the property in Rhinelander in 2000 because they erroneously believed that scientists were performing genetic research on trees. ... ELF took responsibility, describing it as an attack on bioengineering. In a statement, the group said: "We are everywhere and nowhere and we are watching. For wildness and an end to industrial society.""  See also: Seattle Times "Feds indict 3 for attach on U.S. Forest Service" and "Olympia man indicted in Wisconsin for ELF forest vandalism"
07/30/08 Investor's Business Daily - "A Country at the Mercy of Environmentalists"
07/29/08 TAKE 5 MINUTES! - use the new letter writing tool provided by the Save The Trails organization to let your voice be heard on protecting the lands in Dona Ana County.
07/29/08 Investor's Business Daily - "Had Enough of Eco-Lobby's Energy Prices?"
07/29/08 Craig Daily Press - "Problems on the range"
07/28/08 Linebery Policy Center on Natural Resource Management - "Livestock Grazing on Public Lands: A National Treasure"
07/28/08 A new site - New Mexico Liberty - has been created.  The site states "A free & open discussion of governmental & private actions that affect the lives, liberties & economic well being of the state's citizens."
07/27/08 Las Cruces Sun-News letter to the editor by Ken Thiessen - "Stop the environmentalists"
07/25/08 Las Cruces Bulletin - "DuBois named county's top cowboy - Former Ag secretary to be honored Saturday"
07/25/08 Delta County Independent - "Commissioners support Dominguez-Escalante NCA, but rancher has questions"
07/24/08 KJCT8 news story and video - "Mountain bikers say they're being left out"
07/23/08 New West article by Rebecca Powell - "To Clean a Dirt Tank and the Real Loss"
07/23/08 Wall Street Journal - "The Lawnmower Men"
07/22/08 New West article by Rebecca Powell - "Wilderness, Wilderness Everywhere"
07/21/08 New Mexico Independent - "New Mexico jumps to No. 2 for immigration-crime prosectution, feds say."
07/21/08 The Oregonian - "Home home on the holistic range" - "The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals just ordered the federal Bureau of Land Management to take a look -- again -- at how it's managing more than 4 million acres in eastern Oregon.  The court's message was clear: The BLM better bear in mind the rising wilderness values of our state's shrub-steppe range. "
07/21/08 Brookings - "Mountain Megas: America's Newest Metropolitan Places and a Federal Partnership to Help Them Prosper"  Related articles: New West "Report Analyzes Booming Megapolitan West", Arizona Republic - "Sun Corridor may be 'new heartland'" and "Panel to debate growth strategies for Valley"
07/21/08 KUTV.com - "Utah Court Says Rivers and Streams are Public, Regardless of Location" - "Utah's highest court has ruled that streams and rivers are public even where the land under them is privately owned."
07/19/08 NM Federal Lands Council - "'Storm Over Rangeland' still rages 17 years later"
07/18/08 NM Stockman article "The Wilderness Man (Likely) cometh!"
07/17/08 GET THE FACTS: View the map of identified BLM disposal lands in Dona Ana County.
07/17/08 Jim Scarantino article on Heath Haussamen blog - "Pearce's conservation bill: What's not to like? (Part 2)" - "So what’s not to like about Pearce’s bill? He’s found a way to protect Doña Ana County’s open spaces while accommodating the needs of law enforcement, water authorities and agriculture. He has imposed restrictions on the BLM’s land-disposal process that give local governments funds for environmental projects and prohibit sales that violate local growth controls. Instead of spewing venom, environmentalists should be sitting down to try to work with him."
07/15/08 Frank DuBois named 2008 American Cowboy of Dona Ana County.  Celebration scheduled 7/26/08.
07/15/08 NEW - See our "Legislation Information & Facts" which provides a comprehensive overview of HR 6300.
07/15/08 Las Cruces Sun News - Jerry Schickedanz - "Wilderness debate clarification" - "I submit that if concerned citizens with open minds would read closely what is in HR 6300, they would find that the bill will provide for an orderly and agreed upon disposal of federal land and adequate protection for lands that are important for open space in Doña Ana County. The bill will allow access for those who want to experience, use and recreate in these open spaces."
07/15/08 Haussamen blog - "McCain talks about wilderness, economy, immigration"
07/15/08 NM Federal Lands Council - "Court: Ore. land plan should consider wilderness" - "The bureau, the court said, insisted that its wilderness study ended in 1980 and didn't need to be reopened. A trial judge agreed.  But, the appeals court said, "Wilderness characteristics are not simply a checklist" to be used for a one-time inventory.  Instead, the court said, the bureau is obligated continuously to manage land with wilderness characteristics. It said that even if the Congress hadn't designated such land as wilderness, the bureau could protect it against damaging uses such as mining, grazing and off-road vehicle use."
07/15/08 "Pearce Opposes Ruling to Lock Up Grazing Lands" - "Out of desperation, farmers contacted U.S. Congressman Steve Pearce to intervene. Pearce said that besides wasting the farmer’s money, the government is forcing them to spend valuable fuel mowing areas instead of allowing the grazing.  "This is another case of out-of-state environmentalists trying to damage the New Mexico economy, New Mexico jobs and our rural culture,” Pearce said. “I’m committed to doing the right things for New Mexicans and to keep the government’s first promise to the farmers that they can and should be able to graze their lands."
07/14/08 CNSNews.com - "Environmental Bills Called Pretext to Loosen Border Security" - "Open-border advocates operating under the guise of environmentalism are prepared to push for legislation that could result in an accelerated flow of illegal immigration, drug smuggling, and human trafficking from Mexico into Arizona, according to law enforcement experts familiar with the terrain."
07/14/08 Daily Dispatch - "Forest Service official to focus on agency support for border issues"
07/13/08 Alamogordo News - "Heres the other side of Pearce's HR 6300"
07/13/08 Las Cruces Sun-News - "LOWV opposes Pearce wilderness bill".  Note: Unfortunately, the LOWV letter to the Sun-News contains many statements that are inaccurate and grossly misrepresent the language of HR 6300.  Please see our legislation page for the factual information about this bill and to read the actual language of HR 6300.
07/11/08 Michael Swickard "No Thought Left Behind" column from Heath Haussamen's blog - "Feathering nest activities by elected officials".   "I do not know Councilor Small nor have I spoken to him. I have no opinion about his role with the Wilderness Alliance. This is not a column about wilderness issues; it is about the legitimate role of elected officials in our society. The entire issue is: Can elected officials use their elected positions to enhance their financial positions? And whether their desire is to sell more houses or save more wilderness areas is irrelevant."  This column was also published in the Las Cruces Bulletin.
07/11/08 Economist article "Out of the wilderness - People are shunning the great outdoors.  Blame conservationists, not video games" - "Earlier this year a federal court ruled that the National Park Service must limit human use of Yosemite Valley. That may mean a daily cap on visitor numbers. If the park imposes one, the example is likely to spread across America. This will create pressure to solve environmental problems by turning more people away.  This is a shame, and a self-defeating exercise. America’s environmental movement emerged in the 19th century to push for national parks. In the 20th century it sold them to the public through photographs and writing. It now seems bent on driving people away from them."
07/11/08 "BLM asks for public comment regarding grazing on Ore. monument"
07/10/08 Oregon Mail Tribune - "BLM finds grazing harmful to protected monument" - "In a long-awaited assessment expected to be released today, the agency found that cattle grazing on the monument, created by presidential proclamation in 2000 to protect its rich biodiversity, does not meet the proclamation's intent, said Howard Hunter, the monument's assistant manager. ... Eleven ranchers currently hold grazing leases for 2,714 animal unit months on nine grazing allotments within the monument. ... The BLM's determination that cattle grazing harms the monument mirrors a study by environmental groups released last year. ... The agency's conclusion didn't surprise Dave Willis, chairman of the Soda Mountain Wilderness Council, which wants the cattle off the monument and federal wilderness designation for it. The proclamation language leaves the agency with no wiggle room if grazing is determined to be incompatible with the goals, he said.  "It's a national monument — not a national cow pasture," he said."
07/08/08 New West article by Rebecca Powell - "Small Defends Wilderness Proposal"
07/08/08 Las Vegas Review Journal Editorial - "Montana greens to loggers: Come back!"
07/08/08 Jackson Hole Star Tribune - "Public prompts changes in roadless plan"
07/08/08 The Hub - Ouray, Ridgway, Ouray County article - "CSA opposes wilderness"
07/07/08 Nathan Small, a paid wilderness advocate with the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, wrote an article for Heath Haussamen's blog, outlining the issues related to wilderness designation from his perspective. 

In the comments section, Michael Swickard writes "Hey Heath - Is Nathan Small a Las Cruces City Councilor or a Wilderness Alliance employee? While the column talks straight from the point of view of the Wilderness Alliance, he is an elected and paid Las Cruces City Councilor. The Las Cruces City Councilors represent the citizens 24/7. So, where is his fiduciary relationship, is it with the City of Las Cruces where he is paid a good sum of money or is it with the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance where he is also paid money?  It cannot be both. Much like in real estate an agent must decide the fiduciary relationship and not represent both sides of a transaction. Nothing of Nathan Small’s job with the Wilderness Alliance can seep into his job as city councilor or it is an ethics violation.  Since he always represents District 4, he must not publicly speak of Wilderness issues. And, he must recluse himself from all votes that have any bearing on areas of interest in his other job with the Wilderness Alliance. Otherwise, his election as city councilor is enriching his job at the Wilderness Alliance. Councilor Small can privately cheer on the Wilderness activities and work for them privately, but not publicly. I would hope this is his last statement about Wilderness issues while serving as a Las Cruces City Councilor. This column by Nathan Small appears to me to be an ethics violation." 

Jim Scarantino wrote "I will deal with what Mr. Small calls "truths" in my next column, when I go through the actual wording of Mr. Pearce's legislation rather than throwing rhetoric and hyperbole across the path of progress on this issue. As for Mr. Small's claims that I have misrepresented specific facts, I point out:
1) Two governments have switched from supporting the wilderness proposal, the village of Hatch and La Union Soil and Water Conservation District. The Dona Ana Wilderness Coalition, however, still includes La Union in its list of endorsers.
2) 712 business and 22 local, state and national organizations have endorsed the proposal of People for Preserving Our Western Heritage, including the chambers of commerce of Las Cruces and Hatch Valley. That is not a "shaky claim at best" of substantial support. By comparison, the most the paid organizers for the wilderness coalition ever amassed was a group of just over 200 businesses, some of whom have since written the wilderness coalition asking that their names be removed from their list.
3) Not mentioned in Mr. Small's article is the fact that when Dona Ana County, the city of Las Cruces and other governments were asked to endorse the wilderness proposal, no other ways for preserving Dona Ana County's open space, while avoiding conflicts with law enforcement, water authorities and agriculture, were presented. Indeed, an opposing position was not even present at some of those hearings.
Further, as two Hatch village trustees have written to the Congressional delegation and as Rep. Pearce has also pointed out, representations were made that the agricultural community, particularly ranchers, supported the wilderness proposal when that was untrue. Indeed, it is undisputed that the ranching community wasn't contacted until after the government resolutions had been obtained and the wilderness campaign had been underway for more than two years.  My next column on Rep. Pearce's conservation bill for Dona Ana County will appear in its regular schedule. An open and full debate on the two competing bills, rather than competing articles and/or press conferences, should be considered by both sides of this issue as a better way of making progress on this matter."

07/07/08 Las Cruces Sun-News - "Sabinoso moves closer to wilderness designation"
07/07/08 Arizona Daily Star - "Tower sites planned for protected public land - Virtual fence to run through Cabeza Prieta, Organ Pipe" - "Conditions at the refuge aren't ideal for the pronghorn.  In addition to being mired in a prolonged drought, the trash, trails and roads left behind by nearly a decade of heavy illegal-immigrant and drug-smuggling traffic have landed the refuge on two dubious lists in the past four years.  This year, a report by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility named Cabeza Prieta one of the 10 most imperiled national wildlife refuges in the country.  In 2004, Defenders of Wildlife named the refuge one of the 10 refuges most at risk."
07/07/08 AP - "5 arrested in Rainbow Family clash with feds" - "Officers began to leave the gathering site with the subject and were circled by more Rainbow participants that began to physically interfere," Vollmer said.  About 400 Rainbows surrounded the officers trying to leave, she said.  "The mob began to advance, throwing sticks and rocks at the officers," Vollmer said."
07/02/08 "Off the Leash" by Jim Scarantino - "Pearce's conservation bill: What's not to like?
07/02/08 New West article by Rebecca Powell - "People for Preservation of Our Western Heritage Catches Praise"
07/02/08 Durango Telegraph - "Coming under fire - Mismanagement of federal firefighting funds alleged"
07/01/08 New Mexico Independent - "Domenici's staffer blames wilderness group for lost opportunity"
07/01/08 New West - "New Mexico Wilderness Alliance Catches Blame"
07/01/08 FBI - "Putting Intel to Work Against ELF and ALF Terrorists" - "Together, eco-terrorists and animal rights extremists are one of the most serious domestic terrorism threats in the U.S. today."
07/01/08 World Net Daily - "Czech prez: Environmentalism is new communism" - Czech President Vaclav Klaus: "As someone who lived under communism for most of my life I feel obliged to say that the biggest threat to freedom, democracy, the market economy and prosperity at the beginning of the 21st century is not communism or its various softer variants," said Klaus, responding to questions posed by the two lawmakers. "Communism was replaced by the threat of ambitious environmentalism."
06/30/08 Albuquerque Journal letter to the editor by Tom Cooper and Jodi Denning - "Protect N.M. Land and Its Many Uses" - "We can protect our land, our natural resources and our open space without federal wilderness designations. This proposal protects not only the land itself, but also the access to the land and the beneficial stewardship and use of the land."
06/30/08 "Additional Restrictions Announced in Sandias and Manzanos"
06/29/08 New Mexico Federal Lands Council - "Pearce Introduces Land Protection Measure - Plan based on community input, would result in a balanced approach" - "The issues are complex, and we have worked diligently to find a middle ground that is acceptable on all sides of the issue," said Pearce, a former small businessman. Over 700 businesses and organizations have formed a Coalition supporting this proposal. We believe it offers a compromise that would greatly benefit southern New Mexico and has great potential across the western states struggling with these issues for providing appropriate protection without creating unnecessary hardships on surrounding communities."
06/27/08 Congressman Steve Pearce letter to the editor, Las Cruces Sun-News - "Wilderness bill".  "The editorial ("Wilderness bill deepens gap between groups", 6/25/08) regarding my recent legislation establishing Rangeland Preservation Areas for Do-a Ana County ignores critical parts of the bill. ... The RPA bill combines conservation, limited use and public safety in a common sense way to preserve our landscape for future generations."
06/27/08 The Las Cruces Bulletin contained two pieces on the Dona Ana County wilderness issues, but their website does not allow for linking directly to articles.  Publisher David E. McCollum writes "Also heating up is the “wilderness ” issue in Doña Ana County. U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce introduced House Resolution 6300. The proposed legislation parallels the recommendations put forth by area ranchers and is supported by more than 700 organizations and individuals. If approved, the bill will create new law regarding how we will protect our natural resources such as the Organ Mountains. Pearce’s proposal offers an alternative to the current wilderness protection designations that many local people feel may be too restrictive for our high desert area with vast open spaces. It will be interesting to watch the battle between the ranchers and those who support the creation of several wilderness areas in the county. The political rhetoric has already begun with the latter group implying that only through an official wilderness designation will our public lands be protected. On the other hand, the ranchers and Rep. Pearce contend that the new law will offer a more reasonable alternative to protecting the Organ Mountains and other public lands that should be preserved.  Both groups have noble intentions. Hopefully, they can find a way to sit down together and work out their differences."  There is also an article by Todd Dickson titled "Wilderness backers rally against Pearce bill - Ranching group praises legislation as a 'strong stand'".
06/27/08 Post from Haussamen blog "Udall says he can win in Pearce's 2nd District"
06/27/08 "Ousted Rural Families Fight for Heritage"
06/27/08 Silicon Valley Mercury News article "Biologists, ranchers hope cows will help lure back butterflies" - "The cows eat the invasive grasses but leave the native plants alone," said Craige Edgerton of the Silicon Valley Land Conservancy. "In order for the butterfly to survive, it needs cows."
06/27/08 Rocky Mountain News letters to the editor "Browns Canyon hardly a 'wilderness'" and "Canyon hasn't suffered".
06/26/08 New West article by Rebecca Powell - "More Than a Yes or No to Wilderness"
06/25/08 Cibola county Beacon - "Senator Domenici assails forest plans"
06/25/08 Jackson Hole News & Guide - "Forest may examing cattle fence in detail"
06/24/08 New Mexico Independent - "Property rights over preservation"
06/24/08 Albuquerque Journal - "Conservation groups bash Pearce's bill"
06/24/08 Las Cruces Sun News - "Pearce wilderness bill draws fire"
06/23/08 New West article by Rebecca Powell - "Pearce Submits People's Proposal to the House"   This is part 3 in a series.  The previous two installments are:  "For Some, Wilderness is Simple" and "A Biased Observer of the Dona Ana County Wilderness Debate".
06/23/08 See our "At a Glance Comparison Chart" - Federal Wilderness designations & Rangeland Preservation Areas.
06/23/08 PFPOWH Press Release "PEARCE SUBMITS INNOVATIVE LAND PROTECTION LEGISLATION --- Coalition of over 700 Businesses and Organizations Support Measure"
06/20/08 New West article by Rebecca Powell - "Overstatements and Mythical Ranchers"
06/20/08 NM Federal Lands Council post - "U.S. Forest Service cuts grazing on National Grasslands"
06/19/08 New West article (part two in a series) by Rebecca Powell - "For Some, Wilderness is Simple"
06/19/08 New Mexico Independent article "No Slam Dunk - Ex-New Mexico Wilderness Alliance staffer accuses Sen. Jeff Bingaman of being "one of the worst" for not delivering on a bill last year for a Taos County national conservation areas."
06/18/08 Las Cruces Sun News article "Trap laid for USBP uncovered on patrol path" - "U.S. Border Patrol agents have discovered a booby trap of thin wires stretched along a patrol road in a remote stretch of desert in southern New Mexico, and say it could injure or kill border patrol officers.  Saturday's discovery is the second wire trap found at the U.S.-Mexico border this year.  The trap — two sections of thin wire strung tight across the road — was spotted Saturday night by a local rancher, Border Patrol spokesman Doug Mosier said Tuesday."
06/17/08 New West article (the first article in a series) by Rebecca Powell - "A Biased Observer of the Dona Ana County Wilderness Debate".
06/16/08 Los Angeles Times article - "Nevada rancher wins property rights award - Forest Service took his water rights, judge says."
06/16/08 New Mexico Federal Lands council blog: "American Ranching Family Wins 17-Year Battle with the Federal Government - Landmark decision in Hage v U.S. Issued by Federal Court of Claims" - "An epic 17-year battle between an American ranching family and the federal government has ended in favor of the family. The estates of Wayne and Jean Hage can finally claim a Fifth Amendment precedent-setting property rights victory. The court ruled that the Hages owned the water rights, ditch rights of ways, and range improvements on the federal grazing allotments. The court made clear that the government has the right to authorize grazing, but does not have the right to prevent the plaintiff from accessing their water rights on federal lands. Loren A. Smith, Senior Judge for the US Court of Federal Claims said, "As government seeks to change its policies concerning the purpose and use of public lands, private landowners have a valid claim to preserve their vested rights...the notion of private property is fundamental to the existence of our Nation...if private property is taken for public use, those citizens should be justly compensated."
06/16/08 Las Vegas Review Journal - "At the time, they said he was crazy - Government loses case involving late Nevada rancher"
06/13/08 Range Magazine article "Dust Devils - Cynical Politics is the Hot Wind that Powers Environmental Radicals".  This article features information on Dave Foreman, founder of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance.  "Dave Foreman is founder of EarthFirst, former lobbyist for the Wilderness Society, and author of 'A Field Guide to Monkey Wrenching and Ecodefense', that details how to sabotage equipment, industrial projects, roads and vehicles in the name of environmental protection.  Foreman is credited with saying: 'An Ice Age is coming and I welcome it as much-needed changing.  I see no solution to our ruination of earth except for a drastic reduction of the human population."  According to the June 2008 "Wild News" from the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance website, Mr. Foreman will be a featured speaker at their "Building Community Series" on June 17, 2008.
06/13/08 Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune article "Late Nevada rancher wins $4.2M after judge finds Forest Service took water rights".
06/10/08 The estate of Wayne Hage (Pine Creek Ranch in central Nevada) was awarded over 4 million dollars plus interest in the takings case.  The case was caused by the US Forest service actions, and was in US Court of Federal Claims, Case No. 91,1470L.  See the attached Decision for details.
06/10/08 Letter to the editor from the Hatch Citizen newspaper, written by Tom Cooper.
06/01/08 Nevada Appeal guest column "Nevadans should wake up and stop wilderness proposal" - "In the end, this really isn't about the loss of millions of acres of land that we all enjoy playing or working in, it is about the loss of LIBERTY, the right to determine our own destinies and the destiny of the land that we love and call home."
05/29/08 Fresno Bee - "Court rulings resolve little in packhorse flap - Neither side seems happyp with rules governing Sierra wilderness areas"
05/29/08 Oregon - "ONDA wins grazing injuction"
05/28/08 Bend Bulletin - "Millican ranch owners fight to put house on their land"
05/28/08 Utah KUTV.com - "Small Utah Town Takes on Federal Government Over Wetland Project"
05/28/08 Las Vegas Sun - "Wilderness road upgrade has to wait"
05/28/08 Range Magazine article "Best of Both Worlds" about the efforts by ranchers to protect lands in Dona Ana County.
05/28/08 Las Cruces Bulletin editorial by Tom Cooper - "Ranchers have no confidence in wilderness designation - Group disputed label as 'radical fringe ranchers', draws attention to growing coalition of support"
05/28/08 Silver City Sun-News editorial "Reasonable alternatives"
05/28/08