Free Republic

LUBBOCK, Texas — One Central Texas farmer said Monday he was "dumbfounded" by Gov. Rick Perry's veto of an eminent domain bill designed to protect landowners when the state wants to take their property. Robert Fleming is not alone in an area worried about the massive Trans Texas Corridor proposal. The planned route cuts through Fleming's Bell County farms. He's bewildered by Perry's veto. "We were so close to getting something done," Fleming said. "We've worked hard trying to get private property rights." Perry vetoed the bill, and 48 others, Friday. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Kelo...

While many strides were made in the previous legislative session in regards to Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC), farmers and ranchers feel there are still concerns to address, a Texas Farm Bureau representative told state senators in a transportation committee meeting recently. “We believe the impact of the TTC will be devastating to the agriculture industry and to rural communities,� McLennan County Farm Bureau President Marc Scott said at the Austin hearing. The lack of access due to the division of family farms and ranches, the massive condemnation proceedings that would trail in the wake of corridor approval and the usage of...

Texas’ largest farm organization is once again describing the Trans Texas Corridor (TTC) as a disaster for farming and ranching operations that lie in the potential path of the TTC and a major mistake for Texas itself. The Texas Farm Bureau is also discovering that there are many allies in opposing the massive highway project, some of them members of the Texas Legislature. “Our members are overwhelmingly opposed to the Trans Texas Corridor,” says TFB President Kenneth Dierschke, a grain and cotton farmer from San Angelo. “There’s never been any doubt that the impact on agriculture would be negative, but...

? 2007 WorldNetDaily.com Texas farmers are stepping up their opposition to the Trans-Texas Corridor, a massive highway project that ultimately could take about half a million acres of the state out of agricultural production ? and according to opponents possibly hasten the advent of a North American Union. "Our members are overwhelmingly opposed to the Trans-Texas Corridor," said Farm Bureau President Kenneth Dierschke, a grain and cotton farmer from San Angelo. "There's never been any doubt that the impact on agriculture would be negative, but now we see a growing number of people who believe the TTC would be bad...

THERE'S GOOD NEWS in the latest Ports-to-Plains progress report for Lubbock and West Texas residents who recognize the evolving trade route's potential economic benefit to our area. Extending from the most active U.S.-Mexico border port, Laredo, through Lubbock and West Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Colorado, the Ports-to-Plains Corridor links the nation's plains states to the border centers of commerce. The Texas Department of Transportation is analyzing funding alternatives including opportunities for private investment and partnerships to pay for moving freight and utilities along the trade route. Using Ports-to-Plains as a case study, TxDOT will research the best potential applications...

Those familiar with the political scene know the unexpected is often expected, and March 2 was an example of that when opponents to the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) and Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) marched to the state Capitol in Austin. The event included people from all over Texas, either walking or riding one of the many horses, tractors, or flat-bed trailers. The march included a woman with a caged chicken on the head, children enjoying the excitement, and plenty of signs that ranged from “Don’t Tag Texas” to “Think green ... not pavement.” One person in the parade was NAIS...

The conventional wisdom among conservatives about the benefits of privatizing government programs is being severely tested in a heretofore largely obscure controversy that is now blossoming in America’s heartland. When up to several thousand people gathered in vigorous protest March 2 at the majestic state capitol in Austin, there were echoes of the formative beginnings of similar grassroots protest movements of other eras, in which the organizers were not professional political activists, but rather genuinely fed-up ordinary citizens motivated by a combination of self-interest and patriotism to seek a legitimate redress of grievances. Almost 30 years ago, a similar citizen...

In what is being projected as an economic boom for the East Texas region (if it comes to fruition), the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) will soon begin work on a feasibility study for an East-West corridor. The announcement was made last week as the TxDOT Commission voted to move forward with the study that will cost an estimated $2 million. The corridor is the brainchild of the Gulf Coast Strategic Highway Coalition. "If we had a major four-lane, east-west highway through Jasper it would mean to us what I-10 means to Beaumont and I-20 means to Shreveport," said Jasper...

Bovine bombardment is part of the most recent plan to thwart Texas legislators’ plan to implement a federally mandated animal identification system. Protesters plan to tell state government officials, “Don’t Tag Texas,” March 2. Farmers and ranchers will turnout in numbers at the state capitol that Friday, livestock in tow, to declare their discontent concerning the newly proposed National Animal Identification System (NAIS), as well as the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC). A media release from the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, said the protest is motivated by individual freedoms, which they fear could get trampled along the way. “Freedom-loving Texans planned...

Four thousand miles of smooth blacktop. Six open lanes of road with never a traffic jam. Four lanes for trucks to keep the 18-wheelers from bothering Joe Motorist. High-speed rail to get you from San Antonio to Dallas in just a couple of comfy hours. Oil, gas, and water lines running from Oklahoma to the Mexican border. Handy motels, shops, and gas stations to keep you from having to get off the road until you hit the state line. That’s the dream of the backers of the Trans-Texas Corridor, the biggest public works project in the history of the state...

Owning a slice of paradise isn't what it used to be. Generations of ranchers on the rural fringes of Yellowstone National Park passed their land to offspring or sold it to like-minded people. "only 26 percent of buyers were "traditional ranchers"... The largest category, at 39 percent, were "amenity buyers," ... The new buyers often arrive with a different set of values from those who have family ties stretching back generations... Contrary to what some might think, developers bought only 6 percent... The study area, though, didn't include fast-developing areas in Gallatin County, Mont., and Jackson Hole. In many cases,...

The governor's race is becoming a referendum on the Trans-Texas Corridor toll road. Republican incumbent Gov. Rick Perry supports the TTC that would parallel Interstate 35 from Laredo to Oklahoma. However, it could gobble up 81,000 acres of rural land according to the Texas Department of Transportation. Also, a large chunk of the land used would be in North Texas. Lance Haynes, a Republican, said he wonders if his family's 68 acres in rural Collin County might be covered in concrete in the near future. The land lies within the path where the state could route the TTC and he's...

Governor emphasis on tollways, private road-builders has generated urban and rural unrest Rick Perry's political problem with transportation, to the extent that he has one, may be that he's trying to douse a fire in 2006 that won't ignite for another 10 to 20 years. His critics say, no, the problem is that Perry wants to charge us for the water. What isn't in dispute is that the Republican governor and his appointees over the past six years have turned Texas transportation on its head, moving the state from financing public roads solely with taxes to a system that would...

Back in the 1970s, it was a major event when a Mexican cow would wander on to the Palominas border-front ranch of Jack Ladd and his son, John. But after tightened border security in San Diego and El Paso began to funnel illegal immigration though Arizona in the early 1990s, holes began to appear more regularly along the 10 miles of barbed-wire fence separating the ranch from Mexico. The holes, cut by individual migrants or blasted out by fence-crashing vehicles, also created an easy passageway for cattle. So, in an effort to keep Mexican cows out and their own cows...

A coalition of conservationist and health organizations has served notice that it will sue the state California Fish and Game Commission for continuing to allow lead ammunition to be used for hunting in California. The groups contend that lead bullets lodged in carcasses left by hunters are poisoning California condors that feed on them. "Lead poisoning from ammunition is the single greatest obstacle to the recovery of wild California condors," said Jeff Miller of the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the organizations joining forces in the suit. Other parties include the Natural Resources Defense Council, Physicians for Social Responsibility...

BISBEE — In response to a plan by the Minuteman Project to construct an Israeli-style border barrier on private land near Naco, the Cochise County Planning Department is advising area ranchers that any such project must comply with county zoning rules. In a communique issued last week, the Minutemen announced they would begin constructing an Israeli-style security fence at an Arizona ranch in early July. The anti-illegal immigration group is currently overseeing the construction of a barbed-wire range fence on the border-front property of Jack and John Ladd in Palominas. Speaking at the May 27 groundbreaking for the Ladd’s fence,...

The USDA and state Ag Dept. officials like to claim that the big producers are united behind the USDA's proposed draft of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). This is not true. The reality is more and more of the big producers, breed organizations and other large stakeholders are resisting NAIS. The “Livestock Marketing Association, along with other industry groups, is letting Congress know there is a lot of dissatisfaction with this program, and there are many questions about it that need answering before we can move forward." - Robinson of the LMA "Regarding animal identification, members approved by a...

Pine Creek Ranch, Nye County, Monitor Valley, Tonopah, Nevada - We are sorry to inform everyone of this sad news. Wayne Hage, Sr. has passed into glory this afternoon, Monday, June 5, 2006. Please pray for strength, comfort and peace for the family. They are trying to make arrangements for a possible memorial this coming Saturday (June 10th); Ramona (Hage Morrison) will keep us informed. May God rest his weary soul.

Cattle ranchers in the Paradise Valley say shipping weights have declined since wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in 1995. They say their cattle stay close to gates instead of grazing entire pastures. Wary animals tend to eat less than relaxed animals.

Depending on whom you talk to, the Trans Texas Corridor is a daring futuristic plan, the state's most ambitious ever, or it's a money machine and a destructive land grab. But for now, most of all, it's an enigma. There are no construction contracts for any of the 4,000 miles of car and truck lanes, freight and passenger rail lines and utility lines that are supposed to crisscross Texas by midcentury, just a $3.5 million deal with a private consortium to develop plans for the leg paralleling Interstate 35. And nobody knows just where the routes would go, though any...

Wolves, wolf-hybrids suspected culprits in bloody predations... his herd of 700 sheep. But something had gotten there before him. Everywhere he looked, it seemed, there was a sheep that had been attacked and bloodied. "It was terrible," he said. "Some of them just had a chunk of flesh tore out, in some cases clear to the bone, the size of an orange. A few were bit in the neck." A few of the sheep could be doctored, but many of them died... of the 60 that were attacked, 21 died and 39 were injured. On top of that, the percentage...

Some ranchers say the wolves in the Madison Valley have grown increasingly brazen and are apparently unafraid of people. State wildlife officials say such behavior is to be expected, given the federal protection the predators have had in the decade since being reintroduced in the Yellowstone National Park. Jack Atcheson Jr. said he was spooked on a recent hunting trip, when three men and three mules got within 47 yards of a wolf that was staring right at them. The Butte hunting outfitter, who books international trips, said he had never seen wolves in Alaska, Asia or other places act...

NOGALES, Ariz. ¡ª Rancher Sonny Clarke's job these days isn't just barreling around in his pickup truck to shore up aging dirt watering tanks. It's also fixing up fences knocked down by illegal immigrants and keeping an eye out for drug smugglers. That's one reason he agrees with a new federal decision to lower public land ranchers' grazing fees by 23 cents per animal-unit month. An animal-unit month is the amount of forage a cow and her calf eat in a month. The fee drop starts March 1, and stems from sharply higher gasoline prices. Critics say the fee decrease...

confirmed killed by wolves... the confirmed kills varied from the reported animal deaths and values, which came to 40 animals valued at roughly $40,000. He cautioned people not to draw conclusions about the confirmed numbers, because unconfirmed kills are often those in which the livestock is discovered too late to actually identify, by tracks, tooth marks or other means, the actual cause of death. Their agency is part of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, though they often are mistaken for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is part of the...

MABANK — For the first time in four years, a gourmet extravagance — authentic Japanese Kobe beef — is allowed back into the United States. The question is whether anyone will care. An American Kobe-style brand has taken its place on restaurant menus. Wagyu cattle began arriving in the United States in the 1990s, often flown over from Japan. They are fattened longer than the average American breed; they live about eight to 14 months longer than U.S. beef cattle. U.S. ranchers often crossbreed them with Angus cattle. The glossy black cows on Meliton Rincon's ranch in Athens are not...

Four gray wolves released near Meeteetse on Feb. 14 may have been illegally captured on his land. The rancher, Frank Robbins, was among more than 40 people attending a March 2 Hot Springs County Commission meeting to lodge objections to the way federal agencies have managed wolves in the area. The group ..."to tell the feds that monitoring wolves on private property would be considered trespass," ... "We were caught unawares," ... the commissioners "are concerned about what (wolves) could do...We don't see any of the plus side." whether any laws may have been violated in the case of low-flying...

Next week, Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton are expected to sign an agreement that would place management of an estimated 500 grey wolves into state, rather than federal, hands. The agreement would give ranchers permission to eliminate wolves that harass livestock. It also would empower state wildlife managers to pick off wolf packs that make a dent in the state's deer and elk populations. The wolf's revival in Idaho started a decade ago when officials released 35 wolves into central Idaho. Their numbers have grown steadily since then. Federal rules have carefully prescribed when ranchers...

MONTEREY, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that his administration will work to minimize regulations and improve transportation to help California's ranchers and farmers. "We should be your partner in prosperity rather than a roadblock to success," Schwarzenegger said at the annual meeting of the California Farm Bureau Federation in Monterey. "We should make sure you don't get over-regulated," the governor said. "We should make sure you can operate freely and that you can really do your job, really grow and feed the world." Schwarzenegger said the state needs to build more roads, bridges, tunnels, railroads and ports to...

SALEM -- Despite strong objections from ranchers, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted final amendments Thursday to a management plan for protected gray wolves expected to migrate into Oregon from Idaho. Currently, the management plan prohibits ranchers from killing wolves that attack livestock and doesn't include compensation for losses from wolf attacks. The Fish and Wildlife Commission had included compensation and authority for killing wolves in the plan that was adopted in February, pending approval by the Legislature of provisions needed to change state law. But lawmakers failed to agree on those provisions and bills to make the changes...

Dear Friends - A good friend of mine is being trampled by a "good ol' boys network" in Arizona. Kent Knudson has done nothing but protect his property and his family, but he's facing felony charges for doing so. Please join me in getting the word out on this. This could have happened to any of us, and cattle owners in open-range states will never willingly stop their abuse of other people's property. The Wild West needs to join the 21st century.

Bush Signs $100 Billion Food and Farm Bill 1 hour, 5 minutes ago President Bush on Thursday signed a $100 billion food and farm spending bill that includes a two-year delay on labels telling grocery shoppers where their meat comes from. The legislation postpones mandatory meat labeling until 2008. Originally sought by Western ranchers and required by law in 2004, country-of-origin labeling has stalled under pressure from meatpackers and supermarkets who call it a record-keeping nightmare. The measure also overrides a court ruling on whether products labeled "USDA Organic" can contain

ARIVACA, Ariz. -- Jim Chilton is one of hundreds of ranchers targeted by environmental groups for allegedly allowing cattle to despoil the West's backcountry. Now Mr. Chilton is showing ranchers how to turn the tables on the green groups by using their own playbook. The Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson is known for its lawsuits against ranching practices -- and for its methods of posting photos on the Internet that it says depict land destruction. So when the Center came after Mr. Chilton, he struck back with a defamation suit in Arizona Superior Court in Tucson last year....

The Oregon Cattlemen's Association argues there are too many limits on when people could shoot wolves Wednesday, June 15, 2005 MICHAEL MILSTEIN A state bill that would let Oregon ranchers shoot wolves attacking their livestock appears to be dead in the Legislature after a few ranching groups argued it has too many strings attached. The measure, House Bill 3478, would have relaxed an Oregon law that prohibits killing wolves and would have created a state fund to compensate ranchers for livestock and dogs that are injured or killed by wolves. The bill emerged from a compromise among some environmental groups,...

I'm passing this along because, personally, I found it refreshing, because it's Friday, because it's April 15, and because, in spite of everything, the country is Robin and Dan, and worth fighting for, and even worth paying taxes for. Rancher skinhead attack on Bible college rumoredAnd other interesting first hand observations from a California Minutewoman By CRAIG NELSENProjectUSA director [Report provided by Robin Hvidston, Minutewoman and Real American] Hello! I am back from the border. The experience was awesome! I wish I could have stayed the full month. Below, is a report I made about the experience. I'm trying to...

McLennan County Commissioners and the Waco Chamber of Commerce have voiced their concern about the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor and Thursday, county residents got a chance to voice their opinions on the proposed superhighway. The superhighway and train corridor is expected to cost $184 million. A hearing was held in Bellmead where the big argument surrounding the proposed Corridor doesn't seemed to be if it's needed, but where to put it. The proposed superhighway would have six passenger lanes, four commercial lanes and high speed passenger rail lines. It's goal is to alleviate traffic on Interstate 35. But many in McLennan...

SIERRA VISTA - A pair of hot-button items were emotionally discussed Wednesday night at two town halls hosted by U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz. Border problems and Social Security reform drew heated comments from an audience of more than 200. The most contentious discussions revolved around what many people saw as a failed federal immigration policy, leading them to support a volunteer group called the Minuteman Project that has pledged to help control the border in April. Kolbe said he has no problems with American citizens coming to Cochise County to be educated about border issues, but draws the line...

Start all over with the Trans Texas Corridor. And let the legislature oversee future highway planning. That was the gist of the testimony delivered by TFB State Director Albert Thompson on behalf of the Texas Farm Bureau during a recent Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security hearing on the massive transportation project. "...it appears to us that the legislature has given the Texas Department of Transportation what amounts to a blank check worth approximately $180 billion," Thompson said on Feb. 9. "We would feel more comfortable if citizens had the opportunity to voice opinions with elected officials who should...

The Texas Department of Transportation held one of its 27 public meetings at NT's Gateway Center Wednesday, concerning the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor, a highway that will run from Oklahoma to Mexico. The highway is estimated to cover an area approximately 800 miles long and will include 77 counties. The Trans-Texas Corridor is a long-term project. Its estimated completion date will not be for another 30 to 60 years. The corridor will come with a price tag of somewhere between $145.2 billion and $183.2 billion. Paying for the highway was one of the major concerns addressed at the meeting. Obtaining funds...

AUSTIN -- Everything's big in the Lone Star State, but the term "superhighway" barely begins to describe Texas's transportation plan for the 21st century. Called the Trans-Texas Corridor, it is the most ambitious highway project since the Eisenhower administration introduced the interstate system in the 1950s. The $184 billion, 50-year plan calls for building 4,000 miles of roadways up to a quarter-mile wide. Each corridor would contain six high-speed toll lanes for cars and trucks; six rail lines and easements for petroleum, natural gas and water pipelines, as well as electric, broadband and other telecommunications lines. With Texas's population expected...

GRANTS PASS, Ore. - A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Bush administration violated the Endangered Species Act when it relaxed protections on many of the nation's gray wolves. The decision by U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones in Portland rescinds a rule change that allowed ranchers to shoot wolves on sight if they were attacking livestock, said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group. In April 2003, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service divided the wolves' range into three areas and reclassified the Eastern and Western populations as threatened instead of endangered. The Eastern segment...

  Washington, D.C. (Jan. 26, 2005) – A Pima County jury has awarded Arizona rancher Jim Chilton $600,000 in a libel suit against the Tucson-based environmental group, Center for Biological Diversity.  On Jan. 21, jurors in Pima County Superior Court voted 9-1 that the Center made “false, unfair, libelous and defamatory statements” regarding Chilton's management of his Forest Service grazing allotment.   Chilton, a fifth generation producer and member of the Public Lands Council (PLC) and National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), claimed the Center made false statements about him in a news advisory, and that the Center posted defaming photographs of his operation on its web site.  The photos of Chilton’s...

Texas Department of Transportation officials sought to allay the fears of a skeptical McLennan County Commissioners Court on Tuesday regarding the Trans-Texas Corridor and the potential for a new tollway running through the county. Highway officials said they will continue to seek input from the public and local governments as the massive project's design takes shape. They also said they're committed to pushing forward on the corridor based on the need to alleviate traffic congestion on Interstate Highway 35. "The congestion, we think, on 35 is reaching critical mass," said Phillip Russell, director of the transportation department's turnpike division. "We...

In the old days of the Wild West, there was always a gunslinger around to spring cowboys from jail cells. Like the rangy sheriff from High Noon, Luther Wallace "Wally" Klump was on his own with the odds stacked cornstalk high against him. Klump, sent to the slammer April 21, 2003 celebrated his 70th birthday there. There was no sweet chorus of Happy Birthday sung by his grandchildren but only the convicts, some of whom took refuge in the Good Book when Klump found himself in their midst. The injustice of it was never lost on the convicts who presented...

EDMONTON (CP) - Cattle ranchers and beef industry officials were throwing cowboy hats in the air Wednesday after the United States announced sweeping plans for opening the border in March to nearly all Canadian exports of beef and live cattle. In a release, the U.S. Department Agriculture said it will now recognize Canada as a minimal-risk region for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the scientific name for mad cow disease.

It’s got all the ingredients of a made-for-TV-drama. The cattle are lowing and it’s another heartbreakingly beautiful sunset in New Mexico. A rancher and his 14-year-old son are out on horseback finishing up a long day’s work before heading home for supper. Shattering the silence of the pastoral landscape comes the law. An enforcement officer demands a permit of the rancher. When none is provided and the rancher and son continue to lead their horses, two more enforcement vehicles--lights flashing and sirens wailing give chase to the mounted horsemen. Problem is this is no television movie. It’s real life for...

BOZEMAN - Defenders of Wildlife paid out more than $139,000 to Western ranchers whose sheep or cattle were killed by wolves, the group said Tuesday. That's more than twice the $68,000 reimbursed in 2003, and a huge increase over the $7,480 shelled out in 1996, the first year after wolves were reintroduced into the Yellowstone Ecosystem. "We did have a good jump" this year, said Suzanne Stone, the Northern Rockies representative for the group, which compensates ranchers for livestock killed by wolves. Numbers show wolves killed more than twice as many sheep and cattle across the West this year than...

For nearly two years, U.S. farmers and ranchers watched as the second shoe grew bigger and bigger. On Nov. 22, it officially dropped. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service estimates released that day, 2005 will be the first year in nearly 50 that America will not turn an agricultural trade surplus. The dubious milestone was met with odd silence at USDA. Odd because throughout the fall presidential campaign, Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman talked herself hoarse each time some farm community in a swing state dedicated a new, USDA-sponsored street light. Now, as America is about to...

WASHINGTON — President Bush on Thursday announced that he has chosen Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns to be the new secretary of agriculture to oversee the nation's farm and food programs. "As a son of Iowa dairy farmers, he grew up close to the land," Bush said in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in announcing his nomination. "He will bring to this position a lifetime of involvement in agriculture and a long record as a faithful friend to America's farmers and ranchers." A Republican, Johanns, 54, also took the podium crediting his farm experience. "I'm very proud of my...

MISSOULA - The vice president of the Montana Farm Bureau appealed to loggers and sawmill owners Thursday not to be intimidated by "endangered species terrorism." "Al-Qaida only had to fly airplanes into buildings once," John Youngberg told the annual meeting of the Montana Wood Products Association. "After that, they only have to anonymously threaten to do so to put the United States on high alert. "Likewise, environmental activists only had to have one success - the spotted owl - to put industry into a tailspin." So great was the upheaval caused by protection of the northern spotted owl - sawmills...

Washington, DC - The following is a statement by Keith Ashdown, Vice-President of Taxpayers for Common Sense on the Corporate Tax Bill: More boring than War & Peace and more complicated than ancient Greek, the 900-page corporate tax bill is riddled with wasteful add-ons for almost every special interest in Washington. In fact, if you work on K Street and aren’t getting anything out of this legislation, you should be fired. 147 out of 265 provisions in the corporate tax bill were added since October and we still have dozens of amendments to debate. Some of the highlights in the...