Free Republic

The House Committee on Natural Resources held a legislative hearing on June 15 on HR 3397, sponsored by Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, to require the director of the Bureau of Land Management to withdraw the proposed conservation rule. In her prepared testimony, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem told the committee that nearly 98% of BLM surface lands in South Dakota are grazed by permittees; her state hosts 76 actively producing oil and gas leases that cover 36,762 acres; and the acres managed by the BLM provide recreation opportunities. Noem said the proposed rule overemphasizes conservation rather than the economic needs...

While the bureau put more days on the public comment calendar, the administration still has announced no plans to hold additional meetings. After outcry from Western constituencies and their representatives in Congress, the Bureau of Land Management has extended the public comment period on its proposed public lands rule that threatens to upend those Americans’ way of life. The new rule proposed in March establishes a framework for “conservation leases” elevated over other uses such as mining, grazing, and gas development. The agency guidelines, which were created without a congressional vote, would implement a radical departure from the “multiple use...

The blight on the landscape of abandoned and decommissioned wind turbines stimulated Colorado's U.S. Reps. Ken Buck, Doug Lamborn and Harriet Hageman, Wyoming, to introduce the Production Tax Credit Reform Act. According to a press release, the bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to require energy companies remove decommissioned wind turbines from leased land as a condition of receiving federal tax credits. Currently energy companies are not obligated to remove wind turbines from leased land once they are decommissioned, putting the onus on landowners — typically farmers and ranchers — to remove the turbines. According to the United States Geological...

Tens of thousands of ranchers are reporting the largest beef supply drop since 1962 as herds continue to shrink all across the country. The meat shortages we have been warned about for months are now hitting all major grocery stores, and consumers are seeing prices soar to levels last seen during the inflation peak of June 2022. However, livestock economists say that a price spike will likely be seen in the months ahead, with summer demand further squeezing inventories at supermarkets. A new report reveals that many Americans have already begun stockpiling meat to get ready for the shortages that...

North Park rancher Greg Sykes said he has tried to do things the right way since wolves migrated across the boarder from Wyoming into the area near Walden. He has kept an eye on the predators as they could be seen in the distance around the ranch he manages and got guardian dogs to watch over his cattle. “I was that one rancher that said, ‘OK, they’re here. Let’s figure out how to get along,'” Sykes said. “That’s what I intended to do.” Early on Monday, March 13, wolves killed one of his cattle dogs named Cisco, according to Colorado...

The Federal Government has announced a plan to begin shooting feral cattle from helicopters in order to protect the environment. ... Local ranchers, however, have criticized the plan as cruel and have warned about the unintended consequences ... They say it sets a dangerous precedent, as more and more ranching plots are left vacant across the West and fences become untended. They claim that this could result in privately owned cattle wandering off and getting caught up in the mix. ... ranchers are also worried that the wolves who eat the carcasses of the dead animals will become used to...

New wolf depredation incidents are being reported in northern Colorado. First, in Rio Blanco County, just south of Meeker, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has confirmed 18 head of 600-pound calves were attacked and killed by wolves ... on the LK Ranch, owned by Lenny and Jackie Klinglesmith. The cattle were up in their summer pasture, when the wolf depredation incidents were discovered. Travis Duncan with Colorado Parks and Wildlife says necropsies on each animal have been performed and it is an active investigation. ... A second Colorado wolf depredation incident was in the past few days in Jackson County, near...

A federal judge this week denied a temporary restraining order sought by environmental groups that would block grazing in six eastern Oregon pastures. The Capital Press reports U.S. District Judge Michael Simon said the plaintiffs haven’t shown that turning cattle out on the pastures will cause irreparable harm to sage grouse or to rangeland research. He said continued grazing isn’t likely to irreparably harm the ability of environmental plaintiffs to enjoy undisturbed sagebrush grassland, since the pastures have long been grazed and are rested on a rotating basis. The case was filed against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management by...

A question must seriously be asked whether Jared Polis is interested in governing all of Colorado, or just the narrow strip that contains the vast majority of the state’s population. Polis has repeatedly angered the small band of hardy farmers and ranchers that make up Colorado’s second-largest industry by his insensitive slights and tone-deaf insults. It’s as if the governor pays lip service to agriculture one day and then slaps it in the face the next. Case in point: In February Polis ignored the recommendations of his own Department of Agriculture and appointed yet another animal welfare extremist to a...

The coal plant is closing, along with the mine that feeds it and has nearly 115 more employees, and all the workers will lose their jobs over the next decade ... The same scenario is playing out in other small towns across the U.S. After decades of relying on coal for their workforce, tax base and way of life, the towns face uncertain futures as new state and national legislation forces the retirement of fossil fuels ... The impact spreads beyond the plants workers and is felt by the rest of the community, too. In Craig, much of the infrastructure...

Animal rights activist Ellen Kessler, a gubernatorial appointee to the State Board of Veterinary Medicine, submitted her resignation from the board at 3:26 p.m. Monday. Kessler's letter, released by the governor's office, said her resignation would be effective at the close of business on Feb. 11. "I realize that some of my actions have caused anger and discomfort and that I was unprofessional in my judgment," Kessler wrote. "I apologize to you and the citizens of our great state and wish you the best of luck as you continue to make Colorado the best in the nation." Kessler, appointed to...

A confirmed wolf kill was discovered near Walden, Colo., the home of one of Colorado’s wolf packs. An approximately 500 pound purebred replacement heifer was found dead after being attacked and eaten by this pack of wolves. This is the first confirmed wolf kill of livestock in Colorado in over 70 years. In early 2021, Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed the existence of this pack in north central Colorado; however, individual wolves have been sited in the area previous to the pack confirmation. Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials are working closely with the livestock producer to learn as much from...

* Mexican soldiers in the state of Zacatecas recovered on Sunday the dead bodies of three men who were abducted from their ranches Friday * Salvador Herrera, 89; his son, Eutimio Herrera, 60; and Carmelo Hernández, 79, were discovered on a road in the Valparaíso neighborhood of San Martin * The families told local media outlets that the armed kidnappers did not contact them to request ransoms for the release of their loved ones * The victims were among seven elderly men who were kidnapped Friday; the whereabouts of the other four men are unknown * A spokesperson with the...

Like other ranchers across the country, Rusty Kemp for years grumbled about rock-bottom prices paid for the cattle he raised in central Nebraska, even as the cost of beef at grocery stores kept climbing... Federal data show that for every dollar spent on food, the share that went to ranchers and farmers dropped from 35 cents in the 1970s to 14 cents recently. It led Kemp to launch an audacious plan: Raise more than $300 million from ranchers to build a plant themselves, putting their future in their own hands.... ...Crews will start work this fall building the Sustainable Beef...

OCALA, Fla. (WCJB) - The Ocala National Forest will be getting additional money from the state as part of a newly signed bill. Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law Wednesday the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota; : A third-generation farmer filed a lawsuit today against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is unlawfully preventing him from farming one of his fields. In 2011, a division of the Department of Agriculture ruled that a small seasonal mud puddle on Arlen Foster’s farm is protected by federal law as a wetland. Even though the federal government has no authority to regulate such puddles, the department is forcing Foster to choose between productively using his field or participating in federal programs for farmers, like crop insurance. “The government lacks the authority to insist that he...

The counter-group to the leftist Lawfare team, organized by Stephen Miller, is called “America First Legal.” Today the Miller group filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration for racial discrimination against farmers and ranchers in the COVID relief bill. WASHINGTON, DC – Today, America First Legal (AFL) filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas to stop the Biden Administration from administering a program created by Congress in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 that discriminates against American citizen farmers and ranchers based upon their race. Specifically, Sections 1005 and 1006 of...

GOP rallies around meat industry in response to attack by Colorado's Jared Polis... The red meat wars have hit America. Republican governors representing heartland states are uniting in support of the cattle industry in response to calls from Jared Polis, the Democratic governor of Colorado, to move his state away from eating meat. The herd of Republican governors of Nebraska, Iowa, Wyoming, and Montana has taken issue with Polis's call for Saturday, March 20, to be observed as "MeatOut Day," during which residents are asked to replace meat with a plant-based alternative. All four Republican governors issued proclamations in response,...

CPW is now accepting applications for membership in the Stakeholder Advisory Group for wolf reintroduction and management in Colorado. Stakeholder Advisory Group Application.. Applications for membership in the Stakeholder Advisory Group (SAG) for wolf reintroduction and management in Colorado are being accepted and must be received no later than March 31, 2021. The application link includes instructions for applying as well as the application itself. Download the Stakeholder Advisory Group Application. The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission is charged with restoring and managing gray wolves in Colorado no later than December 31, 2023. Based on public feedback and Colorado Parks...

VALENTINE, Neb. – “Land: see Snatch.” On first look, the Biden Administration’s “30 x 30” plan looks like a scheme cooked up by Hedley Lamarr, the main villain from Mel Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles.” However, far from the comedic genius of the late Harvey Korman, the new Federal land grab is a serious threat to private property owners in the United States. And it’s moving fast.. Just a few days into office, President Joe Biden released a flurry of executive orders, among them being through Executive Order 14008, “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad” (86 Fed. Reg. 7,619), which...