Thanks Kevin....more......

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: Thanks for taking the time to post this information. Needless to say...we have our hands more than FULL trying to keep up with all of this. : Don't 'cha just love the rancher's attitudes toward an endangered species and those trying to protect them? I've had several e-mail today from folks who are so disgusted they're suggesting a beef boycott! : We try to keep the website updated with this information...but there are only so many hours in a day (and we have displaced/injured/ill desert tortoises here to care for) : Thanks again.... : Annie Lancaster : Director, TortoiseAid : : We must do something to protect the desert tortise before it is to late ...... Kevin Lorentz member PARC & NRAAC . : : : : Ranchers balk at cattle edict : : A U.S. agency wants grazing cows moved off some public land to protect the desert tortoise. : : : : It was the Old West in Daggett the other night. : : Published 5/15/2001-Inland Empire Online : : by Jennifer Bowles : : : : A dozen ranchers from San Bernardino and Riverside counties -- : : some in Stetsons, jeans, belt buckles and boots still scuffed : : with the day's dirt -- sat with their families inside the desert : : town's community center. : : : : It was not a happy gathering. : : : : "They are scared to death," said Ron Kemper of East Highlands, : : a property manager who runs a ranch in the east Mojave Desert. : : : : Tensions are growing because 12 ranchers have been ordered by : : the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to remove cattle from large : : portions of their ranches -- a half-million acres in all of public land : : -- to help prevent the desert tortoise from sliding to extinction. : : : : Such a demand, the ranchers say, threatens their cattle, their : : livelihood and their way of life. They're digging in their heels. : : : : "I will continue business as usual," said Billy Mitchell, who runs : : 87 cattle at Rattlesnake Canyon east of Lucerne Valley. "I have : : no other choice if I want to protect my personal and private : : rights." : : : : The ranchers are, in a sense, in a three-way showdown with the : : Bureau of Land Management, which administers the public land : : owned by the American people, and environmentalists who want : : the BLM to abide by the Endangered Species Act in protecting : : the tortoise from the cattle. : : : : The way the ranchers see it, the government negotiated away : : their rights in settling a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club and other : : environmental groups. The environmentalists say that grazing : : cows on public lands is not a right but a privilege -- one that : : should never have been allowed in such an arid desert : : ecosystem. : : : : The ranchers have roped in support from state and local : : lawmakers as well as San Bernardino County Sheriff Gary : : Penrod. The sheriff took the unusual step recently of rescinding : : an agreement that allowed BLM rangers to enforce state laws on : : federal lands within the county's borders. : : : : "I do not wish to be associated with any (BLM) law enforcement : : personnel who may be precipitating possible violent range : : disputes through their official action," Penrod said in a letter to : : the federal agency's law enforcement chief. : : : : Penrod did not respond to requests for further comment, but : : BLM officials say he acted too quickly in anticipating violence. : : : : Still, BLM officials are under the gun. A federal judge last week : : sided with the environmentalists and admonished the agency for : : failing to have the cattle moved by the March 1 deadline. : : : : A hearing before that same judge Thursday may determine : : what's next for the ranchers. The judge said he wanted the BLM : : to come up with a plan for compliance, or the agency would be : : held in contempt. : : : : Creosote and cattle : : : : Alongside Camp Rock Road south of Daggett, three cows and a : : calf soak up the sun among a field awash with spiky yuccas and : : creosote shrubs blooming dainty yellow flowers. : : : : It's an odd picture: cows in a desert landscape. : : : : But ranchers will tell you they've been grazing here since the : : mid-1800s, ever since people began to settle the West and : : homestead in the California desert. : : : : The ranchers raise only cattle born in the desert, so they are : : acclimated to the wild fluctuations in the weather -- hotter than : : hot in the summer and below freezing in the winter. : : : : Hormone-free and pesticide-free, the cattle move virtually : : uninhibited in the desert, drifting with the seasons. : : : : The dirt road leads to the Ord Mountains and a valley housing a : : barn-like office for Dave Fisher, a third-generation rancher who : : runs the 154,848-acre Shield F Ranch with some 500 cows. He : : hopes his three grandsons have a chance to run the ranch : : someday. : : : : Under the negotiated settlement between the environmental : : groups and the BLM, Fisher must move the cattle off of 54,000 : : acres, about one-third of the ranch, from March 1 to June 15 and : : again from Sept. 7 to Nov. 7, key foraging times for the desert : : tortoise. Kemper, Mitchell and nine other ranchers are being : : asked to make similar moves. : : : : A few things complicate the demand. : : : : For one, Fisher and most of the other ranchers own interlocking : : sections of land within their leased grazing allotments. To move : : the cattle from the public land, Fisher's herd would lose access : : to some of his private grazing land, which he believes is illegal. : : : : In addition, he owns water rights to three springs that are in the : : closure area, so his cattle would not be able to use them. The : : springs, he noted, allow wildlife besides cows to flourish on the : : ranch. : : : : "I will not consider complying to such an order," said Fisher : : outside his office, speaking over the whir of a windmill that : : pumps ground water when solar panels don't do the job. : : : : Third, he said, it's the middle of calving season. : : : : "To move cows that are having labor pains, to hurt them for the : : sake of environmental weirdos, it's not going to happen," he : : said. : : : : Moving the livestock "would result in significant weight loss, : : health problems and animal deaths," said a legal document : : prepared by his attorney, Karen Budd-Falen of Wyoming. : : : : Desert ranching : : : : The argument over whether raising cattle in the arid Southwest is : : a legitimate use of public lands has been simmering for years. : : But now, cattle ranchers in California's Mojave Desert feel the : : threat to shut them down is real. : : : : "There's no question that all across the West we're seeing a : : reassessment on which acres should be grazed," said Charles : : Wilkinson, a natural resources law professor at University of : : Colorado, Boulder. : : : : "For generations, grazing was effectively the only reason we had : : public lands. Now we are seeing many competing uses for that : : public land, and we're seeing many adjustments." : : : : The lawsuit filed last year by the Sierra Club, the Center for : : Biological Diversity and Public Employees for Environmental : : Responsibility already has led to the closure of many off-roading : : areas and placed limits on new mining. : : : : The environmentalists felt that 24 desert species protected under : : the Endangered Species Act were getting shortchanged, and : : they sought to limit actions they felt hampered the recovery of : : the plants and animals. : : : : The Fish and Wildlife Service will have the final say on whether : : the closures and limits will stay in place. : : : : "This whole case is about getting on-the-ground protection and : : conservation," said Daniel Patterson with the Arizona-based : : Center for Biological Diversity. : : : : In the case of the cattle ranchers, environmentalists feel that the : : lumbering and pint-sized desert tortoise needs protection from : : hulking cows. : : : : The cows, they say, can out-compete tortoises for food, crush : : them with their hooves and trample their burrows. The tortoise : : was listed as a threatened species in 1990. : : : : "Grazing is one of the top impacts to the tortoise," Patterson : : said. "The way they (the cows) move across the landscape, their : : impacts are very widespread." : : : : Ranchers shake their heads at such talk. How can the cattle be : : so harmful to the tortoise if land they've been grazing for as long : : as 150 years is still considered crucial to saving the threatened : : reptile? : : : : And some scientists wonder that as well. They say, for the most : : part, the cattle's impact on the tortoise hasn't been studied : : enough to know for certain. : : : : "I don't think you can pin it all (the tortoises' demise) to cattle," : : said U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist Ray Bransfield, who will be : : among those deciding whether the grazing restrictions stay or : : go. : : : : The Fish and Wildlife Service has in the past several years : : issued opinions that cattle don't jeopardize the survival of the : : tortoise, but the agency isn't ready to simply rubber-stamp that : : idea in this case. : : : : "We've got to get the emotion out of this," said Bransfield, "and : : look at some new science." : : : : The competition for plant food between the two animals depends : : a lot on the amount of rain that falls on the region, and thus how : : many plants grow, said Hal Avery of the U.S. Geological Survey. : : : : "We found the diets of tortoises and cattle overlap greatly in : : early spring when there are annuals out," said Avery, who has : : conducted studies in Ivanpah Valley in the eastern Mojave since : : 1991. : : : : Avery also found that 50 percent of the shallow, springtime : : burrows that tortoises use were trampled by cows while the : : reptiles were in their deeper, hibernating winter burrows. : : : : However, no tortoise carcasses were found in those trampled : : burrows, said Avery, who also found evidence of cattle avoiding a : : burrow in their path. : : : : Bransfield pointed out there are a slew of other threats to the : : tortoise -- off-roading, military tank training, disease, urban : : sprawl -- that chews up their habitat. And ravens, golden eagles : : and dogs prey on the reptiles. : : : : "If people said, `Ray, if you had a choice of eliminating : : off-roading and tank training or grazing appropriately managed,' -- : : man, I would go for the vehicles every time. There's no question," : : Bransfield said. : : : : The range battle : : : : Inside Daggett's community center, with its rows of rectangular : : tables and an American flag hanging limp in the corner, ranchers : : gathered last week to talk about the lawsuit and how to raise : : money to defend themselves. : : : : Fisher, president of the High Desert Cattlemen's Association, sat : : at the front table along with former San Bernardino County Sheriff : : Floyd Tidwell and his son, Boone. : : : : Over the next four hours, the ranchers aired their frustrations over : : the federal government, the changes they've had to make to : : accommodate endangered species, and environmentalists who : : try to tell them how to take care of the land they live on every : : day. : : : : "We got us in a situation," Fisher told them. : : : : Fisher urged the ranchers to get their elected officials involved, : : much as he did with Sheriff Penrod and state Assemblyman Phil : : Wyman, R-Tehachapi. : : : : "There's no way in hell that the BLM can take a man's : : livelihood," he said. : : : : In an April 19 letter to BLM State Director Mike Pool, Wyman : : and 27 other state lawmakers said the federal agency was : : engaging in "extra-legal activities." : : : : In an interview, Wyman said Fisher "epitomizes what is the best : : of the tradition of the desert." : : : : "To me, this is just the world turned upside down. It's : : unconstitutional," he said. : : : : BLM officials say the "possible range disputes" predicted by : : Penrod aren't about to happen. : : : : "This is a misunderstanding," said Roger Bruckner, the BLM's : : chief law enforcement officer in California. Bruckner said he and : : Penrod will meet Wednesday to straighten it out. : : : : Going onto the ranches and herding away cattle "was never the : : intent of the agency," Bruckner said. : : : : The BLM isn't saying how it will persuade the ranchers to comply : : until the Thursday hearing before U.S. District Judge William : : Alsup in San Francisco. : : : : The environmentalists feel the agency, which agreed to have the : : tortoise habitat cleared March 1 under the more environmentally : : friendly Clinton presidency, may be stalling under the more : : conservative Bush administration. : : : : The desert tortoise ends up being the big loser, said Jay : : Tutchton, attorney for Earthjustice, which is representing the : : environmentalists. : : : : "We wanted relief for the desert tortoise," he said, "in the form of : : relief of livestock pressure." : : : : The ranchers, meanwhile, plan to stand strong. They are hosting : : a booth at the San Bernardino County Fair in Victorville, running : : through Sunday, to help get the word out. They also will raffle off : : one side and two quarters of a cow donated by Fisher to raise : : money for their legal battle. : : : : "I don't know if we're going to win," Fisher told the other : : ranchers, "but by the time the dust settles, they're going to know : : we were here." : : : : Jennifer Bowles can be reached by e-mail at jbowles@pe.com or : : by phone at (909) 782-7720. : : : : Photos online at: http://www.inlandempireonline.com/de/environ/cows051501.shtml : : : : ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` : : Annie Lancaster : : Director-TortoiseAid http://tortoiseaid.org : : Apple Valley, CA USA : : <¤><^~~~^<¤>^~~~^<¤>^~~~^<¤>^~~~^><¤> : : Desert Tortoise Listserve: : : http://www.topica.com/lists/Gopherus/ : : <¤><^~~~^<¤>^~~~^<¤>^~~~^<¤>^~~~^><¤> : : Keeper of the TortAid Listserve: : : http://www.topica.com/lists/TortAid/ : : <¤><^~~~^<¤>^~~~^<¤>^~~~^<¤>^~~~^><¤> : : http://turtlestuff.com : : <¤><^~~~^<¤>^~~~^<¤>^~~~^<¤>^~~~^><¤> : : : : To: Fort Irwin, Department of Defense, Senator Barbara Boxer, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Rep Jerry Lewis : : : CALIFORNIA'S MOJAVE DESERT UNDER ATTACK BY U.S.ARMY TANKS, ENDANGERED DESERT TORTOISE WILL LOSE!! : : : This proposed legislation is a lose/lose proposition for the desert tortoise. It will lose over 110 square miles of its critical habitat. It will lose one of its strongest remaining populations in the West Mojave. : : : The tortoise is already under severe pressure in the West Mojave and the loss of the Superior Valley will be devastating. The public will lose out because ever larger amounts of money and more and more restrictions on desert users will be needed to try to nurse the tortoise back from the brink. : : : The Superior Valley is a magnificent public resource that will be lost for good once the Army moves in. An entire species of plant, the Lane Mountain Milk-vetch, may be lost forever. : : : Taking the Superior Valley away from the public is too big a decision to be made by adding a rider onto another bill. Decisions on public resources should be carefully considered -- not decided on at the last minute. Without an adequate opportunity to provide informed local input the public loses out. : : : SO DO ENDANGERED SPECIES OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS! : : : Sincerely, : : : The Undersigned : : : http://www.petitiononline.com/TAICDT/petition.html

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