It Matters How You Stand

Zinke taps Utahn for new post at US Fish & Wildlife Services

SALT LAKE CITY — The man credited with shepherding Utah’s wildlife agency for nearly five years — building the state’s reputation as one of the best wildlife managers in the West — was tapped Monday by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to help lead the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Greg Sheehan will become the national agency’s first deputy director in a newly created position and will serve as its acting director until a permanent director is named by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate.

“I am thrilled to have an opportunity to work with Secretary Zinke and the great team at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service,” Sheehan said. “I look forward to helping promote the fish and wildlife resources in America through collaborative partnerships with states, local government, the sportsmen’s community and others.”

The War on Private Property – Corridors to Connectivity (Part 4 of 6)

This is the fourth of a six-part series. The reader is strongly urged to visit these websites and study what is discussed in these articles in order to make an informed decision.

Part one covered data collection in the Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy (CWCS) which was used to create the State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) for species and habitat protection. In part two ecosystems and its components were covered and corridors were explained in part three. Now it is time to put all of it together with connectivity, the true agenda.

Corridors and Connectivity (Part 3 of 6)

This is the third of a six-part series. The reader is strongly urged to visit these websites and study what is discussed in these articles in order to make an informed decision.

Part one covered data collection in the Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy (CWCS) which was used to create the State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) for species and habitat protection. In part two ecosystems and its components were covered These topics create the foundation for corridors and connectivity.

My family’s connection to Island Park began with my paternal grandfather who was an engineer for Union Pacific. His route traveled from Pocatello, through Big Springs, and on into Montana. When old enough, my father joined him on these trips and was dropped off at Big Springs, where he spent his time fishing until his father picked him up on the way back. As he grew into a man he spent more time in Island Park camping, fishing, and hunting with my maternal grandfather, learning the area like the back of his hand. His connection was so strong the first thing he did after basic training was to go there on his two-week furlough, taking his very pregnant wife along, before going to battle in WWII. Following the war every minute he could find was spent in Island Park. Waiting for summer wasn’t enough, winter had to be conquered. He often bragged that he was the first person to snowmobile into his cabin, on what was possibly the most pathetic excuse for a snowmobile, which had to be started with a rope pull, and whose speed was that of a turtle. My story is very similar to others who have a strong heritage and connection to this land. My family started with the railway corridor, connecting us to the Island Park community, now primarily by highways. Wildlife also has its migratory corridor which still exists today. These connections are meant to stay and not be environmentally engineered into something different, or usurped into another entity.

Biodiversity and Ecosystems (Part 2 of 6)

This is the second of a six-part series. The reader is highly encouraged to go to these websites and study what is discussed in these articles in order to make an informed decision.

After gathering wood in the forest for a warm fire, my father insisted that we not only clean up our mess, but clean up other slash and debris in the area. I did not understand at the time he was teaching us how to take care of the land in Island Park. Another dreaded chore was cutting down tall, overgrown grass around the cabin during the hot August summers. He knew this was a fire load that could potentially fuel a major fire. But we also went on our special trip for huckleberries. No habitat was destroyed, the vegetation is still there, and the huckleberries still grow. Daddy, thank you for teaching me how to care for and respect the land in Island Park.

Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy (CWCS) to SWAP (Part 1 of 6)

This is the first of a six-part series. The reader is highly encouraged to go to these websites and study what is discussed in these articles in order to make an informed decision.

As a child in Island Park, frequent visits by a squirrel to the cabin resulted in my grandfather naming him Pete. With various family coaxing Pete to take food from our hand, my grandfather was the only one who succeeded. Pete was a neighbor that visited often for the food left out for him and our family was honored by his visits. Respectfully staying inside until she moved on with her journey, we watched many mother moose passing by with calves, respecting their rights to passage. Placing land into conservation status will forever remove these experiences. As private landowners, we live with animals, and they live with us without any harm to them. We are meant to be together.

Battle brewing over national monuments in Nevada, elsewhere

WASHINGTON — A battle is brewing between activists across the political spectrum over a Trump administration review of recently established national monuments, including Gold Butte in Nevada, and a 1906 law that permits presidential protection of public lands.

In the most recent salvo, 71 environmental and natural resource lawyers sent a letter to the administration saying a White House executive order that authorized the review incorrectly implied that President Donald Trump has the authority to rescind or modify national monuments created by previous presidents.

It does not, the lawyers insisted: “Congress retained that power for itself.”

But conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation and The Sutherland Institute argue Trump has the authority to manage public lands and reduce the size of national monuments, a practice that has occurred several times.

First prison term imposed in Bunkerville standoff case

A New Hampshire man who, in 2014, gathered his guns and drove across the country to join rancher Cliven Bundy’s armed stand against federal authorities was sentenced Wednesday to 87 months in prison.

Gerald DeLemus, a former Marine sergeant who co-chaired his state’s Veterans for Trump campaign, told the court in a tearful, 10-minute statement that no matter how long a sentence he received, he would do it all over again.

“But I would leave my guns at home,” he said.

Las Vegas judge faces ethics charges for giving TV interview

District Judge William Kephart has been accused of violating professional ethics codes by giving an on-camera interview last year about a case that was pending before the Nevada Supreme Court.

The case was that of Kirstin Lobato, who in 2006 was convicted of killing and cutting off the penis of Duran Bailey, a 44-year-old homeless man.

Lobato, who is serving a lengthy prison sentence for the brutal 2001 killing, has been fighting for years to overturn her conviction. She has drawn support from state and national criminal justice advocates who say new forensic testing that was unavailable a decade ago could prove her innocence.

Retrial in Bunkerville standoff case postponed until July

The retrial in the first Bunkerville standoff case is scheduled to open with jury selection July 10.

A mistrial was declared in the case in April, after jurors deadlocked on 50 of the 60 counts against six defendants. Federal prosecutors decided this month to retry four of the men, who are accused of providing the firepower in a mass assault against federal agents. The agents were in Bunkerville to seize rancher Cliven Bundy’s cattle after decades of unpaid grazing fees.

Initially, the retrial was scheduled to open June 26. U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro on Thursday postponed the start date due to potential attorney and juror conflicts the week of Independence Day. The defendants who will stand trial are Montana resident Ricky Lovelien and Idaho residents Scott Drexler, Eric Parker and Steven Stewart.

Bill introduced to protect due process of American citizens

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA – Protecting Americans from being detained indefinitely, without charge or trial, is the focus of a bill introduced Wednesday in the U.S. Senate by Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

The Due Process Guarantee Act is also sponsored by Sens. Ted Cruz , T-Texas, Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Chris Coons, D-Del.

“America should never waver in vigilantly pursuing those who would commit, or plot to commit, acts of treason against our country,” Lee said. “But the federal government should not be allowed to indefinitely imprison any American on the mere accusation of treason without affording them the due process guaranteed by our Constitution.

Latest BLM oil and gas lease auction in central Nevada draws protest

The federal Bureau of Land Management has scheduled a June 13 auction for new oil and gas leases across almost 196,000 acres in central Nevada.

The response from conservationists: Get the frack out of here.

A coalition of environmental groups will file an administrative protest Thursday in hopes of blocking the online auction and any future fossil fuel development, which they say could contaminate land, air and water in Nevada while contributing to global warming.

Gary Hunt : Freedom of the Press #17 – Is This Legal?

In a previous article, “Freedom of the Press #13 – Sojourn to Sacramento“, I explained that Federal Magistrate Brennan (Sacramento) intended for me to receive diesel therapy, and that I would provide insight into just why he chose that route. It was an expected response based upon the information that he had been provided, regarding the Sealed Order Granting Government’s Request for Arrest Warrant as to Gary Hunt and Order Sealing Arrest Warrant (ECF #2017).

This Sealed Order was obviously prepared by the US Shyster’s Office. Their intention was to punish me, as they have most of the others in the Oregon and Nevada indictments, based upon contrived accusations.

Price tag for defense in Bunkerville standoff case tops $1M

Taxpayers already have spent over $1 million to provide legal representation for the 19 men accused of participating in the 2014 armed standoff in Bunkerville.

As of last week, the federal government had paid $1,028,154.30 to defense lawyers, investigators, paralegals and others who have played a role in defending those accused of staging a mass assault on federal agents who, in April 2014, tried to seize rancher Cliven Bundy’s cows from public lands.

The cattle seizure operation was met with pushback by the Bundy family and loosely organized militia groups who traveled from across the West to protest what they viewed as improper federal overreach.

Ken Medenbach talks of ‘We the People,’ and militias during probation violation hearing

EUGENE – Public lands occupier Kenneth Medenbach wound up before a judge again Monday and admitted that he violated the condition of his probation for a 2016 illegal camping conviction by going, of all places, back to federal court.

But this federal court happened to be in Nevada, and it featured co-defendants of the Bundy family, kindred spirits who have earned national attention for fighting federal ownership of public land.

Medenbach’s lawyer Matthew Schindler said he had never in his career heard of a defendant accused of a probation violation for going to court.

Rip the veil of secrecy from the Bundy case

Justice must not only be done, but it must be seen to be done.

The wheels of justice continue to grind in the federal criminal case against Cliven Bundy, four of his sons and a dozen co-defendants over the April 2014 armed standoff with federal agents trying to confiscate Bundy’s cattle at his Bunkerville ranch. All of the defendants have been jailed for more than a year.

The standoff occurred after armed Bureau of Land Management agents attempted to roundup Bundy’s cattle after he had refused for 20 years to pay grazing fees in the Gold Butte area. The BLM said he owed $1 million in fees and penalties.

Oregon’s chief federal judge recuses himself from move to stop Marcus Mumford’s practice in OR federal courts

Oregon’s chief federal district judge, who initiated a move to prevent Ammon Bundy’s lawyer Marcus Mumford from any further practice of law in any federal court in Oregon, has now recused himself from the proceeding, to avoid an appearance of a conflict.

In his place, he assigned U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour, the federal judge from Washington who had previously presided over the criminal charges filed against Mumford, to handle further proceedings.

U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman said he was recusing himself “in an abundance of caution,” and to avoid anyone raising challenges about his impartiality, according to an order filed in court.

Democrats push to block Nevada entering statehood

The Democratic majority in the Nevada Legislature is doing everything they can erase everything accomplished by the 2015 Republican-controlled session. First, labor reform and a minor prevailing wage reform are rolled back. Now, they want to keep Nevada a territory instead of barging ahead into some semblance of statehood.

In 2015 the Legislature passed Senate Joint Resolution 1, which urged Congress to release about 7.2 million acres of federal public land to the state, which would have reduced the federal land control in the state from about 85 percent to about 75 percent.