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RangeNet2000 (Marvels bed mates?)

Michaelr

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RangeNet2000
By Dave Skinner - Published: 02.16.01
Last November, hard-line Greens gathered in Reno to discuss the elimination of public lands ranching at their "Rangenet 2000" conference. Of course, these "conservationists" insisted, "We are not radicals," as retired physician Bob Witzeman declared to Associated Press reporters. While it is obvious that Rangenet's members aren't exactly mainstream in their thinking, they definitely have tapped into the "money stream." After all, the joke is -- "What do you call an environmental group that can't get grant funding? Night clerk at Fast Gas."

But Rangenet 2000 is not a joke.

Rangenet 2000 keynoter Jon Marvel's Idaho Watersheds Project has 1050 members. At $25 a year dues per member, that would be a total budget of $26,250, but "In the summer and fall months IWP employs seven people to monitor compliance by grazing permittees on six National Forests." That is apparently in addition to Rangenet member Stew Churchwell, IWP's "Central Idaho Director." Usually, volunteers specify their volunteerism -- so who is paying these people?

With a bit of judicious Web-surfing, one can get a hint.

Taxpayers paid travel expenses for Great Basin National Park Superintendent Becky Mills to address Rangenet 2000. Turns out Mills has been to other conferences of this sort, including a 1997 Oregon anti-grazing shindig attended by Rangenet 2000 presenters George Wuerthner, Gilly Lyons, and John Horning. Mills presided over the retirement of grazing rights in Great Basin (the central focus of this conference) helped along by the Conservation Fund, itself run by the controversial John Turner, a potential appointee in the Bush Administration. Other funding help came from the Goldman Foundation, Weeden Foundation, Foundation for Deep Ecology, and, you guessed it, the Turner Foundation.

Of course, there are other foundations, some being the Rockefeller Family Fund, the Brainerd Foundation, and the Bullitt Foundation. So let's just poke around a little: Here are a few grants the New York-based Weeden Foundation made to Rangenet participants in 2000: Alternatives to Growth Oregon (presenter Andy Kerr), $50,000. Forest Guardians (presenter John Horning), $45,000 over two years. California Wilderness Coalition (member Paul Spitler), $40,000, 2 years. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (member Dean Keddy-Hector), $20,000. And, there is a grant for $50,000 for Friends of the Earth to work with American Lands (presenter Mark Salvo) and the Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads on eliminating ORV's and jet skis. More on Mark Salvo later.

Here are some others: Turner Foundation donated $15,000 to the animal-rights-oriented New West Research (member Pat Wolff) for anti-Wildlife Services "road show." Turner also heavily supports the National Wildlife Federation (presenter Tom Lustig), widely known for its crusade to list black tail prairie rats as endangered, with $500,000 in 1999 (2000 was not available on Ted's site). University of Wyoming anti-grazing prof and Rangenet keynoter Deb Donahue is another National Wildlife Federation alumnus.

Eco-lawyer Mark Salvo works for American Lands, focusing on making sage grouse the political equivalent of the Oregon spotted owl. That is logical, as a 1998 Rockefeller Family Fund $25,000 grant summary reads: "Support for organizing and outreach work to train forest activists and achieve national forest protection goals (the group was formerly known as the Western Ancient Forest Campaign)." Spotted owls were WAFC's meal ticket. They were also Andy Kerr's meal ticket. American Lands (the name was changed with focus-group assistance) also landed $40,000 of Weeden money to block a Chilean sawmill -- guess THAT means their name covers BOTH Americas, right? Other loot: $100,000 over two years from the Bullitt Foundation.

Of course, American Lands might be in a bit of trouble. Their Midwest field director, Frank Ambrose, has just been charged with tree spiking in Indiana, and it's a solid case.

Foundations that continue to fund terrorist activity or those who facilitate it can find themselves under serious Internal Revenue Service scrutiny, as well as open themselves to RICO racketeering investigation and asset seizure. Hmmm.

Another Rangenet member, Nicole Rosmarino, is probably finding that out. After the Vail fires, she actually told a Mother Jones reporter the fire was "one of the most beautiful acts of economic sabotage ever in this state." None of the foundations I have researched so far show any grants to her group, Rocky Mountain Animal Defense.

One thing that should be kept in mind is that just part of 2000 saw $4,892,000 in grants to around 250 groups from the Bullitt Foundation alone -- which translates to roughly a hundred $50,000-a-year activists, all dedicated to blowing dams, hanging from buildings and bridges, spinning the press, filing suits -- and holding conferences about eliminating ranching from the West.

When radical ideas have serious money behind them, then their radical protagonists must be taken seriously, too.
Gives you a look at who Marvel is in bed with.
Pick your "friends" wisely.
 
ANOTHER GOOD ARTICLE

In a November meeting, eighteen environmental activist groups from the eleven western states, several other states and Canada, gathered in Reno, Nevada to plan a program intended to force some 20,000 BLM permit holders from federal lands.
BLM Ranchers face an uncertain future.

Photo By J. Zane Walley
“They are a mean spirited bunch,” said C.J. Hadley, Publisher of Range Magazine who attended RangeNet 2000, a gathering of eighteen environmental activist groups in Reno, Nevada. “They fully intend to shut down all grazing on public lands,” she angrily noted. “The ugly part is they are really organized.”

Hadley further explained that the environmental groups attending the Reno greeno summit are for the large part the same groups that shut down logging on public lands. “They learned how to be effective in the spotted owl wars and now they aim to use the same tactics against ranchers.”

Attorney Marl Salvo, of the Oregon-based American Lands, spoke at the meeting and explained how to use the Endangered Species Act to end ranching on public lands. Salvo said, “Conservationists must address the symptoms of degraded ecosystems through the Endangered Species Act. While sage grouse are considered a good candidate for protection, federal biologists have admitted that any number of other sagebrush obligate species could also be successfully petitioned for listing.” Salvo referred to the sage grouse as the "Spotted Owl Of The Desert." He concluded that it can be used to force ranchers from desert grazing lands as the spotted owl was used to destroy logging industry.


University of Wyoming Law Professor Debra Donahue, author of “The Western Range Revisited: Removing Livestock from Public Lands to Conserve Native Biodiversity.

University of Wyoming Photograph
University of Wyoming Law Professor Debra Donahue, author of “The Western Range Revisited: Removing Livestock from Public Lands to Conserve Native Biodiversity,” explained how The Taylor Grazing Act could be used against ranchers. She stated, “Grazing on arid BLM lands is inconsistent with the governing laws, specifically the Taylor Grazing Act, which authorizes grazing only on lands 'chiefly valuable for grazing and raising forage crops,' and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, which prohibits land uses causing 'unnecessary or undue degradation' of the lands.”


Donahue also claimed that driving ranchers from BLM land would affect less than two percent of the nation's ivestock products and fewer than 20,000 permittees. She also indicated that BLM Managers possess the authority under current law to end livestock grazing on these rangelands.


Becky Mills, Superintendent, Great Basin National Park represented the federal government at the conference. Mills explained how the feds achieved permit withdrawal and buy-outs from “willing sellers.”


“This is a national issue," said Mike Hudak, director of Public Lands Without Livestock, a project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs of Binghamton, NY. "Taxpayer dollars are being used to prop up the private exploitation of our public lands to the detriment of the nation's wildlife. Animals and plants by the hundreds are being pushed onto threatened and endangered lists by livestock production."


Other conspicuous attendees at the RangeNet 2000 Symposium were Martin Taylor of The Center for Biological Diversity, John Horning of Forest Guardians and Jon Marvel founder of Idaho Watersheds Project.


The strategy laid out at the gathering involves listing more endangered species indigenous to the pubic lands which the greens believe should “cleansed of livestock.” The listing of species will be followed with a dozens of lawsuits clamoring for huge spaces of restricted habitat. Other lawsuits against Federal land authorities, especially BLM, will try to make the agencies interpret current regulations by the standards of the environmental groups. The lawsuits and the ESA listings will be accompanied by a polished media campaign.


C.J. Hadley of Range stated emphatically, ”If there has ever been a time for ranchers to pull together, it is now! If we don’t, we’ll lose this one.”

nullnull
 
ANOTHER


The Battle For Rural America
By Sheriff Michael E. Cook
Published 01. 14. 03 at 22:22 Sierra Time
xxx
It looks like the battle in America between the urban and rural dweller is still in full swing. The fight to move the rural people from the land into an urban area is going on strong all over the west, at least. I just wonder why people can't leave others alone when they see that they are happy and living well. I guess they want to drive through the rural areas and never see any people or signs of people on the landscape.

There are a few bright spots in this battle. One is a bill in Congress that would start another Supreme Circuit Court District. It would break up the 9th into two districts. This is something that has been needed for a long time. It would help get more cases through the system faster, and with any luck, the new district wouldn't be so liberal and wouldn't be overturned so much. If you didn't know it, the 9th Circuit Court is overturned more than any other and the record shows that about 75% of their cases are overturned. I guess they never heard of that thing called the Constitution.

Another bright spot is the crime rate. I got some statistics the other day that show the murder rate and other crimes are lower in the rural areas of the nation. If you remember, the last presidential election and the red and blue map, then you know the breakdown. Well, one statistic that came out of that map is the murder rate per 100,000 people. In the blue area that represented Al Gore and the urban areas of America the rate was 11 for every 100,000 people. In the red area, which represented President Bush and the rural parts of America, the rate was 2 for every 100,000 people. These were broken down by counties, so that made it easy to study. I guess it still proves what I have always said, "An armed society is indeed a polite one, and more crime free."

One of the last bright spots about living in rural America is that you are less likely to be the target of terror. Most terrorist know that we are armed in rural America and also that we are spread out so they can't get us all at once. If you remember history, this is one reason the Nations in Europe get conquered so easy. The people all live in small or large towns or cities and travel to the country to work the land. They don't live in the rural areas so they are easy to bunch up and overcome. I don't think that's what we want here in America.

History shows that one reason we haven't been invaded by another countries army is because we are spread out and almost every home has (or used to have) firearms in it. They would lose too many people if they attempted to conquer this nation. So if they can get us all into urban areas and take our firearms, then it would be much easier.

So I can draw a conclusion from all this. Anyone in government, or in the general population who is fighting to take all the rural land from the people and also fighting to take our right to bear arms, is a spy and traitor who is attempting to help overthrow our government and take our freedoms from us. They should be treated as such. Perhaps if we started with those elected to represent us and brought charges against them, it would stop. As long as America stands strong and free there will be those who want to take that away and stop her. You see, some people just can't stand to see others enjoy themselves and prosper. Unfortunately we have a bunch of them right here in America.

I would like to see an initiative on the ballet in the next Oregon election that requires the legislature to remove and rewrite all laws on the books so that they are all Constitutional, including the budget. We also have things called "Administrative Rules" here in Oregon, and these need to be done away with as unconstitutional.

So, stand strong rural America. You have the best life style in the world and others are jealous and want to take it from you. We must stand strong together and never let that happen.
mikecook.jpg


God Bless America.
Michael E. Cook, Coos County Sheriff, Retired.



© 2002 SierraTimes.com (unless otherwise noted)

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 01-17-2003 10:43: Message edited by: michaelr ]</font>
 
michealr,

Good posts but a little dated. Things have changed since 2000, and for the good I believe.

Ted T fortune has plunged considerably and is not giving any grants for 2003. It is ironic that the anti-capitalists and their agenda that he has funded have much to do with the colapse of his fortune (mostly shares in AOL Time Warner stock).

With the recent elections positive changes are on the horizon for issues such as forest health and the ESA. If you would like to make comments on the Forest Exclusions Policies that are being drafted, do so by March 10 @ [email protected] .

The enviromental zealots are on the defensive and it's time to give them a little spanking!

Paul
 
Good Posts.
Paul ,I agree that things are looking a little better these day in some area's.
But other groups are going strong and they have some vocal nuts working on there side.
Jon Marvels western watershead project is someone to be very carefull about.
He is a sneeky little bastard on one side and on the other gets right into peoples face and tells them he is going to run them out of town and laughs while saying it.
On one program supporting the wolf he told them as he laughed that they better watch there children!!!!
RangeNet isnt dead ,they just had another meeting ,and some of these org. are working hard in my area to break the rancher's in this area and shut off access to public land's.
(in the way of more wilderness )lucky for us in the Boise area out of ten org. that were working on the wilderness plan Jon Marvel was banned for the group. Even the other green groups understand he isnt to be trusted.
The other thing as pointed out in Mikes post's is to keep in mind the true end result of what many of these org. want to have happen.
Are they really only trying to help the invironment? Or are there end goals more on the line of all the wolf hugger bunch?
I think they go hand in hand in many case's.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 01-17-2003 14:26: Message edited by: Muledeer4me ]</font>
 
This is how its done,you pay to be brainwashed by the sierra club.
This sure makes me feel better about how they come up with there ideas on what area should be protected .
I have a question ,if its all trashed why is it they need to train people to find the abuse?
["Projects and Activities
The main project we invite you to participate in during the Rendezvous weekend is a Citizen’s Wilderness Characteristics Inventory of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public lands. A citizen's wilderness characteristics inventory involves documenting the condition of land with the goal of recommending appropriate areas for official wilderness status.

For this activity, participants will be divided into several work party groups varying in physical difficultly, focus and duration. Each group will have an experienced leader. You will learn the correct process for documenting the current status of the Owyhee-Bruneau desert lands.

Equipped with maps, compasses and cameras, folks will explore their area and photographically document the condition of the roads, as well as any other areas impacted by human activities, or any unique wilderness qualities.

When information for the whole Owyhee-Bruneau area is gathered, it will be collected and compiled into a Citizen’s Wilderness Proposal. Our goal is to ensure maximum permanent protection to these fragile areas, and what better way to enjoy the scenery than while helping to protect it?

This is spectacular country and we encourage you to join us for this worthwhile and enjoyable work! If you have any questions about the inventory or any other aspect of the rendezvous, please feel free to call our office - we’re glad to answer any questions! (See contact information below.)

Other exciting activities include hikes, nature walks, and opportunities for wildlife watching. In the evenings, we will have presentations, discussions and entertainment! There will also be special activities for the kids, so bring the whole family!


We will charge a nominal fee of $15 per person or $25 for a family to partially cover meals and other costs. Some travel scholarships will be available, so that cost is not an issue of attendance. and all interested are encouraged to attend. On Saturday evening there will be a group meal and gathering, courtesy of the Sierra Club. "]
Then we are to believe that these new trained people know whats best for the area ?

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 01-17-2003 14:27: Message edited by: Muledeer4me ]</font>
 
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