Cattle Guard, what's a cattle guard?

[fredsheldon]

I saw some guards trying to catch some cattle and had them trapped in the Bush just the other day here at the Huntsville Prison.

[heathicus]

What I find sad about that joke is that nobody questions the assertion that the President can set "grazing policies." It's just taken for granted that the President has that power.

[dusty]

What I find sad about that joke is that nobody questions the assertion that the President can set "grazing policies." It's just taken for granted that the President has that power.

What is really sad is that for six years now The President has been doing just that and getting away with it. From high school Government Class and later Political Science Class (maybe those standards are no longer valid and I was never so informed) I carry the belief that the President has only those powers that we the people give to that office.

We the People are allowing ourselves to be bamboozled.

[JPG]

What is really sad is that for six years now The President has been doing just that and getting away with it. From high school Government Class and later Political Science Class (maybe those standards are no longer valid and I was never so informed) I carry the belief that the President has only those powers that we the people give to that office.

We the People are allowing ourselves to be bamboozled.

He seems to be bamboozling the congress as well! He gets his authority from them. They get theirs from us.

[dgale]

What I find sad about that joke is that nobody questions the assertion that the President can set "grazing policies." It's just taken for granted that the President has that power.

I'm not sure how the assertion is made based on a regurgitated hoax chain e-mail that the President sets grazing policies. As a Dept of the Interior employee, I can tell you first hand that the "president" (really the agencies under him) only sets grazing policy on Federal lands. The presumption from the above statement that would inevitably get folks all riled up is that the Federal Gov't would be setting such policy for private lands (ie "telling private landowners how to manage their land"). The only cases where Federal agencies set grazing policy would be Federal agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management (DOI - for Federal lands managed by the BLM), the Forest Service (Dept of Ag - for Federal lands managed by the USFS) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (DOI - specifically for grazing on National Wildlife Refuge lands for the purpose of seasonally managing certain pastures for optimal waterfowl habitat).

When talking about private lands, the Federal Gov't does not set grazing policy for private landowners. There are certainly certain Federal common trust resource laws (ie Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act etc.) that all citizens, businesses, corporations, and governmental agencies (local, state, Federal, and Tribal) must adhere to that could affect how a rancher decides to set his/her own grazing policy but in no way does the Federal Gov't set grazing policy for such private landowners.

The only example I can think of where a Federal agency works with a private landowner to develop a grazing management plan for private lands is when the Natural Resource Conservation Service (Dept of Ag) develops a conservation easement under a Farm Bill program such as the Wetland Reserve Program - this is an entirely voluntary and elective program on the part of the landowner where if they enroll, they recieve $$ for acreage they set aside for one of two types of easements - no grazing and grazing allowed easements for the purpose of protecting and enhancing wetland habitat, primarily for aiding in increasing waterfowl habitat and improved hunting opportunities. For grazing allowed easements, the landowner recieves less $$ but retains the right to graze that acreage in collaboration with the grazing management plan developed between the landowner and the NRCS. In general this management plan encourages grazing at a time of year and for a duration that is beneficial to developing suitable waterfowl and similar shallow depressional wetland habitat, and for the typical "wet season" when waterfowl are migrating, the area is not grazed to allow for waterfowl use. Again, involvement in such a program is purely elective on the part of the private landowner, so no one is telling this landowner how to manage his/her land.

Sorry but this discussion touched pretty close to home in what I do for a living - I work for the US Fish and Wildlife Service in a non-regulatory (and entirely voluntary) program specifically geared to working collaboratively with private landowners to identify mutually beneficial habitat restoration and enhancement opportunities on private lands (primarily grazing lands) - we work with interested and willing landowners to help find ways to improve land management on their property, both for the benefit of improved fish and wildlife habitat and also to help meet specific land improvement goals of the landowner. I've worked in this field both for and around Federal agencies for 25+ years and contrary to the rumors and paranoia often spread about the Federal Government, at least in this field (pun intended) I've never experienced a single case where a rancher had their grazing policies or other land management decisions set by the Federal Government. On the contrary, I've repeatedly seen regulatory braches of the various agencies bend over backward to work with landowners to maintain compliance with various environmental laws and in most cases turn a blind eye to violations of such laws to avoid having to get in a confrontation with private landonwers. Regulatory agencies are pretty good at "bringing down the hammer" on other agencies to control their actions in relation to such laws but rarely are interested or willing to undertake such confrontations with private landowners.

[JPG]

I'm not sure how the assertion is made based on a regurgitated hoax chain e-mail that the President sets grazing policies.
. . .

Consider it part of the hoax!:)

[davebodner]

...

Thanks for the thoughtful post. Much better than I could've done.

[skou]

Guys, this is what is known in the real world as "comedy."

Seriously, it is a "joke."

I was going to mention that the previous administration would have fallen for this, but GWB is a rancher. I'm pretty SURE he knows what a cattle guard is.

steve

[joshh]

Bush used to tell this joke when he was governor here with "city slickers" as the target.

[skou]

Yeah.

"De dam gubmint ain't payin' cattle guards enough.":D

steve