This 30-30 bodes ill for the West

At an earlier time in my life, your old columnist just had to have a .30-30 Winchester rifle. Touted as the gun that won the West you have seen John Wayne carrying one as he rode in his saddle. Lever action repeater mine was of modern manufacture and I outfitted it with a four-power scope. The .30-30 makes a fine rifle for hunting whitetail deer as generally long shots are not required. After some practice, I was a bit disappointed in its accuracy which in retrospection I think that I hadn’t mounted the scope very well. In my opinion, the iron sights fit better but now wearing trifocal glasses for aging eyes it is better shot from another’s hands.

Now using one of new President Biden’s flurry of executive orders a new project called “30 x 30” was born. It has nothing to do with the tried and trusted 30-30 rifle that was a long-time success in developing the western United States. Yes, that is our country including Southwest Nebraska. No, this one is a push to gain federal control over 30% of the land and water of the USofA including additionally 30% of the immediate ocean shoreline. And yes that land area that they have their eye on includes a large north-south swatch of land that runs right through where we live, so beware.

Welcome to the Green New Deal pushed by progressive thinkers to combat climate change. Probably not one of those progressive thinkers has any concept of the science of what makes our climate tick but most are affected by the writings of Karl Marx the founder of communism. Yes have the government control all the means of production, which includes agriculture, and nirvana will come. Somehow that didn’t work well for Ukraine when Joe Stalin took over, abolished private ownership, and starved those people by the millions.

Actually, the thinking of Karl Marx has been a 100% failure whenever it has been implemented. So never mind the record from history as progressives evidently think that it must be that the wrong people were in charge and they of course dream that they can do it better if tried once again.

Memory tells me that roughly the same idea of the federal government taking control of what they labeled as “marginal” farm and ranchland” putting it back to the original prairie and developing huge herds of bison to graze was promulgated back in 1987. Those progressive thinkers were Dr. Frank J. and Deborah Popper and they had all the answers. They labeled their concept as “Buffalo Commons.” They came to McCook to present their wonderful idea in a public meeting and it didn’t go well. The name they proposed struck a chord of humor in local Judge Cloyd Clark who conceived the great storytelling festival held annually in McCook since that time. Buffalo Commons a poke in the eyes of the Poppers.

My dad pointed out to me on numerous occasions that the fields owned and closest to local farmer’s residences always seemed to be tended to better than those owned by some distant landlord. Our Nebraska farmers are great stewards of our soil and water and have made great strides in that direction with no-till farming and center pivot irrigation. For sure if the progressives in Washington have their way and local farmers are no more I find it really hard to believe that they will be better stewards of our precious resources. They have no clue! It will only be a sad disaster.

In Nebraska, 97% of our land is privately owned. To have the government take 30% of it over again would completely devastate this area. The major source of income in this town is from agriculture-related businesses. No jobs and the vast majority of our population would have to move. Somehow I don’t think we would fit well in Minneapolis or Chicago or New York City all ruled by modern progressives. Compare their crime rate with our nearly non-existent rate.

Presently Biden’s Executive Order has no statutory basis for accomplishing his progressive dream. There is no constitutional or statutory authority for the President, the Department of the Interior, or the Department of Agriculture to set aside or permanently preserve 30% of all land and water in the U.S. and no such authority is referenced in the Executive Order.

So what that means is Congressional action will be required to move in the direction of 30 X 30. That means you and I will have a part to play and that is to urge our elected officials to say NO to any move that will be a federal land grab. Governor Ricketts has come out against the whole concept as have sixteen other state governors including neighboring Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and Idaho among others. Still letters and calls to our elected representatives, local to federal, will hopefully help them to decide in our favor.

That is how I saw it.

Dick Trail