by Maury Jones
Final column in the weekly Jackson Hole News and Guide, published Sept 21, 2016, entitled, “Common Sense rides away into the sunset” http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/opinion/columnists/cowboy_common_sense/common-sense-rides-away-into-the-sunset/article_cae7afe6-78b0-5b75-8ebc-e8a0ff539993.html
This is my final column. The newspaper Editorial Board has decided to go a different direction with page A7 therefore opinion columns have been discontinued there. This cowboy is riding off into the sunset hoping that common sense will eventually prevail.
I thank the Jackson Hole News and Guide for the opportunity over this past fifteen months to present controversial issues that generated interest and instigated animated discourse from people on both sides of each issue.
One regret is that a column with a common sense conservative viewpoint will no longer have a voice in our local newspaper. Only by hearing both sides of a disputed issue can we modify our views. Many readers in Jackson Hole agreed with me; some did not. Jackson Hole is becoming a place where political correctness and feelgooditis trumps common sense. So in this final column I will review my more contentious subjects.
The Bureau of Land Management is two billion dollars in the red trying to manage wild mustangs. Currently 60,000 horses are on rangeland which can only support 26,000. More than 50,000 are in holding pens being fed by you, the taxpayer. Common sense says thousands must be culled.
Thugs don’t and never will obey gun laws, leaving you and me defenseless. It is common sense to allow guns in public places for the protection of ourselves, our friends, and our loved ones.
If we stop feeding wintering elk in northwest Wyoming they will be all over our roads causing accidents and roaming our valley destroying vegetation. Then they will slowly die of starvation.
Man can often improve on nature. Sometimes “natural” is not in our best interests nor in the best interests of the environment. For instance, dams generate hydroelectric power, conserve water, and control floods. Sensible game management keeps wildlife populations stable rather than too many or too few.
The Federal Reserve System is destroying our currency. We must base our budget on what is in the bank. When our currency collapses because of out-of-control spending, a wad of Federal Reserve Notes will be in my saddle bag for when nature calls.
Government notoriously lacks common sense. A nuclear deal with Iran, the most terrorist supporting government in the world, is absolute stupidity and perilous to freedom.
Until we open season on ravens, our sage grouse population will continue to struggle.
Our moose population is going the way of those endangered Naugas, from which they make naugahide, unless the wolf and grizzly populations are reduced.
Local government, please open the bicycle pathways year round with signs saying wildlife has the right of way. The safety of bicyclers and joggers is more important than inconveniencing an elk.
Chronic Wasting Disease is not a bogeyman stalking elk feedgrounds. Elk with CWD are thriving south of Casper. The infection rate is less than 6% in that elk herd that has been infected for 30 years. In winter those elk congregate in gangs of a thousand or more.
My assertion that man-caused global warming is baloney hit it big in the negative reaction department. Believers figuratively burned me at the stake and might have literally torched me except they didn’t want the bonfire to contribute to the meltdown of the planet. Burning fossil fuels in the early 70s was going to freeze the planet; now it’s going to fry the planet. Leaders of both movements made millions off the scare. Global warming scientists have been caught cooking the books. I’m skeptical.
Local government has no business subsidizing housing with taxpayer dollars, no matter the arguments. Free enterprise will resolve it. Businesses will either provide housing or pay their employees enough to afford to live here or commute.
Wolves sometimes kill just for the fun of it. That is a fact. They eradicated our Yellowstone moose and they are negatively impacting our wildlife and our livestock. It is puzzling why wolf-worshippers refuse to adhere to the 100 population limit as mandated for introduction. Had they done so Yellowstone’s iconic moose might have survived.
1,000 grizzlies are more than enough. Half that number would be a healthy population.
Even a judge should not be required to check her religious beliefs at the door because of political correctness. The jury is still out on Judge Neely and her belief that marriage is between one man and one woman. This case will have far-reaching effects.
Federal mismanagement is fueling the sagebrush rebellion. States want to administer the lands within their borders, mainly because of federal overreach.
We are a nation of written law whose underpinning is the Constitution, the repeated violation of which is destroying our societal stability.
I gave some advice to tourists; don’t pet the buffalo, er bison. Still good advice.
Teton County zoning regulations and federal regulations protecting marauding wolves are making it difficult for ranchers to exist here. Ranches are why Jackson Hole has open space and scenic views.
The dozen or more columns waiting in the wings will be published on my website CowboyCommonSense.com as time permits. Meanwhile, I’m going to view life from between the ears of a horse. See you down the trail.
Remember, “Life is always better when viewed from between the ears of a horse.”
