'WELFARE RANCHERS' KICKED OFF OF PUBLIC LAND

A federal judge has canceled seven grazing permits on taxpayers' land in Arizona and New Mexico, effectively removing about 1,425 cows from the properties, after it emerged that the Forest Service had failed to do its job of examining the livestock's impact on endangered species. Many U.S. citizens remain unaware that over 300 million acres of the land their taxes pay to protect is leased at substantially reduced rates to livestock producers for grazing. Nor are most aware of the extent of devestation this can and does wreak on ecosystems throughout the Western U.S. Most BLM and Forest Service land is grazed, so this week's ruling may set an interesting precedent.