Despite some inaccuracies about Bundy's situation, this story is about the latest inanity by the feds.

Feds rile ranchers by fencing off water for cattle — to protect a jumping mouse!
Forest Service says it’s mouse habitat
By Valerie Richardson
May 11, 2014

The Obama administration’s crackdown on Western land use has sparked a furor over the Forest Service’s decision to fence off a creek used by thirsty cattle in drought-stricken Otero County, New Mexico.

The Otero County Commission is scheduled to meet Monday to discuss whether to order the sheriff to open the gates against the wishes of Forest Service officials, who have argued that the fence is needed to protect the Agua Chiquita riparian area and habitat for the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse.

Otero County Sheriff Benny House said he worries that the increasingly tense situation could erupt into a Nevada-style melee between ranchers and federal agents.

“What’s going to happen here is that we could end up with a Bundy situation,” said Sheriff House, referring to Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s standoff with the Bureau of Land Management. “Hopefully, we can resolve it without it getting out of hand.”

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“The Forest Service is coming in and saying, ‘We’re in charge of the water and the water is part of the forest,’” said Sheriff House. “It’s a control issue, and they’re trying to push the rancher out. They’re using every excuse in the book. One area is a riparian area. One area is critical habitat. One area might be for endangered species.”

At a May 5 board meeting, Forest Supervisor Travis Moseley told the commissioners that Agriculture Department counsel assured him that the Forest Service’s actions in the Lincoln National Forest were on “sound legal footing.”

District ranger James Duran said the Forest Service is taking steps to protect habitat for the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse, which was proposed for listing as an endangered species in June 2013 after a 251-species settlement in 2011 between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and WildEarth Guardians.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014.../#ixzz31Zid71rk

Who you might ask are The WildEarth Guardians ?;

Zitat

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According to its 2012 annual report, the overall mission of WildEarth Guardians is to protect and restore wildlife, wild places, and wild rivers in the North American West.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WildEarth_Guardians

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http://www.wildearthguardians.org/site/PageServer

Their revenue included nearly 1/2 million in government grant
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cf...mary&orgid=9974

As to the meadow jumping mouse:

Zitat

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The meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius) is the most widely distributed mouse in the subfamily Zapodinae. It may be found from the Atlantic coast, to the Great Plains, as far north as the arctic tree lines in Canada and Alaska, and as far south as Georgia, Alabama, Arizona, and New Mexico.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meadow_jumping_mouse

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@Cincinnatus

thanks for posting the update.