Mountain lion shot near school, dies in garage

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission says a Scottsbluff police officer shot a mountain lion that had wandered into a neighborhood.

Conservation officer Scott Brandt says the 70-pound female cat was seen in a tree near Scottsbluff High School on Sunday morning. When she came down from the tree, the police officer shot her, causing critical injuries.

The cat ran, but was found in a garage a few blocks away. Brandt says the cat was then euthanized with a dart gun.

Mountain lions — also known as cougars, pumas, panthers or catamounts — became a protected species under Nebraska law in 1995 and can’t be hunted. They can be killed if they are threatening livestock or the safety of others.

Calling All Dutch Oven Cooks

Come to cook --- see how Dutch Oven cooking is done --- come to eat --- listen to music --- or just visit with the happy crowd at the Southwest New Mexico 7th Annual Dutch Oven Cook-Off on Saturday, March 28 in Glenwood, New Mexico!

The event will be held again at the Glenwood Community Park on CatWalk Road in Glenwood, New Mexico (just an hour north of Silver City)

This email is being sent to give some folks plenty of time to think about entering this year.

In previous years, we had cooks from Glenwood, Cliff, Gila, Reserve, Albuquerque, Cuba, Las Cruces, Silver City (New Mexico) and communities in Arizona.

Everyone is welcome to enter, no matter where you call home!

(If you need overnight lodging, there are several unique motels in Glenwood.)

Those interested in entering as a Dutch Oven Cook this year, please contact: Event Organizers:

Leah Jones (Glenwood) (575) 539-2800 Email ~ leahj@starband.net
Linda Locklar (Silver City) Email ~ lindamanyponies@hotmail.com
Zana Wood (Las Cruces) (575) 805.7170 Email ~ loschilehead@msn.com

These ladies can give you all the details, but here are the basics:

Cooking categories are one pot or three pots (Main Dish, Bread, Dessert). Cooks can enter on their own, or as a team. Entry fee ~ $ 15 for Single Pot, $ 30 for Three Pots.

Cooks can set up their camp and start their fires at 8:00 am. Some entrants bring cowboy-camp setups, teepees and tents, and one entry even drives a mule-drawn chuckwagon to camp! (The Glenwood Park features shady trees and open spaces for camp set-ups)

There will be a Cooks’ Meeting at 9:45 AM. Cooking time is from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm., during which time spectators always enjoy going from camp to camp, seeing “what’s cookin’” and getting to know the cooks. Judging is done on Presentation, Cleanliness, and Taste.

After the Judges have tasted all the dishes and are tabulating their results, here comes the best part of the day ~ about 3:00 pm, Dutch Oven cooks bring their pots to the Pavilion, multitudes of folks show up to purchase Taster Plates ($5.00 for adults, $2.00 for children under 12), and the “Tasters’ Delight” eatin’ begins! Each Dutch Oven cook will put a spoonful of their dish on each plate, and there are usually about 30-40 different dishes on the buffet line.

We have some musicians lined up to entertain on this special day, and invite others to join in the fun!

Tables and benches are provided for the diners, and after everyone is served, Awards and prizes are presented to the winning cooks. (Proceeds from this event each year go towards the upkeep of the Glenwood Community Park.)

Glenwood’s Dutch Oven Cook-Off was first started by Wendy Peralta, owner of the Glenwood Trading Post, in 2003. Each year since, the event has grown --- in size, number of cooks, and fun! This event is reminiscent of the old days when members of small communities would gather for shared food and “visiting.” This is the seventh annual year for the Dutch Oven, and it promises to be another memorable occasion, one you won’t want to miss!

Outdoor shooting in Arizona imperilled

Do you remember the Forest Service meetings several years back? The announced purpose was to improve and enhance outdoor shooting in the National Forests, the main place everyone used to go.

The actual result was closure of more than 80,000 acres to shooting -- all the places near Phoenix metro (they're all listed in The Arizona Gun Owner's Guide ) that people had used for decades. The details are posted here.

Now the Bureau of Land Management is holding hearings on the use of Table Mesa Road off I-17 for outdoor marksmanship ("officials" like to call it "wildcat shooting" to denigrate outdoor marksmanship; never use their derogatory phrase, and scold them if they do).

This is one of the few remaining outdoor spots for target practice anywhere near Phoenix metro, and it gets a lot of use. I'm the first to recognize there is some crossfire across some of those hills and knolls. How to manage it all is complex. Keeping it open should be everyone's concern.

Montana Man Loses Hunting Ban Fight

A Montana man who challenged a state regulation barring him from hunting on his family’s private property that lies inside an Indian reservation learned today that the Supreme Court of the United States would not review a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which upheld a Montana federal district court’s ruling against him. Randy Roberts of Billings argued that Big Game Hunting regulations issued by the Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission discriminate on the basis of race, are not based on a special relationship between Montana and tribal governments, and conflict with rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court because only tribal members may hunt on his family lands and tribal membership is limited by blood quantum. The Ninth Circuit rejected his arguments; instead, it held that a 1974 Supreme Court decision upholding Congress’s ability to pass laws favoring American Indians allows the rules.

“We are disappointed with the Supreme Court’s decision due to the unfairness and unconstitutionality of what Montana is doing to non-Indian landowners inside reservations,” said William Perry Pendley of Mountain States Legal Foundation, which represents Mr. Roberts. “What Montana is doing is clearly wrong; however, the Court just declined to hear the case.”

Randy Roberts has the right to use 1,500 acres of deeded property within the exterior boundaries of the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana. Mr. Roberts, who is a non-Indian, operates a commercial bird shooting preserve, licensed by the State of Montana, on that property; however, for more than 35 years he has not hunted big game on the property because he is prohibited from doing so by Montana State law, which provides that only tribal members may hunt big game within the boundaries of a reservation.

Mr. Roberts’ challenge is similar to one raised by Sandra Shook of Sanders County, who was cited for illegal hunting on her neighbor’s private property within the Flathead Indian Reservation. Although she had a valid hunting license and her neighbor’s permission, she was cited because her neighbor’s land is a “closed area” under Montana’s Big Game Hunting Regulations. In 2002, the Montana Supreme Court denied her constitutional claim holding that “laws that afford Indians special treatment are constitutional [because] those laws can be tied rationally to the fulfillment of the unique federal obligation toward Indians[,] [which are] binding on the state.” Ms. Shook’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was denied in 2003.

Unlike Ms. Shook, Mr. Roberts did not violate the regulations and his lawsuit was filed in federal court. The district court issued its final ruling on his claim on February 2, 2007. The Ninth Circuit ruled on July 18, 2008.

Mountain States Legal Foundation is a nonprofit, public-interest law firm dedicated to individual liberty, the right to own and use property, limited and ethical government, and the free enterprise system. Its offices are in the Denver, Colorado, metropolitan area.

Roberts v. Hagener, No. 08-519 (U.S. Supreme Court)