It was the second day of the Rangenet 2001 conference, at Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona, and the second time that environmentalists, attending the conference, had made physical threats. On the first day, a similar scene had occurred as Range magazine journalist, Tim Findley, attempted to photograph the confirmed Earth First! eco-terrorists.

Rangenet is a coalition of environmental organizations devoted to ending grazing on all public lands. They met in Reno, Nevada, last year at Rangenet 2000. Representatives from about a hundred green groups showed up to vent their anti-cow spleen and hatch plans to push ranchers off their allotments. The 2001 bovine bashing did not fare so well.

Fifty-nine people were at the conference and about 20 of those were ranchers or supporters of ranching. Another dozen or so were bored and slumbering students. Thirteen speakers and the Rangenet webmaster, Larry Walker, were present, leaving about a dozen aging greens and militant Earth Firsters to support the serious business of ending public-land ranching.

The conference was uninspiring, and the speakers were obviously mouthing the same worn words that they had said hundreds of times before. Rangenet organizer, Joe Powers, attempted to spark life into the lethargic spectators by asking for a standing ovation for the Forest Guardians and Center for Biological Diversity. No one stood up and no one clapped. Powers' jaw dropped. Then he tried, "Just think! Once we get these cows off the land, you can sit with your grandson and tell him that he is a third-generation grazing activist!" The listeners were still unmoved, and the loudest sound was from a college student tearing a bag of candy open. Powers gave up.

Andy Kerr, of Klamath Falls infamy and Senior Councillor with the Oregon Natural Resources Council (ONRC), was candid in his strategy to remove ranchers from public lands, "We will focus on education, to make the public aware that more damage has been done by livestock than by chainsaws and bulldozers combined. At the same time, ONRC will keep pressure on public-land ranchers through litigation, administrative appeals, and listing more species under the Endangered Species Act."

Kerr said that ONRC and other conservationist groups would be lobbying the U.S. Congress on legislation for a federal "buyout" of public-land grazing permits from "willing" sellers. Kerr provided a white paper, "National Public Lands Grazing Campaign: Goals and Plan." The dissertation contains a graph, which he believes will prove to elected offilials, how this "buyout" will ultimately save taxpayer dollars.

The high point of the meeting was Allison Jones, of the Wild Utah Project. She presented an incomprehensible talk on the "New Methodology for Riparian/Stream Health Assessment." It was only interesting because Allison is a well turned-out Jennifer Lopez look-alike. It seems that the greens have discovered that a smartly groomed and attractive pitch-person can reach the masses with more ease than a bearded freak with greasy dreadlocks. Allison's speech was flawless, until someone asked her a question. That was the end to her superficial credibility.

The Earth Firsters did not make a presentation from the podium. A juvenile bunch, they contented themselves swaggering about in SWAT hats, camouflage pants, and tee shirts that proclaimed "Earth First! No *#+*# Compromise!

I engaged a couple of them in conversation.

Walley: So, you are against ranching?

EF: Yeah!

Walley: So what about the ranching families that you want to push off the land?

EF: We don't care what happens to them. We just want them gone.

Walley: How are you going to do that?

EF: Well, we know lots of ranchers.

Walley: I see you fellows like to wear cammos. What do you think of the Militia?

EF: You mean defending your rights with guns?

Walley: Something like that.

EF: We are for it!

Patterson quickly cooled down and didn't break my camera over my head, and Range's Tim Findley left the meeting in one piece. I left a bit smarter. I realized that the capacity for violence by the greens is real and lurking very close to the surface. As environmental- ists are increasingly politically disfranchised, the incitement for destructive action by green militias exponentially expands.

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