This image from Highwayhags was taken in 2009, today the area (not necessarily the exact same area mind you) looks much much worse. http://www.highwayhags.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/dustbowl.jpg I wish I had taken a photo as we drove home from Los Angeles to Reno, but I was sick as a dog and could barely keep my head up as we drove through. A standing request will be to anybody driving through the area to email me at tacticalchess+dustbasin@gmail.com with more recent photos of the dustbowl. This request will also extend to any farmers in the affected areas.
The question is, why do these farmers believe that Congress created the Dust Bowl to begin with? In reference to the great dustbowl of the 1930s it is kind of easy to see how Congress played a role, but the Dust Bowl of today is a different story going back to the last days of President Bush. In August 2007 a Federal Court ordered the protection of the Delta Smelt halting the irrigation of lands from December through June of every year. In 2010 the Delta Smelt would be added to the endangered species act further protecting the species and in turn hurting many many others.
The result of not irrigating farm lands has effectively destroyed the local communities, the economic climate, as well as endangering the welfare of non protected animals and put an undue cost on you and me when it comes to our food. We are talking about 100s of square miles of farmland that is now incapable of growing food, and that is just visible from the I5. As consequence there is less food grown and that results in higher prices on the consumer. What was once a competitive food source for other animals has become a barren wasteland so while various forms of hare, or field mice may not qualify for endangered species status they are being starved and forced into other habitats because their previous food sources have been depleted.
According to Wikipedia, roughly 21,000 jobs alone have been lost directly to this fish. You would think a story like this would get covered, but it doesn’t fit the current narrative that regulation is always a good thing. Like it or not people need to eat these laws make that more difficult. While it is good to save and protect other species it is more important to protect and care for ourselves. Humans first animals second end of story. We are at this point in time putting more people on food stamps than at any other time in recent history with over 23 million households as of June 2013. Think of how many more people would be able to feed themselves if we opened up and irrigated the land. This has been going on for 6 years now and it deserves some national attention.
I am going to have to look over this and start calling up some farmers in my spare time because the story deserves to be covered.
Some quick sources for both my own further reading and others:
http://www.fws.gov/sfbaydelta/documents/SWP-CVP_OPs_BO_12-15_final_signed.pdf
http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/frdocs/1993/93-5085.pdf
http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/frdocs/1994/94-31063.pdf
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=6734504
Again a standing request. If you are driving through the central valley area of California or if you are a farmer who has been adversely affected by the Government decision to protect a fish rather than your livelihood
please contact me with photos and stories at tacticalchess+dustbasin@gmail.com
