Mr. Price's Op Ed piece in the Grant County Beat is nothing more than an uninformed attempt to spread falsehoods and fear. As a lifelong resident of our beautiful American Southwest, growing up on a ranch in southern Arizona, moving to Grant County several years ago and becoming a permanent resident and property owner here, I would like to give Mr. Price and others who share his views some advice and share some things they should be thankful for.

First of all, go on the National Wildlife Federation website and read their history and mission statement. You might learn some things you wouldn't otherwise learn from the steady diet of lies and misinformation you hear on right wing talk radio. You might learn how our public lands were established and who kept wildlife from being hunted to near extinction-like the buffalo.

Second, if you are a rancher, thank God every day that when our country was young we had some forward thinking American presidents and politicians who carved out huge areas of our country for public, not private, use. Given the ability to follow a few simple rules and pay nominal fees (as my family did to graze cattle and horses), this land is available for the use of us all (socialism?). If this land were not available for public use, a southwestern rancher would have to purchase enough of it to graze enough cattle to support himself and his family and perhaps afford to buy a new truck once in a while. As most of us know, this would be one hell of a lot of land in the arid southwest. And there would be competition for that land. Perhaps you want this public land to be put up for sale to the highest bidder, with no restrictions on its use. So that would be fine with you if a deep pockets American or foreign corporation or individual bought that national forest or BLM land next to you and put in a pig farm or high-density housing development? Sure it would: private property rights. Only a damn communist environmentalist would want to keep that land from being exploited without concern for current neighbors, future generations, or the wildlife that roam there, right?

Third, if you are a hunter thank God every day that with the purchase of a hunting license and a tag you are able to hunt freely on public land, and that wildlife is managed so both hunters and natural predators can survive. Try going over to Texas to hunt where less than two percent of the land is public and see how that works out for you. Oh, maybe you're one of those "hunters" who pays high dollar to go on some "game ranch" and have the animals paraded in front of you for an easy shot. Real sporting.

Fourth, thank God for environmentalists and environmental groups like NWF. Without them, pressure to exploit, extract, blade and fence would finally gobble up the lands you used to hunt, fish, roam on your horse, or camp with your family. It won't be the American government or environmental groups that take away the public land from your grandkids and their grandkids, it will be private corporations, wealthy individuals and whack job welfare ranchers like the Bundys who want public land to be their land, whether or not they pay a fair price for it, or pay anything at all. And by the way, environmental groups and your own American government are not out to get your guns or take away your right to hunt legally. If you believe that, you are paranoid and delusional.

Finally, thank God for socialists. Yes, socialists. I could cite endless examples from American history of the rights, privileges and protections gained for you by Americans labeled socialists and communists. Rights, privileges and protections so many of you seem to think just magically appeared in American society. But if you or a loved one was employed as a miner, firefighter, garment worker, truck driver, teacher, railroad worker, or other professions too numerous to mention, thank a socialist for better pay and working conditions and protections against on-the-job injury or unfair treatment. And when you recite the Pledge of Allegiance, please thank a socialist, because it was written by Francis Bellamy, a self-proclaimed Christian Socialist and Baptist minister, who had the good sense not to include "under God" in the pledge. Unlike so many of our Republican politicians today, he understood that the concept of separation of Church and State was vital to maintaining a free and democratic society for all Americans.

So if you think environmentalists, socialists, and your own American government are out to get you, maybe it's time for you to decide whether you want a privately-owned pond where only those wealthy enough are allowed to fish, a public pond where anyone can fish without restriction until all the fish are gone, or a public pond where fishing is regulated and sustainable and where your grandkids and their grandkids can enjoy fishing as you once did. It would be nice if some of you actually thought about this-and read some American History.

Nick Varner
Grant County resident