Guest Article: The Very Important Role of CHARCOAL in TEOTWAWKI, by J.W.

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Okay, the Schumer has hit the fan, and we are in TEOTWAWKI times. A family member or your group member (or several) has had a major medical occurrence– an event that has drained much or all of your antibiotic supply and many of your medicines. Then what will you do when you or someone you know receives a poisonous snake, spider, or insect bite? Or, what will you do when perhaps someone is experiencing food poisoning, cholera, jaundice, bacterial infections, ulcers, or has a badly infected wound at a time when your medicine cabinet is all but empty?

I want to propose that if you haven’t already, you need to become acquainted with the use of ACTIVATED CHARCOAL (and regular charcoal). Charcoal is an adsorbant. No, I didn’t misspell the word. Charcoal doesn’t absorb; it adsorbs. Technically, that means that it causes a substance to form on its surface, as opposed to absorb, which means to soak up or to take it up. What does charcoal adsorb? Poisons and toxins; that’s its specialty. It’s important to mention here that when talking about the role of charcoal in healing, this does not include charcoal briquettes used in grilling food, and it is NOT the black stuff on burnt toast, which is not charcoal at all.

Many of the uses of activated charcoal have been discovered in Third World countries when, faced with serious medical situations WITH NO AVAILABLE DOCTOR OR NURSE, charcoal was used as a last-ditch effort to remedy the condition. In many instances the results were short of astounding.

Charcoal is rated by the U.S Food & Drug Administration as Category 1: safe and effective for acute and toxic poisoning. Hospitals throughout the U.S. have charcoal in their ER’s. It has no known poisonous side effects.

What is so wonderful about the health and healing process is that the good Lord has provided us with so many means of bringing us (and our animals, too) back to health: antibiotics, drugs, medicines, herbs, and many alternative healing modalities. The sole purpose of this article is to urge you to add charcoal to that list. It has most definitely carved out its niche in vital life-saving situations.

Hopefully, by now, you have decided that you want to know more about charcoal’s uses and, perhaps, even begin to experiment with it. At this point I’d like to point you in the direction of several great books on the topic. The best book to start with has an unusual title. The title of the book is: Charcoal Remedies.com —The Complete Handbook of Medicinal Charcoal & Its Applications. The author—John Dinsley—had lived and traveledRx: Charcoal – Startling new facts about the world’s most powerful clinical adsorbent extensively in Third World countries and participated in many of these serious health conditions where no doctor or nurse was available. Not only does the book include a great section on the science and history of charcoal and the details of using charcoal but is also filled with anecdotal stories of its use. Mr. Dinsley also has a corresponding web site for charcoal called—you guessed it: www.charcoalremedies.com. His web site includes a newsletter, known as the “Charcoal Times”, which includes further examples of uses that people have had and want to share with others.

Two or three additional books you might want to consider to round out your information on the topic would be:

The last book listed pertains to charcoal’s role in amending soils, especially dry soils with low fertility. Charcoal has the ability to hold moisture and nutrients, thereby preventing them from leaching away. Regardless of my enthusiasm over this topic, I have no personal attachment to any web site or any of the books mentioned above. This is just an attempt to assist my fellow preppers.

Lastly, I will close with a story of my own personal experience in using activated charcoal. Four or five years ago, I noticed one day that I acquired a tooth abscess, which was no shock to me. The red streak was already progressing upward. In my childhood years, the “4 Basic Food Groups” that I ate were: pop, chips, candy, and ice cream. Even though, in my adult years, I’m thoroughly committed to healthy eating, I’m still bearing the consequences of those early years. Before I called to make an appointment with the dentist, I decided to take an empty tea bag and placed about a teaspoon of activated charcoal in it. I then folded down the open side several times, sealing the charcoal in. I placed it between my lip and my gum, setting it right over the abscess. I took a sip of water and held it in my mouth, tilting my head so that the tea bag would get very moist. I did that about three times, to make sure the charcoal was laden with water, and I held that tea bag in my mouth for six or seven hours. When I took the tea bag out, the abscess was gone– not partially gone but completely gone! I know that you’re still supposed to go to a dentist anyway, but I thought I’d wait until I noticed any further problems. There were no further problems. Two months ago (which is 4-5 yrs. after the abscess) I had a thorough dental exam, including full-mouth x-rays, and nothing was indicated as a problem on that side of the mouth. To repeat: I am not advocating that you omit the role of the dentist when it comes to a tooth abscess; I should have gone. However, in TEOTWAWKI times, there may be no dentist.

You need to educate yourself about how to use charcoal and how NOT to use it. You need to learn how to make charcoal and store some up. Activated charcoal is more effective in medicinal uses but has to be purchased, as the production of it can’t occur in ordinary environments. As with anything, there is a learning curve. These recommended books should do a pretty good job of educating you on charcoal’s role in health and healing. Good luck! God’s blessings to all.

HJL Adds: Most Emergency Medical Services no longer use or advocate activated charcoal, but it is important to understand why. EMS is concerned with getting the patient to a health care facility where long-term and intensive/invasive care can be performed. EMS deals with relatively short transport times. In all topical cases, activated charcoal will not have enough time to do any good in an EMS environment. The one area where it can do good is in the case of poisonings. Unfortunately, activated charcoal, while not toxic, disturbs the digestive system and almost always results in emisis (throwing up). In the short transport times involved in EMS, the emisis actually is a greater concern, because it is usually aspirated, causing additional problems. In Austere medicine scenarios, the value of activated charcoal is much higher than in an EMS situation. Just be prepared for the emisis, if the charcoal is ingested.

Scot’s Product Review: SUN OVENS International All American Solar Oven

I’ve already written about solar cooking (and plan to continue writing about solar stuff), but I will try not to repeat too much from the last review in this one. That said, there was some good generic information there, and you might want to refer back to it .

As I continue on this trail, I have come to the All American Solar Oven http://www.sunoven.com/. It is a very high quality, made in the USA product that works extremely well. SUN OVENS is a long time player in the field. The original Sun Ovens came on the market in 1986, so they have been around for 28 years. I was impressed with the firm’s history when I read their “about us” page. I liked the fact that they go back to the beginning and credit the original inventor, Tom Burns, and describe the process of developing the oven. I was fascinated that they got help from the Sandia National Laboratory to improve the oven. Sandia is well known for energy and weapons research.

Paul M. Munsen, the company’s president today, took over making the ovens in 1998 from Burns. He had originally gotten involved in helping market them, having been excited by how much solar cooking could help people in the third world. Munsen spends a lot of time promoting the use of solar cooking, and a significant amount of the firm’s income subsidizes solar ovens used by poor people around the world. Munsen says “We believe there is a lot to be said for free enterprise and seek to take a private sector approach to helping solve problems, which people think should be addressed by governments and nonprofit organizations.” He adds that they seek to help entrepreneurs make and sell SUN OVENS in the country where they will be used.

So what is this thing like? Think of a 19.5”x19.5” box that sits about 15” high in the back and 9” high in the front. It has folding, aluminum, 22-gauge, reflector panels on top that stick out about 1.5” on each side. They protect the glass door on the oven when they are collapsed. I really appreciated how they folded over the edges to make the panels sturdier, as well as to cover the sharp edges. The reflectors fold out into a square with 32” sides. The whole thing is then about 30” tall in the back, but when you tilt it to aim at the sun, it can get taller.

The cooking chamber is 14” square, about 11” deep in the back, and 8” deep in the front. You can get a turkey into it if you need to. When you fold it up, there is a strap to secure the reflectors and a folding handle to carry it around like a suitcase. It weighs about 23 pounds, so it isn’t hard to move, but it is a bit bulky and certainly not suitable for backpacking.

The cooking chamber has a thick glass door, and there is an excellent seal around the opening to keep the heat in. Two clamps pull the door tightly shut. With the included thermometer, you can monitor the oven temperature, which is very important. The tightly sealed cooking compartment is one of the keys to this oven’s efficiency.

On the back of the oven, there is a retractable leg that helps you tilt the oven as needed for aiming it at the sun. You also get some stakes to help anchor the legs, should you have wind problems.

On the top of the oven, attached to the glass door, you get SUN OVENS E-Z Sun-Track Indicators, which make it a snap to keep it aimed precisely. They are one of my favorite features of the oven. You can aim it by its shadow, but I found using the indicators really helped maximize the heat in the oven.

My other favorite feature is the Levelator cooking rack. It is ingenious and simple. It is a wire rod rack that hangs from two bolts in the cooking chamber. Remember aiming the thing at the sun? That often involves tilting the oven, and tilting pots full of food isn’t a good plan. What the Levelator does is swing, so that what you are cooking stays horizontal. I think being able to tilt the oven towards the sun offers a major improvement in cooking speed, and it would be tough to do it without this feature..

The All American Solar Oven is, by the way, an improvement of the firm’s Global Solar Oven, which is marketed outside the U.S. The All American has a 20% larger cooking compartment, a thicker glass cover for the oven, the E-Z Track aiming devices, a more versatile self-leveling cooking tray, and a better stand for aiming it. The improved stand is one of Munsen’s favorite features, as he said it reduces the chance of wind tipping the oven over and spoiling a meal.

The reflectors are made out of sturdy sheets of anodized aluminum and well attached to the top of the oven. They are polished on the reflector side and dull on the outside. The outer box is made of ABS plastic, and the inner shell is black, anodized aluminum. The top is poplar wood and nicely finished. There is a layer of insulation between the inner and outer shells, which retains heat and keeps you from burning yourself when you pick up the box. They use a food grade fiberglass for the insulation.

As I mentioned in the last review, I have some concerns about the visibility of solar cookers at a distance. Something I would do if I owned this oven is paint the back of the reflectors in a subdued color. The oven arrives with the polished side of the reflector panels covered with a protective film, so they would be protected if you paint the backs of the reflector panels before removing the film to deploy the oven. You also might want to consider a sheltered area with blocking vegetation or a fence, though you don’t want them to shadow the oven. Someone above you, though, will still probably see it if they are at the right angle.

The kit I tested included the Dehydrating and Preparedness Accessory Package and goes for $399.00 with shipping included. Besides the oven, you get three racks that can be used to dehydrate food and two, nice, Granite Ware, three-quart, roaster pots. One of the pots has a glass lid that is very helpful for some foods, as you can keep an eye on it while it cooks. The other has the standard metal lid. You also get two loaf pans and a roll of parchment paper, which is handy for some dishes. Then there are Water Pasteurization Indicators (WAPI), like the one I wrote about with the last oven. It has wax inside that melts at the temperature you need water to reach for safe drinking. Heating the water until the wax melts and shifts to the other end kills the bugs in the water. You haven’t, however, removed chemicals, so you may still need to filter the water.

One big plus that comes with the All American Sun Ovens is the Cook’n software. It starts out as a recipe program that allows cooks to easily grab recipes online and organize them as they see fit. SUN OVENS populates it for you with a number of nice recipes that work in solar cookers as well as the oven instructions and tons of helpful information on using the oven. There are links for their videos as well. There is also a Preparedness for Life series with links to videos and presentations that offer some advice and tools for organizing one’s preps.

I have been testing it in the same time period as the last one I wrote about, so I will repeat my whine about the weather not cooperating. We got a lot of mid-day cloudiness and early afternoon thunderstorms in late June and July. We normally get the cloudiness and storms later in the day at this time of year, so this really impinged on my cooking time. I did finally figure out that I could put the ovens out as early as 8 AM and start cooking at 9 AM and get some meals done before the weather went bad. I had read elsewhere that solar cooking is best done between 10 AM and 2 PM but discovered you can still do a lot of cooking earlier and later if the sun is out. SUN OVENS does say that you get more cooking hours in the summer than the winter, which makes sense. That said, they have reports of ice fishermen in Minnesota using them with success along with an expedition to the Himalayas.

There are, besides cloudy days, some drawbacks to solar cooking. First, it’s not so hot for breakfast. You just don’t get enough sun early enough for that. One recipe I read suggested that you can cook up a batch of oatmeal and refrigerate it for later use. That’s a good plan if you have refrigeration. You can do the same with bacon. Another suggestion was to simply enjoy breakfast foods at different times of day, and I have to admit to liking that idea a lot.

Another drawback is how much you can fit into the oven. You can get a large stew or other one pot meal done easily. Since the Granite Ware pots will stack, you can cook two things at once, if you want to have several courses and have a large family, you might need more than one oven. It’s also hard to cook several items with different heat and time requirements as anytime you open the oven to add or remove something, you lose a lot of heat. Planning will help, though.

I think it would be hard to sterilize enough water for very many people with one oven, especially if you are trying to cook with it too. SUN OVENS suggested using one quart canning jars for water pasteurization, which worked quite well, but the oven only holds six of them. That’s not enough for even two people a day in a hot climate. Again, this points to wanting more than one oven for multiple people. I’m really not much of a cook; I’m more of a direction follower, so I was surprised that I was able to make some good meals and dishes with solar cooking. Normally, I mix ingredients, set the oven temperature, and leave it in for the specified length of time. Solar cookers depend on a variable heat source, so the heat varies and the cooking time will too. Thankfully, there are a lot of things you can cook that come out okay, even if you can’t use a set time to go by. Crock pot recipes, in particular, seem to work well. The one thing that has been eluding me is pasta. We like the stuff, but so far, I’ve managed to make paste, but I will keep trying and report back. Part of the problem has been forgetting about it, and letting it cook too long. That doesn’t work on the stove top, either.

As with the last oven I tested, baked potatoes came out great. I’m unlikely to ever want one from the microwave again.

Stews are a natural for the solar cooker. I found a recipe in the software that came with the oven that was a huge hit with everyone in my household, though I had to hold the vegetables for my nine-year-old. He was willing to eat around the dread carrots but drew the line at green beans or peas in the stew. Those he would eat separately but not in the stew. (sigh) My mother is looking down and laughing. The surprise ingredient in the recipe was coffee, by the way, so I knew I was going to like it. I left the stew in all day and the inexpensive, stringy stew meat I bought came out with a pleasing texture and flavor, just as it would have in an all-day cook in a crock pot.

A turkey loaf my wife picked up at the store also came out great. I used the thermometer I bought for solar cooking. It has a probe on a wire that can be placed inside the pot while the display unit remains outside the cooker and doesn’t melt. Combined with the built-in thermometer that monitors the temperature inside the oven, you can really stay on top of your cooking. The turkey was moist, succulent, and I think better than it would have been in the electric oven.

I found that I could easily hard boil eggs in the All American. Fresh eggs have been problematic for me when boiled in water, as they are usually very hard to peel. They peeled a lot easier from the solar cooker, but I also have to say that older eggs seemed a little harder to peel than when I boil them in water. Both methods led to tasty eggs, and I have to admit the fresher ones cooked in the solar oven were better than the older ones boiled in water. In short, you get a payback for working a little harder. Much of life is like that, though.

Hot dogs and other pre-cooked meats and foods were a breeze in the solar oven. You could also heat leftovers, but it was hard to walk past the microwave to use the solar oven for that purpose. I think a power outage, when I can’t run a generator, will change that attitude quickly.

There’s also a brownie recipe in the software that came with the oven. Brownies are a big deal here, and this recipe, cooked in the sun oven, was an enormous hit. I left off the butter and confectioner’s sugar drizzle, and I bet they would have been even better with it. Next time. We served them warm with vanilla ice cream. It took a bit longer than the suggested 30-40 minutes to cook, but I had the wrong size pan, and I made them thicker than recommended. They finished in a bit more than 45 minutes. I’m convinced that cooking at a lower temperature in the sealed up Sun Oven keeps them moister and nicer than they would have been in a conventional oven.

I’m sure someone would like for me to compare this oven and the last one. That would be like comparing apples and oranges. The last one was highly portable and light weight. This one is much bulkier, and while you can move it, it isn’t going to work for backpacking. This one is a much more efficient at cooking for a number of reasons. The tightly-sealed cooking chamber that is heat absorbing black makes most of the difference, but the aiming system is also important, as is the insulation. If you are going to be at a base, this one will cook more and do it faster. If you are on foot, you are going to need something that is much more compact and lighter. This one does cost more, but the extra cookware and the software are a big plus. They also include free shipping. I really like both ovens and see a place for each of them, but for cooking at home, I really want this one. For campouts, I want the other one. Having both of them would really multiply how much you could get done in a crisis.

A solar oven is not going to cook all of your meals, but it can make a big dent in your need for fuel. It makes no noise, and you have to be aware of its reflections, but I think it is an important tool. I really liked this oven and hope to be able to afford to keep it. We really enjoyed using it in our day to day lives, but I could well see it being a big help in a grid down scenario.

Some of the websites I found useful while working with solar cooking:

– SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor, Scot Frank Erie

Recipe of the Week: Fried Tilapia, from Mrs. Latimer

This easy and popular recipe can also be used for pan frying catfish and other small fish, but our family prefers tilapia or trout. We have to make a tall platter full, because it is a crowd pleaser in our home. It’s very easy. I usually make this recipe using coconut oil, used for frying the fish and also (with a little more oil sometimes added) a batch of Sweet Hush Puppies. To make the Southern Sweet Hugh Puppies combine two eggs, 1/2 cup of sugar (or less, if you don’t like your cornbread to be sweet), a large finely chopped onion, a cup of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, a pinch of cream of tartar, a cup of cornmeal, and a pinch of salt; then the batter is dropped by a spoon into hot oil and fried until golden brown. Add sides of a rice dish (saffron?) and almond green beans or a baked potato and salad; voila! You’ve got a fine feast. Here’s how to fry the fish:

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 tsp. lemon juice
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 1/2 cups finely ground cornmeal
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 tsp. Cajun seasoning
  • 2+ cups coconut or other vegetable oil, for frying
  • 1-2 pounds tilapia fillets (or other fish fillets)

Directions:

  1. In a small bowl, combine milk and lemon juice. Let sit on counter at least five minutes, while assembling other ingredients.
  2. In a gallon-sized Ziploc bag, combine cornmeal, flour, and Cajun seasoning.
  3. Add salt and pepper to the milk/lemon juice mixture. (This is my homemade buttermilk substitute; you may use buttermilk instead, though).
  4. Rinse the fillets in water and then drop them into the milk mixture, coating well. Let them sit in the buttermilk mixture.
  5. Put coconut oil (or vegetable oil) in cast iron skillet and heat to approximately 365 degrees Fahrenheit. (Use enough oil for there to be a minimum of 1/2 inch of oil in your skillet. Larger skillets may require more than two cups of oil and may be able to fry more than three fillets at a time.)
  6. Remove three fillets from the milk mixture and put into the Ziploc bag. Gently roll the bag to coat the fillets well.
  7. Place fillets in hot oil and fry about three minutes; turn over and fry a minute or two on other side, until golden.
  8. Remove fillets to paper toweling to drain.
  9. Repeat the process of removing fillets from milk, coating with cornmeal mixture, and frying, three at a time.
  10. Fry Hush Puppies, if desired, as described above.
  11. Enjoy crispy-coated, moist fish!

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Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlogreaders? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!

Letter Re: Readiness Matrix

Every so often one of your contributors writes an article that hits one out of the ballpark, as in the case of the Readiness Matrix by BKB. This well thought out and well-written article made me think, which is a miracle in itself. I reread it several times, and the simple truth was undeniable. Also, it was not an attempt to take a “selfie”, like our current White House resident does most of the time. It was a simple but refreshing article. This is why I enjoy this site and also why it is in my mind “the place” to get great information for just about any topic you could imagine on Survival. Kudos to Hugh. You got my six. Keep write-ups like this one for the baseline.

John in NV

Economics and Investing:

JWR Suggests: The recent dip in spot silver prices to around $19.50 per troy ounce represents a great opportunity to pick up some physical silver during the summer doldrums. I expect to see silver at $29+ per ounce by November. Several of our advertisers and writing contest sponsors sell silver, including Northwest Territorial Mint, JM Bullion, and GoldAndSilverOnline.com.

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Soros Bets $2 Billion on Stock Market Collapse. – H.L.

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Why The Fed Can’t, And Won’t, Let The Stock Market Crash. – J.W.

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The trend for part-time work sweeping the world: Part-time work dominating jobs in the United States, Canada, and Japan.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Video: Police State U.S.A.. – B.B.

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By way of the Ryans at the Total Survivalist blog comes a link to an interesting Infowars interview with novelist Matt Bracken. (Skip forward to time mark 23:30 for the interview.)

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Giffords, Kelly’s Gun Control Group Now Pushing Temporary Gun Confiscation. – T.P.

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Oh, the Things We Choose Not to See!. – M.R.

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DEATH WISH? Media Draws Map to Home of Ferguson Police Officer Who Shot Mike Brown. – P.M.

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“Is there really someone who, searching for a group of wise and sensitive persons to regulate him for his own good, would choose that group of people that constitute the membership of both houses of Congress?” – Robert Nozick

Notes for Sunday – August 17, 2014

Today, we present another entry for Round 54 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,400+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  3. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hardcase to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have quick change barrel which can be assembled in less then 1 minute without the use of any tools and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  4. Gun Mag Warehouseis providing 30 DMPS AR-15 .223/5.56 30 Round Gray Mil Spec w/ Magpul Follower Magazines (a value of $448.95) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt. An equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions.
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear,
  7. A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value),
  8. A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  9. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  10. A roll of $10 face value in pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver quarters, courtesy of GoldAndSilverOnline.com, (currently valued at around $180 postpaid),
  11. Both VPN tunnel and DigitalSafe annual subscriptions from Privacy Abroad (a combined value of $195),
  12. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  13. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate.

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. Acorn Supplies is donating a Deluxe Food Storage Survival Kit with a retail value of $350,
  4. The Ark Instituteis donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
  5. $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P),
  6. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  7. Twenty Five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  8. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value),
  9. Dri-Harvestfoods.com in Bozeman, Montana is providing a prize bundle with Beans, Buttermilk Powder, Montana Hard Red Wheat, Drink Mixes, and White Rice, valued at $333,
  10. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate,
  11. Organized Prepper is providing a $500 gift certificate, and
  12. RepackBoxis providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  6. Ambra Le Roy Medical Products in North Carolina is donating a bundle of their traditional wound care and first aid supplies, with a value of $208, and
  7. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit, and
  8. SurvivalBased.com is donating a $500 gift certificate to their store.
  9. Montie Gearis donating a Y-Shot Slingshot and a Locking Rifle Rack. (a $379 value).

Round 54 ends on September 30st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Readiness Matrix, by BKB

If you are reading this, you are a member of a relatively small, unique group of people. You have pulled your head from the sand and are no longer blinded by Normalcy Bias: the belief that tomorrow will be like any other day, week after week, year after year. You see the signs and know that the relative tranquility we have enjoyed won’t last. You feel deeply that preparation is essential; you want to live.

There are a lucky few, with a stone castle and moat high in a mountain retreat, who clutch their custom AR-15s to their chest while watching for the sky to fall. However, most of us get up and go to work every day, grateful to make it home to put another day to bed. We know we need to do more to prepare, but how?

I am in awe of the vast knowledge base in the prepper community. Never have people been so creative and inventive, open sourcing their ideas to help others. Personally, I marvel at the ingenuity shown toward self-reliance. However, being prepared is more than having a ready bug-out bag and a tricked out emergency escape vehicle.

If we take history as our instructor, we will clearly learn the simple fact that in times of upheaval, war, or crisis mobility is life. Instinctively we know this as naturally as breathing. In the aftermath of every natural disaster in modern history, the survivors are those who moved first, moved the fastest, and went the furthest from the epicenter of the problem. Without belaboring the issue with all of the possible threats to our way of life as we know it, preparation for survival can be simple. The Readiness Matrix takes into account the critical need for mobility and allows each individual to evaluate their readiness a single level at a time. Anyone can simplify their readiness understanding and survival priorities to better themselves and help others.

The Naked Self: This is the first level, of seven levels, with which to evaluate your readiness. Step out of the shower and take a good look in the mirror. What you see is the first and last resource to keep you and yours alive, safe, and happy. No gear, no gizmos, no handbooks, or hardware can surpass the importance of your personal knowledge, spirit, and attitude. Cultivate your knowledge and positive attitude, and share them with others. Nobody thrives alone. Life is a group activity.

The Running Man: When the ground starts to shake, the sky starts to fall, and you start running, what you have in your pockets or purses becomes your only physical resource. From this point of view, the guy with a Leatherman tool on his belt is king. A woman with a big handbag can have a treasure trove of goodies to save the day. Think about it; a smart phone, pocket knife, and lighter that you can carry in your pockets could be salvation in any number of scenarios. Even with no cellular phone service, my smart phone contains maps, a compass, and a flash light with a signal strobe. Like I said before, survival can be determined by the simplest of things on the most basic levels of preparation.

A Foot: With boots, or feet, on the ground, what you can carry on your back is your test. As the levels of the readiness matrix become more complex, allowing for more gear and gadgets, everybody has a list of critical supplies to have on hand or in a bug-out bag. I’m a gadget guy and have to have two of everything, but my intent is not to tell you what you need. I will say this level of readiness requires individual commitment. A thoughtful selection of gear, good physical fitness, and really good shoes are essential. The details are up to you. At the end of the day, the question at this level is: Can I really afford to carry this? You can never carry everything you might ever need or all the food you can eat. The key is to prioritize, simplify, and make a mean and lean mobile machine.

The Biker Gang: The natural progression in readiness is the inclusion of the group– your very own gang. In preceding levels, the focus has been on the individual. As your mobility increases, it is comforting and useful to have your gang of trusted friends and family around. This is where group planning and readiness becomes important. A family or small group trying to move on foot can cover up to fifteen miles a day, provided they are not carrying a refrigerator. The same family on bicycles can travel a hundred miles. Bicycles outfitted with a trailer or saddle bags can cover that hundred miles and double the amount of supplies to support your relocation. In most survival scenarios, speed and distance is critical. Mobility at this level may not be just on bicycles. Many people live on or near water, so travel by boat or raft may be needed. Other folks have access to horses or pack animals (llamas, goats, burros, or mules). When roads are impassible, there is no better time to be familiar with Mr. Ed. Again, I stress the need to evaluate you and your gang’s readiness by level, keeping each level as simple as possible, but the specifics are up to you.

Emergency Evacuation Vehicle (EEV): This is the level of readiness that gets the gear guys all spun up out of control. Emergency evacuation vehicles can be lifesaving and life changing. Not only can a motorized vehicle be a distance and load multiplier, it can also be a symbol of hope. I sleep on the ground more than my share of days every year, and I cook my meals in a tin cup while enjoying the wilderness. So the idea of having the comparative luxury and convenience of an RV in a crisis would put a big smile on my face. I caution those who go whole-hog with putting together their escape vehicle and neglect the far more important levels of the readiness matrix. Chances are that freak circumstances will neutralize your best engineered plans, if you put all your effort into escaping in a vehicle. The point is, when you are prepared at every level, give yourself options and flexibility to fall back, re-group, and be able to push ahead.

The Homestead: The next levels of the readiness matrix may seem to go against the mobility doctrine. The Homestead or sheltering-in-place may be the only best option in some circumstances. Circling the wagons can be extremely dangerous in heavily populated areas or for long periods of time. Nobody has enough ammo to defend a homestead in a major population center. The upside to circling the wagons is that you will have the home field advantage and those familiar surroundings can help improve the worst circumstances. Many people may choose to make a stand, no matter the circumstances, as long as they die on their own ground. I can appreciate the sentiment, although futile. If you want to live, mobility is life. That being said, your home or your castle can give you and yours hope. It has been said “Man can live for forty days without food, three days without water, five minutes without air but only for one second without hope.”

The Compound: The last level of readiness– the compound– in some ways is self-explanatory. Imagine a group of like-minded motivated people, on defensible ground, sharing resources, labor, and social structure. The idea almost makes me want to stop and sing Kumbaya. Really, if you and yours have evolved to this level, you may survive just about any end-of-days scenario. Sure, you have to be ready for drama within the group or becoming the target of the authorities, but you will survive and thrive. That is the goal. I understand that as each level increases in complexity, the relative monetary costs rise. Not everyone can afford to go out and buy an RV or build a castle. Do what you can do, and do it well.

We all hope to preserve our life, liberty, and our ability to pursue happiness, in spite of the crazy world and the signs of collapse, but how do you start and how do you determine if you are ready? The seven levels of the Readiness Matrix can help anyone evaluate priorities and simplify their understanding of the process of surviving and thriving. Arthur Ashe said, “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” Start with the simple before moving to the complex. Don’t build the super swamp buggy before you expand your knowledge and adjust your attitude. One last thing: Surviving and thriving is a group effort; you are only as good as your team. One well-prepared person can help several along; a prepared group can withstand almost anything. Two and a half thousand years ago, the great general Sun Tzu said, “Confront them with annihilation, and they will survive; plunge them into a deadly situation, and they will live. When people fall into danger, they are then able to strive for victory.” I would that it could be said of us.

Letter Re: Advice on Investing

HJL,

I’m a long time reader here and understand you are terribly busy, but I have a question about investment. I have a small sum of junk silver that I’m thinking of using to buy the Backwoods Home Magazine Whole Sheebang with. I’d be getting $400 worth of fine homesteading material for $17.20 in junk silver, and I’m just wondering what your thoughts are on this. They say knowledge is power. Thanks – T.Z.

HJL Replies: Only you can make the decision as to whether the trade is worthwhile or not, but here are a few thoughts. Information is power, and if you do not have the information when you need it, you can’t put a price tag on it. That being said, my personal preference would be to spend the $400 cash on the anthology and save the junk silver for when there is no viable cash alternative. By spending the silver, you are trading hard assets for soft. I would also prefer the printed anthology over the digital version. I used to have a complete back issue set of Mother Earth News (back when they still had the Eco-Village). I sold the entire set to get a digital version from the new management in New York and have regretted it ever since.

Economics and Investing:

SurvivalBlog reader R.M. wrote in regarding the 20th anniversary of NAFTA. There is a series of amazing videos on YouTube of a Charlie Rose interview with millionaire financier Sir William Goldsmith way back in 1995. In the interview, Goldsmith is very prophetic of the calamity the NAFTA and GATT trade agreements will bring to the world economy.

Goldsmith also wrote two excellent books on his warnings about multinational corporations and the threat of globalism. His first book is titled “The Trap”, and a response to the critics of his book is titled “The response to Gatt and Global Free Trade.” It is a real eye opener to hear someone who was a millionaire businessman predict so clearly in 1995 what will happen with our trade agreements and globalism and see that it has come true.

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Investment Guru Warns: “The Market Is Very Crash-Prone… Very Fragile” – J.W.

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Are Cracks Forming In The Canadian Economy?

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This Is The Worst Nightmare For the United States & The West . – J.W.

Odds ‘n Sods:

An observation from JWR: The now semi-archaic term “hip shooting” may make a comeback, with a new meaning, now that we are living in the age of Level IV body armor. If you suspect that your opponent is wearing body armor, then aim your fire at his head, neck, or hips–just below his vest.

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An incredibly dangerous precedent is being set here. Anything you say or don’t say can now be used against you. Silence can be used against suspects. – T.P.

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Martin Armstrong Warns “We Are Witnessing The Collapse Of Democracy”. – C.J.

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5 Defensive-Shooting Tips to Avoid. – M.S.

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Brain Hurt – No Make Thinky. – B.B.

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NY State Candidate for Governor Arrested For Filming Police. – J.W.

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.” John 16:1-3 (KJV)

Notes for Saturday – August 16, 2014

I’m officially calling an end to my 4-year running experiment on gardening this week. I’m not calling it quits on gardening, but I have now discovered which of the methods tried is best for our location. In the last four years, I have tried nearly every form of gardening that was practical. The winner, by far, is the method outlined in “How to Grow More Vegtables than you ever thought possible on less land than you can imagine” by John Jeavons. This method, while physically intensive, produces an amazing crop from very small spaces. Anything planted in one of these gardens, loves the soil and responds by growing incredibly well with excellent produce. I highly recommend this gardening method. I think I see a forthcoming article on this in the near future.

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Chinook Medical Gear, Inc. has offered SurvivalBlog readers a 10% off discount that is good on their MinimalistPAKs until August 31, 2014. Enter “.14SBMINI”

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Today, we present another entry for Round 54 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,400+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  3. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hardcase to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have quick change barrel which can be assembled in less then 1 minute without the use of any tools and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  4. Gun Mag Warehouseis providing 30 DMPS AR-15 .223/5.56 30 Round Gray Mil Spec w/ Magpul Follower Magazines (a value of $448.95) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt. An equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions.
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear,
  7. A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value),
  8. A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  9. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  10. A roll of $10 face value in pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver quarters, courtesy of GoldAndSilverOnline.com, (currently valued at around $180 postpaid),
  11. Both VPN tunnel and DigitalSafe annual subscriptions from Privacy Abroad (a combined value of $195),
  12. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  13. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate.

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. Acorn Supplies is donating a Deluxe Food Storage Survival Kit with a retail value of $350,
  4. The Ark Instituteis donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
  5. $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P),
  6. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  7. Twenty Five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  8. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value),
  9. Dri-Harvestfoods.com in Bozeman, Montana is providing a prize bundle with Beans, Buttermilk Powder, Montana Hard Red Wheat, Drink Mixes, and White Rice, valued at $333,
  10. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate,
  11. Organized Prepper is providing a $500 gift certificate, and
  12. RepackBoxis providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  6. Ambra Le Roy Medical Products in North Carolina is donating a bundle of their traditional wound care and first aid supplies, with a value of $208, and
  7. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit, and
  8. SurvivalBased.com is donating a $500 gift certificate to their store.
  9. Montie Gearis donating a Y-Shot Slingshot and a Locking Rifle Rack. (a $379 value).

Round 54 ends on September 30st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Systematic Efforts by the U.S. Forest Service to Take Control of Private Water Rights, by W.W.

Jamal Utah

I am writing today to inform the readers of this blog about systematic efforts by the U.S. Forest Service (“F.S.”) to take control of private water rights. Recently, this blog made mention of efforts to institute the “public trust doctrine” in California. In Colorado, we have been fighting ballot initiatives concerning the public trust doctrine for years. While the public trust doctrine issue is increasingly concerning, I am writing today about what I feel is a potentially even greater threat to private water rights.

In the last few years the U.S. Forest Service has been quietly revising its internal rules concerning the management of the National Forests (“N.F.”), to include severe restrictions on the diversion and use of surface and groundwater. It is worth noting at the outset that Congress specifically granted the citizens of the U.S. the right to obtain private water rights under state law on federal land. See the Mining Acts of 1866 (30 U.S.C. § 51); the Mining Acts of 1870 (30 U.S.C. § 52), the Desert Land Act of 1877 (43 U.S.C. § 321); and California Oregon Power Co. v. Beaver Portland Cement Co., 295 U.S. 142, 158 & 162 (1935).

While I have been aware of efforts by the F.S. to restrict private water rights in the limited context of grazing permits and ski area permits for some time, it has recently become clear that the scope is significantly broader. Below, I describe past and ongoing efforts by the F.S. to seize and control private water rights. I also provide a little background on the laws governing the F.S.’s authority to obtain water rights, in order to put this issue in context.

Special Use Permit Clauses Requiring the Relinquishment of Water Rights

On March 6, 2012, the F.S. issued Interim Directive No. 2709.11-2012-2 (“2012 Directive”), which requires the insertion of a new clause into new and renewed special use permits ski areas. Among other things, this clause required the Applicant to assign and/or convey any and all water rights associated with the special use permit to the F.S. as a condition to the issuance or renewal of a special use permit. This would include reservoirs, ditches, wells, pipelines, etc. and the associated water rights, even where they were lawfully developed solely by private parties with private funds. The 2012 Directive also required the Applicant to waive any damages or takings claims against the U.S. for this conveyance. Thus, no compensation is given for this transfer. Similar permit requirements were introduced in grazing permits.

In December 2012, the National Ski Areas Association successfully challenged the 2012 Directive. A federal court granted an injunction in favor of the ski areas on procedural grounds, stating that the Forest Service had failed to comply with various public participation and notice statutes. You can read an article about this decision online.

Unfortunately, the decision did not address the greater issue, which is whether the F.S. actually has the power to place such requirements on the use of federal land. A Federal Task Force, charged with evaluating this issue in 1997, concluded that the F.S. did not have this power. Specifically the task force made the following three conclusions.

  1. Congress has not delegated to the Forest Service the authority necessary to allow it to require that water users relinquish a part of their existing water supply or transfer their water rights to the United States as a condition of the grant or renewal of federal permits;
  2. Decrees entered in McCarran Amendment water rights adjudications are intended to result in a binding allocation of the rights to the use of water for federal and non-federal purposes, including the use of water to attain the primary and secondary purposes of the National Forests. Accordingly, the Forest Service may not use its permitting authority to reallocate or otherwise obtain water for National Forest purposes from non-federal water rights which have been or will be recognized in McCarran proceedings; and
  3. The Forest Service must attain the secondary purposes of the National Forests by obtaining and exercising water rights in accordance with state and federal law and by working with owners of non-federal water rights to achieve National Forest purposes without interfering with the diversion, storage, and use of water for non-federal purposes. The use of these approaches will avoid the circumstances that have motivated the Forest Service to act in a manner which exceeds its legal authority.

The full report can be viewed online.

Moreover, U.S. Supreme Court decisions have confirmed that the federal government is to defer to state law on issues of water right administration and adjudication. See, California v. U.S., 438 U.S. 645, 653 (1978)(“The history of the relationship between the Federal Government and the States in the reclamation of the arid lands of the western states is both long and involved, but through it runs the consistent thread of purposeful and continued deference to state water law by Congress.”) .

Since the decision in December 2012, the Forest Service has worked to comply with the procedural requirements mandated by the federal court. It also recently released a new rule concerning ski area special use permits. While this rule no longer requires the transfer of the water rights to the federal government, it prevents the owner from doing anything with that water right without prior F.S. approval. So basically, the F.S. is the owner of the water right because the title owner will lose their special use permit if they do anything with the water without F.S. approval. The rule also prohibits the applicant from selling the water rights. Those new rules can also be found online.

At this point, you may be asking yourself why does this matter for anyone other than ski areas? The problem is that similar rules have been put in place for grazing permits. Moreover, comments have been made during state and federal committee testimony suggesting a desire by the F.S. and the BLM to adopt these rules more broadly once the F.S. gains a foothold. The concern over these actions was so great that Senator Tipton introduced a bill that would block these efforts. Unfortunately, the bill was defeated. Some information can be found on this bill on Senator Tiptons Web site. Colorado also attempted stop the F.S with the introduction of House Bill-1028. While this bill passed the House with bi-partisan support, it was killed by senate democrats, despite calls from the democratic governor that it be taken to the floor for a vote. See press on this legislation on the Telluride News site.

So is one of several examples of F.S. attempting to seize and/or severely restrict private water rights. Moreover, these efforts are ongoing.

2014 Groundwater Directive

On May 6, 2014, the F.S. published notice of a draft directive entitled “Chapter 2560 – Groundwater Resource Management”. This directive creates rules, both explicitly and implicitly, that would allow the F.S. to restrict diversions of private groundwater rights on the N.F. and creates discretion to deny new and renewed special use permits for groundwater development based on undefined and unquantified impacts to “F.S. groundwater resources.”

It is important to recognize that in most western states, one does not have any right to withdraw groundwater under your land simply by virtue of owning the overlying surface. Rather, your must either get state administrative approval or water court approval, or both. The Groundwater Directive is based on the incorrect assumption that the F.S. has a legal interest in the groundwater under the N.F. simply by virtue of its ownership of the surface. Basic property law dictates that this is not the case. Moreover, both the Task Force Report described above and the U.S. Supreme Court as described above has made it clear that groundwater use is governed by state law to which the U.S. must comply.

The Groundwater Directive will impact anyone who uses groundwater that underlies the N.F. Moreover, the Directive indicates that the F.S. will begin investigating activities outside of the national forests, in the adjoining land, that could impact groundwater under the national forests. So even if your well isn’t on federal land, you could receive scrutiny from the F.S. Obviously, this is very alarming.

2014 Best Management Practice Directive

Concurrently with the Groundwater Directive, the F.S. published another notice in the federal register for a National Program of Best Management Practices. For those who are unfamiliar with Best Management Practices or BMPs, a common example of these are the straw bales that you see around stormwater drains at construction sites to prevent soil erosion. While the federal notice for this directive itself is unremarkable, it states that the directive would “require the use of the Agency’s National Core BMPs and National Core BMP Monitoring Protocols detailed in Agency technical guides FS–990a (April 2012) and FS–990b (in development).” The National Core BMP Monitoring Protocols described in the Directive have not been released for public review. However, the National Core BMP document is available online as well. Buried in this document are rules that would allow the F.S. to require water users to reduce or eliminate otherwise lawful water diversions under the guise of water quality protection. In a section addressing water diversions and conveyances, the document contains the following direction: “Operate diversion structures in such a manner as to leave desired or required flows and water levels in the source waterbody as determined in project planning.” This suggests that the F.S. will dictate the amount of water that water right holders can withdraw as they see appropriate, based on their own planning. This undermines private property rights, and the F.S. has no authority institute such rules. Keep in mind that these are rules that the Forest Service is creating for itself. The F. S. does not have direction from Congress to act in this fashion.

Legal Framework

When hearing about this for the first time, many people immediately think that it makes sense for the F.S. to do these things because it owns the land and can do as it pleases. While this is true to a certain extent, the F.S. can only obtain water rights for the N.F. in two ways. The first way is what is known as the reserved water rights doctrine. This doctrine grants the U.S. that amount of water necessary to carry out the purpose for which the land was reserved from the public domain. When Congress set aside the national forests, national parks, national monuments, et cetera, they specifically listed why this land was being protected from private settlement. The purposes for these reservations varies.

The U.S. Supreme Court has specifically held that the purpose of reserving the N.F. was to promote timber production and protect watersheds so that sufficient water would be available to the settlers of the west. See U.S. v. New Mexico, 438 U.S. 696 (1978). Thus, the Reserved Water Rights Doctrine resulted in the F.S. getting all the water rights that it needed to carry out these very limited purposes. Moreover, one of the explicitly stated purposes of the reservation was to protect water for private development by settlers. Because of the reserved rights doctrine, the F.S., by definition, currently has all the water rights that it needs to protect the national forests as dictated by Congress.

Later, Congress passed the Multiple Use Sustained Yield Act, which allowed the F.S. to obtain additional water rights for purposes other than timber production. However, according to the U.S. Supreme Court it must obtain this water pursuant to state law and it must do so in the same manner as any other private individual. See U.S. v. New Mexico, 438 U.S. 696, 702 (1978). Moreover, as stated in the Task Force Report, discussed above, the F.S. must not interfere “with the diversion, storage, and use of water for non-federal purposes.” The bottom line is that the Forest Service already has all the water that it needs, and if it wants more it has to get it in the same manner as any other private citizen, which does not include taking it without compensation from others or using its permitting authority to get it.

Conclusion

If one were to look at these actions by the Forest Service individually, they may not make much of it. However, when viewed together and with the proper context, it is clear that the F.S. is actively engaged in a systematic effort to take control of all water arising on or under the N.S., despite a complete lack of authority to do so. Moreover, the F.S. is attempting to hide what it is doing by compartmentalizing these efforts in hopes that the broader scheme will be obscured. This is incredibly frightening because federal land makes up a large percent of the available land in the west as well as many of the headwaters for major rivers and streams. If the F.S. gains the ability to disrupt private water rights on these lands, it could have a dramatic effect on the livelihood of those in affected states. Moreover, very few people are aware that this is happening. Once it happens, it will be much harder to undo than if efforts are made to stop it now.

I would encourage all of the readers to look into this issue and try to figure out its impact on you and your businesses. Contact your state and federal representatives and get involved to stop this. If necessary get your attorneys involved. We need both state and federal legislation to stop this from moving forward. This is a huge issue with massive implications. Please get informed and involved. I also imagine that there are readers of this blog who have first hand experience in dealing with the F.S. on this issue. In my mind, it would be a benefit to everyone if those folks shared their stories. Thanks for reading.