September 2016 – Cowboy Common Sense

Jackson Hole sign ordinance violates the law

Jackson Hole sign ordinance violates the law By Maury Jones The US Constitution says “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech.” The Wyoming Constitution says “Every person may freely speak, write and publish on all subjects.” Is my bumper sticker protected by free speech? It expresses my views and is published on my property, my car. I may “publish on all subjects”, according to the Wyoming Constitution. Okay, how about a tattoo? Is that free speech? That expresses my view and is published on my body, my property. (Well, on your body perhaps. This cowboy doesn’t put bumper…

Petition online to reinstate my column

After 15 months the Jackson Hole News and Guide decided to discontinue my column. They still have their liberal columnists and editors and reporters. The conservative common sense side has been silenced. Please sign the petition to have Cowboy Common Sense reinstated. And write a letter to the editor complaining about censorship. editor@jhnewsandguide.com Petition link. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/bring-back-jonesys-voice-and-let-both-sides is the link to sign the petition. Go there and read it. Then comment. Well worth reading the comments. Here it is pasted in its entirety; To: Management and Editors of Jackson Hole News & Guide: The undersigned are current and former readers of…

A wolf is a wolf is a wolf

Thank you for comments on my last column regarding the wolf, which I compared to a disease infecting the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. It hit a nerve. Expressing an alternate point of view in an opinion column should set the stage for thoughtful public discussion and debate. Since this is obviously a very divisive issue, let’s apply common sense to what some of you labeled as nonsense. First, search the web for wolf subspecies. Some sites claim that subspecies doesn’t matter while other sites claim there are as many as 14 subspecies in North America. Taxonomic listing, photos, description, habits and…

Cows Killed 4 Miles From Jackson

Two Angus cows have been killed by wolves not more than 4 miles from downtown Jackson, Wyoming. One was found dead on the morning of Aug 23 on the Bar B-C Ranch, cow belonging to the Waltons. The second found dead this morning, Aug 25, same pasture. Investigation shows that approximately 20 wolves are in this pack, presumably from the five wolves who lived here all winter and their offspring born in May. This location is 3 1/2 miles from downtown Jackson by google map, as the crow flies. Or rather, as the raven flies. When I went out to…

A Disease Stalks the Yellowstone Ecosystem

A column in last week’s paper advocated killing Mountain Goats because they are expanding into the Teton Range and might spread disease which may infect our native bighorn sheep population. These goats may also compete for available habitat. According to the author, the threat appears to be serious enough that a whole specie which is not native to the region should be eradicated. Disease always endangers life forms on planet earth. Whole populations of wildlife, domestic animals, and humans have been targeted by various diseases since the dawn of time. Government agencies are constantly working to control such threats. A…

The Rule of Law’s Glue is Losing its Stickiness

We are a nation of law. Obeying the rule of law is what gives stability to a society. It is the glue that holds civilization together. When I lived in Korea no one obeyed the traffic laws. The cab drivers drove with their horns and gas pedals. When pulled over the cabbie would apologize to the cop and hand him a matchbox. Inside was money. A bribe. If the cop started to write a ticket the cabbie would hand him another matchbox. Then the cop would wave him on his way. That corruption is the direction this nation is headed.…

Jackson Hole is Fencing Out All Our Open Spaces

Jackson resident Floyd Johnson and I often try to one-up each other with a fish story. The other day he said, “Jonesy, I was fishing Stump Lake and I caught a cutthroat trout 24 inches long.” My kids and I have fished Stump Lake for decades and I know trout can’t possibly grow that large in that one-acre pond near Greys River. But, rather than argue with him, I changed the subject and said, “You remember when we fished Jenny Lake at night last summer and we accidently knocked that Coleman lantern overboard?” “Yes.” “Well, I was fishing Jenny the…

And Please Don’t Pet the Buffalo, er, Bison

When my daughter, Gina, was just a toddler and learning to talk, she had this thing about wanting to pet everything; chickens, horses, cows, even a coyote that ran across the road. “I wanna pet it,” she would say with a plaintive pleading voice. Her little tongue couldn’t say the “w” so it came out as “I ’anna pet it.” One night we were admiring the rising of a huge full moon. Gina said, “I ’nna pet it.” It’s been a family joke ever since. When we visited Yellowstone recently and saw tourists too close to a buffalo lying by…

Wyoming Should Manage Public Lands

My previous column gave examples of federal mismanagement fueling the sagebrush rebellion. Here is another egregious example. In August 2015 the EPA’s attempt to clean up an old abandoned mine in Colorado resulted in a devastating spill of millions of gallons of toxic orange waste into the Animas River contaminating it for many miles and years. Today I will examine objections to transferring public lands to Wyoming and the legalities of so doing. The proposed transfer will only apply to National Forests and BLM land, not to National Parks or Monuments. Objections, such as the following, should currently be leveled…

Government Has No Common Sense

A few days ago I was driving from Jackson toward the Airport. I had to be very careful as I came up behind two people on bicycles. Oncoming traffic made it necessary for me to slow down and wait to pass. The highway shoulder was narrow in that spot. After going around them, I observed the Jackson to Teton National Park bicycle pathway, which cost millions. It was vacant with seasonal closure signs. The weather was beautiful, perfect for an afternoon bicycle ride. Without snow, no elk were in sight. So why close the pathway? Allegedly it is because of…

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