Extreme fire weather returns to permanent disaster area

It looks like South Dakota's Earth hating governor will get another opportunity to beg the Trump Organization for more federal moola with the Bigly Fire is burning near Pactola Lake. 

Yep, so what’s not to like about six or seven month winters, a year-round wildfire season, rampant racism, chilling effects on civil rights, an extremist legislature, a repressive law enforcement industry, living in a chemical toilet, sacrifice zone, perpetual welfare state and permanent disaster area?

Black bears killed on I-25 were out of food and looking for water

In 2023 there was black bear scat at the horse water tank and the trail cam didn't catch its maker but an interested party did see one at the top of Morning Sun Road about two years ago. A beekeeper in Cerrillos shot one after it broke into his honey operation and our backhoe operator saw one out here between Baja Waldo and Red Rock Roads. 

At least a dozen have been seen in suburban Albuquerque and hikers have been alerted to bear activity near water sources in Santa Fe. Our excessively dry year means there is little for them to eat even in the mountains so as they move into human spaces they've become at risk to collisions with vehicles just a few miles from where this is being typed.

Two adult black bears and two cubs were found dead Wednesday morning along Interstate 25 about five miles south of Santa Fe on Alamo Creek. A New Mexico Department of Wildlife conservation officer was dispatched to a site between La Cienega and La Bajada following a report to New Mexico State Police about the dead bears. The Los Alamos-based newsletter Boomtown documented 72 calls to county officials reporting nuisance bears in the first six months of 2026 before reporting bear break-ins earlier this month. [Santa Fe New Mexican]

Trump Organization now threatening Prairie Pothole Region

The number of acres in 'agroecosystems' has tripled since the 1940s so poor ag practices like tiling have made soils unable to absorb rainfall creating toxic runoff and flooding. 

In red states like South Dakota freedom equals the right to pollute and agriculture is the leading source of pollution in the waters of the United States. Most East River lakes are already eutrophic shit holes filled with toxic algae and unable to even support fish populations so the Prairie Pothole Region is becoming increasingly threatened by the encroachment of industrial agriculture but more irrigation means pumping from depleted aquifers mainly recharged by the Prairie Pothole Region. 

And, after massive failures of state agencies like South Dakota Game, Fish and Plunder invasive species like zebra and quagga mussels are taking over waterbodies as diving ducks like the Canvasback, Redhead, Bufflehead, Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye that feed on the pesky bivalves are being eliminated. 

Yes, the US Environmental Protection Agency and US Fish and Wildlife Service are within the Executive Branch and as Commander in Chief the president could simply order the Army Corps of Engineers and all to stand down.

On July 24, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service opened an unusually brief, 14-day public-comment period seeking information about how it manages agricultural drainage pipes—a type of perforated pipe called drain tile—installed near federally protected wetlands. Comments are due August 7. But the information request appears to be the opening move in a process that could weaken protections for more than 28,000 conservation easements covering over 1.5 million acres in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa. Simply put: drain tile installed too close to a prairie pothole would effectively drain that wetland and eliminate waterfowl and wildlife habitat. 

If the government now permits drainage systems close enough to starve them of water, the easements may survive on paper while the wetlands themselves quietly vanish—and much of America’s migratory ducks, geese, and other water birds along with them. “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering repealing the rule that protects the integrity of the Duck Stamp easements that have been purchased for generations.” [A Quiet Rule Review Could Drain the Prairie Pothole Region, America’s “Duck Factory”]

Learn more at South Dakota Searchlight.

Leo and Smith on the ocean

The Order of the Presentation opened St. Mary’s in Elkton where I attended grade school but the nuns were from the Dominican and Benedictine Orders, too. They were Commies who taught us Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and Puff, the Magic Dragon.

Plunge in Rural Mainstreet Index reflecting GOP failures ... again

Creighton University's Ernie Goss follows the economies of ten midwestern states including South Dakota's where the manufacturing sector lost about 800 jobs over the last year or 1.8% of its manufacturing base, ag workers still face severe stressors and a mental health provider shortage affects 62 of South Dakota's 66 counties. 

July's Index dropped below growth neutral for the fifth time in the past six months, bankster confidence plummeted to 42.1 or well below 50.0 growth neutral and the economic confidence index slumped to 34.2 from June's 42.1. Goss says low commodity prices, high diesel and fertilizer costs and a worldwide economic slowdown are also driving lousy numbers and because of the continuing trade-tariff volatility farm equipment sales continue to lag to a very weak 27.8 down from June's 28.9. 

Hot and dry conditions are degrading pastures nationwide but South Dakota is facing some of the worst ratings.

The July RMI for South Dakota declined to 43.4 from 54.7 in June. The state’s farm and ranchland price index decreased to 55.0 from June’s 57.7. [Rural Mainstreet Index Plummets for July]