Damned Straight!
Posted on 01/10/2007 1:09:43 PM PST by Issaquahking
OVERSEEING GRAZING
SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - A U.S. government agency is considering using unmanned surveillance planes, or drones, to help oversee remote areas of eastern Idaho, raising concerns in a region deeply wary of outside interference.
Officials the Bureau of Land Management office responsible for most of eastern Idaho may initially buy one hand-launched drone for an estimated $15,000 to help keep track of the vast, thinly populated area.
They said the unpiloted aircraft, with a wingspan of about 4 feet, would monitor vegetation and streams in areas used largely for grazing and recreation and there were no immediate plans to use them for law enforcement.
But with Americans already concerned over increased government surveillance under President George W. Bush's war against terrorism, the mere suggestion of a camera-equipped plane over public areas sparked controversy in this intensively independent region.
"It would be like the environmentalists sneaking up on you," said Wayne Butts, a member of the County Commission in Custer County, where 96 percent of the land is publicly owned. "They may be taking pictures of a plant or two, but where does it stop? Do we have to grab our pitchforks and our guns?"
Melodie Baker, whose family has ranched for six generations among the sage flats and alpine canyons near Idaho's East Fork Salmon River, said she is afraid the data collected by the drones "would be used the wrong way."
"Every time the government comes up with something that's supposedly helpful, it ends up causing problems and is detrimental to ranchers," she said. Conservationists applauded the idea, saying there should be greater oversight of federal grazing and other leases.
"More supervision to ensure the terms and conditions of permits to use public lands is always a good idea," said Jon Marvel, executive director of Western Watersheds Project, an environmental group that focuses on federally managed lands in California, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.
Terrance Booth, a rangeland scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Wyoming, said remote controlled planes already fly above New Mexico and Maryland for similar purposes.
The Bureau of Land Management said it would be some time before the Idaho project got under way and that it would hold public hearings before any drones took to the skies.
"These discussions are very preliminary, but we know these UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are the wave of the future," said Lance Brady, a geographic information systems expert with the bureau.
UAVs have become a critical tool in the U.S. military's operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, where they are widely used for reconnaissance and intelligence, and for keeping watch on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The model being considered in Idaho could remain airborne for about five hours at a stretch. Officials said unpiloted planes also could prove valuable for assessing wildfires without endangering people.
Government out of control ping!
FAA is not going to buy into the use of a like that in unregualated airspace.
Napolean Dynamite's grandma might be in trouble when she leaves "kasadillas" for the boys and goes out to the dunes for some reckless behavior.
I bet they would make good target practice for Idahoans.
I didn't know they raised hackles in Idaho. I thought it was potatoes.
We don't have the money to watch the mehicon border, but look out for those law breakers in Idaho! Say, didn't the Weaver's used to live there?
And satellites owned by the government can already see eastern Idaho, anyway. Even Google Earth can get very close in (though it isn't live).
Ahhh, yes...
"...the wave of the future..."
Nothing to see here folks...Move along...Move along...
Now we know something else they can get the UAV's to do, now that they'll be based at Ellington Field in the Houston area...
Great...
Where do they think they are?
Their Own Private Idaho?
My guess is that the locals would quickly find out if the buggers could be brought down with a .30-06.
I'm also wondering what a "hackle" is, as well...
Wingspan 4 ft?
Flight duration 5 hours?....BS meter is starting to ping badly now.
See my post # 5
Damned Straight!
I try.
Operative word: "immediate".
They need to divest of all these public lands and put them back in the hands of citizens. Government out of control is an understatment.
Lookin for them mary ju wanna growers.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.