As for the original post, it does seem that the lawmakers are ruining the
ranchers.
Here's one such article (this guy has had his herd confiscated and sold at
auction, and AFAIK, nobody bid at auction. IIRC, at the second auction, some
kid from CA bid and won with a small bid, a fraction of the true cost of the
herd, but backed out under pressure from peers.) Anyway, here's a small article
about the fight...
Interesting to read, since this had been going on since '94
Ron

http://www.restoringamerica.org/arch...f_gardner.html