10/04/05 Diesel rustlers

Out West it can appear that time stands still, cattle still roam our range, cowboys still prefer horses and& rustlers still wreck havoc. Farmers and ranchers are again forming vigilante groups to guard against rustlers, but these thieves coming under the cover of darkness aren't looking for fat cattle or fancy horses, they are after ranch diesel and fuel. With diesel topping three dollars a gallon, a rustler can wreck havoc to a ranches bottom line by steeling thousands of dollars of fuel in one night and often damage crops in the process. Over the last six months California's San Joaquin Valley alone reported 53,000 gallons of gas and diesel fuel stolen. And that's only what's reported as many farmers simply absorb their losses for fear of raising insurance rates. Thieves are not merely sucking tractors dry, but also lifting barrels of fuel leaving some farmers struggling to come up with novel security devices to keep thieves out our of storage and equipment facilities yet allow access for employees. Oh, the West still has it's rustlers, what's missing is the Duke to string um up! Source: Yahoo News 09/21/05 California Farmers Facing Fuel Thieves by Garance Burke