The USDA says that NAIS is voluntary. However, as these folks in Colorado see it, if the Colorado State Fair requires 4-H clubs to register through the ag program and premises registering with NAIS to show, then it is NOT voluntary, but mandatory. And one of the larger items that steams these resisters is not merely that the animals must be registered and chipped but that their premises must be, too. So they are holding seminars to tell people to resist!

A meeting to get people involved and informed on the big government/big brother mandating of 4-H and FFA Premises Registration by Colorado State University Cooperative Extension Service drew a large crowd of concerned animal owners on Saturday in La Junta.

"I will not teach my children to bow down to big government. I will no longer put money into a program that mandates to our children. It is not fair to our children," said Kimmi Lewis, Colorado Independent CattleGrowers Association secretary and R-calf Private Property Rights chairman.

Right now, the U.S. Department of Agriculture makes the national identification program optional, but Colorado 4-H is requiring participants to register through the ag department later this summer. In Colorado, those showing at the Colorado State Fair will be as the Colorado State Fair is also requiring premise registrations for the first time at this year's show in late August.

Premise IDs are recommended by the 4-H but won't be mandated until the beginning of next year's show season, starting in the fall, or Oct. 1.

Lewis pointed out that mandates like premise ID always come back to the funding. She also felt like the children are being discriminated against. Both Lewis and Reid expressed the concern that many will not participate in 4-H and FFA because of this.

"We want to present our case to the CSU Extension by July. We're willing to step forward and make our case for our children. You cannot discriminate against certain groups of people and this is discrimination against children in Colorado," said Lewis.

Many at the meeting pointed out the same concerns. Many agreed that animal ID is just a step closer to people ID and that the government is trying to take control of individual's lives. It was also brought out that the ID number is not tied to livestock but to the land or premises itself.

"People from other states are concerned and are watching what happens here in Colorado because they know they're next. If the (United States Department of Agriculture) USDA says ID premise registration is voluntary, it's wrong for CSU Extension Service to say it's mandatory," said Lewis.

And, as the article points out, If it's dang VOLUNTARY then WHY is 4H and the USDA trying to make compliance MANDATORY just to participate?????? Here's an action plan that, while drafted specifically for Colorado, can be adapted for ANY of us that don't agree with mandatory NAIS. One item, for example, suggests bringing it up at a county commissioner's meeting. I believe the first step even before that would be to bring it up with the county extension agent.