The New West is the euphemism promulgated by those who move to the West and use the phrase as an excuse to push their agendas. It’s not just change; it is revisionist thinking. Change is when a ranch is subdivided. Revision is when the residents in that new subdivision demand that the adjacent feedlot that has been in business for 40 years must close.

Consider the so-called reintroduction of wolves: the misconception is that the same species of wolves were once native to these areas; they were not, therefore they cannot be “reintroduced.”

The New West conjures up visions of a Marlboro woman dressed in clothing that appears as though it is a rented costume — it just doesn’t “work.” Even when you put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig.

First there are the faux leather (now called vegan leather) gold boots — with bag to match, the two sizes too small jeans (no matter what size the woman), and the sequined western-cut shirt. The outfit is topped off with the cowboy hat, which in the eyes of the wearer, makes the outfit — and her pretense — legitimate.

Somehow the belief is that the repackaging and a little tweaking will produce a new product, like New Coke tried to do some years back. To the company’s surprise, people didn’t like the new commodity but wanted the The Real Thing.

Those of us who have lived in the West for generations scoff at the words the New West. The only new part is the people who build oversized mansions which they have no intention of occupying more than a couple of months a year. Many of them think their money can buy them water rights — until they find out the laws. Then they spend big, big bucks having lawyers fight the real ranchers and the old laws.

They buy horses, not to ride, but to complete their landscape. Their arrival does create jobs. They need feed for their horses, someone to muck out the stalls and feed the animals while they walk whatever breed of dog is in style today. They know it all because they read a book that was on the New York Times best seller list or was reviewed in some environmental (read: obstructionist) magazine. Never mind that their neighbors’ families have lived — year around — in the area, for generations. Never mind that real farmers have seen and written down the cyclical weather changes as they have occurred over those generations. The weather service records have nothing on diaries kept by grandmothers and great-grandfathers who had no political statement to make as their data was recorded. They didn’t write things down to create a basis for some convoluted “climate change” scheme.

And once they have their acreage, house and livestock to their liking, they begin causing a stink about too many people moving into ‘their’ rural area. They’ve gotten theirs, and now it’s time to close the door.

Sanders is a national-award winning columnist who writes from the farm in southwest South Dakota. Her internet latchstring is always out at peggy@peggysanders.com. She can be reached through her website at http://www.peggysanders.com.