Who do you think the smart money is on?

A bill to change Utah's official tree from the Colorado blue spruce to the Utah juniper seemed like a slam dunk and a darn good way to give some kids a lesson in how government works.

The Cache County students are getting an education, all right. Utah ranchers have mistaken the earnest fourth graders for tree huggers.

The ranchers point is simple: Cows need grass. And to get lots of grass ranchers sometimes "chain" rangeland — a hideous-looking process in which a pair of bulldozers drag a chain between them over acres of grassland, tearing bushes out by their roots. A common victim of the procedure is — you guessed it — junipers.

Ranchers fear the kids' bill would give the pesky shrub protected status, like a bald eagle or some damn thing!

Sponsor Rep. Jack Draxler hasn't been able to convince the stockmen the juniper won't have any legal protection and is warning the kids that approval will be "a tough row to hoe."

Now is the time for the gin manufacturing lobby to throw in with the fourth graders and make this a fair fight.