NEWS ROUNDUP

Are homes in the future for Steens? Just past a busted "Private Property" sign beside the wide washboard road that climbs the western slope of Steens Mountain is a shallow blue lake ringed by rocky hills and white bark aspens shaking loose the last leaves of fall. For 40 years Dan Jordan has owned these 640 acres in the middle of one of the most popular recreation areas on the 9,700-foot southeastern Oregon mountain, letting the public camp there and grazing sheep on the bunchgrasses during summer. But now he's asked Harney County for the right to build up to 640 homes on his land -- one per acre -- or to have the county pay him $6.4 million under Measure 37, the property rights law passed by Oregon voters two years ago. Jordan's land is next to the popular Fish Lake campground as well as wilderness study areas and some private land, all within the 425,500-acre Steens Cooperative Management and Protective Area. Congress created the patchwork district of public and private land in 2000, overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management with input from a citizen advisory council....
Oregon ranchers fear return of the wild wolf Wild wolves have not roamed eastern Oregon since the 1930's, but already some unconfirmed sighting have ranchers and environmentalists ready for a fight. Longtime rancher Rod Childers is bracing for change. “The wife and I moved here in 1977,” said Childers. Originally from southern Idaho, Childers now owns and operates family style ranches in Wallowa County. “You know in the ranching deal, you do it because you love it, because you don't make a lot of money at it." While Childers has faced challenges before there is an enemy this generation of ranchers has never seen. “Do wolves scare me? Absolutely," said Childers. For more than 70 years herds roamed Wallowa County without fear of the wolves." While wolves may restore the environment, many ranchers fear the consequences. "If we go with what the federal government agencies or the environmentalists, you're looking at the last generation that will be out here on the land," said Childers....
Nature taking a toll on El Morro In the next few years El Morro National Monument Superintendent Kayci Collins said she will be facing a difficult decision. Part of the ancient and historical inscriptions on the sandstone cliff are on the northeast face of the site on the 1,278 acres of the monument. It is from this direction that the elements heat, cold, wind, rain, sleet, hail and snow batter the cliffs year round. "Erosion is the biggest enemy," she said, about preserving the inscriptions for future generations. "I may have to decide, or some future superintendent at some point whether to remove the inscriptions and put them in a museum, or allow them to erode," she said. "Putting the inscriptions in a museum does not give the public the impact it does in the natural setting," Collins said. Some of the inscriptions and petroglyphs date back to between 1100-1200 A.D., Collins said. And, there are the historical inscriptions of the Spanish explorer Don Juan de Oate, in 1620, who eventually reconquered New Mexico....
Lansford lion surprises hunter Kent Ferguson and his pair of yellow labradors were hot on the trail of some rooster pheasants Wednesday evening. However, rather than have a rooster cackle skyward, the hunt turned into a close encounter with a snarling mountain lion. The Mohall man was hunting about three miles west of Lansford when he was taken by complete surprise. “We saw some pheasants run into the cattails so we started working them,” recalled Ferguson. “My 1 1/2- year-old yellow lab went into the cattails and I heard a growl and a yelp. She came flying back with blood on her nose. About that time I saw the cat walking through the cattails and threw three shots at it right away.” ince Ferguson was hunting pheasants, his 12-gauge shotgun was loaded with 2 3/4-inch 4-shot. That’s a pretty efficient load for pheasants but not at all what you’d consider using if you were hunting mountain lions. However, at close range, it was enough to stop the big female lion that measured 6 1/2 feet from nose to tail....
Collaborative Appoaches to Western Problems Marianne Roose, a county commissioner in Lincoln County in Northwest Montana, has no small set of problems to cope with. The county is reeling from the decline of the lumber industry - as well as the asbestos crisis in Libby - and there is a lot of bitterness towards environmentalists who are perceived by many to be the source of the woes. Almost 80% of the county is National Forest land, and the locals don't like that much either. Growth and development is coming in some areas, namely Eureka, but a future as a bedroom community to Whitefish doesn't seem to appealing. It's not exactly an environment given to healthy, collaborative decision-making. But Roose, the daughter of a logger and a self-described Pollyanna who gave a talk at the Placematters06 conference here in Denver, thought the depth of the problems actually represented an opportunity: continued confrontation wasn't getting anyone anywhere, and maybe the time was ripe for some bridge-building. So she spear-headed a collaborative process to bring together the natural resource industry, envrionmentalists, economic development folks, hunters, hikers and indeed anyone in the community who wanted to take part. She sat them all down at a very small table in her office - small tables make it harder to people to be nasty, she noted - and the result was a non-profit community group devoted to collaborative solutions to the issues facing the county, and especially its national forest lands....
Don't just blame the bugs The link between fire risk and the pine beetle epidemic sweeping through Colorado forests may not be as conclusive as generally assumed, according to Forest Service research. Based on a recent review of relevant studies, Forest Service scientists said there is no large amount of evidence suggesting that insect outbreaks significantly increase the fire risk in a given area. Other factors, including the presence of ladder fuels, are equally important. However, large areas of recently dead trees still carrying red needles can result in a more intense fire and enable such a blaze to spread more rapidly. The biggest risk to long-term forest health may come from super-hot, earth-baking fires 20 to 30 years after a bug infestation, when the trees are dead on the ground. And even then, it's important to remember that lodgepole forest ecology is marked by episodes of destruction and renewal....
Preserving pristine ecology But their excitement really begins when they hit the bottom of the rock pile about two-thirds of the way up the ridge. Standing near a 400-year old larch - with its unusual mix of western and alpine larch characteristics - the scientists are filled with wonder. "I'm in awe every time I come in here," Carlson said. "It's such a different piece of real estate than anywhere else. It's very, very unique." From this viewpoint, the men can pick out alpine larch already turning brilliant gold growing in amongst the pale green, heavily barked western larch. But there's more. Scattered here and there are trees that carry the characteristics of both species. While there are a few other places in the world where the two species of larch crossed traits over centuries, Carlson said this place marks perhaps the only spot where the hybridization occurred in well developed soils. Unlike most of the other rock-capped peaks in the Bitterroot Range, Carlton Ridge escaped being scraped clean during the era of glaciers. As a result, the ridge is covered in a relatively deep soil. "This hybridization appears to have occurred over thousands of years," Carlson said. "This isn't something that happened overnight once you get this crossover, the genetics get really complex. It's fascinating."....
2 men, 1 mountain, and endless determination It was an adventure four years in the making. Many day hikes, aerial reconnaissance and hours of research finally led Doug Shepherd of Anacortes and Dave Hess of Bow around Washington's Mount Baker. The two began what turned into a 71-mile, 11-day ordeal around the mountain on Aug. 22. They may have been the first to ever make such a trip. "We want to make sure and state that as far as we know nobody has ever hiked around Mount Baker," Shepherd said, "The Forest Service doesn't have any record, nor is it aware of anybody who has done this. I really want to stress that people should not try it, however." And for good reason. The trek was brutal. Both men pushed themselves to the edge of their mental and physical limits as they gained and lost about 60,000 feet in elevation over the 11 days. To say they were tested is an understatement. "This is no walk in the park," Shepherd said. "There were several places where we came out of the woods and were above sheer cliff faces. We got lucky. Most of the time, we came out perfect when it came to route finding."....
Eyeing Uranium With the price of uranium on the rise, Urex Energy wants to take a closer look at exactly what lies beneath the 2,740 acres it recently acquired full rights to on the La Jara Mesa of Cibola National Forest. The Reno, Nev., company has a request to explore the site before the U.S. Forest Service, which will be accepting written comments on the proposal until Nov. 6. Today's technology and tougher government regulations, Urex officials say, would spare the area from the widely acknowledged environmental fallout of uranium mining operations past. Unconvinced, American Indian groups opposed to the company's designs fear that renewed mining will only further contaminate their land and people and desecrate a sacred site. What Urex proposes to do, exactly, is drill 21 "exploratory holes," each one six inches in diameter and 1,200 feet deep, on the site, which lies a dozen or so miles northeast of Grants....
An argument for logging On the third, full weekend of June Encampment Wyoming hosts the annual Rocky Mountain Champion Lumberjack Completion where loggers come from all over the country to compete for the coveted title. Chips fly during this competition using chain saws, axes and hand saws, the men and women competitors cut down trees competing in events that include: Tree Felling, two-man handsaw tree felling, two-man handsaw, two-woman handsaw, power saw log bucking, one-man handsaw, man & woman handsaw team, choker setting, axe chopping, pole throw, axe throw, power saw log bucking, power saw log bucking, and the mad loggers chainsaw throw. It is refreshing to hear that this proud profession is still celebrated despite its vilification by America’s tree huggers who have turned a blind eye to their need for timber products in their crusade to reserve our forests for the Bark Beetle and fire. Proof that Patrick Moore’s approach is bearing fruit is the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), a comprehensive system of principles, objectives and performance measures developed by foresters, conservationists, and scientists that combine the perpetual growing and harvesting of trees with the long-term protection of wildlife, plants, soil and water quality. There are currently over 150 million acres of forestland (equaling 24 Yellowstones) in North America enrolled in the SFI program, making it among the world's largest sustainable forestry programs. Here in eastern Idaho and western Wyoming it is a shame that logging has come to a screeching halt. Due to our overabundance of squeaky wheels here in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem our forests are being managed for recreation only. This has triggered the death of our forest products industry which dates back to the time of our settlers....
Elk warning system first in United States On the Town of Star Valley's logo, a picture of an elk is prominently displayed because the animal is a common sighting within the town. Unfortunately, elk are also a common sighting on the highway that runs through Star Valley as well, creating a hazard for motorists. The Arizona Department of Transportation knew of the elk population in Star Valley well before that logo was created. ADOT has been working on a system to warn motorists traveling on Highway 260 when elk or other large animals are present on the outskirts of Star Valley. The alarm system will be placed about one mile east from the Diamond Points Shadow restaurant. Tom Goodman of ADOT is in charge of this project, and believes it will be completed sometime in November. The project includes two large, infrared cameras, a video grid system and other controls. The project will cost about $700,000 and is being funded by the Federal Highway Administration....
Wild Horse and Burro Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service are charged with managing wild horses and burros as an integral part of the natural ecosystem of public lands. The BLM has custodial responsibility for approximately 45,000 wild horses and burros living on more than 35 million acres throughout the western U.S. The BLM is presented with both the opportunities of managing a national symbol that holds a special place in the public's heart and ideals, and the challenges of maintaining those ideals in a manner that achieves and maintains a thriving natural ecological balance on public lands.2 The management of wild horses and burros also presents the equine practitioner with opportunities and challenges. Veterinarians can partner with adopters during the transition of wild horses and burros to domesticated life by sharing their knowledge of equines and providing quality veterinary care. The challenges--and there are many--involve working with a wild animal still unsure of its relationship with humans, and adopters whose experiences with horses and burros might be limited. This article will help horse owners understand how those equids came to be in wild horse herds--and thus in adoption programs--and the requirements imposed on an adopter for their care....
Shell is going to the wall for oil In an arid, sage-dotted valley here, Shell Exploration & Production Co. has begun work on what could be the final technological challenge to large-scale production of oil from shale. Shell already has figured out how to melt kerogen - the oil-like substance - from underground shale deposits with electric heaters to produce oil from one of the world's largest potential petroleum sources. Oil-shale deposits in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming have technically recoverable reserves of 500 billion to 1.1 trillion barrels of oil, according to a study last year by the Rand Corp. for the Department of Energy. The midpoint of the Rand estimate - 800 billion barrels - is three times the size of Saudi Arabia's reserves and enough to meet 25 percent of current U.S. oil demand for 400 years. Eager to tap into that possibility, Shell is spending $30 million to create and test a massive "freeze wall" that would extend from the surface to 1,700 feet below the ground. The walls would be 30 feet thick in a shape 300 feet wide by 350 feet long. It is designed for a dual purpose: to keep groundwater from infiltrating Shell's oil-shale wells, and to prevent produced oil from contaminating nearby groundwater....
What's good for Wyoming is great for the Michiganders Two families who squeezed into an apartment here waited months for permanent housing. Day-care centers are so packed that expectant mothers must put their names on waiting lists for their unborn child. A Quiznos sandwich shop can't keep workers at $9.50 an hour because of a labor shortage that sometimes shuts down the store. Ed Lambert couldn't be happier. He watched his homebuilding business in Flint, Mich., die as downsizing in the auto industry sucked the life from the local economy. Lambert and three of his employees drove 1,300 miles west in June, trading Michigan's shimmering lakes and dismal prospects for Wyoming's dry plains and sizzling economy. "We got in on a Sunday, and we were framing a house on Monday. It has been nonstop," said Lambert, 33, his sandy hair topped by a dusty Detroit Tigers baseball cap. "This building boom won't stop here for a good five years." With energy demand soaring, resource-rich Wyoming is struggling to find employees to work its mines and natural-gas and oil fields - and to staff a service industry scrambling to keep up with a booming population. The Bureau of Land Management estimates that by 2020, as many as 15,000 new jobs will be created in the coal-rich Powder River Basin that includes Campbell County and Gillette. The city's population last year of 22,685 is expected to reach nearly 30,000 by 2010....
The future Front Chuck Blixrud insists he’s not an activist. He’s an outfitter, a man who has made a living for almost 50 years taking tourists and hunters into his back yard, which just happens to be the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area. But the gentle smile tightens on the lanky, soft-spoken man’s well-weathered face as he considers the future of the long, narrow strip of national forest between his home and the Bob: the 390,000-acre Rocky Mountain Front. Blixrud and others are worried that temporary measures in place to limit gas and oil exploration and hard-rock mining on the Front may be too easily erased. So he’s stepped forward as one of the local advocates in this small community, hoping to convince others of the need to create the first new wilderness designation in Montana in more than 20 years for small portions of the Front. “We need to carve out our destiny,” Blixrud said, relaxing for a brief moment recently on a couch in his guest lodge. “We’re the gateway to the Rocky Mountains. Look at the sign as you pull into town (Choteau). You don’t see oil rigs on any signs. That just doesn’t go with the Montana mystique.” Blixrud’s stance on expanding the wilderness area is by no means universal here in Choteau, where “wilderness” is a dirty word to many. Blixrud has angered some in Choteau who believe additional wilderness would limit such activities as grazing or oil and gas drilling....
Groups say leave Otero Mesa alone Once upon a time the Butterfield Stage provided public transportation across a lonely and wild west, the aplomado falcon winged its way across grassland skies and ancient people left messages on the rocks for those who followed them. Today, long after those living presences are gone, the setting remains much the same. It's called Otero Mesa and is the focus of ongoing controversy in southern New Mexico. Now, the Wilderness Alliance has reviewed the impact of potential oil and gas wells on Otero Mesa in a new study they have done dubbed "Too Wild to Drill." Meanwhile, a coalition of business owners brought together by the Southwest Environmental Center is calling on the federal government to take action and protect Otero Mesa. In a related development, 50 business owners in southern New Mexico have written to Sen. Jeff Bingaman last week, calling on the senator to ensure the area is protected. Half of those businesses are located in Las Cruces, with another six in Mesilla. The remainder are in Truth or Consequences or Silver City. None of the 50 are in Otero County. The letter takes BLM to task for allegedly disregarding the historical and environmental importance of the area when it decided to open Otero Mesa to drilling....
BLM plan calls for land sales Following a federal trend of selling small, isolated tracts of difficult-to-manage public lands, the Bureau of Land Management wants to mark for sale or trade about 200,000 acres it manages in Platte, Converse and Goshen counties. But in this case, many of those tracts are accessible by public roads, state lands and national forest lands, although the BLM contends they offer little or no public access or recreational value. The BLM released a draft resource management plan and environmental impact statement for the Casper Field Office, which takes care of holdings in Natrona, Converse, Platte and Goshen counties, in July. That document, once approved, will guide management for the next 15 to 20 years on 1.4 million acres of BLM land. In draft form, the plan describes five alternative ways the BLM could manage lands and resources. The agency’s preferred alternative calls for making eligible for disposal all BLM holdings in Goshen and Platte counties, and most of its land in Converse County. The BLM manages 25,180 acres in Goshen County, 81,965 acres in Platte County, and 129,947 acres in Converse County....
Burning Man attracts record crowd to desert This year's Burning Man set a number of records, starting with the population of Black Rock City: 39,100 in the Black Rock Desert north of Gerlach at midnight on Sept. 1. "This year's population grew by about 3,360, or 9.4 percent, over last year's maximum of about 35,740," said Rodger Bryan, associate field manager for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management Winnemucca Field Office. In addition, as daytime incident commander for this year's Burning Man, Bryan added, "Everyone involved in the administration of the event agrees that this was the smoothest running Burning Man so far." The 17th consecutive festival of art and self-expression operated under terms of a permit issued by BLM's Winnemucca Field Office. It began Aug. 28 and ran through Sept. 4....
On Ted Turner's ranch, preservation and profits comfortably coexist There are no Ted's Montana Grill restaurants in Montana. Fifty of them have opened nationwide, but you won't find one in Montana. Partly that's because the word "Montana" has less marketing mystique for Montanans, who don't need the manufactured atmospherics. Partly, one suspects, it's because the owner of the chain, media mogul Ted Turner, remains a polarizing figure there even years after becoming one of the state's biggest landowners and most famous celebrity transplants. Montanans wouldn't necessarily boycott a chain with Turner's name on it, but they might shun it, given the lingering suspicion many old-timers have not just of the left-leaning, green-hugging Turner, but of the army of wealthy invaders that threatens to Aspenize the state. Turner runs bison on his ranches and embraces the re-wilding of the land with wolves, neither of which sit well with traditional cattlemen. Turner politically leans left, styles himself an environmentalist and pumps money into causes many Montanans, outside the college town of Missoula, see as radical. So imagine my surprise, during a recent visit to one of Turner's ranches, the 113,000-acre Flying D, to find that he's striking a sensible balance there between preservation and profit-making - proving the two can comfortably coexist. The Flying D provides lessons from which all sides in the public land wars might learn something, if they would put down their battle axes and pay attention....
The last Sierra shepherds Yips and yells pierce the air as a flock of 1,400 sheep trample their way through a talcum-colored haze near Prosser Reservoir, west of Truckee, Calif. Silhouetted by the rising sun, two shepherds wielding long staffs emerge from the dusty din stirred up by a cloud of agitated sheep and darting sheep dogs. Each of the shepherds' cries drive the herd closer to its destination - a white livestock trailer. The woolly throng slowly resigns itself to the direction of Piolin, Oso and Apache - three pointy-eared border collies. Soon four shepherds are working the flock, darting into clumps of wool and bucking legs to snare pregnant sheep identified by a streak of red paint between their eyes. It's an unlikely spot to happen upon a bustling sheep rodeo. Less than a minute away from where backhoes, dozers and dump trucks are busy molding 750 acres of forest into Truckee's latest golf course and luxury home development, the 150-year-old tradition of Sierra Nevada shepherding carries on in full force....
1881 book influenced cattlemen to overgraze Those of us who write for the public need to be aware of the impact of our words. (Take note, New York Times!) James S. Brisbin wrote a book in 1881 that had a tremendous effect on the U.S. cattle industry during the following decade. His book was The Beef Bonanza; or, How to Get Rich on the Plains. Readers have heard of “get rich quick” schemes today. Well, folks followed them a century and more ago as well. What is unusual about Brisbin and his book, however, is that I believe that he was sincere. He didn’t realize that overstocked ranges and an extremely cold winter would coincide. Who would have, back then? Brisbin, a general in the U.S. Army, served for many years in the West. He saw ranchers purchase young steers for $8 to $10 each, fatten them up for a year or two, and then sell them for $25 to $30. Often the cattlemen sold beef to the military posts or even provided the animals as part of the annuity payments that the government delivered to Indians. Government contracts proved lucrative then as they often do now. The reason Brisbin made a big splash with this book, and changed history even, was that many British upper-class folks read it as well. The eldest son of a titled lord inherited everything, so all of the younger sons had to look for careers. Some went into the army or the church; others worked for the British East India Tea Company and returned to England as wealthy nabobs. Brisbin’s book opened a door for the young Britishers in the American West. What Brisbin realized was that many a rancher who went up the trail from Texas could make thousands of dollars of profits in a season of trailing longhorns. One did not have to be a rancher, either. He could just buy the cattle in Texas cheaply (borrow the money if he had to) and sell for a lot more at the end of the trail. Let me cite the money that Texan C.C. Slaughter and his father G.W. made over several years: 1868, 800 head, $32,000; 1869, 2,000 head, $90,000; 1870, 3,000 head $105,000....
Story of bloody feud still told in Young Marie and Jim Petroff, members of the Pleasant Valley Historical Society gave a tour to Gila County Cooperative Extension agents that included a visit to Boot Hill, the old Tewksbury cabin in Young and the historic home of Ola Young, the town's first postmaster. These places are generally only open to the public on Pleasant Valley Day, the second Saturday in July. The first two sites are important because they are the part of Arizona's history known as The Pleasant Valley War. "Twenty-eight people died and another 50 associated people died or disappeared in the war," Jim Petroff told the extension agents. "The story starts in 1879 when James Tewksbury and his four sons moved to Pleasant Valley with the idea of starting a horse breeding ranch." But they actually made more money from selling pigs and cattle rustling than breeding horses. In 1882, the Tewksburys met Tom Graham and his three brothers and convinced them that Pleasant Valley was a good place to start a cattle ranch. The Grahams were not prepared for winter and the Tewksburys cared enough to see them through it. Also located in Pleasant Valley was the large Stinson Ranch. When summer came, the Grahams contracted with Stinson, the absentee owner, to stop area cattle rustlers. "Of course, the Grahams were some of the major rustlers," Jim said. "They brought charges against their competitors the Tewksburys."....
Torn over Tombstone You can't get Wyatt Earp to say anything bad about Terry "Ike" Clanton. One hundred and twenty-five years after animosity between the Clantons and the Earps sparked the infamous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, their descendants are friends. But that doesn't mean they agree about who is to blame for the 30-second gunfight that left three men dead and changed the lives of the survivors and their descendants. "I've always said it was the first form of police brutality in America," says Clanton, a cousin of the infamous Clanton clan. "It's amusing," says Earp, a nephew of the storied lawman. "(Clanton) talks about the Clantons and McLaurys as not being bad guys. Oh, boy. I know better." Thursday will mark the 125th anniversary of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. On Oct. 26, 1881, building tension between the Earps, who represented law and order in Tombstone, and the Clantons and McLaurys, cattle rustlers and outlaws, erupted into a bloody confrontation. The legacy of the men who fought that day has become the economic backbone of modern Tombstone and an integral part of the lives of Clanton and Earp....
The Franklins: The Family and The Legacy Urbane yet impulsive, a smooth-talker with a penchant for making deals and taking calculated risks, Harris Franklin was a born capitalist. A Jewish immigrant who grew up in central Europe before coming to the U.S. as a teenager, Franklin was born a Finkelstein, but like many naturalized citizens, he remarketed himself with a new family name. He parlayed his skills into a multi-million-dollar personal empire that would come to dominate Deadwood’s business world. The Franklin family fortune may have started with a vibrant cigar and liquor business, but it didn’t end there. Franklin amassed holdings in the mining, banking and cattle ranching industries, and rubbed elbows with powerful families in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C. As their influence grew, the Franklin family began to use their power to shape Deadwood, both politically and economically, as it entered the 20th century. Though the last of the Franklins left Deadwood in 1920, their legacy remains. Traces of their once-proud empire still flavor almost every corner of the city today, from its Victorian neighborhoods to the now-restored business district. With little wonder, then, the Franklins remain one of Deadwood’s most celebrated founding families....
Cuero hoping to take cowboy legacy to bank For more than 100 years, South Texas cattle ranchers have taken an extra measure of pride in their heritage, knowing that their 19th-century predecessors helped make the Chisholm Trail the stuff of cowboy legend. The cattle-drive route stretching north to Kansas was used by an estimated 6 million head of Texas livestock from 1866-84 in the rough-and-tumble era after the Civil War but before the proliferation of barbed wire and railroads. Until recently, however, Cuero, whose very name means "rawhide" in Spanish, hasn't fully explored — or exploited — its part of that legacy. But that's about to change. Backed by dozens of benefactors throughout Texas, area ranching families and others have launched an ambitious $3.75-million campaign to secure Cuero's place in history by establishing a Chisholm Trail Heritage Museum in early 2009....
HAWAII'S COWGIRL The notion of an American cowgirl is specific. They must be able-bodied and strong-willed. It helps if they can rope and ride. They must stand toe-to-toe with the men in the face of bad weather, smelly stock and economic hard times. Rose Cambra Freitas, one of this year's inductees into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame, has done all of that. And she has done it in an unusual setting. Freitas is from Hawaii, where sprawling sugar-cane fields were her frontier. She doesn't remember the first time she rode a horse, but she does know she has been around them ever since. She was born to be a horse lover -- her grandparents were horse people who moved to the islands to find a better life working on the plantations. Her father, Louis DeCambra, was a cane-harvesting boss at the Puunene sugar plantation, and his daily work was done entirely on horseback. Freitas will be inducted into the Cowgirl Hall on Thursday, along with rancher Minnie Lou Bradley, women's suffrage leader Esther Hobart Morris, barrel racing champion Sharon Camarillo and legendary bronc rider Bonnie McCarroll....
On the Edge of Common Sense: Animal survivors: Next reality TV fad? In our effort to plumb the depths of humiliation and bad taste, television producers have now invented a reality show based on pitting races against each other. They have chosen whites vs. blacks vs. Asians vs. Latinos, leaving out the obvious: cowboys vs. Indians vs. French vs. cows. I can see spinoffs in the agricultural world: HEREFORD BREEDERS VS. ANGUS BREEDERS: It would be billed as "Cancer eye vs. Prolapsed sheath!" Contestants would be forced to mouth, preg check and cull purebred look-alikes from the Nacogdoches sale barn, and the audience would pick the winner! HORSE PEOPLE VS. MULE PEOPLE: The overconfident vs. the true believers! This reality show would force mule people to beat horse people in every possible contest. Then the horse people would have to try and explain why the horse really won. STOCK DOG BORDER COLLIES VS. CITY PARK BORDER COLLIES: Sheep police vs. Frisbee catchers! Sheepmen would order their border collies to herd ducks, old ewes, baby calves, kindergarten classes, or intransigent Pomeranians through an intricate obstacle course to display their natural ability and intelligence. City border collies would respond by jumping hurdles, catching balls and running through culverts, displaying their usefulness in case of a Presidentially Declared State of Hurdle, Ball and Culvert emergency! HOUSE CATS VS. BARN CATS....