Texas ranchers, Army work together Cattle and cannon fire are a poor mix, but ranch families and the Army have been mixing them together on 200,000 acres at Fort Hood, Texas, for more than 50 years. Home of the III Corps and the 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood is the Army's largest armor training post, covering 217,000 acres just north of Killeen, Texas. The post was established in the early days of World War II when the Army was racing to prepare for war overseas and needed training bases quickly. So the War Department condemned the ranches and farms of some 300 families to create then-Camp Hood in the cedar-covered hill country between Austin and Waco. The Army expanded the post again during the Korean War (1950-53). "My family lost land both times," said Steve Manning, a rancher and member of the Central Texas Cattlemen's Association, an exclusive group of ranchers whose families were evicted to make Fort Hood. "When the Army expanded the post during the Korean War, it reached out to the landowners and agreed to let them continue to graze cattle on the land. It was sort of a package deal and we've been doing that since 1954." In Southeastern Colorado, the Army and area ranchers have been at odds for two years now over a plan to expand the 238,000-acre Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site northeast of Trinidad....
Indian River County Ranchers might get $9.5 million to settle land dispute Veteran cattle rancher Pat Corrigan says he and his family would rather accept millions of dollars from regional water managers to settle a flooding dispute than fight public sentiment against a proposed land trade. "We just got to where we said to heck with it, we've got to get this over with some time," Corrigan said Friday. Last summer, the Corrigans were ready to add almost 1,300 public-owned acres, known as Sand Lake, to their 9,000-acre ranch near Fellsmere and get a check for $657,000 in tax dollars from the St. Johns River Water Management District. The district was going to get 460 flooded acres from Corrigan's ranch in the trade — but also avoid lawsuits the family was considering after years of district operations flooding parts of the ranch. Indian River County officials filed a legal challenge in October with Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet, arguing the 1,300 acres of conservation land should not be classified as surplus and allowed to be traded away. Corrigan said the family decided to take a different approach last fall after tiring of public criticism and the slow progress of the deal....
Compensation sought by families over easements Does a property owner have rights to just compensation and clear title when railroad easements on one’s land are abandoned? Such is the question posed to the Federal Court of Claims in Washington, D.C., by several Cochise County families as they fight a federal law that took railroad easements across their lands and placed them in a state of limbo as the railroad and interested parties negotiated over the strips of land that could become public trails. The Rails-to-Trails Act was an amendment to earlier federal legislation that was initiated to put a hold on abandoned railroad line beds so the tracks could be replaced and service could resume if the railroad industry recovered. Railbanking, as it is called, allowed organizations and local governments to snap the rail beds up for use in the interim as public trails, said attorney Thor Hearne, from the firm Lathrop & Gage, L.C., in St. Louis, Mo., who is representing the families involved. Unfortunately, the law did not include compensation to the property owners for the public’s use of their lands. Over the past 20 years, the government has been the defendant in a number of civil suits filed by property owners who wanted just compensation for the loss of their lands. In many instances, they won their suits. Hearne cites a case known as Presault II that went before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in which the justices concluded that “the taking that resulted from the establishment of a recreational trail is properly laid at the doorstep of the federal government … That it was a valued public use is not the issue. We have a straightforward taking of private property for public use for which compensation must be paid.”....
Biologist withdraws rabbit claim A Montana biologist has withdrawn his claim in a recent study that a rabbit species has disappeared from the Yellowstone area. Joel Berger, a senior scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society, said Thursday that he has been contacted by at least six biologists and naturalists refuting his conclusions about the white-tailed jack rabbit. He said they provided photos and anecdotal evidence the rabbit still lives in the area. "Yes, there were some left," Berger said. "I've got egg on the face, absolutely." Berger's study, published in January in the science journal Oryx, claimed the once-common rabbit had disappeared from the Yellowstone region sometime last century, for unknown reasons. His findings were written about by news organizations, including The Associated Press. On Thursday, Berger said he now believes the rabbits survive in small numbers within Yellowstone National Park and nearby Gardiner. He provided a copy of a letter he said will correct the record in Oryx's April issue....
Elk dying from eating lichen Scientists say elk are dying again in the Red Rim area of southern Wyoming, apparently from eating lichen. A biologist with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department said three elk have died in the Red Rim southwest of Rawlins in the last week. The three were possibly poisoned from eating a rare form of lichen that causes them to lose the use of their legs. Scientists say they have not seen any hint that a catastrophic die-off is looming similar to one that killed hundreds of elk in the area in 2004. Three hundred animals from an 800-elk herd died after eating lichen in the same area four years ago. Scientists later determined that the lichen can kill elk, even though antelope can eat it with no ill effects.
Prairie Chicken Festival set for April 11-13 Once a year, the small eastern New Mexico community of Milnesand hosts the annual High Plains Prairie Chicken Festival, drawing spectators from near and far, to watch the mating dance of the lesser prairie chicken. Registration is now being taken for the seventh annual High Plains Prairie Chicken Festival which is slated for April 11-13. The three-day event centers around the lesser prairie chicken, an icon of the Southern Great Plains, as it congregates on traditional breeding grounds called “leks.,” according to a New Mexico Department of Game and Fish news release. Events will include birdwatching, talks with ranchers and biologists working to conserve prairie chickens, and education about the Southern Great Plains ecosystem through tours of prairie dog ecology, archeology, plant identification and playa lakes. In addition, field tours will be conducted on plants, soils and land use and there will be guided bird tours. Information will also be offered on photo tips, reptiles and amphibians and grassland habitat and restoration....Now ain't that something. A three day festival to watch birds screw.
Rosebud tribe tells feds to remove ferrets Several years ago, the federal government placed some endangered black-footed ferrets on Rosebud Sioux tribal land. Now, the tribe wants the feds to take them back. The tribal council has passed a resolution that tells two federal agencies to remove the animals and reimburse the tribe for its expenses. The council's action apparently involves its objection to a federal investigation of the tribe's prairie dog poisoning program. Prairie dogs are the ferrets' main food source but ranchers dislike prairie dogs for the damage they do to rangeland. The tribe's resolution says the federal government is threatening to prosecute tribal employees or agents carrying out the tribe's prairie dog management plan despite a lack of evidence that prairie dog poisoning killed any ferrets. Federal officials generally refuse comment.
Yellowstone bison killings may set record The number of Yellowstone National Park bison killed through disease management and hunting is on track to hit an all-time high this winter, after another 87 animals were captured Friday. The planned slaughter of those animals would bring to 1,090 the number of bison killed by government agencies and hunters this winter. The previous high was 1,084, in 1997. Wandering bison worry ranchers because many of the park's bison have brucellosis. If the disease spreads to cattle, it can cause cows to abort their calves. The mounting death toll in Yellowstone this winter underscores the difficulty government agencies have had in finding a lasting solution to the disease. A state-federal agreement signed in 2000 was intended to give bison more room to roam outside the park over time, but that has largely not happened....
Bringing in the Harvest Throughout the year, America’s farmers work hard to produce the staples of life – food, fiber, renewable forest products and crops for homegrown biofuels. While National Agriculture Day, observed on March 20, celebrates farmers’ and ranchers’ contributions to American society, many farmers will tell you the true celebration can’t really start till their job is done. The job? Making sure as many Americans as possible have the opportunity to enjoy the bounty produced on our nation’s farms and ranches. That’s why Farm Bureau and America’s Second Harvest – our nation’s premier network of food banks – team up on a program called Harvest for All. Through Harvest for All, spearheaded by Farm Bureau’s Young Farmer and Rancher participants, farmers across the United States work together to donate food, funds and people power to move us closer to reaching the goal of a hunger-free America....
Cattle Rustlers Still Thriving Out West Two guys and a four-door sedan. That's all it took for cattle rustlers to relieve dairy owner Pete Wiersma of three valuable calves. Once the province of outlaws and the bane of hardscrabble ranchers who grazed their cattle on the open range, cattle rustling has never gone away. Like the livestock industry, it's only gotten more efficient. In general, cattle rustling tends to increase whenever beef prices are high, said Larry Hayhurst, head of the Idaho State Patrol Division of brands. Because the price of cattle feed has been relatively high this year — making the cattle more expensive to raise and lowering the potential profit — the theft reports should be on a downswing. But in rural dairy regions — where milk cows can nearly always fetch a high price and methamphetamine use is becoming as much a part of the landscape as grain silos and milking barns — the rustling reports seem to stay fairly constant. The Idaho State Police gets between 300 and 500 reports of lost or missing cattle a year, Hayhurst said. The numbers have been consistent for about a decade. "Most of the rustlers are stealing for the money, the profit — whether it be to put food on the table or to trade for drugs," said Idaho State Police brand inspector Sean McCarthy....
Rural veterinarians scarce in New Mexico On a freezing morning last week, Michael Callahan was driving in the ice-packed Pecos Canyon when his truck started sliding backward down a steep hill. The longtime veterinarian put the truck in park, "but it just kept sliding," he said. Callahan finally had to chain the truck to a tree and call his client for help. Eventually, he got around to the reason he was out in the cold to begin with: castrating a horse. It's all in a day for Callahan and other rural veterinarians in New Mexico. Their patients run the gamut from hamsters to cows. They never know what to expect from day to day. "I enjoy what I do. I like the rural practice where it's always different," said Callahan, who owns the Pecos Valley Veterinary Hospital. But there are fewer rural veterinarians like him in the state and around the West. Eight New Mexico counties have no veterinarians, according to the American Veterinary Medicine Association. Six of the counties, with at least 25,000 or more cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens, have no veterinarians who work on food animals....
Longhorns in Luverne Saturday marked the fifth annual Prairie Rock Longhorn Sale in Luverne, and buyers and sellers came from as far as Montana and Wyoming for the opportunity to sell some stock and acquire new additions for their herds. Conducted at the Luverne Livestock Auction Barn, the special Texas Longhorn sale drew roughly 300 head of cattle. John Siebenahler, owner of Prairie Rock Ranch in rural Luverne, organizes the sale. Siebenahler raises longhorn cattle in both southwest Minnesota and South Dakota and said he probably has the largest longhorn herd in the Upper Midwest with close to 500 head. On the auction block were an assortment of bulls, cows, breeding heifers and feeder steers — including some older trophy steers with horn lengths of 90 to 110 inches from tip to tip, Siebenahler said. “We get consignors and buyers in the Upper Midwest, from Wyoming and Montana to Wisconsin, southern Iowa and Nebraska,” he added. “The biggest call is for ropers — people use them for roping or penning.”....
10-day ride boosts Cracker horse's chance for Florida honor Bless the Florida Cracker horse. Last week, a pair of horsemen finished up a 10-day ride to raise awareness about the breed -- and boosted a campaign to designate them the state's official Heritage Horse. Billy Ray Hunter and Carlton Dudley followed the path of Hernando de Soto, leaving from the Tampa area. The Cracker horse is genetically linked to the Spanish horses that made landfall with de Soto. While Hunter and Dudley were joined by riders and the media along the way, it would have been neat if the trail could have passed through Osceola and Polk counties. The Cracker horse owes a bunch to Osceola's ranchers -- including members of the Bronson, Whaley and Partin families. The small, agile horses hark back to days when the range was open. The horse was first introduced to Florida by Spanish explorers and were among the first horses to reach the continental United States. They are known for their unusual strength and endurance, herding instinct, quickness and fast walking gait....
Marlins take heat over hog-hunting hurler Could be a long season for the Florida Marlins, and not just because of the expected losses. The environmental group that saw 27 of its members arrested last month in a protest against FPL is telling the Marlins they need to rein in pitcher Logan Kensing, or else. What did the reliever do? The off-season rancher finds it rewarding to track wild hogs and coyotes with a helicopter hovering over his native Texas, then gun them down from above. "We want the Marlins to make him agree to stop," said the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition's co-chair, attorney Barry Silver. On Saturday, he sent a strongly worded letter to Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria. "They have 10 days from Monday to reprimand the player for behavior that isn't one of a role model. If they don't, we will be persistent. We'll infiltrate the fans and pull out signs. We'll picket. If we're willing to have 27 people arrested, it's obvious we're committed." In a Feb. 21 interview with The Palm Beach Post, Kensing talked about his hobby in these terms: "The pilot's pretty good. He gets right next to them. We spot them, he flies in sideways, glides and we shoot them." As a matter of fact, Kensing thinks it's so much fun that he now wants his own chopper....Congrats to the headline writer, I just love that "hog-hunting hurler." He could also be called "coyote-killing Kensing." Let's just hope he can pitch as good as he can shoot.
History in the soles of your shoes When you're trying to impress your socially prominent out-of-town guests, the last thing you want to do is let them fly into a public airport. So, if you've got the moolah and own the top of Lower Table Rock, you carve out a ¾-mile-long runway through the solidified lava, vernal pools and fairy shrimp, and charter an airplane or two to give everyone a chance at the most impressive landing of a lifetime. You let your visitors admire the view for a few minutes, then take them down on a drive by the river, where you keep them entertained and offer them a chance to purchase some quality real estate. The brain behind this operation in 1948 was John Day. For those who don't remember, Day was a popular local rancher, owner of a land development company and an enthusiastic outdoorsman. Day and two partners had partitioned some land near the Gold Ray Dam, called it the Table Rock Estates, constructed some luxury houses, and then invited a few Hollywood celebrities and executives to a three-day party. Only an adventurous few actually landed on the newly built airstrip on that first weekend in November. The rest felt much safer flying into the well-established 17-year-old Jackson County Airport. Ginger Rogers, who had bought a ranch near Shady Cove in 1941, served as hostess to the group, which, according to a Mail Tribune reporter, had left "most of the trappings and artificiality of Hollywood behind."....
Collectors wired for the barbs that won the West As a collectible, barbed wire has everything it needs - a wire guru, annual conventions and a special kind of wire that is the crown jewel of every collection, the coveted Dodge Star. But recent wildfires in Texas have threatened the supply of collectible antique wire. There are six state associations in the United States for people who find beauty in the sharp-edged spools of wire that were once strung across millions of acres of land, and each hosts its own yearly barbed wire show. There are more than 2,000 varieties of the stuff, and the rarest can fetch nearly $1,000 for an 18-inch strand. The Devil’s Rope Barbed Wire Museum, one of two barbed wire museums, has roughly 1,300 different types of barbed wire on display, according to estimates by Gipson, manager and curator of the museum for the last 14 years. The Barbed Wire Identification Encyclopedia is the primary resource for collectors, and Harold L. Hagemeier, an author and former chairman of the Antique Barbed Wire Society, updates it whenever a new wire is discovered. A hero in barbed wire lore, John Warne Gates, better known as “Bet-A-Million” Gates, was one of barbed wire’s luminaries. In 1876, Gates bet a group in San Antonio that he could build a wire pen on the grounds of the Alamo that could contain a group of longhorn cattle. Fencing materials were scarce in Texas and cattle usually roamed freely - the ability to fence them in pens would provide a great benefit to ranchers seeking to keep track of their longhorns. Gates’ product, a type of barbed wire he brought with him from Illinois, the birthplace of barbed wire, met the challenge, and he became a millionaire overnight, according to the legend....