Monday, June 07, 2010

Governor assails species litigation

Gov. Dave Freudenthal on Friday called for changes in both the federal Endangered Species Act and in the law that allows environmental groups to search for friendly venues to file lawsuits under the act. Speaking at the summer convention of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association in Casper, the Democrat said litigation in recent years concerning wolves and sage grouse should have been handled in federal court in Wyoming, not in Montana and Idaho. “I lost my shirt” in rulings in those cases, Freudenthal lamented, because environmental groups’ lawsuits were handled by judges “who rule how environmental groups want them to.” The governor was referring to U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Montana and U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill in Idaho. Speaking to the livestock producers, Freudenthal reiterated his view that the Endangered Species Act should be changed but said neither Republican nor Democratic presidential administrations have been willing “to touch” the issue...more

The Western Watersheds Project’s Assault on Family Ranchers

Another Earth Day has come and gone. Earth Day has become a holy day of obligation for America’s secular religion, the environmentalist movement. But hidden behind the facade of planting trees or discussing the virtues of “paper or plastic” is a well-financed global group of dedicated radicals who are bent on changing the way we live whether we like it or not. They are funded by a vast network of wealthy individuals, trust funds, and foundations who selectively give money to organizations they can control like puppets on a string (think George Soros). One such organization has dedicated its entire existence to the warped dream of one man who says that his ultimate goal in life is to destroy families and a way of life with absolutely no regard for the economic or human cost. Meet Jon Marvel and the Western Watersheds Project. This is an organization that bills itself, according to its mission statement, as a group dedicated “to protect and restore western watersheds and wildlife through public education, public policy initiatives and litigation” That last word “litigation” is the key, because in truth they are nothing more than a group of professional plaintiffs who have filed hundreds of lawsuits against the government and individuals to accomplish their goals. Between 2000 and 2009 they have filed 91 lawsuits and 31 appeals in Idaho alone and hundreds more throughout the West...more

Wolf-recovery program now 'at risk of failure'

Twelve years after Mexican gray wolves were reintroduced in Eastern Arizona, their dwindling numbers are putting the population "at risk of failure," says a recent report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Factors such as the rigid borders of the endangered wolves' recovery area, removal of wolves to protect livestock, and illegal shooting of wolves are keeping the only wild population of Mexican gray wolves from growing, says the "conservation assessment" released last month. The project has cost taxpayers $20 million or more since 1998. Now officials and others are seeking a way to move the wolf program further from its origin as a way to rescue the subspecies, and instead create a viable wild population. Among the initiatives under way is a proposed release of eight captive wolves into the area, which would be the most wolves released since 2003. The regional head of the Fish and Wildlife Service discussed the possible release with the directors of Arizona's and New Mexico's game and fish departments Wednesday. Much of what the service and environmentalists are proposing, Schneberger sees as threatening to her livelihood and that of her neighbors. The truth about the project, Schneberger said, is it's doomed by genetic limitations. Just seven wolves trapped in the 1970s are ancestors of the entire population of Mexican gray wolves, including the 42 in the project and more than 300 in captive breeding sites. "They have plenty of space. They just can't breed," Schneberger said...more

Ex-BLM chief backs wild-horse preserve plan in NV

A former U.S. Bureau of Land Management director has endorsed a proposed wild-horse preserve in Nevada, saying it makes more sense than Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's plan to send mustangs to the Midwest. Jim Baca, who served under President Bill Clinton in 1993 and 1994, said horses should remain in the West to spare the cost of land purchases and leases associated with government-funded, long-term holding facilities in the Midwest. He noted the West has abundant BLM-managed land. "It doesn't make sense to send them to the Midwest when you already own the land you already need," Baca told The Associated Press on Friday. "The BLM should try something different. What they do now doesn't work and has never worked." Under the proposal by the horse advocacy group Return to Freedom and the Soldier Meadows Ranch, about 1,700 captive horses would be sent to the ranch for short-term holding before their eventual release back to the range...more

GASLAND to debut June 21 on HBO

What a fascinating story. Filmmaker Josh Fox is offered $100,000 for the natural gas drilling rights to his property in the Delaware River Basin on the border of New York and Pennsylvania. Drill, baby, drill? Many would be tempted to take the money and run. Not Fox. He just ran. Or rather, set off on a cross-country trip to do a little investigating about what it would have meant if he signed on the dotted line and let the gas company drill away. "Gasland" is Fox's urgent, cautionary, and sometimes darkly comic look at the largest domestic natural gas drilling campaign in history, which is currently sweeping the country and promising landowners a quick payoff. Part verité road trip, part exposé, part mystery and part showdown, "Gasland" follows director Fox on a 24-state investigation of the environmental effects of hydraulic fracturing. What he uncovers is mind-boggling: tap water so contaminated it can be set on fire right out of the tap; chronically ill residents with similar symptoms in drilling areas across the country; and huge pools of toxic waste that kill livestock and vegetation...more

Wyo. plan seeks slaughter of some unwanted horses

The state representative behind a new law allowing the Wyoming Livestock Board to slaughter unwanted horses says the plan could include using a Cheyenne stockyard as a holding bin for the animals. State Rep. Sue Wallis, R-Recluse, is executive director of the United Organizations of the Horse, the nonprofit group pursuing the plan. She sponsored House Bill 122, which passed during this winter's legislative session to make the plan possible. Wallis said United Organizations of the Horse is discussing the plan with the Wyoming Livestock Board. Under the plan, horses would be screened and then rehabilitated, trained or slaughtered, depending on their condition. "Many of us believe that the best and responsible solution is humane slaughter and good use of that meat,'' said Wallis, a rancher. Wallis said the group would take horses either from people who couldn't sell or keep their horses for some reason, or from brand inspectors and law enforcement officers who find starving horses with clear titles. Horses in reasonably good condition would be rehabilitated, while horses that are old, untrainable or dangerous would be slaughtered. Wallis said slaughtering could potentially be conducted with a mobile operation that could be taken to different areas of the state. The meat would be primarily marketed for zoo feed and pets, but could also be sold for human consumption in the state...more

Rebuilt farmhouse to be reflection of pioneer past

A 140-year-old adobe farmhouse that burned in the 2007 wildfires is not only rising from the ashes, but will offer more insight into the lives of farmers in the post-Gold Rush era. The Sikes Adobe Historic Farmstead in Escondido, which only had walls left after the fires, will reopen June 26. The structure that was destroyed had a few articles of furniture in it. But the $700,000 rebuilt version will be almost fully furnished with period tables, a parlor stove, a platform rocking chair that operates on springs, a pie safe used for storing pies and a hutch for dishes. All were bought from various sources with a $12,000 grant from the county, said Anne Cooper, manager of the museum. The new house is being built according to measurements taken of the old one in 2004, when it was restored by architectural historian Ione Stiegler. Stiegler is the architect for the rebuilding, and contractor Mark Sauer is doing the reconstruction. Visitors will now see an exact replica of the old house, down to the dimensions of the logs, the thickness of the walls, the details of molding and siding, even the whitewash, Sauer said...more

Nice, but a $700,000 farmhouse?

Like a scene from a Hollywood Western

f you've ever wondered what it was like to grow up in a pioneer town, the Homestead Village is about as close as it gets. Begun in 1988 by the Fort Rock Valley Historical Society, the village has grown to more than 10 buildings that sit on a dry and windy prairie, rivaling anything seen in a Clint Eastwood Western. The village began with two abandoned buildings that were about to be burned down because ranchers believed they were a danger to cattle that wandered the open range. First was Britt Webster's hand-hewn log cabin, only a roof, four walls, five windows and a door. It was the family home from homesteader days until the death of Webster's only son, Carl, in 1988. Next was Dr. James Thom's tiny two-room medical office, its shelves stocked with medicine bottles. Thom was the only physician in the Fort Rock Valley during the influenza pandemic of 1918, but he kept his neighbors safe and only lost one patient. Almost every pioneer town had at least one church, and in the Fort Rock Valley, built entirely of wood in 1918, it was St. Rose's Catholic Church. If you stand on its porch and look toward the Webster cabin you'll see the town's vintage windmill...more

It's all Trew: Photos serve as reminder of boundaries' importance (John Prather)

In our modern times when eminent domain and development arrogance often dominate the evening news, we received the story and photos of John Prather, a rancher who lived in Otero County, N.M. Prather garnered national attention in the 1950s by taking a heroic stand against the U.S. government's attempt to condemn his ranch in order to add it to the nearby McGregor Missile Range, a part of Fort Bliss, near El Paso. Although the Devil's Rope Museum in McLean has a huge library about barbed wire, some 6,000 related artifacts and a section dedicated to ranches and brands, we still welcome true stories about the uses and history of these subjects. The story of John Prather fit our requirements as it told of early-day fence building, the importance of defining our boundaries and protecting our right to own land until death, if need be. The package contained photos and published documents plus eight livestock brands used by the family, all registered with the New Mexico State Brand Records dating from 1888 to modern times. A special display has been constructed to house and show this information. Brothers John and Owen Prather traveled from Van Zandt County in Texas to the Prather Ranch in New Mexico in 1883 to begin homesteading. There was no surface water on the vast semi-desert grasslands, so the brothers took work teams and fresnos and began damming up the arroyos and watersheds where possible. In good years, larger equipment was used to build larger lakes and finally a water well some 1,015 feet deep was drilled. Eventually, John Prather built his ranch to include 27,000 acres grazing approximately 1,000 cows...more

Song Of The Day #328

It's another Swingin' Monday on Ranch Radio.

Today's selection is Down The Line by Elana James. James is the former fiddle player for the group Hot Club of Cowtown and this is from her first solo album, titled Elana James.



Stats don’t reflect border fear

Federal statistics may show a drop in violence for big cities in border states, but they don’t reflect the reality of rural areas along the border, local experts say. While the studies may be truthful, they don’t capture the reality of life along the border, said Palominas-based veterinarian Gary Thrasher. “Douglas is safer than it ever was, but go out into the San Bernardino Valley and it’s a different story,” Thrasher said. While larger cities are receiving federal dollars and beefing up efforts, they’re forcing border-related crime into the rural areas, said Thrasher, whose work with cattle ranchers takes him to both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border. “They have those reports, and they certainly look good, but in fact they don’t tell the whole story,” he said. “They’re leaving us out.” Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever said residents of the rural areas along the border would come to a different conclusion. “You tell that to the people in the eastern part of the county who’ve experienced home invasions and multiple crimes,” Dever said. “Ask them if those statistics have any meaning.”...more

Border ranchers react to White House meeting

All eyes and ears were on Governor Brewer and President Obama on Thursday as the two met at the White House to discuss securing the border, including sending National Guard troops. Arguably, few have more at stake than the ranching community of southern Arizona who spend their days and nights keeping watch over their property. In late March of this year, one of their own, Robert Krentz was shot to death on his ranch near Douglas. The killer's identity is unknown, as is the killer's immigration status. But investigators have said they suspect the murder was the work of an illegal border crosser. Even after the senseless murder, border crimes against Kentz' family and the close-knit ranching community haven't stopped. KGUN9 talked to Gary Thrasher, a friend of the Krentz family and also a rancher. Thrasher explained what has been happening in the areas closest to the border. "People are breaking into homes, intimidating women to lock themselves into bedrooms. There have been 2 or 3 threats since Rob's been killed," Thrasher said. For a family that was already devastated by the loss of a loved one, more acts of crime are terrifying and push them to a breaking point. Thrasher told KGUN9 that shortly after Krentz' murder, someone broke into the home belonging to Krentz' sister. Thrasher said he's hoping all this won't result in another shooting. President Obama has promised Governor Brewer that in two weeks' time, his staffers will come down to assess the situation for themselves...more

Rancher has close-up view of immigration debate

Rancher Chip Johns calls a spacious, hacienda-style house in southwestern Doña Ana County home. He's lived there about 25 years, ever since selling the food processing plant he used to own in Santa Teresa and jumping into the ranching business. The 66-year-old said he's the nearest full-time county resident to the Mexican border, outside the urban center of El Paso. He said he doesn't feel extremely threatened by the undocumented immigrant traffic that crosses his ranch on a daily basis. He admitted the situation has its risks, but seemed resigned to accepting them. While Johns said the immigration problem doesn't seem especially bad at the moment in the county, he's concerned about what will happen because of the renewed focus on Arizona's border. He said he's worried immigrant traffic will shift toward New Mexico. "When they close the border at Arizona, like they're going to do, all those people are going to start coming this way," he said. Johns said he's concerned that a proposal for creating federally designated wilderness on acreage he ranches near the Potrillo Mountains, in the southwest corner of the county, would create an immigrant smuggling corridor because of prohibitions against vehicle travel in wilderness...more

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Cowgirl Sass & Savvy

Luck is in the jeans

by Julie Carter

Every cowboy has a "secret weapon" that gives them a competing edge. Their arsenal for the illusion, or delusion, of luck runs the gamut of superstitions.

With rodeo and roping season moving into the heat of the year, both by thermometer and by calendar, cowboys are plotting, planning, driving and surviving while taking their best shots at making the finals.

A cowboy's belief in what brings him success, while often falling short on factual verification, will never lack in creativity.

Jim was a calf roper who carried a gallon jug of water in his camper in which to wash his lucky rodeo shirt, never pouring the water out all summer.

"Don't want to wash out the luck so you have to keep it in the water," he'd say.

By the end of a long rodeo season he was noticeably a loner. Apparently, the smell of luck was not as socially rewarding as the possession of it.

As a team roper, Walker always believed that hard work paid off and he endorsed the theory that "perfect practice makes perfect." But lately, he'd begun to wonder if he wasn't standing in the wrong line.

A similar "wrong line" feeling had occurred to him when he was in college. Walker recalled that incident landed him erroneously in the military corps. Repeating that lesson, even hypothetically, was not a good plan.Walker had spent his entire adult life pasture roping in all kinds of weather, most often riding a green colt with no one around to help. Every loop had to count.

When he reached a point in life where he could rope for fun, he built a good arena, kept a supply of fresh Corriente steers, bought exceptional horses and ropes by the boxcar full. And, he practiced non-stop.

He was dedicated to eating right, exercising, regular strength training and of course, took his vitamins. He was selective about the ropings he entered and even more discriminating in choosing his roping partners.

Most of the time, the results were as favorable as the game of team roping ever allows. Win some, lose some.

In his good-natured way, Walker made a lot of friends and was gradually making his way into that elite club of the ropers labeled as "wolves."

Wolves are just ropers too, but ones with impressive, inarguable winning records.

Walker's new partner, Les, drives down the highway in the proof of his skill with a rope.

Les' trophy truck has advertising on all four corners that declares him to be a champion. He proves his dedication to the sport by practicing late into the night and would stay at it until it was time to go to work if needed.

Les consistently catches two feet on his end of the steer, keeping his success percentage impressively high. On the rare occasion that he misses, you hear none of the usual litany of excuses --bad cattle, bad flagger, bad barrier, the header's fault, it rained in Brazil, the neighbor's mother's cousin's dog died - you've heard them before.

After watching the duo stop the clock time after time in the practice pen in 100 degree heat with humidity to match, Walker's wife thought she'd ask Les what his secret to success was.

Too late to take it back, Les' answer made her wish she hadn't been so inquisitive.
Proudly Les told her, "Absolutely every bit of ability and success I have, I attribute to my lucky polka dot under drawers."

With that tidbit of information out to the general population, there is likely to be a run on polka dotted BVDs down at the mercantile. A particular color wasn't detailed as necessary.

Although, I do wonder if a trendy zebra stripe or leopard print would be as effective.

Julie can be reached for comment at jcarter@tularosa.net

It's The Pitts

The Run Around

by Lee Pitts

Many years ago in our area two brothers took a bank for many millions by tricking the loan officer into thinking they owned a lot more cattle than they really did. In the morning they showed the loan officer a set of cattle and then they took him to lunch and force fed him martinis for two hours. In the afternoon their cowboys ran the same cattle around a hill a second time as a supposed new bunch of cattle. That evening they shipped the same cattle to another ranch where they were shown to the same loan arranger a third and fourth time as even more collateral. The loan officer should have been tipped off by the fact that a couple thousand head were supposedly subsisting on a 500 acre ranch that was so devoid of grass it looked like a moonscape.

I’m not sure but the brothers may have gotten the idea from the Germans who, in World War II, captured a few Americans at El Guettar in Tunisia. They marched those American prisoners up the main street of Tunis to impress the natives with their military superiority and then they trucked the same prisoners back to the start of the parade where they marched them down the street again. This went on several times until the natives must have thought the Germans had captured our entire Army.

Or the brothers may have gotten the idea by reading about Moreton Frewen. This pioneer businessman was so stupid he failed on three different continents. In the late 1800’s Moreton bought a large herd of cattle and liked them so much he bought the same set a second time when they too were run around a hill and shown to him again.

I don’t advise anyone to follow a life of crime but if you are going to try this trick at home there are a couple potential pitfalls. First, make sure that there are no “marker cattle” in the bunch. If the rest of your herd is healthy and all black or red, a white one, or an animal with a runny nose and frozen tail, is going to stick out like a wart on the face of a supermodel. Even a soft-shoed urban banker might recognize a Longhorn steer with long horns and a distinctly marked hide if he sees the same animal more than five times in a row amongst a set of straight blacks or reds.

I hate to admit this but even I, your humble correspondent, have unknowingly helped cattle buyers see double. Many years ago, when cows were worth about 60% less than they are now, I worked ringside at a commercial cow sale that was held on a ranch out in the country. In many ways it was unlike any other sale I’ve ever participated in. For one thing, the sale started at ten o’clock in the morning. Most auctioneers and ring men work bankers hours and the sales usually start at one. We cranked up the sale and the cattle were coming through the ring in big bunches to make nice even loads. But the buyers weren’t interested in even buying a pickup truck load. Anticipating a wreck, the savvy owner had pre-weighed the cattle and he protected the cows to the price they’d fetch at the sale barn in town.

We weren’t getting any cows sold and I’m sure the owner was ready to call off the sale when a big buyer showed up at noon to eat lunch before what he thought would be a one o’clock sale. When he saw we were already selling cows he waded right into them. The ranch owner, who had more sand than the Hawaiian Islands, went out back, had the cattle he’d already caught back resorted into smaller bunches and, because they were all the same color and without ear tags, no one was the wiser when we resold them. I thought the cattle began to look familiar and kept thinking we’d be running out of cattle soon but the ranchers, who’d been sitting on their hands before, now suddenly came alive. They started bidding on the same cows they could have bought $300 cheaper just hours before. We ended up having a great sale, although it was a long day because we sold twice as many cattle as were advertised.

It was the only time in my life I’ve worked the same sale twice in one day.

Song Of The Day #327

Ranch Radio's Gospel tune this Sunday morning is Precious Lord Take My Hand performed by Merle Haggard.

You will find the tune on his 10 track CD Cabin In The Hills.


Friday, June 04, 2010

The Price of Admission - Wilderness Rape Trees

The second video from Truth On The Border is The Price of Admission - Wilderness Rape Trees

I would encourage you to see the full-sized version by going here.

Their first video, Trash On The Border, you can view by going here.

Obama Administration Hosts National Rural Summit on Rebuilding and Revitalizing Rural America

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today held the Obama Administration's National Summit of Rural America with agricultural leaders, farmers, ranchers, community leaders, and rural residents who shared their vision and ideas to rebuild and revitalize rural America. As the day began at Jefferson College, Vilsack discussed many of the challenges and opportunities facing rural communities throughout the country and he encouraged participants to think boldly about the future. Vilsack also detailed the Obama Administration's commitment to job creation in rural communities and made several announcements to support rural businesses and cooperatives.

* A new Memorandum of Understanding between USDA and the Small Business Administration to outline a collaborative approach to supporting small businesses in rural America.
* USDA is seeking applications to support rural microentrepreneurs and microenterprises, which will provide $45.1 million to encourage lending to start up business ventures. Funding is available from the Rural Development Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program.
* USDA announced $22.5 million for recipients in 45 states and Puerto Rico to receive business development assistance and pursue marketing opportunities for agricultural commodities through USDA Rural Development assistance under the Value-Added Producer Grant program;
* USDA announced $6.7 million grant and loan funding to recipients in 10 states that will promote job creation through USDA Rural Development's Intermediary Relending Program and the Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant program.

What a waste, and it ain't a "micro" waste either.

'Climate Climbdown'

The Royal Society of Britain is rewriting its official position on global warming. We'd say the consensus that man is causing the planet to heat is cracking, but there never was a consensus in the first place. Last December, the 350-year-old Royal Society, considered the top scientific institution in Britain, published the following statement: "It is certain that greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and from land use change lead to a warming of climate, and it is very likely that these greenhouse gases are the dominant cause of the global warming that has been taking place over the last 50 years." But now, just six months later, the Royal Society, under pressure from skeptics, says it will publish a new "guide to the science of climate change" this summer. According to the London Times, "The society has been accused by 43 of its fellows of refusing to accept dissenting views on climate change and exaggerating the degree of certainty that man-made emissions are the main cause."...more

Lightning strike injures 8 in Yellowstone

A lightning strike injured eight people who were waiting to see the Old Faithful geyser erupt Tuesday in Yellowstone National Park. Officials say a single lightning bolt from a small storm struck about 4 p.m., injuring eight visitors who were standing on or near the boardwalk that circles the geyser. The incident was witnessed by hundreds of people waiting to watch the park’s most popular attraction. Bystanders had started CPR on a 57-year-old man when park staff arrived on the scene. The man, who was unconscious and breathing, was airlifted to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls. The Associated Press identified him as Harlan C. Idell Jr., 57, of Leesburg, Fla. “He indeed was struck by lightning,” park spokesman Al Nash said. “The others had impacts from being in that area where lightning struck. I am told that one guy who was sent to the hospital in Idaho Falls is going to be released this evening.” Seven other individuals were treated and released for complaints including shortness of breath, tingling or numbness...more

New Mexico embraces ecotourism efforts

New Mexico wants to join the ecotourism trend, promoting not only the state's natural beauty but also outdoor adventure, cultural heritage preservation and access to wild places. New Mexico's ecotourism venture was launched early last year but the actual pilot programs begin this summer around the Gila Wilderness near Silver City and Taos in northern New Mexico. Tourism is New Mexico's No. 2 industry, behind oil and gas production, and brings in an estimated $5.7 billion annually. And if ecotourism can be fairly described as nature-based specialty travel or wilderness experiences that enrich and educate, the state thinks it has something to offer. Outfitters, guides and others around New Mexico already have been doing ecotourism but "didn't know there was a name for it," said Sandy Cunningham of EcoNewMexico, which has a $250,000 contract with the Department of Tourism to develop the program. Smaller communities will benefit most from the state's effort, said Arturo Sandoval, president of the 19-year-old Center of Southwest Culture Inc., dedicated to preserving northern New Mexico's traditional land-based communities...more

Canada - Changes to cattle ear tags

Any bar-coded dangle tags still hanging from Canadian cattle's ears will officially become plastic jewelry effective July 1. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which was previously expected to de-list bar code tags as of Jan. 1, 2010, said Friday that the bar code tags will be de-listed July 1 in favour of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. Starting July 1, all cattle must be tagged with approved RFID tags before they move from their current locations or leave their farms of origin. "Although this change may be an additional one- time process for some producers, the ability to easily capture information from the RFID tags will help all producers in the long run," said Darcy Eddleston, a Paradise Valley, Alta. producer and chairman of the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA), in a joint CFIA/CCIA release. "We have worked with government to move forward on traceability and we believe that de-listing the bar-coded tag will advance traceability initiatives." Existing bar-coded tags should not be removed, but left on the ear. An RFID tag must then be applied to the same animal, the agencies said. Producers who haven't already done so must cross-reference that new RFID tag with the existing bar-coded dangle tag in the Canadian Livestock Tracking System (CLTS) to make sure all tag data and history on a given animal is maintained. That data includes all events uploaded by the producer against the tag...more

Print depicts the roots of rodeo

This year's Reno Rodeo limited-edition print is a step back in time, and that's exactly the way Reno Rodeo President Ray Callahan and artist Cathy Trachok wanted it. "My theme this year has been a saddle-broncs-and-sagebrush kind of thing, kind of going back to the roots," said Callahan, a rancher and fourth-generation Nevadan. The roots of rodeo sprang from the ranches of the Old West, when cowboys from the various ranches would enliven roundups and cattle drives with friendly competitions. Trachok, a Reno native and lifelong artist, has long had a love for Nevada's mountain and desert landscapes. She has also had a longtime desire to be the artist for the Reno Rodeo print. He showed Trachok a black-and-white photograph of a saddled bronc kicking up its heels, stirring up a cloud of dust, and tugging against a cowboy trying to gain control. He asked her if she could use the image as a starting point. And so she did, with great delight. "It was a black-white-photograph, so I got to play around with the colors that I wanted to do," she said. The end result shows Nevada mountains and sagebrush and a scene that has probably played out thousands of times on Nevada's range during the past 150 years...more

Oklahoma City to host 37th annual Prix de West art exhibition

Two Oklahoma artists are among the new artists invited to show their works at the upcoming Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition and Sale at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Norman sculptor and University of Oklahoma artist-in-residence Paul Moore and Broken Arrow painter Mikel Donahue will exhibit artworks at the 37th annual show June 11-12 at the Oklahoma City museum. Donahue said disbelief was his first reaction at being asked to participate. "I called them right back after being invited,” the colored-pencil artist said during a recent telephone interview. "I really just wanted to make sure they knew who they had been talking to. Like all first-timers, Donahue will exhibit two paintings in the show. "Fall Work,” priced at $6,500, depicts a calf-branding scene at last fall's roundup at the historic Stuart ranch near Waurika, Donahue said. "I liked the way the smoke was gathering in the branding pen and that they had an actual fire to heat the irons,” he said. "They do branding the old, traditional way — 600 calves in a morning.” His other painting, "If These Walls Could Talk,” priced at $5,500, shows a young cowhand saddling up in front of an old sod-roofed log building at a friend's Wyoming ranch. "I liked the contrast of light and of the idea of young and old,” Donahue said...more

Song Of The Day #326

Ranch Radio will close out this weeks look at Emmett Miller and his influence on country music and artists with a triple play.

Miller recorded Anytime three times: 1924 & 1928 for Okeh, and 1936 for Bluebird. Eddy Arnold had a big hit with the tune in 1948 and is our first selection today (Also recorded by Patsy Cline, Jimmy Dean and many pop singers such as Dean Martin)

Miller recorded I Ain't Got Nobody in 1928 for Okeh and in 1936 for Bluebird. Bob Wills & Tommy Duncan also recorded it in 1936, but today we give you Asleep At The Wheel & Don Walser performing the song.

Our final selection is Merle Haggard's live performance of Big Bad Bill Is Sweet William Now. Haggard also had a studio recording of the tune, but it was the live performance where he gives the tribute. My date and place of recording differs from what Haggard says, but who am I to disagree with the great Merle Haggard.


The Battle For Arizona

The trackers mustered at Tex Canyon Road, 20 miles north of the Mexican border, on the afternoon of March 27. There were border-patrol agents, six search-and-rescue units from the Cochise County sheriff's department and dogs trained to track escaped inmates from nearby Douglas State Prison. Several ranchers were also there, many of them descendants of the Germans and Irish who came to the San Bernardino Valley a hundred years or more ago. Back then, the ranchers settled here in part to feed the U.S. troops stationed at the border. One military mission in those days: prevent the chaos of the Mexican Revolution from spilling into the Territory of Arizona. Now another period of powerful unrest in Mexico had brought a different kind of war to the valley, and the ranchers were mindful that the violence might have claimed one of their own, a man named Rob Krentz. When Krentz's daughter Kyle heard that her father was missing, her first thought was, How do you lose a guy that big? Krentz, 58, was a bear of a man--when he played football in high school, his nickname was Captain Crunch--but throughout southeastern Arizona, those who knew Krentz say his heart was the biggest thing about him. The trackers couldn't find Krentz before nightfall, so they waited for a border-patrol helicopter, which spotted his ATV 10 miles from his house just before midnight. It was hidden in the trough of a swale, its running lights still on. The helicopter's thermal imager showed the heat signature of his slain dog, according to a relative of Krentz's. Beside the dog was Krentz himself, his body too cold, dead too long to register a thermal reading...more

Agua Prieta officials help search for man who killed Rob Krentz

Did the man who shot and killed a Douglas rancher flee to Agua Prieta? Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever says yes, but Agua Prieta officials say no. Agua Prieta police released to News 4 a crime scene photo showing footprints. It's widely believed the footprints belong to the man who killed Rob Krentz back in March. Cochise County detectives say the tracks led south into Agua Prieta. In April, a picture of Armando Chacon Gonzales, also known as Alejandro Chavez Vazquez, was released by the Cochise County Sheriff's Department as an investigative lead in the homicide. They say he is a suspect in several burglaries. Agua Prieta police have been looking for him. Vicente Teran, mayor of the border city, says, "Nobody knows him. He's never been here, and I'm pretty sure he's not here." Teran, a rancher himself, desperately wants to help U.S. authorities. He says he would be the happiest mayor around if he could turn over the suspected killer. Less than 24 hours after the murder, they began their investigation and questioned over 100 people at the police department. Alfonso Novoa, the police chief, says they have searched records, archives, and are even offering a $10,000 reward for information on the man who murdered Rob Krentz...more

Mexican officials deny claims Krentz's killer is in Mexico

Mexican officials in Agua Prieta deny claims that Douglas Rancher Robert Krentz's killer is in Mexico. Agua Prieta's mayor and police chief also deny reports they're working closely with top U.S. investigators. They say they have not spoken with American officials in more then a month. Nine On Your Side's Steve Nunez sat down with Mayor Vicente Teran and his Police Chief Alfonso Novoa. Novoa tells us his officers have questioned more then 100 people. Teran says they've even offered a $10,000 reward, and no one has come forward. Nunez asked: "What do you say to those who say why should we trust Mexican officials that they've done everything that they can to find Krentz's killer?" Teran responded, "Let me tell you something, how can we trust Americans to say he came to Agua Prieta and he didn't come. We are here. We are involved in our cities and like I tell you we feel bad about the rancher and family." Novoa claims he has not heard from U.S. officials in more then a month. He laid out what he believes to be the facts he's investigating including a photo of a footprint he says was taken at the crime scene, a photo of a man he says is the prime suspect, and a photo of the type of gun he says was used to kill krentz. Nunez asked: "Do you blame the American officials for not sharing all of the information with Mexico?"...more

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Obama admin. holds meetings on 'Great Outdoors'

On the edges of a vast landscape that measures in the millions of acres and stretches north through a wilderness area and a scenic national park, ranchers and environmentalists have been able to agree on a lot lately. The work done to preserve land in northwestern Montana's "Crown of the Continent" was made the shining example Tuesday of what the Obama Administration hopes to achieve with its new "America's Great Outdoors Initiative." The conservation effort has focused on voluntary land sales of 310,000 acres from a large timber company, deals to retire mining and oil projects and conservation agreements with ranchers and land owners in developing homemade plans for a working landscape in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. The varied interests behind the effort also agree the Obama Administration should make sure its new initiative doesn't force land conservation ideas from big cities down the throats of rural residents. "Urban-based conservation movements have really only succeeded in alienating the very best allies: our ranchers, our loggers, our sportsmen and our farmers," said Melanie Parker, who lives in the scenic Swan Valley and has played an integral role in getting loggers and environmentalists in the area to talk with one another...more

I also found this interesting:

The administration's new initiative comes as Republicans and others criticize the contents of an internal Interior Department memo and other records that show the administration was considering the potential for presidential monument declarations in nine western states. Those declarations, last done in Montana under former President Bill Clinton, remain a very sore point for some westerners. Leading Democrats said the monument declarations are not part of the agenda. "I am opposed to the administration creating monuments," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who holds an influential role in the Senate. "This is bottom up, that was top down."

If Baucus is opposed you won't see Obama designate any monuments in Montana. Same would be true for New Mexico should Bingaman take a similar stance.

Great Outdoors Initiative forum held in Helena

Federal officials got an earful Wednesday at a listening session in Helena on how to better protect open lands and get people, especially children, into the great outdoors as part of President Barack Obama’s Great Outdoors Initiative. Jay Erickson with the Montana Land Reliance called for renewal of conservation-easement tax incentives, which could give ranchers more reason to keep from subdividing their property. Bob Sanders with Ducks Unlimited wants to focus attention on preserving the wide open native prairies of Eastern Montana and the Dakotas, which he called “one of the most productive areas on Earth.” The five men were among about 200 people who crowded into two banquet rooms at the Red Lion Colonial Inn in Helena, as one of four listening sessions held only in Montana this week on the president’s initiative. Robert Bonnie, a senior adviser to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, said the sessions were enlightening to the dozens of federal officials attending them. Vilsack, John Jarvis, director of the National Park Service, and Nancy Sutley, chairman of the White House Council for Environmental Quality, were among top federal officials who attended Tuesday’s session. Ellen Simpson with Montana Wood Products and others also said that if the government wants more people to use the outdoors, they need to make it easier to get into the forests. “We need to open, not close, access to people,” Simpson said...more

A Gun For Grandpa

Chicago is deciding whether to prosecute a great-grandfather and Korean War veteran under its handgun ban. He refused to be a victim, and now there's one less armed thug roaming the streets. What's the problem? If the 80-year-old vet living on the city's West Side didn't have the gun the city said he shouldn't have, he and his 83-year-old wife and 12-year-old great-grandson might have joined those victims of gun violence about whom gun-control advocates constantly chirp. The vet obtained the gun in violation of the city's handgun ban after a prior incident in which the couple was robbed at gunpoint by three armed intruders. So when Anthony Nelson — a parolee with a record of drug and gun arrests — tried breaking into their East Garfield Park home, they were ready. Nelson fired twice at the as-yet-unnamed homeowner, who walks with a cane but retained enough of his military marksmanship to drop the intruder with a single gunshot to the chest. Yet in some quarters, instead of being hailed as a hero, it's the homeowner who's being considered a threat and the armed predator a victim of gun violence. When asked if the 80-year-old would be charged for violating the city's gun ban, Mayor Richard Daley, who recently threatened to put a gun up the posterior of a reporter questioning the ban's effectiveness, said: "I don't know. Thank you very much." Of course, if the homeowner didn't have the gun, he might not be alive to be charged...more

Sacred bone whistle headed back to Idaho tribe

A sacred whistle, a wooden stick, a button, a shell and a rounded cork possibly from the 1700s are on the verge of being returned to the Nez Perce tribe after spending decades in a forgotten, anonymous crate in a warehouse. University of Idaho anthropologist Leah Evans-Janke says it was one of those fortuitous discoveries that happen sometimes in archaeological collections: Somebody opens a dusty old box, not knowing what's inside. While Evans-Janke, collections manager at UI's Alfred W. Bowers Laboratory of Anthropology in Moscow, Idaho, says the discovery isn't earthshaking, it's "the greatest feeling in the world is meeting with the tribe, and handing the items back over to them, and knowing things are coming back to where they should be - kind of tipping the balance in the universe to where things should be." The 20-year-old federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act requires that human remains, funerary and sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony are to be returned to lineal descendants and culturally affiliated American Indian tribes...more

Navajo Nation mourns passing of Code Talker

Lemuel Bahe Yazzie, a member of the Navajo Code Talkers who confounded the Japanese during World War II by transmitting messages in their native language, has died. He was 91. Navajo Nation officials said Wednesday that Yazzie, who lived in Whitecone, Ariz., died at his home last Friday. Tribal President Joe Shirley Jr. ordered flags on the Navajo Nation to be flown at half-staff from June 3-6 in honor of Yazzie. Yazzie joined the Marines in September 1944. He served with the 4th and 6th Marine divisions as a radio telephone operator until March 1946. He returned to northern Arizona and was a machinist, rancher and ordained minister. Yazzie is survived by six children, 26 grandchildren and 52 great-grandchildren along with his two brothers and three sisters. Yazzie's funeral is scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday at the Tse'Bii Osteel Bible Church in Whitecone. AP

Ian Tyson inspired by students' 'powerful song'

Ian Tyson doesn't just collaborate with anybody. Sure, the 76-year-old country-folk music icon broke into the business with his former wife Sylvia Tyson in the '60s, and Ian & Sylvia became giants of that era's folk movement. And, in recent years Tyson has also performed with the CPO and recorded with Corb Lund. But working with grades 1 and 2 students from the arts immersion school Calgary Arts Academy? Nobody saw that coming. Even so, Tyson's latest recording, A Song For Spirit, is a worthy and touching folk anthem and we owe it all to a blinded bird. And to Paul Rasporich, the teacher who made the project happen. Rasporich was inspired when he learned about the story of Spirit, a downed golden eagle that was taken to the Alberta Birds of Prey Foundation in 2007 after it had been shot and left for dead on a gravel road near Lethbridge. The foundation, dedicated to rehabilitating injured birds of prey, nursed Spirit back to health, but the eagle was to reside with the organization permanently because gun shot pellets had left it blind...more

Song Of The Day #325

Emmett Miller, the minstrel singer who performed in black face, first recorded Right Or Wrong in 1929. In 1936 he recorded the song again adding the yodel type phrasing. One year later Bob Wills & Tommy Duncan recorded the song. I think you'll see Miller's influence on their version.


AP Impact: US-Mexico border isn't so dangerous

It's one of the safest parts of America, and it's getting safer. It's the U.S.-Mexico border, and even as politicians say more federal troops are needed to fight rising violence, government data obtained by The Associated Press show it actually isn't so dangerous after all. The top four big cities in America with the lowest rates of violent crime are all in border states: San Diego, Phoenix, El Paso and Austin, according to a new FBI report. And an in-house Customs and Border Protection report shows that Border Patrol agents face far less danger than street cops in most U.S. cities. The Customs and Border Protection study, obtained with a Freedom of Information Act request, shows 3 percent of Border Patrol agents and officers were assaulted last year, mostly when assailants threw rocks at them. That compares with 11 percent of police officers and sheriff's deputies assaulted during the same period, usually with guns or knives. In addition, violent attacks against agents declined in 2009 along most of the border for the first time in seven years. So far this year assaults are slightly up, but data is incomplete...more

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Congressman hosts Hidden Gems forums

U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) is soliciting feedback from constituents this week in Summit and Eagle counties on the Hidden Gems wilderness proposal, which he has been asked to sponsor. The Hidden Gems wilderness proposal aims to designate about 342,000 acres of forest land in western Colorado as wilderness, including 20 square miles of Basalt Mountain. The proposal has sparked protest from fire officials as well as recreational users, such as snowmobilers and mountain bikers, who are not allowed in federally designated wilderness. The campaign is being led locally by Carbondale’s Wilderness Workshop. Polis kicks off the in-person town halls tonight at the Boulder Public Library, at 5:30 p.m. On Thursday evening, he will be in Edwards at Battle Mountain High School. And Friday afternoon he’ll be at the Community Auditorium at Colorado Mountain College’s Breckenridge campus...more

How refreshing. A Congressman actually holding public forums on a wilderness proposal BEFORE it is introduced as legislation.

Wonder why Senator Bingaman didn't conduct a similar process before introducing his bill?

Nevada Guv says Forest Service must work with counties on road closures

Governor Jim Gibbons today sent a letter to the U.S. Forest Service regarding its proposed plan to potentially close miles of roads in Elko and White Pine counties in Northern Nevada. “Closing these roads limits public access to publicly owned land,” Gibbons said, “Part of the uniqueness of Northern Nevada includes ranchers, farmers and others living in isolated areas. Part of what we love about Nevada is the open space where we can go camping, hiking, fishing and hunting. These roads exist because they are needed and they are utilized.” The U.S. Forest Service issued a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Mountain City, Ruby Mountains and Jarbidge combined Travel Management Plan in Elko County and a portion of northern White Pine County. Under the DEIS, many miles of rural roads in Northern Nevada would be closed resulting in many “roadless” areas in Elko and White Pine counties. The plan will have devastating economic, cultural and social impacts to these areas. Governor Gibbons requested the U.S. Forest Service grant the request of the Elko County Commission for a six (6) month extension of the comment period to address the proposed Travel Management Plan DEIS as it is currently written. “The federal government must start listening to the people,” Gibbons said, “The voice of Nevadans must be heard. The federal government must work with our local governments first.”...more

It's also refreshing to see a Governor siding with local residents and local government instead of the feds. The Guv's letter can be viewed at the link provided.

5 deadly days for wolves

Fifteen gray wolves from five different packs were killed in Montana for preying on livestock between May 17 and May 21, making it one of the deadliest five-day stretches for Canis lupus this year. So far this year, 64 wolves have died, with the majority — 44 — being shot by federal agents for preying on livestock. The others were killed by cars or property owners or died from unknown causes. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials also have authorized the shooting of at least 18 more wolves from five packs. If successful, that will bring the total to 82 dead wolves in Montana so far this year. “It seems a little heavy handed, when at last count there were only 524 wolves in Montana and a lot more cows,” said Jesse Timberlake with the conservation group Defenders of Wildlife. Liz Bradley, a Missoula-based wolf management specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, readily acknowledges that the state is acting more aggressively this year on control actions because more wolves are on the landscape than have been here in the past decade. It’s part of an ongoing upward trend; in 1999, when about 80 wolves were spotted on Montana’s landscape, 19 were killed for wildlife depredation. Ten years later, with more than 500 wolves in the Treasure State, that number rose to 145 wolves. “More wolves in more places equals more conflicts,” Bradley said. “We’ve seen that trend over the years. We’re still trying to use preventive methods to reduce conflicts, but there are places that hasn’t worked.”...more

Jury Verdict: Living with grizzlies in the Next West

A mid concerns over whether guns being allowed in national parks will increase grizzly bear killings, a Wyoming jury has set an important standard. The jury found Wyoming hunter Steve Westmoreland guilty of illegally killing a grizzly bear while hunting in 2009. Westmoreland had claimed self-defense, a common practice among hunters who have killed grizzlies in the national forests around Yellowstone and Teton national parks for decades. Teton County Attorney Steve Weichman, who prosecuted the case, told the Jackson Hole News and Guide that the jury's conviction was one of the first of a hunter claiming self-defense. Dick Knight, the biologist who studied Yellowstone's bears for two decades, spent thousands of hours around wild grizzlies. He was long a critic of self-defense claims, chiding hunters who went into grizzly habitat with a high-powered rifle expressing fear of bears...more

1st Amendment, YouTube meet on public lands

New media such as Web-based news outlets and technology such as high-performance consumer video cameras are challenging land managers and media producers alike as officials try to decide who should pay for commercial filming and photography permits on public lands. Both the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service have policies that require some photographers and videographers to obtain permits, depending on circumstances. While those covering “breaking news” are exempt from obtaining permits, as contemplated in the Constitution, government bureaucrats, not news editors, are deciding what meets that definition. The issue recently came to a head in Idaho when U.S. Forest Service officials denied Idaho Public Television permission to film a group of students in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. The Forest Service later relented after intervention from Idaho Gov. C. L. “Butch” Otter. In Jackson Hole, film and video producers say the permit requirements pose an unnecessary burden on smaller operators that might not have the cash to pay the processing charges and daily fees, which can amount to thousands of dollars for just a few days of filming. Where filming a documentary previously required lots of equipment and personnel, today’s filmmakers can achieve similar results with a single hand-held camera and a tripod, without many of the resource and visitor impacts associated with bigger crews...more

CBD Petitions Forest Service to Protect NM Forest from ORV Abuse

For the second time in two years, the Center for Biological Diversity today petitioned the Santa Fe National Forest to suspend motorized vehicle use on the “Los Utes” road. The Los Utes road, which is located on the Jemez Ranger District near the Dome Inventoried Roadless Area, has seen recurring vandalism and unauthorized motorized vehicle use as recently as this spring. The U.S. Forest Service has refused to control the problems despite a 2009 Center petition requesting additional protections, and despite the Center having presented evidence of ongoing vandalism and unauthorized motorized use at the May meeting of the New Mexico off-road vehicle board. “We’re not going to allow the Forest Service to simply walk away from its duty to protect public lands and habitats,” said Cyndi Tuell of the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s time for the agency to step up to unruly off roaders and protect the wildlife and the places that are cherished by the public.”...press release

CBD files suit on endangered species and livestock grazing

The Center for Biological Diversity today sued the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect an endangered species, the Chiricahua leopard frog, from livestock grazing in the Fossil Creek watershed in the Mazatzal Mountains of central Arizona. Approximately 290 cows were released into the Fossil Creek Range Allotment last September, and grazing is ongoing there now. Last year, the Coconino National Forest approved grazing by nearly 500 head of cattle in the 42,000-acre range allotment straddling the Mogollon Rim between Camp Verde and Strawberry. A Forest Service study showed that degraded range conditions due to past grazing and ongoing drought could not support the approved grazing levels, and that adverse effects to the watershed were likely to result from more grazing. The complaint filed today in U.S. District Court in Tucson states that the Forest Service violated its management standards by allowing grazing levels in excess of what agency science shows to be the capacity of the land. The Fish and Wildlife Service also violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to identify how many Chiricahua leopard frogs would be harmed or killed by livestock grazing — and by failing to limit that harm and mortality – as cows trample and dewater streams and wetlands...press release

Fire forces evacuations in Jemez Mountains

Here is the KOB-TV video report:



In a later edition KOB-TV reported:
i just got a briefing with the latest numbers from this fire - and it is growing fast- its now about 700 to 800 acres. it's doubled in size since 6- o'clock this evening. earlier today crews were able to battle the fire with some heavy aircraft. we saw at least 1 chopper and 3 air tankers making run after run over the fire burning next to fenton lake. evacuations have been ordered for the 7 springs community and the area around fenton lake. the fire has not burned any structures. crews will be fighting through the night to try and get some containment. people evacuated are hoping the fire stays away from cabins near fenton lake. "there are cabins in there hopefully they haven't gotten any but its still hitting new stuff it keeps coming up black." fire officials say they think an an abandoned camp fire may be to blame... over the memorial day weekend rangers came acros around 7 campfires that weren't properly put out after campers left. again the communities of fenton lake and 7 springs have been evacuated- so far around 70 people... fenton lake state park is temporarily closed. an emergency shelter has been set up at the jemez valley schools campus...

Some wonder about safety of Utah trail

The results of an investigation into the death of a National Park Service employee at Timpanogos Cave National Monument are expected this summer, but a more pressing question looms. How safe is the trail? Rex Walker died May 20 after the trail vehicle he was using somehow veered off the steep cliff that abuts the 1½-mile trail from the visitors center to the series of caves at this Utah County attraction visited annually by as many as 80,000 people. Walker's death came a day after an 11-year-old girl on a school field trip experienced, and survived, a 100-foot fall from the trail. There have been five serious falls over the past seven years, according to Denis Davis, superintendent of Timpanogos Cave National Monument. In September 2006, a young girl stepped off the trail after being distracted. Two men, including a visitor from Russia, tried to save the girl, but the Russian man fell over a cliff and died. "We invite people here. We ask them to pay money to do a tour and that gives us a responsibility to make them as safe as possible," Davis said...more

Baby elk left at Forest Service office

Someone left a baby elk on the U.S. Forest Service's doorstep in La Grande in northeastern Oregon. Officials told The (La Grande) Observer that the baby elk probably was not abandoned, because mother elk regularly leave their babies hiding in tall grass or brush while they lead off a threat, such as a coyote, then return. "Removing a young animal from the wild greatly reduces its chances of long term survival in the wild," said Michelle Dennehy from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. "Never pick up or move a young animal unless you know for certain it was orphaned because you saw its mother die." Dennehy said ODFW returned the calf to an area near an elk herd in hopes that the calf will be fostered by another cow elk. AP

Song Of The Day #324

Ranch Radio today will introduce you to Emmett Miller, a black-face minstrel singer. His career peaked in the mid-twenties and was for the most part over by the early thirties.

He is of interest to us because of his hit songs and his influence on performers like Hank Williams, Bob Wills & Tommy Duncan and Eddy Arnold.

Miller first recorded Lovesick Blues in 1925. Three years later he recorded the song again and added the falsetto and yodeling which had such an influence on Hank Williams.

Here are Miller's 1928 version and Hank Williams version recorded 20 years later.

My version of Miller comes from a 1969 album that was issued for jazz collectors because of who was in Miller's band named the Georgia Crackers (Tommy & Jimmy Dorsey, Eddy Lang & Gene Krupa). Many of Miller's recordings are now available on a 20 track CD titled The Minstrel Man from Georgia.


Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Desert storm: Huge cloud of sand descends on Chinese village








Like a scene from a Hollywood disaster movie, a towering cloud of sand dwarfs the rows of uniform houses as it descends on a small village in central China. Residents hid inside their homes with their windows and doors locked shut as the dust storm swept through the region advancing 70ft a minute...more

Roadless rule stands for another year, ag chief decides

The Obama administration Friday extended for another year the moratorium on most logging and mining in millions of acres of remote and rugged backcountry sections of national forests. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said from Washington, D.C., he wants to continue to give decisions on projects in roadless areas a higher level of scrutiny while waiting for federal courts to resolve the legal issues. The idea of preserving roadless areas for wildlife habitat and clean water came out of the Clinton administration. The Bush administration tried to open them up to more logging and mining by giving states control. Conservation groups and the timber industry both welcomed the moratorium due to the continued questions over the legal standing of the policy. Once those are resolved, conservationists would like to see continued protections for roadless areas, while the timber industry wants more thinning projects to reduce wildfire danger and insect infestations. National forests in 39 states have a total of 58.5 million acres of roadless areas that have been formally placed on an inventory...more

Ore: 3rd wolf-killed calf; rancher has kill permit

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has confirmed the third wolf-killed domestic calf this month in northeast Oregon's Wallowa County. Spokeswoman Michelle Dennehy said Friday the kill was reported Thursday. Earlier this week, state officials issued permits to five area ranchers, allowing them to shoot wolves caught in the act of attacking livestock. 1 of the permits went to the rancher whose calf was killed Thursday. The Imnaha wolf pack has been in the area since spring. Dennehy says agencies and livestock producers have tried nonlethal deterrents such as removing any livestock carcasses, aerial hazing of wolves and watching livestock more closely. Wolves have been spreading through Oregon since crossing into the state from Idaho, where they were re-established by the federal government in the 1990s. AP

Charges against feds considered in deaths of wild horses

A Nevada district attorney is considering whether to file criminal charges against federal land managers who are accused by animal rights activists of mistreating wild horses in a roundup. Churchill County Sheriff Richard Ingram said his department began an investigation May 20 after an activist filed a complaint alleging that mustangs were abused and neglected at a holding facility. U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials confirmed that 83 of some 1,900 horses brought there in a government roundup have died. Activists unsuccessfully sued to halt the roundup of the animals from the range north of Reno, branding it as unnecessary and inhumane. The BLM maintains the Calico Mountains Complex roundup was necessary because of overpopulation of the herd, which is harming native wildlife and the range and threatening the mustangs with starvation...more

Wild horse sanctuary proposed

A Nevada rancher and a wild horse advocacy group have proposed creating a mustang sanctuary in the desert hills 160 miles north of Reno and have asked the Bureau of Land Management to release 1,700 captive horses into the sanctuary's care. The proposal comes from the nonprofit Return to Freedom, which runs a horse sanctuary near Lompoc, Calif., and the Soldier Meadows Ranch, a resort and cattle operation 65 miles north of Gerlach. The proposed public-private partnership would hold most of the mustangs on 5,200 acres of private, fenced pastures around the Soldier Meadows property. Jim Kudrna, owner of the Soldier Meadows Ranch and Resort, said if the government approves the sanctuary plan, his cattle operation will be changed to be compatible with a horse sanctuary. "We are also planning to bring in some historic breeds of livestock such as oxen, draft horses and other animals in addition to our high-quality beef cattle," he said. "Visitors will be able to see how the livestock have changed over the last 150 years. It should be a fun thing for the history-minded folks who visit our destination." The proposal suggests a reimbursement rate of $350 per wild horse per year, $131 less per animal than the BLM is now paying for mustangs in long-term holding facilities...more

Fish invaders causing dramatic downturn in birds

Biologist Linda Beck stands in water halfway to her knees, gazing out on a lake strangely empty of waterfowl. Cormorants, pelicans, gulls and terns by the millions once wheeled and shrieked above Malheur Lake while ducks bobbed and dove for insects. Now, the lake and sky are eerily empty. "I mean, there are no birds," said the 35-year-old fish biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, splashing to dry ground on the north shore on a recent afternoon. "We still should be seeing some birds." There's a one-word explanation for the dramatic downturn in waterfowl on the shallow 50,000-acre lake 30 miles south of Burns: carp. Their ranks have exploded over the course of decades -- and nothing, not even a succession of wholesale poisonings, has beaten them back for long. Carp out-compete the waterfowl for Sago Pondweed, aquatic invertebrates, insects and other food. They also root on the lake bottom, stirring up sediment and diminishing the sunlight necessary for the growth of lake grasses. "It's a giant carp pond," said Bob Sallinger , spokesman for the Audubon Society of Portland. "That lake is basically a dead lake."...more

Approval of pipeline delayed

Construction of a $3 billion gas pipeline from Wyoming through northern Utah and Nevada to Oregon has been pushed back amid work to protect cultural sites and endangered species. Houston-based El Paso Corp. initially hoped to begin work on the 42-inch Ruby Pipeline this spring. The federal Bureau of Land Management said it hopes to approve the project in early July, after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission works out agreements with each state along the route to protect historic and cultural sites. The pipeline will run 675 miles from Opal in western Wyoming to Malin, Ore., crossing parts of Rich, Box Elder and Cache counties as well as Nevada. FERC has drafted agreements with the state historic preservation offices in Utah and Wyoming and should have agreements for the other two states soon, said Mark Mackiewicz, manager of the project for the BLM in Utah. Meanwhile, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working on a plan to protect endangered species. The BLM can approve the project following approval of the various agencies, Mackiewicz said, perhaps in July. Some environmental groups oppose the pipeline. The route crosses too many undeveloped lands when the pipeline could be built along highways and other developed corridors, said Katie Fite, with Hailey, Idaho-based Western Wastern Watersheds Project...more

Anti-whaling activist pleads guilty but denies assault

New Zealand anti-whaling activist Peter Bethune appeared in a Tokyo court this morning facing five charges related to his boarding of a Japanese whaling ship in the Antarctic earlier this year. Bethune is charged with trespass, vandalism, obstructing commercial activity, being armed with a weapon and, most seriously, assault causing injury. The assault charge stems from allegations Bethune threw tubs of rancid butter onto one of the whaling ships and in the process slightly injured a Japanese crewman. Bethune pleaded guilty to four of the charges but denied the assault. If convicted he faces up to 15 years in jail. The charges arose after Bethune tried to make a citizen's arrest on the whaling ship's captain and was also trying to serve him with a multi-million-dollar damage bill. Bethune was the captain of the powerboat, the Ady Gil, that was destroyed in a confrontation with the Shonan Maru 2 in January...more