Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Former NMSU President Gerald Thomas dies at 94

By Darrell J. Pehr

Longtime New Mexico State University President Gerald Thomas, who led the university from 1970-1984, died peacefully Wednesday morning at the age of 94.
From a building named in his honor at the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences to the many programs and scholarships he established, Thomas had a dramatic impact on the university both during his time as president and in the years that followed.
"Without contradiction, Gerald Thomas was the greatest president this university has ever had," said NMSU President Garrey Carruthers. "He had an unassuming way of connecting with all constituents -- students, faculty, the public and our country. With his commitment to academics, research and outreach, he guided New Mexico State University through a time of tremendous growth in both enrollment and research funding. He had a wonderful sense of humor and loved both his work and this university. He will be greatly missed."
When he arrived in 1970, the main campus enrollment was 8,155 students, but by his retirement, enrollment had grown to more than 12,500 students. An additional 3,000 students were enrolled at NMSU's four community college campuses. Sixty-eight percent of all the graduates from 1888 to 1984 earned degrees during his tenure.
Thomas was born on a ranch on Medicine Lodge Creek, Small, Idaho, on July 3, 1919, to Daniel Waylett and Mary Evans Thomas. Because the Small school offered only 11 grades, his mother took him with his brothers to California to finish school where Thomas graduated from John Muir Tech with a high school diploma and from Pasadena Junior College with an Associate of Arts degree. During summers, Thomas was employed by the Salmon and Targhee National Forests where he was working for the Forest Service when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
Soon after, he joined the U.S. Navy, serving as a carrier-based Naval Torpedo pilot. During the war, Thomas flew a Grumman AvengerTBM from three aircraft carriers -- the USS Ranger, the USS Bunker Hill and the USS Essex. He served in both the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters of Operation and survived a splashdown in the South China Sea, which he chronicled in his book, "Torpedo Squadron Four, A Cockpit View of World War II." He was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Air Medals and the Presidential Unit Citation.
Thomas married Jean Ellis on June 2, 1945, and their passion and love for each other continued for the next 67 years. Their first two children were born while Thomas worked for the U.S. Soil Conservation Service in Idaho. In 1950, they loaded up the family in a four-wheel trailer they made out of their old Model A Ford, and moved to College Station, Texas, where Thomas completed a Master's of Science and a Ph.D. in Range Science and was promoted to teaching and research positions. While in College Station, their third child was born.
In 1958, Thomas was named dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Texas Tech University. Gerald and Jean were beloved members of the Lubbock community and raised their children there.
In August 1970, Thomas was named president of New Mexico State University, serving 14 years in that capacity. As integral members of the Las Cruces community, Gerald and Jean considered this move one of the best decisions of their lives, which Gerald chronicled in his book "A Winding Road to the Land of Enchantment."
Thomas is the author or co-author of numerous books and more than 200 other publications. In 1984, NMSU named a million-dollar chair in agriculture in his honor and in 1988 designated the Agriculture and Home Economics Building as "Gerald Thomas Hall." He also helped organize the building of the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum.
Throughout his career, Thomas maintained a special interest in world food problems, environmental issues, natural resource management and history. He has had numerous honors and served on many boards including the State Board of Education, the Research Advisory Committee for the U.S. Agency for International Development and other state and national committees.
A memorial service open to the public will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 10, at First Presbyterian Church, 200 Boutz Road, Las Cruces. Following the service, a reception will be held at the church.
Gifts can be made in his name to the New Mexico State University Foundation (contact Deborah Widger at 575-646-4034 or dwidger@nmsu.edu) or First Presbyterian Church.
To learn more about his WWII history, go to his website at http://airgroup4.com/

Source

Longtime New Mexico State University President Gerald Thomas, who led the university from 1970-1984, died peacefully this morning at the age of 94.

From a building named in his honor at the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences to the many programs and scholarships he established, Thomas had a dramatic impact on the university both during his time as president and in the years that followed.

"Without contradiction, Gerald Thomas was the greatest president this university has ever had," said NMSU President Garrey Carruthers. "He had an unassuming way of connecting with all constituents – students, faculty, the public and our country. With his commitment to academics, research and outreach, he guided New Mexico State University through a time of tremendous growth in both enrollment and research funding. He had a wonderful sense of humor and loved both his work and this university. He will be greatly missed."

When he arrived in 1970, the main campus enrollment was 8,155 students, but by his retirement, enrollment had grown to more than 12,500 students. An additional 3,000 students were enrolled at NMSU's four community college campuses.

Thomas was born on a ranch on Medicine Lodge Creek, Small, Idaho, on July 3, 1919, to Daniel Waylett and Mary Evans Thomas. Because the Small school offered only 11 grades, his mother took him with his brothers to California to finish school where Thomas graduated from John Muir Tech with a high school diploma and from Pasadena Junior College with an Associate of Arts degree. During summers, Thomas was employed by the Salmon and Targhee National Forests where he was working for the Forest Service when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

Soon after, he joined the U.S. Navy, serving as a carrier-based Naval Torpedo pilot. During the war, Thomas flew a Grumman Avenger­TBM from three aircraft carriers – the USS Ranger, the USS Bunker Hill and the USS Essex. He served in both the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters of Operation and survived a splashdown in the South China Sea, which he chronicled in his book, "Torpedo Squadron Four, A Cockpit View of World War II." He was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Air Medals and the Presidential Unit Citation.

Thomas married Jean Ellis on June 2, 1945, and their passion and love for each other continued for the next 67 years. Their first two children were born while Thomas worked for the U.S. Soil Conservation Service in Idaho. In 1950, they loaded up the family in a four-wheel trailer they made out of their old Model A Ford, and moved to College Station, Texas, where Thomas completed a Master's of Science and a Ph.D. in Range Science and was promoted to teaching and research positions. While in College Station, their third child was born.

In 1958, Thomas was named dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Texas Tech University. Gerald and Jean were beloved members of the Lubbock community and raised their children there.

In August 1970, Thomas was named president of New Mexico State University, serving 14 years in that capacity. As integral members of the Las Cruces community, Gerald and Jean considered this move one of the best decisions of their lives, which Gerald chronicled in his book “A Winding Road to the Land of Enchantment.”

Thomas is the author or co-author of numerous books and more than 200 other publications. In 1984, NMSU named a million-dollar chair in agriculture in his honor and in 1988 designated the Agriculture and Home Economics Building as "Gerald Thomas Hall." He also helped organize the building of the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum.

Throughout his career, Thomas maintained a special interest in world food problems, environmental issues, natural resource management and history. He has had numerous honors and served on many boards including the State Board of Education, the Research Advisory Committee for the U.S. Agency for International Development and other state and national committees.

A memorial service open to the public will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 10, at First Presbyterian Church, 200 Boutz Road, Las Cruces. Following the service, a reception will be held at the church.

Gifts can be made in his name to the New Mexico State University Foundation (contact Deborah Widger at 575-646-4034 or dwidger@nmsu.edu) or First Presbyterian Church.

To learn more about his WWII history, go to his website at http://www.airgroup4.com/ . - See more at: http://newscenter.nmsu.edu/9616/nmsu-announces-passing-of-former-president-gerald-thomas#sthash.9ZndipkD.dpuf
Longtime New Mexico State University President Gerald Thomas, who led the university from 1970-1984, died peacefully this morning at the age of 94.

From a building named in his honor at the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences to the many programs and scholarships he established, Thomas had a dramatic impact on the university both during his time as president and in the years that followed.

"Without contradiction, Gerald Thomas was the greatest president this university has ever had," said NMSU President Garrey Carruthers. "He had an unassuming way of connecting with all constituents – students, faculty, the public and our country. With his commitment to academics, research and outreach, he guided New Mexico State University through a time of tremendous growth in both enrollment and research funding. He had a wonderful sense of humor and loved both his work and this university. He will be greatly missed."

When he arrived in 1970, the main campus enrollment was 8,155 students, but by his retirement, enrollment had grown to more than 12,500 students. An additional 3,000 students were enrolled at NMSU's four community college campuses.

Thomas was born on a ranch on Medicine Lodge Creek, Small, Idaho, on July 3, 1919, to Daniel Waylett and Mary Evans Thomas. Because the Small school offered only 11 grades, his mother took him with his brothers to California to finish school where Thomas graduated from John Muir Tech with a high school diploma and from Pasadena Junior College with an Associate of Arts degree. During summers, Thomas was employed by the Salmon and Targhee National Forests where he was working for the Forest Service when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

Soon after, he joined the U.S. Navy, serving as a carrier-based Naval Torpedo pilot. During the war, Thomas flew a Grumman Avenger­TBM from three aircraft carriers – the USS Ranger, the USS Bunker Hill and the USS Essex. He served in both the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters of Operation and survived a splashdown in the South China Sea, which he chronicled in his book, "Torpedo Squadron Four, A Cockpit View of World War II." He was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Air Medals and the Presidential Unit Citation.

Thomas married Jean Ellis on June 2, 1945, and their passion and love for each other continued for the next 67 years. Their first two children were born while Thomas worked for the U.S. Soil Conservation Service in Idaho. In 1950, they loaded up the family in a four-wheel trailer they made out of their old Model A Ford, and moved to College Station, Texas, where Thomas completed a Master's of Science and a Ph.D. in Range Science and was promoted to teaching and research positions. While in College Station, their third child was born.

In 1958, Thomas was named dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Texas Tech University. Gerald and Jean were beloved members of the Lubbock community and raised their children there.

In August 1970, Thomas was named president of New Mexico State University, serving 14 years in that capacity. As integral members of the Las Cruces community, Gerald and Jean considered this move one of the best decisions of their lives, which Gerald chronicled in his book “A Winding Road to the Land of Enchantment.”

Thomas is the author or co-author of numerous books and more than 200 other publications. In 1984, NMSU named a million-dollar chair in agriculture in his honor and in 1988 designated the Agriculture and Home Economics Building as "Gerald Thomas Hall." He also helped organize the building of the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum.

Throughout his career, Thomas maintained a special interest in world food problems, environmental issues, natural resource management and history. He has had numerous honors and served on many boards including the State Board of Education, the Research Advisory Committee for the U.S. Agency for International Development and other state and national committees.

A memorial service open to the public will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 10, at First Presbyterian Church, 200 Boutz Road, Las Cruces. Following the service, a reception will be held at the church.

Gifts can be made in his name to the New Mexico State University Foundation (contact Deborah Widger at 575-646-4034 or dwidger@nmsu.edu) or First Presbyterian Church.

To learn more about his WWII history, go to his website at http://www.airgroup4.com/ . - See more at: http://newscenter.nmsu.edu/9616/nmsu-announces-passing-of-former-president-gerald-thomas#sthash.9ZndipkD.dpuf

Longtime New Mexico State University President Gerald Thomas, who led the university from 1970-1984, died peacefully this morning at the age of 94.

From a building named in his honor at the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences to the many programs and scholarships he established, Thomas had a dramatic impact on the university both during his time as president and in the years that followed.

"Without contradiction, Gerald Thomas was the greatest president this university has ever had," said NMSU President Garrey Carruthers. "He had an unassuming way of connecting with all constituents – students, faculty, the public and our country. With his commitment to academics, research and outreach, he guided New Mexico State University through a time of tremendous growth in both enrollment and research funding. He had a wonderful sense of humor and loved both his work and this university. He will be greatly missed."

When he arrived in 1970, the main campus enrollment was 8,155 students, but by his retirement, enrollment had grown to more than 12,500 students. An additional 3,000 students were enrolled at NMSU's four community college campuses.

Thomas was born on a ranch on Medicine Lodge Creek, Small, Idaho, on July 3, 1919, to Daniel Waylett and Mary Evans Thomas. Because the Small school offered only 11 grades, his mother took him with his brothers to California to finish school where Thomas graduated from John Muir Tech with a high school diploma and from Pasadena Junior College with an Associate of Arts degree. During summers, Thomas was employed by the Salmon and Targhee National Forests where he was working for the Forest Service when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

Soon after, he joined the U.S. Navy, serving as a carrier-based Naval Torpedo pilot. During the war, Thomas flew a Grumman Avenger­TBM from three aircraft carriers – the USS Ranger, the USS Bunker Hill and the USS Essex. He served in both the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters of Operation and survived a splashdown in the South China Sea, which he chronicled in his book, "Torpedo Squadron Four, A Cockpit View of World War II." He was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Air Medals and the Presidential Unit Citation.

Thomas married Jean Ellis on June 2, 1945, and their passion and love for each other continued for the next 67 years. Their first two children were born while Thomas worked for the U.S. Soil Conservation Service in Idaho. In 1950, they loaded up the family in a four-wheel trailer they made out of their old Model A Ford, and moved to College Station, Texas, where Thomas completed a Master's of Science and a Ph.D. in Range Science and was promoted to teaching and research positions. While in College Station, their third child was born.

In 1958, Thomas was named dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Texas Tech University. Gerald and Jean were beloved members of the Lubbock community and raised their children there.

In August 1970, Thomas was named president of New Mexico State University, serving 14 years in that capacity. As integral members of the Las Cruces community, Gerald and Jean considered this move one of the best decisions of their lives, which Gerald chronicled in his book “A Winding Road to the Land of Enchantment.”

Thomas is the author or co-author of numerous books and more than 200 other publications. In 1984, NMSU named a million-dollar chair in agriculture in his honor and in 1988 designated the Agriculture and Home Economics Building as "Gerald Thomas Hall." He also helped organize the building of the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum.

Throughout his career, Thomas maintained a special interest in world food problems, environmental issues, natural resource management and history. He has had numerous honors and served on many boards including the State Board of Education, the Research Advisory Committee for the U.S. Agency for International Development and other state and national committees.

A memorial service open to the public will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 10, at First Presbyterian Church, 200 Boutz Road, Las Cruces. Following the service, a reception will be held at the church.

Gifts can be made in his name to the New Mexico State University Foundation (contact Deborah Widger at 575-646-4034 or dwidger@nmsu.edu) or First Presbyterian Church.

To learn more about his WWII history, go to his website at http://www.airgroup4.com/ . - See more at: http://newscenter.nmsu.edu/9616/nmsu-announces-passing-of-former-president-gerald-thomas#sthash.9ZndipkD.dpuf
Longtime New Mexico State University President Gerald Thomas, who led the university from 1970-1984, died peacefully this morning at the age of 94.

From a building named in his honor at the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences to the many programs and scholarships he established, Thomas had a dramatic impact on the university both during his time as president and in the years that followed.

"Without contradiction, Gerald Thomas was the greatest president this university has ever had," said NMSU President Garrey Carruthers. "He had an unassuming way of connecting with all constituents – students, faculty, the public and our country. With his commitment to academics, research and outreach, he guided New Mexico State University through a time of tremendous growth in both enrollment and research funding. He had a wonderful sense of humor and loved both his work and this university. He will be greatly missed."

When he arrived in 1970, the main campus enrollment was 8,155 students, but by his retirement, enrollment had grown to more than 12,500 students. An additional 3,000 students were enrolled at NMSU's four community college campuses.

Thomas was born on a ranch on Medicine Lodge Creek, Small, Idaho, on July 3, 1919, to Daniel Waylett and Mary Evans Thomas. Because the Small school offered only 11 grades, his mother took him with his brothers to California to finish school where Thomas graduated from John Muir Tech with a high school diploma and from Pasadena Junior College with an Associate of Arts degree. During summers, Thomas was employed by the Salmon and Targhee National Forests where he was working for the Forest Service when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

Soon after, he joined the U.S. Navy, serving as a carrier-based Naval Torpedo pilot. During the war, Thomas flew a Grumman Avenger­TBM from three aircraft carriers – the USS Ranger, the USS Bunker Hill and the USS Essex. He served in both the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters of Operation and survived a splashdown in the South China Sea, which he chronicled in his book, "Torpedo Squadron Four, A Cockpit View of World War II." He was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Air Medals and the Presidential Unit Citation.

Thomas married Jean Ellis on June 2, 1945, and their passion and love for each other continued for the next 67 years. Their first two children were born while Thomas worked for the U.S. Soil Conservation Service in Idaho. In 1950, they loaded up the family in a four-wheel trailer they made out of their old Model A Ford, and moved to College Station, Texas, where Thomas completed a Master's of Science and a Ph.D. in Range Science and was promoted to teaching and research positions. While in College Station, their third child was born.

In 1958, Thomas was named dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Texas Tech University. Gerald and Jean were beloved members of the Lubbock community and raised their children there.

In August 1970, Thomas was named president of New Mexico State University, serving 14 years in that capacity. As integral members of the Las Cruces community, Gerald and Jean considered this move one of the best decisions of their lives, which Gerald chronicled in his book “A Winding Road to the Land of Enchantment.”

Thomas is the author or co-author of numerous books and more than 200 other publications. In 1984, NMSU named a million-dollar chair in agriculture in his honor and in 1988 designated the Agriculture and Home Economics Building as "Gerald Thomas Hall." He also helped organize the building of the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum.

Throughout his career, Thomas maintained a special interest in world food problems, environmental issues, natural resource management and history. He has had numerous honors and served on many boards including the State Board of Education, the Research Advisory Committee for the U.S. Agency for International Development and other state and national committees.

A memorial service open to the public will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 10, at First Presbyterian Church, 200 Boutz Road, Las Cruces. Following the service, a reception will be held at the church.

Gifts can be made in his name to the New Mexico State University Foundation (contact Deborah Widger at 575-646-4034 or dwidger@nmsu.edu) or First Presbyterian Church.

To learn more about his WWII history, go to his website at http://www.airgroup4.com/ . - See more at: http://newscenter.nmsu.edu/9616/nmsu-announces-passing-of-former-president-gerald-thomas#sthash.9ZndipkD.dpuf

Slaughterhouse fire may have been arson - video

A horse slaughterhouse in Roswell planning on opening Monday is now facing a new hurdle: A suspicious fire that started over the weekend. Investigators say from the looks of it, the fire may have been intentional. The owner has no doubt. Busted wires, piles of ash and a stench of gasoline are all still evident after a Saturday fire at Valley Meat Company. “Very clearly someone knew what they were up to and tried to set a fire to disable those and potentially destroy the plant,” said Valley Meat attorney Blair Dunn. Valley Meat owner Rick De Los Santos says he's used to people threatening him, but not to this extent. "People that will go light a fire at your facility or people that will go threaten your life or go threaten your kids life," is wrong, said Valley Meat owner Rick De Los Santos. Dunn says the fire targeted the plant's electrical refrigeration system. “It did do some damage to the those refrigeration units which are a life blood and a critical component for the operation of the plant," he said. Dunn says one unit provides electricity to the entire plant and without it, the horse slaughterhouse can't function. He says when investigators got to the plant, there was a strong smell of gasoline and a particular fire pattern that made them believe the flames were set intentionally...more

Here's the KRQE video report:


Warrantless Cellphone Tracking Is Upheld By Court

In a significant victory for law enforcement, a federal appeals court on Tuesday said that government authorities could extract historical location data directly from telecommunications carriers without a search warrant. The closely watched case, in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, is the first ruling that squarely addresses the constitutionality of warrantless searches of historical location data stored by cellphone service providers. Ruling 2 to 1, the court said a warrantless search was “not per se unconstitutional” because location data was “clearly a business record” and therefore not protected by the Fourth Amendment. The ruling is likely to intensify legislative efforts, already bubbling in Congress and in the states, to consider measures to require warrants based on probable cause to obtain cellphone location data. The appeals court ruling sharply contrasts with a New Jersey State Supreme Court opinion in mid-July that said the police required a warrant to track a suspect’s whereabouts in real time. That decision relied on the New Jersey Constitution, whereas the ruling Tuesday in the Fifth Circuit was made on the basis of the federal Constitution. The Supreme Court has yet to weigh in on whether cellphone location data is protected by the Constitution. The case, which was initially brought in Texas, is not expected to go to the Supreme Court because it is “ex parte,” or filed by only one party — in this case, the government...more

Roswell - Mountain lion killed after charging at officers - video

The Roswell Police Department issued more information about the shooting of a mountain lion near Pecos Elementary School on Wednesday night. RPD dispatched an officer to the area of Southeast Main and Chisum Street on reports of a mountain lion walking near the school. The officer located the cat, but lost it when the feline jumped over a fence. Additional officers and a Chavez County Sheriff's deputy arrived at the scene and relocated the mountain lion. According to Roswell police, the animal took an aggressive stance and charged at law enforcement. That's when the large cat was shot and killed. New Mexico Game and Fish responded to recover the body. The mountain lion was not from the Spring River Park & Zoo, according to Roswell police.
Here's the KOB video report:

Forest Service sued over logging plan for Utah’s Dixie National Forest

Two conservation groups have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for Utah to stop the U.S. Forest Service from permitting logging within 8,300 acres of the Dixie National Forest, including thousands of acres that are habitat for such sensitive species as three-toed woodpeckers. The Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Native Ecosystems Council want a federal judge to stop the proposed Iron Springs Timber Sale on the Aquarius Plateau, which overlooks the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Southern Utah, and require the Forest Service to do an Environmental Impact Statement. The project area provides habitat for such sensitive wildlife species as boreal toads, flammulated owls, three-toed woodpeckers, Northern flickers and Northern goshawks, according to the lawsuit. It also is habitat for the Mexican spotted owl and the Utah prairie dog, both listed under the Endangered Species Act. Other wildlife in the area include mule deer, elk and wild turkey. The U.S. Forest Service issued a decision on March 8, 2013, finding the "vegetation improvement and salvage project" would have no significant impacts. The decision also allows reconstruction and maintenance of 36 miles of road and construction of 9.6 miles of temporary roads to facilitate logging activities. According to the Forest Service, the project targets approximately 4,600 acres that are in need of thinning to aid growth and health and improve the mix of tree types; are populated by trees damaged by bark beetle infestations; or are areas in need of reforesting due to 1960s-era harvests. "While the proposed treatments are designed to improve forest health, there is a need to provide valuable commercial forest products to the public," the Forest Service also noted in a 2010 scoping notice for the project...more

How many damn toes is a woodpecker supposed to have?  Wikipedia says:

Woodpeckers, piculets and wrynecks all possess zygodactyl feet. Zygodactyl feet consist of four toes, the first (hallux) and the fourth facing backward and the second and third facing forward. This foot arrangement is good for grasping the limbs and trunks of trees. Members of this family can walk vertically up a tree trunk, which is beneficial for activities such as foraging for food or nest excavation. 

So now you know why these critters are endangered.  They're missing a toe.  

Being the good investigative reporter, I have made a discovery that should shock the USFWS:  Woody Woodpecker only has two toes!  But sshh, don't tell the feds.  My grandchildren would hate me if they took Woody off the air.  



Study: As elk numbers decline, grizzlies get more berries

Grizzly bears are reaping the benefits of a better berry crop in Yellowstone National Park, thanks to the role wolves have played in reducing elk numbers, according to a new study by researchers. The study by William Ripple, a professor in the Oregon State University Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, and OSU professor emeritus Robert Beschta, adds to previous research the two have done following the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone and their related impact on plant life as elk numbers have declined. Ripple said the study, although showing an increase in the use of berries by grizzlies, is not necessarily great news for the top predators in the high-mountain ecosystem. What the study does do is help scientists understand “how the animals interact with the plants and helps us try to discover linkages between the species,” he said in a telephone interview. To form their thesis, Ripple and Beschta analyzed grizzly bear scat gathered by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team taken in July and August for three years before and after wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone in 1995. From the samples, they found that berry usage by bears climbed on average from .3 percent in July before wolves were reintroduced to 5.9 percent after reintroduction. In August the use of berries climbed from 7.8 percent before wolf reintroduction to 14.6 percent afterward...more

Where is the HSUS when you need them? (Probably busy fund raising)  Making grizzlies eat grouse whortleberry instead of elk roast has got to be animal cruelty.

Leave the enviros in charge and someday the Mighty Grizzly will be called the Berry Bear.

Oh, just in case you were wondering where these professors were coming from, there's this:

The researchers also made a pitch to establish more room for bears outside Yellowstone, advocating for the reduction of livestock grazing in grizzly bear habitat adjacent to the national park, which would also decrease wolf-livestock conflicts.

They want to keep getting $$ to study wolf introduction, so to hell with everybody else.



Endangered Species, It''s What''s For Dinner - video

A group of Chinese tourists have enraged Chinese netizens by posting photos on Weibo of their trip to the Paracel Islands and their favorite activity-feasting on endangered giant clams. The Paracel Islands are at the center of a heated territorial dispute between China and Vietnam and China''s push for tourism there has done nothing to help cool the situation off. And now these Chinese tourist have been caught chowing down on endangered species, things are sizzling. Chinese tourists have gotten a reputation for bad behavior and this latest incident has done nothing to remedy that reputation. But it''s not just tourists, China''s black market is taking a toll on endangered animals because of the belief that many exotic animals, like elephant ivory or rhino horn can be used in traditional Chinese medicine to cure disease and help libido.  Source

Does a giant clam have toes? Here's the China Uncensored video report


http://youtu.be/hEu29Px9cqQ

Government, White Mountain Apaches sign ‘historic’ water-rights agreement

The federal government and White Mountain Apache tribe signed a “historic” water-rights agreement Tuesday that the two sides said will guarantee water for the tribe and benefit Phoenix water users as well. The deal ends decades of legal wrangling over rights to water from the Little Colorado and Gila rivers by allocating about 23,000 acre-feet of water from the Central Arizona Project to the tribe each year. It also includes $200 million for construction of a new water system for the tribe and an additional $78.5 million for fish production, lakes, irrigation and other water projects. By resolving questions over control of water in the Salt River basin, the deal will also ensure the tribe and residents of Phoenix have a water supply for the “next 100 years,” said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. “This opens a new chapter in tribal water-rights,” Jewell said at a signing ceremony in Washington with officials from the tribe. White Mountain Apache Chairman Ronnie Lupe praised the work of those who helped bring about the deal...more

PBR 20/20: McBride sets $200,000 record

Few rides have been as dramatic in PBR history as the one Justin McBride made for $200,000 in Columbus, Ohio. Moments after the eventual two-time World Champion made the whistle for 93 points on Scene of the Crash in 2007, play-by-play broadcaster Craig Hummer said it had already been "a season of firsts and a season of milestones" for McBride as his best friends Ross Coleman and J.W. Hart, who customarily pulled his rope, were the first to greet him in the arena as confetti was strewn from above. McBride, who had already won a record eight Built Ford Tough Series events despite injuring his left shoulder at an event in Chihuahua, Mexico, capped off what many argue is the greatest regular season in the PBR's 20-year history with his ride on the Alpha Trade National Champion bounty bull. PBR fans will have an opportunity to watch the 2007 event from Columbus Wednesday night on RFD-TV with the continuation of the new series "PBR 20/20" at 8 p.m. ET...more

  • “PBR 20/20” continues on RFD-TV on Wednesday, July 31 at 8 p.m. ET. The 20-week series will feature 20 of the greatest PBR events as they were originally broadcast.
  • This week’s episode of “PBR 20/20” will feature the 2007 event in Columbus, Ohio, where Justin McBride rode Scene of the Crash for 93 points and a PBR-record $200,000.
  • McBride’s matchup with Scene of the Crash was the Alpha Trade National Champion bounty bull. Scene of the Crash was co-owned by Jerry Nelson, Tom Teague and comedian Ron White.
  • McBride’s payoff still stands as the richest bull ride in the PBR’s 20-year history.
  • “PBR 20/20” will be telecast every Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET for the next 20 weeks. Fans are encouraged to tweet during the telecast – @PBR and @OfficialRFDTV – using the hash tag #PBR2020.


http://youtu.be/sR1ID-XdoI8

Song Of The Day #1066

Sharon in Oregon requested this song.  She thinks it fits in with our current situation.  Here's Merle Haggard and his 1981 recording of Are The Good Times Really Over.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

NPS's updated plan for Yosemite under fire

Far humbler corners of America have faced a similar dilemma: How much human activity should be allowed in a natural setting that is also promoted as a tourist destination? The National Park Service is proposing a significant makeover of Yosemite National Park that would change the way future generations of visitors experienced the park, especially the seven-mile-long Yosemite Valley at its heart. The Park Service’s plan would restore more than 200 acres of meadows, reorganize transportation and reduce traffic congestion. To shrink the human presence along the Merced River, park officials are also proposing closing nearby rental facilities for bicycling, horseback riding and rafting, and removing swimming pools, an ice rink and a stone bridge. As with most things related to one of the nation’s most beloved national parks, the plan has ignited fierce debate among environmentalists, campers, and officials in California and Washington. Representative Tom McClintock, a Republican whose district includes Yosemite, said at a recent House hearing that the idea of removing commercial facilities was meant to satisfy “the most radical and nihilistic fringe of the environmental left.” But some environmentalists said the plan did not go far enough in protecting Yosemite Valley and the Merced River, which flows through 81 miles of the park...more

 Kick the public outta there!  Who do they think owns these lands?  Certainly not the public...they are the enemy.

Yosemite National Park - 748,000 acres and they can't manage 4 million visitors.

Central Park, NYC - 850 acres and they manage 38 million visitors.

Draw you own conclusion.


Sierra Club sues feds over oil shale development

The federal government is being sued for opening up parts of the Rocky Mountains to oil shale development. The Sierra Club and six other conservation groups filed the lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Denver. The groups say the U.S. Bureau of Land Management failed to consider how widespread development of public lands would harm rare desert plants and threatened species of wildlife. The lawsuit says the government program violates the Endangered Species Act. The federal government decided in November to open up parts of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming for oil shale development for legitimate efforts to squeeze oil out of hard rock. Other groups joining the lawsuit are Grand Canyon Trust, Living Rivers, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Rocky Mountain Wild, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. AP

Stop the Keystone pipeline so oil from oil shale in Canada can't be imported, then use the ESA to stop oil shale development in the U.S.  There you have the enviro plan for our energy future.

Artificial nesting platform built for endangered birds

New floating platform
The Interior Least Tern, a federally listed endangered species, prefers to nest in barren or sparsely vegetated areas along lakes and river systems. Within the Hagerman Wildlife Refuge on the Texas side of Lake Texoma, local populations of least terns have nested on oil pads that extend out into the lake. This has created difficulties for the oil companies that control these pads and can cause problems for the birds as well. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and an oil company have worked together to construct artificial nesting platforms for the birds. This will provide them with the habitat that they need without inhibiting the work of the oil company. Unlike the land that it rests on, the minerals underneath Lake Texoma are privately held and extracted by various oil companies. Because of the proximity of the nests to the wells, these companies may be barred from entering some areas on the pads. This could render them unable to maintain the wells as long as the birds are present...more

Much of fresh produce in Utah's healthier school lunches gets dumped


Josiah and students nationwide are gearing up for year two of the school lunch overhaul required by the Healthy, Hunger-free Kids Act of 2010. They must now top their lunch trays with more fresh choices: students cannot clear the checkout line without taking a fruit or veggie cup. The law also trimmed down the portion sizes of meats and grains, shrinking burgers, hoagies and other popular choices. The changes cost Utah districts in two ways — first to buy the healthier fare and deal with more waste, then in lost customers as students opted to pack lunch or pick it up elsewhere. Buying more produce lowered bottom lines of school districts across Utah, said Luann Elliott, the state child nutrition programs director. But the hit is necessary, she said. "There has to be a place where kids learn what a healthy option looks like." The mandates are an important step toward good habits, nutrition professionals say, and it takes to transform attitudes from "yuck" to "yum." But in the first go-around, much of the fresh stuff went onto plates and into the garbage. Meanwhile, students nationwide complained of afternoon stomach grumbles, citing smaller burgers and halved buns, said Kevin Concannon, undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). USDA officials relented in January, temporarily lifting limits on grains and proteins. Students were once again allowed to take multiple rolls instead of just one, and cheeseburgers went back on some menus. It’s not yet official, but USDA officials now say the change will be permanent...more

I'll bet Michelle Obama hates this...but I love it.


Low-Level NSA Analysts Have ‘Powerful and Invasive’ Search Tool - video

Today on “This Week,” Glenn Greenwald – the reporter who broke the story about the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs – claimed that those NSA programs allowed even low-level analysts to search the private emails and phone calls of Americans. “The NSA has trillions of telephone calls and emails in their databases that they’ve collected over the last several years,” Greenwald told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos. “And what these programs are, are very simple screens, like the ones that supermarket clerks or shipping and receiving clerks use, where all an analyst has to do is enter an email address or an IP address, and it does two things. It searches that database and lets them listen to the calls or read the emails of everything that the NSA has stored, or look at the browsing histories or Google search terms that you’ve entered, and it also alerts them to any further activity that people connected to that email address or that IP address do in the future.” Greenwald explained that while there are “legal constraints” on surveillance that require approval by the FISA court, these programs still allow analysts to search through data with little court approval or supervision. “There are legal constraints for how you can spy on Americans,” Greenwald said. “You can’t target them without going to the FISA court. But these systems allow analysts to listen to whatever emails they want, whatever telephone calls, browsing histories, Microsoft Word documents.” “And it’s all done with no need to go to a court, with no need to even get supervisor approval on the part of the analyst,” he added...more

Here's the ABC News video report:


Reforms of Domestic Government Surveillance

In the National Security Agency (NSA) domestic snooping scandal, at least two major issues exist: 1) warrantless government “traffic” analysis of patterns of potentially all Americans’ phone calls, from which new technology allows authorities to assemble a fairy good picture of innocent peoples’ lives; and 2) the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Court that has been a rubber stamp for government warrants to spy on American citizens and permanent residents. Many lawyers, and even former judges on the secret court, have come up with laudable, but insufficient, ways to fix the obviously broken system. However, simple solutions are best: Repeal Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, which has allowed government collection and analysis of the phone records of ordinary Americans, and abolish the FISA Court entirely. Traffic analysis is a government search and thus falls under the Fourth Amendment’s requirement that any search warrant must be specific concerning the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized (the phone records of more than 300 million Americans hardly qualify) and must be generated by probable cause (all Americans are unlikely to be terrorists). The Constitution provides no exceptions for this fundamental right—which is vital to avoiding the creation of a surveillance or police state—including for “national security.” Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act does not use the probable cause standard. Thus, the government’s bulk traffic analysis of Americans phone records clearly violates the text of the Constitution. Also, at the nation’s founding, the term “probable cause” meant that a crime had been or would likely be committed. In contrast, the Foreign Intelligence Service Act, which set up the FISA Court, requires the government only to have probable cause that a surveillance target is a member of a foreign terrorist group or a foreign government or entity in order to intercept the phone and electronic communications of American citizens and permanent residents. The government doesn’t need to measure up to the higher constitutional standard that the target is suspected of having committed a crime...more

Song Of The Day #1065

George Morgan - A Shot In The Dark  (1954)

http://youtu.be/5502PeQGLpI

Monday, July 29, 2013

Interior chief slams ‘short-sighted’ GOP cuts

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell took a swipe at House Republicans on Monday for proposing cuts to her department that she said would impair federal services and kill jobs. “I keep hearing when I testify about how slow we are on permits,” Jewell said in a Monday media call. “This takes that out even further. It really shoots ourselves in the foot, and the taxpayer in the foot.” The House Environment and Interior spending bill would provide $24.3 billion in funding to 19 agencies, which is a cut of $5.5 billion. The $10.5 billion in proposed funding for Interior falls short of the $11.9 billion that the White House requested. Jewell said that funding level “threatens to undo our forward progress on everything.”...more

Bipartisan House Conservation Bill to Protect Millions of Acres

Congressmen Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.), Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and a bipartisan group of 133 of their colleagues today introduced a bill to help landowners work with 1,700 land trusts nationwide to protect millions of acres critical for water, wildlife and working farms, ranches and forests. Both are members of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee. “H.R. 2807 makes conservation a real and affordable option for family farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to protect lands that are vitally important to their communities,” said Land Trust Alliance President Rand Wentworth, the head of a national conservation group representing 1,700 land trusts that have conserved 47 million acres. “We have such a diverse coalition of groups working together on this bill because saving land helps communities in so many ways. [To find out how many land trusts exist in each state and how many acres they conserve, visit: http://www.lta.org/census-datatables.] The bill has an extraordinarily varied list of supporters, including 64 organizations representing agriculture, wildlife conservation, forestry, hunting and fishing, and the environment. It also has generated a list of 135 cosponsors that spans the ideological spectrum, a rare event in what has been a very partisan session of Congress. A list of cosponsors is posted at:  http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.113hr2807 .  Since 2006, an enhanced income tax deduction has enabled family farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to get a significant tax benefit for voluntarily forgoing future development of their land, boosting conservation by one third, to more than one million acres a year. However, this enhanced tax incentive is due to expire at the end of this year. The introduction of the bill is particularly important given that a major rewrite of the tax code is expected from both the House and Senate tax committees this year. Senators Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Orin Hatch (R-Utah), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee have introduced a similar bill, S.526, in the Senate. Without the enhanced tax incentive, an agricultural landowner earning $50,000 a year who donated a conservation easement worth $1 million could take a total of only $90,000 in tax deductions. Under the enhanced incentive, that landowner can take up to $800,000 in tax deductions – still less than the full value of the donation, but a nearly nine-fold increase that would dramatically increase voluntary land conservation...more
Why bring in the feds and the IRS-tax policy at all?  If a landowner has property where the development rights are worth $1 million, the land trust can purchase those rights and hold the easement.  All negotiations are private and between the trust and the landowner, with no fed involvement.
But the land trusts want their mission subsidized, and the DC Deep Thinkers have established a national policy that:  Subsidizes ag production on the one hand and with the other subsidizes taking land out of production or limiting future production.

This is also billed as "voluntary land conservation."  Have they not heard of the death tax?  Many times an ag family is faced with this tax and have to sell all or part of their property to just pay this tax.  Rather than that they will opt for the conservation tax subsidy so the family can continue to ranch.  They are put in this box by federal tax policy, so I would hardly call this "voluntary". Those who want to see western ag traditions continue would serve us all better by amending the inheritance tax.
Besides, the IRS is going to be much too busy enforcing Obamacare.
Sadly, I note U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan is one of the cosponsors, as he continues to promote everything in the environmental wish list.


Ferret's link to prairie dogs underlies opposition

A safe harbor agreement allowing landowners to benefit from fostering the black-footed ferret — claimed by some to be the most endangered mammal in North America — is a model of voluntary wildlife conservation that creates new revenue streams for ranchers, but it is also controversial. In what one Eastern Colorado farmer termed the "circle of life," black-footed ferrets rely on prairie dogs for their prey, and where there is ferret habitat, there will be prairie dogs — lots of prairie dogs. "I don't know of anybody in my area that's in favor of it," said Susan Leach of Arriba, who was attending the mid-summer meeting of the Colorado Farm Bureau. She just recently put away her crutches after stepping into a ground hole on her family's property and injuring her foot. "Prairie dogs will take over 40 acres of grass in nothing," she added. On a summer ranch tour hosted by the Colorado Independent Cattle Growers Association, Jay Jolly, who ranches in the Hugo area, made it clear how he felt about the ferret-harboring plan. "It's ridiculous," he said emphatically. "So much of this is stuff we have no choice about," he added later. "It's scary. It's like we don't actually own anything anymore." "It's just another nightmare for us," concurred Tom Hendrix, a rancher from Wray who recalled being contracted by the government to eradicate prairie dogs back in the early 1970s. In order to ensure survival of the black-footed ferret, "you can't do anything to those prairie dog towns," Hendrix said. "You can't disturb their habitat. And that means you can't control them. When they get old enough, the young ones have to go somewhere. Overnight, you'll have a new town." The CICA organization has official policy opposing the ferret proposal. Harry Thompson, who hosted the group's ranch tour northwest of Sterling, said he was shocked to learn from wildlife officials that 10,000 prairie dogs are required to support one pair of ferrets...more

  "It's scary. It's like we don't actually own anything anymore."

There lies the crux of most of our problems.  The government that was originally established to protect our property is now the biggest threat to property rights.


Rancher pleads not guilty to letting cows roam free in Rio Rancho - video

A rancher has been charged for letting his cattle roam free in Rio Rancho. KOB Eyewitness News 4 found evidence of the cows left all over sidewalks, yards and parks in Rio Rancho last week. Bill King, son of former New Mexico Gov. Bruce King and owner of the King Ranch, faced a judge this week on two misdemeanor charges. King pleaded not guilty to both charges, saying the city did not interpret the law correctly. Under state law, it's the property owner's responsibility to keep livestock off their land.

Here's the KOB tv report:

Plano, Texas rancher brings urban rodeo to Shreveport

A rodeo that blends urban and zydeco music with cowboy culture comes to Shreveport Saturday. R&B singer T.K. Soul will headline the event. But he could be upstaged by dozens of rodeo competitors and bucking broncos at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum as part of the Hip Hop Cowboys summer rodeo. Hip Hop Cowboys is a company that Damon Leffall of Plano, Texas, formed four years ago. His hobby as a rancher and team roper turned into his bread-and-butter business. He said the urban cowboy concept is not a stretch. "We’re cowboys at heart, but we just kind of got another hip-hop side to things," Leffall said. "It’s not something that we have to force. It’s just something that goes along with our everyday life.”...more

A year in the life of a sheep rancher

Sheep ranching is an Idaho tradition that dates back to the 1880s. Scottish emigrants like Andy Little, who was known as the “Idaho Sheep King,” brought sheep ranching know-how to Idaho and established the industry in a state with lots of open range. Basque sheep herders played a major role as well, finding jobs tending to sheep flocks in Idaho as they had done in the Basque region of Spain. At it’s peak in the 1930s, there were hundreds of sheep ranching outfits in Idaho, running more than 2.7 million sheep statewide. Nowadays, there are fewer than 40 sheep ranchers and 180,000 sheep overall. Frank Shirts is one of the last sheep ranchers standing. He runs 12 bands, or about 28,000 ewes and lambs, from the low country in Wilder to the high country in the Boise and Payette National Forests every year. Lambing begins at the Shirts ranch in Wilder in January. This is when the ewes give birth to the lambs in the first three months of the year. It’s a busy time. “As they lamb, or their water breaks, we take them into the shed and take care of them all night long,” Shirts said. “With the cold weather, it’s vital to get them out of here fast.” During January, the temperatures can drop to near zero or single digits Fahrenheit. The lambing sheds provide crucial cover for the ewes as they give birth, and for the lambs, who are susceptible to freezing when covered with afterbirth fluids...Shirts employs 25 Peruvian sheep herders year-round to take care of his sheep. The men who work during the lambing process are the same guys who herd the sheep through the mountains in the summer. Most of the herders come from Peru, and a few are from Mexico. Shirts covers their health insurance, room and board and salary. Lambing takes about 3-4 months to complete. Once they’re done, the crews clean up the corrals and get their gear ready for spring turnout...Each band of sheep is cared for by two herders. The herders carry a wall tent and camp supplies on pack mules and horses, moving the camp every day or so as the sheep move through the country. “I run pack strings in the mountains,” Shirts said. “About 80 or 90 percent of the sheep outfits run one guy per camp, but I run two because I’m in this rough, wolf-inhabited country.” Each band also is accompanied by two Great Pyrenees guard dogs to help keep predators at bay...more

Wyden and Udall: Intelligence Community's Response Leaves Important Surveillance Questions Unanswered

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Mark Udall, D-Colo., released the following statement after receiving a response from Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to their June 27, 2013 letter sent along with 24 fellow senators:

“This response is appreciated, but the intelligence community still has left many of the questions most important to the American people unanswered.  Given the implications for the privacy of the millions of law-abiding Americans, intelligence leaders were specifically asked to demonstrate the unique value of the bulk phone records collection program. They did not. Instead, they persist in citing two cases where the government could have obtained a court order or emergency authorization for the information it needed.  The bottom line is we still have yet to see concrete evidence that the dragnet collection of phone records provides any unique value.
It’s also deeply troubling that while the NSA claims no current plans to turn Americans’ cell phones into tracking devices, it clearly claims the authority to do so. This response leaves our question of past plans unanswered.  Their violations of the rules for handling and accessing bulk phone information are more troubling than have been acknowledged and the American people deserve to know more details.  And we are amazed that intelligence leaders deny that the PATRIOT Act has been ‘secretly reinterpreted’ when it is obvious that most Americans and many members of Congress had no idea that this law could be used for bulk collection of millions of law-abiding Americans’ personal records.
In addition, the intelligence community’s response fails to indicate when the PATRIOT Act was first used for bulk collection, or whether this collection was underway when the law was renewed in 2006. We believe that law enforcement and intelligence agencies should have the tools needed to protect the American people, but the collection of bulk phone records needlessly invades the privacy of law-abiding Americans without visibly enhancing their safety.
The responses of the intelligence community demonstrate once again how important it is to reform our surveillance laws and practices at this unique moment in our constitutional history.”





Lawsuit: SWAT Officers Dragged 10-Year-Old from Bathtub, Made Him Stand Naked Next to 4-Year-Old Sister, Terrorized Family

Pittsburgh SWAT officers must face claims that they raided a family's home, violently dragged a child from the bathtub, and "terrorized" them at gunpoint, a federal judge ruled. Georgeia Moreno and her family sued Pittsburgh, its police chief and 14 police officers in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The events unfolded as Georgeia, her husband, William; and her stepfather, Mark Staymates were watching television in their living room as Georgia's sick mother, Darlene, slept upstairs at 7 p.m. on Dec. 7, 2010. They suddenly heard a loud explosion and saw bright lights, "as if grenades were going off," the complaint states. Pittsburgh Police SWAT officers wearing helmets and facemasks then broke and "stormed through" the front and back doors of the home, according to the complaint. Those officers allegedly never identified themselves, pointed assault rifles at the family, shouted obscenities and destroyed their property. Although the team purportedly sought to arrest William for quarreling with a drunk, off-duty police officer at a local veterans club early that morning, the family says that their "terrorization" continued for another 45 minutes after William was apprehended. The officers threw to the floor, kicked and handcuffed Georgeia, her stepfather and her adult son Billy. They also injured Mark's shoulder and forced Billy to lie face down in broken glass, according to the complaint. When Georgeia pleaded repeatedly that she had young children in the house, at least one officer allegedly stated, "You think you can get one of ours, and we won't get one of yours?" The family says the police proceeded to drag Georgeia's 10-year-old son Trentino violently from the bathtub, injuring his ankles. They allegedly then made the boy stand naked at gunpoint next to his 4-year-old sister Briseis. Officers have continued to harass and threaten the family since the raid, telling them "that's how we do things here" and that they should move out of Pittsburgh, the complaint states.



Song Of The Day #1064

Floyd Tillman - G.I. Blues (1944)

http://youtu.be/dy5BJsq4HiA

Sunday, July 28, 2013

From Loving to Medellín - Jay Stell to represent Navy, U.S. at Pan Am Junior Games

Jay Stell will cap a phenomenal first year at the United States Naval Academy by not only representing his school, but also representing his country in Colombia next month. Stell, a Carlsbad native and a 2012 graduate of Loving High, earned a spot on Team USA for the 2013 Pan American Junior Games, which will be held Aug. 23-25 in Medellín, Colombia. Countries from North America and South America compete at the Pan Am Games and athletes between the ages of 16 and 19 are eligible for the Junior Games. “It’s just a dream to be a part of Team USA,” Stell said. “It was exciting to find out that I had that opportunity and it was great to actually make the team.”  In the javelin event, the 6-foot-3 Stell competed at the USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships in June in Des Moines, Iowa, and placed fourth with a throw of 211 feet, 3 inches (64.4 meters). The top two finishers in each event with a world-qualifying distance make the national team. So even though Stell’s performance at the national meet was only good for fourth, he already had surpassed the world standard of 218-12 (66.50m) twice. The second- and third-place finishers had not. Stell’s performance in Des Moines was just the latest in a series of surprises from the rising sophomore. Stell won 12 letters while competing in four sports at Loving. He took up the javelin as a high school sophomore at the behest of Loving coaches, and one year later (2011) was a Class 2A state champion...more

Cowgirl Sass & Savvy

Apologize early and often

by Julie Carter

It’s a fact. Some cowboys are smarter than others. Jed just happened to be one of the smarter ones, usually.

He and Sue Ann worked together almost every day on a big ranch. He had figured out that at some point during the day, always, the cattle, horses or hired help would do something that would require him to yell at Sue Ann.

You see, a cowboy has this tendency to bark orders or a correction at his wife so that the people nearby that really need to hear it won't be offended but will still become informed.

Sue Ann's historical reaction to this tactic wasn't something Jed recalled with pleasantries. In view of the fact that most days she was the best help he had, he considered several of his options for minimizing the effect of his methods.

One morning at breakfast he decided to "pre-apologize" for any mistakes he might make during the day.
This early request for forgiveness would cover almost everything and save time during the working day. It also allowed him to be comfortable in his recliner at day's end while she fixed supper instead of using that time to soothe her ruffled feathers at the saddle house.

What goes up must come down is not a solid physics theory when it comes to cattle, and especially yearlings. Once started in a determined direction at a speed commensurate to the run of a scalded cat, nothing short of a thunderbolt will stop the stampede.

Give those same cattle a hill or mountain to climb and they'll find the top and take up permanent residence without any intention of coming back down unless, first, it becomes their idea.

Once it is their plan, especially if you get a bunch of them gathered up on the top of the hill and pointed downward, refer to the previous paragraph and thunderbolt theory.

On this particular fall morning, Jed, Sue Ann and some hired help had started moving the cattle from the high country to shipping pastures at lower elevations.  They worked their way up the mountain trail to get above the cattle.

Yearlings can be pretty snakey in the brush. They have been known to sneak around behind the riders or even end up on the side of a cliff-like place where the only method to get them to move is the very un-cowboy method of throwing rocks at them. That is one of those cowboy skills you don't hear discussed much.

When a sizeable bunch had been collected to a clearing, the hands started moving the cattle down a steep ridge top complete with an abundance of rocks and deadfall. Sue Ann was riding point to the left front of the herd, charged with keeping them headed in the right direction.

As will happen, something that nobody but the cattle saw or heard spooked them and the race was on. At a dead run downhill they raced but, of course, not in any direction they should be going.

Sue Ann jumped up in the front of her saddle and rode hell-bent-for- leather through the treacherous steep terrain trying to head off the cattle. In an effort to not kill herself or her horse in the rescue, she did have to pull up in a few places and select a less lethal path through a natural gauntlet of dangers.

Finally, somewhat further down the hill than Jed had planned, everything came to a halt.

Jed, already calculating the pounds and dollars that had just been run off the cattle, simply couldn't help himself even when he knew better.

Unwisely, he rode over to Sue Ann and asked her, loud enough the cowboys he meant it for could hear, why she let the cattle run like that and why she didn't get them stopped sooner.

Calculating the cost of his own funeral pre-empted any cattle market numbers jumbling around in his head. It was good thinking on his part that he had already implemented his pre-apology plan that day.

Julie can be reached for comment at jcarternm@gmail.com




Wild Horse Havens: Ecotourism coming to a pasture near you

The Cost of Insanity
Wild Horse Havens
Ecotourism coming to a pasture near you
By Stephen L. Wilmeth



            His original name was Choctaw.
            We called him Chalky probably because it fit him better. He was a flea bitten gray with coal black feet. Since only kids rode him by the time I came along, there was no good reason to shoe him, but he probably didn’t need shoeing anyway. I wish now I had known what I was looking at when I was around him with the opportunity to study his feet.
            He was the cause of my first real horse wreck. I was with Grampa one day down the Mangus and he had fallen with me. I was laying there under him when Grampa came riding back up over the creek bank.
            “Looks like you’re in a bad place there, son!” he had said.
            Chalky had wallowed around and got up without more damage, but I was running on adrenaline. I remounted and within seconds my head was spinning.
            “I don’t feel so good,” I told my grandfather.
            “Well, go on to the house then,” he said.
            I can remember heading back up the road to the house before everything went black. The next thing I knew I was waking up lying on my back looking skyward. The old horse had dutifully stopped and was assessing me. His muzzle was in my face. I remember smelling him.
            My head was clearing by the time I got to the house and unsaddled. Grandma greeted me, diagnosed the situation and had me lay down in the shade. She brought me a Pepsi to drink … her remedy for lots of ailments.
            Chalky was the only horse from wild horse origin I knew personally in my youth. Grampa and Tom McCauley had trapped a bunch of remnant wild horses at the pot holes in Davis Canyon and roped him as a colt. They broke him and he had lived a long and productive life. He had long been a family pet. Every Wilmeth grandchild of my generation learned to ride on that horse.
            He had fallen not by tendency, but by frailty of age.
            The end of his life came when Grampa found him hung up in a fence going out onto the Forest. He put him down. He was 31.
            We were heart broken.
            Wild horses
            Today, there are an estimated 70,000 wild horses in the West largely on federal lands. More than half are in Nevada.
Some 37,000 of them are free roaming. The others are in jail … that is they are in what the primary governing land management agency, the BLM, terms ‘short term corrals’ or ‘long-term pasture’.
            By their own admission, the agency reveals the horses are on a growth path that is clearly unsustainable. They said the same thing back in 2009 when they told Congress they would have the free roaming population down to 29,500 by 2011 if Treasury would just spring for $57.4 million to fuel their horse management efforts for the upcoming fiscal year. Depending on how you want to calculate that expanding black hole, that equated to $831.88 annually per living wild horse or $1,793.75 for every animal incarcerated.
            That promise, of course, went the direction of the sucking sound and today’s dynamics are on a glide path to hit $1,304.64 and $2,468.24, respectively. Should we have expected anything different from our government?
            The agency has a plan, though.
            Their strategy continues to herald the adoption process where the price point of adoption reaches the trigger point of acceptance rather than actual value of the horses. That program has put 100,000 horses over the last decade into backyards and households that are not the best alternatives for once wild, free roaming animals.
            The heart of the current plan has more advocacy appeal. It consists of three components. Those detailed plans are fertility control, the establishment of new wild horse preserves, and the acceleration of special designations for ‘selected treasured herds’ in the West.
            Congress is being assured that wild horses on western lands will come into balance with their ranges.
            In the matter of fertility control, the plan is to put mares on a drug plan. The horses are going to get free birth control. A review of the history of the birth control tests that drove this concept reveals that conception dropped from 80% to 28% in 2006. In the successive two year periods thereafter, it produced similar decreases of 84% to 38% and 69% to 29%.
That sounds alright other than the fact the process has to be done year after year and the Fed horse wranglers might never gather a wishful target of 80% of their horses and need a 90% capture rate to make the process hit its mark.
            The second stage of the strategy is to expand federal domain out of the West and establish horse parks in the East and Midwest. The Secretary has assured that acquisition of these lands would only be ‘productive grasslands’. Furthermore, it would be “an excellent opportunity to showcase these historic animals with the potential for boosting eco-tourism in rural communities”.
            In addition to the necessary increase in annual operational funding of the horse program, the agency also wants money to acquire those expanding productive grasslands. The last annual request was for $42.5 million.
            It seems the Feds are intent to add wild horse parks to their growing array of national monuments, national conservation areas, areas of critical environmental concern, national forests, wild and scenic rivers, and, of course, the gold standard of all … wilderness. 
            The ‘treasured herd’ assignment alternative seems to be a contradiction of the expansion of horse parks into areas east of the 100th Meridian. In this expansion of budget, the Secretary is going to designate recognition status of certain showcase herds. By such designations, western rural communities in the overpopulated, depleted ranges of those resident populations will start enjoying expanded eco-tourism just like their eastern counterparts!
            Of course, the treasured herd designations will require hiring some kind of specialist the Feds reference by the acronym FTE. Certainly that FTE will have to have a staff, gooseneck trailer depository and field headquarters as well. He or she will be assigned the duty of population inventory, fertility control, other population management actions, removal operations, administering adoptions, sale of excess animals, and … the care of those horses that are incarcerated.
            This all sounds like the original dictate of the legislation that has been driving this whole equine welfare program from the onset … the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burro Act of 1971.
            Insanity management
            When the Act was passed, Congress had been convinced by the wild horse advocates that, without action, the free roaming herds would become extinct. The tide was turned on any fear of disappearance, and, the herds not only increased, they bred right through the carrying capacity and the promises by the managing agencies.
Much of the money spent today is in breach of the law. Section 1333 of the Act mandates the Secretary of Interior “shall immediately remove excess animals from the range so as to achieve appropriate management levels” when available information to him determines overpopulation exists in any given area.
The intention is this Act, along with similar environmental acts passed by Congress and assigned to the cabinet level secretaries for implementation and management, is altered, modified, adjusted, ignored, or reinterpreted constantly through agency management and regulation creep.
This is another example of the American citizen being pillaged by special interests and agencies that exist in a parallel universe without substantive oversight from any authority. Of course, they always complain about budget.
Last week BLM made the announcement they were going to remove only “1300 mustangs and burros from range across the West this summer” because of budget constraints and overflowing holding pens. Even this statement reeks of double speak. The entire matter was predicated on the plea to maintain “these symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West” in a wild free-roaming state. Over crowded jails don’t seem to pass muster within the spirit of the law.
What about the matter of killing an animal for the unwritten contract of humane and ethical treatment of a natural system?
The protectionists turn crimson with those words. Ultimately, that is exactly where this leads. In the fine print of the BLM has disclosed the agency intends to adjust sex ratios within the herd. That means one thing and that is the termination of lives of mares for the benefit of the stallions.
My goodness … wait until the feminists get that message!


Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico