News Native Camels of North America Are Camels Natives to North America? The question of whether llamas and camels are natives or exotics in North America exposes the many contradictions inherent in the phony science of invasive species “biology.” Millions of years ago the camel family – camelids – evolved in North America, eventually dividing into at least
blue-origin Good Results From Our One Chute Out Test Blue Origin continues its testing of spacecraft next door to Circle Ranch in far-West Texas. On our most recent flight, we performed a test to prove the Crew Capsule could safely land with only two of its three parachutes open. On a nominal flight with all three parachutes deployed, the
book-reviews Book Review - The Apache Wars: The Hunt for Geronimo, the Apache Kid, and the Captive Boy Who Started the Longest War in American History Dr. Paul Hutton has delivered a highly rewarding volume in The Apache Wars; it fully covers the American Apache Wars, revealing many new facts about the characters and agencies involved. It is well written, making it an entertaining read; but it is also a chilling account of barbarities and the
"Invasion Biology" Wildlife, Habitat Flourishing in High Desert Mountains of Far West Texas Gary Joiner and I became friends when he was Executive Director of Texas Wildlife Association, and I was on his board. He has a weekly radio show on wildlife, for which I gave this short interview. For more Texas Wildlife Radio Show / Texas Farm Bureau reports visit: http://texasfarmbureau.org/
"Invasion Biology" Biodiversity Benefiting Wildlife, Plants on Circle Ranch Wildlife population, habitat flourish in far West Texas Note: This originally appeared in Texas Wildlife Radio Show / Texas Farm Bureau reports Circle Ranch is a 32,000-acre high-desert mountain ranch located in the Sierra Diablo (Devil Mountains) of Hudspeth County in far West Texas. Range and wildlife habitat conditions right
"Invasion Biology" 13 Chronic Wasting Disease Cases Confirmed at Medina County Facility All cases of CWD can be traced back to the Foothills Wildlife Research Station in Ft. Collins, a facility of the Colorado Department of Wildlife, in 1967. Agencies have closed ranks: It appears that amnesia has spread like CWD. No one seems to remember what was being done to the
"Invasion Biology" Learning from Africa's Herbivores These articles shed light on some of the basic insights of holistic management, planned grazing, and permaculture, as to the physiology of desert grasslands: * Plants need animals as much as animals need plants. * Many, many kinds of animals, from large to small, are necessary for healthy habitat. * Restoration of animal
Cattle Industry Seeks Standard for Grass-fed Beef as Demand Grows The labeling on “organic” meat is as misleading as most other food labels. NOTE: Article was originally published on SAExpressNews.com on April 24, 2016 Some beef producers want USDA “organic” rule strengthened. That pricey grass-fed burger you had for lunch may have come from a cow that ate more
"Invasion Biology" Are GMOs Really That Bad? Since humans began raising food by farming and keeping livestock, we have bred for better plants and animals. This is not and never has been the problem with GMOs; attempts to portray GMO opponents as nuts fighting better plants are a red herring. In classic bait-and switch, the agro-giants promised
Bio-Diversity Bayer Proposes to Acquire Monsanto American food production is increasingly dominated by a few trans-national conglomerates which have no commitment to any country, let alone to the welfare of the American people. “Conservatism” has somehow come to support the evolution of competitive markets into uncompetitive markets in which every industry is dominated by a few
"Invasion Biology" Book Review: The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters by Sean B. Carroll is a great book about nature’s basic rules and contains many valuable insights on desert grasslands. While Carroll didn’t intend to write a book about holistic management, The Serengeti Rules
"Invasion Biology" Jim Howell – Conserving and Restoring the World’s Grasslands Take the time to listen to this great interview with our friend Jim Howell, in which he explains how cattle ranching can restore rangeland viability. NOTE: post initially appeared on MountainPrarie.com Jim Howell is the CEO of Grasslands LLC, which is the land management arm of the Savory Institute,
food-supply The GMO Labeling Farce Another misleading anti-organic food article from the Wall Street Journal. Not a word about the ubiquitous use of poisons to grow – and contaminate – everything we eat. NOTE: post initially appeared on WSJ.com on July 13, 2016 The organic food lobby wants to raise the cost of your groceries. Congress
marfa Keeper of the Flame Our artist pal Boyd Elder is one of the unforgettable characters of far-West Texas. NOTE: post initially appeared on TexasHighways.com and in print, the June 2016 edition In the 1960s at his Soho building in New York City, “minimalism” icon Donald Judd would take his phone off the hook
"Invasion Biology" HMI Open Gate Day - August 26 2016 HMI Open Gate: Circle Ranch Day Helping Water Flow Where it Needs to Go – August 26, 2016. Circle Ranch, Van Horn, TX Our Circle Ranch Day is part of HMI’s Open Gate Learning Series. Open Gates are on-the-ground learning days for producers and consumers who care about land health
Animal Development Feathers From Wind Farms Can Meet Apaches’ Needs A Justification for Windfarms? Windfarms are a boondoggle. Wind farm electricity costs six times as much per kilowatt hour as conventional: If your energy bill is $10,000 per year but you are content to pay $60,000 then wind power is for you! This calculation ignores damage to land
climate change New Drought in Far-West Texas? “El Niño-La Niña are reciprocating patterns that create wet and dry conditions on the land, and simultaneously, conditions of abundance and famine in the marine environments. In the Galapagos Islands for example, warmer water from El Niño means more rain on the land but a famine for birds and animals
"Invasion Biology" Spring 2016 Game Cameras Biodiversity is Good, not Bad Because plants need animals as much as animals need plants, a biodiverse plant community requires a biodiverse animal community. Conventional wildlife “management” and “conservation” theory says that most of the animals, and especially the predators pictured below harm “native” plants and animals, through “competition”, and
Animal Development Game Cameras - Early Summer 2016 Update and photos from our guide and camera manager, Jerad: Hello Mr. Gill, Quite the lamb crop this year. I don’t remember seeing this many in years past. I have seen a couple of groups with 10 lambs and lots with 4-8 as seen in the pictures! Also thought
"Invasion Biology" Book Review: Woody Plants of the Big Bend and Trans-Pecos This is a very useful book to the far-West Texas and Southern New Mexico landowner. Every landowner should try to know these plants by sight. Over 100 common trees, shrubs, cacti and other plants are identified and described. These are photographed as shrubs, in leaf detail, flower detail and seed
"Texas History" Book Review: The Son - A Great Texas History Here is a typical review of The Son, by Philipp Meyer, “a multi-generational story that takes on the myths of Texas history as well as American History”. Have you ever felt as a reader that you were reading a novel of near perfection? A book where every sentence, paragraph, character,
Bio-Diversity Farmers Put Down the Plow for More Productive Soil Holistic farming concepts are completely portable to rangeland management. The goal of all ranch managers should be the increase of soil fertility. From this, all else will follow. Article originally posted to NYTimes.com on March 9, 2015 FORT WORTH — Gabe Brown is in such demand as a speaker that
Conservation Are Parasites Good for Animal Health? The the word “parasite” often reflects misunderstandings about the interconnected nature of life. There are 10 times as many micro-organic cells and 250 times as many micro-organic genes in our bodies, as human cells and genes. We would quickly die without these, and yet they are considered parasites. Parasites including
"Invasion Biology" Game Cameras - February 2016 In far-West Texas, a coalition of government agencies, agricultural universities and conservation organizations has decreed that on public lands more than half of the species pictured below should be severely reduced or removed altogether to help bighorn, pronghorn and deer. The coalition claims that all “exotics” and many “natives” including
Bio-Diversity Grain Traders Rejecting New Monsanto Soybeans Monsanto is in trouble because it released seeds without EU approval. Why would it: New poisons and associated seeds are routinely approved without testing. What should upset everyone is this: “The latest Monsanto seeds contain new genetic technology that allows soybean plants to withstand a new and more powerful herbicide,
