"Invasion Biology"

Did Humans Live in California 100,000 Years Earlier Than We Thought?

At our Circle Ranch Indian Cave,  Arizona State University found charcoal that radiocarbon dating says is 25,000-years older than the 10,000 BC date which most scientists say is when humans arrived in North America.  This extraordinary date change would be small compared to what is discussed below.

minerals

West Texas Mineral Classifications Explained

Much of far-West Texas is ‘mineral classified’. This important feature of land ownership is a major reason why West Texas ranches are such great investments. Enacted in 1919, the Relinquishment Act, as interpreted by the Courts, reserves all minerals to the State in those lands sold with a mineral

Animal Development

Circle Ranch Game Camera Videos

Wildlife videos from our high-desert mountains, captured in the winter of 2015.

"Invasion Biology"

Cancer Worries Over a Common Weedkiller

California has recently acknowledged what the medical community has known for years: Glyphosate (Roundup) causes cancer. It is implicated in other diseases like alzheimers, gluten intolerance, diabetes, infertility and more. Glyphosate residuals are found in most everything we drink, eat and wear. Efforts to move away from glyphosate dependance in

Big Bend Ranch State Park

Big Bend Still Breathtaking After All These Years

Big Bend and far-West Texas is the most overlooked part of the West. NOTE: This post initially appeared on SAExpressNews.com on April 27, 2017. Feature photo by: Michael Ciaglo / Houston Chronicle BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK — Since its opening in 1944, breathtaking Big Bend National Park has drawn visitors

Bio-Diversity

Pesticide Maker Tries to Kill Risk Study

Like the tobacco companies before them, for decades now the agrochemical companies have worked the system to avoid consequences from the health hazards of their products. According to the left, Big Government stands between the public and Big Businesses including the agrochemical giants. According to the President, a smaller EPA

"Invasion Biology"

New York Today: Prospect Park Goes to the Goats

Even the folks in New York City have figured out that animal impact – in this case ‘exotic’ goats –  can better maintain open space than machinery or chemicals.  This insight puts them ahead of Texas’ mainstream wildlife ‘managers’. NOTE: This post initially appeared on NYTimes.com on May, 2016 To help

Adele Davidson

Life on the San Antonio River

A profile of Circle Ranch Co-Owner Josie Negley Gill,  from Texas Monthly Magazine.   NOTE: This article initially appeared in Texas Monthly: A family breathes new life into a historic King William home with their eclectic style. View as Slideshow Nine-year-old Tres Davidson and his seven-year-old

Agri-business

Eco Profits - Whose Money Harms The Environment?

Author Dan Dagger says in part, “Environmental corporatism is guilty of the same offense of which it has made a career of accusing capitalism, the free market, and private enterprise: Getting rich at the expense of the environment. And its consumers are just as blind to the damage they cause

Bighorn

US Drought Falls to Record Low

Good news for quail and wildlife: It looks like we will dodge the drought bullet for the moment. Now is the time to implement the range recovery practices that will mitigate the next dry cycle. NOTE: This post initially appeared on TheGWPF.com on April 28, 2017   Drought in the

"Invasion Biology"

On The Iberico Trail

In Spain, free-ranging pigs which forage for themselves and fatten on seasonal acorns produce hams that can bring $2,000 apiece.  In Texas, free-ranging pigs which forage for themselves and fatten on seasonal acorns are considered unfit to eat. Why the difference? Anticompetetive regulations which favor Big Pork,

Conservation

This Farm Is Trying To Change The Future Of Organic Pork

It is possible to create a humane, self-sustaining, and profitable hog farming system and to make organic pork more widely available. NOTE: post initially appeared on RodalesOrganicLife.com on December 12, 2016 The Rodale Institute’s hog facility has one goal: Show farmers everywhere how to create a humane,

Conservation

Land-Rich Farmers Still Struggle to Survive

Heavy subsidies of agriculture have not made farming and ranching profitable. Nor can they. NOTE: This post initially appeared on WSJ.com on December 21, 2016 The farmer is the only businessperson who buys his inputs at retail and sells at wholesale, all the while hoping (and praying) for good

far-West Texas oil & gas

Far-West Texas Mineral Classifications

As explained below, far-West Texas ranches often come with mineral ownership that cannot be severed from the surfaces. This is an important investment feature. By John McFarland I have recently been reading “The Big Rich: the Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes,” by Bryan Burrough. It

"Invasion Biology"

Kaput Maker Pulls Feral Hog Poison Out of Texas

Those who oppose the idea of drenching Texas ranges with the rat poison Warfarin, are either “lawyers, misinformed or radical environmentalists”. Kaput has been withdrawn by its manufacturer, who in doing so reiterated all these false health claims about free range pigs. There has been no epiphany within Big Wildlife,

"Invasion Biology"

Texas House Orders Study Before Using Poison on Feral Hogs

The ‘feral pig apocalypse’ is a costly bureaucratic poisoning boondoggle that will harm wildlife in incalculable ways. There is an obvious alternative: Let the market solve the problem the bureaucrats created, and let Texas’ leaders lead towards a solution that benefits wildlife, habitat and the economics of land ownership. Feral

Bio-Diversity

Euros Cave to Big Ag

The full force of the United States has been thrown behind the effort to force our destructive agricultural model on the world, in the name of “free trade”. The European Chemicals Agency on Wednesday said glyphosate, the key chemical in Monsanto Co.’s flagship herbicide, doesn’t cause cancer, but

Bio-Diversity

Texas Hunters Want to Put the Kibosh on Ag Commissioner’s ‘Feral Hog Apocalypse'

The “feral hog apocalypse” is brought to you by Big Wildlife: The same folks who gave us CWD. NOTE: This post initially appeared on SAExpressNews.com on February 22, 2017 State Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller’s call for a “feral hog apocalypse” has hunters across Texas up in arms about

Conservation

Holocene Sea-Ice Cover

According to this paper, Arctic sea-ice fluctuation is caused by natural solar cycles, not anthropogenic (human caused) global warming. — Paper Summary by Dr. Richardson Gill: The February issue of the Journal of Quaternary Science, a highly respected paleoclimatology journal, included an article that reported a study of Arctic sea-

Bio-Diversity

Unsealed Documents Raise Questions on Monsanto Weed Killer

Big Tobacco and its cronies manipulated public opinion for decades after they knew that smoking causes cancer.  Monsanto is doing the same with respect to glyphosate (Roundup). NOTE: article initially appeared on NYTimes.com on March 14, 2017 A lawsuit contends that the main ingredient in Roundup, the world’s

Chronic Wasting Disease

Chronic Wasting Disease Spreads

“Feeding can cause deer to gather in a certain place and spread the disease more rapidly. “We would discourage any artificial supplemental feeding,” Lightfoot said. “It does congregate deer and have potential for additional risk.” NOTE: This post initially appeared on SAExpressNews.com on January 26, 2017 State wildlife officials

"Invasion Biology"

The Ultimate Pursuit in Hunting: Sheep

Desert Bighorn Sheep are one of four wild sheep found in North America. All four are incredible animals. Few private landowners in far-West Texas have as much experience or success with Desert Bighorn Sheep as ourselves. Our experience is that sheep are easy to raise: Add lots of free

"Invasion Biology"

Rattlesnakes and Yucca Bucks

Great thoughts on mule deer and ‘paradigms’, by Steve Nelle. NOTE: the following article was originally published in Texas Wildlife Magazine, November 2015. The article was provided by the publisher directly and permission for it’s use in this post has been granted. Document (PDF) can be viewed here

"Invasion Biology"

Wild Boar Trappers Fear Hog Poison’s Effect on EU Wild Meat Market

The feral pig ‘problem’ is a regulatory issue.  The one bright spot is that the Europeans – whose food safety standards far exceed our own –  love our free range pork.  The brilliant idea to use Warfarin to control pigs will destroy that market, and produce unknown and unintended consequences to other

Animal Development

Bison: At Home, On the Range

Raising bison commercially on open ranges. NOTE: This post initially appeared on ModernFarmer.com on September 12, 2016 In 1994, when Mary and Lee Graese bought their first two bison, beef was what’s for dinner, as Robert Mitchum’s voice intoned on the omnipresent television ads. We’re talking