Free Republic

Submitted for entertainment purposes only.

My wife and I drove up to Estes Park, Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park. We only saw about ten deer, but about 300 elk. They were everywhere. In the national park, but most were in town. They were eating shrubbery in people's front yard, crossing roads and only occasionally not disrupting things.

Taxes fund environmental suits - Environmental law firms reap billions in fees to fund lawsuits October 15, 2009 The federal government has paid out billions of dollars to environmental groups for attorney fees and costs, according to data assembled by a Cheyenne, Wyoming, lawyer. Karen Budd-Falen of Budd-Falen Law Offices [main@buddfalen.com or 307-632-5105] said the government between 2003 and 2007 paid more than $4.7 billion in taxpayer money to environmental law firms -- and that's just in the lawsuits she tracked. The actual figure, she said, is far greater. "I think we only found that the iceberg exists," she said....

Harvesting an alligator that's 20 times your size is a piece of cake, according to 5-year-old Simon Hughes. "Well, its pretty much simple," said Simon who caught the alligator. Simon's father said Simon is a natural born hunter, so an 800 pound alligator was no match for him. "Well I my got my gun out and shot him," the 5 year old said laughingly. Pictures and video HERE

Toronto, Ontario (AHN) - A 10-year study made by the Canadian Red Cross on drownings and other water-related injuries across the nation showed that fishing topped the list of causes of water-related deaths in Canada from 1991 to 2000. Of the 5,900 water-related fatalities, there were 889 people who drowned, accounting for 15 percent. It was followed by swimming with 751 cases, playing or walking near water 669, road travel 538, powerboating 427, bathing 394 and canoeing 205. The study pointed that fishing is a popular Canadian past time, although it was a major source of food and livelihood for...

<p>OVI, Mich. (AP) - A married Oakland County official who police say was caught having sex with another woman on the sidewalk in the Detroit suburb of Novi has apologized after pleading guilty in the case.</p> <p>Republican Commissioner Kim Capello pleaded guilty this week to indecent exposure, which carries up to 93 days in jail. Sentencing is set for June 3.</p>

How to tell you're a compulsive gardener 1. When stuck in traffic, you want to weed the median strip. 2. On a walk in the neighborhood, you look at the plants so much that you trip on the sidewalk. 3. You find yourself worrying about your neighbor's plants. Especially when your neighbor is doing something stupid. 4. You are tempted to adopt those straggly, mishandled plants at the garden center because you think you can give them a good home. 5. You want to collect seeds from half the vegetables you eat. 6. You find yourself pruning, pruning, pruning because...

A New Hampshire man, who told a Dispatch reporter last week he was on a “journey of a lifetime” that brought him through nine states, dozens of towns and more than 1,700 miles, was in a wreck on Highway 45 today that demolished his horse-drawn recreational vehicle and killed two of his four horses. The wreck happened on Highway 45 South near Shuqualak on the Kemper-Noxubee county line. Bob Skelding, 49, was driving his team of horses on a stretch of roadway that had little or no shoulder. Two 18-wheelers traveling side-by-side crested a hill, and one of the trucks...

A 23-year-old transient was sentenced to 10 days in County Jail on Wednesday for catching and cooking a federally protected steelhead trout from San Luis Obispo Creek. Victor Manuel Silva was convicted of illegally taking and possessing wildlife. Wildlife officials said the poaching was a blow to the species because the fish was an egg-carrying female that was killed before she had a chance to spawn. Her eggs were strewn along the banks of the creek. A homeless man was sentenced to 10 days for cooking this steelhead. CLICK FOR MORE PHOTOS Poll: What do you think of criminally charging...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-10-27-prez-money_N.htm

By Jerd Smith Nonprofit land trusts charged with overseeing thousands of acres of scenic lands will have to be state certified next year in order to continue accepting lands, under a new review process. Beginning Jan. 1, 2009, the Colorado Conservation Easement Oversight Commission will begin reviewing dozens of nonprofit trusts to ensure they are qualified to monitor lands and have the financial resources to defend the easements against development or misuse.

A spokeswoman with the National Championship Air Races confirms to Channel 2 News that a pilot was killed in a plane wreck Saturday morning at Reno-Stead Airport...

McCain 2008 Announces Sportsmen For McCain Leadership Governors Pawlenty, Keating to Serve as National Co-Chairs ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA -- U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign has announced the National Steering Committee of the Sportsmen for McCain coalition. These leaders in the angling, hunting and shooting communities are working across the country to emphasize John McCain's dedication to protecting Americans' right to gun ownership and his commitment to preserving and promoting our hunting, angling and shooting traditions. John McCain said, "I am proud to have the support of these national and state leaders within the sportsmen's community and know that their support...

Like many townies, my prejudices about the Glorious Twelfth were well and truly fully formed. The official start of the shooting season was nothing more than an ancient ritual to massacre thousands of defenceless birds. So it was with some cynicism and not a little trepidation that I agreed to take part in the Glorious Twelfth last Tuesday, the traditional start of the shooting season, on a moor on the Durham/ Northumberland border. (edit) Having missed my first bird and about to hand over my place to the next gun, I looked back at the group. Mums with red-faced...

denver and the west Mountain lion snatches dog from owners' bedroom By Ann Schrader The Denver Post A mountain lion slunk into the master bedroom of an Idledale home early Monday, snatched a yellow Labrador retriever and vanished. Officers are hunting the mountain lion and have set a trap, said Jennifer Churchill, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Division of Wildlife. "A lion that will brazenly go into someone's bedroom . . . we need to be careful of," Churchill said. The dog's body was found near the property. Churchill said the residents had left open the French doors to their...

Reactions from smokers ranged from stunned to furious -- and often unprintable. "Outside?" gasped Isaac Kim, who's about to start pre-pharmacy classes at the Silver Spring/Takoma Park campus. "Do they have the right to do that?" Welcome to the land of tolerance and freedom Mr. Kim. Your rights will be dictated to you in the Citizens Manual. Should you stray, they have a special police force to enforce your right not to smoke or chew tobacco. See if you can pick out the innocent-sounding, Stalinist name for the anti-smoking cops. And yes, employees could ultimately be fired or students kicked...

People are shunning the great outdoors. Blame conservationists, not video games ON JULY 4th, normally the busiest public holiday of the year, tourists were put off by high petrol prices and more than 300 wildfires raging across California. On Memorial Day, traditionally the beginning of the summer season, it was cold. In 1999 there was a grisly murder. In 1997 the Merced river flooded, inundating a hotel and wiping out hundreds of campsites. There are always excuses for the absence of people in Yosemite National Park. The number of visitors to California’s most spectacular valley has dropped for nine out...

Check out this scary video of a burglar stealing a family’s carpet. If anyone finds a carpet on ebay matching the rug in the video, please report it to the local authorities.

Wyoming officials confirm fifth case of plague found in mountain lions Friday, June 6, 2008 4:51 PM MDT Mountain lion hunters, the owners of domestic cats and others who may come in contact with mountain lions in Wyoming and other Western states are urged to protect themselves and their animals against plague. “Plague was confirmed in a mountain lion found dead in mid-April by a landowner in rural Johnson County,” said Todd Cornish, an associate professor in the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture's Department of Veterinary Sciences. Cornish said this is the fifth case of plague confirmed in mountain...

This video is of a red shoulder hawk singing its song and perched on an upper limb, while being watched by a family with binoculars, the hawk gives his view.