Anyway, let me know when you have pictures, I have web space to host them.
Posted on 03/10/2003 8:30:59 PM PST by JackelopeBreeder
Fellow Freepers, this weekend I found what might be the most idyllic camp site in all of Arizona. People would fight over it anywhere here in the southwest.
Now picture this: A level grassy spot on a bluff twenty feet above a river, with the gentle murmur of the water passing over the rocks below; slow enough to sound restful, fast enough not to breed mosquitoes. Tall cottonwood trees lining both banks, with their leaves rustling in the breeze. Birds calling in the distance.
Ten feet away from the best spot for a tent is the grandmother of all cottonwoods, with a trunk five feet in diameter. She was probably already there when Coronado passed by this spot in search of the golden city of Cibola in 1540.
A ten minute walk would have put me back in the scrub oak and Johnson grass that is the reality of the high desert of Southeast Arizona. That contrast gave this spot even more of an Eden-like feel. I spent most of Saturday and Sunday afternoon sitting on that spot, listening to its soul-quieting sounds. I should have come away from there rested, relaxed and refreshed.
In fact, I left there with a sense of burning rage. This spot is tranquil only during those hours when the sun shines brightly. As soon as the shadows of twilight begin to grow, danger surrounds you. Perhaps I should describe some of its other amenities.
Let’s assume you have pitched your tent next to this cottonwood, with its door facing south towards the river. Six feet from the back wall of your tent is a trail used by illegal aliens and drug smugglers in the hours of darkness. Several other trails converge from the southeast and all join a larger trail thirty yards northeast of your tent. All plant growth on these trails is mashed flat. Every clearing in the trees that offers any concealment is also flattened, with additional brush cut and added for camouflage.
Trash is everywhere. Empty wrappers and cans, clothing and backpacks. Diapers, toilet tissue, and plenty of human waste right out in the open. Discarded giant-size black garbage bags (used for luggage, raincoats, shelter) caught by the wind and tossed into the tree tops. Empty water jugs by the hundreds.
Colorful plastic ribbons adorn tree trunks and branches to aid coyotes and drug smugglers in navigation. (Or the did until I tore them down.) Intricate piles of stone designate waiting points for the next coyote guide or the first stage of the ride north.
Does this sound like a remote uninhabited corner of the desert? It isn’t. It’s actually the San Pedro Riparian Conservation Area, which runs north to south through the center of Cochise County, Arizona. On paper, it’s a park for nature lovers and a nationally designated waypoint for migratory birds. I guess the migratory part is right – for the hundreds of illegals and smugglers who pass through there daily. It is run for the government under the stewardship of our tree-hugging friends from the Nature Conservancy.
In happier times, if you or I went visiting this park and accidently stepped on an endangered weed or lizard – well, we’d probably be fined or jailed. The Nature Conservancy hasn’t raised a peep about the illegals trashing the place. They also haven’t made any effort that I could see to clean up after their guests.
I saw a grand total of two tourists in the park over the weekend, an elderly couple from out of state. They stayed near the parking lot for a short while then left, probably shocked at the trash and crushed vegetation.
I did see a lot of other people in the park – illegal aliens. My friends and I from American Border Patrol called in the real Border Patrol and filmed the apprehension of 53 of them. Other local residents turned in similar numbers. All before lunch time. Some day I’m going to tell the story of one of those local residents – a real American hero.
This was the absolute worst I have seen on the border. The Border Patrol was catching them so fast and in such numbers that they were running of ways to transport the clientele back to the border for processing. I could not decide whether to call this an invasion or moving infestation.
On Saturday evening we watched a continuous stream of vehicles on the Mexican side of the border. They would drive out from Naco, Sonora to the east bank of the San Pedro River and stop just long enough to drop passengers. An hour later the game was on; the radios were full of reports of sightings and apprehensions. Hundreds of them. At one point a Border Patrol helicopter dropped in and nailed a group of 15 about 500 yards away from us. It went on all night and the Border Patrol was still policing up stragglers at lunch time Sunday.
As a special treat, Uncle JackelopeBreeder ended up in one of the photos on the ABP website. Those of you who may have perused the site Sunday night or earlier Monday can now recognize my fanny. I’ve been told it’s my best side.
The potential for ridicule keeps most people from working to do anything about the problem. The hypocrisy of others paralyses any deterant action, as in the case of the 'nature lovers' that would fight to jail a hunter that stepped on the wrong blade of grass but who look the other way as foreign invaders trample and trash our land as they break our laws.
Surprise, Surprise!
Download Nature's Landlord: The story of the world's most powerful environmental group, the Nature Conservancy. (2.1 mg PDF file, requires Acrobat Reader)
Anyway, let me know when you have pictures, I have web space to host them.
Also, Lori Faeth, who is Gov. Janet Napolitano's policy adviser for natural resources and the environment, is the Director of Government Relations for The Nature Conservancy of Arizona. She has worked for the Conservancy since 1992 and has experience in creating and passing funding initiatives for conservation at the state and local level, as well as developing public policy measures to further conservation. She represents the Conservancy's Arizona program before the state legislature and Congress and oversees the chapter's public policy program.
Prior to moving to Phoenix, Arizona in 1997, she worked for the World Wide Office of The Nature Conservancy as part of the Government and Community Relations Division.
I refuse to make a comment on the butt!
butt - bump up to top :)
Well said. Attempting to expose these "nature lovers" as been very hard, but things are changing in one area, the Forest policies. I believe this is because the land grabs, abuses of property rights, "Smart Growth", Agenda 21 have been successfully kept below the radar by the media and therefore not familiar to the average American. These fires weren't happening in a court room. They were very visible and the "if it bleeds, it leads" press have always jumped on the great footage and photos. See this intro to an Article in the Arizona Daily Star, written on the GOPUSA Arizona page this week.
Minus enviro-extremists, subcommittee talks common sense on forest management
Arizona Daily Sun -- March 8, 2003
Using controlled burns, cutting down smaller trees and removing damaged trees were common themes in testimony before a congressional subcommittee meeting in Flagstaff Friday. Radical extremist environmentalists were not invited to the table. With another hot summer approaching, extremists would have just gotten in the way.
Read more...
Speaking for some of the really mediocre people please tell us more!
Stay safe; stay armed,
Eaker
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