Posted on 06/15/2011 9:09:38 AM PDT by Colofornian
ST. CLOUD, Fla. — Most Utahns are unaware that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owns one of the biggest ranches in the country — and it's nowhere near the Beehive State.
Because of its prominent location, millions have seen the ranch without realizing what it was. But managers are opening the curtain; they have a message they want the public to hear.
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From St. Cloud to:
Orlando Airport: 10 miles
Kennedy Space Center: 15 miles
Magic Kingdom: 22 miles
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The cowboys are up before dawn, but this is not the Old West.
They ride out into Florida fog to punch cows — a lot of cows. In all, there are 44,000 of them, producing over 30,000 calves each year.
"It's good cattle country. At times it can be a hard environment to run cattle in," said David Genho, cattle development manager at the Deseret Cattle and Citrus Ranch.
Over the decades, the cattle have been specially bred at the ranch to thrive in a tropical climate.
Along with the cattle, the ranch has groves and groves of citrus fruit. Every year, it produces enough oranges to make 50 million glasses of orange juice.
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Deseret Cattle & Fruit
- 500 billion gallons of rain fall the ranch receives annually (1.5 times the volume of Utah Lake)
- 290-300,000 acres (450 sq. miles)
* 165,000 acres of pasture land
* 75,000 acres of wetlands
* 60,000 acres of timber
* 1,700 acres of citrus orchards (producing 50 million 8 oz glasses of orange juice annually)
* 920 acres of row crops (450 acres of potatoes for Frito Lay Chips)
- 44,000 cows
- 33,000 calves born annually
- 1,400 bulls
- 1,400 miles of fencing
- 380+ documented species of vertebrate animals- many threatened or endangered
* 245 birds
* 53 fish
* 33 reptiles
* 31 mammals
* 20 amphibians
- 90 employees
- 61 years of operation (acquired in 1950)
- 45 hunting clubs have rights to use land
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But there's also a profusion of wildlife. To see it all you have to walk through jungles, or take a wild ride on an airboat across a thriving aquatic habitat — where you run a pretty good chance of getting crossways with an alligator.
"Occasionally they'll take a calf; and just last week one of our cowboys had his favorite dog that went down to get a drink and … that was the last of him," said David Wright, environmental affairs manager at the ranch.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints acquired the property in 1950, and Florida grew up around it.
"Just the scale of it is hard to grasp," said environmental consultant W. Michael Dennis. "We're in this remote area, but yet it's still very close to all the urban centers of central Florida."
It's not far from Disney World, for one. It covers nearly 300,000 acres — more than 450 square miles spanning much of the distance from the Orlando airport to the Kennedy Space Center.
Urbanization is creating challenges "with the pressures for water, the pressures for land, the pressures for transportation corridors," Dennis said.
As legal and political controversy rises over those issues, ranch managers are now proudly displaying what they've done for the environment.
"The ranch has been a good steward of this land for 60 years," Dennis said.
The ranch won a Florida environmental leadership award for creating a one square mile wetlands reservoir to purify storm water runoff.
"The natural wetland vegetation takes up any nutrients that are found in the water; the nutrient levels are already very low," said Erik Jacobsen, general manager of the ranch.
The reservoir is now a haven for wildlife. "We've documented over 380 species on the ranch. Some are protected and some are rare," Jacobsen said.
They created a rookery, a nesting area, for thousands of birds by re-landscaping. It created island sanctuaries protected from predators by a moat full of alligators.
"We want to protect the environment; and that's been part of our responsibility since we've been here," Genho said.
On a broad scale, they've achieved an award-winning stewardship approach with a carefully designed mosaic of wetlands, pasture and timberland.
"Just the nature of our ranching operations is a huge benefit to the surrounding area because of the diversity of habitat it creates for wildlife," Jacobsen said. "It creates a huge area for groundwater recharge."
Rather than pumping precious groundwater, ranch managers capture and use surface water almost entirely. The ranch is currently battling a lawsuit that's aimed at turning over some of that water to surrounding communities.
"I think through cooperation we can come up with solutions that will be able to sustain the water supply in the area for years to come," said James Payne, manager of properties at the ranch.
Recently the ranch was honored for its environmental stewardship of the land. It won a "best in the region" award from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
hollenhorst@ksl.com
Consider the difference between the phrases:
“through the church”
and
“from the church”
I deliberately said “through the church” because those blessings come FROM God. The church is just the means of delivering them as God directs. Since when is the servant greater than the master?
Resty; what are you babbling about?
In the days of primitive tribes and grass huts, there was one tribe which was very warlike.
They won many battles, and took control of many other tribes.
One of their customs when they beat another tribe was to take the most prized posession of the enemy's chief.
One time, after a particularly fierce battle they defeated a rich tribe, whose king had a prized solid gold throne.
As was their custom, warlike tribe took the throne, and put it in the loft in their chief's house.
Unfortunately, the throne was much too heavy to be kept in a loft in a grass house, and it fell right through the ceiling, onto the chief, killing him instantly.
The Moral of this story is...
... People who live in Grass Houses shouldn't stow thrones!
The Catholics won’t baptize me unless I conform to their baptismal requirements. Are they a cult too in your book? Had to conform to certain requirements to get a driver’s license, to attend the university I wanted to go to, etc. etc. are they all cults as well?
The ordinances, and right the church has over those ordinances and the requirements for them is granted by God. If you don’t believe any of it, what difference does it make to you what the requirements are? You have a strange obsession with it.
The Murder of the Fancher Party, traveling thru UTAH...
They were innocent Christian's, moving Westward, who hoped to find a better life forthemselves and children. They incurred the suspicion of Brigham Young and were murdered by MORMONs; only ONE of whom were EVER prsecuted for the crime.
Faith in the Bible? If somebody who loves me writes me a letter, is the ultimate exercise of my trust in a letter -- or a letter-writer? The NT epistles are that -- letters. And even then, a John or a Paul is a mere postal carrier of the Holy Spirit. Even then, we exercise trust in the faithfulness of the Holy Spirit, who communicates via couriers & postal delivery servants.
The problem is that you distrust Jesus having the ability to sustain a trustworthy church-as-mere stewards. You believe He failed in His mission in allowing the forces of darkness to prevail against His church and His promise (Matt. 16:18). And you thereby also must believe the apostle Paul is a false "prophet" when he prophesied: 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory IN THE CHURCH and in Christ Jesus THROUGHOUT ALL GENERATIONS, FOR EVER AND EVER! Amen. (Eph. 3:20-21)
What do you do with such a prophesy of Paul? Did God receive ...glory in the church...throughout all generations, forever and ever!? (Or is that just another forever redefined as temporary in Mormonism -- like hell is thus redefined?)
When God makes us a promise that if we do X he will bless us with Y, we believe it. That doesn’t mean we don’t recognize that Y is far in excess of what we deserve, even when we’ve done X.
Temple Recommend question #10:
Are you a full-tithe payer?
What on EARTH could the 'church' possibly want to KNOW for??
If one believes kin a FALSE christ; then they get a FALSE heaven for a reward.
At the foundation of tithing is the recognition that EVERYTHING we have we owe to God. Paying tithing is just giving Him back what is already His own. People who love money are the ones who have a hard time accepting that.
Sounds like you are gloating now; over your SUPERIOR choices in life.
I do hope that you are not eating any MEAT in this warm weather period...
So, are you affirming that your belief is that blessings from God can ONLY come "through the mormon church"?
I think that pretty much says it all.
Can you provide a BIBLICAL source for that, ALL blessings must come through the/a church?
What can I add?
Which of the statements are UNTRUE?
I agree that motives are important, and I can’t stop you from attributing whatever motives you want to what I do or reading into my words whatever you feel like. My point in mentioning the blessings of tithing however are in response you the portrayal of tithing as some kind of rip-off. As one who actually lives that law I know that portrayal if false.
I agree that motives are important, and I can’t stop you from attributing whatever motives you want to what I do or reading into my words whatever you feel like. My point in mentioning the blessings of tithing however are in response you the portrayal of tithing as some kind of rip-off. As one who actually lives that law I know that portrayal if false.
Back to that MEAT thingy...
D&C 89:12-13
12 Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly; 13 And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.
I've never met anybody that thinks like this.
EVERYone knows that SOCIALism is a CLASSLESS society!
So, is it your belief that God keeps score? That God is influenced by monetary payments?
I guess if one believes that a few rituals in a mormon temple binds God to promises to mormons, one might believe that God totals up the board and decides who He will "bless"...and who He won't....very enlightening for those who have never been mormon, I'm sure.
According to the BIBLE, a 'TRUE' prophet of GOD never had to get approval from 12 others that what he said was true.
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