Rob and Sue Krentz

It’s no secret I have a soft spot for ranch and farm families who fight daily to maintain a traditional way of life and the ag industry. I’m especially concerned for ranchers and others on the US border with Mexico, folks like the Krentz family in Arizona.

Fortunately, I’m not the only one.

Sue Krentz is the widow of murdered rancher Rob Krentz (http://tinyurl.com/4q42vxp, http://tinyurl.com/3ousscl, and http://tinyurl.com/3kn858f ). I hope you’ll take some time to read the links and get to know Sue and her family.

I became acquainted with Sue over email. She told me that she and others are caught up in a nightmare. They are suspended between violence on the border and a firestorm of controversy over immigration policies and their enforcement (or lack thereof). We Americans should be able to separate our feelings on the two.

No matter your position on immigration policies and enforcement, if you have any measure of compassion you should be alarmed by what happened to Rob Krentz and his dog Blue, as well as the ongoing every day consequences of the illegal immigration of violent, lawless criminals.

Since Rob Krentz was murdered a year ago, there hasn’t been a whole lot of progress toward making the border safer, but several members of Congress are trying to address that.

The two bills that were recently introduced are:

• H.R. 1277 The Southern Borderlands Communication Act (introduced by Rep. Ted Poe of Texas on behalf of Congresswoman Giffords – link to bill) would improve cell phone service for better public safety on the border.

H.R. 1505 The National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act  (by Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah – link to bill) would allow Homeland Security to protect the border without violating environmental regulations other federal agencies are required to enforce. 

The cartels that have killed thousands near the border are the same cartels that send their foot soldiers north through cities and rural towns to grow marijuana in our national forests. It’s only a matter of time before they import their violent ways well beyond the border – there are some indications that’s already happening.

Shouldn’t we take a stand and insist Congress deals with border security now? Please let your local, state, and federal representatives hear from you on this.

But don’t quit reading here: there’s more.

Here’s a link to a good op ed in the Arizona Capitol Times (http://tinyurl.com/3eotrls ) called Changing scene along border leads to death, destruction — not protection by Steve Brophy, President of the Arizona Cattlegrowers’ Association.

And finally, below is a press release from the Public Lands Council about the need to strengthen border security. 

I’t time. Let’s do something now.

PUBLIC LANDS COUNCIL PRESS RELEASE

Contacts: Mary Geiger, 202-879-9138 or mgeiger, Theo Dowling, 202-879-9135 or tdowling

WASHINGTON (April 15, 2011) – Jim Chilton, Arizona rancher and member of the Public Lands Council (PLC) and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), told members of Congress during an oversight hearing held jointly by the Government and Oversight Committee’s Subcommittee on National Security, Homeland Defense and Foreign Operations and the Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands that inadequate security along the border between the United States and Mexico, especially on public lands, has put ranchers and their families living near the border in constant danger.

“We have been burglarized twice. Many of our neighbors have suffered similar loss of security and property. Our losses have been great and our sense of security in our own country has been severely damaged,” Chilton said. “The Border Patrol must control the border at the border so that citizens’ civil rights, property rights and human rights are protected. Ranchers along the border cannot have peace of mind until the border is secured.”

Chilton said environmental laws, including the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), have “unduly hampered” the ability of U.S. Border Patrol agents to control the border. He said he and many other ranchers have had challenges with federal land managers causing serious delays for the border patrol. According to Chilton, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) two mile wide and 50 mile long San Pedro National Conservation Area excludes any mechanical entry or exit resulting in a drug trafficker’s “dream path to enter Arizona and walk unhindered and hide in heavy vegetation for 50 miles. The only way the Border Patrol can patrol that contraband highway is on foot or horseback.”

U.S. Representative Rob Bishop (R-Utah) recently introduced H.R. 1505, the National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act, to help improve border security on public lands. The legislation would prevent the secretaries of the Department of Interior (DOI) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) from impeding, prohibiting, or restricting the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) efforts to obtain operational control of the border. It gives DHS immediate access to federal lands, and allows the agency to waive certain policies preventing it from obtaining full operational control of the border.

PLC and NCBA support H.R. 1505.

“There are millions of acres of remote federal lands along our southern border where border patrol agents are unable to do their job because of misguided environmental policies,” said NCBA President Bill Donald. “Now, dangerous and aggressive drug and human traffickers are perusing the same lands our ranchers live and work on day to day. This bill would allow for the access and surveillance equipment border patrol agents need to protect these lands — and our members.”

John Falen, president of PLC, said while lands under management by the DOI and USDA are crucial to public lands ranchers’ livelihoods, ranchers are suffering huge losses on those lands along the southern border. Livestock stress and weight loss, destruction of fences, broken pipelines, water pollution, hazardous chemical use and dumping and destroyed forage, he said, are not the only damages caused by these drug operations.

“Drug traffickers are well armed. They use traps and aren’t afraid to harm ranchers who are only trying to go about their daily business,” he said. “This isn’t just costing our industry millions; it’s costing lives. We hope Congress recognizes the true lawlessness on our borders by passing this long overdue legislation.”

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The Public Lands Council (PLC) has represented livestock ranchers who use public lands since 1968, preserving the natural resources and unique heritage of the West. Public land ranchers own nearly 120 million acres of the most productive private land and manage vast areas of public land, accounting for critical wildlife habitat and the nation’s natural resources. PLC works to maintain a stable business environment in which livestock producers can conserve the West and feed the nation and world.

Abraham Lincoln once pointed out why folks shouldn’t believe everything they hear. It’s good advice.

 ”If you call his tail a leg, how many legs does a dog have? Four. Because calling a tail a leg does not make it one,” he explained.

I like that. In a world where spin-doctors tell us what we heard before it’s out of a person’s mouth, we’d all benefit from a dose of Lincoln’s common sense now and then.

So in honor of my favorite president, when I see tails stumping around like legs I’m going to point them out.

Back to cows and toads.

According to the article (not yet posted online), the five-year scholarly study by Tate and other University of California scientists concluded cattle grazing is not responsible for the decline of the Yosemite toad (a candidate species for listing under the US Endangered Species Act). The toad lives in high Sierra meadows ranging from Alpine to Fresno County.

In 2001, Forest administrators pulled back a number of grazing allotments that had been utilized by foothill ranching families for over 150 years due to suspicion that cattle were responsible for the species’ decline. Though Tate’s study determined further research will be necessary to identify exactly what factors are causing the decline, cows are not  the culprits. In addition to grazing, potential stressors identified were ”reduced moisture resulting in heavy conifer encroachment on meadows, fire management regimes, climate change, and  hydrologic conditions.”

Elisa Noble, Natural Resources and Public Lands Director for California Farm Bureau believes it’s time to let the cows back into those areas of the Forest.

“Many of our ranching members depend on public lands grazing to economically sustain their operations,” she says. “Grazing allotments on public lands are critical to maintaining the ecological health of the land and the economic viability of ranchers and rural communities… The current best available science clearly indicates that managed grazing should be allowed to continue unhindered.”

Elisa’s right. USFS should reactivate without delay any permits that were withdrawn ten years ago on the basis that cattle grazing might harm the toads.

This dog’s got four legs and a tail, folks.

I’m a huge fan of mediation as a vehicle for conflict resolution: did you know bringing peace to people at odds can be as simple as helping them communicate more clearly? It’s true. A neutral mediator can help willing parties understand each other’s positions, underlying interests, and needs. As a result, people get to agreement, often restoring relationships in the process.

For the past two years I’ve been involved in a project with the Tuolumne County Superior Court to use mediation to divert civil and small claims cases from the courtroom, lighten their caseload, and allow disputants to craft their own settlement agreements. As a result of the Court’s support for mediation, 75% of the cases assigned (several hundred) have settled outside of court.

Now the Court is interested in resolving community disputes before they even become lawsuits and has contracted with Sierra NonProfit Services to establish a new mediation program: TUOLUMNE MEDIATES. Hurrah!

The following training is the first step in building local capacity to do that. Please consider joining us.

TUOLUMNE MEDIATES, a Tuolumne County Superior Court and community collaborative partnership, invites you to attend a two-day mediation training to learn how to resolve conflict and promote new opportunities to volunteer, partner, and/or refer neighbors, employees, and clients for mediation services.

Join us at the two-day training on April 5th and 27th. You’ll be able to brush up on old skills and develop new ones. The training is free to those who commit to becoming volunteer community mediators or whose organizations are willing to support our new program in some way.

We’re looking for volunteers AND community partners! Participants will learn to:

• Diffuse heightened emotions;
• Use appropriate conflict management skills;
• Solve problems using interest-based negotiation;
• Use mediation to address & resolve conflict;
• Get past impasse;
• Create mutually acceptable solutions; and
• Foster responsibility & accountability for solutions.

Diane Martin of Martin Mediation & Training will conduct the training. Diane is a former Sonora resident with 15 years of experience as a professional mediator and instructor of mediation and communication skills. She’s trained mediators for the California State Mediation Service; Fresno County Office of Education; Mariposa, San Joaquin, and Sacramento County Community Mediation Centers; and the US Postal Service.

TUOLUMNE MEDIATES’ training is sponsored by the Tuolumne County Superior Court and Sierra NonProfit Services. For more information, contact TUOLUMNE MEDIATES at 694-4586 or Sandi at (209) 532-1607.

PRESS RELEASE

Sonora, CA – District Three Tuolumne County Supervisor Teri Murrison will be the guest on Mother Lode Views this weekend.

Murrison, who is finishing out her final term in office, will talk about issues facing her district. Five straight Mother Lode Views programs are focusing on the individual Supervisors. It is a chance to hear about issues straight from the elected officials. The following week’s show will showcase District Four Supervisor John Gray and then District Five Supervisor Dick Pland. Previous guests included District One Supervisor Liz Bass and District Two Supervisor Paolo Maffei.

Mother Lode Views will air Saturday morning at 9:30 and Sunday morning at 8:30 on AM-1450 KVML. Mother Lode Views can also be heard Sunday morning at eight o’clock on 93.5 KKBN and an hour later on STAR 92.7.

For our extensive audio archive of past interviews on Mother Lode Views click on the “Multimedia” tab and on “Mother Lode Views” or keyword: mlviews

Written by BJ Hansen

PRESS RELEASE

Date:               Monday, January 25, 2010; 10:00 am
Contact:          Kathleen K Rustrum, OES Coordinator, (209) 533-5511

Sonora - According to today’s report for Tuolumne County from the Forecast Desk at the National Weather Service, we are still under a Winter Storm Warning until Tuesday, January 26^th at 4 am. We expect rain to pick up in the late morning through the afternoon amounting to under 1” of precipitation in the lower elevations.

Snow is expected today from 5000’ upwards, lowering in elevation tonight to possibly as low as the 3000’ elevation, for a light dusting. Higher elevations could get as much as 1’ of new snow from this storm. We expect today to be breezy with wind gusts up to 40-50 mph at the mountain crest.  The forecast is for a shower or two tomorrow, then a drying trend through Friday, January 29^th.

Regarding power outages

Mi-Wuk Village is PG&E’s current focus with 1634 customers without power.  PG&E now has 30 crews of 4-5 persons each plus vegetation management staff in Tuolumne County working around the clock to restore power. Helicopter assessments were made over the weekend. Many pole replacements are in inaccessible areas and need to be replaced by staff hiking in and replacing poles by hand. Other poles are more accessible and more easily accessed by snow tractors.

PG&E will be re-energizing power lines in the Mi-Wuk area today at 10:30 am and should be able to further assess where power is still out later on this morning. We hope to update the community with PG&E’s action plan later on today.

Mi-Wuk Fire Station, located at 24247 Highway 108, next to Big Daddy’s Restaurant, has been turned into a warming station for those without power.  You are welcome to stay for a couple of hours or overnight as there are cots and blankets available, provided by the Red Cross.  Also, oxygen tanks are available for those who need theirs refilled. Please contact the Mi-Wuk Fire Station directly if you have this need: 209.586.5256

Tuolumne County residents and visitors are reminded to:

• Reduce or eliminate unnecessary travel during periods of severe weather.
• Have emergency supplies on hand: sandbags in flood-prone zones, food/water, flashlights, battery-operated radio, ‘live’ batteries, prescription medications, etc.
• Check in on neighbors who may be elderly or have special needs.
• Continue to prepare for the potential of more power outages due to wind, downed trees, and resultant downed power lines.
• Check to insure pets/livestock are safe, especially those animal that may live outdoors.
• Listen to your local radio stations (and TV stations) for changing weather conditions.
• And, please use 911 only when it is vitally necessary.

Sandbag Resources

County Emergency Services, in conjunction with County Public Works still has three locations for emergency sand to assist County citizens with mitigating flooding at their homes or businesses.  County residents may pick up sand at the following locations:

• Columbia Airport; Airport Rd at the edge of the paved parking lot
• The City of Tuolumne; on the corner of Baker and Birch Streets
• Jamestown Road Yard; 7^th Avenue, behind Jamestown Elementary

Please bring your own shovel and bags to fill. Empty sandbags may be purchased at any of our local hardware or ranch supply stores.

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Date:               Tuesday, January 19, 2010; 8:30 am
Contact:          Kathleen K Rustrum, OES Coordinator, (209) 533-5511

Sonora - According to the Forecast Desk at the National Weather Service this morning, we are still under a Winter Storm Warning until tomorrow night. We will be experiencing light precipitation this morning which will pick up by mid-day. Showers will continue through Wednesday or Thursday.

Currently, we are experiencing wind gusts of 40-50 mph, which will increase up to 60 mph through today, but will wind down tonight. Then the wind is expected to pick up again to 60-65 mph at the highest elevations with tomorrow’s incoming storm in the late morning.

Snow levels are at about 4500’ right now and will drop tonight to 3500-4000’.  There is a possibility of another foot of snow through tonight at the higher elevations.

So far, we have received between 2”-4” of rain in the County, depending on the elevation.  For the storms that have taken place from last Sunday, January 17^th through this coming Friday, January 22^nd, the expectation is for 4-7” rain overall and 4’-7’ of new snow overall.

A high pressure system may move in Saturday and Sunday giving us a reprieve from the storms for the weekend. This will probably be followed by more storms next week.

Tuolumne County residents and visitors are reminded to:

• Reduce or eliminate unnecessary travel during periods of severe weather.
• Have emergency supplies on hand: sandbags in flood-prone zones, food/water, flashlights, battery-operated radio, ‘live’ batteries, prescription medications, etc.
• Check in on neighbors who may have special needs – in advance of the storm.
• Ready for the potential of a power outages due to wind, downed trees, etc.
• Check to insure pets/livestock are safe, especially those animal that may live outdoors.
• Listen to your local radio stations (and TV stations) for changing weather conditions.
• And, please use 911 only when it is vitally necessary.

 Sandbag Resources

County Emergency Services, in conjunction with County Public Works, has established three locations for emergency sand to assist County citizens with mitigating flooding at their homes or businesses.  County residents may pick up sand at the following locations: 

• Columbia Airport; Airport Rd at the edge of the paved parking lot
• The City of Tuolumne; on the corner of Baker and Birch Streets
• Jamestown Road Yard; 7^th Avenue, behind Jamestown Elementary 

Please bring your own shovel and bags to fill. Empty sandbags may be purchased at any of our local hardware or ranch supply stores.

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MMP:H will hold an organizational meeting next Thurs., Jan. 21 and a benefit concert – ‘ROCK.RELIEF.RESCUE’  – at Sierra Bible Church in Sonora on Feb. 8, 2010. If you’d like more info, their website should be up later today at www.mountainmercyproject.com and their phone number is 209-586-0700.

From MMP:H‘s email this morning:

This organization is being birthed from hearts of people who actually have been in Port-au-Prince and saw their plight before the earthquake. The pictures in the media can only begin to show the loss.

Getting off the plane in Haiti, one can just smell the hopelessness and despair, along with the stench of burning refuse and human waste, no sewer systems. Your eyes cannot believe so many people could live in such a small space and such squalid conditions. “Tap-taps,” small pick-up trucks, filled with 15 to 20 people, race up and down the streets; women and children begging at your car window for any donation of food or money just for survival – abject poverty and corruption, everywhere. This was all before the quake; one can only imagine what it is like now.

We have an overwhelming burden to make a difference, to see Haiti rise from her ashes and become a strong nation. They have suffered loss many times, but this exceeds them all. Having been there and experienced this despair, before the quake, we cannot turn our backs on this call and opportunity to make a difference….

Our river of mercy may only be a small trickle right now, but with your help it can become a powerful river that will bring refreshing to a parched nation. Please join us and be confident that your raindrop can become a river, that you too can change the world!

We are partnering with at least two reliable missionary groups that have been in Haiti for over 25 years. These people have been in the trenches making a difference and they need our help more than ever before. Their question is, “When FOX News and CNN go away, will we?”

Fishers of Men Ministries is an organization that founded and oversees over 25 regional schools and churches in the island, as well as a church in downtown Port au Prince, with over 7500 in attendance on Sundays. Their schools and churches feed over 1500 children a day. Their home campus is located in downtown Port au Prince and suffered great loss, physically and personally. Over 30 people were crushed under the collapsed roof of their church building while conducting a Bible class, along with many of their 7500 members’ families losing loved ones.

RHEMA International has a small medical clinic and maternity hospital in Bocozelle, a rural region in the Artibonite River Valley, located approximately 70 miles north of Port-au-Prince. They faithfully have delivered over a thousand babies in the last few years and are blessed to say they have not lost one baby or mother. They tend to the medical needs of this growing community on a daily basis, seeing over 150 patients a day.

Their facility is functional, having not suffered any significant damage from the quake. They are now beginning to see many people fleeing the city and coming to them for medical aid as all the hospitals in Port-au-Prince were destroyed.

We are certain there are other such faithful organizations that will need support also. As the dust settles in this heart-torn nation, we will be there with as much aid as we can supply – financially, physically, emotionally and spiritually. We will do the best we can to be like Him and not fail these devastated people. We will indeed gather all our “raindrops” and create a “river of mercy from the mountain.”

Pastor Celine McDonald, Word of Life Fellowship, Mi-Wuk Villlage, CA

Rol Bergen on Copper

As you may or may not know, Rol Bergen was recently involved in an accident while working with a mule near Tuolumne. He is currently at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. His wife, Linda Miller-Bergen, has established a website to let us know how things are going. Thanks, Linda! Please let us know if there is any way we can help.

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Dear Family and Friends,

To keep you up to date on Rol Bergen, I created a CaringBridge website. You can follow Rol’s progress and show your support.

Visit Rol’s website in two easy ways:

1. Visit the CaringBridge website by clicking the link below.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/rol

2. Enter the website name, rol, at www.CaringBridge.org.

When you visit you’ll be asked to log in, because I’ve chosen to keep the site private.

Linda

Sonora, Calif., (November 16, 2009)… The Forest Service today announced dates, times, and locations for five public meetings that will provide information on the upcoming Stanislaus National Forest (NF) Motorized Travel Management (MTM) Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision. The release of the decision and legal notice is expected within the next three weeks.

Current MTM information is available on the Forest website at:

http//:www.fs.fed.us/r5/stanislaus/projects/ohv

The meetings are scheduled as follows:

• 3, 2009, 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Sonora Best Western, Oak Glenn room, located at 19551 Hess Road, in Sonora.
• December 5, 2009, 3:00 to 6:30 p.m. at the Harvest Hall located at 3800 Cornucopia Way, in Modesto.
• December 9, 2009, a hosted Webinar from 7:00 to 8.30 p.m., check the Stanislaus NF website for additional information http//:www.fs.fed.us/r5/stanislaus/projects/ohv (before December 1, 2009).
• January 6, 2010, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (to be announced) in Groveland or Arnold.
• January 7, 2010, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (to be announced) in Groveland or Arnold.

Interested individuals and groups are invited to attend one of the above meeting dates, times and locations. For more information see www.fs.fed.us/r5/stanislaus/projects/ohv, or call Sue Warren at (209) 532-3671, extension 321.

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Moisture from the remnants of super typhoon Melor has the potential to produce a significant amount of precipitation for the interior of northern California Tuesday and Wednesday along with strong winds. Recent burn areas are especially susceptible to mud-slides and debris flow with the amount of precipitation that is expected. Foothill areas could see 3-4 inches and mountain areas up to 6+ inches. Winds of 25-35 mph are expected with gusts to 45 mph. Snow levels are high, at 7,500 feet Monday night before they rise dramatically to 9,000 by Tuesday.

Flash flooding and mudslides are a possibility in this past summer’s burn regions, such as the Mt. Knight fire area and the Big Meadow Fire area in the vicinity of Yosemite. Excessive amounts of rain of this magnitude may produce flooding in locations that normally do not flood during a normal early autumn rainfall.

How to Prepare

Tuolumne County residents and visitors are reminded to prepare for this storm by:

• Reducing or eliminating unnecessary travel during the storm period;
• Having emergency supplies on hand: sandbags in flood-prone zones, food/water, flashlights, battery-operated radio, live batteries, prescription medications, etc.;
• Checking in on neighbors who may have special needs – in advance of the storm;
• Readying for the potential of a power outages due to wind, downed trees, etc.;
• Removing debris from gutters and drainage areas; placing sandbags out before the storm arrives in flood-prone zones;
• Checking to insure pets/livestock are safe, especially those animal that may live outdoors; and
• Listening to your local radio stations (and TV stations) for changing weather conditions.

And, please use 911 only when it is vitally necessary.

Sandbag Resources

County Emergency Services, in conjunction with County Public Works has established locations for emergency sand to assist County citizens with mitigating flooding at their homes or businesses. County residents may pick up sand at the following locations* after 4 pm on Monday, October 12, 2009:

• Columbia Road Yard; North Airport Rd (near the Airport);
• Tuolumne City Fire Department; 18690 Main Street, Tuolumne; and
• Jamestown Road Yard; 7th Avenue, behind Jamestown Elementary.

* Please bring your own shovel and bags to fill.

The County has confirmed that there are amply supplies of empty sandbags for purchase at the following locations:

Twain Harte Hardware
Andy’s Hardware
J.S. West
Orchard Supply Hardware
Hurst Ranch Supply

County Fire, Cal Fire, Public Works, Safety and Law Enforcement personnel are currently on stand-by, preparing for this storm.

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