Re: Parklands Update: Dan Sholly and Burro Control near BIBE
Pkr...@aol.com
.....The officials — deputy parks director Dan Sholly and West Texas regional director Mike Hill, of Fort Davis — apparently neglected to communicate their shooting plans to park staff, who describe in affidavits how they were saddened and disturbed by foul-smelling carcasses they discovered over the past year.... I suspect that quite a few burros that were used in wax smuggling have been eliminated in BIBE over the last 50 years........
Uproar over burro plan
Dec. 19, 2007 / COMMENTARY / LISA FALKENBERG / Houston Chronicle
The legendary donkey tale is surely one of the most impressive animal rescue stories ever told. In 1979, after learning that the National Park Service planned to exterminate hundreds of wild burros, descended from the gold rush days and living in the depths of the Grand Canyon, the Cleveland Armory and The Fund for Animals organized an operation to airlift them to safety.
Using helicopters and expert ropers, the groups successfully lifted 577 burros from the 7,000-foot canyon and dropped them on their very own refuge in East Texas. Today, the Black Beauty Ranch in Murchison is home to 330 wild burros, including a beloved tottering old lady donkey named Friendly who is one of the original Grand Canyon evacuees. Years later, the wild burros of Big Bend Ranch State Park haven't been as lucky.
The feral population, which wanders back and forth from Mexico, are deemed a nuisance by state parks officials and some wildlife biologists. They compete with native species, such as mule deer, for resources, they say, and threaten a plan to reintroduce Desert Bighorn Sheep into the park.
Culling controversy
Officials with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department say attempts to trap and remove the burros failed, or were deemed too expensive. So, another policy was discreetly — critics say covertly — implemented. They started culling them. Beginning in October 2006, state officials shot to death 71 wild burros in the state's largest park, prompting an internal investigation into allegations of animal cruelty against some senior officials in the department.It wasn't just the killing of the revered beast of burden that caused the uproar; it was the way it was done. The animals were shot "opportunistically" by two high-ranking agency officials as they happened upon the burros while roaming the park's backcountry. In some cases, the officials, both skilled marksmen, shot the animals from the road in their vehicles. The burros' carcasses weren't removed, but left to rot in various locations across the 300,000-acre park.
Employees upset
At one point, the officials used a helicopter to shoot several aoudad sheep. And several burros were killed even after the agency's Austin-based deputy director of operations, Scott Boruff, told them to stop, according to affidavits obtained through an open records request.The officials — deputy parks director Dan Sholly and West Texas regional director Mike Hill, of Fort Davis — apparently neglected to communicate their shooting plans to park staff, who describe in affidavits how they were saddened and disturbed by foul-smelling carcasses they discovered over the past year.
"Everywhere I go, the employees are talking about the burros being shot. The employees are very upset about it. They don't like just shooting the animals and leaving them to lie," said wildlife biologist Antonio Manriquez, a unit manager for the parks department. He said eradicating the burros by shooting them was "inhumane" and "against the mission statement of our department."
Luis Armendariz, the park's manager at the time, has said he ordered an investigation to find out who was shooting the burros. "The burro carried the mother of the king of kings on their back," Armendariz was quoted as saying in The Big Bend Sentinel. "We should respect them for that."
Robert Garcia, the parks officer who Armendariz asked to investigate the matter, has told the Big Bend paper that some of the animals suffered, that foals were orphaned and some burros were shot in the belly or hip, without a kill shot.
Garcia retired earlier this month in protest of the burro issue, the Sentinel reported, while Armendariz, who had been with the agency for 35 years, retired last month after refusing a forced transfer. TPWD officials say the transfer wasn't related to the burros.
The two shooters, Sholly and Hill, maintain that the killings were about protecting the native habitat and never for sport. Sholly said they tried to kill the burros quickly but couldn't guarantee there were none wounded. He called the shootings an "extremely sad and distasteful thing to do." He said that when he was a boy he had a burro named Croppy. "We were trying to do what needs to be done quietly, without attracting attention," Hill said.
Last week, the department's internal investigation cleared the two of animal cruelty allegations and said they had not violated any state laws, although they failed to notify proper authorities, according to agency policy. If the shooters had aimed their rifles at burros in Big Bend National Park, it would have been a different story. The animals there are protected under the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.
There's a reason these protections exist. Horses and burros aren't viewed the same way as feral pigs, no matter how many times the parks agency mentions them in the same breath. We don't eat equine. And horses and burros are enduring symbols of the American West and rural life. Since the story broke, Richard Farinato, who runs Black Beauty Ranch, says his group has reached out to TPWD to offer help. A California rescue outfit is planning to visit soon.
Boruff, the state parks operations director, said he's willing to work with the groups. He said the agency has declared a moratorium on shooting the wild burros and is planning to seek public comment through its Web site and in statewide hearings. All this communication and public involvement is a good thing, but it could have come a bit earlier — before state officials started opening fire on wildlife in public lands without the permission of the public.
Rob Arnberger
I, for one, do not read anything sinister into their actions as implied (personal private ranch) nor am I disturbed by them carrying out their work without knowledge of the park staff as Owen seems to be. Had park staff been involved there would not have been ANY burros eliminated. Further, I congratulate them on ridding the area of 71 burros that are as bad an invasive species as russian thistle is, and almost as hard to eliminate! Unfortunately, leaving 71 bodies lying around amongst a staff hostile to the notion of ridding the ranch of the pest eventually was going to play out just as it did. Thankfully, no action was taken against them. Adios burros!
Rob Arnberger
From: Pkr...@aol.com
Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:44:40 -0500
Subject: Parklands Update: Re: Dan Sholly and Burro Control near BIBE
To: parklan...@googlegroups.com; bakeda...@wfisp.com; DDEV...@aol.com
Dave Clary
----- Original Message -----From: Rob ArnbergerSent: Thursday, December 20, 2007 10:52 AMSubject: Parklands Update: Re: Dan Sholly and Burro Control near BIBEHaving been superintendent of Big Bend from 1991 thru 1994 I am pretty familiar with the problem. I believe burros are "equines" not "ungulates" as Owen states below (but I could be wrong). Additionally, these burros have been tearing up the Big Bend ecosystem for a long time and impacting the successful relocation of desert bighorns back into the Ranch...some of which have migrated into Big Bend NP. The Ranch staff are locally hired folks infected with the West Texas cowboy (horse and burro) mystique and refused to take the actions necessary, I will bet. I will bet that Sholly and Hill did it themselves because the folks they supervised refused to do so. We all know Sholly and he is action oriented, rarely taking prisoners. Hill, who used to work for me, learned to take action like this from superintendent Bill Ehorn at Channel Islands who successfully ended the destructive lives of the last burros on San Miguel Island (and nearly got fired for it) in the early 1980's. Hill later helped me rid Santa Barbara Island of the last of the invader rabbits that had contributed to the extinction of one species of bird and the near extinction of an endemic plant (I was Chief Ranger under Ehorn). Both of these gentlemen come from backgrounds and experience of the right motivations.
I, for one, do not read anything sinister into their actions as implied (personal private ranch) nor am I disturbed by them carrying out their work without knowledge of the park staff as Owen seems to be. Had park staff been involved there would not have been ANY burros eliminated. Further, I congratulate them on ridding the area of 71 burros that are as bad an invasive species as russian thistle is, and almost as hard to eliminate! Unfortunately, leaving 71 bodies lying around amongst a staff hostile to the notion of ridding the ranch of the pest eventually was going to play out just as it did. Thankfully, no action was taken against them. Adios burros!
Rob Arnberger
From: Pkr...@aol.com
Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:44:40 -0500
Subject: Parklands Update: Re: Dan Sholly and Burro Control near BIBE
To: parklan...@googlegroups.com; bakeda...@wfisp.com; DDEV...@aol.com
There has been a problem over the years with a few park managers treating the park as their personal private ranch.This story goes a few steps beyond Steven Mather directing traffic in uniform while visiting Tower Falls. The fact that Deputy State Park Director Dan Sholly, who I worked with years ago in Yosemite National Park, allegedly failed to communicate his ungulate reduction activities to park staff is indeed quite disturbing.Isn't Dan's son, Cam Sholly, now responsible for NPS LE in WASO?OwenIn a message dated 12/20/2007 10:54:56 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, aalle...@charter.net writes:
.....The officials — deputy parks director Dan Sholly and West Texas regional director Mike Hill, of Fort Davis — apparently neglected to communicate their shooting plans to park staff, who describe in affidavits how they were saddened and disturbed by foul-smelling carcasses they discovered over the past year.... I suspect that quite a few burros that were used in wax smuggling have been eliminated in BIBE over the last 50 years.......
Uproar over burro plan
Dec. 19, 2007 / COMMENTARY / LISA FALKENBERG / Houston Chronicle
The legendary donkey tale is surely one of the most impressive animal rescue stories ever told. In 1979, after learning that the National Park Service planned to exterminate hundreds of wild burros, descended from the gold rush days and living in the depths of the Grand Canyon, the Cleveland Armory and The Fund for Animals organized an operation to airlift them to safety.
Using helicopters and expert ropers, the groups successfully lifted 577 burros from the 7,000-foot canyon and dropped them on their very own refuge in East Texas. Today, the Black Beauty Ranch in Murchison is home to 330 wild burros, including a beloved tottering old lady donkey named Friendly who is one of the original Grand Canyon evacuees. Years later, the wild burros of Big Bend Ranch State Park haven't been as lucky.
The feral population, which wanders back and forth from Mexico, are deemed a nuisance by state parks officials and some wildlife biologists. They compete with native species, such as mule deer, for resources, they say, and threaten a plan to reintroduce Desert Bighorn Sheep into the park.
Culling controversy
Officials with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department say attempts to trap and remove the burros failed, or were deemed too expensive. So, another policy was discreetly — critics say covertly — implemented. They started culling them. Beginning in October 2006, state officials shot to death 71 wild burros in the state's largest park, prompting an internal investigation into allegations of animal cruelty against some senior officials in the department.It wasn't just the killing of the revered beast of burden that caused the uproar; it was the way it was done. The animals were shot "opportunistically" by two high-ranking agency officials as they happened upon the burros while roaming the park's backcountry. In some cases, the officials, both skilled marksmen, shot the animals from the road in their vehicles. The burros' carcasses weren't removed, but left to rot in various locations across the 300,000-acre park.
Employees upset
At one point, the officials used a helicopter to shoot several aoudad sheep. And several burros were killed even after the agency's Austin-based deputy director of operations, Scott Boruff, told them to stop, according to affidavits obtained through an open records request.
The officials — deputy parks director Dan Sholly and West Texas regional director Mike Hill, of Fort Davis — apparently neglected to communicate their shooting plans to park staff, who describe in affidavits how they were saddened and disturbed by foul-smelling carcasses they discovered over the past year.
"Everywhere I go, the employees are talking about the burros being shot. The employees are very upset about it. They don't like just shooting the animals and leaving them to lie," said wildlife biologist Antonio Manriquez, a unit manager for the parks department. He said eradicating the burros by shooting them was "inhumane" and "against the mission statement of our department."
Luis Armendariz, the park's manager at the time, has said he ordered an investigation to find out who was shooting the burros. "The burro carried the mother of the king of kings on their back," Armendariz was quoted as saying in The Big Bend Sentinel. "We should respect them for that."
Robert Garcia, the parks officer who Armendariz asked to investigate the matter, has told the Big Bend paper that some of the animals suffered, that foals were orphaned and some burros were shot in the belly or hip, without a kill shot.
Garcia retired earlier this month in protest of the burro issue, the Sentinel reported, while Armendariz, who had been with the agency for 35 years, retired last month after refusing a forced transfer. TPWD officials say the transfer wasn't related to the burros.
The two shooters, Sholly and Hill, maintain that the killings were about protecting the native habitat and never for sport. Sholly said they tried to kill the burros quickly but couldn't guarantee there were none wounded. He called the shootings an "extremely sad and distasteful thing to do." He said that when he was a boy he had a burro named Croppy. "We were trying to do what needs to be done quietly, without attracting attention," Hill said.
Last week, the department's internal investigation cleared the two of animal cruelty allegations and said they had not violated any state laws, although they failed to notify proper authorities, according to agency policy. If the shooters had aimed their rifles at burros in Big Bend National Park, it would have been a different story. The animals there are protected under the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.
There's a reason these protections exist. Horses and burros aren't viewed the same way as feral pigs, no matter how many times the parks agency mentions them in the same breath. We don't eat equine. And horses and burros are enduring symbols of the American West and rural life. Since the story broke, Richard Farinato, who runs Black Beauty Ranch, says his group has reached out to TPWD to offer help. A California rescue outfit is planning to visit soon.
Boruff, the state parks operations director, said he's willing to work with the groups. He said the agency has declared a moratorium on shooting the wild burros and is planning to seek public comment through its Web site and in statewide hearings. All this communication and public involvement is a good thing, but it could have come a bit earlier — before state officials started opening fire on wildlife in public lands without the permission of the public.
Doug Troutman
Having been superintendent of Big Bend from 1991 thru 1994 I am pretty familiar with the problem. I believe burros are "equines" not "ungulates" as Owen states below (but I could be wrong). Additionally, these burros have been tearing up the Big Bend ecosystem for a long time and impacting the successful relocation of desert bighorns back into the Ranch...some of which have migrated into Big Bend NP.
It wasn't just the killing of the revered beast of burden that caused the uproar; it was the way it was done. The animals were shot "opportunistically" by two high-ranking agency officials as they happened upon the burros while roaming the park's backcountry. In some cases, the officials, both skilled marksmen, shot the animals from the road in their vehicles. The burros' carcasses weren't removed, but left to rot in various locations across the 300,000-acre park.
Pkr...@aol.com
The reported actions by Dan Sholly and Mike Hill appear exceptional and extreme from my vantage point, especially when it is known that they occupy the responsible positions of Deputy Director of Texas State Parks and the Regional Director of West Texas State Parks. The fact that they took discretionary action on their own, is like having a senior SES NPS'er from WASO fly into Rocky Mountain NP at night to personally dispatch the overpopulation of Elk with high powered rifles, without prior notice to park staff or the public. It just doesn't sit well with me.
Perhaps such discretionary actions by senior management is viewed as "leadership by example" to experienced NPS retirees who abhor the red tape of proper procedure and for whom the ends resulting from an "action oriented personality" justify the means.
I am glad to learn that the motivations of Sholly and Hill were honorable and that no disciplinary action has been taken against them.
For your information, from Wikipedia:
Owen
Having been superintendent of Big Bend from 1991 thru 1994 I am pretty familiar with the problem. I believe burros are "equines" not "ungulates" as Owen states below (but I could be wrong). Additionally, these burros have been tearing up the Big Bend ecosystem for a long time and impacting the successful relocation of desert bighorns back into the Ranch...some of which have migrated into Big Bend NP. The Ranch staff are locally hired folks infected with the West Texas cowboy (horse and burro) mystique and refused to take the actions necessary, I will bet. I will bet that Sholly and Hill did it themselves because the folks they supervised refused to do so. We all know Sholly and he is action oriented, rarely taking prisoners. Hill, who used to work for me, learned to take action like this from superintendent Bill Ehorn at Channel Islands who successfully ended the destructive lives of the last burros on San Miguel Island (and nearly got fired for it) in the early 1980's. Hill later helped me rid Santa Barbara Island of the last of the invader rabbits that had contributed to the extinction of one species of bird and the near extinction of an endemic plant (I was Chief Ranger under Ehorn). Both of these gentlemen come from backgrounds and experience of the right motivations.
I, for one, do not read anything sinister into their actions as implied (personal private ranch) nor am I disturbed by them carrying out their work without knowledge of the park staff as Owen seems to be. Had park staff been involved there would not have been ANY burros eliminated. Further, I congratulate them on ridding the area of 71 burros that are as bad an invasive species as russian thistle is, and almost as hard to eliminate! Unfortunately, leaving 71 bodies lying around amongst a staff hostile to the notion of ridding the ranch of the pest eventually was going to play out just as it did. Thankfully, no action was taken against them. Adios burros!
Rob Arnberger
From: Pkr...@aol.com
Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:44:40 -0500
Subject: Parklands Update: Re: Dan Sholly and Burro Control near BIBE
To: parklan...@googlegroups.com; bakeda...@wfisp.com; DDEV...@aol.com
There has been a problem over the years with a few park managers treating the park as their personal private ranch.This story goes a few steps beyond Steven Mather directing traffic in uniform while visiting Tower Falls. The fact that Deputy State Park Director Dan Sholly, who I worked with years ago in Yosemite National Park, allegedly failed to communicate his ungulate reduction activities to park staff is indeed quite disturbing.Isn't Dan's son, Cam Sholly, now responsible for NPS LE in WASO?OwenIn a message dated 12/20/2007 10:54:56 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, aalle...@charter.net writes:
.....The officials — deputy parks director Dan Sholly and West Texas regional director Mike Hill, of Fort Davis — apparently neglected to communicate their shooting plans to park staff, who describe in affidavits how they were saddened and disturbed by foul-smelling carcasses they discovered over the past year.... I suspect that quite a few burros that were used in wax smuggling have been eliminated in BIBE over the last 50 years........
Uproar over burro plan
Dec. 19, 2007 / COMMENTARY / LISA FALKENBERG / Houston Chronicle
The legendary donkey tale is surely one of the most impressive animal rescue stories ever told. In 1979, after learning that the National Park Service planned to exterminate hundreds of wild burros, descended from the gold rush days and living in the depths of the Grand Canyon, the Cleveland Armory and The Fund for Animals organized an operation to airlift them to safety.
Using helicopters and expert ropers, the groups successfully lifted 577 burros from the 7,000-foot canyon and dropped them on their very own refuge in East Texas. Today, the Black Beauty Ranch in Murchison is home to 330 wild burros, including a beloved tottering old lady donkey named Friendly who is one of the original Grand Canyon evacuees. Years later, the wild burros of Big Bend Ranch State Park haven't been as lucky.
The feral population, which wanders back and forth from Mexico, are deemed a nuisance by state parks officials and some wildlife biologists. They compete with native species, such as mule deer, for resources, they say, and threaten a plan to reintroduce Desert Bighorn Sheep into the park.
Culling controversy
Officials with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department say attempts to trap and remove the burros failed, or were deemed too expensive. So, another policy was discreetly — critics say covertly — implemented. They started culling them. Beginning in October 2006, state officials shot to death 71 wild burros in the state's largest park, prompting an internal investigation into allegations of animal cruelty against some senior officials in the department.
It wasn't just the killing of the revered beast of burden that caused the uproar; it was the way it was done. The animals were shot "opportunistically" by two high-ranking agency officials as they happened upon the burros while roaming the park's backcountry. In some cases, the officials, both skilled marksmen, shot the animals from the road in their vehicles. The burros' carcasses weren't removed, but left to rot in various locations across the 300,000-acre park.
Employees upset
At one point, the officials used a helicopter to shoot several aoudad sheep. And several burros were killed even after the agency's Austin-based deputy director of operations, Scott Boruff, told them to stop, according to affidavits obtained through an open records request.
The officials — deputy parks director Dan Sholly and West Texas regional director Mike Hill, of Fort Davis — apparently neglected to communicate their shooting plans to park staff, who describe in affidavits how they were saddened and disturbed by foul-smelling carcasses they discovered over the past year.
"Everywhere I go, the employees are talking about the burros being shot. The employees are very upset about it. They don't like just shooting the animals and leaving them to lie," said wildlife biologist Antonio Manriquez, a unit manager for the parks department. He said eradicating the burros by shooting them was "inhumane" and "against the mission statement of our department."
Luis Armendariz, the park's manager at the time, has said he ordered an investigation to find out who was shooting the burros. "The burro carried the mother of the king of kings on their back," Armendariz was quoted as saying in The Big Bend Sentinel. "We should respect them for that."
Robert Garcia, the parks officer who Armendariz asked to investigate the matter, has told the Big Bend paper that some of the animals suffered, that foals were orphaned and some burros were shot in the belly or hip, without a kill shot.
Garcia retired earlier this month in protest of the burro issue, the Sentinel reported, while Armendariz, who had been with the agency for 35 years, retired last month after refusing a forced transfer. TPWD officials say the transfer wasn't related to the burros.
The two shooters, Sholly and Hill, maintain that the killings were about protecting the native habitat and never for sport. Sholly said they tried to kill the burros quickly but couldn't guarantee there were none wounded. He called the shootings an "extremely sad and distasteful thing to do." He said that when he was a boy he had a burro named Croppy. "We were trying to do what needs to be done quietly, without attracting attention," Hill said.
Last week, the department's internal investigation cleared the two of animal cruelty allegations and said they had not violated any state laws, although they failed to notify proper authorities, according to agency policy. If the shooters had aimed their rifles at burros in Big Bend National Park, it would have been a different story. The animals there are protected under the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.
There's a reason these protections exist. Horses and burros aren't viewed the same way as feral pigs, no matter how many times the parks agency mentions them in the same breath. We don't eat equine. And horses and burros are enduring symbols of the American West and rural life. Since the story broke, Richard Farinato, who runs Black Beauty Ranch, says his group has reached out to TPWD to offer help. A California rescue outfit is planning to visit soon.
Boruff, the state parks operations director, said he's willing to work with the groups. He said the agency has declared a moratorium on shooting the wild burros and is planning to seek public comment through its Web site and in statewide hearings. All this communication and public involvement is a good thing, but it could have come a bit earlier — before state officials started opening fire on wildlife in public lands without the permission of the public.
Rob Arnberger
Subject: Parklands Update: Re: Dan Sholly and Burro Control near BIBE
Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:39:48 -0700
</HTML<BR
Rob Arnberger
I guess we will have to differ on a few things, which is OK. I see nothing about their actions that is "exceptional and extreme", and certainly nothing illegal. No EIS or "plan" was required to be in place to directly take the action they took any more than if they had walked upon a Russian Thistle plant and decided to pull it out because it is an invasive. They took descretionary action "on their own" because it was a called for action at the time and by virtue of their positions, they could. They did not have to file a request to take the action...in fact, as senior officials they approve of those actions before they are ever taken by others. The Ranch staff are responsible for taking the same actions and never did...thus the forced retirement of some of them (not because they "ratted" but because they took no direct reduction actions on their own as they could and should have). Your characterization of their actions to equate with NPS SES'ers "from WASO flying into Rocky Mountain to kill elk" is rather an extreme comparison in my view and a rather far fetched scenario. And how you have characterized this incident as perhaps an example of "leadership by example" appreciated by "experienced NPS retirees who abhor the red tape of proper procedure and for whom the ends resulting from an "action oriented personality" justify the means" does disservice to experienced NPS retirees who abhored the red tape of procedure but still honored the process of properly carrying out their jobs as prescribed by law and policy....and that "red tape". It implies that "action oriented personalities" automatically create the "ends by justifying the means" as a regular course of business. The best managers I knew and the best executives I knew never lost sight of what the goal was, no matter what the process or red tape was, and were sharp enough and insistent enough to control and direct the process to achieve that goal.
Perhaps the difference is that there are some people who view process as the most important part of getting to an "end". And then there are others who view process as frequently inhibiting getting to that very "end". Neither view points are wrong, and neither owns the exclusivity to "right". From the press reports I do not believe we can ever divine what the specific motivations of these two individuals were nor do we know of what the story was behind the scenes. Accordingly, we are left with what we have. They broke no laws and the review found nothing noteworthy upon which to discipline them. So be it.
Rob Arnberger
From: Pkr...@aol.com
Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2007 13:48:56 -0500
</HTML
Ron Mackie
Yosemite. Rob you are right Dan is an action guy, and I enjoyed
working with him. Jerry Rodgers mentioned reading Doris Kern Goodwins
book "Team Of Rivals", about the Abe Lincoln presidency. I agree with
Jerry, its one of the finest books I have ever read. One antidote,
General Grant and the President, just before the capture of
Petersburg and Richmond were discussing what to do about Confederate
President Jeff Davis. General Sherman was advocating some very harsh
measures. President Lincoln responded lets not get to judgmental lest
we be judged. That said Rob, I must agree with Owen. Management, in
my very humble opinion and with no finger pointing intended, does not
have the right to take the law into their own hands. The action maybe
necessary, but the process and openness of the process is extremely
important. Appreciate your position, however, and needless to say I
maybe wrong, but must agree with Owen on this issue. That said, best
wishes to Walter and Dan. After camping in theTexas State Parks for
10 days this fall (including Fort Davis) I was very impressed with
the Texas State Park system.
>"Ungulates (meaning roughly "being _hoofed_
>(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoof) " or "hoofed animal") are
>several groups of _mammals_
>(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammal) most of which use the tips of
>their toes, usually hoofed,
>to sustain their whole bodyweight while moving. They make up several
>_orders_
>(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_(biology)) of mammals, of which
>six to
>eight survive. Some commonly known examples of Ungulates living
>today are the
>_horse_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse) , _zebra_
>(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra) , _donkey_
>(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey) , _cattle_
>(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle) , _rhinoceros_
>(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros) , _camel_
>(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel) , _hippopotamus_
>(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippopotamus) , _goat_
>(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goat) , _pig_
>(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig) , _sheep_
>(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheep) , _giraffe_
>(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giraffe) ,
>_deer_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer) , _tapir_
>(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapir) , _antelope_
>(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antelope) , and _gazelle_
>(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gazelle) ."
>OwenIn a message dated 12/20/2007 12:52:48 P.M. Eastern Standard
>____________________________________
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Bob Mackreth
> ordered an investigation to find out who was shooting the burros.
> "The burro carried the mother of the king of kings on their back,"
> Armendariz was quoted as saying in The Big Bend Sentinel.
> "We should respect them for that."
Jerry Rogers
- Anyone who has seen the burro exclosures in various desert places has been struck with the extreme visible contrast between a desert ecosystem with and without feral burros. This problem is undeniably very serious. On the other hand
- I prefer not to ignite an internecine battle here by listing a few very real examples of extreme damage I have seen done by "men of action" to resources (usually cultural) for which they were responsible. Owen is right that this problem is also very serious, although frequently denied.
- Beyond directing traffic, there is the story about Mather personally dynamiting a sawmill in Glacier after its legal basis for existing had expired and the permitee had ignored repeated requests to remove it. I prefer an emphasis that makes this a story of a great activist leader, but if Mather had not had Horace Albright to take care of him and to make things work while deflecting attention from Mather's bad spells, stories like this might produce quite a different understanding.
----- Original Message -----From: Pkr...@aol.comSent: Thursday, December 20, 2007 9:44 AMSubject: Parklands Update: Re: Dan Sholly and Burro Control near BIBE
Denny
don't see how Sholly and Hill took the law into their own hands. It
appears to me that eradication of exotic species that damage such
fragile desert resources is indeed a policy of the Texas State Parks
much like it is within NPS. When I worked at Great Smokey Mountains
NP it was the policy of NPS and the park to eradicate wild hogs and I
normally carried a firearm on patrols to dispatch these exotics that
caused enormous and lasting damage. A number of locals, including
park employees, did not believe in the program since they wanted to
hunt them when they wandered outside the park. Despite those concerns
and the lack of buy-in by some employes, we still killed every hog we
could get our hands on. Like Sholly and Hill I took no great joy in
killing these animals - it was part of my job and the greater goal of
protecting sensitive park resources. Burros have an almost magical
appeal for many and I suspect in this southern Texas region that if
Sholly and Hill had done the same thing with coyotes there would not
be this uproar - might have even been accompanied by encouragement and
a wink and a nod. I had great respect for Bill Ehorn when he
dispatched that last burro at Channel Islands just ahead of a probable
public outcry. Sometimes you just do it.
Denny
> >Subject: Parklands Update: Re: Dan Sholly and Burro Control near
> >BIBE
> >DDEVA...@aol.com
> >There has been a problem over the years with a few park managers
> >treating
> >the park as their personal private ranch.
>
> >This story goes a few steps beyond Steven Mather directing traffic in
>
> >uniform while visiting Tower Falls. The fact that Deputy State Park
> >Director Dan
> >Sholly, who I worked with years ago in Yosemite National Park,
> >allegedly failed
> >to communicate his ungulate reduction activities to park staff is
> >indeed
> >quite disturbing.
>
> >Isn't Dan's son, Cam Sholly, now responsible for NPS LE in WASO?
>
> >Owen
>
> >In a message dated 12/20/2007 10:54:56 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
>
> >.....The officials -- deputy parks director Dan Sholly and West Texas
>
> >regional director Mike Hill, of Fort Davis -- apparently neglected to
> >them. Beginning in October 2006, state officials shot to death 71
> >wild
> >burros in the state's largest park, prompting an internal
> >investigation into
> >allegations of animal cruelty against some senior officials in the
> >department.
> >It wasn't just the killing of the revered beast of burden that caused
> > the
> >uproar; it was the way it was done. The animals were shot
> >"opportunistically"
> >by two high-ranking agency officials as they happened upon the
> >burros while
> >roaming the park's backcountry. In some cases, the officials, both
> >skilled
> >marksmen, shot the animals from the road in their vehicles. The
> >burros'
> >carcasses weren't removed, but left to rot in various locations
> >across the
> >300,000-acre park.
> >Employees upset
> >At one point, the officials used a helicopter to shoot several
> >aoudad sheep.
> >And several burros were killed even
>
>
> read more >>
Ron Mackie
now for 11 years, I guess I have a little more sensitivity to the
citizen groups, like animal rights activists, etc, than I use to
have, not that I always agree with them. To me the issue is the
alleged secrecy of the action. This is not meant to be critical or
judgmental of these two excellent men. Although I am inclined to
agree that culling of animal populations maybe necessary at times for
all the reasons you have stated, I still think these actions must be
conducted openly. Recently here in Yosemite, the wild turkeys have
been migrating across the western boundary of the Park. As you have
stated in the performance of your own duties, the rangers have orders
to dispatch these birds on sight. One incident, a ranger saw a wild
turkey, I believe it was on the Wawona golf course, and dispatched
the bird forthwith. Some environmental type people witnessed the
event and complained (they were outraged) which made the local paper.
I thought the park handled the incident well, as everyone in the
park, agreeing with the policy or not, was informed. I do not fault
the skills, abilities and outstanding job these Texas State employees
do, one in particular, Dan, is really a very old friend who I have
nothing but respect and friendly feelings for. The issue to me is the
broader policy debate that crosses all departments, as Gifford
Pinchot stated in his "Maxims to Foresters, ie "Find out in advance
what the pubic will stand for. If it is right and they won't stand
for it, postpone action and educate them. It is more trouble to
consult the public than ignore them, but that is what we hired to
do". And perhaps these maxims should be extended to our own
employees. For all of you that have had these responsible positions
at the highest levels of the Service, I know you must have dealt with
some terribly complicated issues with some very, perhaps, difficult
people. So I am not sure I am right about any of this. In any case, I
look forward to seeing Dan again, perhaps his actions will get
everybody to the table to deal with this long standing problem.
Jim R
Forgive my morning mood as I want to vent-just a little bit.
I have always believed in flexibility and common sense in the
management of the parks. My feeling was to put good people in
superintendent positions and give them the leeway to make good, common
sense decisions at the park level. I rarely overrode a superintendent
decision. I remember one-that was when Bob Barbie ruled that a local
timber company good take out salvage lumber from the 1988 fires. I
didn't want those big timber trucks on the Yellowstone roads and
thought it was better to leave the timber where it was.
I did encourage the superintendents to come out of the parks and be a
part of local communities--to try to discourage the "us versus them"
attitude that was so prevalent. I told them to get out-join a local
seervice club-get your kids in little league, etc., etc...So, when
tough issues come up, the people will know you from a different
perspective than just being the superintendent. I felt that would
make the decision more transparent--and better than a "forced" public
forum.
I don't think any country in the world has even half as many lawyers
as we do--and they are all looking for something to do. I, myself,
would estimate that I have been sued over 1,000 times. That is one of
the reasons I never let a threat of being sued cloud my judgement if I
felt I was right.
My point is that this litigious attitude in our country has gotten out
of hand. We are becoming a country of constipated thought and
decision making. We have to find a middle ground or other countries
(witness Japan, China, India) are going to eat our lunch. They
already are in many areas.
We are shipping our manufacturing capacity-our research capacity-our
medical capacity--to other countries where the legal burdons and court
settlements have maintained some semblance of sanity. I fear we have
abandoned a common sense approach to life in favor of reducing every
decision to a law made in Washington or some form of mock public
hearings. How many public hearings does it take--and what does it
cost-to make a common sense decision on snowmobiles in Yellowstone? I
would have settled for a good, common sense recommendation from Bob
Barbie.
The invention of air conditioning was a disaster in terms of turning
our congress into year round lawmakers. Without air conditioning,
congress members would be back among those they serve and the feelings
and attitudes of the people would be more apparent than the pollsters
provide. Politicians would make common sense decisions-which is why
we vote for them--rather than waiting for the latest poll to see
which way the wind is blowing.
I fear that, as a country, we are sliding down a slippery slope to
mediocrity. And, there are lots of other countries glad to give us a
push.
I don't pretend to know how to stop this slide--but I do believe that
we need to get back to common sense decision making and lessen the
fear of the legal system or this constipation of failure to act in a
timely fashion when increase the rate at which we decline.
Maybe Dan should have told a few more people about shooting feral
burros--but maybe he making a common sense decision ahead of another
long line of public hearings.
Jim
Doug Troutman
A key thing Pinchot would probably add today would be "Find out in
advance WHAT A CORRECTLY AND PROPERLY INFORMED public will stand for."
The slippery slope Jim mentions is indeed severe, and it is the side
of a mountain of MISinformation, or DISinformation propagated by
"interest" groups, ill informed politicians, and a media set on hype
and hypocrisy rather than fact, form, and function.
The interpretive role of NPS is potentially still a part of the
solution. What this group attempts to achieve though discussion and
public comment is part of a solution.
A sleeping giant of public apathy is however the real problem.
It was easy to sell WMDs and get the public to "stand for it", even
though volumes of data and reports were PUBLICLY available as early
as the year 2000 to verify that NONE of the administration claims
were true. We see just as much disinformation relative to the
privatization of public lands, resources and trusts.
The horse and burro act applied to federal lands. Along the Colorado
river, we used the exemption of refuge lands to "allow" excess burros
to enter the refuge at Topoc Gorge so they could be removed under
fish and Wildlife Service rules. It wasn't a secret, and it was a tool.
The "Onion" report on Bush admitting CO2 exists is a sad commentary,
not just an irony on today's population, not just the knowledge, or
ignorance, base of the "policy makers".
Americans will believe almost anything, based not on facts, logic, or
reason, but based on MARKETING!
It is therefore imperative that if we are too see our planet survive,
we must have a public willing to accept FACT, and only facts, instead
of falsehoods, frauds, and fictions.
With a limited planet, we must convince people that using alternate
means to destroy resources is NOT the answer, but rather the
conservation and reduction of consumption that will slow the downward
spiral.
The burro issue is one tiny little cog (or sabot) in a very big
machine, one that is badly broken. When public outcry might think
leaving the shoe in the gear is more popular, thus "wise", SOMEBODY
has to stand up and pull it out of the gears, and fix the machine.
Today, anyone trying to actually fix the process is accused instead
of being the saboteur. An ignorant public buys the X-Box with no
knowledge of where the electricity comes from to run it. We jump on
freeways without seeing the impact in Canada from oil sands, or
Mexico's expanding oil fields, where our two LARGEST supplies of
imported petroleum come from.
The key to Pinchot's guidance on "public" involvement may indeed be
best if paraphrased out of context, as is most popular today: "IF IT
IS RIGHT, and they won't stand for it, IGNORE THEM." (Yes, I know,
that is what got us into the mess we're in, but it was the
INTELLIGENT folk, and real intelligence that were ignored.)
Jim is correct, common sense is not very common any more, but
sometimes if a huge sledge is sliding down a hill, even a small stone
placed in its path is enough to stop the slide.
Doug T.
Bill Wade
Jim and others - If you haven't ever run across it, get a copy of The Death of Common Sense: How Law is Suffocating America by Philip K. Howard. It came out in 1994 and I thought it might be out of print, but I just checked and see it is still available at Amazon. It is a wonderful compilation of examples and concepts about some of what you mention below. One review of it can be read at: http://www.reason.com/news/show/29712.html.
He has a more recent book (2001) called: The Collapse of the Common Good: How America's Lawsuit Culture Undermines Our Freedom, which I haven’t read, but reviews suggest it is equally provocative.
Not specifically related, but I thought you’d enjoy this also, which I ran across recently:
The Death of Common Sense
By Lori Borgman
Three yards of black fabric enshroud my computer terminal. I am mourning the passing of an old friend by the name of Common Sense.
His obituary reads as follows:
Common Sense, aka C.S., lived a long life, but died from heart failure at
the brink of the millennium. No one really knows how old he was, his birth
records were long ago entangled in miles and miles of bureaucratic red tape.
Known affectionately to close friends as Horse Sense and Sound Thinking, he
selflessly devoted himself to a life of service in homes, schools, hospitals
and offices, helping folks get jobs done without a lot of fanfare, whooping and
hollering. Rules and regulations and petty, frivolous lawsuits held no power
over C.S.
A most reliable sage, he was credited with cultivating the ability to know when to come in out of the rain, the discovery that the early bird gets the worm and how to take the bitter with the sweet. C.S. also developed sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn), reliable parenting strategies (the adult is in charge, not the kid) and prudent dietary plans (offset eggs and bacon with a little fiber and orange juice).
A veteran of the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, the Technological Revolution and the Smoking Crusades, C.S. survived sundry cultural and educational trends including disco, the men's movement, body piercing, whole language and new math.
C.S.'s health began declining in the late 1960s when he became infected with the If-It-Feels-Good, Do-It virus. In the following decades his waning strength proved no match for the ravages of overbearing federal and state rules and regulations and an oppressive tax code. C.S. was sapped of strength and the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, criminals received better treatment than victims and judges stuck their noses in everything from Boy Scouts to professional baseball and golf. His deterioration accelerated as schools implemented zero-tolerance policies. Reports of 6-year-old boys charged with sexual harassment for kissing classmates, a teen suspended for taking a swig of Scope mouthwash after lunch, girls suspended for possessing Midol and an honor student expelled for having a table knife in her school lunch were more than his heart could endure.
As the end neared, doctors say C.S. drifted in and out of logic but was kept informed of developments regarding regulations on low-flow toilets and mandatory air bags. Finally, upon hearing about a government plan to ban inhalers from 14 million asthmatics due to a trace of a pollutant that may be harmful to the environment, C.S. breathed his last. Services will be at Whispering Pines Cemetery. C.S. was preceded in death by his wife, Discretion; one daughter, Responsibility; and one son, Reason. He is survived by two step-brothers, Half-Wit and Dim-Wit.
Memorial Contributions may be sent to the Institute for Rational Thought.
Farewell, Common Sense. May you rest in peace.
Note from Lori Borgman: This piece was first published March 15, 1998 in the Indianapolis Star. It has been "modified" and "edited" by others and circulated on the Internet, even sent to me several times. Imagine my surprise to see it attributed to some guy named Anonymous. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I take having my work circulated on the web as a compliment.
Bill Wade
Chair, Executive Council
Coalition of National Park Service Retirees
5625 N. Wilmot Road
Tucson, AZ 85750-1216
520-615-9474 - FAX
520-444-3973 - CELL
Email: jwbil...@earthlink.net
Website: www.npsretirees.org
-----Original Message-----
From: parklan...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:parklan...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Jim R
Sent: Saturday, December 22, 2007 10:05 AM
To: parklandwatch
Subject: Parklands Update: Re: Dan Sholly and Burro Control near BIBE
Ron-I have used the Pinchot quote many times. It is a good one.
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dan s
Howdy Y'all from Tejas,
A retiree passed on this group's comments about burro control in Big
Bend Ranch State Park (BBRSP) and me. Thought I might throw out a few
tid-bits for the record...all public information.
Rob and Doug have done an excellent job of laying out some of the
background of the issue. As has been all of our experiences at one
time or another, the reporter may not get, or may not choose to get,
all of the facts straight. Rob, Doug, and a few others have figured
out the local management issues and challenges. No need to repeat
that.
A little background: BBRSP, at about 300,000 acres, is the largest
park in the Texas State Park system. It has been a state park since
1988 and a ranch for about 90 years prior to being a park. During the
ranching era, hundreds of thousands of cattle, sheep, and goats were
grazed...In the past 19 years, there has been some excellent recovery
of native vegetation and habitat. Since the state gained
ownership...the park has been run like a ranch, with about 200 head of
Longhorn cattle, and a few thousand visitors. Most of the park has
been closed to the public. With ranch management gone and park
management taking over in 1988, burros and Aoudads have become the
predominate ungulate species. We estimate 400 burros (give or take a
few hundred) and probably more than 1000 Aoudads...though we have no
accurate counts of anything. Those who know
anything about burro habits know that they are trashing the park's
fragile natural and cultural resources.
About three years ago we began developing a 'Public Use Plan' (PUP)
for BBRSP. Other than Walt and me (and now Mike Hill) Texas State
Parks didn't have staff with experience in planning what has the
potential of being a world class primitive park. I was assigned the
task of completing and implementing the 'PUP', working with the
regional director and park staff. Therefore, over the past year, I
began spending weeks at a time at the park working on the 'PUP' .
Each time I visited the park, I would see burros and sometimes
Aoudads. The impacts on resources were significant. The park staff
had not ever done any control. In 2006, we did attempt some capture
in cooperation with APHIS, with no success.
It has been the policy of Texas State Parks/Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department for many years to remove feral and exotic animals form
parks. The current policy, last updated in 1999, states that the
superintendent shall be responsible for removal of exotic and feral
animals in parks...and that it shall be done in a discrete manner.
This policy calls for any employee conducting these activities to
annually qualify to shoot. In that the park staff had not carried out
the policy, it was decided at the Austin Headquarters level to take
exotic and/or feral animals by qualified staff when ever the
opportunity presented itself.
BBRSP is part of a 'Complex' of parks which include Barton Warnock
Center, Ft. Leaton, and the Chinati Mts. SNA. Organizationally there
is a general (Complex)superintendent and each park has a
superintendent.
On April 9. 2007, while working on the 'PUP' looking for primitive
campsites, Mike and I took the first burros (we were/are both
qualified shooters under the TSP policy, both qualified as 'expert'
U.S. Marine marksman in our USMC days, and both retired federal law
enforcement officers, with a lot of shooting training and
experience). Within one hour, we notified the BBRSP superintendent of
our action and plans for future actions, should the opportunity
present itself. We were not hunting for burros, but if we saw any, we
would take them. I told the superintendent that if any visitors or
employees came across dead burros that he should advise them that it
was a part of management actions to eliminate feral animals in the
park. The general superintendent was told the next day. Over the next
6 months, on about 5 occasions, we continued to take burros if we
found them during our 'PUP' work. During the warm part of the year,
the animal's carcasses were pretty well gone by scavengers with in a
few days. Into October, the buzzards headed south and things take
longer to disappear. In late October one of the BBRSP equipment
operators, who was working on a 4x4 primitive road in a 'closed to the
public area', smelled and found some burros. He reported it to the
superintendent and the general superintendent. Neither one of them
told the employee what was going on.
What you read in the paper about the general superintendent ordering
an investigation is mostly bogus and for his political capital. He is
no longer an employee and that has nothing to do with burros.
Bottom line:
-this is not fun
-I do not sport hunt
-we followed policy very specifically
-all key players were informed
-it's an emotional issue...with no easy answer
-the resources are better off and there is a lot more work to be done
-we have some outstanding employees at BBRSP
Dan
Ron Mackie
from 4 days at Lake Tahoe North Shore, full moon, clear sky, very
nice Christmas. On another issue Dan, this is a great chance to
thank you, Walt and the employees of the Texas State Park system, My
wife and I were on a months trip to Georgia and back and spent 10
days camping in Texas State Parks. Among my favorites were Palo Duro
Canyon, Enchanted Rock, LBJ, Pedernales River, South Llano River (
the Texas Hill country is fascinating to me, maybe because of Robert
Caros books about LBJ). and Fort Davis. Fort Davis was exceptionally
enjoyable. Had a small herd of deer and 2 lively skunks check out my
camp the first night. Dan, at all the Parks we camped in, the
employes were personable and helpful. That to me is always a
reflection of the leadership all the way to the top. Did stay at
Lockhart one night also. Fun. One of the best Texas barbecue places I
have ever been to was in downtown Lockhart. In any case, my wife
being a native born Texan, well, we had a great time. Best wishes to
you guys. By the way, do you still play some golf with Rod Coffin,
Rod and I go back to the Yosemite horse patrol days. Please say hello
to him for me.
From: trid...@yahoo.com
To: parklan...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Parklands Update: Re: Dan Sholly and Burro Control near BIBE