Thunderbear 294

It has been said climate and geography can have an effect on your I.Q: That living in a certain geographical area can actually lower (or raise) your intelligence and thus your moral worth. The environmental anarchist, Edward Abbey once observed, "The best men, like the best wine, come from the hills." (That may be true for wine, but how does one explain Cliven Bundy?).

America's liberal intellectuals are firm Geographical Determinists, believing that only the Northeast and the West (left) coasts are intellectually habitable; the rest of the country in between is rather cruelly dismissed as "Fly Over Country".

Elections do count, and we recently had one. This put the Republicans in charge of the U.S. Senate and Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) in charge of the environment.

Not literally, of course. If Jim Inhofe could actually control the environment, he would certainly do something about the climate of Oklahoma, which is typically High Plains Nightmare: Broiling hot, windy summers followed quickly by glacial, windy winters; a devil's brew of weather enlivened by tornados.

Your kindly editor was once asked by an awed Mexican national who had survived three different tornados in three separate parts of Oklahoma, if "People lived in Oklahoma if they didn't have to?"

I told Enrique that "No, our Great Nation has no compulsory residency requirements for states that have unpleasant climates." (Not entirely true, the "Five Civilized tribes" were deported to Oklahoma, but that was to facilitate theft of their lands back East rather than populate a desert and yes, the five tribes were given a fair choice; Compulsory residency in Oklahoma, or death.

Aside from extremes of heat, cold, and tornados, Oklahoma and the rest of the Plains States have a final horror: The low, moaning wind. This is a more subtle threat to your well-being. The wind keeps pressing against your body. Your body realizes that it under attack, but it does not understand what the problem is. This leads to confusion; you will either go crazy or vote Republican.

This happens to a dispiritingly large number of the Plains states. Of the 12 Plains Senators, ten are Republicans. (This is undoubtedly due to the low, moaning wind.)

Now there are alternative theories about Republican hegemony in the Plains states. One is sensory deprivation; that is a flat, dull environment leads to flat, dull thinking. Large national or state parks are few and far between on the Plains and tend to focus on grim "badlands topography," Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Badlands National Park in the Dakotas and Palo Duro State Park in Texas. There is simply not much to look at.

Utah, arguably one of the most beautiful and varied states in the Union has a goodly supply of national parks and monuments, but also has a totally Republican Congressional delegation, including, God bless, a black female Mormon Congressperson!

There is a third explanation: Many of the Republican Plains and Rocky Mountain states are not self-supporting: That is they require a handout from the wicked federal government to remain afloat. This leads to resentment and a tendency to bite the hand that feeds them. This of course includes Senator Inhofe's Oklahoma.

However, despite being climatically challenged, Senator Inhofe does a yeoman job representing Oklahoma and its oil and gas industries.

Some bleeding heart environmentalist once asked Inhofe how much the oil and gas people paid him for his services.

The truth of the matter is that they needn't pay him anything, Jim would support the fossil fuel industry for free; that is simply the way he is hardwired. God stacked those resources where we can get at them and, by gum; it's our duty to use them. If we don't, it's sort of like God invitin' us to a barbecue and we refusin' 'cause we turned vegetarian!

Senator Inhofe has even written a book "THE GREATEST HOAX" which seeks to prove that the concern about global warming and climate change is actually a nefarious plot by environmentalists and the United Nations to destroy the American economy.

Now that's an idea you don't see everyday, so I ankled down to the Santa Barbara public library to pick up a copy. That proved easier said than done.

Getting a copy of THE GREATEST HOAX proved more difficult than getting a copy of MEIN KAMPH.

Now Santa Barbara is a nice, Southern California coastal town of around 90,000. Its climate is Mediterranean and its politics tilts slightly to the left. (Even if it is the home of the RONALD REAGAN CENTER.)

I asked at the desk concerning the whereabouts of Senator Inhofe's book. It turned out that the librarians knew more about the location of Senator Inhofe than his book.

I was unaware of the Senator's mental health status, but I was really interested in his book.

It seemed that the libraries of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo another coastal town up Highway 101 apiece, had joined together to assemble the collective wisdom of mankind in one library system. If the book wasn't in the Santa Barbara/SLO system, it wasn't worth reading and you were SOL.

Interlibrary loans were possible, but were frowned upon. (Apparently, they would indicate a possible deficiency in the Santa Barbara/SLO system.)

In order to do an interlibrary loan, there would be a service fee of $15 payable in advance with the understanding that it would be at least a month, possibly two months before I could get Senator Inhofe's book. (Presumably the delay was occasioned by whether the stagecoach could get through the snowdrifts in the Sierra.)

I could write an essay on why I believed THE GREATEST HOAX to be a necessary addition to the collection of the Santa Barbara /SLO system. The essay would be submitted to the Board of Directors who if favorably impressed, would direct that the book be purchased.

Now not only is it difficult to write a review of a book you haven't read, but there was the moral quandary of recommending that the taxpayers purchase a book that I had a great suspicion was packed with malicious lies, half truths, and exaggerations.

There was one final alternative, one that had not occurred to me. The librarian pointed out that I could simply buy a used copy of THE GREATEST HOAX on line at Amazon or ABE Books. " It would be cheaper than the interlibrary loan, would arrive in less than a week, and I could keep it. " the librarian said brightly.

I could not beat that logic so I ordered THE GREATEST HOAX from Amazon. (A review will be forthcoming in the next issue of THUNDERBEAR.)

Ah, but the issue we are concerned with is the intelligence of Senator Inhofe. Is it true that he is the dumbest man in the US Senate?

Not by a long chalk, neighbors. He is dumb like a coyote and you will do well not to underestimate him. Even at age 80, when many of us are wondering where we put our shoes, Senator Jim appears to have lost none of his native wit, which is considerable. Despite his advanced years, he still pilots an experimental aircraft on a regular basis.

Indeed, there is an aphorism that goes "There are old pilots and there are stupid pilots, but there are no old, stupid pilots" This is certainly true of Jim Inhofe.

With the supreme confidence of the True Believer, Senator Inhofe charges directly into the lion's den of the vast majority of climatologists who believe that mankind has had something to do with climate change.

Jim says "My point is God's still up there. The arrogance of people to think that we human beings would be able to change what He is doing to the climate is to me outrageous."

(Jim has not entertained an alternative theory; that our messing with the environment may be annoying God.) Unlike Thomas Jefferson, Senator Inhofe believes that God takes an enthusiastic and partisan role in human affairs.

In a speech to the Senate, Senator Inhofe stated that 9/11 was God's punishment for America's failure to adequately support Israel; one of God's favorite projects, according to Jim.

As previously noted, Senator Inhofe sees no reason to hide the light of his wisdom under a bushel basket as the Holy Bible says. Instead, he rushes right in to enemy territory to deliver his opinion.

Senator Inhofe knew that a hundred or more atheist professors droning on about global warming was no news at all to the bored reporters.

This was not the case of the bible-thumping, fundamentalist American Senator who was providing jaw dropping great copy every time he opened his mouth, which was often and everywhere. The reporters ate it up and ignored the professors.

David Corn, a reporter for MOTHER JONES, a decidedly liberal publication, who was covering the conference, asked Senator Inhofe if he really, truly believed that the scientists and politicians attending the Conference had been hoaxed and hoodwinked.

Well, Neighbors, it seems that we're getting to the bottom of this plot! It would seem that Jim believes, or claims to believe that Barbra Streisand has taken time off from her busy career as star of stage and screen to destroy the nation!

"This would be hilarious " she responded, "if it wasn't so frightening. I thank Senator Inhofe for singling me out as a voice against climate change but I'm just a small part of millions of voices who are informed and alarmed, including 97% of all climate scientists! God help us! This man is going to be head of the committee on the environment in the United States Senate! It's like giving a fox the keys to the chicken coop."

So is it really the end of the world? Instead of civilization being destroyed by a speeding asteroid, will a "slow" Senator from Oklahoma destroy it?

Not really. This is not Jim Inhofe's first rodeo. He has chaired the Senate Committee on the Environment during the last Republican majority and the roof did not fall in. Even the archliberal Barbara Boxer (D-CA) regarded him as a partisa but fair chairman of the Committee and Jim's best friend in the Senate is our only socialist Senator, Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

In addition, Senator Inhofe seems to possess the gift of curiosity; something retained by few octogenarians and even fewer Republicans.

While vacationing on South Padre Island on the Texas gulf coast, Jim noticed a crowd of people on the beach. Curious, he joined them and discovered they were an environmental group dedicated to saving the endangered Ridley Sea turtle. Jim was entranced by the sea turtles and quickly volunteered both his personal services and his clout as a Congressman. He proposed (and saw passed) legislation mandating turtle excluders on shrimp boats. This brought down the ire of the Republican congressman from the shrimpers district. Too damn bad! Senator Inhofe had fallen in love with Ridley Sea Turtles and that was that.

Now the trick will be to get Jim Inhofe interested in the rest of the environment.

THE BATTLE OF HOBIE CAT BEACH

One of the durable fantasies of the media, both left and right, is the belief that there are "no go" areas in which the police or other authorities, fear to tread. These areas being supposedly controlled by violent gangs or religious fanatics who mete out their own form of rough justice and are so feared that the police dare not challenge them.

This is generally not the case. Police are a competitive lot and any foolish announcement by the Hell's Angels, M 13, Mexican Mafia, Moslem Brotherhood, or the Boogerville Militia, that a certain area of a city or county is "off limits" to law enforcement will quickly result in police saturation of the area and multiple arrests; none of which contributes to the gang's main goal, the quiet distribution of drugs.

FOX NEWS, a particularly hysterical and meretricious right wing news outlet wound up with omelet size egg on their faces when they breathlessly proclaimed that the British city of Birmingham and parts of Paris were "No go" areas for police and non Muslims.

The blonde dollies of FOX NEWS even held up an "official" map of Paris with shaded areas purportedly showing where non-Muslims or police could not go.

The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, claimed he "nearly upchucked his breakfast porridge" while watching the FOX NEWS clip. You see, Birmingham is the second largest city in the United Kingdom and people would sort of notice if it had been taken over by inhospitable Muslims.

As for the Paris map, it was "official" but the shaded areas were not "No go" areas, they indicated "pockets of poverty" into which the famously paternalistic French government planned to pour money.

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, said that she would sue FOX NEWS for defamation of her city.

A bit closer to home, we have the urban legend that Cliven Bundy, a right wing fanatic and his private militia has taken over a unit of the National Park System, namely Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Nothing could be father from the truth. NPS rangers still patrol at will all areas of the park and the public is invited to drive wherever there is a road or hike wherever, and yes, you are welcome to photograph Mr. Bundy's cattle.

Grizzled veterans of the NPS will recall "The Summer of Love" in 1970 in Yosemite Valley in which bands of what the media called "counter culture" people and what the rangers called "dirt bags", overran Stoneman Meadow, turning it into an open air drug fair. As the summer progressed, the dirt bags became increasingly confrontational talking openly of "taking over Yosemite Valley" and turning it into a "People's Park." (The "People" of course, being mainly dirt bags.) They very briefly gained control of Yosemite Valley in the 4th of July riot, but were forcefully disabused of any territorial ambitions when the NPS counterattacked on July 5.

So, aside from the Bundy episode, which is more of a trespass dispute, has there been any other attempt to seize NPS land? Or is this just another "Urban Legend."

I recalled a conversation with an old friend, the formidable ranger (and superintendent) Tomie Patrick Lee. She recalled a very strange event that had occurred during her tenure as Chief Ranger of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. We will call it "The Battle of Hobie Cat Beach."

To make sure we have our facts straight, we asked Tommie Lee to tell the story of "The Battle of Hobie Cat Beach" a fascinating addition to NPS history: So here it is.

The Glen Canyon event you mentioned was a long time ago, but I will dredge up what memories I can.
There was sort of a "no go" zone at the Hobie Cat Beach at Bullfrog (upper lake area of Glen Canyon) during the Memorial Day weekend for a number of years. However, that was only during the day and night when the campers/partiers were awake and active. At around 3:00 am rangers and Kane County deputies would creep into the area and make arrests that undercover officers (rangers and deputies) had identified during the prior day or evening/night. Those arrests were made quickly and with a minimum of noise and attention. (People are usually most vulnerable at 3:00 am and the time when many "raids" are conducted...by good guys and bad.) If there were medical emergencies (including serious ODs and reported rapes), the victims would be brought to the upper edge of the beach away from the main camping area, where the port-a-potties and garbage dumpsters were located and the uniformed rangers and/or deputies were available to provide aid.
The first Memorial Day weekend I experienced was in 1994 as I had transferred back to Glen Canyon the week after Labor Day of 1993 (from 4 1/2 year detail as an instructor at FLETC). Prior to the event at Hobie Cat I was briefed by my staff about the illegal activities that would occur, how the arrests were made, how medical emergencies were handled, why uniformed personnel were not able to conduct patrols or make arrests during daylight and evening periods when the party goers were awake and active, etc. I was told there had been riot conditions and vandalism of marked vehicles when uniformed officers attempted to patrol or make arrests in the past.
The park brought in a number of rangers from other parks to work undercover and in uniform, Kane County Sheriff's department sent deputies (Bullfrog was in Kane County), and the local Utah Highway Patrol sergeant with several of his officers worked the holiday at Bullfrog. The small jail facility was full every day and the US Magistrate spent the long weekend at Bullfrog, holding court every day. Emergency medical service personnel were kept as busy in the clinic. Garbage dumpsters and port-a-potties were lined up along the upper edge of the beach (where the marked vehicles and uniformed officers were "safe").
That first experience of "Hobie Cat" was crazy, although I was told it wasn't as bad as many in the past. There appeared to be a smaller crowd of only 6,000 - 8,000...mostly young people of college age, although we had older people (mostly males) and some very young kids (12, 13, 14, etc.). There were also some young couples with small children in the mix. Houseboats (most were rentals), boats, and personal watercraft ("water lice") were tied up at the beach. Campers parked their vehicles (cars, pickup trucks, RVs) at the camps and most had tents set up as well. Drugs and alcohol were prevalent, with the underage partiers partaking of what was offered. There were sex acts in the open and prostitutes available on some of the houseboats, loud raucous music blaring from the houseboats and vehicles. It was one heck of a "spring break" party.
The clean up after the event was considerable. The garbage dumpsters were emptied every day, but mounds of beer cans were left at campsites as well as other trash scattered across the whole area.
Glen Canyon's budget was seriously impacted every year and the park had to rely on additional monies from the regional office's special events/emergency funds.
I was astounded that such activities were allowed in a National Park Service area and questioned why Hobie Cat Beach was opened to the party each year. (Vehicle access to Hobie Cat Beach was closed except for Memorial Day weekend.) I was told it was to keep the party from relocating to an area or areas that was/were less accessible to emergency personnel, harder to monitor and which would impact families and groups not connected to the "spring break" crowd. High water levels had also inundated Hobie Cat Beach several times so was already an impacted area and would help keep other vehicle accessible areas less effected (trashed) by the large crowds.
With the full support of park management and the regional office, we began the process of regaining control. We learned from the experiences of Daytona Police Department when they decided to end the riotous spring break activities that had been allowed to impact that Florida town for years (decades). We expected that within the same time period (3 years) we would be able to end the Memorial Day weekend event at Bullfrog's Hobie Cat Beach. It actually took less than that.
Using information from years of arrest records and emergency medical cases, we targeted colleges and universities from where most of the college students came. Early in the year we sent letters to those colleges and universities regarding the problems the park was facing and the changes we were implementing. We followed up with notices that could be posted a month before Memorial Day with changes being made at Hobie Cat Beach. We also sent articles to the newspapers in the towns and cities where those institutions were located and in the towns and cities where we believed most of the park users not connected to the Hobie Cat event, resided.
We initiated a permit system and limited the number of vehicles for the backcountry, vehicle accessible sites in the Bullfrog Sub district. The new permit system, group size (can't remember now if it was 10 or 12 per camp) and vehicle limits (2 vehicles per camp) were widely publicized through the newspaper articles we sent out and some radio stations' public service broadcasts. The permits were free and could be obtained by mail, person or telephone. The number of persons in the group, description of the vehicle(s), and contact information for the vehicle driver(s) were required on the permit. This information was checked by uniformed NPS staff at Kiosks located at the roads leading to the backcountry areas during the day and evening and by periodic patrols the remaining hours. Park regulations were enforced by the patrols as well.
The vehicle entrance to Hobie Cat Beach was through a single gate, so we had uniformed staff (Interpretive and Maintenance staff) at the gate handing out garbage bags (in 1994 and 1995) and in 1995 we included notices to every car that it was the last Hobie Cat Beach event. We had uniformed staff on the beach in 1994 and 1995, walking and talking with campers as they came in.
We worked closely with the Utah counties adjacent to park boundaries and the Utah Highway Patrol during the planning. Several days before Memorial Day the Utah Department of Transportation placed mobile, lighted highway signs on the roads leading to Bullfrog informing travelers that camping was limited and allowed by permit only in the Bullfrog area from Thursday evening through Tuesday over Memorial Day.
Garfield County set up roadblocks on the state highways leading to Bullfrog beginning either Thursday night or Friday morning (I don't remember now). The roadblocks checked for alcoholic beverages being illegally transported (Utah state laws strictly regulated the transportation, including amounts, of alcoholic beverages and point of purchase), searched vehicles for drugs and controlled substances, and for those driving under the influence. The deputies and UHP officers assisting them at the roadblocks confiscated hundreds of cases of beer, dozens of kegs, numerous cases of liquor, and quite a haul of illegal drugs and controlled substances. They also made a number of arrests.
In 1995 because Hobie Cat Beach had been (and would be again) inundated during periods of high water levels in the lake (reservoir), we were allowed to use heavy equipment to created "zones" on the beach (ditches and sizable berms). The area bordering the cove/lake was open to campers, but NOT to vehicles - a first. Campers had to set up their camps away from their vehicles. The next zone above the camping zone was for the garbage dumpsters, port-a-potties, and staging area for official vehicles. The outer zone was for parking all campers' vehicles, including RVs. Hobie Cat Beach that year was a large area so the distance between the vehicles and camps was a good walk through sandy soil.
The cove that fronted Hobie Cat Beach was buoyed off so that houseboats could not be beached to provide easy access to prostitutes brought in for the event, sex acts could not be spotlighted and conducted on top of the houseboats, and live bands did not have access to electricity for their equipment. Boats could not be beached as well.
From day one, teams of uniformed personnel (NPS, Kane County, and UHP) were on the beach 24 hours a day.
For the first time, in 1995 Utah Highway Patrol sent a state-of-the-art mobile command center along with the two teams of their newly formed and freshly trained Civil Disobedience Squad (basically SWAT teams) for their first detail. That was both a blessing and almost a disaster.
I cannot remember which day of the event, but it was probably Saturday, I was on the way to the concessioner's lodge for an early dinner when I heard traffic over our multi-agency radio frequency that caused me to return immediately to the UHP mobile command center. When I arrived back at the command center which was set up above Hobie Cat Beach, I saw UHP officers with gas masks out, gas grenade launchers set up aimed toward the campers, and heard a briefing going on inside the command center.
When I entered, I saw a large, hand-drawn sketch of Hobie Cat Beach with arrows drawn and other info written on it. The UHP captain and lieutenant in charge of the teams were preparing to "gas" the campers and "storm" the beach. One of their patrols (3 or 4 officers) had had bottles and cans thrown at them at one camp. This was viewed as a serious assault, which required an immediate and overwhelming response.
If the UHP teams had followed the plan drawn on the sketch and being discussed by their supervisors, the campers' only avenue of possible escape would be into the water. The water at Hobie Cat Beach was shallow for only a very few feet before plunging to huge depths. Not all of the campers would be swimmers and all would be panicked into a stampede. There were several families with infants and small children in the mass of campers as well.
I literally had to grab the captain by his arm and shout to get his attention. Even then, none of the UHP officers in the command center wanted to be distracted from their plan. I finally managed to get everyone's attention and told them how dangerous the plan was, told them the National Park Service would not condone their planned action, would not support them in the resulting lawsuits, that they were there to assist the NPS not take unilateral action, etc. It was during this heated (and loud) discourse that Superintendent Joe Alston arrived and supported my position. I was then asked by the UHP captain (somewhat sarcastically) how I would handle the situation. I was happy (and relieved) to respond.
We sent teams of officers (NPS, Kane Country and UHP) to backup the UHP officers who had been assaulted. They went back to the campsite where the assault had occurred and made the appropriate arrests without further incident except for catcalls and boos from a small group near the incident. There was no other major incident during the remainder of the weekend, only the usual ODs, assaults, underage drinking/drug use, injuries, thefts, etc. (To this day I still feel anxiety when I recall how close we came to having a disaster that night.)
It is interesting that months later a UHP debriefing with their ranking officers was held about the Hobie Cat event which Superintendent Alston and I attended. It was obvious that we were not expected (nor invited) but once again Joe Alston supported my position and my decisions. I was able to explain to those present what would have occurred had the UHP plan been implemented and emphasized the liability the UHP would have had. The tone of the meeting was subdued. I am certain that the original plan for the debriefing was rationalization of the aborted plan and condemnation of the interference by the chief ranger.
We continued to require the free permits to camp in backcountry, vehicle accessible areas at Bullfrog for another year or so. However, as Hobie Cat Beach was not reopened and permits limited the number and size of groups camping in vehicle-accessible backcountry, the problem was solved and the permit system ended as well.
We could then concentrate more on other problem areas of the park.

Tomie Patrick Lee

Well, there you have it, neighbors! A potential "No Go" take over averted by some very skillful planning on the part of the NPS (and some brave intervention on the part of Tomie Patrick Lee regarding the overreacting UHP).

And, unlike the FOX news report, this potential "No Go" incident really did happen!

HINKYNESS AND PROBABLE CAUSE

Recently, due to the Ferguson Incident and related "Stop & Frisk" police programs in "High Crime" (i.e. minority neighborhoods) the entire concept of "Hinkyness" has been called into question.

What is "Hinky" or "Hinkyness"? As in a police officer saying (usually to another officer) "There was something "Hinky" about the situation" or "His story was pretty "Hinky."

Yes. "Hinkyness" is the unerring ability of an EXPERIENCED police officer to spot a criminal or a criminal activity in the (apparent) complete absence of any evidence that would so indicate.

No. Like most forms of mysticism, Buddhist, Jewish, Moslem, or Christian, Police Mysticism or "Hinkyness" is complex and very difficult for the layperson to understand, particularly those who are skeptical by nature.

You will note, however, that we have bolded "Experienced." Full enlightenment of "Hinkynesss" is granted only after grueling years of study and observation by the acolyte cop or park ranger under the tutelage of a series of Masters in the Art of Hinkyness.

Briefly, the practitioner of the Art of "Hinkyness" is interested in an apparently mundane situation or scenario that "Doesn't feel right" or "Doesn't look right" or (best of all) "someone who doesn't belong in a specific place" or someone who quite simply raises the needle on the officer's "Hinky Meter."

Well yes. Most of the American Civil Liberty Union (ACLU) and some Supreme Court justices.

Associate Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas memorably remarked "There is no such crime as "Hinkyness" (Actually, Justice Douglas said "There is no such crime as Suspicion" which is the same thing, and which, according to Douglas, you simply can't stop people on the street and frisk them, even if you think they are "Hinky.")

Sometimes it does. The subject of a "Stop & Frisk" turns out to be a felon in possession of a firearm and another gun is taken off the street. After all "The leading cause of death among young Black men is young Black men" facilitated by firearms, this is a plus.

Both the young Barack Obama and the young Eric Holder (The nation's top cop) flunked the "Hinkyness" test at various times in their youth as young Black men.

They both received the dread question and summons "WHERE YA GOIN', BOY?" having apparently failed the "Hinkyness location test" by being in areas not often frequented by Black Americans.

Now young Barack could have thanked the officer for his interest in his travel plans and said he was enroute to the White House, with stopovers at Harvard Law school and the US Senate, but as Obama is still with us, we know that he did not. Snappy retorts are not popular with practitioners of "Hinkyness".

During all my years as a ranger at Petrified Forest National Park, I was never able to develop a "Hinkyness" theory about which exiting car contained stolen petrified wood. Indeed, we were not permitted to initiate a search based on "Hinkyness," a "hunch" or "intuition".

Probable cause was an entirely different matter, however! Stop and search only the guilty! Allow the innocent to pass unmolested and unharassed!

Probable Cause was the answer! All we had to do was post a ranger with binoculars and a radio in a foxhole in a butte overlooking one of the high theft deposits of petrified wood. The ranger would then radio in the vehicle description and license number of those who put petrified wood in their pocket or automobile.

On the very rare occasions, when the petrified wood culprit wondered out loud how it was that we knew to search his car, we could truthfully say that a "witness" to the crime had informed us of the culprit's temporary lapse of morality and good judgment.

So, how do we replicate the Petrified Forest experience of nailing only the bad guys in South Chicago or Harlem?

Simple. We channel most pedestrians in high crime areas through a magnetometer and check them for guns. (This will outrage two strange bedfellows, the NRA and the ACLU, until it is explained that (a) A felon in possession of a firearm is a no-no, and (b) Most cities including Chicago and New York require a concealed carry permit and (c) The subject is being stopped on the probability that he is carrying a firearm and NOT because he/she is Black, Brindle or Albanian.

The answer is you can't. We are going to have to resort to a bit of high tech trickery and camouflage that the ACLU would say was "unfair to criminals" but would sullenly have to admit was legal. The Magnetometer would be disguised as scaffolding as in a construction site. Things are always getting repaired on the urban sidewalks, a minor irritant to urban living: there is a ladder leaning against a building, a cement spattered wheelbarrow, perhaps a small pile of sand, some shovels and a web of steel pipe scaffolding-and a sign telling you where to walk.

The instrumentation for the magnetometer and its operator would be concealed in a panel truck parked beside the magnetometer-fake construction site. The operator would alert an interdiction team as to who was carrying a pistol.

In addition to being trained in close combat felony take down, the Interdiction Officers would be graduates of the New York or Chicago Police Charm School in which the subjects would be treated to a barrage of good manners and solicitude unknown to the average New Yorker or Chicagoan.

The model for the police charm schools would be the Metropolitan Police of London (i.e. Scotland Yard; the Yard is legendary for its use of courtesy and polite euphemism in pursuing the bad guys; for example, the Yard might be after Abou Ben Ghazi. Now they know that he is a vicious Jihadi terrorist who saws peoples' heads off. But they never say that. No, they merely advise the public "The police believe that Mr. Ben Ghazi could assist them in their inquiries." No vulgar accusations; simply "assistance and discreet inquiries."

Back in the good old USA, our tactically trained charm school graduates would fall in step with the gentleman or lady that had registered positive on the magnetometer. The officer with the biggest, brightest smile will step in front of the suspect, identify as a peace officer, wish the subject a good morning or afternoon and politely inquire if he/she had a concealed carry permit for his pistol.

As in the case of every citizen who denied possessing petrified wood, every pistol packer will deny that they have a gun.

The officer will drop his smile and assume a look of doleful seriousness and state simply "Sir! We have probable cause to believe you are carrying a firearm! Keep your hands where we can see them while we locate the weapon."

(Readers will note that the "probable cause" here does not consist of being an irritating and possibly dangerous Negro. It is also helpful that the subject is also guilty as hell of SOMETHING, be it a convicted felon in possession of a firearm or the firearm is not registered or there is no concealed carry permit or all of the above. It also defuses any ACLU argument against "Profiling" as the magnetometer democratically "frisks" everyone.

Now there will be the occasional case where the subject of the "inquiry" DOES have a concealed weapons permit. (This will occur about as often as the Transit of Venus.) In such cases an interdiction team will apologize profusely for any inconvenience, thank our armed citizen for his noble participation in the War Against Crime and send him on his way.

"But would not the Criminal Element notice that every time a friend walked past 4th St and Lenox Avenue, they got arrested?" You ask.

Well, yeah. That's why the magnetometer "set" would have to be moved every day, being designed to be portable.

"But what if the subject refuses to cooperate; does an about face when he sees the "construction zone"? (Criminals also have a "hinkyness" meter.)

Again, we have probable cause. (We are videotaping the scene.) Why the abrupt course change? His lawyer will say that his client is extremely superstitious and he suddenly realized that he was going to walk under a ladder (extreme bad luck) and thus stepped into the street to avoid that fate and thus the State's exhibit A, a Glock 9mm pistol extracted from the client in the course of an "illegal' search instituted by the unjust profiling of Superstitious People, a large and growing minority, was "Fruit of the Poisoned Tree" and thus inadmissible evidence.

Now we are not saying that this electronic "frisking" will work 100% of the time, but it will be better than nothing, and as of this date, nothing is what you have as a result of a Justice Department decision banning "Stop and Frisk.

In all fairness it is realized that you may owe your life to your "Hinkyness Meter" going off in a timely manner, it is just that in absence of Probable Cause, "Suspicion", as Justice Douglas would say, "Is not a crime."

THE SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF YOU

Now neighbors, as Public Land Resource Managers, you are assisted (and occasionally critiqued) by a wide variety of private sector conservation biologists and/or historical preservationists, depending on the main focus of your park.

There are societies dedicated to the preservation and happiness of polar bears, monarch butterflies, wolves, Bison, short grass prairies, Redwoods, tall grass prairies, and forts and battlefields of every persuasion. There are societies for the preservation of military aircraft and railroad locomotives and Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.

However, until fairly recently, there was no Society for the Preservation of You.

Yes, you. The much beloved, much envied Federal Land Management Officer; the National Park Ranger, The Forest Ranger, The Bureau of Land Management Desert Ranger, The Fish & Wildlife Technician.

Truth is, until recent events, there was no pressing need to protect rangers. They could pretty much take care of themselves.

Not that there was no frisson of danger in being a ranger; that was part of the romance of the job; there was always the isolated possibility of contact with a psychotic, a belligerent drunk, or a poacher, but that was unusual in the long scheme of things. Best of all, the public liked rangers and supported them very much the way Canadians support their "Mounties".

All that changed during the month of April, 2014 when a private militia supporting an alleged public land grazing scofflaw by the name of Cliven Bundy forced NPS and BLM rangers to release Bundy's impounded cattle in order to avoid bloodshed.

The last April something like that happened was April 1860, when some ill-advised South Carolina citizens decided that federal property, namely Fort Sumter really belonged to the "Sovereign state of South Carolina" and they were going to "recover" it.

Your kindly editor asked some Department of Interior veterans about the apparent slowness of the Federal response.

One reason is technical. It gets hot in the Nevada Desert real fast after April. It is hard on man and beast to move cattle in the summer. Above all, you do not want television coverage of dead or dying cattle "murdered" by the ruthless feds. So, the DOI rangers will reappear in, say, March, along with an Army Special Forces contingent who will coincidentally show up for "exercises" on DOI land.

One LE veteran said another reason is that the DOI is putting together a case for a Grand Jury or series of Grand Juries and wanted no slip ups, as there will be a large number of indictments.

It is to be hoped that Mr. Bundy will prove to be a reasonable man and ask his militia to stand down and allow the BLM to round up his trespassing cattle, having proved his main point: That there are a significant number of armed, crazy people in the American West.

They are uniform adverse: Which means they will shoot anyone wearing one, be it city, county, state or federal. However, given their druthers, they would prefer to shoot federal land management officials. That would be, um, you.

No one is exempt, be it unarmed seasonal naturalist Becky Sue enroute in her marked government vehicle to show her "Friendly Critters" program to the local 4th grade, or a BLM range con making a forage survey on government land. All are fair game to these militias, given "provocation." (Usually, the federal officers' simply being there will suffice)

Who are they? That's what the FBI would like to know and that is why the FBI is interested in all the intelligence they can get.

That is why the FBI relies to a certain degree on intelligence supplied by a left of center Civil Rights group known somewhat awkwardly as The Southern Poverty Legal Center (SPLC).

Mr. Dees is sort of the Elmer Gantry of the American Civil Rights movement. Like Sinclair Lewis' fundamentalist preacher who loved Jesus, Sex, and Money, Mr. Dees loves Civil Rights, Sex and Money. Like Edward Abbey, he has been married five times with the usual results including a profound interest in other women.

The SPLC is the General Motors of Civil Rights fund raising, amassing a war chest of 120 million dollars, and not excluding a yearly paycheck of $300,000 for Mr. Dees. The SPLC is so solvent; that Charity Watch gave the organization an "F" for not spending money on causes it was supposed to support. (In all fairness, another charity watchdog, Charity Navigator, gives them 88 points out of a possible 100).

The SPLC is supposed to fight "hate" or "terrorist" groups by using lawsuits to seize their assets, and in truth has done so in a number of circumstances. Recently, they have undertaken the task of keeping an eye on the various militia groups that have sprung up around the country "to take back our land" and thus have incurred the interest of the DOI, the NPS and the FBI.

The SPLC is rather unusual among left wing Civil Rights outfits like the ACLU in that the SPLC is rather friendly toward the FBI and other law enforcement agencies (The ACLU never quite got over J. Edgar Hoover!) And the SPLC does employ several retired FBI on their staff.

Well, that sort of reminds me of the story about the cowboy who tells his buddy that he's going to ride into town and gamble his pay at the Last Chance Saloon. "You can't go there!" objects the buddy. "All the wheels are fixed, the dice are loaded, and the cards are marked!"

Unfortunately, the SPLC is the only private outfit that is checking up on these militias with any degree of precision. Given their rather spectacular fund raising ability, I would not overtip them when it comes to a donation.

On the other hand, they have produced several comprehensive and very interesting papers on the Cliven Bundy affair and militia related activities as well as a sprightly newsletter, which they will share with you.

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM WILL

Recently, a fiscal nervous Nellie raised the fear that the parsimonious National Parks were somehow being overextended by the acquisition of new areas. There are now (gasp!) more than 400 units of the National Park System. "Is there no end?" say the conservative handwringers.

Not unless we figure a way to stop History and Nature. (I must admit that Climate Change is a good start!)

We are a rich, creative and numerous people. We will always be producing people, ideas, and objects that deserve commemoration in the form of National Historic Sites due to their impact on our lives.

We have yet to acquire a large representative sample of each of the Eco regions that make up the ecology of the United States, let alone the wildlife corridors between them required to keep them vibrant.

So, yeah! The number of NPS units is likely to pass a thousand and keep climbing. Oh, my!

"But what of the $12 Billion in park maintenance backlog?" wails our Nervous Nellie? (Revealed to be none other than Shawn Regan, a conservative flunky working for PERC (Property and Environmental Research Center) an equally conservative think tank devoted to privatizing federal land).

$12 Billion! Is that all? Why not just write a check for that amount? That is essentially what we have done with our 13-year war in Afghanistan, which has cost us a cool Trillion dollars. We wrote a check. We are good for it. (Even though the same band of slavering fanatics are hammering the gates of Kabul to undo all our good works in very short order.)

Funny thing about the Environment and Historic Preservation Bank Account: Every last nickel has to be fussed and moaned over before it can be reluctantly approved for spending because, you see, it is a wasteful amenity and not something necessary, like war.

Contrast that with the military bank account. In that account, you can throw away the check stub and simply write checks with gay abandon, because it really shouldn't matter. War is serious business!

Of course not. The legendary regional director, Boyd Evison, once remarked that the NPS does not do well when cash is too easy. Too many dubious environmentally destructive projects get funded.

The NPS need not eliminate the 12 billion dollar maintenance backlog before acquiring another national park anymore than the U.S. needed to pay off the First World War debt before joining the Second World War. (The Germans and Japanese did not give us a great deal of choice!)

We recently concluded the Great Afghanistan Adventure, our longest war, at the cost of 4,000 dead, many more maimed, and a cool one Trillion dollars. The Trillion was of course, not wasted. The Afghans have become civilized, we are told, and you can invite them over for dinner with every expectation of keeping your head on your shoulders, maybe.

It would be nice to see how much of the 12 billion is actually necessary and how much is wishful thinking or could possibly be eliminated. An amazing amount of the backlog deals with infrastructure; roads, roofs, bridges, plumbing, electricity; all the appurtances of a small city. Is it all that necessary?

One need not be an Edward Abbey acolyte to wonder so. One need only to consider Isle Royale National Park where one must walk or paddle to get around. No roads, cars, bridges, and very few roofs that need fixing. The same is true of Channel Islands National Park, also surrounded by a watery moat. Should not the illusion of a watery moat around every park be used as a fiscal tool, a sort of Occam's razor to determine if "solving" a particular backlog is really that necessary?

Another avenue of fiscal canniness is being creative about National Historic Sites.

For example, everyone understands that Jeb Bush is a shoo-in as 45th President in 2016.

Located in Kennebunkport, Maine, BUDY will centralize the Bush Family Story, allowing us to tell the story of each Bush Presidency with the unifying theme of Kennebunkport. We will be getting three historic sites for the price of one, a considerable operational savings.

"Yes! That's the beauty of it! The extended Bush family will remain on board as Living History! (Naturally, there will be a substantial tax write off for the Bush family for making BUDY available to the general public.)

"But you just can't have the Bush family interpreting their own lives! Besides, they would have absolutely no privacy! They would never consent to such an intrusion!

Consider "Kykuit, the ancestral home of another American political dynasty, the Rockefeller Family. The 40 rooms Colonial revival mansion and other art galleries as well as 3400 acres grounds of the estate are open to the public with guided tours. (Kykuit means "Lookout" in Dutch and you can see the Manhattan skyline 25 miles away.)

Naturally, when the Rockefellers want to use a particular building, that building is off limits to guided tours.

Visitors assemble at the visitor center at Sleepy Hollow for briefing what there is to see on a particular day at Kykuit.

The Bush Dynasty at Kennebunkport will begin with Senator Prescott Bush who purchased Kennebunkport and got the show on the road, so to speak. Then we will move on to the_____rd President, George HW Bush, and then the two terms of the 43rd President George W. Bush. We will them move on to restoration of the Bush Dynasty, with the two terms of the 45th President of the United States, Jeb Bush.

Readers will note that American political dynasties do not follow one after another. There are breaks in succession, often, in fact usually with other political parties as the interim candidate.

In the case of the Bush Dynasty, there may be a hiatus until Jeb Bush's children are fully-grown, and have participated in politics and that will be around the year 2042.

Well, that is the projected date where White folks like you and I will be in the minority.

No, but his wife and numerous bilingual children certainly are; providing for a restoration of the Bush Dynasty and more reason for BUDY.

THE SAFETY MESSAGE

The presence of the Safety Message allows you to respond to your supervisor's query of "WHACHA LOOKIN' AT?" with innocent indignation. "Just checking the Safety Message, Sir! Is that OK?" "Yes! Of course! Carry on!" will be the reply (Works like garlic on a vampire, neighbors!) Naturally, since the Safety Message is free floating, you pretty much have to examine the entire issue of THUNDERBEAR in order to find it.

This issue's Safety Message deals with Involuntary Participation in Extreme Sports in the National Parks.

Consider an autumnal scene in storied Yosemite Valley. George & Martha Taxpayer are also autumnal. After a long life well spent and richly rewarded, they have arisen from slumber at the Ahwanee hotel, enjoyed a leisurely English breakfast, and then set out on a gentle level walk at the base of the famed cliffs. They have set themselves the goal of circumambulating Yosemite Valley before they fall like the autumn oak leaves, if not this season then the next.

They mosey along the trail, talking of grandchildren and previous trails and adventures in Yosemite.

It was the sound of mountaineer Clyde Fearless crashing through the chaparral and impacting at the base of the cliff after achieving terminal velocity upon coming off rappel with an unfortunate 800 feet left to go.

This happened less than a hundred feet and slightly to the rear of George and Martha. Mercifully, the chaparral was thick and George and Martha were spared the sight so graphically described by Ranger Andrea Lockyer in her memoir RANGER CONFIDENTIAL.

Due to the location of the trail, George and Martha were also spared Clyde landing on top of them, making them involuntary participants in an extreme sport.

The public affairs officer of Yosemite, Scott Gediman, assured me that of all the possible hazards in Yosemite, being struck by a falling climber is not one of them.

Had George and Martha been ambling on a "multi-use single track trail" (Blessedly forbidden in Yosemite and most, but unfortunately not all, national parks.) They must remain Apache alert for the sudden appearance of mountain bikers on the trail. (Incipient Alzheimer's is no excuse!) Upon sighting or hearing of a biker, George and Martha must leap into the nearest patch of poison oak to the best of their agility.

Now there is nothing inherently wrong with mountain biking any more than there is with mountain climbing or any other extreme, life-threatening sport. Indeed, the sport may be a net plus over mountain climbing as it can be argued that mountain biking has led to the development of extremely sturdy, durable forms of transportation in Third World countries where paved roads and vehicles are rare and expensive.

Nor can the mountain biker be logically denied use of "jeep roads", "administrative roads" or "fire roads" that are open to members of the public that can afford (or desire) a 4 wheel drive vehicle. Such roads are by definition double track, allowing the biker room to safely pass even the most unalert hiker with no stress or danger of collision.

Unfortunately, some (but not all) mountain bikers desire access to ALL trails in ALL National Parks. To allow this to happen would be a safety & loss control disaster as well as crime against Nature and aesthetics.

According to most mountain bikers, to get the full adrenaline surge provided by mountain biking, the bike must be driven "at speed" that is, as fast, or faster than the skill level of the biker ("Pressing the Envelope"). Mountain biking experts also say "Speed is your friend". That is, the faster you go, the more maneuverable the bike, and thus greater control and safety; unless of course, you factor in the unpredictability of hikers on the trail.

The hiker may not hear or correctly process the shouted commands of the biker (Leaving aside the existential question of "Is the main reason for a visit to a national park to obey the shouted commands of strangers?") The confused hiker may interpret "On your left!" as the need to step to the left, or he may freeze, or he may not understand English.

On the other hand, the mountain biker may make a critical error (rare, I'm sure) and make no mistake, collisions between mountain bikers and pedestrians can result in serious injury.

Consider the case of the Mountain Biker in Chief, The 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush.

President Bush was in Scotland attending the 2005 G-8 Economic Summit. He had brought along his beloved mountain bike for exercise.

The following police report was "obtained" by THE SCOTSMAN, a left wing Scottish newspaper. It's worth reading.

"About 1800 hours on Wednesday, July 6, a detachment of Strathclyde constables in anti-riot gear formed a protective line at the rear entrance of the hotel where George Bush was staying.

The unit was covering the road junction at Braco junction when the President came cycling through. As the President passed the junction at speed, he raised his left arm from the handle bar of his mountain bike to wave to the police while shouting "THANK YOU GUYS FOR COMING!"

According to the report, "One of the constables was struck by a "moving and falling object" (That would be the 43rd President of the United States, which, when you think about it, is not a bad description of George W. Bush)

The police report goes on to say "The officer fell to the ground, striking his head. After striking the constable, President Bush continued to bounce along the pavement for an additional five meters before coming to a stop."

Like most mountain bikers, President Bush is tough as titanium and was not injured in the accident.

According to THE SCOTSMAN, the constable was taken to hospital and was off duty for some 14 weeks due to injuries to ankle ligaments.

Now neighbors, let's consider the implications of this incident and hiking on a single track National Park trail that has been made "multi use", that is, open to mountain bikers.

Recall that the constable was in full riot gear including helmet, face shield, flak vest, and shin guards, and that STILL didn't save him from a flying mountain biker! (Though the helmet may have prevented a concussion.) However, it is unlikely that you or any other visitor will be wearing full riot gear while hiking an NPS trail.

Basically, opening single-track trails to mountain bikes makes them uninhabitable and unusable for anything BUT mountain bikes due to the safety risks.

The NPS is charged with making its trails as safe as environmentally possible without destroying the "challenge" of some of them. However, the NPS has closed certain trails such as Zion's Lady Mountain Trail and has considered closing such "Okole Squeezers" as Angel's Landing in the same park and other "challenging" trails in other parks that push a high accident rate.

On the other hand, The International Mountain Biking Association deliberately designs mountain biking trails to be "Challenging" (That is, dangerous)

The deep pockets NPS could open itself up to endless tort claims filed by parents of paralyzed children who will be able to claim that the NPS "knowingly" operated a facility that was made deliberately dangerous, thus creating an "attractive nuisance."

Roger Siglin, former superintendent of John Muir NHS and former Chief Ranger of Yellowstone, laid this wisdom on your editor:

"I think the difference is that for hikers and horse riders, the environment adjacent to the trail is the main reason for being there; for mountain bikers, the trail itself is the reason.

I hope that in national parks and monuments, single track trails will always be closed to bikers whether Wilderness or not since the difference in speed will always make hikers and bikers incompatible."

However, The International Mountain Biking Association and its members generally do not agree.

They are also taxpayers, quite numerous, and thus deserving of a voice, if not a place at the table.

Possibly all can agree that as Siglin points out, it is not the Nature and scenery that mountain bikers desire, but rather the trail and the Challenge and the adrenalin.

If such agreement is possible, then it may also be possible that the NPS could adjust its criterion for certain trails in NPS administered National Recreation Areas (Such NRAs are after all, recreation areas) with the tacit understanding that national parks, monuments, historic sites and so on would be off limits to single track mountain biking.

National Recreation Areas sort of lend themselves to mountain biking. Generally, they are located in areas of low humidity and thus scraggly vegetation, but lots of challenging rocks. The original reason for the existence of most of the NRA's administered by the NPS was a fluctuating irrigation or hydroelectric reservoir with a "bathtub ring" reminiscent of a flophouse motel. The reservoir allowed the aquatic cousins of the mountain biker to "go fast", do "wild crazy things" and so on. A mountain bike single-track trail will certainly complement the reservoir.

Consider a prime example, Lake Meredith National Recreation Area located in the Cap Rock Country of the Texas Panhandle.

Not even the desert aficionado, Edward Abbey developed a yen for Cap Rock Country.

As Lake Meredith is gradually drying up and its NRA is scenically challenged, it is perhaps wise that they are installing a nine-mile single-track mountain biking trail. It is unlikely that anyone will seriously object.

Not so in the case of the more scenic NRA's such as Golden Gate NRA, Delaware Water Gap NRA and Glen Canyon NRA to name several. It is likely that there would be plenty of opposition.

Now one of the "selling points" for mountain bike trails is that the IMBA or its affiliates will design, build, and yes, even maintain the trail.

This is sort of like letting the Delaware North Corporation write the General Management Plan for Yosemite National Park. You will certainly get speedy results, but they might not be exactly the ones you had anticipated.

First of all, there is the safety issue. If the mountain bike trail is as "demanding" and "challenging" as the bikers prefer, then there are going to be accidents that are going to be "challenging" in treatment and extraction, requiring the presence of a qualified EMT in the National Recreation Area during daylight hours and access to a medevac helicopter. This is going to require an increase in the NRA's budget.

Then there is denial of resources or services. The mountain biking trail should be off limits to hikers or equestrians. This is setting aside public land for the convenience of a special use group. True, the same can be argued against the Badger Pass Ski Area in Yosemite. Indeed, Badger Pass probably involves more land restriction than a mountain bike trail. However, an effort is made to keep the various winter sports, downhill skiing, and cross-country skiing, snow tubing etc. in their own venues to avoid unfortunate collisions.

The Badger Pass Ski Area is now an historic area, (vintage 1930's) one of the first downhill ski resorts in the Western United States, and one of the very few ski resorts in the national park system Like mountain bike trails in national parks, Badger Pass was promoted as an "attraction" that would get more people to use Yosemite National Park.

However, it is unlikely that a proposed downhill ski area would be permitted in today's Yosemite.

This is not to say that a single-track mountain biking trail would not be appropriate (or at least permissible) in a National Recreation Area.

Safety would require that such a trail be restricted to mountain bikes only. No stock use and no pedestrian use. There would be a mandatory sign at the trailhead stating that the trail was restricted to mountain biking, plus watermelon sized boulders painted International Orange placed every 100 yards to alert the unwary hiker that he/she was on the wrong trail and in danger.

Now would access to dedicated mountain biking trails in each of the 22 NRA's administered by the National Park Service satisfy the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA)?

The IMBA would like to see mountain biking access to the single track hiking trails of all the national parks and monuments as well as the NRA's.

Well, yes. You see the IMBA believes it has discovered the Achilles heel of the NPS.

The individual park superintendent has far more power than just seeing that there is enough toilet paper in the toilets. The individual superintendent can make decisions that are irreversible as WASO discovered when the superintendent of Yellowstone decided unilaterally to admit snowmobiles to the park where for better or worse, they will remain until the Yellowstone Super volcano erupts.

Rather than lobbying the Director of the National Park Service, who can easily stonewall a request with layers of bureaucracy, IMBA need only select a park with a superintendent that is amenable or at least not opposed to mountain biking and 'guide" him or her in the right direction. After a few bureaucratic hoops are jumped through, the park will have at least one "multi-use" single-track trail. This can be repeated until all the national parks are "converted."

Such was the case in Big Bend National when a superintendent stated that he was investigating the possibility of whether there might be single track mountain biking "opportunities" in Big Bend. Apparently there were such "opportunities" as the park soon got a "multi use single track trail and the superintendent retired. (Interestingly enough, horses are forbidden on this "multi use" trail; one of the few instances where horses are recognized as smarter than humans.)

What to do? One would imagine that as a matter of policy, WASO and Region might want to tighten up a bit on discretionary decision making on the part of superintendents when the result of such decisions would be extremely difficult to reverse as was the case with the Yellowstone snowmobiles.

WASO could then extend the olive branch to IMBA, offering single track trails in the NRA's, but only NRA's.

IS JAMES INHOFE THE DUMBEST SENATOR IN THE U.S. CONGRESS AND IF SO, WHY?

THE BATTLE OF HOBIE CAT BEACH

HINKYNESS AND PROBABLE CAUSE

THE SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF YOU

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM WILL

THE SAFETY MESSAGE

Return HOME

© Copyright 2015 by P. J. Ryan, all rights reserved.
PJ Ryan can be reached at:
thunderbear123@gmail.com.

IS JAMES INHOFE THE DUMBEST SENATOR IN THE U.S. CONGRESS AND IF SO, WHY?

THE BATTLE OF HOBIE CAT BEACH

HINKYNESS AND PROBABLE CAUSE

THE SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF YOU

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM WILL

THE SAFETY MESSAGE

Return HOME

© Copyright 2015 by P. J. Ryan, all rights reserved. PJ Ryan can be reached at: thunderbear123@gmail.com.

© Copyright 2015 by P. J. Ryan, all rights reserved.
PJ Ryan can be reached at:
thunderbear123@gmail.com.