President Trump and Secretary Zinke Announce Modification to Utah Monuments, Resulting in 5 Unique National Monument Units Totaling More Than 1.2 Million Acres

|

President Trump and Secretary Zinke Announce Modification to Utah Monuments, Resulting in 5 Unique National Monument Units Totaling More Than 1.2 Million Acres

I worry that too much of the public lands are being locked up as wilderness -- land of no uses. Wilderness area not only restrict mineral use, they also restrict public recreational uses, and often are poorly funded and maintained with no dedicated revenue source. Timber, oil, gas, coal and cattle pay for roads, trails, campsites and recreational uses of land. Trees that are harvested are replanted, coal fields are filled by in and re-planted, oil and gas wells are capped and returned to public use. Cows properly fenced in and herd numbers controlled can maintain proper grass lands. Heck, in Allegheny National Forest, many of the best free campsites are former oil and gas wells. It's not fair to compare land management of 50, much less 120 years ago to what is done today, with much better science and laws. The science on how to properly control graze a land or harvest timber in 1900 wasn't what it is 2017. To the layman, land management may not be easy to understand, especially right after a timber harvest or mineral extraction activity. You have to come back in a few years once the ecosystem is rehabilitated.

If you want free use of public lands, you have to allow for timber and mineral sales. Otherwise, they are going to have higher and higher admission prices, especially as public subsidies aren't guaranteed.

Big Buddy Heater

|

About two years ago I bought a Big Buddy Heater. It makes winter camping much more enjoyable, especially with hot tent camping.

Route 312 on Thanksgiving

|

Driving out to Dormansville on Route 312 on Thanksgiving. Catskill Moutains and Dormansville seen in the distance. Views of my childhood, I lived just off this road.

December 4, 2017 Morning

|

Good morning! It’s a Monday once  again with three weeks to Christmas. Fog and temperatures around freezing. The ground is warm enough that there is no ice except on the grass and car roofs. Calm wind. 

All I can say is that that the investigation into the human carcass found behind Hoffmans Car Wash isn’t trying up traffic and is keeping the state game wardens and Bethlehem cops busy. So it’s a good time to speed in your car and for poachers to shoot  deer over bait. I figure they called in the game wardens in from all over Region 4, because the DEC frowns upon illegal dumping because it’s cuts into the profits of the Rapp Road landfill and the $10 a ton the city pays into the Pine Bush Restoration fund. Applied Ecological Services from Wisconsin expects to be paid for their work. I’ll get to work on time, ultimately that is all that is really matters. 

Today will be mostly sunny, with a high of 48 degrees at 3pm. Eight degrees above normal. Light southeast wind becoming south 5 to 9 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had cloudy skies, clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 36 degrees. The record high of 63 was set in 1998. 6 inches of snow fell back in 1901. Not a very impressive snow record. 

The sun will set at 4:22 pm with dusk around 4:53 pm, which is 11 seconds earlier than yesterday. Pretty close to the earliest sunset of year. Later sunsets come Sunday.  At sunset, look for partly cloudy conditions and 46 degrees. There will be a south-southeast breeze at 9 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 12 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 11 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a slight chance of showers after 4am. Mostly cloudy, with a low of 39 degrees at 12am. 14 degrees above normal. South wind 9 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2016, we had partly cloudy skies with more clouds in the early hours of the next day. It got down to 26 degrees. The record low of 2 occurred back in 1989.

A little congested this morning, and I had trouble getting up and going, so I’m taking the local in this morning. I just have a bad case of the Mondays. I do need to get into office relatively early as I have to check my news clips before going to ethics training. It’s so far from the Adirondack wilderness where I was yesterday. I wonder if the weather will be nice enough to get our hiking or camping later in the month. Depends on how cold and snowy it is. I know they are talking about colder and snowier weather for December. 

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until Christmas when the sun will be setting at 4:27 pm with dusk at 4:59 pm. On that day in 2016, we had drizzle, mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 43 and 21 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 33 degrees. We hit a record high of 66 back in 1889.