10. January 2008 by Ranger.

This is a list, and brief discussion of the attributes, mannerisms, and methods that I have observed in the best managers I have been privileged to know, work with, and work for during my career with the National Park Service (NPS) from 1967-1994. While they were gleaned from a number of very fine mentors within the NPS; I contend they are relevant to all potential or practicing managers world wide in any profession.

Years ago as a fledgling management trainee the government spent a lot of the taxpayer’s money on a small number of selected rangers to put us through an intensive experience where we were intently observed for our organization and cooperation skills, writing skills, human interaction skills, media management skills, listening skills and problem solving skills. We were observed closely and individually rated by a large number of retired private industry CEO’s and senior government managers. After which, we were individually counseled on our strengths and weaknesses, and given a year to enhance those strengths or improve our weaknesses. The next year we went through a similar experience a second time. It was money well spent.

During that training most of those retired senior managers believed that outstanding management skills meant that person could successfully manage any business whether that was in auto manufacturing, a metropolitan police department, clothing manufacturing, a national park or any other corporation or government agency. In spite of the exceptional training I believe this learning experience was, I disagreed with that premise that a good manager can manage anything very well. While I do not discount the fact that an outstanding manager could do reasonably well in any business or government agency, I believe that same good manager will have greater success if they have experience and education that grounded them in the specific business or government agency they are responsible to manage. Have you noticed how many CEO’s without specific experience and intimate knowledge gleaned from the “trenches” of the business for which they are managing have been failures and relieved of their management responsibilities over the years? Perhaps, my contention is more statistically correct.

Excellent managers are trainable. If you aspire to management success, practice the following recommendations. They are not in any particular order or priority.

• A good personality goes a long way in any organization.
• Be honest.
• Be kind and considerate.
• Encourage independent thinking and discussion. Make sure your employees feel free to make any suggestion or comment, but they also understand that the final decision is yours alone.
• Criticism received is yours alone. You are the responsible official making the management decisions.
• Problems are solution driven.
• Give clear directions.
• Manage through trust rather than authority.
• Review progress.
• Hire the best personnel you can find and let them use their expertise.
• Provide authority with the responsibility.
• Let employees achieve and credit good ideas to the contributor.
• All praise should be in earshot of other employees or in public.
• Praise received should be focused to those employees responsible for the success.
• Correct or counsel in private.
• Be firm and assertive when it is necessary.
• Be kind to everyone. You may be working for them some day.
• Progress should be goal oriented.
• Set agreed upon due dates and times.
• Learn to recognize good ideas or comments when heard. Be a good listener.
• Balance the workload.
• Don’t hesitate to change direction when better ideas surface.
• Practice an excellent phone personality.
• Important! Think way ahead. Practice predictability by being knowledgeable.
• Provide training for the weaknesses.

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9. December 2007 by Ranger.

Introduction

Weasels represent the smallest members of the Mustelidae. Both the Mustela erminea, short-tailed weasel and M. rixosa, the least weasel are found in most of the lower forty- eight states and Alaska. The short-tailed weasel is much larger than the least weasel. It can be as long as fifteen inches in length. The least weasel, is the smallest living carnivore, and rarely exceeds ten inches in length. I have seen some full grown least weasels in Pennsylvania that were five inches long or less. Both weasels look identical in coloration which is medium brown above, with yellowish (urine stained) white underneath, and a brown tail with a black tip. The tail of the least weasel usually has fewer black hairs than the short-tailed weasel. Both weasels can turn pure white in winter, but the tail tip remains black, hence the reference to ermine. Weasels are a powerful animal for their size, and can take down large rabbits easily. They have a long slender head similar to the mink, and a sinuous body. Female weasels are approximately three fourths the size of males.

Like other members of the Mustelidae, weasels may be bred by more than one mate, and the implantation of the fertilized eggs in the uterus is often delayed. Mating in the farthest northern climates of Canada and Alaska typically takes place in mid to late summer, but delayed implantation of the fertilized eggs might last for six months or more. Total gestation can be as long eight to ten months. However, in the milder climates of the lower forty-eight states delayed implantation might not occur for the least weasel, and in their farthest southern range they might have three litters a year.

Litter size varies from three to ten young, which are born in a nest under old buildings, rock outcroppings, or hollow stumps and logs. The nest is often lined with rabbit or mouse fur. Survival of the young until weaning generally depends on the availability of food in the mother’s home range.

May

The pregnant female spent several days preparing her nest for the birth of her young. She lined the nest with field mice fur from her daily kills, and recently made a kill of a large rabbit whose fur contributed greatly to the comfort and warmth of her nest. During the night she gave birth to seven weasels, four males and three females. The tiny youngsters would remain in the den for almost forty days before emerging into their new world. The mother weasel was kept especially busy during this time, because she required almost forty percent of her body weight in mice, rabbits, shrews, insects and other small animals to remain healthy and nurse her young. That was not too difficult as she located her nest in an area rich with field mice and other small prey animals. She hunted both day and night. Weasels hunt during the daylight hours, though many of their successful predatory kills are during the night.

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June/July

After the young finally emerged from their nest, they remained close to the den for several weeks before accompanying their mother on hunting trips where they would learn the fine art of being a successful weasel. The family forages and training continued for a little more than five weeks. Each young weasel became adept at catching field mice and young rabbits. Like other members of the Mustelidae, their curiosity was boundless, and they rapidly learned what they needed to know to survive.

August

By mid August the last of the kits, which were now fully grown, left their mother’s den area and dispersed on their own. At least four would make it to sexual maturity during the next spring, but three were lost to winged predators during the winter.

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25. November 2007 by Ranger.

INTRODUCTION
The wolverine, Gulo gulo, (gluton) is the largest terrestrial member of the Mustelidae family which includes otter, mink, weasels, badgers, fisher and martens among many others. There are 56 species in this, the largest family of carnivora, or flesh eating mammals. Some common names for the wolverine are devil beast, skunk bear, devil bear and carcajou. The wolverine is medium brown or almost black and resembles a small bear as they are compact and strongly built with heavy musculature, a short stout neck and a bushy tail. They have white to tan fur on their throat. Their large feet are specially adapted for traveling over snow, climbing and digging. Their claws can be partially retracted, are sharply curved and range from three fourths to one and a quarter inches long. They have smaller hind feet, and during the winter the hair between their toes and around their pads becomes bristle like, which aids them as they travel over deep snow. Wolverines have a dense underfur and stiff guard hairs. Their ears are fully furred. Not counting the length of their tail, they can range in size from approximately 25 to over 40 inches long. Females can weigh over 30 pounds and the largest males might go over 60 pounds. Wolverines have a highly developed sense of smell, but poor eyesight. The animal is clever, courageous, and unusually powerful for its size. Determined wolverines have been known to run off a pack of wolves from a kill.

The strength of the animal is legendary. Their jaws and teeth are very much respected by other animals, because they can crush bones at least to the size of a moose. Wolverine fur is highly valued by those that live in the Arctic where it is used as ruffs on parkas. The guard hairs do not ice up, and rime ice or personal breath frost is easily brushed off wolverine fur. The coldest temperatures of Canada and Alaska do not seem to bother the wolverine in the slightest. Other than man, they have no natural enemies and no animal in their habitat is a serious threat other than a large grizzly. Wolverines prefer solitude and avoid humans. I have seen only two wolverines in the wild, and they completely ignored my presence. Wolverines exist in North Central Canada, the Northwest Territories to the Yukon, all of Alaska, and have been recorded as present in Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming and Montana. At this writing, it is uncertain if they are in Yellowstone, but the probability of their presence is likely. Wolverines are also found in the northern extremes of Eastern Europe, Russia, Siberia and Scandinavia.

March

The 37 pound three year old female fed cautiously on the young caribou she had stolen from the small female grizzly that made the kill earlier in the morning. No other animal, except a larger grizzly and the fierce wolverine, could have driven this sow away from her kill. The sow was respectful of the ferocity of the wolverine and her powerful jaws and strong teeth. She satisfied her hunger for the time being, and decided to cache the remains of the caribou for some other time. It was an easy task to drag what was left of the caribou several hundred yards to the base of a large Evergreen Spruce tree, the dominate tree species of the boreal forest. There her powerful legs dug a deep hole near the base of the tree. She placed the remnants in the hastily prepared plot and covered it with dirt. It would be easy for her to find the caribou at some future time. Wolverines have the ability to locate food in snow eight feet deep with their keen sense of smell. Satisfied with her work, the well fed female moved on. She would travel another six miles before resting. Her home range covered over 150 square miles.

Not far away, and on a collision course with the ambling trail of this young female was a 48 pound, five year old, husky male. He had spent his morning tearing through the door of an abandoned trapper’s cabin, and consuming what food was left behind when the trapper left his cabin a week ago. That happened to be a number 10 can of unopened blackberry jam, which he easily punctured and battered around the cabin floor until much of the sticky sweet contents spilled out. It was the breeding season, and this polygamous male had covered a large portion of his 355 square mile home range in the last week. Wolverines are constantly on the move and their travel is not inhibited by mountains, rivers or valleys. They do not hibernate in the winter. He had mated with two other females in the past few weeks. During the night, their paths crossed, and he mated with this female before moving on in search of others.

The female had mated with another male a week earlier and like some other mustelids, there was a delayed implantation of the blastocyst. After implantation, her active gestation would be from 30-40 days.

June

The female moved to a higher elevation near the base of a talus slope where she dug an elaborate den with several tunnels to give birth to her young. Here she gave birth to three blind kits. The kits would be weaned sometime in August, but stay with their mother until next March. During that time, the mother would educate her offspring in the art of hunting and the capture of pine marten, squirrels and larger mammals of the North Country. The mother would not breed again until next year.

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26. October 2007 by Ranger.

Introduction

The mink is one of the most widespread carnivores of North America. They thrive throughout the continent except for the far north of Canada and the arid southwestern United States. Mink are valuable furbearers that are also aggressive, effective predators of muskrats and waterfowl, which can be an economic loss to trappers and hunters. Males are 1.4–1.8 times heavier than females. Weights of adult males may vary from 1.5–4.5 pounds, but this variation is between populations throughout its distribution in the United States rather than within a given population. Mating can occur with several males from January through March. Gestation varies from 39-76 days due to delayed implantation. Implantation in the uterus of the female is probably triggered by the lengthening daylight usually in March. Once development of the embryo begins, two to six kits, sometimes as many as 10, are born in 27-33 days in April or May. Young mink can fend for themselves in two months, and at five months of age they are as large as adults. Sexual maturity is reached in 10 months, and though some females might stay with their mother longer, most leave the den to establish their own territory in autumn.

September 11
The pair of young female mink was three miles upstream from the safety of their mother’s den and care. There had been seven kits in the family, four brothers and three sisters. Three of their brothers struck out on their own several days ago. She, and one of her sisters, left the den to find their own territory shortly after her brothers departed. The males went downstream, but she and her sister went upstream.
The two females had moved rapidly upstream during the first day. They lingered only long enough to catch some crayfish, and covered three miles before curling up together in the natural obstruction of a large logjam for some much needed rest. This is the farthest they had ever been from the abandoned muskrat burrow where they were born last May.
September 12
After several hours of sleep in the cozy confines of the log jam, both females stirred. The gurgling sound of the stream weaving its way through the logjam had been comforting to their peaceful rest, but their nocturnal instincts now awakened, and they were hungry. They often followed their mother on her night hunts for crayfish, frogs, rabbits and muskrats. Mother had been a good provider and teacher of the skills they needed to survive on their own. The entire family of young mink witnessed their mother’s swiftness and aggressive attacks on prey larger than herself.
After some stretching and yawning in the makeshift den, they emerged in the cool darkness on the top of the logjam. Each predator sniffed the air for any sign of prey or threats. Detecting none, they loped across the logs and bounded down to the streambed shore. The pair of females separated and began the search for crayfish along the shoreline as they continued their slow travel upstream.
Both females heard the rustling of the leaves on the river bank above them, but the female downstream also caught the scent from the slight swirl of air currents moving in her direction. She quickly recognized it as prey and darted a little further downstream where she climbed the stream bank and perhaps might catch the prey coming in her direction. Her hunting partner hadn’t caught the scent, but observed her sister climbing the river bank cautiously. Moving quickly upstream, she also climbed the river bank. Now, whatever made the sound in the leaves was between the two predatory mink. The young mink that was downstream couldn’t see the potential meal yet, but she knew from the scent that the leaves were being rustled by a rabbit.
The rabbit was feeding on small crabapples that had fallen to the ground. Several wild crabapple trees along the river bank often attracted deer, rabbits, and muskrats throughout the fall. The seeds of the crabapples were consumed by Pine Grosbeaks which regularly visited the small stand of crabapple trees. Both female mink silently closed in on the rabbit from two sides. The rabbit saw the mink on the downstream side of her and bolted upstream with the mink in pursuit. She ran directly into the second mink who quickly grabbed the fleeing mammal by the throat. The momentum of the heavier, swiftly moving rabbit lifted the smaller female mink off her feet and dragged her along for some distance. But the mink’s four sharp canine teeth punctured the rabbit’s jugular; she let out a high pitched squeal, fell on her side, and kicked frantically to no avail. Though the rabbit was larger than both of the young female mink, she was dead within seconds after the second mink arrived to help her sister.
The two females fed voraciously on the three pound cottontail that weighed more than the combined weight of the two young mink. They squabbled and snarled at each other as they fed, but it was the competition of den mates. This would to be their last meal together.
After an hour or so of feeding, one mink continued on her way upstream. Her sister stayed with what was left of the rabbit, and eventually made the log jam they had slept in as one of her dens. She established this area as her territory and would range from one-third of a mile to almost two miles up and down the stream from the log jam. While she often used other den sites in her travels, the log jam was the center of her claimed territory which she patrolled and protected.
The departing female traveled upstream in the darkness without stopping to hunt as her belly was full of rabbit meat. She only hesitated briefly to urinate and leave some scat on the rocks of the stream, though she would have killed any prey she stumbled into, because mink are surplus killers. Even if she wasn’t hungry, if prey was present, she would have killed it. But, she didn’t encounter any prey. She did detect several interesting places where another mink had urinated regularly.
High on an old snag next to the river sat one of the denizens of the forest. She had patrolled thousands of acres of the mixed hardwoods of beech, maple, birch, and oak and abundant evergreen trees lining the stream and hillsides for the past ten years. Her only natural enemies were others of her kind and in rare instances, Goshawks. This stalwart forest resident never built a nest; but used the nests of hawks, herons, crows, squirrels, and hollow trees.
Daylight was breaking as the young mink was crossing a fallen tree to the other side of the river when she instinctively detected danger. She stopped on the log to look around and sniff the air when she saw a large bird rapidly descending towards her. The young mink dove off the log into the water below just as the outstretched talons of a Great Horned Owl barely missed capturing her. The owl had descended from its high perch in the partially denuded fall forest. The predatory bird had a wingspan of forty seven inches, but kept her wings folded when she dove off the perch to capture the mink. The descent was silent at the speed of gravity. The owl extended its wings and its talons only when it was very near the mink. Had the mink not noticed the owl, she would have been killed instantly when grasped within the powerful large talons.
Safely under water, the mink swam downstream with the current using all four paws to rapidly put distance between her and the danger overhead. The owl glided silently through the open forest on the other side of the stream, and fortunately spotted and killed a red squirrel that was hunting acorns in the deep leaves of the forest floor. She then carried her prey to a high perch where she ripped it apart to feed.
The mink surfaced under some overhanging brush of the stream to scan the sky overhead for the danger that nearly ended her life. She waited there for almost an hour before cautiously swimming upstream. The young female remained in the stream for the next mile so she could submerge to escape danger before moving back to the edge of the stream where her travel would be faster. A little further on the four month old mink found a large abandoned muskrat colony. The stream was wider and deeper here. There were numerous burrows in the bank with entrances that were under water. The remaining odor of muskrats was weak as she entered one of the burrows below the river bank. The underground tunnel led to a large cavity under the river bank which had several exits to dry land above the river and one exit to the stream. It reminded her of where she was born, and she curled up in the dry den and slept.
September 13
She awoke during the night and decided to scout out her new surroundings, and search for food. Emerging from one of the exit holes to the dry stream bank, she immediately caught the active scent of field mice. The grassy bank of the stream was also home to hundreds of voles that were feeding on the forbs, grasses, leaves, and seeds of the extensive plant life. She caught and ate several of the mice then descended the stream bank to the edge of the stream where she discovered numerous minnows congregating in the shallow water along the edge of the stream. She chased and caught several of the minnows which were quickly consumed. The abundance of food, numerous dry dens, and the safety of the wide and deep water convinced her this would be her new home. She spent the rest of the night patrolling both sides of the stream picking up a few crayfish and minnows in her travels.
March 21
Mink can breed in their first year. She was ten months old and coming into breeding season. The young mink was a little larger than many other females at 18 inches and just over two pounds due to the abundant food source. Females attain adult size faster than males, but they are smaller. Males continue to grow in their second year.
A male mink was headed downstream in search of females. He was more than two miles beyond the normal range of his territory of 3.5 miles, when he caught the scent of the female at the abandoned muskrat dens. The male was 23 inches long, approaching the range of their maximum size of 28 inches, and he weighed just over three pounds.
He and the female met on the shoreline. They cautiously approached each other. The female was in the last week of her three week breeding season and receptive to copulation. No other males had previously approached her. Females are often bred by several males, though development of the embryo can be delayed in the uterus. Fertilization to implantation, when mating occurs with several males, can last 7 to 30 days. This delay accounts for much of the variation in the duration of pregnancy. However, the delay does not occur when mated later in the season as in her case.
Mating with the male was very aggressive and lasted several hours. After which, the male continued further downstream in search of other females. The female hunted a little more then retired to her den. In her case, implantation of her fertilized eggs would occur over the next several days and she would give birth in the next 27-33 days.
April 24
Late in the afternoon the female returned to her den where she gave birth to six kits. Three males and three females were born. The tiny kits were less than half an ounce at birth and were covered with a short, silvery-white hair. It would be several weeks before their coat would be replaced with a fluffy, reddish-brown coat. The kits were born deaf and blind, and would not gain the ability to see or hear for 21-25 days.
The new mother changed her behavior regarding how much time she would spend out of her den. She now left the den only every two to three hours and hunted for no more than 40 minutes before returning to her kits. This behavior continued for the next seven weeks when her kits would then attain the ability to keep themselves warm. Though the kits were able to eat mice and crayfish in five weeks, they would not be weaned until the eighth or tenth week of their birth.
June 13
The protective mother brought her six kits out of the den for their first hunting lesson for mice in the grass above the den. Several of the faster growing females clumsily chased a few mice but lost them, though one mouse was injured enough that one of the males caught him. Mother captured six mice which she shared with her kits.
They regularly left the dens in subsequent days for hunting trips as a family, and were gradually introduced to hunting for crayfish, mice, young birds, rabbits and minnows. The kits hunting skills improved very rapidly. Over the summer the kits would explore at further distances from the safety of their den, both up and down the stream in small groups, and occasionally alone. Some of the juvenile males ventured as far as several miles from the den, but the juvenile females rarely went farther than a half a mile from their birth place. A variety of temporary dens were used by all the mink throughout the summer.
September 19
Two of the males departed their mother’s den for the last time. They struck out on their own. When they didn’t return, the mother didn’t know whether they had been injured, killed, or left to establish their own territory. But, she didn’t look for them. Over the next week, all but one female left the den to establish their own territory.
December 21
The last kit, a female, might have stayed with her mother until the next spring, which occasionally is the behavior of the remaining female mink of a litter. However, a high school age trapper had placed a coil spring trap set on a log that crossed the stream about a mile or so from her permanent den during the winter trapping season. She didn’t return. The remaining female inherited her birthplace as her permanent den.

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12. October 2007 by Ranger.

There has been considerable debate among the TV talking heads and other pundits around the country as to whether there is a real war with terrorists, or is this a made up war for political reasons. Given the terrorist attacks against Spain, Australia, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Germany as well as against the United States, from 1979 to the present as detailed in my September 7 article on Illegal Immigrants; there should be no question that this war is real and a serious matter. In fact, the world’s religions have been defending themselves from Islam for thousands of years. The word “Islam” means submission, specifically, submission to the will of Allah. A Muslim is someone who has submitted to the will of Allah as specifically outlined in the Qur’an.

Mohammed divided the world into two houses: The House of Islam (dar al-Islam) and the House of War (dar al-harb). A Muslim sees the world in two halves. One half is Muslim and the other half is in the process of becoming a Muslim. Most Americans think of world peace in terms of peaceful coexistence with those of differing beliefs. A Muslim thinks there will only be world peace when the whole world has submitted to the will of Allah, or, in when everyone become Muslim.

All the terror attacks in the foreign countries and against America and their interests have been by those that believe in the teachings of the Qur’an (The Islamic Bible) and the Hadith, which are the words and deeds of Mohammed. The Hadith are a vital part of the Islamic tradition and next to the Qur’an in authority. If you think Islam is just another religion and the radical fringe element are the only ones we have to watch and worry about then you need to read this book What Every American Needs to Know About the Qur’an, subtitled A History of Islam and the United States by William J. Federer, ISBN 0-9778085-5-6, published by Amerisearch, Inc, May 2007. In this article I will quote extensively from Mr. Federer’s book, which he has willingly granted to all who read his historical work. You can order this inexpensive book from the Ranger Cache store on the upper right of your screen.

Most Americans have not read the Qur’an. Here are a few quotes: Infidels (meaning non-believers in Mohammed and the Islamic religion) are those who declare “God is the Christ, the son of Mary.” (Sura 5:17) The Infidels are your sworn enemies. (Sura 4:101)
Make war on the infidels who dwell around you. (Sura 9:123) Mohammed is Allah’s apostle. Those who follow him are ruthless to the infidels. (Sura 48:29) Believers take neither the Jews nor the Christians for your friends. (Sura 5:51) Never be a helper to the disbelievers. (Sura 28:86) Kill the disbelievers wherever we find them. (Sura 2:191) Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the jizya (tax) with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. (Sura 9:29) Sura is a chapter of the Qur’an.

Moderate Muslims believe Islam will conquer the world in the distant future therefore it is acceptable to get along with non-Muslims in the present. A violent Muslim thinks Islam will conquer the world now and wants to make it happen. Violent Muslims would just as soon kill moderate Muslims as they consider them backsliders from obeying the commands of Mohammed. This is one of the reasons for the suicide bombers killing their own people in Iraq and others around the world. Most moderate Muslims are hesitant to speak out against violent Muslims because they are threatened by the violent Muslims, or they may have a fatwa (religious edict usually calling for their death) placed on them.

Surprisingly, Americans have elected a Muslim to Congress. He is Keith Ellison, (D-MN) the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress, representing Minnesota’s 5th. District. Congressman Ellison didn’t say much about his being a Muslim during his campaign, but announced to his Islamic supporters “We are going to continue to face them. They’re not going to stop right away. But, if you, and me too, stick together, if we believe in Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, if we turn to the Qur’an for guidance, we’ll find an answer to the questions we have.” I have no idea what the “questions” might be, but this first Muslim Congressman took his oath of office with his hand on a Qur’an borrowed from the Library of Congress that previously belonged to former President Thomas Jefferson. President Jefferson owned the Qur’an to try to understand his enemy in the early 1800’s who were a horde of Muslim Barbary Pirates of Tripoli that were committing terrorist acts by raiding American ships and enslaving sailors. In 1803, President Jefferson sent the Marines to capture Tripoli and force the Muslim Pasha to stop his terrorist attacks. This gave rise to the Marine Corp Anthem: “From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli…”

Islamic law does not give non-Muslims equal legal standing with Muslims. Instead, it prohibits a non-Muslim from testifying in court against a Muslim. The U.S. Constitution’s 15th. Amendment guarantees the right of citizens to vote, while Islamic law does not allow voting as democracy is considered people setting themselves in the place of Allah by making laws. Mohammed said, “No Muslim should be killed for killing a Kafir (infidel)” (Hadith Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 9, No. 50) These are just a few samples of the teachings in the Qur’an. Federer’s book goes into depth on the history of the Islamic religion and America’s historical interaction by past American Presidents. You really should be aware of that history which will better prepare you for the future.

I find it most disturbing that our elected leaders are not concerned enough about the teachings of the Qur’an and the threat that those thousands of other than Mexicans (OTM’s) might be to American citizens. Given the violent wars of past history and the contemporary attacks of recent history, America will experience further terror incidents in the future. It could be tomorrow or next week, but most likely after the next election cycle to test the mettle of the new President.

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8. October 2007 by Ranger.

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In my previous article on Illegal Immigration, which you can find by scrolling down through my collection of blogs or clicking on Illegal Immigration (posted 7 September 2007) in the yellow box on the right of your screen, I wrote about the immediate threat of other than Mexican (OTM) illegal immigrants. That situation is the highest priority for the continued safety of Americans in the short term, but the long term effects of an uncontrolled population will definitely change the lifestyle to which you have become accustomed, and eventually will destroy the United States. This commentary is about the obvious impacts and threat to the continued existence of America by the shear number of uncontrolled immigrants who are only looking for a better life for themselves and their families and not necessarily entering the country for the purpose of conducting terrorist or criminal activities.

The beginning of the problem is centered with President Kennedy’s legislative recommendation to Congress in 1963 with his suggestion that the national quota system on immigration be eliminated. Committee hearings on the Bill began in January 1964 with no further action and the bill expired with the adjournment of the Eighty-eighth Congress. However, President Johnson gave new life to President Kennedy’s recommendation and Hearings began again in February 1965. The Hart-Celler Immigration Act of 1965 that eventually passed favored Latin America and Asian immigration and included a feature that opened a flood gate which ruefully labeled the bill as the “Brother and Sister Act.”

This was the problem then and still is a problem. An Asian or Latin American student comes to America to study in the late 1960’s to the present day. Upon graduation they apply to the Labor Department for permission to work in the United States. Thus, they become an official legal immigrant who wishes to reunite his or her family. Under the 1965 law, the new immigrant requests that his/her parents, spouse and children join them in America. Those family members become citizens and then petition for their brothers, sisters, and parents to join them. All the new arrivals then petition for their relatives to join them. It was and is a disastrous, but legal chain reaction.

In 1970, America’s population was approximately 203 million and by 1973, there were fewer than 2.1 children being born per productive female in the country. That was very close to zero population growth for our nation. At that rate of replacement and loss due to deaths and those leaving the country, it was projected that the U.S. population would reach 247 million by 2030. However, given the flaw in the 1965 Immigration Act and the uncontrolled borders of the United States, we are now well over 300 million residents at the moment (10/8/07). The government has no clue as to how many illegal immigrants have entered the United States. It could be any number from 12-30 million or more that are not counted in the census. The true number will become substantially more critical for the country’s resources of food, disease outbreaks, water, energy, health care costs and services, poverty support efforts, driving down the collective IQ of the natioin, lawlessness, social conflicts, unemployment, school construction, voter fraud, transportation, illegal drug use, the loss of common language and culture (Congress recently voted down English as a mandatory requirement) depletion of natural resources, higher taxes and practically everything else you can think of from here on unless the 1965 Act and illegal immigration are dramatically controlled.

I recommend that you listen to the following video presentation on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7WJeqxuOfQ You might have to copy and paste this address. If it doesn’t work, put the following in your search engine: Gumball Immigration.

Factor in global warming impacts and subsequent migration that will occur for survival, terrorism threats and the fact that China’s population of more than 1.4 billion, of which they now have more people with an Intelligence Quotient of 140 or more than the United States has population….the conclusion is America’s only chance for survival is if the government gets complete control of immigration and pursues aggressive programs which will dramatically increase the country’s science and engineering graduates.

Posted in lEGAL AND iLLEGAL iMMIGRATION | 1 Comment »

2. October 2007 by Ranger.

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Like many large national parks, Yellowstone National Park has management problems that polarize the public and/or threatens to modify the vegetation or the existence of some species. Among those are the reintroduction of wolves in 1995, a bison herd that is too large which regularly leaves the park boundaries and is infected with brucellosis, the existence of Lake Trout in Yellowstone Lake that are voraciously consuming the native Cutthroat Trout, and Whirling Disease (WD).

Myxobolus cerebralis, even the scientific name for Whirling Disease sounds bad, and it is if you are a trout, a salmon or a fisherman. It was originally misnamed cerebralis (referring to the brain); because it was believed that the parasite infected only the brain of fish. We now know that the parasite feeds on fish cartilage. I noticed a major decline of the available trout in the Yellowstone River about five years ago. Yellowstone River is a world class fly fishing river where sixteen inch and up native cutthroats were common. That is, until M. cerebralis wrecked havoc on the native population. Whirling disease was originally identified in the park within native cutthroat trout near the mouth of Clear Creek on the east side of Lake Yellowstone.

The parasitic organism M. cerebralis is native to the Eurasian continent. The first confirmed outbreak of the disease in the literature was described in Germany in 1903. By 1952, it had spread to France and Denmark, and was later confirmed in South Africa, New Zealand, and in at least 23 states of the United States. The first report of the disease in the U.S. was from Pennsylvania during 1956.

The parasite is a microscopic, primitive animal organism that requires two hosts to survive. Tubifex tubifex, or Sludge Worm, is a worm that exists in the sediment of the benthic zone (lake or river bottoms where the water is generally cooler). Spores of M. cerebralis infect the worm which becomes the first host for Whirling disease. Within the worm’s gut the spores develop and multiply to produce the next spore form known as triactinomyxon. These are then released to float freely in the water until they come in contact with a trout or salmon. Once contact is made, triactinomyxon attaches to the fish’s skin and injects the parasite into the body of the fish. Here it travels along the nervous system until it finds cartilage where it feeds and changes once again back to a myxospore. Once the fish dies and decays, the spores are released and free to begin the life cycle over again. Humans are not susceptible to the disease.

Infected fish with Whirling disease may have a black tail because the parasite places pressure on the nerves that control pigmentation. The attack on the cartilage causes deformities in the skeleton of the fish, which cause the fish to whirl uncontrollably. That reaction prevents the fish from feeding normally and the lack of its ability to escape because of the whirling behavior makes it particularly easy to catch by predators.

Whirling Disease was unknowingly spread by fish hatcheries who were stocking fish throughout the various states without realizing that the parasite existed in their hatchery. It was also spread through the natural flow of water, through the digestive system of birds and other fish feeding on infected fish which then spread the spores through their feces. Other methods of spreading the disease may have happened when the spores were carried on the bottoms of boats, wading boots or the release of fish from one waterway to another by fishermen. The spores of M.cerebralis are somewhat indestructible and can endure either freezing or drying. It is believed they can survive in many streams for up to 30 years

Early studies indicate the success of the parasite is closely associated with cooler water temperatures. The parasite tends to be less successful in warmer waters. Rocky Mountain streams are typically cooler waters during most summers which may have initially allowed the parasite to spread rapidly with a high rate of success. However, much of the West and Yellowstone has experienced warmer summers than usual during the past several years. Many rivers in Yellowstone and Montana were temporarily closed to fishing the past two summers because water temperatures rose to as high as 77 degrees F., which is stressful to the trout population as their optimum water temperature is 68 degrees F. or less. Perhaps that was a blessing to slow down the advancement of Whirling Disease.

There is no practical method to eradicate the parasite from a stream, river or lake. As destructive as this parasite is; it is not likely that it will eliminate all trout from an infected stream or river. We can be sure of this because there are still trout in Eurasia and the parasite has been there for at least 100 years or more. Initial infection definitely reduces the population because it easily infects younger fish. It is possible that some trout could be genetically less susceptible to the disease and that resistance could be passed on to future generations. Let us hope so,

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21. September 2007 by Ranger.

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The academic training of successful game wardens, wildlife and fisheries biologists, State and Federal Park or Forest Rangers, habitat managers and other conservation professionals are personnel who have completed college level courses relative to the field work required of those occupations. More and more states are requiring an associates or bachelor’s degree in the natural sciences, typically field level biology or wildlife and/or fisheries management, for their fish and game wardens. Some states conduct their own resident academy training for their game wardens. Pennsylvania’s Ross Leffler School of Conservation, requires 48 weeks of training for its newly hired Wildlife Conservation Officer Cadets.

Research positions in the conservation professions require a minimum of a graduate degree, or extensive field level experience, to perform studies of wildlife, fisheries or forest resources. Typically these outdoor professionals hold graduate degrees in forestry, wildlife or fisheries management, ecology, zoology or a specialization in some aspect of those studies. The studies completed are directly applicable to the nature of their work at the operational and scientific field level position of their chosen profession.

As in most professions, the senior level supervisors, managers, directors, and superintendents (those responsible for the overall direction and leadership of an organization) ascend over time from the field level ranks to more responsible positions that direct the work of others. Ultimately, some of those senior level supervisors reach the level of authority where they are setting the goals and direction for the agency. That is, they are responsible for all aspects of a geographical portion of the agency’s jurisdiction or the entire agency on a statewide or national scale.

At those higher authority levels the education, skills and knowledge that were needed to perform at the full performance technical level becomes less important for positions in the senior command levels. Those years of experience at the field level is important for the senior managers to understand and communicate intelligently with those under their authority, but now they need a different set of skills and knowledge to motivate employees, influence, interact or placate special interest groups, the general public, the news media, politicians or anyone else who might challenge or disagree with their management goals and direction.

For example, they might be pressured by politicians who are responding to an organized influential group who disagrees with their professional direction. The influence of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) comes to mind here, but there are many special interest groups that appeal to their representatives in hope of exercising some modification or change to some policies of land and resource management professionals. Or, the results of field research might be publicly challenged by organized conservation groups or hunters who disagree with the policies derived as a result of the agency’s research. It is not uncommon to find people who have purchased their hunting or fishing license who then believe they know more about the management of fish or wildlife species than the professional research biologists. Political pressure and influence is pervasive within all the agencies responsible for parks, fish or wildlife management, forest resources and minerals management due to the powerful efforts of special interest conservation groups, radical environmentalists, resource extraction companies and a host of others that stand to gain in some fashion or another. Ill informed or naive individuals, especially the more wealthy folks, might exercise influence because they believe their point of view is correct and the agency’s policy in question is misguided, unduly influenced in the wrong direction, or they disagree because the agency or responsible resource manager doesn’t fully understand the long term effects of the stated policy.

Thousands of readers of influential magazines and newspaper articles written by respected writers might be misinformed or naive on a particular issue. The media might be representing their own personal bias. A poor explanation of a policy by the resource manager can cause the resource manager untold time and grief trying to correct a misunderstanding.

Some years ago at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, I enlisted the aid of Dr. Walter Vannette, a cultural anthropologist, and the assistant to the university President, Ray Newton, an eminent scholar and well known writer, former journalist and media specialist. We invited senior level conservation managers from the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Arizona Game and Fish Department, and several national conservation organizations. All of those participants had been originally educated as biologists, foresters, or range managers and rose through the ranks of their agency or organization.

We asked each of them to briefly outline the duties and responsibilities for the position they currently held. Their descriptions were remarkably similar. The majority of their time was devoted to human resources management, preparing budget justifications and analyses, negotiating contracts, legal matters associated with the resources they were managing, responding to legislators and critics, conducting meetings on a wide variety of topics, developing and reviewing plans, and dealing with the media representatives of newspapers, radio and television.

The next question they were asked was “What undergraduate, graduate or other training have you attended that prepared you for the job you now hold as a senior administrator?”
Their answers were essentially “None.” Most respondents felt they had good mentors as they ascended the ladder of responsibility. One wonders if these successful administrators are the lucky ones because of their associations with excellent mentors. If so, were there more highly qualified potential leaders and administrators within their various agencies and organizations who haven’t had the benefit of excellent mentors during their career?

We then asked each participant to write on a sheet of paper a description of the type of training they wished they had before they became a senior administrator, or that they would be interested in attending now if it was available. The in-depth discussion and examination of their written responses led me to develop the graduate program now recommended by the Ranger Institute. Interested universities, American or foreign state or federal agencies or businesses should contact me at clay@rangerinstitute.com for further information.

Visit The Ranger’s Cache web store for Clay’s recommended books, cameras, and outdoor gear.

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7. September 2007 by Ranger.

Where are America’s investigative journalists? There are tremendous consequences and effects of the illegal immigration disaster that seriously threatens the very existence of this country and our government leaders and the media have not been discussing them with the citizens of the United States.

Illegal entrants crossing the border between America and Mexico have been doing so for several hundred years, but their numbers have escalated substantially in the past 25 years or more. Though many illegal aliens cross the border searching for employment not all of them are Mexicans, and some of the Mexicans are leaving their home country because they are wanted there as criminals. A U.S. government Inspector General report states that between 2001 and the first half of 2005, there were 605,210 illegal entries who were Other Than Mexicans (OTM) that were arrested for violating U.S. immigration laws. Of special note and concern, is the fact that 308,657 of those captured OTM’s were released because the government didn’t have beds and detention facilities to accommodate that large number of detainees. They were released back into the general population to await a hearing on their deportation. If any were terrorists, I’m sure they didn’t show up for the hearing. The government knows nothing about the backgrounds of those they released. The decision to release or not is based on the government’s ability to house them not on the risk they present to America. If the Border Patrol has captured 605,210 as stated above, one has to wonder how many OTM’s were not captured when they crossed the U.S. border. And what is the actual number of OTM’s if what Dr. Virginia Deane Abernathy, Chairman of the Population-Environment Balance at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine estimate is correct that illegal entries into America are 7.2 million a year.

Government officials and the media usually use the figure that 12 million illegal Mexicans exist in America, but they really do not know how many are here. Other estimates put the figure closer to 20 million. However, neither the government nor the media offer any estimates for the number of illegal OTM’s in America. There is generally little or no discussion in the media of the OTM’s. The media, the affected states, local politicians, and our Congress are concerned primarily with Mexican illegal aliens, and well they should be, and the impacts those folks are having on America’s hospitals, schools and jobs. Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans since the Reagan Administration have made any serious efforts to resolve the illegal entry problems because the Democrats see those entries as potential Democratic voters and the Republicans see them as cheap labor and enhanced profits for business.

In this article I will focus only on the most serious threat that some illegal aliens present to our way of life and the continued safety and existence of America. I am referring to crime and terrorism, but the shear numbers of the honest Mexican illegal entries are a clear and present danger themselves to our education systems, American culture, national economy, disease threats and our infrastructure. Make no mistake about it, each one of those impacts are serious threats to this country, but there is a far more serious and immediate threat that is present right now from the criminal aliens and the thousands of OTM’s that our government cannot track and has no clue as to what they might be doing.

In 1980, our Federal and state penal facilities held fewer than 9,000 criminal aliens, but now the most recent figures are in the hundreds of thousands with 17% being held in Federal prisons, 27% in state prisons, and 56% in local jails. The Federal government reimburses jurisdictions at the state and local levels that are incarcerating criminal illegal aliens. That alone is costing the American taxpayers billions of dollars.
Some of those criminal illegal aliens were arrested numerous times. The average was eight arrests per illegal alien in California. In Los Angeles alone, 95% of the outstanding warrants for homicides are for illegal aliens, and 67% of the outstanding fugitive felony warrants are for illegal aliens. A confidential California Department of Justice study reported that the one street gang had a membership of 20,000 illegal aliens. That gang collaborates with the Mexican Mafia in California prisons on drug distribution, extortion and drive-by assassinations. Another California gang that uses murder and racketeering to control its drug market was estimated to be approximately 60% illegal aliens. The report specifies that in 2005, Federal drug seizures were a total of 1,129,275 pounds of cocaine and 6,866,465 pounds of marijuana primarily from the southern border. Federal law enforcement estimates that only 10-30% of the illegal aliens are apprehended and only 10-20% of the drugs are seized! If they are seizing only 20% of the drugs entering the U.S. in California, then that means 80% are getting through. One can only imagine the astronomical implications of those figures if they were extrapolated for the illegal entries into Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. Or what do you suppose is the collective impact of that amount of drugs might have on American citizens throughout the nation in terms of individual health, the impact to the medical care professions, taxpayers, law enforcement personnel, increased crime to pay for the purchase of those drugs and the criminal activity by those under the influence of drugs. How much crime is there in the United States that is a direct result of those drugs? Criminal immigration is not a victimless crime.

The implications of the millions of illegal aliens is a grave concern that will possibly destroy America if it is not resolved, and the criminal element of those illegal aliens from Mexico and Central America such as MS-13, a notorious Salvadorian gang that is alleged to inhabit 42 of our states; is certainly a high priority. Though, a higher priority of concern should be the thousands of OTM’s that are loose in the United States.

A 2005 Homeland Security Report stated that 850 people from countries of “special interest” were apprehended crossing our southern border. No one knows how many others successfully entered our country. Kenneth R. Timmerman wrote in Front Page Magazine in 2006 that a Homeland Security Report revealed that 45,008 OTM’s from countries on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terror (SST) or from countries that protected terrorist organizations and their members were released into America’s general public between 2001 and 2005 even though immigration officers could not confirm their identity. That means that these individuals from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, whose identities could not be verified and who could be working for terrorist groups, are today roaming the streets of America. The report cited a recent U.S. intelligence assessment indicating that “terrorist organizations… believe illegal entry into the U.S. is more advantageous than legal entry for operations reasons.”
At an April 6, 2006 hearing of the House International Relations subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation, Rep. John Culberson (R, Tx) said he recently confirmed with FBI Director Robert Mueller that “a number of individuals from countries with al Qaeda connections are changing their identities. They’re changing their Islamic surnames for Hispanic surnames, adopting false Hispanic identities… and hiding among the flood of illegal aliens coming over our border and disappearing into the country.” In other words, the Department of Homeland Security doesn’t have a clue how many potential terrorists have gotten through our porous borders and have simply changed their names.

The radical Islamic Jihad (Arabic for Holy Struggle) of terrorism did not begin with the 9/11/2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. It began on 11/4/79 in Tehran, Iran, when the U.S. Embassy and 52 hostages were seized and held for 444 days. Practically every year since then there have been attacks against Americans and their allies. In 1982, 30 U.S. citizens and other Western hostages were kidnapped in Lebanon by Hezbollah. Terry Anderson was held for 2,454 days. On April 18, 1983, in Beirut, Lebanon, 17 Americans and 46 others were killed by a car bomb attack on the U.S. Embassy by the Islamic Jihad. Also in Beirut on 10/23 that year Shiite suicide bombers detonated a truck bomb killing 241 marines at the airport. Minutes later a second bomb killed 58 French paratroopers in their barracks in West Beirut. And on 12/12 Shiite truck bombers attacked the U.S Embassy in Kuwait City, Kuwait, killing 5 and injuring 80. On 9/20/1984, a truck exploded outside the U.S. Embassy annex in East Beirut, Lebanon, killing 2 American and 22 others. In December of that year Kuwait Airways Flight 221 in Beirut was hijacked and diverted to Tehran. Two Americans were killed. On 4/12/1985, a restaurant frequented by Americans in Madrid, Spain, was bombed injuring 82 and killing 18 Spaniards. Then June 14, 1985, TWA Flight 847 in Beirut, Lebanon, was hijacked by Hezbollah terrorists. A U.S. Navy diver was executed in that incident. On October 7, in the same year, gunmen attacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro and killed one U.S. tourist. The gunmen were linked to Libya. And on December 18, airports in Rome and Vienna were bombed killing 5 Americans and 15 others. This was also linked to Libya.

The terrorist attacks continued into 1986 on April 2, in Athens, Greece, when a bomb exploded on TWA Flight 840 killing 4 Americans and injuring 9. On April 5, Libyans bombed a disco in West Berlin, Germany, injuring hundreds and killing 2 Americans. On December 21, 1988, a Pan Am Boeing 747 flight blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 on board and 11 on the ground. Libya admitted responsibility 15 years later. In New York City on February 26, 1993, a bomb exploded in the basement garage of the World Trade Center injuring 1,040 and killing 6 others. Militant Islamist Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and 9 others were convicted. In 1998, Ramzi Yousef, a probable Al-Qaeda, was also convicted in this terrorist attack. U.S. terrorists, Timothy McVeeigh and Terry Nichols collaborated and bombed the Federal Office Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, killing 168, including 19 children. On November 13, 1995, a car bomb exploded in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at a U.S. military headquarters killing 5 U.S. servicemen. On June 25, 1996, in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, a truck bomb exploded outside Khobar Towers military complex killing 19 Americans and injuring hundreds of others. Thirteen Saudis and a Lebanese members of the Islamic Hezbollah were indicted for that attack. The terrorist attacks continued when on August 7, 1998, when truck bombs exploded almost simultaneously in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 213 in Kenya and 11 in Tanzania while injuring approximately 4,500. Then on October 12, 2000, the USS Cole, a navy destroyer was heavily damaged in port at Aden, Yemen. Seventeen sailors were killed and the attack was linked to Osama bin Laden.

All this happened prior to the infamous attack on New York’s World Trade Center. Americans have been under attack by terrorists since 1979. Does anyone in the U.S. Congress or Homeland Security think those thousands of OTM’s are all here looking for jobs or are some of them here to kill American citizens. On 9/13/07, the media reported a government estimate that it would cost 94 billion dollars to deport all the illegal aliens should the government have the will and capability to do so. The inability to prevent illegal immigration has now mushroomed into a completely unmanagable, expensive and life threatening danger to the country.

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1. September 2007 by admin.

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